Happy Solstice

Happy Solstice! Today is the longest day of the year, even though it doesn't feel that way because it has been cold and rainy all day long. Anyway, next Saturday Sweden celebrates midsommar. Last Saturday Princess Victoria married her Daniel, and the local IKEA invited its guests to a piece of princess cake and cup of coffee.

The princess cake was delicious.

I brought home a strawberry plant from IKEA.

For midsummer, you could make a flower wreath for a small fee at IKEA. Below you see the wreath my mom made.

This is my wreath.

This year I choose pink and some yellow flowers while last year's wreath was more colorful.

Of course, I had to wear the wreath for some time -- midsummer fun!

My wreath was definitely fuller than...

... the one my mom had made, but really loved both and definitely had to try on both of them.

A final look at the flowers of my wreath.

They looked so pretty in the fading evening light.

V is for VLA

Now you may wonder for what VLA stands. It's a good thing that you are here for Jenny Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday then! VLA means Very Large Array. It's a radio astronomy observatory in New Mexico, USA. If you watched the movie Contact with Jodie Foster, you have seen parts of the VLA. Anyway, I visited the VLA in the late 1990s -- the size and quantity of the antennas is impressing.


You feel somewhat small standing in front of those constructions. My mom took the photo below of me offering sacrifice to the God of Technology -- or so it seems. Actually, I filmed the huge dish.

Pink flowers everywhere

Saturday means Pink Saturday, hosted by dear Beverly! This time I take you around the garden once again. Now that summer has finally come to Munich, everything is blooming in abundance -- like this pink flower. I have no idea how it is called though...

This is a close-up of a clematis -- the petals are not exactly pink, but have a lovely shade of purple.

Once again I can't say how this flower is called, but I love how it looks in the bright sun.

Another photo of the first mystery plant. Well, it's lovely -- and pink! -- nonetheless.

These are gerbera -- pink delight!

The next two photos show lantana camara -- so very beautiful!

These flowers are said to attract butterflies.

Beautiful pinks once again -- but I am clueless in regard to the name of the plant.

That's a close-up of a rose. The petals have a velvety quality -- just wonderful.

Finally, one of the first rosebuds of the Da Vinci rosebush.

Happy Pink Saturday!

U is for Umbrella

Welcome to Jenny Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday! Last week we had so much rain, but this week summer has finally come. Somehow that made me think of Regenschirme (umbrellas) and Sonnenschirme (sunshades). In German, there is one word (Schirm) for the thing which protects us from the elements (Regen = rain, Sonne = sun). Neat, huh? Anyway, here's my mom's favorite umbrella which she bought at an Italian street market.

Cute ducks.

She also bought an umbrella for me at the same market. Oh, she knows me well -- it's an umbrella in jeans color.

The fabric looks like demin for sure.

It's a great color for grey, rainy days.

Then I have this tiny umbrella in a checked pattern which fits into every purse -- really handy!

It looks cute all opened up -- and it has a good size, too.

When Disney's Pocahontas was all the rage in the mid-1990s, I bought this umbrella.

Beautiful shades of blue and green -- really cheerful in the rain.

Oh, now that you have seen all those umbrellas, I have to show you two sunshades, too. After all, you need to be protected from all elements! The one below is as colorful as a bright summer day.

I also love the midnight blue sunshade. Somehow, it makes you feel cooler despite the hot summer sun.

Cool hat & pendant

It seems that the universe thinks I should be beautified. Maybe that's the reason why I recently won two giveaways. Nadescha from Cheeky Apple offered a cool green hat in the Sew, Mama, Sew giveaway. She sent along a cute little green card with a red apple.

Here's yours truly wearing the new hat -- it's perfect for my green eyes!

Be sure to check out Nadescha's cool hats at her online store -- there is something for everyone!

Thanks Nadescha -- I love the hat!

Moreover, a wonderful pendant traveled all the way from Australia to Germany. Nicola from Nicola Toms Designs celebrated her 200th blog post with a giveaway. I was lucky enough to win her "Perfect Wave" pendant in one of my favorite colors -- purple! Nicola, I already got a compliment when I wore your pendant. It's truly lovely -- thanks so much!

If you now want your own pendant, please visit Nicola's Etsy store.

Grow

For Mind Wide Open's June challenge a lovely background is provided as well as the word prompt "Grow." I ended up with a colorful digital collage with a fairy-tale atmosphere:

When I grow up,

I want to be a dancer.

View the other entries at Mind Wide Open --
votes are welcome, too!

T is for Tomb Raider

It's Thursday and that means it's time for Jenny Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday once again! So what did I choose this time? Tomb Raider! Some of you may know either the computer games or the movies, but others surely haven't heard of Lara Croft yet. Oh, the many faces of Lara -- below you see her early computer game face on a duvet cover.

