Art Expedition

The Changing Seasons – July 2021

I know, I know – I’m late again! Sorry!

This time you can blame my studies. Well, actually me being so lame with my studies, but it’s summer and since winter’s coming (hands up who loves GOT and the Starks!) I need to fill up on as much good weather as I can. Oh, and ice cream, and summer sunsets, and green trees and… you get the drift. 😉

So here comes my July for The Changing Seasons, this time hosted by my friend Brian from Bushboy’s World who’s charing hosting duties with the lovely Ju-Lyn from over at Touring my Backyard.

Like always summer seems to be a much busier time than winter, what with trying to eat as many fresh fruits (especially cherries), cooking marmalade (also cherries but this time the sour ones) and generally spending as much time outside as possible.

Oberbaumbrücke (1894) in Berlin July 2021

The absolute highlight of this month was one of the most precious and beautiful gifts I’ve ever received – a handmade and ecoprinted silk scarf by my dear friend Su from over at Zimmerbitch! I tried painting it in my doodle calendar but utterly failed so I’m including a photo of myself wearing it to show you how very beautiful it is.

Much less wonderful were the myriad of mosquitoes that were desperate for my blood – eek!

Much better than mosquitoes was a new beverage I tried out because I’ve read about it in a book (The Cat and The City by Nick Bradley). It’s barley tea, called mugicha in Japan and boricha in Korea, and it tastes just amazing!! I bought some tea bags at my local Asian supermarket and prepared a pitcher of this absolutely delicious herbal tea, that has a lovely toasty, nutty flavor. You can drink it hot or cold but so far I’ve only tried out the cold variety and it’s super refreshing. Since it doesn’t have any caffeine you can drink it whenever you want should you happen to be sensitiv about your caffeine consumption.

The rest of my month can be easily guessed from my doodles. 😉

How was your July? Did you take advantage of the summer months? Or tried out new things/taste?
Let me know all about it in your comments! 😀

About The Changing Seasons

The Changing Seasons is a monthly project where bloggers around the world share their thoughts and feelings about the month just gone. We all approach this slightly differently — though generally with an emphasis on the photos we’ve taken during the month.
For many of us, looking back over these photos provides the structure and narrative of our post, so each month is different. Some focus on documenting the changes in a particular project — such as a garden, an art or craft project, or a photographic diary of a familiar landscape.
But in the end, it is your changing season, and you should approach it however works for you.
There are no fixed rules around post length or photo number — just a request that you respect your readers’ time and engagement.

Tags and ping-backs

Tag your photos with #MonthlyPhotoChallenge and #TheChangingSeasons so that others can find them
Create a ping-back to Brian’s post or this post, so that he can update it with a link to yours.

Better Late Than Never: The Changing Seasons – June 2021

Yep, that’s right, I’m almost 3 weeks late for June’s Changing Seasons post, and here’s the reason why.

I was reasonably proud for having completed my doodle calendar for June just in time, and was about to write the post, when I encountered a problem with my WordPress blog.
Said problem was, that after clicking on the „Write/Add (New Post)“ button for as many times as I liked, nothing happened. With nothing I mean a blank white screen. I then tried if I could edit an older post of mine, but no, that wouldn’t work either.

Thanks to my recent social media break I didn’t feel as panicky about it as I might have done before that. After googling the problem and trying out different solutions – none of which helped – I thought that there might be some troubles with the server, and I’d simply have to wait for a couple of days so the problem would solve itself.

Again, no such luck.

At this point I was beginning to belief that maybe this was a sign, maybe I shouldn’t get back to blogging at all. But being quite stubborn, I wasn’t ready to accept this (yet).

So I thought I’d just create a whole new blog, and write to each of you personally to let you know what happened and ask very nicely if you’d be interested in following my new blog.
Imagine my annoyance when I clicked on the „Write“ button and again landed on a blank screen!
This is it, I thought, it’s over. I’m (very grudgingly) done with blogging.

That’s when another idea hit me – what if I try writing a post using the WP app?!
You might wonder, why I didn’t try this out earlier. Well, when I started my social media break back in March, I deleted all social media apps, so as not to be tempted into being online most of the time. And after my break I had decided to keep it that way, and only access social media via my laptop, which I don’t use as much as my phone.
So I installed the app, clicked on „Write“ – et voila! It worked!

