finally summer is here

Tags

blue skies, Dublin, Henry James, Ireland, photography, photos, quote, strawberries, summer afternoon, temperatures rising, white clouds

It’s about time but it really looks like summer is here. Blue skies, tiny white clouds bouncing happily across the azure, joyfully celebrating the temperatures rising.

And while I do have some computer work to do, I think I will enjoy the afternoon outside on my blue bench, getting some urgent reading and editing done. I even have some strawberries to snack on and some unused suntan lotion to apply – so who knows, maybe my pasty white legs will turn a bit beige.

Better news still is that the weather seems to be here to stay for a while, a  week (at least) of high temperatures and sunshine. And Ireland in the sun is the best place to be – there truly is no prettier place to be.

So, now that the summer is finally here I am looking forward to spending this summery afternoon outside.

Summer afternoon, summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.

Henry James

phone-calls and emails

Tags

Antony Garrett Lisi, busy writing, emails, phone calls, quote, Theoretical Physicist Antony Garrett Lisi, work

Today has passed by in a blur of phone-calls and emails, catching up on paperwork and trying to figure out how to schedule my week.

But as the day is slowly coming to it’s close I feel a little bit restless. Sitting at my desk all day is one thing, but not being able to write and dream is another.

So with that in mind I have decided to allow myself an hour of writing time every day. How I will carve out the time I am a little unsure about but somehow I will find the time.

And who knows maybe, just maybe I will create more time by giving myself time, after all time does seem to have a chewing-gum like ability when it wants to – stretches and bend changing shape with every minute and second.

I think the universe is pure geometry – basically,a  beautiful shape twisting around and dancing over space-time.

Theoretical Physicist Antony Garrett Lisi

sometimes Sundays

Tags

photo, quote, reading, relaxation, sunday

Every now and then I love spending time on my own, doing nothing much other than be. Cups of tea, a book, some music, maybe later a film and the day is a perfect antidote to a hectic schedule.

And sometimes Sundays are the best day to take time out and breath, especially when the week has been filled with a snotty nose and blurry eyes. Luckily today the nose is nearly clear and my eyes less itchy so it does mean I can breath a little bit freer today, but unluckily everything has shifted to my right ear, clogging up my  hearing and muffling the sound.

I am hoping that with a day of rest it will clear up, otherwise I will just have to pay the doctor a visit. So sometimes Sundays are just a day of waiting for what is to come, a pit-stop before a busy week, a dock to recharge the batteries on.

So while I enjoy a quite day in my own company I will indulge in some magazines I bought at the airport and hope that tomorrow my head will be unclogged and free, ready for a new week filled with new thoughts and unexpected experiences.

Sunday clears away the rust of the whole week

Joseph Addison

reading for today

 

 

Weekly Photo Challenge: Muse

Tags

Dragana Jurisic, Muse, nudes, photo challenge, photos, quote, Weekly Photo Challenge, Weekly Photo Challenge: Muse

Recently my life has been filled with muses and all be cause of a project I took part in.

My good friend Dragana Jurisic, who is currently skipping around Paris working on her new project “My own Unknown”, recently decided to capture 100 Muses on film, photograph women as they are, not as the world deems them to be.

So Dragana invited 100 women from all walks of life, all ages and all body types to join her in her photo studio and show themselves in their naked glory – no retouching, no makeup, no hiding.

So while I may not have taken these photos, I am one of the muses and through it am discovering what muses are all about, and I wrote about my experience of being one in photographic session.

You should treat a muse like a fairy

Paulo Coelho

100 Muses by Dragana Jurisic

 

 

 

 

road-trip around Denmark (part three)

Tags

Danish liquorice, Funen, H.C. Andersen, Hans Christian Andersen, Johannes Larson, Kerteminde, Odensee, photography, photos, travel

After a night spent in a lovely little hotel in Kerteminde, on the island Funen, it was nearly time to bid Denmark farewell. After a promising start the weather changed it;’s mind and decided we needed yet more rain – Denmark would have been so much nicer in the sun. But my Godmother and I would not be deterred and we took a walk around the gorgeous coastal town of Kerteminde.

