The Celts used to start their year with Summer's End, a feast celebrated from the night of 31th of October, beeing the root of celtic 'All Hallows' and Halloween.
With this special year, here around, we discovered, it's the best point to wrap and review the year, closing it before holiday season. Starting the circle anew in fading light.
Wrapping projects. Getting ready for winter.
Heading to Rudesheim, preparing our share in the Rudesheim Christmasmarket. And the play of Martinmas.
Heading into Dark.
Getting ready for the next full cycle of life.
Monday, 28 October 2013
Sunday, 27 October 2013
Fall Sunday
German Time Change Weekend.
Garden early. Raking & Mulching. Harvesting quinces. Pruning blackberries.
No smartphones involved. Just us against the canes.
Home in brewing storm.
Cabbage stew with steamed quincemeat for lunch.
Apple, oat and cinnamon muffins for tea. Rested & wrote.
Saving words for submission deadline looming.
Today has been good.
Have a nice week!
Garden early. Raking & Mulching. Harvesting quinces. Pruning blackberries.
No smartphones involved. Just us against the canes.
Home in brewing storm.
Cabbage stew with steamed quincemeat for lunch.
Apple, oat and cinnamon muffins for tea. Rested & wrote.
Saving words for submission deadline looming.
Today has been good.
Have a nice week!
Wednesday, 23 October 2013
Pfannenwaffeln - Pan Wafers.
Mittwoch ist in der Regel ein ruhiger Tag. Home Office, Projektplanung und Buchhaltung. Dank Shaboom bin ich mit der Buchhaltung auf dem neuesten Stand, nur aktuelle Buchungen, und die Vorbereitung des Jahresabschlusses fallen allmählich an.
Bei der Buchhaltung hilft mittlerweile eine Routine. Man kann auch mit Musik buchen, das Hirn arbeitet sogar besser dabei, und das Kontieren ist eine erstklassige Entschuldigung für Nervennahrung.
In diesem Falle Pfannenwaffeln.
Das Rezept stammt aus einem Heft vom Herrn Oliver (wir nennen unsere bevorzugten Küchengurus gerne beim Nachnamen, um nicht gleich in die Kategorie durchgedrehte Kochfans zu fallen). Statt eines Waffeleisens kommt eine Gußeisenpfanne zum Einsatz und das Ergebnis ist phänomenal.
Einzige Beigabe: ein großer Löffel garteneigene Hagebuttenmarmelade.
Satt und zufrieden, klappt es auch wieder mit dem Kontenblatt.
Bei der Buchhaltung hilft mittlerweile eine Routine. Man kann auch mit Musik buchen, das Hirn arbeitet sogar besser dabei, und das Kontieren ist eine erstklassige Entschuldigung für Nervennahrung.
In diesem Falle Pfannenwaffeln.
Das Rezept stammt aus einem Heft vom Herrn Oliver (wir nennen unsere bevorzugten Küchengurus gerne beim Nachnamen, um nicht gleich in die Kategorie durchgedrehte Kochfans zu fallen). Statt eines Waffeleisens kommt eine Gußeisenpfanne zum Einsatz und das Ergebnis ist phänomenal.
Einzige Beigabe: ein großer Löffel garteneigene Hagebuttenmarmelade.
Satt und zufrieden, klappt es auch wieder mit dem Kontenblatt.
Monday, 21 October 2013
Herbstschluss Edition
For ten of the twelve last years, I have had the honorary duty I enjoyed yesterday: Being Rudesheim Herbstmuck.
Starting out with historical walking acts, being asked in 2002 to help out the local vintners, this turned fun.
Herbstmuck is a symbol of the last grape, like the last oar or Pacha Mama in corn-growing cultures. We designed her with a medieval rural costume, headscarf, crown of wine, and 'Stutz', the earthen, regional wine pincher.
She is fun. A mixture between Celtic Cerridwen, Greek Baubo, German Holle, and ancient Sapientia.
Hildegard Bingensis sees her clad in the Green Mantle of Creation.
She follows the wine queens to church, participates in Thanksgiving Mass in choir (an act of grace and tolerance, ending up in a nice little choreography at Eucharist, for I am Lutheran), is part of the opening, and gives a speech. Declaring herself as the symbol of this year's harvest, remembering all season, the hard cold winter, the hot summer, the yearning for rain, the labour of the vineyard, desk and cellar, the joy of harvesttide.
Then she offers the first toast of the new season to the community and welcomes the guests afterwards.
Herbstmuck is fun.
A good symbol for roots, earth and harvest.
For plenty. And for gratitude.
Starting out with historical walking acts, being asked in 2002 to help out the local vintners, this turned fun.
Herbstmuck is a symbol of the last grape, like the last oar or Pacha Mama in corn-growing cultures. We designed her with a medieval rural costume, headscarf, crown of wine, and 'Stutz', the earthen, regional wine pincher.