I was happy and annoyed at the same. Happy to be able to access my blog again, and annoyed because I was now forced to use the app again, thus creating the possibility to fall back into old habits, i.e. using my phone more than I liked.

So I had another idea: what if I only install the app to write and publish a new post, and after that’s done, delete it again (the app, not the post)? And that’s just what I’m doing now.
I hope the cyber gods will let me have it my way, and not come up with another way to tempt me back into phone-addiction. Fingers crossed!

So, here comes my Changing Seasons post for June! By the way, my friends Ju-Lyn from over at Touring My Backyard and Brian from over at Bushboy’s World have kindly taken over hosting duties from Su (Zimmerbitch) and taking turns hosting it. This month’s it’s Ju-Lyn’s turn.

Highlights this month include me baking my very first quiche (green asparagus and Parmesan cheese) and two lovely visits to the zoo where I fell in love with a pair of small-clawed otters that were busy moving a bunch of hay to and fro, thus giving me hope there might be baby otters in the foreseeable future. Oh, and I got my second COVID vaccination shot! This time I felt ill only for one day which I was quite thankful for.

Please feel free to (wildly) guess what the other drawings might stand for!

And how are you? Did June provide you with memorable events? Let me know all about in your comments!

The Changing Seasons – Spring Edition

First of all: I want to apologize to all of you for staying away from blogging without even announcing or explaining it for so long.

I had – what I now know in hindsight – what you might call a digital burnout. All of a sudden I felt I had to pull my digital plug in order to take care of my mental health.

I did so by deleting all social media apps on my smartphone one night, and the relief I felt just after I did it, was almost comical. Especially when you consider that I was almost scared to do it in the first place.

I’m going to write a seperate and more detailed post about it soon, but felt I had to explain what happened before I delve into this Changing Seasons post.

So here comes, what I’ve been up to in the last 3 months! Be warned: as you might expect, it’s somewhat longish. So feel free to quickly sneak into the kitchen to get a beverage of your choice, some snacks, and maybe a short visit to the loo before you get started. 😉 And also to ask questions about any drawings you’d like to know more about – I know that they sometimes don’t make much sense to anyone who isn’t me. 😉

March

I’d love to say that I did some amazing and stunning stuff during my social media break – but no. It was rather the same as usual with a few exceptions out of the ordinary.

I’ve been trying to keep fit and healthy during lockdown by doing various exercises, lots of yoga and eating plenty of vegetables and fruits. I even started – and no, these days it’s actually no cliché anymore since Germans tend to buy the stuff at the supermarket – to make my very own Sauerkraut(!). I’ve heard from a friend that it wasn’t all that difficult to make, so I thought why not? All you need is cabbage (any will do but I took the classic green cabbage), salt and time – and and a bit of muscle power too.

As you can see in my doodle calendar, my little social media breakdown happened exactly on the day before, on the 17th to be precise. Part of my social media break was to stop taking pictures just for the sake of share them on my various social media accounts. So I’m afraid there are no pics of my Sauerkraut-making, or of much else during that time, and I’ll have to rely on my doodle calender as a reference.

Rest assured though that the fermentation magic did indeed happen and the final result was delicious! If you ever get the chance to try raw sauerkraut, or kimchi, which is the Korean alternative, take it! Thanks to the fermentation process it’s brimful with good things like prebiotics that will boost your immune system. If you’re interested in how to make your own raw sauerkraut, just google it or have look here.

The other remarkable thing that happened in March was that I got my first COVID-vaccine shot. I had a bit of a fever a couple of days afterwards and generally felt ill but also very thankful too.

Here in Germany the vaccination process started quite late, thanks to our government making a couple of mistakes ordering the vaccines. It’s still hobbling along but all in all people start to see a silver lining on the horizon and we’ve even started opening up a little again, meaning we don’t have to do an antigen quick test everytime we want to go shopping, which is quite a relief.

April

April had lots of bad weather in store for us – it even snowed a couple of times which is very unusual this late in the year. Mind you, May wasn’t much better in that department, being the coldest and wettest May in over 40 years.

