Market bliss

Time keeps on slipping into the future, not doing a lot fills days here..

This morning I went to the market in Issegeac. It was busy and lovely. There was fruit and vegs from peoples gardens and artisinal products from the region. I bought some fresh herbs and smoked sausages for at home. And I found this gorgeous old fashioned baker shop. The lady behind the counter had an apron on and I ordered all kinds of fruit pastries: prune, framboise, peche and some local cookies. No way I can eat them all but it was fun ordering them. And she put them in a cardboard box with flowers and thin paper and then made a bow with string for me to carry them.. Lovely!

slow, slow, slow..

Yesterday I got up at 12.10 !!! OMG !!!

Apparently it was what I needed. The sun was peeking trough the clouds, and I went into the sauna and swam a few laps. Again an evening by the fire in a comfy chair. I decided there is no problem doing that the rest of the week! Me and the sausages in my fridge got invited to eat at Gerrit and Patricia and girls for leftover day. It was fun and I felt very welcome.

Today I got up in time for the baker, and the weather seems to be dry. That is what I asked for the other day. At least let it be dry.
I will cast on meow mittens in a second since Winterfi and I are doing a mini-kal. Second attempt at color work and I'm a wee bitty apprehensive since it didn't work out with the cupcake kitten hat. But with a little help from my friends it should work out! Go Marieke, you can do it!

A huge peacock walked by the path just now when I was getting my bread. I stood still and really watched the pretty bird. They are really, really gorgeous...

Lakeside Yoga

Today I did the washing and then time slipped by and I didn't do a whole lot. At four I attended a yoga class given by one of the campers here. Imagine doing the yoga and meditation on the bank of a little lake/ pond. With you feet in the grass and surrounded by trees. Hillside rocks and caves give a pleasant focus point while doing stances. I had great yogi flow afterwards and since the intention of the class was "warmth" I was all cosy warm.
I went with Patricia and we had a drink afterwards. She went trough much of the same as I in the last months and it was nice not having to explain things and recognising so much she was saying! I think I made a friend today :)

Photo's:

The little vintage lingerie dress I bought on the market:

My hippie like caravan:

Brocante en France

Today I woke up late and ha a shower. I walked over to the store to pick up the bread I ordered.

Afterwards a really nice family asked me if I wanted to join them shopping. Of course!
So off I went in the Alfa Romeo with Gerrit, Patricia, Sanne and Lieke.

When we entered Beaumont there was a brocante market on the town square. I forget my camera so no piccies I'm sorry...

The square was "roofed" with lines of colored flags and market was REALLY good. Lots of old lace!
I bought a vintage slippdress, pink with white lace. Two wooden buttons and a little green owl statue.

Then we went to the supermarket and I filled my cart with lots of goodies. I just put anything in it when it caught my eye. I spend 85 euros on groceries! But I will have splendid meals in the coming days.

In the afternoon I took a nap and afterwards I cooked.

Time flows in a lesser pace here. I even walk a lot slower. Right here and now is kinda peaceful.
But I do hope the weather will get better cos right now I'm cold, and I don't like being cold...

Reporting live from... the Dordogne!

Sorry I dropped of the radar for a bit but I had a couple of full days.

On monday I went to the Take That concert in the Arena! It was MEGA! Mega big hall, mega big robot that moves in the show, mega cool costumes and show elements, mega pretty and a really good ballerina.
Me and Maris had a really good time:

I stayed over at Maris because I had a train to catch at 6.16 at Amsterdam Central station. Which was a great decision because the train from Hoorn wasn't going that morning! Ack! But I took a cab from the station (transport #1) and then was pleasantly on time for the train. I travelled first class all the way, it was only ten euros more and very much worth it. The train from Amsterdam to Paris flew there (transport #2) and then I was at Gare du Nord. When breakfast was served on the train, I broke out in huge smile: I love to travel and I love going places, I felt good.
In Paris I had to transfer from Gare du Nord to Gare Montparnasse by metro (transport #3) which was also easy and fast. A friend of my moms gave me three metro tickets he had left, so I didn't have to buy one... nice! One small reminder to myself: don't keep the trolley bag in its long handle, bag got stuck between the doors of the metro. Luckily a nice man rescued me. There were a lot of nice people btw. When I was hauling my bag up steps most of the tim someone would grab the other handle. I kept on smiling like an idiot...

