Things that give Pleasure, in August.

Life has happened quite a lot, lately.
Travel, ideas, health, food, reorientation, reading, experiments, lots of conversations about taste and emotion, and finally two moves (one with the sweetheart and one in the commuting town).
And because I also encounter so much goodness in real life and in my work afar from recipes but in regard to cooking and eating, I have been thinking for some time how I can let more of it flow in here. And I do have an idea about this, more on that very soon.

Well, but first a few nice things because August it is, or because it sometimes even feels a little like summer up in the German North, and, because:
Do you already know the dancing farmer? Alone the video is great, but then Jay Lavery has a permaculture farm, too, a lovely Facebook page and has been on the Ellen show (best to watch the video on his FB site, on Youtube the song had to be removed for copyright reasons.)

And here is more mad dancing.
Also beautiful, but quite differently beautiful, actually informative (and very funny) are Aljoscha and Gordon. Only in German though.

Due to the move I am a new and proud, sunsheltered balcony farmer. In this context, I once again noticed how great this tea herb is. It is an Agastache, and Agastaches are anyway great, attract many bees and smell celestial. But the Anis-Hyssop is just something special. And folks who are looking for more herbs in Germany: Rühlemanns is a hit and the delivery time is currently only one week.

After the planting work I now drink only Frosé. Not heard yet? For me, without sugar, and if I really need it fast, I simply put two ice cubes into my wine. Tasty, too.

I’m probably the last one in the line, but the commuting has brought me on to podcasts:
My favorites are: Radio Cherry Bomb, Gastropod and The Sporkful.

And, I’m sure I have mentioned it before, but if you are in Brighton, please go to silo and order the Dea Buckthorn-Brown Butter Mousse-Pine oil-cookie dust dessert. Or better two (this has been tested for you). It is so delicious, I dream about it. Silo is worth a trip anyway, because it is a Zero Waste Restaurant and incredibly inspiring. And if we are already in England: In London, I strongly recommend you this place and this place and this one, too.

Attention, beauty stuff now. Of fresh cosmetics I had read before, alone the idea of the mixing of the creams, which for me rather had a resemblance of cooking. Then last year I was lucky to meet with a wonderful beautician who brought back the condition of my skin to my long-term use of natural cosmetics with essential oils and alcohol (which are also used as a preservative), and used Rosel Heim‘s products. The anamnesis with her lasted nearly two hours and was, surprisingly, a lot about diet and gut health. My curiosity of really understanding how our skin works, was excited. This German book* I found very informative. And the products of Rosel Heim which at first have deterred me by the fragrances, are so convincing in their effect for me that I have not used anything else for a year. Except for the Ringana tooth oil, of course. Oil pulling I already find quite wonderful, but with the fresh aromatic tooth oil it is the best start in the day.

Also, let’s talk deodorants. I have tested a lot of different aluminum free ones in recent years and can recommend two from my heart, which could not be more different in their presentation, and also by price. This one is really pretty and smells wonderful, but a little better working I find this one here. There is no white film on the skin, if you take very little of it and it works really great. In the U.S. I always get this one*.

A project I have supported on kickstarter, because it is a really nice design work on the future of butchering, is this book. The poster, isn’t that great?

Movings are always new beginnings (and deep shopping grounds, but we get to that later). And of course you ask yourself, is the new place a good one. Will we feel comfortable, how loud is the traffic noise, where falls the sunlight…. A very entertaining way of seeing what the stars say was sent to me by a girlfriend. We already logged in all the places that occurred to us, and, lo and behold, the new apartment is good for ideas-forging.

And apropos streets. According to Nasa, these plants are the best to filter toxins out of the room air. Great right? I’m probably also really late with the indoor plant love, but Urban Jungle, now I get you.

New in my 1a dream kitchen is also this helper (even twice), because there are just too many fruit flies this year, which can not be satisfactorily met even with tried and tested our old-fashioned household tricks. And, the kitchen. It cost me the last sleep, because so many technical decisions were necessary and I’m relatively free of talent in home crafts and technical questions, but hey, now I know a lot about low-pressure fittings. And about gas cookers that make sense (many of them don’t). And also about Ikea drawers. Until my divine kitchen is finished and I can show you more of it, I am glad that at least the espresso machine is standing and I’m really looking forward to the new coffee Lilou is going to have in their program soon, because I have had the chance to try it.

Much more talented in DIY is Fynn, by the way.

Have fun and talk soon.
Promised.

* These marked links are affiliate links. If you buy something via them, I get a mini provision and will very likely buy cookbooks.