.SOMETIMES RAW.

Stone pyramids. The perfect hiding spot for insects and small animals

Hello and Happy Monday! 

“Ein stabiles Netz braucht möglichst viele Knoten. Knoten sind definiert durch eine Vielzahl von unterschiedlichen Tieren und Pflanzen. Diese treten durch in der Nature erprobte und sinnvolle Beziehungen zueinander in Kontakt”

My parents have been into permaculture for a long time. They try new things, go to lectures and do tons of research to make their garden as beautiful as possible and of course to benefit from it. Since I am in Germany I learned a lot from them already and looked through their plethora of books on gardening, permaculture and to become as self-sufficient as possible. We planted and harvested together and tried to figure out how to get the most out of their 2 acres garden. They also mentioned Markus Gastl, gave me his books and I read “Drei-Zonen-Garten” and “Ideenbuch Nützlingshotels” with delight. If you are into gardening and trying to change things around a bit and don’t necessarily like to have the traditional English Lawn but more or less “a controlled chaos” you should read those books! 

Also if your attitude is “back to nature” and you like to stay away from chemicals (RoundUp, Monsanto and whatnot), Markus Gastl is the person to talk to and learn from. He loves Variety, Beauty and Benefit when he talks about his garden. I asked him about his fantastic experience when he rode his bicycle for 2 1/2 years and about 41,843 km total through Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru, Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Mexico, USA and Canada. Say whaaaat? Pretty amazing, right? And of course whenever a conversations comes to Canada, I am all ears. I love this country so much. So much that le husband and I bought land there. “Markus Gastl, my new guru, has to help me with some projects, give me insight and ideas, ” I thought, while I had one of the most eye-opening conversations with him. When he came back from his long trip, his heart was filled with  so many great impressions and experiences that he had the urge to give something back to nature. With created, built and planted his own garden. Hurtus insectorum – The Garden of Insects! Read more about his projects and the trip on his website. 

Here are some picture of one of his garden we visited on Sunday – Hortus Felix. 

Permaculture? What is it?

Basically, to fairly take care of the earth and the people. When done right, it can provide a somewhat guiding spirit to the tending and creation of your own land.

Markus Gastl invented the “Drei-Zonen-Garten? What is it? 

It is important to work with nature and not against and have a little dialogue with it here and there. Do you want the average garden that most people have and use pesticides to get rid of weeds? Spending time in the garden should be fun and not be seen as a burden. My grandmother used to say whenever she was in my parent’s garden that “no matter how sad I feel, this garden makes me happy. It seems like it has something healing.”  

If you are fortunate to own a garden, wouldn’t  you love to have a little paradise as soon as you step outside of the house? With bees buzzing everywhere, flowers, butterflies and other animals that love to stop by in your garden? How awesome are these hotels for insects for example? We could hear a lot of buzzing and saw little bugs crawling all over. Fantastic! 

Surprisingly fast and easy are the steps you need to take to grow vegetables, have a beautiful flower garden and so much more. It is actually less work than maintaining a sterile, clean garden. 

I love the Staketenzaun! Great idea! A little expensive to purchase but lasts forever! 

Benjes Hecke. I learned that I don’t need to throw anything away that grew and is already on my land! 

Overall, I learned a lot. If you ever get a chance to visit Markus Gastl’s gardens, do so! What an inspirational day! Markus, thank you again for taking your time to answer some of my questions. Hope to stay in touch. 

 Visit Markus Gastl’s website. Click here. Connect with him on Facebook, click here. 

Are you as new to permaculture as I am? Are you interested in permaculture? I would love to hear from you, connect and exchange experiences. Of course, once we start working on our land, I will document it all. Permaculture, especially in Canada: How does it work? 

“twenty more minutes and i’ll have made it through this entire night without talking to any–
fuck, fuck, the dog sees me”

Hello and Happy Friday! 

“In the end, we will all become our stories” – Margaret Atwood. 

Do you want to see more artwork with hilarious captions like above? Visit this website.  I caught myself spending way too much time at The Toast. Great articles. Why do I spent so much time online?  It is raining in Germany. Every single day. It is not cold but unpleasant to be outside. To entertain a child inside every single day is tough but we managed pretty well. Today, we spent hours at the Indoor Playground and Petit Joel had a blast. You think he might be tired at this point – but nope. He is up, reading with his tiny flashlight; however, he is quiet. What do I have to do to get this kid tired and exhausted? After going up and down the slide over fifty times, I am done, hah! What I have been up to otherwise, read on if you would like. Enjoy! 

Reading: I re-read Sam Harris’s Waking Up which I enjoy so much. Even more the second time. If you are into spiritual enlightenment or simply want to figure out some things about you, read this book. Spirituality without religion! Currently I am reading Simple Matters by Erin Boyle. This book just adds up to a plethora of books on minimalism I have read. It is a good read for sure. Next, on my reading list is:  Empire Falls by Richard Russo. 

Watching: For some reason it is Meg Ryan-week for me. I love her. Give me any movie she is in and I watch it. Some are cheesy, but she is just cute and a great actor I think. So I re-watched When Harry Met Sally. Watch the entire in okay quality for free here.  What a great story. I also watched When a Man Loves a Woman. Beautiful! Just watch the opening scene to get hooked. 

I also watched Woody Allen: A Documentary. I love him. 

Discovering/Learning:  San Geladona Eis Shop in Coburg. You like ice cream and are in Coburg? Visit this place that recently opened at Albertsplatz 3 in Coburg for some gelato. Yum!