She is fun. A mixture between Celtic Cerridwen, Greek Baubo, German Holle, and ancient Sapientia.
Hildegard Bingensis sees her clad in the Green Mantle of Creation.
She follows the wine queens to church, participates in Thanksgiving Mass in choir (an act of grace and tolerance, ending up in a nice little choreography at Eucharist, for I am Lutheran), is part of the opening, and gives a speech. Declaring herself as the symbol of this year's harvest, remembering all season, the hard cold winter, the hot summer, the yearning for rain, the labour of the vineyard, desk and cellar, the joy of harvesttide.
Then she offers the first toast of the new season to the community and welcomes the guests afterwards.
Herbstmuck is fun.
A good symbol for roots, earth and harvest.
For plenty. And for gratitude.
Saturday, 19 October 2013
Rosehips. Horseradish. And Oudolf.
October at Rhine happens to be picture-perfect golden. So yesterday was the first time to ride our bikes and tend the garden after a bruised ligament episode.
Leaf-raking happens to be zen-like bliss. Taking in the first rosehips as well.
We have this routine of cooking them whole til soft, filtering the pulp through musselin, avoiding the itchy-scratchy seed-clearing routine. First brew will go into rosehip-jam, being one of our November's delights, second brew will give the freshest, richest, rose-flavoured infusion ever, each year.
Over breakfast at our anniversary getaway, we pondered about horseradish.
Our hosts are Austrian by heritage, so they have a strong sense and tradition of a good 'Kren', how horseradish is called in the Austrian Alps.
It's quite invasive, but very good for soils, the essential oils clearing fungi and pests, especially if planted under fruit trees. It is one of the easiest way to get rid of a head-cold. And a nice condiment, of course.
While raking, I pondered about the hip-deep hole, our neighbours were digging, saw Axel join them after a while. Heard talks and moans of meter-deep roots.
Moved forward, went: 'Digging horseradish, aren't you?'
We ended up planting some of the roots between Little Apple and Plum, putting some into a sand-bucket at our cellar, and cleaning one for a self-experiment.
Axel is committed to the task, peeling, shredding and processing, on his birthday today. Might add some googles.
Happy Rosehips & Horseradish Birthday, Love!
P.S.: Oudolf's & Kingsbury's book on planting arrived. First look - amazing.
Stay tuned.
Leaf-raking happens to be zen-like bliss. Taking in the first rosehips as well.
We have this routine of cooking them whole til soft, filtering the pulp through musselin, avoiding the itchy-scratchy seed-clearing routine. First brew will go into rosehip-jam, being one of our November's delights, second brew will give the freshest, richest, rose-flavoured infusion ever, each year.
Over breakfast at our anniversary getaway, we pondered about horseradish.
Our hosts are Austrian by heritage, so they have a strong sense and tradition of a good 'Kren', how horseradish is called in the Austrian Alps.
It's quite invasive, but very good for soils, the essential oils clearing fungi and pests, especially if planted under fruit trees. It is one of the easiest way to get rid of a head-cold. And a nice condiment, of course.
While raking, I pondered about the hip-deep hole, our neighbours were digging, saw Axel join them after a while. Heard talks and moans of meter-deep roots.
Moved forward, went: 'Digging horseradish, aren't you?'
We ended up planting some of the roots between Little Apple and Plum, putting some into a sand-bucket at our cellar, and cleaning one for a self-experiment.
Axel is committed to the task, peeling, shredding and processing, on his birthday today. Might add some googles.
Happy Rosehips & Horseradish Birthday, Love!
P.S.: Oudolf's & Kingsbury's book on planting arrived. First look - amazing.
Stay tuned.
Lingua franca
Deciding to change blog's language to English.
A language I love and use a lot.
For German friends, there will be comments, thoughts and native speaking/thinking.
For a start, the German version of my profile:
'Leben in interessanten Zeiten. Zwischen Garten und Office. Vorrat und Vision. Bücherregal und Schreibtisch. Zwischen Land und Stadt. Zwischen Geschichte und Morgen. Auf der Grenze. Auf der Schnittstelle. Jetzt. Und hier.'
A language I love and use a lot.
For German friends, there will be comments, thoughts and native speaking/thinking.
For a start, the German version of my profile:
'Leben in interessanten Zeiten. Zwischen Garten und Office. Vorrat und Vision. Bücherregal und Schreibtisch. Zwischen Land und Stadt. Zwischen Geschichte und Morgen. Auf der Grenze. Auf der Schnittstelle. Jetzt. Und hier.'
Fall 2013
Back on this blog.
The last three years have been some sort of a rough ride.
Shifting. Away from collectives. Away from complexities.
Towards clarity, simplicity, serenity.
Let's see, what this means. Shall we?
The last three years have been some sort of a rough ride.
Shifting. Away from collectives. Away from complexities.
Towards clarity, simplicity, serenity.
Let's see, what this means. Shall we?
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