home

Image from weheartit: JeanJeanie

Yesterday I was homesick.  It snuck up on my while I wasn't looking and completely suprised me.  Nearly bowled me over in a shower of tears at a meeting at work.  Not a great look really.  I had to excuse myself to the bathroom, stand in front of the mirror and talk myself out of bursting into tears.  I've never done that before (stand in front of a mirror and talk to myself.).  I felt like I was in a movie. Except I wasn't.

All of a sudden I was overwhelmed by a longing to be back in Australia.  I think it was a picture I saw on someone's blog - that, and an email from home.  I love winter in Australia.  It's almost my favourite time of the year.  The crisp mornings, the dampness under foot, the light that is gentle and kind with a faint glint of warmness.  I miss the colours of Australia - the silver greys, olive greens and muted browns.  When I first visited Europe I can remember thinking of the old european masters "that's why they painted everything so green".  Because it is over here. I miss my friends and my family.  I miss seeing my nephews grow from babies into little boys.  I miss weddings and births and birthday celebrations.  And mostly this doesn't bother me too much because I love Berlin and my life here is great.  But yesterday it did.

But thankfully these days don't last very long and today when I rode my bike to work I looked to my left and saw the TV tower and thought - wow, I'm in Berlin. How cool is that?

Image: weheartit, widescape

I still haven't really found a remedy for homesickness and I don't think talking to your reflection is necessarily the best answer.  I'm interested, what do you do when you miss home?

You Capture: everyday

There are lots of things that our house doesn't own.  Funny things that would normally be considered essential items for a house.  We don't own a TV for instance.  We don't have a microwave and for now, at least, we don't have a kettle.  This little sauce jug is my kettle.  I think I inherited it when I first moved out of home.  A long abandoned pot that had been relegated to the back corners of the 'pots and pans' cupboard, retrieved and placed in my tiny box of "kitchen items" for a new life away from home.  It's moved with me everywhere and I'm quite partial to it.  I love the slightly acid green enamel, the small chips from years of use and it's functionality.  It's the perfect size for boiling one cup of tea.  I'd like to say that every morning I boil my water in this jug, but that wouldn't be the exact truth.  You see, every morning Matthias boils water in this jug for my tea as I take a shower (yep, I'm spoilt).  My tea is waiting for me when I've finished getting dressed with this cute little jug sitting beside it. 

For other 'everyday' items, wander over to You Capture, here.

a poem on thursday : raw with love

This week Madeline Bea provided the prompt "raw".  I ended up using a poem by Charles Bukowski.  I've read quite a bit of his work during the year and I tend to find it a little, well, 'raw'.  He tackles some interesting themes in a pretty confronting manner.  But I decided to take a big breath and use his poem this week - the mixed-media picture used the poem as a springboard.  I played around alot with this picture trying to emphasise the eyes, give it a slightly haunting look and yet still keep it light, romantic and airy.  I'm not completely happy with the final product, but I think I'm getting better.

Raw with Love

little dark girl with

kind eyes

when it comes time to

use the knife

I won't flinch and

I won't blame

you,

as I drive along the shore alone

as the palms wave,

the ugly heavy palms,

as the living does not arrive

as the dead do not leave,

I won't blame you,

instead

I will remember the kisses

our lips raw with love

and how you gave me

everything you had

and how I

offered you what was left of

me,

and I will remember your small room

the feel of you

the light in the window

your records

your books

our morning coffee

our noons our nights

our bodies spilled together

sleeping

the tiny flowing currents

immediate and forever

your leg my leg

your arm my arm

your smile and the warmth

of you

who made me laugh

again.

little dark girl with kind eyes

you have no

knife. the knife is

mine and I won't use it

yet. 

- Charles Bukowski

conundrum of the knitting type

Edit: I'm in Brighton, UK for the next few days and I decided to be a bit sneaky and use a previous post for my 'Arts 'n Craft' entry over at Ramblings and Photos.  Oh, and I'm serious about needing the knitting pattern!

Back in January I promised Matthias a knitted vest.  He chose the pattern from Rowan Knitting for Him, a fairly poorly named book in my opinion, but it happens to have some lovely knitted jumpers and vests, one of them being a simple fair isle vest that I thought I'd be able to completely without a problem. On first inspection it did seem easy.  I wasn't even put off by a few faint whispers on Ravelry saying "so glad I've finished the back" and "on to the front - yippee!". I dived in. We chose the colours, ordered the wool and I got to work. 

It has been incredibly slow going. The back has a twisted rib pattern that takes ages to knit-up.  Interspersed with other knitting project it's taken me 6 months to knit up the back to the underarms.  But last week I made it to the "35cm from cast on edge" point and was ready to read the pattern again.  Now, six months on, do you think I can find the book?  At some point in the last year I have put "Knits for Men" down and now have no idea where it is.  I've looked everywhere, and it's not to be found.  It's gone and the chances of finding this book in a German public library are probably slim to none.

So... I have no idea how many knitters read this blog.  But, if there is anyone out there who happens to own this book, please, please, please, I would love a copy of the fair isle vest pattern so that I can finally say good-bye to the twisted rib and get stuck into the front.

on the road

This is one of my favourite pictures from my trip to Den Haag earlier this year.  A business man zipping up the small streets of Delft on his way to work.  I love the contrast between modern and medieval with the old guildhall in the background.

For more entries into 'on the road' check our ramblings and photos

blog lovin'

Follow my blog with bloglovin

all about hair

This week the "this is who I am" challenge is all about hair and hair flicks.  This photo isn't particularly recent - it was taken at a wedding I attended in Australia back in November last year, but it's a pretty accurate depiction of my hair at the moment.  

I  have thick hair.  Really thick.  It's thick enough that throughout my life hairdressers have always commented on it.  Without fail.  Even hairdressers who I've been going to for sometime still, at some point, need to emphasise the thickness of my hair.  

Anyway, due to it's thickness I've had quite a few unfortunate haircuts through my life.  At one point my 'friends' gave me the nickname "mushroom", which they tried to tell me was endearing, but really had a lot more to do with the state of my hair than anything else.  I've tried to grow it long to remove the volume and for a brief period had a pixie-like do.  No matter where I stray, I seem to always come back to the bob.  I like the bob.  Cut properly it'll sit nicely and be able to take you from wavy, fuss-free "mop" to sleek straight do with a simple blow dry.  It's short enough to keep your neck cool in summer and long enough to keep your ears warm in winter.  And then, at a real stretch you can still get it back into a ponytail with the help of a few bobby pins. The Bob - classic, versatile, simple, sleek and easy.  My version of a great hair cut.

And, one more thing about hair.  I believe in a good haircut.  I would sooner do without new clothes or new shoes before I abandoned a good haircut.  You wear your hair everyday.  It is your most consistent fashion accessory and it should look good.