quick review

Just some photos of the last days and a short video I've
made yesterday (descriptions are under each photos on
Flickr). I'll be back tonight. CU!

cannot resist..

.. to show this sweet guy, who was sitting in front of the
cellar door, as I wanted to take my bike and ride to work.
I called a friend to pick him up, so that he could rest in
their garden, but then he walked half in, as I opened the
door and the sun was shining on him. I can't left the door
open, so I tried to move him. First he was stubborn, but
after a while I managed to convince him that my dust
pan was not a danger for him and I was only trying to
rescue him from cats. 10 minutes late to work because
of him, but.. hey, my boss would understand it ;)



*off to the garden now*

dadu

Yippie! I finally found my ear wires in my finding stack
(this always happens to me - once I order my chaos,
I can't find the things I need easily. hmm... what's wrong
with my brain? ;)).



So, Dadu will be the first new item in my shop. No, not
yet listed, but soon. I'll start to list on 1st July. Yes! :)

I'm planning to have a computer free tomorrow and on
Saturday. I have to work in the B&M shop and I want to
work on the torch again, so I need to fit anything else like
gardening and cleaning in between and I think after that
I'll be falling to bed, dead tired. But maybe I couldn't
resist to take a peek late at night to visit some blogs and
Flickr galleries to relax though ;)

Anyway.. I'm wishing you a Happy Weekend now.
Just in case... ^_^

tortilla

I could have titled this post 'my first tortilla', as they
are, but then I'd have two posts with the word 'first'
in the title one after another. No way (I saw, that I
already had 6 posts with the word 'weekend' in the
title.. how creative :P)!



I've seen this video of how to make tortilla a long time
ago (he has many other recipes, which look so yummy,
e.g. garlic shrimp mmmhhh....) and wanted to make it
for ages and today I finally did. But I seldom have the
patience to follow a recipe (except in baking, as I have
too less experience there), so I didn't follow him in the
ingredients and in the measurements. I did it per 'eye
and hand measurement' ;)



Well, that turned into a little problem, of course. I think,
I had too much butter in the dough - it taste and has the
consistency like the cheese tarts dough *lol* Plus I mixed
the wheat flour with some corn flour, so it breaks easily
(I've read somewhere about it) - I can't roll my burrito.
Well, I'm sure, this is not the last time I make tortillas,
so there are still many opportunities... to do experiments
with the dough *lol*



Remember the red lentils I've made once? This time it's
made from scratch - no leftover soup (I only had leftover
plain rice, so I made rice chips again as you can see on
the background in the other photo ;)). It contains onion,
turmeric, cumin, vegetable stock, lime juice, red lentils,
salt and dried, grated coconut. Oh, and a bit corn starch
to thicken it a bit. Mmhhh.. yummy :)



I haven't had time to sit on the torch yesterday and
I haven't look for my supply either, so I'm showing you
all the new beads I have up till now. The clear flower
from Sunday is now etched - it's for someone special.
One bead (the tube one) was to practice forming and
dots. The flat round beads are for a new design - still
have to think of how to implement my first idea to the
final result though.

I have lots of idea, so better go on the torch NOW! CU!

first beads 2009

Finally. Tatatata... ;)



The flowers were made on Sunday and the leafs
yesterday. I'll turn the pink flowers into earrings. I'd
have finished them this morning, if only I could found
my findings... oh, chaos! :P

I leave you now to do more... seeya!

human kindness

One reason why I love to go by bus is to watch the people.
Tonight I felt really grateful to be a witness of human
kindness.

Just after I sat down, there were a man asking the bus
driver, either no 9 was already away. The driver said no
and closed the door. But no 9 was already there before,
as I saw it, so I told the driver about it. He then let the
door open again and said to the man, he should step in,
and then talked into the microphone. He asked the other
driver, where he was and told him, he should drive slowly,
as he had a passenger for him. Three more bus stops and
we finally caught up with no 9. The man thanked the bus
driver and ran to no 9. The bus driver spoke to the
microphone again to thank his colleague for waiting.

My heart was singing watching this scene. It made my day.


P.S. I'm sorry, I didn't have the time to take photos today.
I'll catch up tomorrow. Only so far: they look great, so I can
use them for my jewelry :)

experience, dream and fact

Saturday was a busy day for my son. In the morning
he gathered the things he'd like to sell. Then he finished
ironing all the laundry except for my skirt. Then he had
a soccer tourney. Not much time left after that. We
packed the toys and went to the city to the flea market.
Two hands full of goodies. We had to go by bus, so we
just couldn't take more with us. At 6 pm we set up his
stand - an old doormat.



