at the end of last year i thought of a project

involving all kinds of things i like

(besides making jewellery that is)

flowers, food, books

and somehow combining those things

so here is what i came up with

a picture essay on Last Night in Twisted River by John Irving

- my very own and clearly non- academic take on this novel -

full of bears, loggers, giant women, more or less likely weapons

impending mud season, deadly do-si-doing

all kinds of true and ever lasting love

.

and who can´t help but fall in love with Ketchum

writing angry faxes

armed at all the times in case of "critters" and mad cowboys

dating a wrestling girl friend called Six-Pack-Pam

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with one of the main characters being a cook

there were lots of tempting recipes hidden in this book

including a fateful bit of honey in the pizza crust

but i opted for a pancake recipe

inspired by the loggers breakfast in the river driver town of Twisted River

.

100 g spelt flour

50 g buckwheat flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tbsp cane sugar

pinch of salt

roasted chopped up almonds

250 ml milk

frozen blueberries

maple sirup

mix the flours, baking powder, sugar, salt and almonds in a bowl

pour in the milk

mix until well incorporated

let sit for a bit

heat up the blueberries until hot and sirupy

heat up a non stick pan

and laddle in the batter in small batches

to bake small fluffy pancakes

add more flour in case the batter is too runny or more milk in case it´s too firm

.

somehow i can´t find an end when working on projects i love

so i though i just had to press publish and move on

but at first i want to thank W for being a perfectly patient and hungry assistant

Franz for his collection of fixed-blade knifes to choose from

NINA for the lovely tin box

and E for her insights even though i didn´t follow her advice

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i already have some more books in mind to work on

but i´d love to hear your recommendations

could also be a movie, poem, song...

my - well, actually not "my", because they belong to themselves - cat disapeared

cat girl took off almost three weeks ago and now her brother starts to stay away too

it´s weird since they seemed to love it around here

and they would never miss their bowl of warmed milk at the neighbours
somehow i think they try to find a way to escape winter (wish i could, too)

it´s the sadest thing
(trying to cheer myself up with this CAT VIDEO)

.

and i collected quite a few more food intolerances

especially cow milk and almost all grains

my belly feels already so much better

but i´m afraid the food supplements drive my stomache crazy

spent some time at the emergency room last weekend

because it felt like someone was stabbing me from behind

it seemed to look like gall stones

but then they didn´t find any 

- i was already thinking about asking if i could keep them after they´ve retrieved them -
and i went home again

.
a few days later i got a full blown cold
still here in bed with me
not the flu, but awful enough
living of tined peaches, rice-noodle soup and white tea
waking again and again to the sound of snow shoveling
.
some things brightened my days though
a nice interview over at GOLD.PAPER.TALK
a bit on magazines and typography and me (wearing a Peter Pan COLLAR - found via BASTISRIKE)
- thank you, dear Marleen -
a beautiful package from OLGA
and some of our pieces on an exciting journey
also some WSAKE rings in the new LUNA magazine
(W was kind of confused by the article
"does this Mila person actually wear our rings?!")

MIMA posted an interview with WSAKE 

and wrote some very nice words about us - thank you so much, Indre!

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my days are spent planing and working on prototypes

and to clear my mind i think about the garden

what has to be done

and where to plant what

(including California poppies from NINA)

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another tiny custom made golden thing - a knuckle ring

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yesterday i went to a carnival ball

dressed up as my own cat in the very last minute

but i would love to come up with an actual costume

maybe i´ll give the welding outfit from FLASHDANCE a try...

adorned with a few blue bulbs

.

snowy and cold

tonight i dreamed i met a guy working as a knight on horseback

at a kind of reenactment amusement park

but he also worked as an English and maths teacher

since he needed some structure

we were married within three weeks

and lived in a weirdly awesome bungalow

.

when i looked out of the window this morning

everything was green instead of white

and so warm i didn´t need a jacket

so i set to the first bit of spring garden cleaning

everything seems so be ready to start a new year

so many promising dark red buds

on the tree paeonies planted last year

and the sedums and tulips look like they just can´t wait

best find - a hidden helleborus in bloom

(and there IS going to be a whole bed filled with those for sure)

.

the crazy thing is

this garden doesn´t seem to have any weeds

besides wood avens, rosa rugosa, sunchoke and grass

(two of them self-inflicted by grandmothers friend)

last night when i was pondering on how a meadow

needing to be tended to by a sickle

was clearly not an option for me and my back

i thought about turning it into a huge thyme spread instead

the flat and tiny kind

well, we´ll see about that...

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BLAU is the new magazine by ZIERRAT UND GOLD
.
a hoop earring - custom made of gold
.
OATCAKES 
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a BEEKEEPERS QUILT made of my grandmothers left over yarn
made while watching HOMELAND
has to wait
since my hands and arms are too sore
due to too much time spent on the computer
(but my physiotherapist admired my arm muscles - made by filing)

rather quiet around here

lots of reading and planing

and starting to work on new things

.

walking through so much snow for hours a day

somehow made my whole body sore

wasn´t that successful at pilates afterwards

no powerhouse

.

W is listening to THE JAZZ AGE

(ALMA likes it too)

it was a surprise for all his help

he adores Brian Ferry and plays the trumpet in some Dixieland-Jazz Bands

no he can´t get over the harmonies

i bet he´s trying to play them while listening to the record right now

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TINY BOUQUET #30 RECREATION 

had to cut my geraniums and made lots of tiny new plants

the only kind of recreation going on here :)

now i reached my goal of 30 bouquets before my 30th birthday
(this must be the only project ever i finished 5 months too early...)

well, it was so much fun

i keep on doing them

do you mind?

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a nice GIRL gave me some delicates blog snow