a fishers net

one of the many beautiful roads in Kerteminde

these old-fashioned spyholes / peepholes where on many of the houses, a way to see who was on the street without having to even go to the door

a quite unique doorknocker

looking through the peephole

I love these old window panes

After a short, wet stroll around and a quick trip to a shop for some Danish liquorice it was time to visit the Johannes Larson house. This danish painter was well known for his nature studies and he and his wife and other Funish painters created a well respected artist colony in Kerteminde in the early 1900s.

a blue teapot on the stove in Johannes Larson’s house

view in the kitchen

a beautiful bust

a hand thrown tea-pot

upstairs in the bedroom

some light reading

more glass

an old skate

spades hanging outside Johannes Larson’s studio

flowerpots in the studio

still some flowers waiting to be drawn in the greenhouse beside the studio

After some tea and  more rain my Godmother and I went to Odensee, the Hans Christian Andersen town. As someone who loves fairy tales and adores H.C. Andersen I was thrilled to get a peak at the place where he was born. Sadly it was too wet to do much and will have to be revisited at a later date.

Overall I have to say I loved my time spent in Denmark, but would have enjoyed it more if the sun had come along on the trip too. But since it really isn’t that far from Hamburg I am sure I will make another visit in the near future.

But for now I am glad to be back in Dublin, still nursing my runny eyes and snotty nose, for a while. So many impressions and inspirations need to be sorted and used and hopefully the sun will decided it is summer after all – a few warm rays always brighten up the days and lighten up my thoughts.

 

To read about how this trip began, and ended click on the links below:

road-trip around Denmark (part one)

road-trip around Denmark (part two)

road-trip around Denmark (part two)

Tags

art, Öresund bridge, Denmark, Humelbaek, Karen Blixen, literature, Louisiana, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Malmo, Museum of Modern Art, photography, photos, road trip, sculpture, Smørrebrød, travel

After spending the day in Copenhagen my Godmother and I took the Öresund bridge to Malmo. This 8km long bridge links Denmark with Sweden and is quite amazing, sadly the grey skies and murky air didn’t allow a great view but it was an experience none the less.

I may not be a beer drinker but I couldn’t resist this licorice beer in the lovely gastro pub “Peas &Honey”, Malmo

still raining in Malmo but the old town center was very pretty

City Hall Malmo

fountain outside City Hall

After a wet morning in Sweden we returned back to Denmark and traveled up the coast of Zealand, the largest of the Danish islands, to the tiny town of Rungstedlund. This is where the Danish author Karen Blixen (pen name Isak Dinesen) was born, lived and died. She wrote the world renowned autobiographical-novel Out Of Africa and many other stories and books.

I may not have known much about her before I went but I was fascinated by her life story and really enjoyed my visit to her home, now a museum.

Karen Blixen’s house, view from the road

this was her home for most of her life, her only time somewhere else were the 17 years spent on her farm in Kenya

too wet to sit outdoors

little colourful birdhouses hanging on many trees

tranquil bridge

there are benches scattered all over the grounds, each with their own name – this one is called bench of praises (I hope I got the translation right1)

this door leads to the room where Karen Blixen wrote – it is still the way she left it

Karen Blixen’s life mask

After we had our Smørrebrød and a cup of tea/coffee we headed further up the coast to Humelbaek and Louisiana Museum of Modern Art. This incredible museum has not only got a beautiful view but unique underground galleries. My Godmother and I spent a few hours wandering around and enjoying sculptures, paintings and photography – and of course another Smørrebrød before we left.

wood sculpture waiting for the next big exhibition

more preparations for the upcoming exhibition

A Henry Moore sculpture with a view

I loved this modern sculpture of a diving board

some moving sculpture

view from above

some more art

KUSAMA INSTALLATION – amazing in real life – not so good in photo

a detail from the famous ALEXANDER CALDER sculpture

even the seagulls like to hang out here

some boat passing by

an indoor lamp

As it was getting late my Godmother and I decided it was time to  find a place for the night so we drove back towards Germany and found a lovely hotel in Kerteminde, on the island Funen.

