autumn beats and tulips .....

Hurray! 

The weather forecast had been good, it´s going to be sunny

 over the weekend!  Today, we had a very foggy and 

misty morning with temps ranging between 3°C and 4°C. 

But, I was sure though that it would become milder 

as the morning went on.

And then....the sun came out and I was overjoyed! 

My plan for today to work in the garden became perfect! 

By  10 o´clock, we hit 11°C.

My workplan today was to set the tulip bulbs 

in the soil before we reach the freezing temperatures.

I went to the discount store where I bought the beautiful 

tulips I planted last year, but I missed their offer :-(((  

Panic got in me...  just thought that "if  I don´t get them now,  

there will be no tulips in my garden next year!"

Off we went to the next garden center and I had my lucky day! 

These tulip bulbs from Holland (above) totalling to 55 pieces were 

discounted by 25% Yuhuuu!

I love the autumn colors especially when my neighbour´s birch tree becomes

golden yellow. It is so lovely to look at from my window.

These are the tulips I´ve had last Spring and if all of the 55 pieces
would grow like them, I´d be the happiest gardener 

in this world!

We´ve placed the bird´s feeder a bit higher on the apple tree....

  

...and this is the area where I did the planting today. 

I placed the metal fence back to its place now to prevent Geisha, 

my neighbour´s  visiting cat, to spoil the bulbs.

 

Spring 2015

I really  wish and pray that the 55 bulbs would grow
 as gorgeous as the the last Pink Tulips below.

   

Have a nice Sunday ahead!

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Feathered Nest Friday
Home Sweet Home

a bouquet of just about everything....

Sometimes, the span of time between the months of September and 

October can be very interesting as far as wildflowers 

are concerned. In these months, I still saw many colors.

There are various flowers available here that is mostly 

dominated by yellow ones, i.e.the goldenrods which play an important function

 in my bouquets and arrangements in the abovementioned months.  

I like the style of putting the long stemmed flower in the middle and letting 

the shorter ones cascade towards the sides of the vase. If I want to give 

volume at the center, I just add flowers with more leaves. 

I´ve had a heavy supply of goldenrods since they grow wildly along the 

field near our home. 

This arrangement taken from the top, depicted the true shape 

and distribution of all the flowers in this vase. 

The vase by the way, was a lucky find at a local flea market and 

was almost a give-away just because the dealer 

wanted to get rid of it.

I will surely use this vase more often in the coming season. 

I can´t wait for Spring to come to see the areas near

 our home exploding with various flowers and colors.

Hope all is well at your end!

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Home Sweet Home

free onions and rosehips....

Year after year, we get so much of these onions from the 

fields near our home, for free. 

Sometime in September, the farmers do their seasonal 

harvesting in the Marchfeld area outside Vienna.

The tractors would set the onions free from the soil, gather them in rows, 

dry them  for about a couple of weeks before they are being 

cleaned and delivered to the wholesalers in big crates.

Part of  2014 gathered red onions

When the farmers finished their harvest and the tractors are 

out of the fields, we´re allowed to get the remaining ones that were not 

included in the harvester.

Aside from the abundance of such harvest, I also got rosehips that I´m drying, also

from the same area. I´m trying this out for the first time to make tea... 

I read that each berry is  full of  vitamins and could give relief to colds.

I´m anxious  to try the tea now!

We love to walk the dog here because it´s where nature is at its best.  

Lily would while away enjoying the smell of the grass, wild trees

and bushes as other dogs do.

Sometimes, the farmers here change the crops they grow each season...

one time it´s the potatoes,  next.... the corn , rapes or sunflowers for 

the oil production.

Lily exploring....

...and inspecting our free harvests

Rosehips for drying..... interesting to note that the drying process takes long.

My storage box full of onions is hidden in a cool dark place to make 

them last longer. The dark place is necessary to prevent each 

piece from getting green shoots, thereby leading each 

onion to get spoiled!

 I will tell more on the dried rosehips soon as they are ready... 

perhaps, the rosehip tea will taste good! 

Am anxious!

Thanks for visiting!

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Feathered Nest Friday - French Country Cottage
Home Sweet Home

winter shelter ...

"geranium"

Today had been one of those uncomfortable autumn days.....so so so gloomy!

 The wind was blowing harshly......so gusty that it would make you

 shiver to death. 

I went out and walked Lily in the afternoon, it was brave of me to 

go outside towards the fields just to see that chubby Lily 

makes her afternoon walk and move, move, move. 

Well, she has to lose weight... and so am I.

It is this cold weather that made me decide to still enjoy these
wonderful gift of nature, so I thought of bringing them inside

the house although available space isn´t that much.

I usually leave them outdoor in winter, buy newbies in Spring and 

let them grow til flowers are there to enjoy in Summer. But these ones are 

exceptionally gorgeous and I love them particularly 

the pink blooms.

 

And so..... I took the six potted geranium ( three pinks and three reds) 

that  are still blooming tremendously inside the house!

They are late bloomers and I dearly enjoy their flowers now ....
particularly when the nights are long and the days shorter. 

In summer, I cut the geraniums and add these to the wildflowers 

I`ve gathered when walking Lily, they add attractive color contrast 

to the bouquet I arrange each time.

 "chrysanthemum morifolium"

When I got this flower pot about two months ago, it had many small 

buds that were about to bloom. A couple of weeks later, the buds 

nicely opened and showed its radiant  and wonderful  colors.   

At first, they were in yellow with pinkish stripes and a bit of 

apple green in the middle. 

 I keep the soil moist by giving a daily dose of mineral water... 

As weeks passed-by, the flower-color turned into beautiful white!

The mineral water played a very important role in keeping these 

flowers looking so crisp, just like in the very beginning! 

Happy Thursday !

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Home Sweet Home

visiting the vineyards

Hi everyone!

After a couple of months of absence, I´m now back blogging.

I have a few posts drafted but weren´t published yet and this is one of those. 

The grapes are at their best now.  This cluster of vineyards is located in our 

district , in the slopy hills of Bisamberg. The locals come here to hike towards the 

top where the former tower of the local radio and TV station was located. The tower had long been  removed, but the locals still hike to reach the top.

From there, one can relax and enjoy the beautiful emerging viennese skyline.

The grape harvest in Vienna starts middle of August til November.  

At this time of the year, there are various wine festivities in all 

"weingartens". 

I took this photo in one of the vineyards and these grapes were

really very sweet!

With her little short legs, Lily was even  better-off than myself . She was running, smelling, stood still when people passed in front of her.  

Along the way, I took shots of the wild flowers inside 

the vineyards we visited.

 These grapes were so sweet!!!

The owner of these vineyard steps made use of  old vine barks as support 

for the stairs, which is a good functional idea!

These vineyard visitors are going up to join one of the wine festivities. 

Lily, couldn´t decide whether to join them, LOL!

Though we only walked very slowly, we only made it 1/4 of the way to the top. 

I was beginning to feel pain in my feet, so we just stayed taking pics of few 

vineyards we reached. And thank God, we were lucky to have reached 

the car before the rain poured down. 

Hope you enjoyed the pics!

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