Unreasonable

Shopping has ceased to excite me for quite a while. Spending money on the High Street just doesn't add up. In other words, THIS is not what I've expected to get after four years:

ugh. kaput GEOX shoes in their fourth year (shoelaces removed)

You think I am old fashioned, thinking that trainers can last longer than 4, 5 years?

You think, luxury goods have spoiled me, that I am expecting too much, f.e. better ageing? In the end those so called luxury goods don't seem to be that luxurious after all.

Calculated by "cost per wear" this pair of BALLY trainers was cheaper than any pair of shoes you find in bargain bins on the High Street.

BALLY trainers in their 19th year

Yes, I can see what you can see: these shoes do look quite old. Probably because they ARE old. :-) But: they are intact! No holes, even the shoelaces made it up to their 19th year.

Conclusio: I will remain loyal to the high end stores. The standards of luxury brands have probably declined over the past decades and that a future pair of BALLY trainers will probably not make it to its 10th anniversary. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  *shrugging shoulders* Time will tell.

Meanwhile I will focus a a new product group:

  This well curated choice did take me about 10 months. LOL 

Those 10 months were a pleasant sensory journey.

Apropos time will tell: over the past 5 years the steel crown aka timekeeper as pictured below has undergone various stress test: walks in the soaking wet Scotish Highlands, off-road tracks on dusty Siberian islands. Not to forget long bicycle rides on cobble stone roads on a daily basis.  

Cost per wear: declining on a steady basis

In the long tearm any cheaper alternative would probably add up, too.

Those nice Junghans Max Bill watches? I don't see them working on my wrist after 5-10 years, due to my physical demanding lifestyle. Renewing them they would force me to return to the stores, on a frequent basis. Yes, I call every 5 years a frequent basis. ;-))  ... which leads me back to the beginning of this posting.
 

Oh, not to forget: Being a fan of timeless, classic styles helps, too. Big time!. 

DIY bird feeder

Do you remember the DIY coffee pot cozy?

The variety - various clips and clothes, how versatile!

There are many reasons, why I choose DIY over buying. You find the story behind the DIY coffee pot cozy here. Today's posting is not about the praise of the coffee pot cozy but about my new DIY bird feeder. It comes with a story.

The story

[for immediate results: please scroll down to "The making of a DYI bird feeder"]

Last year I happily fed birds on our window board. Every morning I would spread nuts, oats and raisins on the window board and in the evening the board would be empty. Those birds must have been so hungry! 

Until the neighbour from downstairs confronted me: "Miss Paula*, you must quit using your kitchen window as a garbage can. All the dirt from your cutting boards and towels lands on my window board. Such a mess, all the dirt! This has to stop immediately."

I stared at him. And I realised. It was the wind, which had blown the food away. What a mess! 

I apoligized, of course. And I felt guilty, of course. But most of all, I did worry about my poor hungry little cute adorable desperate birds. 

My apology sounded something like this: "Mr Neighbour, this is a  big misunderstanding. This is not dirt, no, you must understand, this is birdfood! Oh, the poor birds, I thought they ate the food. I am so sorry! (... for the birds.)" 

Long story short, I had to find a way to get the food on the window board without starting off a war with Mr Neighbour. I googled the internet. Most bird feeders require some drilling. Others require a larger surface to stand on. 

Since this is a drilling-hostile environment (aka the fear of drilling an unfitting hole), there had to be another way to place the nuts on the window board. I let my mind wander and it did not take long until I came up with the solution: Glue! I digged out some glue which had proven to be an excellent tool back in my scrapping days. The information on the package says "suitable for cardboard and paper". I generously stretched the profile to "also suitable for iron sheet".

The making of a DYI bird feeder

1. Take a small box with "langue de chat" chocolate and eat enjoy the chocolate

Unfortunately I was not able to document the chocolate.
Someone was faster than me. Mr Paula says "Hello". The Katzenzungen were very yummy.