The TGV from Paris to Libourne (transport #4) was FAST!!! It got to 320 km an hour! I slept a chunck of that trip. And bought a way too big sandwich for lunch. I was seated between little old ladies who were chattering away in French. It was bliss.

Then the transfer I was dreading: I had only five minutes to get of the TGV and get on the train to Bergerac. A girl who was a train attendant saw me fidget and she told me the train would be on the other side of the platform! Aaaaah, bless her!

After those big and fast trains the small train to Bergerac (transport #5) felt like riding in a toy train. We rode trough the vineyards and the houses on top of the hills really looked like the Chateau's on labels of wine! Pretty torrets and windows with wooden shutters. I tried taking pictures but it wouldn't work.

While in the train someone from the campsite called me to let me know a boy would be at the station to pick me up. He drove like a french madmen but he got me there just the same and was really nice. Peter even offered me to drive me anywhere I wanted. For a small fee of course, but hey it is still a lot cheaper than the "real" cabs. So he was transport #6! I don't know how many kilometers I travelled yesterday but it wasn't bad.

I was really tired after arriving at the site, and I had a hard time finding everything in my tiny caravan. But in the end it was standing and the bed was made and the fridge was working and a nice man helped me put up the canopy roof. I ate fries and had an Orangina with it. A single father started chatting me up. He was laughing and making jokes and made me listen to his ipod. I was grinning like mad that even while I wasn't looking my best (travel does that to you) he still found me interesting enough to "invest" in me.

I walked around the campsite, which is way pretty. It lies in the woods and some clearings have been made to camp on. To walk from field to field means you walk trough woods, cross streams with wooden tiny bridges and climb little mountain tracks. My caravan is in the truffel woods. It smells like wood and I have a huge oak tree who stands guard over my little spot of heaven.

Wear the wild sweater is done!

OMG! I popped my sweater cherry!

And it has become great and I learned loads!

Look at how cute it became:

I can't wait to take it with me to the Dordogne and rumpus around the campsite and woods there! Wild, here I come!

Sometimes you win, sometimes you loose,

And sometimes your color work is lumpy!

Today was a rainy day. I cleaned house, packed my bag and knitted a hat. I did a wee teensy bit of color work on it. But I was too lazy to split the colored yarn and ended up with lumpy bits of color. And I was so afraid the hat would be too small it came out too big! Right now it is in the washer to felt. Maybe that will solve the problem. Otherwise I will have learned from the experience:

1. Split yarn if necessary.
2. Hats can be too big.
3. Felt when needed : )
4. Dust yourself off and try again.

But maybe a most fab hat will emerge from the washer?! Will keep you posted.

Please please please..

Dear weathergods and godesses,

On Tuesday morning I will be leaving for the south of France. I will stay there for two weeks. Right now the forecast doesn't look that good. Me, personally, are really hoping for sunny and warm days. So I'm begging you for this kind of weather:

Instead of the nasty kind of Autumnal weather you are serving right now. I got rained on two days in a row and today isn't better. The only reason I didn't get rained on today is because I didn't leave the house.....

Tell me what I need to do in return, I would really love some real summer weather this summer holiday!

Summer Holiday!

YAY summer holiday is here! seven weeks of blissfull nothingness! YAY! the 5th of september is my next working day, oooooh, that sounds like soooooo far away.

I know I'm spoiled but I'm really glad it is here!

And today is my daddy's birthday! We got him an ereader; he's been eyeing them for ages now.

Weird pic of my great daddy: I love him!

HP... the end.

