Spring 2014 Pantone Colour Hemlock

My childhood bedroom was celadon green, not unlike the Pantone spring colour HEMLOCK. I like this colour a lot. It has such a soothing quality, and if I ever get to renovating the bedroom, I will choose this colour combined with cream and just a hint of pink :)

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Mein Kinderzimmer früher war Seladongrün (ein sanftes Grün) und auch heute mag ich diese Farbe sehr. Sie wirkt so beruhigend und ist der Pantone Frühjahrsfarbe HEMLOCK sehr ähnlich. Bei der nächsten Renovierung des Schlafzimmers wird es diese Farbe sein, kombiniert mit Creme und ganz wenig Zartrosa :)

Hemlock - Pantone Spring 2014 von dunib

How do you feel about this colour?

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Wie findet Ihr diese Farbe?

Garden Scenes May 2013

Sometimes I like to get up before everybody else, pull on a thick fleece and stroll through the garden. These days it is already bright at 5:00 a.m., albeit rather chilly! After a dreadful long winter finally some colour in the garden. I love the sparkling dew drops on the leaves and petals.

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Hin und wieder, wenn andere noch schnarchen, ziehe ich mir schnell eine Fleece-Jacke über (ist ziemlich frisch morgens!) und mache einen kurzen Rundgang durch den Garten. Um diese Jahreszeit ist es ja bereits um 5.00 Uhr schon recht hell. Ich mag wie der Morgentau auf Blättern und Blüten funkelt.

I like to listen to the cheerful birdsong and find the chattering of our three ducks quite amusing. They are very shy, so I have to keep my distance.

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Ich mag die Vögel singen hören und finde das Geschnattere unserer drei Enten zu lustig! Sie sind sehr schüchtern, daher darf ich ihnen auch nicht zu nah kommen.

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Three ducks marching...

Spot the kitty :)

Sammy is looking for Leo, who was seen sneaking around the garden a few minutes ago :)

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Sammy hält nach Leo Ausschau, der noch vor wenigen Minuten durch den Garten geschlichen ist :)

Wishing you a wonderful weekend!

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Habt ein wunderschönes Wochenende!

Holiday Decorations

When I got up this morning I was greeted by this eerie grey fog outside our window and I thought to myself: "nope, I am definitely NOT a winter person". Is it any wonder then, that my bag creations tend to be bright and colourful? I need colour in my life. Orange cheers me up and red makes me smile. So when the days get darker outside, our home gets more colourful inside! I tend to go for traditional colours in my holiday decorations; red, green, a bit of gold. These just work best with our interior, which is kept in neutrals. Decorations need not be elaborate and I make most of them myself. I will be making a Christmas wreath and a few other decorations in the coming weeks. Be sure to check back for pics - and you're welcome to copy!  

Cocooning

As predicted the weather has gone from bad to worse. Last night's storm kept me awake most of the night and I just might go back to bed! Brrrr. I'm certainly not going outside today. Sammy seems to have the right idea...

What are your plans for today?

A sight to behold...

"No, Sammy. Don't even think about it."

Hope everyone's keeping cozy on this cold and rainy (well, over here it is) Saturday!

Autumn

yellow.orange. rain. hot chocolate. falling leaves. scarf. reading. wind. woolly socks. baking. fleece. home.

I captured the tree in front of the bedroom window in all its autumnal glory. The leaves are falling rapidly and soon the branches will be bare and the other houses behind the tree at the far end of our garden will be revealed.

It has been raining of late. Here is a short video of Sammy on the balcony 'attacking' the raindrops :)

Mondays...

...are pretty much like Sundays around here. I woke up Mommy really early and reminded her it was time for breakfast. After that I nipped outside to get some fresh air, but it was sooo cold that I rushed straight back inside! When I saw that Mommy was settling in front of the computer to work, I immediately blocked the keyboard =^..^=  But then Mommy presented me with my favourite toy (a mouse with a fuzzy ball attached to it) and I got distracted and ended up back in the living room. Oh well, it doesn't matter - it was time for a nap anyway and the tiles are so nice and warm from the floor heating...

hope your day is as comfortable as mine!

Sammy

Chestnuts

 picked from the woods...we like them roasted.

while Sammy likes to play soccer with them on the tiles! Fun!

Sammy turns six today!

Hey everybuddy,

it's my Birfday!!! Six years ago today Mommy and Daddy brought me back to my furever home. I love it here! I have many napping places, lots of toys and yummy snacks. In summertime I get to play outside, watch the birdies and occasionally I meet one or two kitty pals from the neighbourhood!

and look what I got for my birfday: my very own supply of CATNIP. Thanks Mommy, thanks Daddy!

Oh, and before I furget - you still have until tomorrow to win my Mommy's handmade bag!!! There's a zip pocket and two more pockets inside, one of which my Mommy says is for mobile phones, but in reality it's for keeping kitty snacks in :)

Mini cherry blossoms

Just when we thought our miniature cherry tree hadn't made it through winter...

Aren't the blossoms just beautiful? The tree is in a pot on our terrace. I can watch it grow from my little home  office window. It's a refreshing sight.

Wishing everyone a nice Easter holiday!

Easter decorations done by me

Happy Easter, Frohe Ostern, Joyeuses Paques, Vrolijke Pasen, Feliz Pascua, Glad Pask!

