Today has been satisfyingly productive

I baked a barley bread and folded laundry

I baked an orange-coconut cake and scrubbed sinks and toilet

I added typed lines to my log – I added handwritten lines to a letter
I showered and cut hair and realzied I have a reversed mullet...a frolo-basho* so-to-speak

I successfully hunted for last minute food-bargains and re-arranged freezer-chaos

I smiled, frowned and wondered, laughed and danced…and jumped up and down on the odd occasion.

I made this for dinner

chicken-tarragon-pie with sweet potato and leeks

And uploaded a picture of this:

baked fish with crispy nori-crumbs and wasabi cream, carrot-orange stir fry and vegetable fried noodles

Still online presence has been scarce and I apologize for friends-postal ignorance. 

* a "mullet" would be called "voku-hila" in german (the abbreviation for "vorne kurz hinten lang" = "front short-back long" which, in turn, could be shortened to "frosho-balo" or "frolo-basho" in my case)

most concoctions have been rather camera shy recently

however, i did manage to capture a cow in chic chick’s clothing grain-grazing in its homely habitat.

Chicken stroganov with brown rice, pickled pear and beetroot 

The other day I bought a plain white jumper and it suddenly occurred to me that it looked like a rather “wifey” thing to wear - for one short moment i felt rather surreal towards my age and observed my poutymouthed womanhood, compressed in spikes and green felt midget coats, in a customer's toilet mirrow. 

Walking is therapeutic – listening to afro celt soundsystem is ever so therapeutic – and these two put together create ultimate guruness.

 
The purchase of baking beans on a string seems definitely worth a thought – string beans and pastrys’ life on a string so-to-speak. 

...And I would continue refining the art of sourdough bread-making if only rye flour could be located somewhere in the Abbey house – so instead I pamper a chunk of wholemeal dough in my flour-speckled kitchen spa – sesame sprinkles for subtle splendour.

Today is a day of procrastination! If only I could eliminate the “shoulds” from my discerning mind…then I’d gladly let the “if onlys” linger on for a bit longer.

After racking my headache-tortured skull about tonight’s dining possibilities, I eventually decided to stir a lot and fry a bit. I remembered that cloud-ear mushrooms always reminded me of guinea pig ears. Those I had studied meticulously enough on house pets years ago and used to finger their leathery crinkliness in childlike amazement.

It has been raining so much the past few days that flooded rivers suggest nautical views. Today, however, is a sunny spring-like day as crisp as a water chestnuts’ crunch.

Christmas 1&2 seems oh so long ago.

And it’s the celebratory glittery built up to it I so enjoyed - the built up that was green and red and gold, smelled of cinnamon and spice and tasted of gingerbread  – the anticlimax was to follow and had me thinking about the fading of my festive mood and whether it would leave suddenly like a hasty lover or keep me in its fond embrace a little longer.

Christmas Day at 5:30 Santa was not awake yet…so there was baking of pretty sesame breadroll-suns, watching of early kid’s programmes on german tv.

Flinstone’s Wilma uttered the same made-up goodbye phrase as you so often do – and I declared how I always found the Jetsons appeared friendlier…in a spacy kind of way.

We had isle visitors a few days after. Sofa curl-ups watching the cosby show and preparing milk-drenched makuvky felt and tasted like love-drenched sensations located somewhere to the left side of my brain. Yes, also my past – present – future perception works from left to right it seems.

The cupboard for the sweets is now literally chock-a-block and so are my shelves for the cookery books. Although, once like the pit, all bottom-less, my tummy has now turned into something more dwarfish - there is always room for more – for sweets as well as for books!

New years eve was absent and commonly ignored – the fireworks woke you up and kept you awake – so you woke me up to see whether they would keep me awake and they did, but only for the length of a Catherine wheel.

One night after dozing off on the sofa for a brief moment I got tucked into bed – and once again I felt all “biscuits and warm milk” like. Supplying me with hot water bottles and warm cherry stone cushions has been turned into a habit of affection and I’m grateful for this inner fluffiness!