This didn’t keep me from sowing seeds and repotting plants however. And even if the weather wouldn’t play along, the first signs of spring/summer awaited me in the supermarket: asparagus and strawberries! YUM!

One of my highlights was when I finally and successfully tackled “downward dog” during my yoga sessions!!

May

May started with the usual demonstrations on May 1st around here: most of them peacefully demanding lower rents, and things, but many people also use the occassion to riot in the streets, especially at night. No matter the weather, I usually stay indoors on that day in order to avoid getting caught up by the events.

Apart from that I broke my own book reading record during this months and almost doubled my usual count (10 instead of 5 books), and had my first appointment at the dentist’s in two years – fortunately everything was fine, I just needed a new night guard. 😀

I even got back to working on a canvas painting I started last year – my own version of “The Great Wave of Kanagawa”by Hokusai. I planned on finishing it this month, but alas, there’s still lots of work to do.

There also was a rather unpleasant surprise visit from my downstairs neighbour on Whitsun Monday however – apparently water was dripping down the ceiling in her bathroom! A quick look under my bathtub confirmed that the drain had come off completely and the floor right underneath it was soaking wet. The bath mat had stopped the water from reaching my feet or I would have noticed it earlier!

Because sanitary fittings seem to change size every couple of decades – for unknown reasons – I had to wait and hunt for the right replacement. I just managed to repair it yesterday – and what glory and joy that first shower was, I tell you!

And this was it! Didn’t I tell you it was rather boring and unspectacular? 😉

Better let me know what you have been up to all these months! Did you find ways to remain fit? Started or finished new projects? No worries, I will catch up with your blogs soon, but would love a little news about you just the same, if you don’t mind. 😀

Wishing you all a beautiful Sunday!

If you’re interested in the Changing Seasons, here’s some information about the challenge:

About The Changing Seasons

For many of us, looking back over these photos provides the structure and narrative of our post, so each month is different.

Others focus on documenting the changes in a particular project — such as a garden, an art or craft project, or a photographic diary of a familiar landscape.

But in the end, it is your changing season, and you should approach it however works for you.

There are no fixed rules around post length or photo number — just a request that you respect your readers’ time and engagement.

Tag your photos with #MonthlyPhotoChallenge and #TheChangingSeasons so that others can find them.

Create a ping-back to Su’s post, so that she can update it with links to all of yours.

The Changing Seasons – February 2021

Not only am I very late to The Changing Seasons party but I also find myself in the embarrassing situation that I don’t have much to share this months in terms of photography.

Which is funny since February was quite a busy month for me!

So what did I do, you might wonder?

Well, back in December 2020 I enrolled in an online course about journalistic editing. The course is going to take at least 6 months, and if I’m doing well I might get another 6 months on top.

It took me some time to get used to the fact that I’m kind of back to uni, but now I’m in the flow! So studying is taking a big part of my daily routine now, and I’m having tests about every 2 weeks.

In order to compensate for my sedentary lifestyle I also got in the habit to practice yoga on an almost daily basis as well.

Nevertheless the joy of watching Netflix hasn’t abated yet, and I was busy watching the last two seasons of “The Crown” (watching the last episode on the 3rd). I also started watching “The Kominsky Method” with Michael Douglas and “The Sinner” with Bill Pullman – these shows couldn’t be more different from each other even if they tried! LOL!

I’ve also caught up with a friend of mine who lives on Okinawa/Japan and started on a new artsy project which is mainly me trying to paint a portrait. (It’s not finished yet but I hope to share it soon.)

And as it has been the case every time I went to the zoo last year, visiting our panda bears was probably the very highlight of this month. Here’s either Pit or Paule for you (I still can’t tell them apart!):

And this was it!

Hope you had a lovely February and wish you a wonderful March!

Books and Cookies

Honestly – is there a better combination in the world than books and cookies?

Being the sloth that I am, I’m combining two blog posts in one today: first joining the wonderful monthly Virtual Tea Party as hosted by my dear friend Su from over at Zimmerbitch, and shamelessly taking advantage of you being distracted by cookies, tea and coffee to talk also about the books I’ve been reading lately, thus joining my lovely friend Lani who came up with the brilliant idea to do a monthly reading round up this year.