 

Easy Carrot Cake

Grate 250 gr carrots into a bowl and mix with 2 tlsp. lemon juice. Preheat oven to 180°C, grease a medium square baking tin (or 28 cm dia. round tin) and sprinkle bottom and sides with fine breadcrumbs. Mix 250 gr ground almonds, 50 gr flour and 2 tsp. baking powder. Separate 6 medium eggs. Beat eggwhites adding 160 gr sugar little by little until stiff. Add yolks to flour mixture and stir in carrots. Gently stir in the beaten eggwhite mixture. Pour into the tin and bake approx. 40 minutes on the middle shelf. Remove cake from oven and leave for 5 minutes. Then remove from tin and let cool on a rack. Mix 200 gr powdered sugar with 2 - 3 tlsp. lemon juice and glaze the top of the cake. Decorate with store-bought marzipan carrots if desired.

Enjoy!

Spring Flowers

The recent rain/hailstorms wrecked havoc in our garden, destroying all the pretty purple and white crocuses that I had wanted to take pictures of. I just managed to capture these two pretties before they were flattened...

Also, I thought it was pretty amusing to read the comments on my moss-covered fence (previous post). I didn't realize that most of you didn't mind and some of you actually love it! One commenter wrote it added character-- I like that :)

Thanks for visiting today, and I hope your week is filled with sunshine and happiness!

Sweet rosy apron

With the temperature dropping to -7°C (19.4 F), it's hardly surprising that we've been congregating in our cosy kitchen these last few days! And since I'm spending so much time baking I designed and made a new apron from this pretty fabric with an all-over rose print. Did I mention I love roses? The fabric is from Westfalenstoffe, a company  headquartered not far from where I live :)

Here's a close-up of the pocket and the strawberry button.


 The weather report said there might be snow this and next week - highly unusual for this area. Perhaps we're going to have a white Christmas for once. I'm sure all the neighbouring kids will love that! But sun-loving person that I am, I can't really share their enthusiasm!

take care,

Happy 2nd Advent!

Chocolate-Mocha-Walnut Squares

as you can see the glaze is still partially wet - sometimes I'm so impatient!

They're very good, though (wet glaze or not)

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Wishing everyone a pleasant Sunday. Hope you're enjoying the day with your family!

Happy 1st Advent!

It seems I'm spending more time in the kitchen these days than at my desk!
I made these chocolate orange cookies this morning, and now my whole house smells yummy :)
Here's the recipe:

Ingredients

100 gr dark chocolate (chopped)
125 gr butter
125 gr sugar, pinch of salt
1 free-range egg (medium)
grated rind of 1 organic orange
200 gr white flour
1 tsp. baking powder

chocolate for the glaze ( I used one with 65% cocoa)

How to

Beat the butter, sugar, salt, egg and orange rind. Mix the baking powder with the flour and sift into the butter mixture. Add the chopped chocolate and quickly knead to a firm dough. Wrap it in foil and leave in the refridgerator for at least 2 hours.
Roll out the dough to about 5mm thickness. Cut out any shape you wish (mine is a flower). Place on a non-stick baking sheet and bake for 10 - 15 min. at 200°C.
Let cool. Melt chocolate in a small bowl. Dip each cookie into the chocolate and place on a rack to dry.
Store the cookies in a cool and dry place.

Enjoy!

I ♥ Hearts

Although I didn't plan it, it looks like it's going to be a heart theme at our house this Christmas! Here are my ' hearts with wings ', which make unique Christmas tree decorations. And continuing the heart theme...I received this sweet award from Jenie. Her four blogs are highly entertaining, sometimes thoughtful, sometimes funny, but always 'from the heart'. Thank you, Jenie, for passing this on to me! This award is given to blogs that make you feel all warm inside :) And since there are soooo many blogs I visit that make me feel all warm inside, it's impossible for me to narrow them down to just nine. So I encourage you, my dear blog friends, readers and commenters, to pick up this award, because all of you deserve it!

Just one of those days...

First of all THANK YOU for your concern about my computer trouble! The PC-repairman did a great job getting it up and running again. Thank goodness there is no damage to the hard drives (phew). However, I did lose a week's worth of work. Luckily today is a public holiday, so I will try to re-do my work (from memory) and catch up as much as possible. While I was offline I did the laundry. The clothes horse (does one still say that these days?) broke and all my freshly laundered clothes landed onto the as yet unwashed floor. Hmph. When I opened the bathroom cabinet to get out the detergent, the handle broke. Superglueing it back on did not work. What next? I'm afraid to touch my sewing machine in case that breaks too!!! I guess it's just one of those days. So, what do you think about all this, Sammy?

Ignorance is bliss...

Dear Mom,

thank you for always being there when I needed you most. Happy Mother's Day ♥

For some reason there are very few photo's of me and my mom together. This is one of them from way back in the 70's at Christmas - I just adore that dress my mom's wearing; wish she had kept it. I could have worn it now - so vintage!

Why is it that...

...whenever I come home from grocery shopping - * the kitchen towel is lying in a heap on the floor? * there are small, wet paw marks all over the kitchen counter? * the table cloth is all askew? * and the fruit are outside of the bowl?

It wazzint me.

Garden impressions

finally, some colour...

Have a terrific day!