First he looked a bit absent, as he was kind of unsure
(I never stayed on his stand longer than 5 minutes,
but also never away for too long ;)). After the first sales
he was motivated, in half an hour he already sold half
of his inventory and earned 25 Euro. Later on he got
bored, he told me. Nobody wanted to buy his big crane
(which would bring the biggest income). They didn't
even try to bargain, he said (he was ready for it, as he
had written a list, where he had his upper and lower
price limit). But when we packed the stuff together at
about 9:45 pm he had 32 Euro in his pocket, so he has
reached his first goal. He was over the moon. Me too :)
I'm sure, it'll be one of those unforgettable experiences
for him :)


More photos of the flea market here.

For me it was the first time in my life, that I could
happily strolling through the flea market without the
sad feeling (my son was picked up by his father, so
that I could stroll freely this morning). I hummed all
the way long. I even made jokes with some strangers.
I've found the old me again :)

And of course, I've found some treasures. Last evening
I've bought a floor lamp from the 60s with an oversized
lamp shade. I don't really like the shade, even if I like
the pleats (I'm going to make another shade - maybe in
origami style), and at home I found out that only one of
the two socket is working, but I really love the stand -
made of brass and wood). Can you imagine me in a
overcrowded bus with the lamp? I was an attraction *lol*
People were smiling at me, some were a bit irritated and
some wanted to have it themselves - I told them, I'd sell
it for 100 Euro (I got it for 1 ..hihi.. no way I'm going to
sell it!).



This morning I found a beautiful old big mirror. Actually
I wanted to find some smaller mirrors. We have one
dark corner in the kitchen. I thought, some mirrors
among some art would make the wall look brighter and
nice. But as I saw this mirror I just couldn't stand it. It
could be from the 20s (anybody knows?). It used to be
a dresser mirror, so the bottom is not so nice, but who
cares ;) I love it! One of my dreams since about 12 years
was to have either a tiffany window or a mirror at one
end of the dining table. My dream just came true today
(okay, maybe in the next days, when it's hung ;))!!

Before I went to the market again in the afternoon to
visit some friends, as I promised them (and guess what..
it's raining for the 3rd time and it rained hail again *sigh*
I was wet to the skin!), I made a few beads!! Yes, I did
it!! I was (as always) worried, when I restart again, but
luckily it all went well :)

Of course I tried the flowers in the first place - I (or
better said: my hands) haven't forgot how to do it *phew*
Now they only need some more routines. I was somehow
confused and dipped a hot glass rod in the cold water
instead of the hot tool *lol* Will show you the results
tomorrow (hope they are worth to show ;)).

soon

Almost exactly 1 year ago I got the letter, that I could
rent this apartment, where I live now. Right after I
signed the contract I was so giddy planning, preparing
and repairing that I couldn't work on my own shop.
After the move some personal reasons has driven me
to do a journey. I was blocked. If I ever produced a thing,
I didn't have the gut to sell nor to show it to anybody.
I could only make things 'for fun'. I felt lost. Uprooted.
So, I left my shop and Etsy behind, give me some time
and concentrate myself on my real life, like gardening,
cooking or baking.

Working in the garden (esp. weeding!) helped me a lot
to find my path back. Growing root again. But to tell you
the truth, without some people (incl. you, dear readers!)
I wouldn't be here. Your visits and comments are very
much appreciated. Thank you!!


left: those are the things I want to plant next (horseradish,
peanuts, ginger and curcuma). I know, I've said, I didn't
want to add anything anymore to the garden ;) But as I saw
the horseradish, I just couldn't stand it. And thinking of the
cooked fresh peanuts my mom often has made.. I simply
have to give it a try. Today, while passing the weekly market
I had a vision, that I'm selling there too - veggies! I like this
vision somehow ^_^


My accompany while yesterday's gardening :)

Bits by bits my motivation is back. Remember the visit
of a friend three weeks ago? She was looking forward
to do lampworking together with me. She brought some
of her actual favorite glass rods as a present for me (and
a very handy multi tool for the garden. thanks, F! :)) and
she has also brought her 'special' tool with her, but I've
disappointed her. All my lampwork tools were more or
less still in the boxes. I'm sorry, F! Even if we didn't work
on the torch, her visit has given my motivation wings (I
went to bed at 1 am, got awake at 3:30 am and couldn't
sleep again as my head was full of business ideas!). That's
when I knew, I can do it (again) once the time is ripe.

The next motivation was a purchase from a returning
customer. Thanks, L, for your support!

Then I got two critique requests in a row on Etsy. I felt
so happy. I've been a member of the SASsy team for a
while, but I was never active in the thread nor in the VL.
This was the first time I got the opportunity to help
other sellers since I joined SASsy (well, I hope, my
critique has helped them ;) Thanks for your trusts, L
and J!).

Last not least I got a mail from a friend, which made me
feel honored, giddy and ashamed at the same time. Well,
ashamed of course, that I've neglected my shop and
didn't even touched my torch (except for the move ;))
for such a long time. I can't say more, but: thanks, A,
for thinking of me!


