the lavenders....

It already rained in the morning and at lunchtime, it´s an on and off situation... sometimes the sun showed up... then disappeared. But it´s those thick clouds that made me nervous going out in the pouring rain, you´ll never know ....until we went brave and just simply got into the car and drove... we were going to visit Oma´s grave at the Grinzinger Friedhof.

The grave of Gustav Mahler, the famous classical music composer

     Grinzinger Friedhof at the 19th District, Vienna

 Grinzinger Friedhof in Döbling is located in the  19th District. It´s 

the resting place for the  rich and famous, bankers, noblemen of the 

Austrian Society. It´s a very small cemetery that was founded

 in the beginning of  the 20th Century...Though, it´s story goes back 

to the middle of the 19th Century, 

My husband´s grandmother was lucky to have gotten a plot in the 1950`s. 

Nowadays, to get a plot here is almost impossible.

And so we went to visit grandma and we were so surprised that her grave is almost 

covered by the lavender growing on the plot beside hers... The bees were all over the flowers and I was careful not to bother them... and I did cut the so many stalks and one of the bees stung my finger.... Awtsch!!!!

The smell of the lavender is so wonderful and I just love it.... and so instead 

of bringing the cut stalks to the compost, I brought them home and 

made a bouquet and have this in the garden.

The scent is all over the seating area and we´re enjoying it...hmmm,  but maybe 

not the moths, LOL!

Thank you for visiting me! Wishing you a nice Tuesday!

Until next time...

xoxo, Mercy

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The French Country Cottage

it´s gladiola time ....

Yes it is..... gladiola time! 

They´re here again and blooming so wonderfully on that field 

a few meters away from our house.. 

These are the ones I cut & picked today and arranged them in a tall vase.

Looking so good, the pink ones are the

 loveliest shades for me.

So many varieties and all with beautiful colors... each is so unique  and has its  

own characteristics. Each bloom seems to be smiling at us awaiting

 to be cut!

From dark hues to lighter shades, they all stand out on its own.  

My favorites are the ones with pastel colors especially the pink and violet ones.

 The buds of each stalk  started to open end of last week ...  they´re just 

beginning to bloom now and already spreading joy 

to all passers-by.  

I just hope the blooms will still be  there til Fall!  But that would be 

impossible because they are for sale, everyone´s 

picking and picking each day.

Oh well, just maybe!

Have a great Tuesday!

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The French Country Cottage

vintage cups & saucers....

I can still remember how she took those pieces out of her display cupboard and set the 

table for the afternoon coffee... A delicious cake was already placed on the table and 

coffee was brewing.
Oma, hubby´s late grandmother, used these mismatched cup and saucer sets 

 only once when we celebrated  a Christmas afternoon in her home in the late 80´s. 
Oma had been collecting these for years!

I never get to know the story behind each of these beautiful pieces. And I´m not really

 sure whether they are considered collector´s pieces at all. 

But, whatever  category they may fall in, I consider them  all beautiful pieces.... 

pieces that were handed-down by Oma to my mom in-law and now to me.

Each piece was very thinly manufactured.... and one can feel their sensitivity when the 

cups are stack together and that magical "zing sound" echoes all over the room.

You will have the impression when hearing the sound that the pieces are so delicate.

I only wash them by hand.  We have various coffee and teapot sets at home for

everyday use or for special occasion....and so these pieces

 are going to be placed in a glass cupboard....yes, only in a glass cupboard....  

...and will probably not to be used in any of the coffee parties.

Hope you enjoyed this blog!

Thanks for visiting!

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Feathered Nest Friday

Three-berry Muffins

This is one of the easiest recipes to bake... This basic muffin recipe as such is very easy and
 does not need extra effort to obtain rare ingredients. In fact most of the ingredients
may already be in your home.
 The orange juice and the pitted cherries in the glass are the  ingredients
 that make these muffins so moist and soft... 

It is your option to use whatever muffin forms you prefer... This  recipe is for 
12 pieces of standard muffins. I prefer to use the bigger forms and I just
double the quantity of the batter, not exceeding the 3/4 level
of batter in each form ...

I find it very practical to use silicon forms however big or small.
They are very handy and muffins can easily be removed without each 
sticking to the form. I used my souffle form that I´ve just coated with butter
then with flour, placed in the freezer for 10 minutes before filling the batter.
Reason is, the muffins are crispier on the sides 
when removed from the form. 

So, I hope you will try this delicious recipe and serve them to your loved ones
and friends in your next coffee round. I´m sure, they will crave for more , 
so be sure to bake more. 
They can be baked the day before and can be stored overnight 
in a tightly covered jar.

Three -Berry Muffins

Ingredients:

1 cup pitted cherries in glass, drained 

1 cup dried cranberries

1 cup fresh blueberries

250 All-purpose Flour 

100 grams refined sugar ( or 5 tbsps -

powdered stevia)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

pinch of  salt

1 egg- beaten

6 tbsp Olive oil

1 cup fresh orange juice 

1 tbsp grated orange peel or

(1 pack Dr. Oetker Finesse- grated orange peel)

powdered sugar for dusting muffin top

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Use two mixing containers 

to separately prepare the dry from the liquid ingredients. 

1.

In the first  container, sift  the flour,  add sugar , baking powder,

 baking soda, and a pinch of  

salt  and mix throughly by hand. Set aside.

