An eye on grapevines in December

An eye on grapevines in December

Daniela - Lady Bird

Dear readers

How are you today?

Can you believe it is December and also the last month of this series on grapevines over the seasons? It has been such a journey for this awesome plant, don’t you agree? Feel free to wonder at it (all over again) by clicking on each month’s unveiling: October, September, August, July, June, May, April, March, February.

I got so lucky to see the beauty of a vineyard while it was snowing. Everything was so silent and magical in a very special way. I hope you can feel it, too, through this post.

daniela, muehlheim, danielamühlheim, ladybird, exploring, earth, abundance, grapevine, vineyard

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Happy Advent season – Wundervolle Adventszeit

Happy Advent season – Wundervolle Adventszeit

Daniela - Lady Bird

Given you celebrate Christmas, do you have a special name for December in your language?

We do in Switzerland. It is called Adventszyt in Swiss German or Adventszeit in German. This special time of the year starts with December 1st this year. That is today, hooray!

We have a tradition to make what is known as Adventskranz – Advent wreath – and light a new candle every Sunday for four weeks leading up to Christmas.

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A sailor‘s talisman

A sailor‘s talisman

Daniela - Lady Bird

Sailing brings some romantic images to my mind: A peaceful slow journey mainly spent on the open ocean working with the elements. But I guess this is not quite what it truly is.

Have you ever been on a sailing boat? Are you maybe a sailor yourself? Oh, how I would love to hear your stories! Please share some in the comments to give us an idea of this spirit.

If you are not a sailor, you can sniff some sailor’s atmosphere in the marina of Horta in Faial in the Azores and hopefully here in my story. Horta is where every sailor, who crosses the Atlantic ocean or is on a round the world sailing tour, makes a stopover. Every sailor.

daniela, muehlheim, danielamühlheim, ladybird, exploring, earth, abundance, azores, ocean

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A touch of the tropics

A touch of the tropics

Daniela - Lady Bird

While days have become shorter, forests browner, and the sky grayer here in the North, I thought to share some colour splashes with you.

Pico in the Azores is not in the tropics, but it can really make you feel so. Temperatures don’t drop below 20 degrees Celsius during the night in summer, rain clouds and the sun mixed together are a guarantee for a humid and hot atmosphere. Luckily, the ocean is never far on this little jewel as you can see in my other story about the island: The Big Blue.

The vegetation is lush and the flowers astonishing. We drove around the island and suddenly saw flowers that reminded us of the tropics.

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Spooky

Spooky

Daniela - Lady Bird

Today is October 31 and it may well be known as Halloween to you. I went to Wikipedia to learn a bit about the history of this day. The word derives from the Scottish All Hallows’ Eve and stands for the evening before All Hallows’ day (also known as All Saints’ day), which is tomorrow on November 1. The term Halloween probably first appeared in 1745 and the traditions around this day are believed to have their origins in the ancient Celtic culture. These days it is famous, I think, for how the people in the USA go about it.

Halloween had no tradition in Switzerland until recently.
What about the place you live, is Halloween celebrated there?
Do you celebrate Halloween? Read more →

An eye on grapevines in October

An eye on grapevines in October

Daniela - Lady Bird

Or rather grapes :-), because the harvest season has finally come. Hooray!

The header shows an image of the mind-boggling forest in the area (crossed by power lines in the foreground…) and the neighbour’s vineyard, which is very neat and tidy as is normal for conventional grown grapes.

The organic vineyard all my photos of this series come from is much wilder, more diverse, and of course gentle with the environment.

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