Ever since I was a child I had this very serious love affair with oats. They belong to my all-time favorite foods. No wonder then, that I also like to bake oat cookies from time to time, in this case oat shortbread.

This time I added some spelt flakes to add more crunch, and also because I thought that it might look nice.

But to be quite honest with you – I rather overdid on the crunch side of idea. The spelt flakes are actually not to blame for this, it was me forgetting to get the cookies out of the oven after an appropriate amount of time, thus creating little hard rocks instead of crunchy cookies!

So either you try to be brave and risk loosing a tooth or two, or have to dunk the thing into your coffee/tea and let them soak a bit.

Or – and I hope you feel a little bit reminded of a certain witch here – might I tempt you with some Turkish delight?? 😉

Pomegranate flavored Turkish delight – store-bought I’m afraid

I know, it’s rather sweet, but at least you can be sure that all teeth will remain in place.

And while you’re pondering wether to risk your teeth or your soul/conscience, let me throw some books at you, that I hope you might have read too, or maybe want to now that you’re aware of them:

First book of the year was a suspense novel written by one of my favorite writers, “Brother Odd” by Dean Koontz.

It’s the 3rd in a series where he’s focusing on a young man named Odd Thomas, who is able to see the spirits of the dead which naturally complicates his life a bit.

In this novel Odd Thomas is a guest of St Bartholomew’s Abbey, where he hopes to seek peace and understanding. I think it’s not too much of a give-away when I tell you that this is not going to happen for him. 😉

Have you ever read something written by Dean Koontz?

Another favorite writer of mine is Alan Bradley, a Canadian mystery writer known for his Flavia De Luce series, which began with the acclaimed The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. “The Golden Tresses of the Dead” is the 10th book in this series, and if I were you, I’d start reading this series TODAY!!! Really, it’s that good.

Flavia De Luce is an 11-year old sleuth, who is also a brilliant amateur chemist with a specialty in poisons and has a knack for solving crimes – rather to the annoyance of the local police force. Reading these books makes me remember that feeling of being unstoppable when I was the same age, which is maybe why I love the books so much.

Next in line were “Foucault’s Pendulum” by Umberto Eco (1989)

“The Observations” by Jane Harris (2006)

“The Crossing” by Michael Connelly (2015), “The Jewels of Paradise” by Donna Leon (2012)

“The Swan Thieves” Elizabeth Kostova (2010)

and “Novelist as a Profession” by Haruki Murakami (2015)

Did you read any of these? Or want to tell me what books you’ve been reading this year so far?

The Changing Seasons – January 2021

The theme of this month’s The Changing Seasons post is very easy to detect: colours! (And incidentally you’ll also find lots of beautiful colors in my dear friend Su’s experiments with alcoholic inks.)

It’s funny, because the world around me presents itself in its rather usual bleaky grey during winter, so maybe I just try to compensate that.

In case you’re wondering – no, that’s not me taking a shower in the first pic, I was merely watching “Flashdance” again. 😉 I’m the one doing yoga underneath it. 😉

Big highlight of this month was me finally giving in and subscribing to Netflix – and boy, am I loving it!! I freely admit that I spend far too much time watching tv now but what else can you do during a pandemic that needs you to stay inside as much as possible? And honestly there is only so much time you can spend painting and drawing.

So far I’ve happily watched or am still watching: Alias Grace, The Queen’s Gambit, Star Trek Discovery, Midnight Sky, Grace&Frankie and The Crown. Did you watch any of these? Did you like it? And do you have any recommendations for me?

There was a big curveball thrown at me on the 10th when there was a power cut that lasted for about 8 hours. The thing responsible was my water heater that decided to go bust. Somehow it managed to fry up all the fuses. And since all DIY shops etc are closed during the lockdown there was no way to get a new water heater or fuses myself, I had to contact my landlady who send repairmen on the way which fortunately only took two days. I can tell you that taking a shower with icy cold water is no fun in winter!

Before we went into lockdown I stocked up on different kinds of fabric so as to occupy myself with tailoring my own clothes. So far I only managed two long sleeved shirts but am planning to make a pair of pyjamas and a pair of sweatpants – as you can see, mostly stuff that I’m going to wear inside the house. 😉 As soon as I feel confident enough to attack more elaborate sewing projects, I’ll let you know.