2. 

In the second container, with a whisk...mix the beaten egg, olive oil, 

grated orange peel and the orange juice. 

   Add this mixture to the first container of dry ingredients.

    By using a spatula or wooden spoon, mix thoroughly  just until  all the 

dry ingredients 

    are well coated and moistened by the liquid. 

    Add the cherries, cranberries and blueberries carefully mixing it with a spoon so that  they are  well  distributed in the batter.

3.

Fill each form with 2-3 spoons of the batter  if you´re making the 12 pcs.

Note :
If  big forms for 6 muffins are used,  then see to it 

that each form is filled only with 3/4 batter, not more!

    Place the forms in the middle oven rack, bake muffins for about  30 minutes.  

    Remove muffin tray from the oven and place it on a wire rack for about 5 minutes.

Then, remove muffins from the form and transfer them onto a platter,

 cool completely 

and sprinkle top with confectioner´s sugar.  

Serve hot or cold with whipped 

cream,
coffee, juice or tea.

Wishing you a great week ahead! Thank you for reading this blog!

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Feathered Nest Friday

a weekend in Chiemsee.....

It´s about 400 kilometers away from home and  took us 3 1/2 hours of driving from 

Vienna to Bavaria, Germany. We were visiting relatives in a town 

called Schonstett and spent our weekend there with Lily.

As an attraction of our tour, we went to the "Fraueninsel" in Chiemsee,  

a famous  lake in Germany visited not only by the locals but 

tourists all over Europe as well.

This island is also inhabited by the locals who in turn make the most of 

their hobbies by creating artisan objects and 

sell them to visiting tourists. 

One does not get to see the inside of  the 

Benedictinian Monastery  (nuns) founded by 

Duke Tassilo II  in the year 782. 

But, its administrators sometime hold various 

seminars on special topics that are offered 

to the public.

Frauen Insel  image source: Photorator.com

Chiemsee has four islands and two are the most 

famous of  them which are Herreninsel and the 

smaller Fraueninsel. 

We decided to visit the smaller one  and took the 

ferry boat going there.

image source : bahn.de

It was Lily´s first time on board this kind of vessel. She had been 

on a train, a plane to Spain, a bike ride,  a car ride and 

here the ferry boat ride.

 She seemed to have enjoyed it as swift wind made it 

cooler for her to manage the heat at around 25 °C. 

The distance from the dock of Gstadt to Fraueninsel is around 1.8 Km 
which took us 15 minutes  to  reach the island

 Although  the weather forecast on that day  wasn´t that good, 
there was no  gusty winds at all. 
We were lucky to have made the excursion.

As we were getting closer to the island, we could see the tower of the Monastery, 
the lush green trees, and the many docking stations for private boats.

The water had been calm and still all the time. 

We saw so many small sailing boats and 

many sports enthusiasts who strived hard to reach 

the islands of the lake with their canoes.

We took the walk to get to know the island and noticed that there were 

many restaurants and bars offering  hot and cold drinks. 

The Benedictine Monastery can´t be seen on the inside,  but from time to time, 
various seminars are offered to the public.

This lime tree is believed to be around 1000 years old  and had been planted 
during the medieval times.  In order to protect this tree, a fence was made around  it to 
prevent the island visitors from going  near  the tree 
that might cause damages to its roots. 

This is an example of typical house in the island,  built in the alpine style 

where most houses in the Alps  were constructed 

with wood or log.  

This tree is not as old as the protected lime tree, but surely,... this is centuries old..

As we went round the island, I noticed the 

so many sitting areas where you can simply rest and 

enjoy the view, feel the clean air, the quietness of the 

surroundings. All the stress will surely be gone, 

I saw flowers in abundance and everyone has lovely 

garden full of  flowering plants to enjoy.

Lily seemed to have enjoyed the scenery, the people,  the tourists we met, 

but surely not the water...as she was avoiding it!!!

As we continue to go round, people stopped and 

greeted Lily. She in return didn´t acknowledge the gesture as she´s the 
 kind of dog that would run away from 
strangers, LOL!

The tourists and locals alike do various  sports 

in the lake. We´ve seen this group of  senior men 

 and women, age between 60-75 cannoing..gosh, 
they were unbelievably strong... 
how sporty they were!!! 

Others went sailing, some were just paddling 
on the water in their tiny boats   without direction 
.....and some simply enjoyed  swimming in the lake.

A cold delicious drink in a restaurant along the bay gave us a big refreshment. 
The drinks not only quenched our thirst but 
also the sitting had done our tired feet good.. 

It was such a pleasant  day activity...  and hubby 
and I were happy that we made the tour.

 We took the ferry boat again and back at the Gstadt docks, we prepared 
ourselves to go back home..

Along the way to Vienna , we passed by the lake in Oberösterreich 
( Upper Austria) and took a break.

This is the Mondsee, one of the most beautiful lakes in Austria. 

These are houses on top of the  Alm that are located high up in the mountain. 
I just zoomed them with my camera to see  
the structures of the houses.
 Mostly, these are the houses of the farmers tending the surrounding slopes. 
Mind you , they have excellent views towards the lake!!!

To sum up , the excursion was wonderful although 

the trip was just a couple of days... but, we´ll 

surely come back!