2. Seperate the top from the bottom

3. Pause and doubt "Is it really such a good idea, to glue a carton box on the window board?"


4. Apply the glue on the bottom of the box

5. Stick the cardbox on the iron sheet / No photo. Both hands were busy

6. Try to shake the box to see of it sticks firmly. / Again, no photo. Both hands were busy.
As you can imagine, I deliberately chose a private moment for vandalising.
Make sure no one is around to ask you "What on earth are you doing here?!?" 

7. Feed the birds

The great tit seems to have recently discovered the food. Adorable birds. I love the soud their wings make, when they leave: flapflapflapfalpp.

The new bird feeder, fully operational
I need a faster camera to "catch" them before they fly away.

Now that winter is almost gone, it is time for same changes in the great tit-diet. I once read that it is not safe to feed great tits with nuts as soon as they start to feed their ... kids(?) offsprings(?) The "baby great tits" depend on insects and the mother and father birds can't find enough insects in the city-environment to feed the kids.

I am going to pay the nearby Reptile Centre a visit and check out how limited the movement of flour worms (!)  is. Living flour worms. 2,99 EUR a box. Will the box prevent the worms from moving along?

I answer before you even asked:
1. Yes, you always feed living flour worms.
2. No, it is not contradictory for a vegan person to feed birds with living worms.

More to come!
Paula

*he will never see me as a grown up, especially when I cause trouble like this.

Tough days ahead

My bike is starting to lose one of its pedals. The brake shoes are almost nonexistent. Both tires are covered with cracks. The bottom bracket cracks all the time. The chain is worn out. I can't deny it: this bike needs a stop at the service station.

My bike became a shadow of its former self.

I usually delay this stopover as long as possible. Not because of the costs, no. It's the exhaustion these days cause me! Any day without my bike is a tough day for me. Public transportation is so exhausting. And walking is so slow.

In the past this service week always came with a big pro: my skirts finally got the chance to leave the closet, since I did not ride my bike with skirts. Not comfortable, somehow not possible. The skirts had to wait patiently in my closet for the one week.

But now I've established a new regime - it includes skirts of all kinds (velvet skirts, tweed skirts, mini skirts, pencil skirts). So I am in need of new pro. Maybe reading? Or Walking?

Wish me luck, that the pedal stays in place until I get to the service station!
Paula

New Order

What you can see here is NOT my New Year's resoution but something I have discovered in 2013 and enjoy a lot: Organising and getting things done. so I find myself on the last day of the year installing a new order. 

See you again in 2014 and don't forget to put on your dancing shoes tonight!

xo Paula

PS: The marks on the wall (photo #1) do not result from bad photoshopping with the " eraser-tool" but are actual eraser-traces in real life. I erased stains from the wall.

DIY coffee pot cozy

There are foods and beverages I like warm as much as cold. Cake. Potatoe salad. Roasted pumpkin. And then there are foods and beverages that loose their magic once they are cool: pasta with sauce, assam tea and coffee. The coffee inside the coffee pot cools the moment you pour the boiling hot water in the glass jug. Thermodynamic never lets you down.

 

coffee pot / photo taken at the end of our saturday breakfast session

A few years ago I decided to bring an end to the "Who craves the last cup of cold coffee?"- breakfast  and returned from the local Bodum store with a neoprene coffee pot cuff which I proudly presented  to Mr Paula. He "hm hmm'd" the new gadget. The next morning our thermoinsulated coffee pot bbehaved oddly. My satisfaction lasted only a few minutes. The boiling hot water had warmed the cuff and the neoprene released neoprene molecules into the air. Instead of coffee flavours now plastic flavours met my olfactory nerves while pouring the coffee. The whole coffee thing totally looses its purpose when your breakfast table is surrounded by plastic molecules in the air. The next they I returned the cuff to a very-high-eyebrowed-sales assistent.