Hangover? We have all been there, right? Pounding headache, feeling nauseous and whatnot? I try to avoid these mornings at any cost; first of all because I don’t like this feeling and I have my son to take care off during the night and the next day. Party time is over to some regard – which I am fine with. What to do when you have a hangover? I have tried a bunch of hangover remedies over the years. Some say coffee, pain medication, Coca Cola, sports drinks or greasy food helps. Then I found out about Charcoal. Read more about it here but “activated charcoal capsules work as a digestive aid and essentially absorb dissolved chemicals (i.e. alcohol) as they pass through the body”. If you take charcoal all the time it can cause constipation. [Well, who wants to be drunk every night and take charcoal, right?]  I am not a doctor. It’s always a good idea to check with your care provider before taking supplements.

There is this great art exhibit by Katharina Grosse I would like to see in Baden Baden. Check it out here. 

Are Galaxy Desserts the next trend? 

I discovered Desa ‘Rae L. Stage, her website and photographic talents. She is amazing. Check out her website here. 

ZAZ amazing new album. Listen to it here on Spotify. If you don’t have Spotify, INSTALL SPOTIFY. 

We all know MOBY! Check out this amazing song:

His book The memoir is already on my to-read list. The band Massive Attack is amazing. Not discovered recently, but re-listened over an over again. Massive Attack – Teardrop.  

“maybe if i keep covering more of my face with my hands
he’ll forget i’m here
and go away”

Magic City – The Art of the Street. 

Thinking About: An argument I had with someone. This argument made no sense but I could not and cannot get to her at all. She has her points and fews. Maybe things will change again, maybe not. Let’s see. 

Looking Forward to: Traveling. I always look forward to traveling because it is great and makes me happy. The anticipation, packing, leaving and discovering. Canada next! I am also looking forward to see Vaxxed – The Movie. Should be interesting. 

Have a great weekend! 

Hello and Happy Tuesday! 

I was looking forward to the play A Clockwork Orange for a long time. I purchased a ticket weeks ago and waited patiently. Tonight was the night. My mom took care of Petit Joel. I changed, put on some makeup and was out the door. Fast. I arrived nice and early, ordered a light apéritif while reading the PlayBill. Then I looked around and waited. I love to go to the theater to see a play – especially a ballet. Close to showtime, an actor stepped out on the little balcony to announce that the play was cancelled due to power failure, a computer crash and the sound system was down. 

Initially, I was angry and disappointed. Then I thought that everything might happens for a reason. While I drove home again, difficult situations that happened in my life popped in my mind. Usually, whenever something tough happens, or something gets canceled that I have been looking forward to, I reassured myself by saying that everything does happen for a reason; over and over, to simply make it easier for myself to deal with whatever happened. Problems, arguments, death, disasters, tsunamis, earthquakes and whatnot. But while in the car today, I thought that things don’t necessarily need a reason. Things just happen by chance or by accident I believe. I also hear people say that something is “God’s will” and this is the reason why X, Y or Z happen. But in a way, there is this total lack of evidence that this is true. How do we even know if this is God’s will or what God’s will is? I cannot believe that it is God’s will if an earthquake kills thousands of people. Or a baby dies of cancer or something else horrifying. Natural disasters have their reasons – reasons that can be proven and have strong evidence why they happen. 

Does everything happen by chance rather than reason? Does someone get a promotion because they have been at the right place at the right time but they have no clue about the upcoming tasks and responsibilities? And somebody else applied who has all the knowledge but was not invited to the interview. Are certain people just luckier than others? Others have bad luck and fail and it is therefore not their fault? Are certain things so unforeseeable that we call them accidents? Or is everything just inherently unpredictable? A short story comes to my mind:

“There was a farmer whose only horse ran away. On that evening the neighbors gathered to sympathize with him, for surely this was such bad luck. Now your farm will suffer and you will not be able to plow, the neighbors warned the farmer. Such a terrible thing to have happened to you, they said. The farmer said, “maybe yes, maybe no.” The next day the horse returned and brought him six wild horses, and the neighbors came to congratulate him and celebrate his good fortune. Now you are richer than before,they said. Surely now this has turned out to be such a very good thing, for you, after all. The farmer said, “maybe yes, maybe no.” The following day, the son saddled and rode one of the wild horses. He was thrown off the horse and broke his leg. Now the son could not work on the farm. Again the neighbors came to offer their sympathy for such an inconvenient truth. They noted that there was more work than the farmer could handle and surely now he would become poor. Such bad luck, indeed. The farmer said, “maybe yes, maybe no.” The day after that, conscription officers came to the village to take all the young men for the army, but because of his broken leg, the farmer’s son was disallowed. When the neighbors arrived again, they said how very fortunate the farmer was, as things had worked out after all. Knowing well that most young men never return from the war alive, this was the best fortune yet. And the old farmer said, “maybe yes, maybe no.”

I believe that everything just happens randomly without a reason but we can influence certain things a bit. I cannot say if something does happen for either good or bad. It just happens without over-analyzing or thinking too much about it. The play was cancelled tonight. I am a little sad about it because I looked forward to it for a long time. The world won’t come to an end. Rather than spending my energy getting upset, I invest it to figure out how I can still see the play at a different day. And I deal with that and stay calm. 

How do you cope with difficult situations? Do you believe everything happens for a reason? Food for thought. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xH4zvlhXTnA