Change of seasons and the change of mood

I will take the risk that you all think I am a freak, because I myself think this is a good idea and I like to share. I believe everybody feels the need to change now and then. And given the fact that weather and seasons always change, why not use the opportunity? 

Of course I would not think of encouraging anyone to buy new furniture twice a year. But when spring and summer come, wouldn´t you like to see the light and bright colors in your home too? And arriving autumn and winter, I can´t imagine anyone would reject the warm feeling you get from terra and brown colors that will make your home a cosy place to survive the cold.

Let me show you how easily you can adapt your interior to the seasons outside without being ruined at once. Let´s start with the poutpourri we made a few weeks ago. If you have chosen te colors carefully, you could use the lavender and rose in spring and summertime, for they will have faded to a quiet pastel color. Put them on a light colored plate, a simple white one will be beautiful. Add a (scented) candle in a matching color and a matching decorated napkin and it will look very nice.

Comes autumn, use the calendula, change the plate for a darker one, change the napkin and the candle and it will be a completely different view, practically for free.

The same cheap solution can be used for stylish decorations with a small wooden box. In spring and summer fill it with some glass ornaments – or take a nicely shaped glass from your cupboard – , a light napkin and/or candle and ready it is. In autumn and winter you simple change the candle and napkin. I like incense, so when I buy it anyway, I choose the boxes in maching colors. There are many possibilities.

The more serious stuff I create by changing table ornaments. I use my own crockery for it, but maybe you have some nice pottery in your garden. Just try to make combinations. This is a little more expensive, but you can use it a few years after another. Because you change them twice a year, there´s less chance that yo will get tired of them.

I know it´s easy for me, because I own that hilarious amount of linens and crockery, but it is worth collecting towels and ornaments in sales or on markets.

Finally, I create the seasons atmosphere by changing my curtains, cushions and table runners. Of course this is the most expensive part of it, but you don´t have to change the cushions completely, just change the pillow cases. The curtains you can achieve on markets where they are cheaper or make your own if you have more skills than I have.

And after that..depending on the season, you only have to curl up in front of a wood fire with a glass of red wine, or relax at your spring-table with a cold white wine.  

Home made potpourri, part two - the flowers

In case you have missed part one, click here

Let´s continue with the homemade potpourri. If everything went well, the flowers you collected have dried in the meantime. The thing to do now is make a choice about the number of varieties you want to make. It depends a little on how many flowers you´ve collected.

But let´s assume you do exactly as I did.

Sterilize three big jars by putting them in a 200° heated oven for thirty minutes. Put them upside down on an absolutely clean towel and be careful because they´re hot.

Roses

If you are short on rose petals, you can add some lavender and/or malva because their fragrance is similar. In that case, mix well. Put the first half in the jar and sprinkle 4-5 drops of the rose oil you made last week (strain it first) over the petals. Shake a little, but be careful, rose petals are delicate.

Add the other half and sprinkle 4-5 drops of the rose oil again. Close the jar carefully.

Lavendermix

Mix the lavender with the malva, sage, marjoram, borage and comfrey. Be careful not to crush them too hard. Put half of it in a jar, sprinkle 4-5 drops of the lavenderoil and shake slightly. Add the other half, add the same amount of drops and close the jar.

Marigoldmix

Mix the marigold with the santolina and the camomile. Be careful because they fall apart easily. Divide in two parts. Put a layer of half of the alchemilla in the jar.

Add the first part of the marigoldmix, close the jar and quickly turn it upside down and back. Open the jar, add 4-5 drops of you marigoldoil and shake a bit.

Put the second h alf of the alchemilla in and add the other marigoldmix. Sprinkle with a few drops of marigoldoil, close the jar. Turn it upside down and back.

Leave the jars unopened for two weeks in a not too bright spot.

Potpourri is always a nice gift, especially with a little bottle of your home made oil. You can use it to decorate scented candles or -sachets that make your home smell fine. Also very decorative is a large plate with an ample potpourri filling and some (scented) candles in similar colors. Be careful that the potpourri doesn´t catch fire.

When you´ve flowers left:

Roses can be used to make rosewater. Just leave them be in boiled water for half an hour to prepare an extract. Strain it and keep it in a clean bottle. It´s a great skin tonic.

A mixture of rosewater and honey can serve as a facial mask. Mix well but don´t leave it too long, one or two minutes will do.

Put a little rosewater in the reservoir of the iron and all your clothes will smell deliciously they say (I don´t know for I haven´t ironed for a long long time but it sounds logical)

Lavender is very suitable for sweet desserts. Put two or three branches in a cupful of sugar, cover it and leave it for two weeks, then remove the branches. This sugar tastes very nice in whipped cream.

Put the flowers in a sachet for your linen closet and everything will smell fresh.

Or. like the roses, use them for an extract. Lavender has a relaxing effect in a warm bath, but you can also use the extract for a facial tonic for an oily skin.

The marigold is, as an extract, very suitable to make a compress in case of inflammation as long as the skin is undamaged.

The petal leafs can be used, like saffron, to color risotto (use only two or three).

And you can of course use most of the flowers to make your own medicines, but never do that without consulting a doctor. Therefore, I will not mention any of them in this blog.

Home made potpourri, part I - the oil

This blog consists of two parts: making the herb-oil this week, and making the actual potpourri next week.

