What are they saying?

They come every year.

Some stay all winter,  some make plans. 

Lola and Clyde have to stay...they can't fly.

They will get cracked corn every day.  They don't have to forage. 

Have a great week dear friends, 

Gina 

Because fresh berries are available all year.

 

So easy but so special.

Why not serve Bavarian Cream next time. 

For Dessert, Bavarian Cream with Raspberries and whipped cream laced with 23 carat gold, 

Danziger Goldwasser Liqueur.

Recipe for Bavarian Cream

Mix 1 cup sugar with 1 quart raspberries. Let stand for 30 minutes

Soak 2 tsp gelatin in 3 TB of water, dissolve in 3 TB boiling water, stir this into berries

when cooled fold in 2 cups whipping cream laced with Liqueur.

Pour into mold or individual serving glasses. Chill for at least 6 hours. Serve with fresh blueberries and/or additional raspberries.

Speaking of Goldwasser Liqueur, those are 23 karat gold flakes floating at the bottom of the bottle. 

Goldwasser is now produced in Berlin, Germany. 

It was first produced in 1598 in the German town of Danzig, my Father's birthplace. 

Who knows, could Goldwasser be the cure all. 

It contains more than thirty herbs and spices. 

King Louis the XIV and Catherine the Great favored it.  

The recipe is a secret.  There is only one person who knows it.

The owner of the recipe is a German by the name of 

Graf Carl von Hardenberg. 

Have a wonderful week dear friends. 

Gina

Fall has never been more beautiful

Spring has always been my favorite season.

Bright, brash and colorful.

Then a beautiful Fall like this comes along.

Delicious and crisp apples are ripening in the trees.

Golden days and cool nights.

Leaves are falling everywhere.

There is never enough time to harvest it all. 

Last roses make a small bouquet.

Wild Ducks and geese mingle with our own.

Winter pears are still ripening.  
Blue cheese is ageing for my favorite dessert.

Only a few flowers left.

Snow will come soon enough.

Hope you are enjoying beautiful Fall days where you live.

Gina

Flying Putti overhead

 

Have angels flying overhead.

A few life-sized stencils and a little paint is all you need.

These were painted  "on the ground" and then attached to the ceiling.

Never pass up a new building site without asking for permission to "harvest" a few drywall pieces.

I stenciled Putti onto dry wall slabs,  and freehand painted additional garlands and flowers.

The edges are broken off and the entire piece is  "aged" with furniture stain.

I wanted to give the impression that the painted panels were rescued from a historic site.

To begin with, the idea was to temporarily attach panels to the ceiling in order to determine spacing. 

I was then going to paint a blue sky and Putti onto a fabric canvas and attach it to the ceiling.

For now I explain, if asked, that my Putti were broken away from an ancient Fresco.

Hope you have a wonderful week, 

Gina

Stencils: Royal Design Studio

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Can you tell, I have the wanderlust.

 

I noticed that the flower beds in France

 have taken on a new look.

A thing of the past are rows upon rows of marigolds and petunias lined up in perfect soldier-like fashion.

Nowhere else was this more evident than in the small town of St. Emilion, Bordeaux Region, France.

St. Emilion, tucked away in hills and beautifully cared for vineyards, is the perfect place from which to enjoy the Bordeaux wine country.

Well cared for vineyards and tidy streets connect cobbled small squares,  and well stocked wine shops. 

Of the Bordeaux's famous red wines, St. Emilion Reds represent 5% of the regions total production. 

Hostellerie de Plaisance, St. Emilion, France.

A souvenir from St. Emilion for my Thanksgiving Table.

Have a great weekend  my dear friends.

Gina

partial re-post

Apples, Apples and more Apples.

Every other year we have a huge apple crop.

What to do with all those apples. 

If you live in this little town you can take them to the Post Office and leave them by the door.  

Soon they will have found a new home.  

I'll get the ladders out and invite my friends and neighbors. 

The pig farmer gathers the fallen apples

and the deer take care of the rest.  

 The apple press is rolled out again. 

It's easier going if we first cut up the apples into smaller pieces.  

 The most intensely flavored and concentrated apple juice  is the result. 

The light frost made them sweet and ready to pick.

Have you seen this little wonder of an apparatus?

It peels, cores and slices, all with one motion, apples and pears and potatoes.

And pears already picked.

For the perfect pear pie. 

 There are many more apples to pick and/or press.  

Have a lovely week my dear friends. 

Gina