Winter Gardens

 

Inside

 

 

Outside

 

Walking

 

 

Caring

 

 

Christmasing

 

 

Decorating

 

Homeying

 

Winter Greens

 

via The Gardenista

{with Thanks}

Roses in my garden

 

 

 

 

 

I hope you are enjoying life!

xoxo

 

 

 

 

 

 

March in my garden

 

I love seeing our garden in Athens grow.

My eddible garden took all winter to grow but now we seem to be getting results.

I discovered two paperwhites under the trees.

The lemon tree has new blooms.

And the most dull of evergreens gave me this exotic purple bloom.

 

I am thankful to God for out beautiful garden.

 

Spring in our garden

My garden looks like this.

This is actually the cutest part.

There is a tree that turned brown.

And plenty of wild greenery that some I recognize as eddible, some I dunno. For example, does any of you, o wise friends, know what plant is this and whether it is edible? It is velvety soft and I have two bushes growing wild in my garden, so they'd better be ;)

So, last week, I put my gardening equipment to use and raided my garden.

Some keepers, there.

Some lettuce and onion growing slowly during the winter months.

And some strawberries that begin blooming.

And this is my small apple tree that I adore. She's a beauty! Now I need to plant some seeds, and if I can find some non-greenhouse tomatoes to plant straight in the ground. 

And did I mention the tulips?

I bought them bulbs in Amsterdam in Spring 2011 and they are now blooming. 

I love beautiful, living memories.

How is your garden growing?

Fabulous Fifi

There are some people who bring happiness to every step. 

Have you seen those cursors that make star dust drop whenever you move your mouse on the screen? 

Yap. This is the kind of person I'm talking about. 

 Fifi o' Neill is one such person.

Stop by her blog and you are guaranteed a breath of fragrant air and a gulp of the most tasteful romantic homes.

Fifi, thank you for all the beauty you are creating and sharing with the world.

 It certainly looks like a better place, thanks to you.

I hope you had a lovely Easter, you all.

For us, Greek Orthodox Christians, this is Holy Week.

Wishing you a beautiful week and a happy heart.

New York garden love

When I first saw this garden I said, whose is this piece of paradise?
It's situated in New York,
and I love the kind of New York houses that mix
absolute urban to boarding on the countryside.

 I am so glad it belongs to one of my favorite actresses, Julianne Moore.

To me, it looks so her, sophisticated, intelligent, with the touch of a secret attraction.

I have dreamed of this kind of fountain for our home. So far we haven't found a craftsmanwho could make it, so one day I shall DIY it!

Ah this picture!

It makes me dream, it transports me right on the spot.

This, dear friends is actually a treehouse.

How original, how primitive, how secluded is that?

Absolutely dreamy to me.

Dear Julianne, 

I trully wish you enjoy your little piece of heaven in New York!

  All images AD. 

Full article here.

November Days

November so far

 

In the garden

The maple trees have shed their leaves, golden yellow and most favorite red.

Off went tomatos, cucumbers and courgettes~

Thank you lots, see you all in a few months, sweet darlings.

The roses, encouraged by the sky's sunny disposition, produce some pretty amazing blooms.

In the spring we planted some vines.
They're tiny and I hope they will survive the winter.
I always wanted to have vines in the garden.
They remind me of my grandpa's estate in the Peloponnese...

Over the weekend we planted lettuce, sprouts and cellery.

Watched

  Cars 2  

 It's almost blasphemy, but... it's even better than #1. 

Well done, Pixar! 

 The Hangover Part II  

 Gross, but hilarious at times. 

 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 

 Julie Walters and Maggie Smith are perennial favorites. 

And the Neville guy, ha! he's my hero!

We have been watching Harry Potter on TV for the past two weeks. 

I absolutely loved the films, and I look  forward to reading the books.

 Cooked*

*Don't forget to use your favorite cuttlery.
I love mine, from Cath Kidston.
The sous-plat, barely seen here, but I'm sure you've noticed in previous posts :) is from French company Les Olivades that we used to stock at the shop.

Penne, cooked, then layered with mushroom, saucage and canned sauce, half tomato, in the middle, one cheese on top. 

Add grated cheese and nutmeg. I could smell of nutmeg every day.

On Sunday we cooked some veal with mushrooms in a red wine and tomato sauce.

As of November 14, St.Philip's, we are fasting for Christmas.
So, our stews will have to be vegan. Like this potato stew I cooked the other day.



You will need
potatoes, quartered
onion
olive oil
tomato puree
a fresh tomato
a chilly pepper
a carrot, thinly sliced
salt
pepper
bay leaves
~~~
sauté the onion.
add the potatoes.
season to taste.
add veggies and bey leaves.
cover and simmer.
serve with feta cheese.

TV snack.

First satsumas at the shop, a treat for our customers.

Mornings start earlier, with little people requesting breakfast instead of skipping it.
Here, eldest daughter, F

And here, big cat boy Patcha, with little daughter D.

And a new addition to the gang

Meet Feta, as in feta cheese. Found wandering outside our condo. 

"Come in, sweetheart, it's freezing out there".