Spring walk in the forest

Last couple of weeks have been strange for me as I'm preparing myself for my new job. I've been working from home for 2 years and I'm panicking at the thought that in a week I will be going to the office. Well, at the beginning I will work from home but as soon as the Covid 19 measures will be loosened up I will start going to the office from Monday to Thursday.

This is a big change for me, and I am honestly concerned about how it will go and how I will feel. I have such a great system at home and everything works perfectly. Now, I will have much less time to do things that I like, and I will also have to start compromising much more. Don't get me wrong, I am grateful that I got this opportunity during this time when so many people loose their jobs. I am also excited to do something new and challenging, and to get to know new people but I'm also scared at the same time - first world problems...

Just a month ago I started my 'inside garden', I prepare all our food from scratch, take care of the apartment, write my cookbook, create new recipes, maintain my Hive presence, and I already know that I won't be able to do all that once I go back to the office.

My head is spinning around as I try to find the best solution. I've been so happy those last two years and I don't want to compromise on that. I was at least able to negotiate with the company that I will only work for four days instead of five days which will leave me with 3 days long weekend!

The activity that helps me to calm down and focus on the positive side of all this is walking. Fresh air makes me feel good and give me back my energy. I don't go out as much as I normally would now but when I do, I enjoy it. Spring is a perfect time for long walks as everything is bursting with life and I can forget about my worries. And I do worry a lot...

But when I see those little flowers and intricate detail, I forget about everything and it's just me enjoying the moment.

A couple of days ago we went to the forest again. I was so tired, and my husband was stressed out, so we decided to take a break and spend some time in nature.

We saw many herbs and plants that people consider weeds. One of them is wild garlic. I love it and use it as much as I can. I also preserve it for the rest of the year. This year I tried to make dried wild garlic powder for the first time and it's delicious! It took me 2 days to dry it out properly and the entire apartment smelled like garlic, but it was worth it!

If you want to collect some this year then this is your last chance. It's already blooming, so it's going to be gone very soon.

When you walk by you might even miss these cute pink flowers. They are tiny and match the brown leaves perfectly. But when you look closely you will see that there are so many of them!

I am not sure if these are from the same family but they look alike, just the color is different, so you can spot them easily.

I was so excited to see the lilacs blooming. My grandma had a few of them in her garden. She had the white, pink and purple variety. When I came to visit her, I loved the scent of these trees. And they are so beautiful when they open up. She always gave me a few branches to take home. Sweet memories...

This plant was the only plant that was growing out of the rock. So much life growing out of the stone (or so it seems). I like those red stems and green leaves, what a lovely combination!

Even looking at these photos makes me feel better. Nature really is very important to me! The office is located next to the river Rhine and just a few minutes away from the waterfall and I know already what I will be doing during my lunch break 😊

I hope that you got a chance to go out today and clear your mind.

Thank you for visiting!

Cheers!