Once Upon a Bavarian Winter.

This delightful book transports you straight to the Bavarian village of  Oberammergau in Germany. Revel in the sights,smells and customs of this small village and delight in the family life and cooking that takes place there.  This book has plenty of German recipes to try.  

Go inside the home of a typical German family and enjoy Christmas and New Year with them.                          

 The author Ronald Harmon writes beautifully of his trips to Oberammagau to a family that he has stayed with for thirty years. He has grown up with this family and they are like his own.Winter in this village comes to life and many wonderful characters emerge. This book warms the soul. 

Wabi Sabi

This is genius. Created by the Japanese it is the aesthetic of something described as one of beauty that is imperfect, impermanent or incomplete and it fixes your precious broken piece and makes it like new again. You feel so much better and you don't have to throw away the piece that you love. It looks terrific too. There are many how to videos on You tube to follow.

 I just bought a small tin of gold paint and mixed some with glue and voila -all better.

It is a Buddhist concept teaching of the three marks of existence, specifically impermanence, suffering and emptiness or absence of self nature.

Kintsugi.

Much the same it is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with lacquer mixed with powdered gold, silver, or Platinum. It treats breakages and repairs as part   of the history of the object, rather than something to hide. 

Embracing the flawed or imperfect.

It can be looked at as a rationale for keeping the object even after it is broken and as a justification of Kintsugi itself, highlighting the cracks and repairs simply as an event in the life of the object rather than allowing it's service to end at the time of it's breakage or damage.

Here are some examples of my work.

Please try this art form and see what you think. You may be delightfully surprised with the results.

Brooches.

Brooches are coming back into fashion. I do not have many but want to start looking around for some more. The only place I wear one is on my jacket lapel so do not need many. They are great fun and very stylish. Just look at the queen. She has a lovely collection of them. Mine are not up to her standard but here they are anyway for you to enjoy.

Born to Shop brooch.

Love heart brooch.

Ceramic tile brooches.

Diamonte brooch.

 Eye Brooch

This next one belonged to my maternal grand mother and I used to get it out of her jewellery drawer as a little girl and look at it. It is of Mary Magdalene and I inherited it when she died.

Well that is my small collection. I hope to look around for some more good finds. Will let you know if I find any. Are you searching for jewellery finds?

Writing and Me.

Since retiring I have taken up writing. Although not great  I thoroughly enjoy it. I did however need help as I had not written anything of any great length since school, and there were things that I wanted put down in writing. I decided to join the creative writing class at the local U3A. [University of the third age.]  This I did, finding it to be of value and great entertainment. It also gave me much needed confidence. Each week we had to write an essay for homework on a given topic and then read it to the class. We also covered poetry which I found a challenge. I found the course of great help and learnt a lot. Working on my stories gave me a sense of accomplishment, especially when they were finished. I wrote several and still have works in progress.

An early piece was called "The Old Curiosity Cabinet" relating the tale of a small Victorian boy who loved looking through the  old curiosity cabinet held in the front parlour of his Victorian home..All the articles held within get an airing and their story is told.

 I wrote a small trilogy about a red dress , a necklace and a Steif teddy bear. Set in the twenties it tells of these three objects and their journey through time to the present day and who owned them. Starting in the twenties and traversing to the present day it delves into peoples lives and the good and bad times that they went through. This book contains recipes as well as the articles travel to different parts of the world and different events.

 Another was about a young couple buying a run down manor house and renovating it. The ups and downs of renovation and the problems associated with undertaking it. Their shear determination in giving life back to a dilapidated old house and breathing new life into it again to be enjoyed for many more years to come.

The one that means the most to me is about my family tree. Writing about your ancestors is interesting for yourself but it also has to be of interest to someone else. This was the book that I enjoyed writing the most. So much work and research went into the genealogy taking me a long time to complete. Still have not finished it as there is always an interesting ancestor who pops up in the scheme of things. You have to take the good with the bad when you do your genealogy. It can be confronting and difficult at times but well worth the effort.

 An interest of mine is Pompeii and the resident's lifestyle before Vesuvius erupted so am attempting to write a story on life there. We covered Pompeii in class at U3A so learnt a lot of fascinating details about the place. The Roman lifestyle had a lot going for it and was interesting to research and write about. 

 For a change I attempted a piece of fiction on a train trip and the lives of the people on board. Not quite The Orient Express but a story all the same. I enjoy writing and find it a break from everyday life. Not so much research in this one but it made me stretch my brain.

My blog is another way to write and this I love as I can tell of my travels and everyday life. The things I enjoy are featured so I get to tell my own story.

 There is nothing nicer than the quiet of the library to sit and do some work on a cold day. Sitting in the garden on a nice day under my large umbrella is also a lovely creative place to write and reflect. I have many projects on the go. They give me great pleasure  and are well worth the effort.

Try some writing for yourself and see where it leads. You may be surprised.

Suite Francaise.

For Christmas I received a movie called Suite Francaise. A true story set during  world war II in a French village. It tells the saga of a young German officer Bruno Von Falk [Mathias Schoenaerts] who moves into the house of MadamAngellier [Kristin Scott Thomas]. Lucille Angellier [ Michelle Williams]  lives in the house with her domineering mother in law while her husband is away in the French army. Bruno and Lucille form a strong bond and romance blossoms with all the consequences that go with this forbidden relationship. 

The movie was filmed in France and Belgium.

 Directed by Saul Dibb. 

Produced by Romain Bramons, Andrea Cornwell, MichaelbKuhn, Xavier Marchand.

Music by Rael Jones.

Based on Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky.

The film evolves as loyalties shift between the villagers and the soldiers who live in the village. The ending is gripping and the movie holds your attention throughout till the climax.

Postscript from Suite Francaise.

Suite Francaise was written in secret as the Nazis occupied France. It was never completed. The author Irene Nemirovsky was Jewish and arrested and died in Auschwitz. Her piece lay unread in a suitcase for nearly sixty years until her daughter discovered it. It was published in 2004.

My Necklace Collection.

I love a great necklace and at the moment I really like a large statement piece although I do like a delicate silver one as well.

I like to match them with my outfits or try something a bit different.They are like scarves, a good accessory. Here is a look at my collection.

This next pearl necklace belonged to my Grandmother and have only acquired it recently as my cousin kindly gave it to me along with the clear glass beads further down. I did not have anything that belonged to her so they are very special. 

This next one is a Selangar pewter orchid that I have had for years. I grow a few orchids so it is very appropriate for me.

Another one that my daughter gave me was from Ishka It is my birth gem and is pink and grey.

This locket holds the photo of my cat who passed away many years ago. She was 21 years old.

This cat pendant was given to me by a girlfriend for my 21st birthday and I still wear and love it a lot.

The marqisite pearl on  silver was given to me as a child of nine by a friend of my  father's who also owned a jewellery shop. I have since passed it on to my daughter.

This is my favourite piece of jewellery and the one that I wear the most. It was given to me on Mother's day years ago when she was just a young teenager. It is very sentimental for me and I treasure it greatly.

I bought the next two in Germany last year. The pretzel I got in  a small shop in Rothenburg and the adelweiss I bought on the boat with a blue scarf to go with it.

This next one is a particular favourite of mine. Bought in a shop called Ishka which sells a wonderful range of Indian and ethnic things including jewellery. I find it difficult to go into this shop without purchasing anything. Great for presents too.

This necklace is very functional and livens up a plain black top.It is fun to wear.