The photos are taken at around 9:30 pm. Amazing light, isn't it?
Wanna see, how busy the sky was at that time?

Everything was simply calling for me to start again.
It was high time to set up my workspace again. I did
it yesterday. My workspace is almost ready. Only one
more box from the cellar to be unpacked. Afterwards I
only hope I haven't forgot, how to do it ;) I have never
made such a long break before!

Oh, Sunday, I'm looking forward to you! First, there's
the yearly BIG flea market in town. After that I'm going
to sit on the torch ;)

Talking about flea market..My son wants to try as a
seller too, as it's free for children to have a stand (a
blanket on the pavement). He wants to buy a computer
game. The vouchers he's got for his birthday aren't
enough. Now he's in a 'working' mood. He asked me to
give him some jobs (read: housework). He bargained
the 'price' for hanging, ironing and folding the laundry
with me. Today he gathered 3,50 Euro :)


left: My son made me a shawl using finger knitting technique,
which he has learned on the day care.



Happy Weekend!!

indecisive

After doing some errands and appointments I went to
the CD shop again yesterday, wanted to finally get a CD.
They didn't have the CDs I wanted. So I look to some
more interesting CDs in my fave section - jazz and I
took three of them to the counter to listen. After the
first one I (thought I) knew which one to choose.

Koop is a Swedish group. Their music (and the singers'
voices) has made my day (just listen to the song on the
right bar). It has eased the pain and angers I had the
last days a little bit and cheered me up. But still I wanted
to wait. My son has lost his voucher (maybe he has taken
it to his father but forgot it), so I thought of giving mine
to him (or is it not a good education style? hmm.. ;)).

Just now guess which song is buzzing around my head...
Lisa Ekdahl's (BTW.. she's also a Swede)!! Now I'm really
confused *lol* But I still have time. In the mean time I'll
be listening to the piles of CDs I've borrowed from the
library and read some Japanese haikus (but only after
piles of paperworks I have to do *sigh*).

2 weeks

Time flies - woosh and my last post is already two
weeks old. Many things happened during that time
(not necessary in this order though)...

We had some celebrations.


We had some visits from friends I haven't seen for a
long time. But I've also noticed a visitor by the mess
it has made ;)


I've cooked and baked a lot. Maybe some of you have
also seen the photo I've posted in my photo blog some
days ago and wondered, what it should be. Well, I've
made some rise chips from (leftover) plain rice. This
diptych is showing the first step and the result. You can
see another in-between steps here. Well, one step is
missing: before it's fried. I was a bit frustrated, because
most of them were stick to the bamboo dish I used to let
them dry on, that I forgot to take pictures.

The rice chips are yummy as salad topping (esp. when
eaten with Indonesian peanut salad sauce :))!

I enjoyed my plants - indoor and outdoor.

I got this one from a friend, but I keep forgetting it's
name. This is the second time I see it blooming in three
years. So lovely! I'm excited, I see two 4(!) more buds this
year - last year it got only one flower.

Outside, most of the plants are recovering from the hail
except for the aubrieta (hope it will recover too one day).
The 'non-grassy' part in the back garden is growing too.

Actually, except of two zucchini plants and the sweet
potato I didn't want to add anything to the back garden
anymore. I wanted to wait till next year with a better
planning. But then my son got herbs and veggies as a
birthday present from his friend (what a wonderful
idea!) and now the garden is growing by two more
rows :) Also the wild oregano feels so comfy there, so
that it grows in simply every corner in the garden.
So, if you need some for your pizza or pasta... ;)

I've enjoyed some performances. Alone, with friends
and accompaniying my boy's class. I haven't done it
for a while - so much fun.

This is one of the groups I've watched (now they have
one more member). And when they were here to
introduce a cooking book, they had a special guest:
his mother, who also sang with them. Among other
Indonesians I realized that night, how much I've
lost my Indonesian spirit of humor. I laugh much less
and I make much less jokes. Hmm...

I enjoyed watching the sky and listening to music and
sometimes trying to sing along (for those, who are my
friends on Flickr, you can watch the special edition
with my poor attempt ;)).


I've been looking for a CD, cause I got a coupon voucher,
but I'm still indecisive... I love her music, but I prefer
deep voice actually.. hmm..

I stumble upon this group with their beautiful, calming
music as I was browsing on MySpace. Oh my, I love this
kind of music!! *dreaming away*

So, my next CD might be from Balmorhea. Or maybe
Café Paradiso from Erquiaga.

Last not least I've cleaned up (would I welcome
the visitors otherwise? ;)) and sorted things in real life
and in my head. But it keeps going.. some things are
harder to sort than entangled threads...


I've told you, many things have happened ;) Now,
I'm wishing you a lovely Sunday evening and a great
start of the new week. CU! My fave series is waiting ;)