Monday, September 23, 2013

Busy, busy...

Dearest friends and readers, I've had a hard time getting back into blogging (as you have probably noticed), not because I have lost interest, but because I have been very busy with lots of fun things.

Here's the reason:

Fall has started making an entrance, even if only very cautiously here in the south. It's still quite warm out, so how can I tell?
Well, the first sign in our garden is the fig tree losing its leaves. The first years I thought it had some disease every time, because it is the first tree to lose its leaves every fall. By now I know it is the signal that the long summer is coming to a close.
A few leaves have started turning color (although the real gorgeous fall colors don't arrive here until November) and our beautyberry bush is producing the most intensely colored berries.
But...summer hasn't left yet either and I have been indulging my zinnia love every day! Daniel just threw out some seeds in June or July and our garden is filled with them now.
 So many that I can have beautiful bunches of flowers in the house all the time.
These photos also show a few of my favorite things. The tiny blue vase we got at an art fair, the dragonfly fetish we bought on the Zuni Indian reservation, the beautiful green ceramic piece Daniel brought from Minneapolis a few years ago,...
... a pretty little candle holder we brought back from Oaxaca, Mexico and my new favorite tea cup my sister-in-law sent me for my birthday.
Speaking of fall, it makes me want to make things. Every year I get this urge to be über-creative around this time of the year and this year I've been indulging fully. Daniel will spend a couple of months teaching in the south of France this winter where it can get very (very!) cold. So I knit him a hat and scarf to keep him nice and toasty with gorgeous wool yarn I bought in Münster on our last visit. Turned out nicely, don't you think?
I've also been trying some new things such as making pickled okra and bread & butter pickles.
The pickles are delicious and the okra I just made yesterday, so we have to wait a little before tasting it. Canning things has always intimidated me, but this year was the year to just forge ahead and do it. It all went perfectly!

My inspiration? My dad who decided he was going to learn how to preserve all the different kinds of plums in his garden. He made enough jam to last him through the entire year until the next harvest! And then some...
Also yesterday, I sewed my first pillow complete with piping around the edge. It turned out beautifully. I'm going to make another one this week. Sewing always seems like such a big deal to me until I actually sit at the sewing machine - then I just love it!
I promise there will be more pictures of Europe, but for now I had to show you all the things that delight me around here. Life truly is good!

Wishing you all a most wonderful week!!


Silke

11 comments:

  1. Liebe Silke,

    dein Post ist unbeschreiblich
    schön.

    Alles Gute
    Elisabeth

    ReplyDelete
  2. Liebe Silke, stell Dir vor: Heute Vormittag wollte ich Dir ein Kommentar hierlassen, hab ganz fest an Dich gedacht ... und dann ist der PC abgestürzt. Nun hab ich grad wieder angeschalten, und was sehe ich?
    DU hast mir geschrieben. Ich freu mich so sehr. Danke für den Kommentar.
    Ich sende Dir ganz, ganz viele liebe Grüsse aus Bayern
    Elisabeth

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love your zinnia photos!! The thing I miss most about not having a garden is bouquets of zinnias!

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  4. Liebe Silke,

    ich dachte erst, wozu brauchst du Schal und Mütze. Dann las ich, dass Daniel beides benötigt, um gegen kalte Wintertage in Frankreich gerüstet zu sein.

    Ich habe mir gerade ein paar Handstulpen gestrickt. Die sind auch richtig kuschelig.

    Fröhliche Grüße "über den Teich"

    Anke

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  5. WOW, Silke! I guess you 'have' been busy! ^_^ I love what you've been up to too! The pickles, hat & scarf, and FLOWERS all look good! Keep up the good work. Fall IS coming!! :-)

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  6. Silke-- it's looking like fall here too-- the hat and scarf are beautiful! Aren't you going to go with Daniel???

    Your flowers are so lovely-- they will soon be gone wont they ? I'm not ready yet---
    Vicki

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  7. The pillow case is so beautiful, love the pattern and the colours!
    What is a bread-and-butter pickle?
    The woolly hat and scarf you made will certainly keep Daniel warm, and you always close to him in more than one way.

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  8. Zinnias ! My favorite of all. I don 't think I would want another summer without zinnias from my own yard

    South of France? Are you going?!

    Love
    kj

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  9. Such great colorful autumn energy!! Yes, I also ask, will you go to France as well?

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  10. Hi Silke, all of your projects look so lovely! Fall is much more pronounced up here in New Hampshire as you can imagine. It is very sad for me though today because they are logging the property right next door to me and it is devastating... I can barely see the keyboard for the tear running down my face... Well, no point in crying... the deed has begun. I am so thrilled for you that you are busy with things that make you soul sing!
    Hugs,
    Beth P

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  11. I adore zinnias, we called them "old maids" when I was growing up!
    OH!! And your scarf reminds me of the one that I won in your giveaway and I can't wait for it to cool down so I can wear it again, it's FANTASTICALLY beautiful, I love it!
    Take care! xx

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