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Tag "plants"

For many many months, I didn’t open my plant presser. Look at all these leaves and flowers which came out from there! Some plants I collect because I like their forms, and some I collect them to remember the moment. I can’t recall where and when I collected half of these plants, but others bring back good memories. My herbier is also my diary.

The view out my balcony <3

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My first attempt to grow an avocado plant ended when nothing happened. When the pit was half dunked under water for a month and I saw no sign of anything happening, I thought I’ve done something wrong or something was wrong with the avocado pit, and it went into trash. Turns out, I had to wait longer. Way longer. I found this out when my second attempt started rooting only after perhaps four months or when I actually forgot about it.

Now I have several in different stages, one making baby leaves, some rooting, one just starting to split in the middle where the root begins.

: – )

Last November, I also collected some tangerine seeds which I de-skinned and germinated. Now they are planted in soil and starting to grow baby leaves.

They are all happily chilling in front of the window : )

It is magical to me to grow plants from seeds in my food, which actually should be so normal and natural, but sadly lost in our times. Let me know if you also plant seeds from your food ; )

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I bought this book <ATLAS DE POCHE DES PLANTES DES CHAMPS DES PRAIRIES & DES BOIS> from Maison Empereur in Marseille (the shop should be visited if you are ever in Marseille!).

This book is a reproduction of what was originally printed at the end of 19th century, therefore some texts are outdated. But owing to that, it is a beautiful book. This book in particular is about plants, however there’s a book about other topics – mushrooms, fish, birds, butterflies, etc – within the series. You can check the whole series here (click on “curiosités naturelles”).

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ATLAS DE POCHE DES PLANTES DES CHAMPS DES PRAIRIES & DES BOIS
Éditions Bibliomane
ISBN : 978-2-36743-030-0

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PLANTING HERBES / IN LATE FALL - angdoo.com/blog

You might’ve thought I was crazy for planting seeds while it already feels like winter outside. Well, on that day, I needed to do something other than thinking about work, so I planted my left over seeds without really expecting them to grow. Turns out, these herbs are crazier! They started growing just five days after planting them : ) The herb above is baby thyme.

PLANTING HERBES / IN LATE FALL - angdoo.com/blog

And this one above is baby basil. I think I’ve made the same mistake as before (but not as bad) by overcrowding the pot. Mattie threatens me that I need to pluck some out, but I just can’t.. I’ll update you on these babies in a few months ; )

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DAY OFF / TODAY - angdoo.com/blog

It feels as if a storm has passed, and today I woke up with silence in my head. Ever since I came back from the summer holiday, things have been quite chaotic. Every morning I woke up with a long list of to-dos, and I constantly joggled many projects simultaneously in my head. Last few weeks have been especially intense with two exhibitions almost back to back. Then right after the exhibition opening at 126 gallery, I went down to Bordeaux and shot a personal short film. When I came back from Bordeaux yesterday (and after teaching a class in the afternoon), I was completely drained. But I’m not complaining, but in fact the contrary. I feel very fortunate.

Today I gave myself a day off. I decided to repot a plant to a bigger pot and to plant some seeds. Yes yes, it is not really the season for planting seeds, but I did anyways – basil, thyme, rosemary and cherry tomato. Then with friends, we had picnic-like lunch, and realized we unintentionally had seven different cheeses on the table. Yes, this is France. After I had a long discussion with Guigui about different things, mostly about relationship, while eating too many stroopwafels.

And I did all these in my pajama, and I’m still in my pajama as I write this.

DAY OFF / TODAY - angdoo.com/blog

DAY OFF / TODAY - angdoo.com/blog

DAY OFF / TODAY - angdoo.com/blog

Tomorrow I’ll be back to making a long to-do list, and I’ll start editing my film. I’ll probably get out of my pajama too.

I hope you had a nice day too. And a side note – after the storm has passed, I feel a little different. I can’t really put my finger on what has changed, but something feels shaken up. Good night you.

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AWAY FROM HOME - ANGDOO.COM/BLOG

Mattie and I took a 6am train down to Bordeaux. We will be here and around for a month to spend time with Mattie’s family, go on a tandem/wild camping trip and go to Corsica with friends.

Before we left home, this is our shower situation. We set up a homemade self-watering system for the plants. I didn’t realize we housed these many plants until we gathered them together in our little shower. I was proud and also worried at the same time since we will be gone for a month. We’ve already tried this self-watering system before when we were away for 10 days, and it was successful, and I hope that it will work its magic again this time for a month.