It is not to difficult to make your own potpourri, but it takes time, you will for the major part spend waiting, and so it takes patience too. Now that means, that if I can do it, you can do it.

You start collecting flowers. You can find them everywhere, in your own garden, in the neigbors´ garden (maybe you should ask him first), along the road, you can buy them, or use the ones given to you by an admiror.

For mine, I used roses for the first, marjoramflowers, lavender, sageflowers, malva, comfrey and borage for the second and marigold, chamomile, alchemilla and santolina for the third.

Put aside a cupful of rose, lavender and marigold.

Spread the rest of the flowers -sorted out- on a clean tablecloth and let them dry for one or two weeks in a (warm) well ventilated spot. Next week, I am going to tell you what to do with them.

The oil

Start cleaning 3 little bottles or jars and sterilize them for half an hour in an oven heated to 200°C.

Then put them upside down on an absolutely clean towel. Careful not to burn your hands.

Rose: rose petals are very delicate so it is best to use the so called cold method to get the oil. Put the petals in a sealable jar, press them a little and pour vegetable oil all over them. The petals should be covered completely. Close the jar and leave them on a sunny spot like your windowsill for one or two weeks.

It will be ready at the same time as the flowers.

Lavender: put half of the flowers in a heat resistant jar. Put it in a pan with hot water and let them simmer `au bain marie` for two hours at very low heat. Strain the oil, put it back into the jar and add the other half of the flowers. Let simmer for another, strain again and pour the oil into one of the bottles.

Marigold: follow the directions for lavender.

Don´t make too much oil, you´ll only use a few drops for the potpourri.

If you accidentally or deliberately made too much oil:¹

But if you like, there are a lot of purposes you can use your oil for: NB use these only if you are very certain that you are not suffering from any allergy. I don´t accept any responsibility.

Rose oil:

• Make an ointment from 40 ml. rose oil and 4 gr. beeswax (melted au bain marie), put in a sterilized jar. Smells deliciously.
• Make an air refreshener by mixing 5 drops of oil and half a liter water.
• Use it as a bath oil.

Lavender oil:

• Make a footbalm from 6 spoons of lanolin, 3 spoons of almond oil, 3 spoons of glycerin and 1 spoon of lavender oil. Melt it au bain marie, beat until cold and put in a sterilized jar.
• Make a bodylotion from 2 spoons of almond oil, two spoons of lavender oil, 1 dl. rosewater. Put it in a sterilized bottle.
• Make a deodorant from 5 dl. sterilized water, 1 spoon of lavender oil, 1 spoon of sugar. Leave it for two weeks and put it in a clean vaporizer.

Marigold oil:

• Make a hand jelly against dry hands from vaseline and marigold oil: melt the vaseline a bain marie and mix it at a 5:1 ratio with the marigold oil.
• Make a balm against myalgia from tincture and marigold oil: mix 50 gr. dried marigold petals, 75 ml. wodka, 150 ml. water and leave it in a sterilized jar for two weeks in a cool spot. Shake it every now and then.
  After two weeks, mix 60 ml. tincture with 60 ml. marigold oil. Only for external use!!

1I tried out my own recipes, but based them on The New Herb Bible (Foley,Nice&Webb 2002)

My innocent addiction

It´s a bit risky to put the word addiction in the title of a blog but I have the opinion that things should be called by their actual name. Besides, the title also contains the word innocent, even if it is a bit subjective, but I assure you this addiction is harmless.

It is about my passion for linens. Even if I would want, I cannot kick the habit of collecting. As a matter of fact, this addiction is genetically determined.

My grandmother´s legacy consisted of a room high cabinet, stuffed with towels, tea towels, washcloths, napkins, tablecloths, sheets – and after we had divided the first layer between us, there appeared a second, equal layer behind it.

Look, nobody needs an excuse for collecting towels, one has to shower. The same goes for sheets and duvet covers, you won´t survive without sleep.

Every cook knows that a great dinner starts with a great laid table, so I can explain away my extravagant amount of tablecloths. A table runner protects your table, so you´d better have them in stock, just like placemats. When you choose the colors caefully, you´ll be able to make beautiful combinations, especially if you suffer from a tableware tic as well (but I´ll write about that some other time).

Napkins can be used as placemats. The paper version – that I´m not able to resist either – can serve not only as napkin, but also as a table mat for potpourri or something.

Curtains are necessary to isolate the windows. We should care about the environment after all. There´s no better thing than adjusting the interior of your home to the season twice a year, so it´s a necessity of life to have curtains, pillow cases and grand foulards in summer- and wintercolors.

But what excuse can I think of to explain my huge collection of tea clothes in the most lovely colors and designs, considering I have a dishwasher? Well, my knives should be washed up manually. And when conserving vegetables, the jars need to be put away clean. So you see I simply need all those linens.

And....Umbria happens to home one of the best fabric manufacturers. Tessitura Pardi, from Bastardo, with stores (among others) in Montefalco, Todi, Perugia and Spello. From napkins to bedspreads, in the most splendid colors and designs and in utmost quality. I am the happy owner of some of their pieces, and to be honest: put Pardi on your table and dinner almost cooks itself.

Who wants to learn more: http://www.tessiturapardi.com/ with just one warning, you will become very greedy!

The only thing is... I hate ironing......