Travel Day

You may have been wondering why I've been so quiet on your blogs. It's because I've been busy getting us ready for a few weeks in Europe visiting family and friends!

The amazing farmers market in front of the cathedral
in my home town of Münster.
Can't wait to be there in person!!
Photo courtesy of my dad! :)

And I had to get the house ready for our friend who will move in and take care of our many critters and the garden. There was much to do, but today we are on our way!!

Wishing you an amazing day! Thinking of you while we are in flight from one continent to another...

P.S. I have a number of posts prescheduled to publish while I am gone, and might intersperse those with posts and photos from our trip as I have time to do so!

❧ Silke

Rosemary Lemon Cookies

Oh, I wish I could let you all smell the wonderful fragrance of the rosemary and lemon zest.

And then of the cookies baking. And the taste ... amazing!! I definitely recommend trying them.

I found the recipe here.

Wishing you a day filled with sweet surprises!

❧ Silke

Gladiolas

I love gladiolas! When we lived in Michigan, I remember being able to get big bunches of them for a dollar or two in the summer and I always had them in the house.

So when I saw some at the store the other day, I bought a bunch. And when they started drooping, I cut off the tops made a small bouquet of them.

They make me happy! So pretty!!

Wishing you a beautiful day filled with much happiness.

❧ Silke

A simple list...

... of things related to Social Media, which I may never understand:

1. LinkedIn - I'm a member and I have lots of connections, but I'll be darned to know how to properly make use of it. I see some people posting things and have no idea how to do that.

2. ##Hashtags## - I don't understand them at all... Do people just make them up? And why?

3. Instagram - people use it like a blog. I still use my blog. Plus, I tried it and promptly forgot to use it.

4. Twitter - I have followers (quite a few) and I follow people (again, quite a few), but I don't have the time nor the inclination to constantly tweet about stuff. My blog posts get tweeted about automatically, but that's it for my involvement. And I think that's how it will remain.

5. Google+ - I did ok with regular Google, but I do not understand how Google+ works. At all.

6. Tumblr - I never quite caught on to that one.

7. Flickr - again, some people use it so wonderfully and I love looking through their images. Some use it like a blog and belong to groups and such. I have uploaded some of my art, but that's where it all stops. Hmmm....

I think the main problem I have is that it's time consuming to learn about all these things and I'd rather be painting or reading or cooking with my time.

However, it could also be that some people have figured out how to post once and have it post to many different social media sites. I haven't figured that out yet.

In the end, I come back to Blogger and Facebook and sometimes Pinterest to connect with my friends and get inspired.

How savvy are you with all of this? What do you like most? Any recommendations?

❧ Silke

P.S. And just because I don't like a post without a photo, here is one Daniel snapped yesterday of a very happy me about to bite into an almond croissant... 

A welcome garden visitor

A couple of years ago on Daniel's birthday, he said "I wish we had a turtle in the backyard." When we ate lunch outside that day, suddenly there was a turtle. It sounds far-fetched, but it's the truth!

And a couple of weeks ago, it came back to visit our front yard. I'm not sure if it was the same one, but it looked very similar. An Eastern Box Turtle.

Then, a few days ago, I saw it again on the front lawn this time. It has such a pretty pattern!

I wondered if it might like a fig - and guess what?!? It did. I took a big piece and raced into the bushes with it. It was so fast, I was only able to snap one photo before it was gone.

We both hope it sticks around as there's certainly enough for it to eat around our house.

I hope you are having a carefree and happy day!

❧ Silke

The Forgotten Painting

I finished the painting a while ago and forgot to post it in my blog!

 So, here it is - very colorful once again and playing with the face transitioning into abstraction.

 This is is one of the"smaller" ones at only 22 x 28 inches.

It actually gave me a little bit of trouble until it looked "right" to me and now it's one of my very favorites. Funny how that happens.

Wishing you a very colorful Friday!!

P.S. Linking to the most fabulous party in the blog world: Paint Party Friday!!

❧ Silke

Kitty Love

With our animals there's never a shortage of photo apps. The day we returned from our little road trip, Ramses decided he would not leave my lap, so I snapped a few pictures.

Of course, he always loves to help me knit...

Deep in meditation!

And we're knitting again...

Our two outdoor kitties, Louie (on the left) and Tucker at a stand off. They are two semi-feral cats who have adopted us. And it seems that both are here to stay.

Louie is a total snuggler and Tucker is becoming incredibly playful and trusting.

See what I said about Louie and snuggling - he found his place on Daniel's lap. And once he's settled, he can stay that way for hours getting his belly rubbed. Too cute!

With loud purring, our three kitties send you much love and wish you an amazing Thursday...

❧ Silke

More Food in Florida

As you probably guessed already, we ate a lot of very good food while in Clearwater and surrounding area. The general feel was that of sun and beach and casual food.

And ... gelato! There seemed to be an excellent gelato place on every corner and we tried most of them. Here I was sampling some delicious mango gelato, but I also tried mixed berries, hazelnut, pistachio and probably other flavors I can't remember now. Perfect for hot weather...

In St. Petersburg we ate at a wonderful mexican/cuban/south american restaurant, where Daniel discovered the cucumber/cilantro margarita! WOW!! He's made it a few times for us here at home...

Do I look happy or what?

This place, Crabby Bill's, really had some atmosphere. No air conditioning, but big ceiling fans and cold beer...

And really good food! 

Wishing you all a wonderful Wednesday!! And lots of excellent food...

❧ Silke

The figs are ripe!

One of my favorite times in our garden is when the figs are getting ripe. This year the birds have discovered them as well (and we think the raccoons, too), but there is enough for everyone!

This is one of my favorite recipes: Fig Frangipani Tart. It's a pretty recipe as you'll see when you click on the link.

Bon Appétit and a terrific Tuesday!

❧ Silke

Dali Museum

When we were in Florida in June, we also visited the new Dali Museum in St. Petersburg. We had seen some of the impressive collection in Atlanta while this museum was being built and we were eager to see it finished!

We were not disappointed. The building fit the art!

And the Dali collection is amazing! We saw paintings from every stage of his career and paintings in every size, from very small to huge!

You can find more information about it here.

After looking at all of the art and fortifying ourselves with a coffee, we walked all around the outside, admiring building and gardens.

I loved this Dali-inspired bench outside and didn't realize just how hot the metal had become in the sun until I sat down for this photo...

Definitely worth a visit!

Wishing you a fantastic Monday!

❧ Silke