A Pistachio Paste Worth 300 EUR or Compulsive Behaviour

What is it, that fixes me on something that was of no importance before and all of a sudden my whole world seems to turn around this:

A Food Processor. I need it. I don't want to live without it. Why?

The sudden need for a food processor actually came a long way: it started with my desire for a kitchen machine until I found out I love to mix with my small hand mixer and lots of different bowls. I don't want the large kitchen machine that comes with a 3 or 4 litre bowl and then I would need exactly those bowls because the machine does not accept other bowls ... not a good idea. But the Food Processor of course would be somehting totally different. I noticed the Food Processor can do things, I can't with any of the appliances I own so far. For exampe turn pistachios into a pistaccio paste. For the price of 300 EUR.


... all of a sudden my whole world seems to turn around this:

Velvet Hangers. I want all my hangers in the cabinett to look alike. Though my clothes don't. Why those hangers?

I don't own a TV set and watch no TV shows. I know thoses hangers are on heavy rotation on home shopping channels on television. I have lived happily with ordinary hangers for decades. I don't really support the idea of extra slim hangers, because the fabrics will be wirnkled and crushed when you put too many hangers in your closet.

I can tell you, it is exhausting, developing a desire for something of no importance. Sometimes it can even cause a headache. Or sleepless nights. Mammamia!

I won't close without a happy ending:
Yesterday night Mr Paula and I had to prepare our appartment for the cleaning lady who visits us one time per month. The night before she comes (she shows up at 8am sharp) always meant some late night major action, putting away all the stuff so she can clean the sufaces and tops. Yesterday night all of a sudden it was such a quick and easy task, thanks to all the stuff I got out of the appartment over the last months.

Hello Adrienne! Thank you for following my blog. I love to take photos in Vienna and publish them on my blog. Today, March 3, it's still 0°C with snow flakes in the air. Please be patient, there will be lots of outdoor photos shown here soon.

Small Successes

When I met my dental hygienist the first time, she was shocked and called my mouth the red sea, because as soon as she started grating and scratching, there was blood everywhere.

Since the first appointment which was a few years ago, I kept going once a year. Today was the day, again. Over the last months, I have been taking my dental hygiene quite seriously. Brushing, flossing, using an interdental brush, too, and last week I even started using a mouthwash twice a day. Funny coincidence, my best friends mum started using a mouthwash in the same week. Where did Listerine place the ad that immerged into our subconsciousness?

Today, while lying on the dentist's chair, I noticed how fast she actually got along. There was not much of the scratching and grating. And way less invitations to rinse the mouth due to bleeding. I kept peeking at the clock on the wall and after 30 minutes it was done, including massaging, brushing between the teeth and everything that tortures the gums. The appointment originally had been scheduled for 1 hour.

The hygienist stated that she can tell I take care. And she charged only half of the scheduled fee (1 hr). Having saved 50 EUR, I can buy lots of interdental brushes (very expensive), mouth wash (costly if brand-products) and use floss in excess.
I finally entered the inner circle of people with clean, well maintained teeth and quite healthy gums. ("quite", because we did not get along without any bleeding at all).

Apropos improving: yesterday I put an advice Peter Walsh gives into action: I de-cluttered my paper- and groverybags I store under the fridge. There were so many tiny paperbags from the perfumery inside the box, I tuck them all out and now it's much easier to pull a bag out of the box. Funny, how we tend to believe we have to keep stuff only because ...

I am looking forward to the next surprising spot I am going to de-clutter. Where will it be? The small tasks pop up, no big planning ahead. I just look into drawer or cabinett and there it is: the sudden insight, what gets to be done, N.O.W.

It feels good when you notice, how things improve over time. Could be your gums, could be the storage box you keep under the fridge.

Overexerted Under the Sign of Virgo

We are back from a weekend in the mountains, the 2nd of 4 skimountaineering-courses. Everything went fine, no broken bones, lots of chill factor during the first, short tour and nice weather on the 2nd day.

Paula attempting ski-ikebana

Whilst others put on the fake-furs on the skis to walk up the hill, I decided to carry them on the back, the backbag is supposed to carry skis, somehow ...

My backbag contains 1 litre of tea, 1 hooded down gilet, 1 fleece pullover and lots of MARS-bars. After excessive cookie-baking and eating around Christmas, the mountains are the only place where I allow myself to eat chocolate. You need lots of energy when I walk up a mountain through the snow.

Later we all had our skis where they belonged, on our feet.

Before entering the spruce forest.

Half an hour later we reached the larch forest. We learned how to chose the right track on a mountain.

You can tell by the way the trees grow, Mr Paula did not turn the camera in order to make this hill look steep. This hill was steep.

The larch forest was way more comfortable than the spruce forst, less branches on eye-level. We knew we would ski down the mountain we climbed. In the end I channeled my cat-me and looked down the steep hill, not really daring to go down. I can sooooo understand all the cats meowing on any roof/tree/...

In the end we made it down, and I forced Mr Paula to take this photo, so I could show you where we went down. I wish we would have chosen the lighter part in the centre of the photo, the part that ressembles a slope. But we did not. Because we were trained how to avoid expositions where avalanches might come down.

Back home, sitting on the couch I needed to talk it over, why I felt so overexerted. Mr Paula mainly saw the up-side: we made it, and yes, I can make it. No, he did not have fun, downhill in the forest but he was glad we got the chance to exercise this part of skimountaineering.

Imagine yourself going Schuss through this forst!

I still felt overexerted. Mainly because I lost controll once over my skis and went "Schuss", something that I consider an abolute No-No, to lose controll over your skis at any time. Moon under the sign of Virgo(control, safety) is probably not the perfect day to enjoy risc and fun because that's when I end up picturing some scenarios including me, trees and some blood.

All photos: Mr Paula