lazy days

december, 2013.
pixel taking an afternoon sunbath
and being his usual, beautiful self.

little cutie pie, i adore him so much.

♥

sunday (VI)

december, 2013.

sunshine & green

secret gardens

“and the secret garden bloomed and bloomed 

and every morning revealed new miracles.” 

– frances hodgson burnett

december, 2013.

i've been taking lots of pictures
of green balconies and front yards,
little (and not so little) gardens in the city

♥

tilia trees and lemon cakes

december, 2013.

every now and then i make homemade yogurt
so when i found myself with two jars sitting on the fridge
and the expiration date creeping over
i took out some bowls and made a cake



----


yogurt and lemon cake

original recipe here

ingredients*
♥ 210 g self rising flour, which is what i had on hand
♥ 1/2 tsp salt
♥ 300 g sugar (i used a bit less)
♥ 120 g butter, softened
♥ 234 g plain yogurt (i probably used a bit more)
♥ 2 large eggs
♥ 2 tbsp lemon juice, freshly squeezed
♥ zest of two lemons

i also added:

♥ lots of cardamom

* the list of ingredients was originally in cups,
but i cannot work with those measures so used this guide for conversion

method

preheat the oven at 180ºc

whisk the flour, baking soda, salt & cardamom.
in a separate bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients until smooth.
pour the dry ingredients into the wet ones slowly and in three different batches.
mix until it's all incorporated, carefully not to over mix
pour the batter onto an oiled cake pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until a knife comes out clean.

the original recipe finishes the cake with syrup and candied lemons
but i like my cakes to be very simple, so i skipped that part

best served with a cup a tea and a good book on a sunny morning

overgrown

december, 2013.

for as long as i can remember
this has been one of my favourite corners of the city
i used to pass by it every so often when i was a child
and always marveled at how wild and beautiful it was

♥

the slow day

walking under the rain on a cool summer morning,
eating miso soup, soba noodles and gyoza with green tea
reading silvia's lovely letter and playing with pixel
even with deadlines and work, what a perfect second day of a new year

♥

hope you had a wonderful start too!

mon amour tokyo

tokyo + kamakura
june, 2008

to me, 2008 was a year of summer
even if i was only in tokyo for six days
those rainy, hot and beautiful summer days
were enough to stay with me until springtime
(i do live in the southern hemisphere, after all)

i regret thinking that three rolls of film would be enough
i also regret being so shy and not taking more (film) pictures
- all those precious little streets, the lovely coffee shops,
the parks and fairs, the modern buildings & temples -
but what i most regret is boarding the plane back home.

it's been over five years now and there's not a day that i don't miss it
if i could live anywhere, i'd live in tokyo. or maybe in kamaura ♥

summer days (III)

february, 2013.

on a summer day i. & i went to the japanese garden
and took pictures of flowers, dresses and trees

/ expired centuria /


ps. google reader soon will be no more,
if you want to, you can follow my blog with bloglovin


have a lovely day ♥

flores del mantel

♥

january, 2013.

january's saturday mornings were spent in a midst of fabrics and threads
nini and i attended a workshop together* and sew our own plushies
i did a little bunny girl, nini a lovely kitty. she named hers rudi, i named mine cordelia,
and even if we live in two different parts of the world, in that moment we felt so close.


cordelia has a needle felted pompon tail,
she likes to wear pretty dresses with slips
and loves her little teddy bear very, very much.

* thank you, internet ♥