Happy Sunday, everyone! Are you wearing shorts? Drinking cold beverages? Barbecuing, maybe? I'm SO JEALOUS!! It's just been pouring rain here, every day. We're wearing jackets, eating soup, and thinking about moving to Spain. Now and then, the skies clear and the sun comes out, and it is truly glorious... And then it starts raining again. Enough of the grumbling-- I had a visitor this week, and it was so sweet to have a friend here, even if it was just for a day and a half. I'll be sharing about what we did soon!
Let's get started...
Vicarious Travel (and Design)
Amanda is traveling through Eastern Europe still, and I loved a couple of her posts this week. First, she shared a trip to a really unique cemetery (not morbid!) I also loved the photos and thoughts she shared on old-fashioned rural life in Romania. Oddly enough, that made me feel very nostalgic for my childhood in the Philippines...
I love "visiting" homes and well-designed spaces in other parts of the world. This tour of a lovingly designed hotel in Lisbon was fun.
It's also fun to see English homes. I haven't been invited into many, and I'm SO curious. Here's a tour of Christine's well-organized, small home in London. Don't miss her courtyard!
Food
For those of you who actually have warm weather, you might enjoy this cold cucumber soup recipe, which also comes with a really funny and sweet story. Hopefully we'll have the appropriate temps to try it soon, too!
I'm not sure what took me so long to visit our fish monger at the market, but now that I have tasted the really fresh and wonderful seafood there, I have an insatiable appetite for grilled fish. I thought this recipe and photo essay was gorgeous and just thinking about it makes me very hungry.
Here's something silly and adorable from my neck of the woods: Brits Battle for Cheesy Glory!
Inspired by the wild food and country wines we've been enjoying? Here's a foraging guide for those of you in the USA.
And, one last foodie tidbit-- I am always really curious about what other people eat, including the "dirty little secrets." So I enjoyed this article on chefs' favorite supermarket items-- when artisanal doesn't cut it!
Well, that's it for this week... Enjoy some sunshine for me, and I'll see you back here again soon.
Also, what was your favorite read this week?
Let's get started...
Vicarious Travel (and Design)
Amanda is traveling through Eastern Europe still, and I loved a couple of her posts this week. First, she shared a trip to a really unique cemetery (not morbid!) I also loved the photos and thoughts she shared on old-fashioned rural life in Romania. Oddly enough, that made me feel very nostalgic for my childhood in the Philippines...
I love "visiting" homes and well-designed spaces in other parts of the world. This tour of a lovingly designed hotel in Lisbon was fun.
It's also fun to see English homes. I haven't been invited into many, and I'm SO curious. Here's a tour of Christine's well-organized, small home in London. Don't miss her courtyard!
Food
For those of you who actually have warm weather, you might enjoy this cold cucumber soup recipe, which also comes with a really funny and sweet story. Hopefully we'll have the appropriate temps to try it soon, too!
I'm not sure what took me so long to visit our fish monger at the market, but now that I have tasted the really fresh and wonderful seafood there, I have an insatiable appetite for grilled fish. I thought this recipe and photo essay was gorgeous and just thinking about it makes me very hungry.
Here's something silly and adorable from my neck of the woods: Brits Battle for Cheesy Glory!
Inspired by the wild food and country wines we've been enjoying? Here's a foraging guide for those of you in the USA.
And, one last foodie tidbit-- I am always really curious about what other people eat, including the "dirty little secrets." So I enjoyed this article on chefs' favorite supermarket items-- when artisanal doesn't cut it!
Well, that's it for this week... Enjoy some sunshine for me, and I'll see you back here again soon.
Also, what was your favorite read this week?
It's absolutely horribly rainy here too (Aachen, Germany). We've lived here for 4 months and I swear the weather has gone downhill since March (we're from California which doesn't help the adjustment). On the upside, we're enjoying delicious home made chicken noodle soup, and all sorts of other yummy warm things to eat & drink. Yesterday we had had it and just grilled out in the rain. We tried to eat outside under the covered patio but the rain was sideways at that point so it was back in the house. Hope we all get some more enjoyable Summer days soon. I've been really enjoying your blog & writing, thanks! Devon
ReplyDeleteHi Devon-- I'm sorry to hear that you're having the same awful weather! I have heard the same from friends in Sweden, Belgium and France. I am hoping that maybe we'll get an "Indian Summer" like we did last year-- it was really pretty warm and gorgeous in September and part of October. Fingers crossed!
DeleteThank you so much for sharing that link about the National Anthem for Cheddar. I can't begin to tell you how much I enjoyed that! This is a perfect example of why I love the Brits so very much. And I have to tell you that after watching these I had to have a listen to the real version of "Jerusalem" and found this version from Proms http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQ0oCmDXrVk I ended up sitting here crying and crying - I was just so overcome with emotion and a sense of longing for a place. In any case sorry to get all weepy! I really loved the videos and had a hard time picking a favorite. Did you vote?
