finally Opuntia

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since January I got obsessed to get a big Opuntia cactus
I saw it everywhere
on tumblers, on blogs, in interior magazins, in advertising, on old photos
but not in real
till Saturday
in Mortsel, a village outside of Antwerp
where common people sold there plants and cuttings
a guy with a real obsession and passion for this kind of cactus
he had around 20 of them
in all different sizes
I took the biggest one and a smaller one for M.
they are perfect
of course I still have the little one
but it takes years to grow up

above the bed

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this 3 prints and paintings are hanging above my bed

a print from Charlotte Reine "Ciel de Janvier", because I'm a Winter child

a woodcut from a thrift store in the Alps, which reminds me of my childhood in the Maiensäss

an icon like oil painting of "the beautiful Madonna from Kruzlowa", the artist-Anna Lhamiec- did a beautiful interpretation of the original woodsculpture

they watch over my sleep and dreams

macrame I

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I know very well how to knit and crochet
I know even better how to sew and make patterns
I know better and better how to make handbags in leather

I learn now how to make macrame

another traditional handcraft which has a hugh reveval the last years

I still have the old books of my sister
who did it in the late 70ies
all in orange and dark green
she would screem, if she would see me now

but
it has something very meditative
the different yarns and ropes in natural colors are beautiful

first try out for a plant hanger

got my hands on it

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from Walter Bosse I knew the animal figures
but he made also a brass hand
I dreamt about to have one
never saw anywhere one
till yesterday
in the thrift store
my heart made a jump
maybe it's a fake one, cause it's not marked
nevertheless
the hand is a beautiful object

Carl Auböcks hand is the next one

favorite vegan recipe I: sweet & sour

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after I participated at Matimuk for the "Zwischenzeit"I & II
I decided to post some of my favorite vegan recipes

I start with a classical sweet & sour
my sister gave it to me 20 years ago when I started to be a vegetarian and to live on my own
it's real comfort food and tastes good even 2 days after you cook it

Sweet & sour tofu

sauce

2cm ginger root, grated
2 tbs sugar
3 tbs vinegar, I take rice vinegar
2 tbs concentrated tomato
3 tbs soja sauce
2 tbs sherry or sake
5 tbs orange juice or apple juice with some lemonjuice

stir the ingredients well together

vegetables

2 cucumbers, in half, seeded, gut into pieces
1/2 kohlrabi, cut into pieces
1 red paprica, cut into slices
1 carrot, cut into pieces
any green like cabbage, spinach, broccoli, even salad, cut
1 mango, cut into pieces
2 red onions or spring onions, cut into rings
300 g tofu, pressed for 1/2 hour, to release all the water, cut into pieces, sprinkled with flour

in oil fry the tofu from all sides
in another pan fry in oil the vegetables, start with the mango, kohlrabi, onions, paprica, cucumbers and finally the greens
I do it in a wok, actually one by one, and mix it together at the end

finally pour the well stired sauce over it and let cook for about 3 minutes

serve with basmati rice

you can use all other vegetables you have in your fridge, the mango is necessary for the sweet taste

the rice I wash 3 times, using the water for the plants=excellent fertilizer!
then I let stand the rice in water for at least 1 hour=the grain gets much longer
pour the water away and add 1 1/2 times the amount of rice in water to cook it for 12 minutes with lid on it, let rest for 10 minutes or more

the photo is taken 2 days after I cooked it, actually without tofu, I fryed the rice!
second photo shows how tofu gets really firm to fry it easy

wild tulips on the terrace

...
they are so beautiful
tiny
fragile

Persische Tulpe "tulipa clusiana"
Kretische tulpe "tulipa saxatilis"

both from manufactum

and the forsythia is still blooming and growing inside
every year again the azalea from Aldi!