Ready for the Season !

Spring is in the air !!! Time to cut the 370 different pelargonium plants and make sticklings, and of course the money goes to our Dignity project...
So friends and pelargonium lovers ! if you need pelargonium sticklings, you know where to go !!! and if you have any particular order or request, please dont hesitate to send your wishing lists or take contact by email.

Orange Blossoms Season

If you visit Maghdouche at this time of the year, you will be taken by the orange flowers perfum coming from the gardens and fields. Yes, it is the full season and people are picking their flowers and getting ready to subtract the perfumed water (Mazaher or Mayzaher) out of it.

Hundreds of people from around Lebanon rush to Maghdouche, these days, to buy either the flowers or the water, have a coffee with one or two flowers smashed in, visit "Saydet el Mantara" and head back to where they came from.

From generation to generation, the tradition is going on. Carlos' initiation to the orange blossoms


Hmmm, what a fragrance !


Ready for the alembic "karakeh"


Only in Maghdouche !

The Olive Season

Olive-picking season starts in October and continues until November. People of Maghdouche wake up early and head to their olive groves around the village to gather the fruits.

I remember from my childhood that climbing the ladder was restricted to adults, while us children, we were hitting the branches with a stick or picking from the ground, the "bad" olives which would be used for soap making.

Back home, after a long working day, leaves and bad fruits should be picked out while the fresh green fruits are divided into two parts: one part is to be consumed during the year as part of the "mouneh" or eaten fresh mixed with olive oil, lemon juice and salt (yummm !).

The other part is packed and sent to one of the local mills to be pressed and used as oil.

Olive oil plays a main role in the daily life of Maghdouche and lebanese people. Besides being a main ingredient in the Lebanese cuisine, it is still used as an alternative remedy for different medical conditions.

Photos by: Hanaa K.

Grapes of Maghdouche

With the beginning of October, Maghdouche is picking its last bunches of grapes. People usually save them to get a little taste of the summer at this time of the year... The summer was fine, the season was abundant and mother earth was generous as always.

Mothers of Maghdouche are done with the preparation of the "mouneh" which includes many products derived from grapes: raisins, vinigar, jam, molasse and wine...

For those who are unfamiliar with the word, "mouneh" is an old tradition in the lebanese culture. People dry or preserve different kinds of vegetables, fruits and grains to be used during the winter months.

Years of war in Lebanon gave the "mouneh" tradition an extra kick. People had to fill their cupboards with different products in case that the local shop around the corner is not accessible.

"Dignity" in the Center - "Dignity" i sentrum

With Dignity project in the center, the weekend market took place on the 2nd. and 3rd of August, outside our gallery.
Med verdighet i sentrum, vår "torgdag" startet 2 og 3. august utenfor vårt galleri.

The day started with a welcoming little speech from TrondE, then he introduced the painter Rolf Monsen and his work to the public and then declared the opening of the exhibition in the gallery as well as the market.
Dagen startet med en liten velkomsttale, og kunstneren Rolf Monsen ble introdusert og overrakt blomster. Utstillingen ble åpnet og publikum kunne se hans kunst i galleriet.

People moved to the first floor where a wonderful music piece was performed by the 2 young artists: Gyrid Nordal Kaldestad and Are Lothe Kolbeinsen . Such an intense performance...
Publikum gikk opp i andre etasje hvor de ble møtt av vakker musikk av to unge musikere, som hadde komponert et stykke til ett av maleriene "Laika" .

Despite the unstable weather, people enjoyed the open market. Shoppers were happy, sellers were satisfied. There was a variety of things on dispay: ceramics, glass, jewelry, plants, herbs, pelargoniums and pelargonium muffins, honey, lebanese spices, seeds etc etc etc.
Tross i veldig ustabilt vær, publikum kom og nøt både utstilling og marked. Det var stor variasjon av produkter, alt fra keramikk, glass, smykker,planter, urter, pelargonium, pelargonium muffins, honning, libanesisk krydder, frø mm......