So what's on my Tomb Raider Things To Do Today board today? Yes, right -- post about T is for Tomb Raider at Jenny Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday.

Where to start? Well, in the beginning there was the computer game. That was also my start into the Tomb Raider universe. A couple of years ago I saw the very first Tomb Raider game for a very good prize in a store. I had heard of the game before, but hadn't felt compelled to pick a copy. However, I like adventure stories à la Indiana Jones, so I thought I should give the game a try. After playing the first level, I knew that was the thing for me. From Wikipedia:

"The object of Tomb Raider is to guide Lara through a series of tombs and other locations in search of treasures and artefacts. On the way, she must kill dangerous animals and other creatures, while collecting objects and solving puzzles to gain access to an ultimate prize, usually a powerful artefact. Gunplay is restricted to the killing of various animals that appear throughout each stage, although occasionally Lara may be faced with a human opponent. Instead the emphasis lies on solving puzzles and performing trick jumps to complete each level."

In the meantime, there are nine games on the market. I like all games, but if I had to pick favorite ones, I would choose Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation which is mainly set in Egypt and Tomb Raider: Legend with its many interesting locations. In case computer games are too difficult and hectic for you, there is an alternative -- an interactive DVD called Tomb Raider: The Action Adventure for which you only need a regular DVD player. The game is based on Tomb Raider: The Angel Of Darkness.

Now you are about to meet Lara -- I won this lifesize statue of Lara Croft when the game Tomb Raider: Legend was published. By the way, if you want to meet a hardcore Tomb Raider fan, please visit the website of Goran Agar.

It's fun to go with Lara through the seasons -- with a bat on your shoulder for Halloween or a Santa cap for Christmas. Currently, she is wearing a green cap with a white flower made by Nadescha from CheekyApple which I won in her Sew, Mama, Sew giveaway.

You see -- Nadescha's hats are for everyone!

The Tomb Raider logo on a bag.

Of course, there's a lot to read about Tomb Raider, too. I like the books which were published to accompany the movies as well as the three novels based on the computer game series. Here's the review I wrote for amazon.de of the first novel titled The Amulet Of Power -- I rated it 5/5:

British archeologist and adventurer Lara Croft is rescued from the collapsed Temple of Horus in Edfu, Egypt -- only to be attacked by two silent men in a hospital in Cairo where she recovers from her injuries. Handsome Kevin Mason Junior, a fellow archeologist, comes to her rescue again. Together they flee from religious fanatics who think that Lara has found the most powerful artifact in the world -- the Amulet of Mareish. Lara decides to search for the amulet in the Sudan where Englishman General Charles Gordon might have hidden it in the late 1800s. The dangerous treasure hunt brings Lara also to Kenya and on the Seychelles where she finally faces her biggest challenge.

Lara Croft Tomb Raider The Amulet Of Power starts where the fourth Tomb Raider video game had ended. Fans finally get to know what happened to Lara after she had been trapped in the Egyptian tomb and before she reappears in Paris to visit her mentor Werner Von Croy. Mike Resnick did a good job filling this gap, bringing Lara's character and dry humor to life. As in the video game, there are quite a few killings (people and animals), so the book is not suited for small children. The lost artifact, the exotic locations, the mystical happenings, and the ever-present danger all bring to life what Tomb Raider is all about. Even readers who haven't seen the movies or played the video games will enjoy this adventure novel with a strong-willed, smart, and witty heroine.

Another book I treasure is The Art Of Tomb Raider: Underworld. I am fascinated by the graphic art and character design of all the games, and this book makes you aware of how much work goes into each game which automatically becomes a work of art, too. Below you see a black and white sketch as well as the colored image of a Mayan style ruin.

Just as in a movie, a story board helps to visualize the flow of a scene -- here's one set in the Mediterranean. Ben Shafer, one of the artists from Tomb Raider: Underworld has fabulous concept art on his blog.

Finally, the movies Lara Croft: Tomb Raider from 2001 and Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life from 2003 are probably best known. Both films are among my favorite movies -- I especially like the exotic locations as well as how Angelina Jolie brings the strong-willed heroine Lara Croft to life. Oh, and I should also mention the excellent original motion picture scores!

Inkworks has a set of trading cards for both movies. Below you see a couple of cards from the first movie which also starred Daniel Craig as Alex West.

Here are a couple of cards from the second movie which also starred Gerard Butler as Terry Sheridan.

Those sunglasses are way cool!

Oh, the clock is ticking -- I better come to an end now. Feel free to drop me a line if you also like the games and/or movies or if you give one of the novels a try.