Long-sleeved shirt with a many-colored fabric that was begging me to buy it.

I’ve also made little watercolors this month, nothing big but more or less postcard sized paintings that are quick to do and lots of fun.

This is what I must have looked like when there was a power cut this month

This one was compared to Banksy when I posted it on Instagram – yay!

And this was it!

What have you been up to in January?

Let me know all about it in your comments!

My Year in Books

I’ve always been an avid reader and my guess is, that many of you share my passion for books and reading. And if you happen to follow me on Instagram you know how books make a regular appearance there on my stories. 😉

My friend Lani from over at “Life, the Universe, and Lani” (hint: if you’re in the know, you can already guess from her blog’s name how much she loves books 😉 ) recently talked about books on her Instagram account and inspired me to write a post about the books I’ve read in the last year.

Considering the amount of time I, like so many others, spend in lockdown and at home, I was surprised to learn that with 70 books all in all, I only read 7 books more than in 2019 (63 books). So maybe I spend more time being creative, but my guess is, that I simply spend more time in front of the tv!

Anyway, here are my books from 2020! I’d love to hear from you if you’ve read some of them as well and compare notes. ;). (Where possible I added the original title in brackets if I’ve read the book in German. Also I added an exclamation mark to those book I especially enjoyed reading. Oh, and I also count audio books in my list which I like to listen to when drawing or painting, or when I’m too tired to read but not tired enough to fall asleep.)

January:

„The Reverse of the Medal“ by Patrick O’Brian
„The Giver of Stars“ by Jojo Moyes
„Strange the Dreamer“ by Lani Taylor (audio) (!)
„Der Reporter“ von John Katzenbach („In the Heat of the Summer“)

February:

„The Chef“ by James Patterson
„Catching Fire“ by Suzanne Collins
„Devil’s River“ von Thomas Thiemeyer (!)
„Rein soll deine Seele sein“ von Faye Kellerman („The Ritual Bath“)
„Mr. Vertigo“ by Paul Auster
„Maximum Ride – Der Zerberus-Effekt“ von James Patterson

March:

Blut vergisst nicht“ von Kathy Reichs („Spider Bones“)
„Das Haus der roten Dämonen“ von Peter Dempf
„Machines Like Me“ by Ian McEwan (audio) (!)
„The Black Country“ by Alex Grecian (!)

April:

– „Die Ermordung des Commendatore“ von Haruki Murakami (audio) („Killing Commendatore“) (!)

– „The Sunday Philosophy Club“ by Alexander McCall Smith

– „Muse of Nightmares“ by Lani Taylor (audio) (!)

– „Dunkles Blut“ von Stuart MacBride („Dark Blood“)

– „Aus der Dunkelkammer des Bösen“ von Mark Benecke

– „Die Phoenix-Chroniken: Blut“ von Lori Handelnd („The Phoenix Chronicles“)

May:

„Libellen im Kopf“ von Gavin Extence („The Mirror World of Melody Black“)
„Into the Wild“ by Jon Krakauer (!)
„Die Ermordung des Commendatore, Bd. II“ von Haruki Murakami (audio) („Killing Commendatore II“)
„Engelslieder“ von Kat Martin („The Summit“)
„Of Blood and Bone, Chronicles of The One II“ by Nora Roberts (!)

June:

„Hush, hush“ by James Patterson&Candice Fox
„Der Outsider“ von Stephen King (audio) („The Outsider“)
„A Conspiracy of Bones“ by Kathy Reichs (!)
„The Inn“ by James Patterson&Candice Fox

July:

„The Cockroach“ by Ian McEwan
„How the Dead Speak“ by Val McDermid (!)
„The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes“ by Suzanne Collins (!)
„The Near Witch“ by V.E. Schwab (audio)
„Wenn der Wind singt“ von Haruki Murakami (audio) („Hear the wind sing“)
„If it Bleeds“ by Stephen King (!)