Now a new year is here and I am trapped in foolish excitement about my very first sourdough bread.

the tree has been gracing our living room for a few weeks now! plastic fantastic - however i had to resist the temptation of imparting substential authenticity via pine scented toilet freshener. 
i was allowed to open presents that came from the land where clocks work differently and where early-bird santas shine with efficiency - plus one spousal present was revealed - so: garlic cloves, beware! 
the rest of the day was all sunday-like with memory drenched sensations - and, with a slight feeling of melancholy, which found itself outvoted by fondness, i gazed back at christmasses long gone. The swap of carp and advent wreath for turkey and christmas crackers will be celebrating its second anniversary soon.
our sociability didnt exceed the phone conversation-level - disc world adventures for him; longstockings and little boys stuck in soup bowls for me.
note to self: do not inhale when reducing sauces with vinegar.
rumpot -fruit makes me feel all fluffy inside
froehliche weihnachten!

furry and feathery encounters in czechland...






conclusion: a gnu-shaped cookie-cutter wouldnt that be glorious?
"(...)i do believe it, i do believe it's true...Mmmm Mmmm.."

Please leave a one-word comment that you think best describes me - it can only be one word long. Then copy and paste this in your journal so that I may leave a word about you.

Taken from vanessafrida

busy unwrapping advent calendar gifts 1, 2, 3

and wrapping mailable xmas prezzies 4, 5, 6

early morning hours

today:

 “stollen” baking & listening to tunes – some of which reminded me of times when I was missing the warmth that I now wake up to every morning, while others made the process of walking to an almost meditative experience.

tomorrow: car-Bristol-plane-Prague – holiday bliss that is Christmas markets and warming mulled wine. Culinary delights surely to be expected – enhanced spontaneity through recently acquired flexibility! 

And I shall hide behind necks of woolly  turtles and snuggle into friendly winter coats and plenty of orange and green.

Musing of the day…

Why are those crunchy little prune-packed dainties called “peel rock buns”?

a.)     they contain a fair amount of mixed peel

b.)    they literally have to be peeled of the baking tray as they tend to be stubborn as a rock

c.)    it is most satisfying to peel off the crunchy bits from the top

...or rather "penblwydd hapus” as they say around here ,,, which sounds as if it may take me another 27 years to get the pronunciation right. 

there's hardly anything more delicious than eggnog-cake dough just
before it undergoes that 60min long process of baking - and most of all: it awakes memories of birthdays long gone!  

in a world back to front you'll find sue, the cat, who, when looking in the mirror, only sees an "eus"! she will then utter her dismay in a feline broad welsh accent. ! errazib woh - you truly are my a.a milne!

a birthday
*nocturnal rainstorms at 2 am keeping me awake for a while - or was it merely my childlike apprehension in view of sparkling birthday bliss that prevented sandmans' visit? 
*dancing to mr. pops 'wild child' - drinking orangeade pop
* homemade cheesebread and warm eggnog-cake served as delicious key components for an extensive breakfast
*a great deal of wrapped up pooh given to me
*congrats, southern comfort and scary birthday-bear-cake (with fishing rod) for brother-in-law
*due to squeaky brakes a rather noisy spin in the car leading to a rather soul-healing walk by the beach accompanied by the sound of apple crunch crunch. 
*delivered "mountain" pizza, garlic bread &potato skins guaranteed carbohydrate galore.
*phone calls from abroad and home pop-ins
*soothing voice of mr. attenborough whilst ah-ing&oh-ing over the amazing world of amphibians 

*listening to Mary Poppins whilst flattening clothes, napkins and table mats felt somewhat comforting – making chimneysweeps skip with every thud of the iron

*listening to the smiths we must have hung quite a few dj’s during our 4hour long car journey to the isle of white – or the izzle of whistle respectively. Sleep deprivation made me hallucinate about white horses that, at a second glance, turned out to be mere motorway crash barriers - for a few minutes i found myself musing over unicornish apparations while hysterically giggling at Elvis’ teddy bear song.