If you are curious how this works, on the left out of the frame, there are two big buckets filled with water. One end of each string is submerged in water and the other end is buried in soil of each pot.

Cross your fingers with me : )

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REHOUSING TOMATOES - ANGDOO.COM/BLOG

A few months ago, I planted some seeds for the very first time. Some basil seeds, tomato seeds, thyme seeds, and some rosemary seeds. To my utmost surprise, they grew and still growing strong. Only thing is that I should have researched beforehand how to plant them properly. It turns out, I planted too many seeds. I found out later that I was supposed to place only few seeds with some distance apart. Instead, I sprinkled the seeds generously on soil. Very generously : S

REHOUSING TOMATOES - ANGDOO.COM/BLOG

Especially the tomato plants needed some extra space. I was informed that the tomato plants need at least 5cm distance between each stem. I think mine had 1mm between each.

REHOUSING TOMATOES - ANGDOO.COM/BLOG

I selected four healthiest looking ones and replanted them in a new bigger pot.

REHOUSING TOMATOES - ANGDOO.COM/BLOG

For the rest, Mattie started planting them everywhere and anywhere he can. So now we have various pots filled with tomato plants. If anyone in Paris wishing to have some tomato plants, just come around with a pot and some soil and pick some up : )

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walk-1

It was close to 4pm and haven’t eaten anything yet, which happens rather often. I stepped out of the house in hunger to grab something or anything to eat. I live in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, which is crowded by fancy restaurants. It is a challenge to find a simple, quick and cheap grab except McDo. So I decided to walk on the smaller streets I’ve never walked on around the neighborhood, hoping I’ll run into something simple, quick and cheap. But instead of food, I ran into many other things which distracted me from hunting down for food.

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I ran into a pile of thrown away stuff. It looked like someone’s moving and emptying out the house. Often, people leave their ‘trash’ on the streets so others can grab what they need from the pile. There are treasures you can find within these piles, and I always have a quick look. And look! A painting of a bird on a canvas! This came home with me : )

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Then I ran into some gigantic handsome leaves with a furry texture. Does anyone know the name?

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And this bleached look on these leaves!

Oh, I ran into one boulangerie and found myself a sandwich at the end. Hope you are enjoying your day too.

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weekend-7

My weekend was calm and productive – a bit of yoga, a bit of painting and a bit of crocheting. I finished painting on all the linen tea towels I’ve made. Now, I’d like to hang all of them on a giant wall to take a photo all together, but I don’t know any place with a giant wall. I have to see what I can find. But I hope I can take some photos and show them to you soon.

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I wanted a small basket in my bathroom to hold some miscellaneous things . So I decided to make one by crocheting a rope. Since I’ve never done this before, I first turned to few Youtube video tutorials. All of them were strict about following patterns, such as the number of stitches, the number of increase, when to increase, marking the start of the row, etc. I tried to follow the pattern and count my stitches in the beginning, but soon I got distracted and lost my count, and the bobby pin marking the beginning of the stitch fell out. So I decided to improvise, which is my specialty ; ) Well, I had to improvise anyways because my hook was way too small for the rope. While crocheting, I hung out with my plants : ) I’ve planted the seeds of basil, rosemary, thyme and tomato a few months ago (for the first time!), and they’ve grown so much since! They are overcrowded as I later found out that I scattered too many seeds in each pot. Soon I have to separate them, but they look so fragile and I’m afraid I’ll just hurt them. If you have any tips, please share!

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So it is proudly hanging in my bathroom now. Not bad at all : ) How was your weekend?

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I am back home from Bordeaux. Mattie and I spent great time with Mattie’s family and our friends. We also spent few days in the countryside which was both hard work and relaxing. I will post soon about the trip.

But first things first, the plants! The day before we left for Bordeaux, we built a self-watering system for the plants, hoping they can survive the next 10 days. Well, I was somewhat skeptical about this diy system, and I hoped it at least won’t make a mess. When I returned home, first thing I checked was of course the plants and guess what? It worked! I was amazed. Not only they survived, they grew so much compared with how they were when we left them. So now you know what to do with your plants when you are gone for several days and you don’t know any of your neighbors ; )

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Happy weekend! It is rainy in Paris. Most likely, I’ll be painting at home, wrapped up in a big sweater. And you?

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