why stitching is good for the soul & the advantages of cycling to work

this is how SunriseSunset turned out: apart from the running stitch, I also threaded a few thin bits of wire to keep the shape I wanted and added a stray black/white feather (goose?); busy couple of days, last Sunday Fair Fashion Festival in Utrecht because a friend Marijke Bongers' eco-friendly & exquisite wedding dresses were shown on the catwalk and also Utrecht is fun on a Sunday afternoon with lots of shops and cafés open.....I'm not a big fan of spending too much time in towns these days, but do enjoy the occasional visit. Tuesday I went to the DDW 2017 (DutchDesignWeek) in Eindhoven together, again with friend D.....lovely how we can just hop into the car or onto the train and travel about so easily in Holland; just to contradict what I said before: this coming weekend we'll be in Amsterdam on 2 seperate family occasions, my sister's birthday and a small family reunion, anyway, the week after that will be much less adventuresome.

I am on my lunchbreak at the office right now and able to blog! which I was never able to do in previous employment...talk about freedom Grace!

the start of a new, very light piece - I do love working with these sheer fabrics - the moon piece came from Jude, I believe it's silk

 all of the stitching was done whilst watching (out of the corner of my eye) television on BBC4* these past evenings: very meditative, as the programs are all documentaries on different skills, such as silk weaving, forging a blade and woodwork, followed by an hour in Meditations in a Monastry somewhere in the UK and to top it all off a journey in India all about the Buddha....so amidst the turmoil of daily life there was peace and quiet on the settee back home 

* worth checking out on BBC website

3 quotes I kind of remember
'Naturally an artisan must be patient'
'I try to consider everything I do as an act of prayer, from chopping wood to sweeping the floor'
'routine acts are good, they let the mind wander'

addendum: 'another small cycling episode'
yesterday morning as I was on my way to work, on the bike that is, I noticed several birds in the fields to my left:
a kestrel praying* above the grasses, a crow hovering in his vicinity and two white herons afoot, observing the other two birds in the air; the kestrel swooped down and up, and down and back up again, and then it probably caught a small critter, because it flew away with the crow chasing after him, in all likelihood eager to get a free meal, all the while the herons stood majestically, twisting their necks as they watched, and who knows they might have thought to them selves: if the kestrel drops his prey and the crow is too late, we might be lucky today! 

*we have the same expression in Dutch

Dutch Indian Summer

working title 'sunrise sunset'
might stick
still have a little sewing to do: the seams fold away neatly, a couple more stitches will help keep them in place; I knew I wanted it as a hanging object, but it was only when I remembered I had wire-bracelet-leftovers I knew how!

it feels very much like an Autumn piece, soft and warm 

grateful for what life has to offer these days

life has been chock full of everything: emotions, changes, biking, autumn harvest, flukes and unexpected things happening

Like for instance in Utrecht, where the husband and self went to an exhibit at the Future Food Raum, and we ended up in a tiny caravan just opposite from where we were heading, found ourselves amidst a gathering of youngsters who could have been our kids, having bumped into Stan who invited us to come and join him for his workshop 'the 7 keys to happiness' how could we refuse?

colourful caravans

Stan the Man on the left

 

lovely studio for artist-in-residence, in this case Chloé Rutzerveld, food designer

I'm glad we met Stan as the food of the future was pretty bland.....fortunately we also met up with friend L. making for a very pleasant afternoon

An emotional last September work-week at Miele (my former employer) saying goodbye to lots of folks and a final goodbye party at one of my now ex-colleagues house Saturday a week ago.

Sunday a day filled with live music as a coup le of us went on a so-called indoors tour in Gorinchem (Binnenskamers) where people with nice (i.e. large) houses open their doors and let us strangers in to enjoy several live  acts; I wany to mention Helga Buitelaar, a local artist singer-songwriter extraordinaire; 

I always love live music, say to self I should attend such events more often and so I have booked 2 tickets to Father John Misty in November! yay am so happy

my life is happening: back home from my last day in the Miele-office I received a request from a friend: would I like to exhibit together with other artists in the theatre in Gorinchem (nearest town) for the performance of choir Klink! (for 2 days in December)

yes of course I would and I instantly had ideas, small journey clothstrips  with feathers and crystal pendants suspended from the ceiling, rather theatrical and so fitting I think

more importantly I realised I feel liberated,  as if the mist in my brain has evaporated now that I have made a positive choice, a job closer to home, less pay but also more time and freedom of movement!

after months of agony about the whole outsourcing project, the sense that I was stuck and had to spend so many hours commuting.....all that has gone and I am full of energy

a glimpse of the fridge: glass bottles with milk, buttermilk, vanilla vla, from a farm very nearby where they make farmer's cheese and also sell other dairy produce, lucky us; bottle on the left is my home made kombucha, my yoga teacher gave me my first scoby. I only thought to show this as the basket in the top image was bought in this farmers shop this morning! 

meanwhile in our front garden, the sweet chestnut has been extremely generous; so far I have gathered 15 kilograms in the basket below, more are falling as I type....on the right a roedeer hindquarter, which has now been simmering since 1 pm this afternoon, after an hour's marinating. It's now 6:30 pm so the meat will have fallen off the bone, mmm looking forward to a warm dish like this as Autumn has arrived, with a glass of red wine of course

so what about my new job as receptionist/handyman? I have been there everyday this past week, not quite full-time but getting to know the ropes; I feel it's gonna be just fine for 2,5 days, I get to meet many people and make their welcome into the building a friendly experience.

It's in the Business Centre Gorinchem meaning it's close enough to cycle to, which I have done for 4 days now (skipped Thursday as the wind and rain were just too fierce) the cycling itself is an adventure:

day number 1 saw me losing my bag which I had attached the wrong way round, duh (I did manage to retrieve it and fix it the right way round)

day number 3 on the bike started off just fine, and just as I was humming a fine tune thinking how perfect all it was, it started to rain, but believe it or not, my leggings stayed dry as the breeze combined with the heat produced by the cycling made everything all right again

day number 5 on my way to work I lost an earring whilst fidgeting with my scarf, so had to stop, get off, walk back and pick up the beautiful jewel, it was Roz's ! On my return journey through the woods I lost the left pedal! ugh got off and tried to fix that....managed to cycle back home and will have to deal with that tomorrow

What amazed me most is how unfazed and relaxed I was through it all: this was the most meaningful realisation for me, how un-stressed I have become.....finally

basket overflowing