Today me and Maris went to see the last Harry Potter movie; the end of an era.....

First we went yarn shopping, we bought a lot since Maris wants her fave hat recreated by me. She chose some posh yarn for me to work with. Then we went to eat Dim Sum, but our favorite restaurant didn't exist anymore! So we went to another great one and had lots of food and tea and only spend 30 euro's; nice! Then I was stuffed and we went to Tuschinski theater to see HP 7. Tuschinski is a great art deco building in the hart of Amsterdam and it is sheer pleasure going to the movies there. The HP movie was great also but the 3d glasses hurt my nose and I have to admit I get headachey from the 3d effect. So I will go and see the movie again, only not in 3D then..
We had previews of the green lantern, and twilight 4, both movies I want to see. And since the weather sucks at the moment I think it is a great idea to see lots and lots of movies! Wheehaaa

I'm knitting a sweater!

It's raining and the water boiler is broken and I still don't like having to work and I'm afraid I will never because I'm lazy and headstrong! There... so much for ranting!

I'm knitting a sweater! I never thought I would or even wanted to but it is far easier (so far) than expected. I'm working on thick needles with thick yarn so it is going really fast! And it has ears on the hood..

And a friend of my dad's is coming this evening to fix the boiler, so all in all it should work out. Really hoping it won't cost me a lot of moneyz...

Kitty and gifting

There is kitty I know and she broke her pelvis, but her dear owners cant afford the 1500 euro surgery she needs... So they opened a facebook page to get funds and keep people updated about Rita the cat. I only donated 5 euro's but every itty bitty helps the kitty. It is just so sad that she had the stupid accident and since kitties aren't allowed to work she cant pay for the surgery herself..

And I got a gift too! Winterfi gifted me the great puff pattern! :) Yay! I love winterfi since this isn't the first pattern she gave me... LOVE her! It will be extra pretty because she gave it to me :)

belle & boo

Found some great new illustrations the other day: Belle & Boo

It is actually a whole brand including children's clothing but I adore the pretty artwork. It is whimsical and sweet and the colors are just gorge.
I bought some cards with art reproductions and some buttons cos they were ubercute!

Glorious wedding!

And yesterday the wedding was there! It was magical and very interesting! The whole Hindi ceremony took nearly four hours but it was a joy to watch and I must have asked a thousand questions. Roshni made us feel very special since she kept inviting us into her little room where she had to be kept away from certain parts of the ceremony. And her mother kept thanking us for being there and she was having fun with us.

And we danced and we ate and we laughed and we cried when the bride left with the groom and his family.
I woke up this morning around 12.30 (!) with a huge smile on my face. And I'm surely gonna invest in this friendship with Roshni seeing how precious she feels to me!

Pictures yay!

Us with the gorgeous couple!

Roshni seconds before her groom can see her.

A weekend in Roshni land!

Saturday it was Roshni's party. We danced and laughed and ate until Djina broke the heel of her shoes, my tummy was swollen like a ballon from all the food and an auntie declared the dance floor broken! It was fantastic! I think we came home around 2.30 in the morning and I was woken up around nine by Maris where we were staying over.

One pic: look at them pretty girls with the big smiles:

Henna party

Thursday we had Roshni's Henna Party. It was a lot of fun to meet her family and I felt was made very welcome by them all! This is what Moen and mine hands looked like when the Mendi was done.

This is dear Roshni all decked out with henna. She had to stay still for hours and did so gracefully! So pretty!

Unfortunately my skin didn't "take" well, so this is all the effect it had on my skin. Good to know, and I still found it very pretty and pleasing indeed.

Trips with kids

Yesterday I went to the Zuiderzeemuseum with pupils. I took lots of pictures. It was fun because I tried to escape the crowds and it worked even though a lot of schools were visiting that day.

The house I want to stay for the weekend in.

Holland really looks like this!

        

 
Lucky shot of the light hitting the floors in the church.

