carpet

I started this bit of art-ish-tics just to see how I could draw our carpet (using watercolour and coloured pencil, as it turns out). Then I got sucked into drawing the hoover - pun unintentional, but on point ;) And this is where it ended, quite unplanned.

This is not how we coexist in this house! Willing or not, you probably gleaned I'm not always one for letting things go easily (although I'm fervently working on that - really!), or to let sleeping dogs get their much deserved sleep ;)

But we did celebrate 11 years of marriage, last Thursday! At times, dust bunnies take over the house - small & bigger arguments left unresolved overnight, petty grievances unaired, random crap rehashed and chewed again, you know the sort of thing ;) It sure as hell isn't always easy, but then, no one said it would be! But we're still here. And as far as I'm concerned, we're sticking it out!

Happy anniversary, honey :)

fire

I am not a huge rugby fan. & rugby, she's not hot, really, here in the Low Countries. But husband is South African, so I get... contaminated, every now & then ;)

Just this morning, apropos of nothing much, I got this image in my head: a dog lives in the center of the Universe. And it barks and bites. Not a comfortable image to start the day with. For all sorts of reasons, better left undisturbed ;) But then I saw this:



I love watching the All Blacks perform the Haka!! I can't even begin to explain how this sets fire to my insides, so I won't ;) But I've decided to play this for myself, first thing in the morning, for as long as the dog refuses to wag its tail & do a happy dance!

compliment

That's what my husband said to me, once, months ago. That I can be rather blunt. And he's right. There are times when I'm behind closed doors, that I'm not all that interested in being politically correct, in the benefits of doubt, in extenuating or mitigating circumstances. In other words, I'm not always... nice. I can't always let things go. Turn the other cheek. Hide what I really think.

But I don't liberally share my vinegar. I'm getting better at being me these days, at being open about who I am and what I believe in. But I generally don't vent my opinions about any and everything. I'd like to think I'm being honest when it's warranted, when it helps, when it contributes.

Except when I'm not. When I shoot from the hip. It happens. I'd even go as far as saying it happens more often than I'd like to admit. But only behind closed doors. In front of the people I trust most and feel safest with. Which makes it a compliment. It's not a pretty one, or a comfortable one, or even one I'm proud of giving. But it is a compliment. That's what I'm saying, and I'm sticking to it ;)

photo challenge: QUIET

So here I am with my photos for this round of the photo challenge Mridula & I set up a little while ago - a day late & all... It's not that I'm not taking this seriously - I do and I love it, too. It's just that I didn't have a lot of head space going spare over the past two weeks due to lots of snot - both my own and Squirt's, and the mounting - let's call it suspense - surrounding the house-moving-thing that's getting closer by the day.

I had all these ideas that I didn't get around to trying out. Scenes that would have taken me out of the house and into nature - soft leaves and moss, for example. And I couldn't think how I was going to get 'quiet' across in another set of photos taken on my trusted coffee table...

I'm not sure if these first two photos give you any sense of quiet at all, but quiet it was. That's what I ended up with, eventually. Squirt was picked up by my dad on Friday morning for a sleepover, so that we could have a little time; to think, talk, eat and drink ideas for the new house, and to sort a couple of things. Which we did. And it wasn't quiet at all. Not in my head, either!

Except for my early mornings. Which are sort of sacred every day, but got seriously extended by Man finally grabbing a chance to sleep very late! :) So I decided to use the light. And space both literal and figuratively speaking. And I ended up with these light filled macro still lives on my coffee table. Again.

I love light filled macro still lives on my blue coffee table. I do. Which must be fairly obvious, the number of times my blue coffee table (here, here, here & elsewhere) shows up in pictured scenes. Even if you're not a close observer! BUT... I wanted something different. Something outside. Something nature-y! But with every passing hour and rain cloud I sort of saw my chances floating away from me.

Until I decided on a fluke to bring my camera along on the drive to pick up Squirt at his grandparents late yesterday afternoon. And the weather gods decided to give me a break. And I ended up with water. Not the spot I wanted to go to; nor a place I would have picked. But light filled waterscapes of silence, none the less!

I don't have many words to add to this. Except a heartfelt 'thank you!' to Man who was willing and able to climb over slimy rocks for better composition!

It was hard work, this week's attempt! Due to circumstances though. Not because it isn't fun! Good stuff, when you end up with something worthwhile to publish after the moaning is done - at least in my own humble opinion ;)

Please click over to Mridula's post to see what she's done with QUIET, and to find out what the next challenge is going to be! If anyone is reading, interested and willing, you're very welcome to join us! Just leave a comment or send a mail; we'd love to see what you come up with!

orange

A mere 45 minutes left before the Dutch soccer team meets the Japanese in Durban. So I've got a little time left to show you some orange.

This is what happens in neighbourhoods all over this little country when a Cup of Importance is played. We go orange. We go crazy. 45 minutes left and I can already hear the vuvuzelas down the street. Even Squirt knows, 'vu-elas' make noise!

Seeing that Man hails from South Africa, we had options. But we're both realistic enough to know that SA is a lot of things, both good & bad; soccer-skilled they are not, over there. So we're backing the Dutch.

Orange, though? Not so much. As a colour, I've sort of come to terms with it. But as far as national mayhem is concerned, I still go for peer pressure-in-reverse. If everyone else is doing it, I'm not, basically. I think it's a remnant from my days as a sort-of-goth - a bit of subversion, the defiant little girl I wrote about before.

These are my only concessions this year. A little flowering grass - seeing that there is, inevitably, grass involved when it comes to soccer - tied with a Dutch flag ribbon, and a bracelet of plastic beads that I got for free with my toothpaste (sic!) last week. There is all manner of free, soccer-related stuff available - every single supermarket (to start with) has their own brand of give-away molded plastic. I usually say 'no, thank you' while Squirt is still too young to appreciate it - I'm grateful & well aware it won't last... - but this trinket I kept, and I'm wearing it today. Really. I am.

So, no orange madness in this house, as such. But we'll be watching telly for sure! 5 minutes till start!


Update: a 1-0 win, but definitely not a great match. Quite boring to watch: so boring in fact, that both me and Man fell asleep on the couch! In the middle of the afternoon! We have no stamina! How embarrassing ;)

sweet(s)

Man supports me wholeheartedly on my Quest, by the way! He's not much of a Digger himself, and to be truthful, he's got a lot of things down - pretty much pat. But he is a man, and as far as I can see, that does help...

On the hardest day, he took Squirt out for a walk and came back with a little bag of sweets. A piece of (liquorice/peppermint) chalk, because I'm learning; a snake for the process, fangs as well as the whole shedding-skin-business; a sour worm for - I quote - "the icky bits"; a peach for the good stuff; and a heart, because "we love you!"...

And since he's not the man who brings home scheduled or unscheduled flowers - ever, really - this was even more special! Those darn sweets, made me cry!

mamma, pappa

As if he read that last post, the next day Baby Boy picked up the pace on calling me 'mamma' :-D And admittedly, it's pretty cool to be called 'mamma' :-D

Also new this week, every time BB hears a noise outside (pretty much every five minutes, on average, as there is still a lot of construction going on a couple of blocks away), he looks at me expectantly and asks "pappa?". Have to disappoint him, most of the time - "no, pappa is at work...". Adding that when he hears hammering and drilling, it most likely isn't his dad. Who has a lot of talents. But home improvement, or singing, are not two of them ;-)