She: "This can't be. No one before you ever had this problem and they are a bestseller". 

Me: "I can assure you, I am not making this up. Maybe other customers don't bother to come back for 6 EUR". 

Cuff returned, problem not solved to full satisfaction yet. When the market lets you down, it's time for DIY.

wrapping the coffee pot - a new morning ritual

rear view. oh well

clip deserves an upgrade, but since economy class achieves the aim as well

Stay warm!
xo Paula

Minimal Fitness

All I need are these two tools and a pair of Mizuno running shoes to stay fit. I really like the idea of a minimal fitness concept.
After the run I lay down, exercise with the barbell (Hantel!) (f.e. pull it over ny head) and late stand on the wobbly cushion with both feet and workout with the barbell. And then I stand on one foot and try to keep the balance. It is simple and really effective. And I can take it almost everywhere. The photo was taken in my parent's apartment, where we stay over the summer, while they are on vacation. The whole concept is build around my back, to strengthen my back and keep it in a good condition.

This minimal fitness studio saves me approx 85 EUR / month, because that's how much a studio would cost. Oh, and those contracts, that make you pay for 6 more months even though you already cancelled your membership. Outch, no good memories at all!

Both tools - the barbell and the wobbly cushion have been recommended by my physiotherapist. Things that work are the best! And you can believe me, any physiotherapists have recommended a lot of things. To name the most pointless toos: 0,5kg barbells.

Have a nice day, whereever you find that personal 'minimal dose' in your lifestyle, I am almost certain you are going to enjoy it.

You can be sure, I am creative enough to find ways to spend those extra Euros I save like this on a monthly basis. Lets call it "cut and colour" or "hair and roots". 

Paula

Those Days Inbetween

Hello!

I had to laugh, when I opened amazon.de, searching for Downton Abbey's Season 1, because this is how amazon welcomes me these days: Yay, the drill hammer! I did it, I went to the DIY store and left with a green box and a set of drills.

4 days after Christmas and Mr Paula still has not figured out the differences between a drill hammer, a drilling machine and a percussion drill. Maybe he never will. And he was definitely NOT overly excited about the gift (I was with my family and he with his, when he opened his gift Dec 24). But I can assure you I was excited no end and quizzed him the next day.
The gift I received was at least as exciting: a spyderco sharpening tool for knives. Something I have been thinking about for years.

Yesterday Mr Paula's mum and sister and I had the best time in the kitchen, sharpening Zwilling and Wüsthof knives. I will post photos. Mr Paula's mother had the best time holding the paper while I cut it after we had sharpened the knives. Everytime she laughed out, when the knife cut the thick paper like butter. sssssssp. ssssssssp. sssssssssp.

I took 2 days off from work and transformed the rather short Christmas weekend into a Christmas holiday. Lucky me I can take 2 days off. The excitement does not stop there. I am overall excited! 2011 was a staycation year and 2012 has not even begun and I already have a hotel room booked for 2012. The main ingredients for the short trip are of best quality only:
All you need is a 40th birthday, your sister and Hamburg in late spring. You can be sure, I sit here smiling while just thinking about this trip. As you might have noticed in the past: my sister and I aren't exactly close. I guess she was right, taking me on a get-away for my 40th birthday. It has been decades since we shared a bed. It's about time!
And as if this was not enough excitement already, I am going to watch almond blossoms in early spring in Sicily, together with Friend B. I can assure you, I am this close to booking a cabin on Queen Mary. If not Miss Cellany reassured me, 40 is not the best age for joining golden agers on a cruise.

I changed the blog's design to a "inbetween-days"-layout. A soft yellow seems to suit this time of the year. Our cleaning lady will visit us tomorrow and I am not sure if I should keep the Christmas decoration or clear the shelves and surfaces. I feel straight foreward, Carneval season to come soon! With lots of traditions you are probably not familiar with. Krapfen, Bälle and Fasching.