Here is our "svele" queen: Mona Nygaard left the politics for a day and ran our coffee and "svele with jam" kiosk... delicious... She offered the whole income of the weekend to our project... We thank you Mona!
Og her....er vår "Svele" dronning, Mona Nygaard, hun forlot politikken for en dag og deltok i koking av kaffe og steking av svele med syltetøy. Hun ga hele overskuddet av salget til prosjektet. Tusen takk til Mona.

All in all, the day was wonderful. It is an event that we will be keeping on with, every year, on the hope that next year there will be a stand for Dignity products there.
Alt tatt i betraktning, dagen var vellykket, og vi har bestemt oss for å gjennta "torgdagene" neste år. Vi håper da å kunne tilby noen produkter fra vårt Dignity prosjekt.

Josephine's house - Josefines hus

Here are two great pelargoniums that we found in Maghdouche. The red one is called Josephine's house (Josefines hus) since we got it from the house of Elias Bassoul and Josephine Cattan. The second is called Hatem's house (Hatems hus) named after Hatem Khoury who lives in the old part of Maghdouche. In the third photo, you can see the special leaves with a lighter shade in the middle.

På norsk

Her er to flotte pelargonier som vi har samlet i Maghdouche. Den røde (for rød på fotoet) som er fylt heter Josefines hus den hvite kalles Hatems hus og er en fylt hvit, nesten mot det grønne.

Weekend Market - Torgdager 2. og 3. august

As in August last summer, we will be having the market days outside the gallery the 2nd. and 3rd. of August from 12:00 to 16:00. There will be a various range of products from Pelargonium plants to herbs and herbal products, other flowers, food, glass, and much more ... besides, the posibillity of having a coffee and waffles... All stand fee and our pelargonium sale will be going to support our project in Maghdouche - Lebanon :"Dignity".

At the same time, we will be openning an exhibition in the gallery with the painter Rolf Monsen.

last year weekend market
På norsk:
Også i år arrangerer vi torgdager på tunet utenfor vårt galleri den 2. og 3. august fra 1200 til 1600. I år blir det pelargonium salg, urter og urte relaterte produkter, glass mm. Det blir også i år mulig å kjøpe kaffe med noe "attåt". ............det blir en liten "torgleie" og vårt salg av pelargonium går til vårt Dignity prosjekt i Maghdouche - Libanon
Vi åpner også maleriutstilling med Rolf Monsen i galleriet.

Mr. Fancy Plants, flowerstick

Mr. Fancy Plants, is simply a beautiful handmade product for supporting your plants and decorating them. The hand-painted stick is in wood and varnished and the 2 support rings are in steel with beads. This wonderful artistic product is exclusively made by our blogfriend: vriddrett, and the sale will go to our "Dignity" project in the market weekend 2nd. and 3rd. of August. If you want to reserve a set, send us an e-mail. One set costs NOK 120.- plus porto.

På norsk:
Mr. Fancy Plants- støtte og pynt for jålete planter (og eiere) et virkelig superprodukt for planteelskere som vil pynte opp sine planter med håndmalte blomsterpinner med feste i rustfri blomstertråd med perler. Et produkt du ikke finner maken til. Mr. Fancy Plants er designet og lager av vår bloggvenn: Vriddrett. Salget av disse blomsterpinnene går til inntekt for vårt "Dignity" prosjekt og vil bli solgt på våre torgdager 2. og 3. august. Er du interessert i å reservere et sett, send oss en e-post. Ett set koster kr. 120 + porto.

Pelargoniums in the Maghdouche area

Since we collect pelargoniums, we found these in Maghdouche. The first is from Nabila and Joseph Elia's house and therefore, we called it: Nabila. It is an Ivy leaf (peltatum). We named the second: Marthalim (it is coming from the house of Em Nabil Halim Hayek) and the third: Kish Kish (it is coming from the house of Michael Constantine) .