August:

„Die Glocke von Whitechapel“ von Ben Aaronovitch (audio) („Lies Sleeping“) (!)
„The Boy from the Woods“ by Harlan Coben
„Old Bones“ by Preston&Child (!)
„Vendetta in Death“ by J.D. Robb
„Mort“ by Terry Pratchett (audio)
„Pinball 1973“ von Haruki Murakami (audio)
„The Familiars“ by Stacey Halls (audio)
„Trace Elements“ by Donna Leon (!)
„The Secrets We Kept“ by Lara Prescott (!)
„Aufgetaut“ von David Safier (audio) (!)
„The Blue“ by Nancy Bilyeau
„Ausgeliefert“ von Lee Child (audio) („Die Trying“) (!)

September:

„The Sun Sister“ by Lucinda Riley (!)
„The Second Sleep“ by Robert Harris
„Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets“ by Joanne K. Rowling
„Still Life“ by Val McDermid (!)
„Mord in Sunset Hall“ von Leonie Swann (audio)

October:

„Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban“ by J.K. Rowling
„The Big Kahuna“ by Janet Evanovitch
„Crooked River“ by Preston&Child (!)
„Agent Running in the Field“ by Jon Le Carré (!)
„The Midwife Murders“ by James Patterson
„Magnus Chase – Geschichten aus den Neun Welten“ von Rick Riordan (audio)

November:

„Golden in Death“ by J.D. Robb
„The Institute“ by Stephen King (!)
„Ans andere Ende der Welt“ von Philip Pullman (audio) („His Dark Materials 4“)
„Die Abenteuer des Apollon – Die Gruft des Tyrannen“ von Rick Riordan („The Trials of Apollon – The Tyrant’s Tomb“)
„The Rise of Magicks“ by Nora Roberts (!)
„The Martian“ by Andy Weir (!)

December:

„The Book of Two Ways“ by Jodi Picoult (!)
„The Hazel Wood“ by Melissa Albert (audio) (!)
„Highfire“ by Eoin Colfer (!)
„Breakfast at Tiffany’s“ by Truman Capote
„Teufelsgold“ von Andreas Eschenbach
„Vox“ by Christina Dalcher (audio)

The Changing Seasons – December 2020

Yep, it’s that time again where I try to summarize the past month with a few pics. This time however I really took only very few, so I take my cue from my dear friend Su who chose to revisit her Changing Seasons posts from 2020.

But first, before I forget and because I promised to do so, a picture of me with my new haircut. 😉

First time in ages that I put on some lipstick as there wasn’t much point to do so when having to wear a face mask all the time. (Dezember 2020)

January

Winter’s a great time to take wildlife shots because there’s much less cover for them, as was the case with this cute red squirrel.

February

Where I tried to repair my washing machine – and failed. But I managed to take it all apart and put it all back together again which has to count for something, right?

March

Where I finally gave it a try and baked my very own croissants. It took hours to knead and fold the dough but it was so worth it! I have to admit though, that I haven’t done it again this year. 😉

April

It always makes me happy to watch nature coming back full force after a long winter. The ferns are usually one of the first to make an appearance.

May

Trying out new recipes was one of the main things I did this year, probably because the pandemic forced us to spend much more time inside the house than outside it.

June

Catching bumblebees mid-flight is always a favorite pastime in summer.

July

One of the best things to happen this year was when my friend Darren from over at The Arty Plantsman and I decided to take up a new blog challenge we invented to share our favorite films with you. It motivated me to get out of my comfort zone and start drawing portraits.

August

My absolute highlight however was watching our Panda bear cubs growing up in our zoo. I’ve developed a huge crush on Pit and Paule, and can’t wait to see them again!

September

Also finished my biggest watercolor so far this year.

October

This year our October really was golden.

November

Lots of handicraft in November, like making Christmas and greeting cards.

December

And here’s my doodle calendar for December, another lovely new creative way to express myself, inspired by my wonderful friend “A Wonderful Sheep“.

I almost don’t want to admit it, but I think I watched an awful lot of TV this month! 😂 (Can you spot the 3 movies I made tiny drawings of?)

Apart from that I even starred in my own spy movie – at least it felt a little like that when a friend of mine came over and we swapped presents for Christmas, keeping our distance and all but threw the gifts at each other from afar.

