a million flowers for Dior

ISN'T THAT INCREDIBLY BEAUTIFUL?

Blumenschnecke

I totally love to pass by Sylke John's  flowershop "Blumenschnecke". I met Sylke a long time ago when she still worked in another flower shop. Now she has not only a loving husband but also a sweet little daughter, two super cute kittens and her own flowershop at the family's B&B.  And happily she brought along  all her creativity and sense for colours and surprises.

The little snailshells inspired her for the flowershop's name.

I initially dropped by just to get some peonies (my own ones in the garden are still a bit lazy- no surprise with the cold temperatures) and I left the shop with an armful of white and cream gillyflowers, some historical roses emanating a dazzling scent and all the deep red peonies there were.

Girl and boy, zebra and leopard....

 Blumenschnecke at Landpension John, Altwahnsdorf 28, 01445 Radebeul,
Tel. 0351-830 33 43.

Have a wonderful weekend!

kitchen

just a few photos ....

...of my kitchen windowsill, as evolved  over the last few weeks. All the flowers are from my garden.

July garden

Tuesday morning

June garden

I don't know the name of these cute, neon pink plants. They are growing like weed all over my garden. Unbelievable, true and no photoshop!

Today a climber-arborist has been here to cut the flowering plum.

They always remind me of the Mediterranean: Spain, Portugal..... sun, sea and holidays

May I introduce the most photogenic plant of my garden to you? It is the fustet. In German: Perückenstrauch, which literally translated means "wig bush"...  An untidy, crumpled wig, but always good for a photo.

Her name is Financial Times and in full blossom she will be perfectly pink.

English roses

In case you think about making a rose syrup from your most beautiful English roses, don't forget to wipe off the bugs and little insects...

evoking childhood

When I think about rhubarb, I remember myself as a little girl playing  in the old garden of my Great-grandmother. There was a huge cherry tree, strawberry plants lined up neatly, oldfashioned shrubs and a few rhubarb plants with their red stems and dark green leaves standing near the fence. I used to take water from the standpipe and fill it into sand moulds together with mud, grass and ripped off leaves. So I "cooked"  for the wild rabbits. Sometimes I took one of the big rhubarb leaves as  tray to offer some appetizing flowers as well. And, to my surprise, every morning the rabbits had eaten their meal without leaving any leftovers...

Unfortunately I never appreciated the very special acidity of rhubarb. Even now, when I only think of it I feel like shrinking inside ... The only way I always loved rhubarb was when it has been transformed into mere taste in the form of syrup.
Delicious to flavour fresh strawberries, icecream and even cocktails.

Recently I stumbled upon a very simple recipe in one of my favourite Blogs eatmakeread.

Rhubarb Syrup

Combine 1 cup sugar with 1 cup water over low heat. Once the sugar has dissolved, add 1 cup chopped rhubarb and simmer for 30 minutes. Strain out rhubarb and you've got yourself rhubarb syrup.

Enjoy!

Happy Easter, happy holidays and happy spring!

English Seed Cake

Had a cool morning with one of my best friends drinking café au lait, eating English Seed Cake and gossiping.

I don't like winter anymore

Today we have got "Blitz Eis". And yes, it is as dangerous as it sounds. So let's stay at home, drink a cup of hot chocolate and dream about the summer.

Qi Gong in the early morning hours

The house is so quiet and peaceful in the morning. It's still dark outside. Inside a warm  light of  white candles and the sound of the gently flowing Qi Gong music.