Had some downtime with the sheep to thank them for their wool that makes my precious yarn.

Compliments

As I walked into the butcher's shop around the corner a boy who was standing there remarked how much I glowed! And then the butcher said: she is that way always. Well boys, thank you for the compliments :)

Had a meeting with the medical officer today. He agreed with me that I would resume work completely after the summer break. He did warn me that he felt I would remain "fragile" and needed stability and predictability in my work. Then I had a meeting with my boss and when I told him what the med had said he agreed. We decided I would resume work completely but I will only teach next year. Even though I was a teachers coach for the pas few years he felt, and I agreed, that I will not be doing that this upcoming year. It is a relieve in a way. I've been thinking about it a lot. I want to coach and since my boss payed for two really expensive courses on the subject I felt I had to. He said I would do it again in the future and shouldn't feel bad. Great boss no? I told him I thought he has been really great with me for the past few months, he appreciated it.

Finished the Fairy lights hat today:

At least the sun is shining

Today was not such a good day. We had a project day in school and I had a hard time coping with the chaos and I had a row with a colleague.. But he is an asshole anyway so I ain't too bothered by the row, more by him as a person.

But you can't like every one on this world. There are so many of us, you are bound to find the one and only you really dislike from the first glance. And he isn't in my team so I only have to put up with him on these kinds of days.

But like I said: the sun is shining! And I met my lovely neighbour Emmy in the supermarket and we chatted while we walked home. She is such a great person. She will take care of Mika when I'm on holiday. And Mika adores her! She is the ultimate animal lover, taking everything in and being a vegetarian the whole way. She is sweet and I'm happy to have her as my next door neighbour, as is Mika. We walked really slowly in the sun. That makes up for all the crap of the rest of the day.

Time is on my side

Today I realised I will leave for summer holiday in two weeks! OMG

Don't have that much to do or arrange but anyway... that's really soon, me likes....

It was a nice sunny day today. The kind of day where you can walk around outside without a coat or sweater but still nice and cool so no sweat. I don't like sweat, especially on other people.

I took the train to Amsterdam (again? yes again) to visit Maris and Gordon. It was Sunday market at the Westergasfabriek which was splendid. It is this big market where people sell stuff they have made themselves. Like Etsy but outdoors and for real. Food aplenty and some great stalls. Also a lot of "freubels". Women who make stuff... Some are more "en pointe" than other that is all I'm gonna say.

Maybe I want to have a stall there in fall to sell some knitwear. Maybe that would be nice.

Bought some artwork cards and two buttons and some fudge and some chocolate. I had a bit of a pulled pork sandwich and a glass of freshly squeezed apple juice. The guy had this great wooden old fashioned apple juicer and he was wearing a big leather apron. He looked really cool.
Oh, and I bought some great bread for the week, but in the train home I realised I don't have anything to put on it for lunch tomorrow.

Good day this one, one more week of working with the kids coming up... Breathe in.... Breathe out... Take a step...

Nap time

Mika and I just took a nap on the couch in the sun. How wonderful to have a couch where we can do a nap at the same time and no one gets kicked by the other.

Now Mika is still sleeping and she is dreaming! Her ears are twitching and her whiskers are moving and legs are stretching and clawing. It looks like she is dreaming of being petted. Sometimes she dreams about hunting and eating birds or some other animal. I can see from the way she is moving. Even her tail is joining in now. I love that cat!

Feeling zen

Sometimes you just feel at peace with the world. Today I was totally at peace with the world. Got up nice and easy, worked a few hours which went smoothly. Had the last lesson with 2A and got me some pressies. Nice!

Then I went to pick up a piece of art I had framed and it turned out even more splendid than I could have imagined. Went for a stroll in the park and fed the birds. A dog walked along with me for quite some time, darting around me all playfully. He was cute. Did some grocery shopping and cooked me some dinner.

Peaceful was the word of the day, accompanied by some inner quiet bliss.

Finished Roshni's wedding gift btw as you can see...