ReplyDeleteSo sorry about your lousy weather too. We've been fortunate this year and have had some really lovely weather for a change. But the past 2 Seattle summers have been absolutely abysmal so I completely feel your pain. Hopefully yours will turn around soon - summer just isn't summer without some sunshine.
Also wanted to comment on the cemeteries - really enjoyed that link as well. I've always kind of liked cemeteries too. I went to college in Charleston, SC and the cemeteries there are absolutely lovely and overgrown with lush vegetation. I would often walk to one and just sit there enjoying the beauty. It never felt macabre or weird in any way. Just lovely. I am also reminded of a teacher I had in high school. He was an exchange teacher from England and I remember him telling us how common it was in England for families to picnic in cemeteries. At the time I thought that seemed so strange but after my experiences in Charleston it makes much better sense. Have you noticed this at all?
Thanks for another great roundup! Just love these posts!
Also I wanted to ask you if you do much reading? I'd be curious to know what is on your bedside table?? Hope I'm not prying too much! I just love reading and I love getting recommendations from friends :)
Hi Marisa! I know, British people are just so clever and entertaining, and I love the enthusiasm for these sorts of funny endeavors. I'm glad you enjoyed that! I actually got the link from an American blogger, and no-- I didn't vote!
DeleteI never, ever imagined that I would envy Portland or Seattle weather. But I do. People keep saying, "It can't be as bad as Portland weather though, right?" AAAGH! If only!! It's much, much, much worse! I wish it didn't matter to me, but it seriously does. Sigh...
About the cemeteries... People also had parties at cemeteries in the Philippines. In fact, it's a major event on All Souls Day, and I *think* they stayed there all night, eating, playing cards, drinking, etc. I like the open acceptance of death, the frankness of it all, and the ability to have fondness toward those that have passed, celebrating them even within the cemetery. Interesting.
As for reading... I kind of go through phases of reading voraciously and then taking a break. When we first arrived, I read a couple Zadie Smith books, one by Ann Patchett (one of my favorite authors) and a few others. I just finished "Home Game," by Michael Lewis which was a quick and easy read, and I just picked up "The Mermaid Chair." Same author as "The Secret Life of Bees," which I really enjoyed. These are all the fiction. I am usually working through some non-fiction books at all times-- right now, of course, it's the gardening/ foraging ones!
How about you? What's the best novel you've read lately? I'll be looking for another soon!
Thanks for sharing your book recommendations - I absolutely love hearing what other people are reading! The best way to find new gems I think! I haven't read "The Mermaid Chair" but I loved "The Secret Life of Bees." Have you seen the film version of that one? I'm not usually a fan of books made into movies but I thought they did an exceptionally good job in this instance of conveying the mood and tone of the source material. I definitely recommend it if you haven't seen it yet. I just finished a novel that I loved called "Happy All the Time" by Laurie Colwin. It was mentioned on a food blog I read so I looked it up and was completely fascinated, delighted and perplexed by it all at the same time. I recommend it to you and in fact I've since placed holds for some of her other books at my library because I enjoyed it so much. I also recently read a book called "Trapeze" by Simon Mawer - it was really great too and in fact I've ordered some more of his books as well. It takes place in WWII and is a fictional work based on the real life work of female agents sent from Britain to occupied France. Highly recommend that one too - though in the UK it has a different title "The Girl Who Fell From the Sky." What did you think of the Zadie Smith books? I was just reading about her most recent work "NW" and had my curiosity piqued! Thank you for sharing :)
DeleteI feel your pain! Im so over this non-summer. This is actually the worstt summer since probably 2007, though Im hoping it picks up in august / sept.
ReplyDeleteRe.interesting cemeteries, next time you're here in London you should visit Highgate Cemetery where Karl Marx is buried. Its BEAUTIFUL!
Thanks for the tip on that cemetery-- we will definitely have to check it out! Let's all cross our fingers together and hope for some sunshine... For a while, everyone was telling me it's always this bad. But in the last few weeks, the response has changed completely to, "This is horrible! Way, way worse than usual!" I hope so. English weather has not been easy on me...
DeleteThe rain has been ridiculous hasn't it?! My son and I are getting cabin fever. The leaves will start to change next month here and I'm just not ready for that yet. It's so sad. The one thing I miss from home...the sun!
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing how important sunshine is, especially to people who are used to seeing it regularly. It just goes against my biology completely to have so little... And I feel for you, because you are even farther north... I am considering one of those "happy lights." Have you thought of getting one?
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