I think it’s safe to say that 2020 was more than challenging on all of us, and it fills me with terrible sadness to think of all the people who have lost someone to that horrible pandemic that has come over the planet.

It would be lovely to think that we’ve seen the worst of it, but I remain cautious. There’s still a long way to go, and I can only express my hope that we will go it together and find comfort and joy in each other’s company, even if it is only a virtual one.

Wishing you all a Healthy, Creative and Happy New Year!!! Stay safe and healthy!!!

Virtual Tea Party 2020 – Christmas Edition

Today is the final Virtual Afternoon Tea for this year – and what a strange and frightening year it has been.

Su’s wonderful idea to bring us all together over our favorite tea treats and have a little chat each month was one of few highlights I had the great pleasure to enjoy this year. (Even though I kept waiting until the last possible minute to bake a little something to join each tea party! I guess I’ll never learn. 😉 )

Matcha cookies, coffee and a reindeer, Dec. 2020

And yes, it was no different this time because I baked this new interpretation of the German classic Christmas cookies “Angels’ Eyes” late yesterday evening and had to wait until morning for it be light enough to take a few pics.

So what I’m offering you here are Matcha cookies with vanilla and red currant jelly. Full of antioxidants and whatnot you don’t have to feel guilty at all to stuff yourself with them (okay, there is butter in them – lots – but surely that’s healthy too? 😉 )

I love tea so matcha that I can even eat it!

Besides, it’s Christmas soon, so who cares about calories, right? We can always start loosing weight after the holidays – by which I mean the Easter holidays of course. 😉

Is that snow, dandruff or confectioner’s sugar on the cookies? No worries, it’s the latter because I love you so matcha! 😉

Please let me know how you’re doing these days! What’s happening in your part of the world?

Hope you enjoyed my little offerings and wish you a beautiful and peaceful Holiday Season!

The Changing Seasons – November 2020

I know, I know – I’m late for Changing Seasons party! Sorry!

As always, it’s hosted by my dear friend Su from over at Zimmerbitch – do yourself a favor and visit her fabulous blog if you haven’t already.

This month’s theme is quite easy to detect: it’s trees and leaves.

November started really beautiful this year: relatively warm and dry, and what’s even more rare – we got to enjoy all those pretty autumn colors.

Normally when the seasons turn from summer to winter, autumn is about two seconds long.

The trees turn brown from one day to the other, and on the next all their leaves have fallen to the ground.

But not so this year! No, this time the trees showed off all their pretty colors, and were even still green while the ground was covered in different tones of yellow, orange and brown.

It was a real feast, and I enjoyed several lovely walks in parks.

Naturally all those beautiful trees inspired me for this year’s Christmas cards production.

A couple of YouTubes videos made me try out a new technique where you kind of blob the watercolor on the paper and then using a (reusable) straw blow it into different directions.

I wasn’t sure if my experiment worked, so asked my friends on Instagram if the Christmas tree theme was recognizable which they assured me it was. So if you want to blame anyone for your ugly Christmas card this year, you can blame them. 😉

And nature inspired me on another project as well, this time I chose ginkgo leaves from my own little tree, press-dried them and then coated them with acrylic gold paint.

I think the paint did a great job at enhancing the little grooves of the leaf’s structure, don’t you agree?

And since it was so warm at the beginning of November I made good use of the weather and visited our cute panda bear babies again.

Not quite sure though if I should feel offended by this giraffe’s reaction…

I think some of you might already have met my new “dog”? He’s very easy to care for since he’s made of popcorn!

And no, normally I don’t play with food, but it was a movie night, and the movie was kind of boring, so…

And last but not least my monthly overview, inspired by my friend A Wonderful Sheep:

In case you’re wondering: yes, I had my hair cut off on the 8th. And no, I still haven’t managed to get a photo taken of me with my new hairdo. 😉 Maybe next time. 😉

And even better than making my own doodle calendar this month was, that I have inspired another blogger to do the same!! Please visit Ashley over at A Different View and have a look for yourself!

And this was it!

Hope you had a lovely November, and am wishing you an even more beautiful December and holiday season!

Take care!

For rules and guidelines to The Changing Seasons please take a closer look at Su’s post.