 

To read about how this trip began, and ended click on the links below:

road-trip around Denmark (part one)

road-trip around Denmark (part three)

road-trip around Denmark (part one)

Tags

Copenhagen, Denmark, photography, photos, road trip, travel

Last week I headed up to Denmark with my Godmother, a road-trip that was filled with gorgeous scenery, culture, grey skies and a lot of sneezing on my part. And sadly the weather wasn’t on it’s best behaviour and decided to give us autumn instead of summer –  lots of rain and gusty winds.

But my Godmother and I made the best of our “Fahrt ins Blaue” (trip into the blue) and even ended up in Malmö, Sweden, for a night as Copenhagen was all booked up! And of course I had my camera with me, and even though the weather didn’t provide the best light I did take a few snaps of our road-trip around Sweden.

the lovely B&B we stayed in Sonnerupgaard, near Roskilde. An old Estate in the middle of wheat fields.

wheat as far as the eye can see

a very old oak tree just outside our door

a light hanging over a church square

this is where all the fun happens in Copenhagen, the Tivoli a 19th-century amusement park that still opens it’s doors

I loved the multi-coloured roof-tiles

way up too high for me – I think

royal red letter boxes

detail from the fountain in front of Copenhagen City Hall

detail from the fountain in front of Copenhagen City Hall

lighting the way

Copenhagen coat of arms

guarding Copenhagen City Hall

Copenhagen City Hall

cranes and building sites everywhere you look

the Stork Fountain

detail from the Stork Fountain

detail from the Stork Fountain

detail from the Stork Fountain

water gargoyle outside the Royal Copenhagen Flagship store

lamps inside

a bell

along the canal

Nyhaven – the old port in Copenhagen

anyone want some smorrebrod (butter and bread)

a busy bee

a modern building

an angle blessing the ships on their way out of the port

the Little Mermaid from H.C. Andersen’s fairytale

some old church

inside a lovely little cafe called MorMor (grandmother)

a cup of coffee before we leave

 

To read about how this trip went on click on the links below:

road-trip around Denmark (part two)

road-trip around Denmark (part three)

 

back with a snotty nose & runny eyes

Tags

boats trip, crafting, dragon, family, hayfever, holidays, painting, runny nose

My two weeks away from home were exciting and fun but I arrived back with a snotty nose and runny eyes. Somewhere on my road-trip around Denmark I got a massive attack of hay-fever that decided to manifest itself with a vicious tenacity. So now I am at home blowing my own weight of snot into tissues and trying to work with teary eyes, but this too shall pass – at least I hope it will and just in case I wandered down to the pharmacy and bought the entire aisle of “hay-fever-be gone!” But even through all the sniffles and sneezing I had a lovely time away and I even made sure that my nephew and niece don’t forget me now that I am gone again – I painted a big boat on the “lookout” in their garden and even managed a decent looking dragon on my nephews shield.

pirates beware

the skull may look a bit off but the waves turned out great

fire breathing dragon

And even though I will miss my family and enjoyed my time away I have to say I was glad to be sleeping in my own bed last night, and not having to get up at 6.30am was an added bonus!

unwanted paramour

Tags

admirer, being followed, Dublin, paramour, running errands, suiter

Yesterday I had a few errands to run so I took the bus into town.  At my stop I disembarked and was about to go on my merry way when something rather unusual happened – a small man attached himself to my side and started to chat me up.

Now the gentleman in question was about a head shorter than I, had grey, somewhat receding hair, was somewhere between 48-55 and his teeth looked in need of attention. He was wearing a new suit, it practically still had the labels on it and his short legs were working fast to keep up with me.

This strange little man started a conversation in the good-old-fashioned “great weather we are having”  way and continued to babble on about the summer, the sun , the rain. I barely understood his thick inner-city Dublin accent (the few missing teeth didn’t help) but was polite, friendly and nodded a lot.

After a few meters it became very clear that this stranger meant business and no matter how long my strides were he continued to half-jog beside me. And fair play to him, within 100 meters he had told me that he owned a four-bedroom-house but was unmarried with no children and didn’t enjoy it being so lonely at home.

Once my suitor had established this he went one to lament the fact that you just can’t meet “the one” in clubs or pubs and then launched into something about his job at a Spanish Restaurant in town and told me I should come and he’d ‘make sure’ that I’d get a good deal.

As we crossed the street I really wasn’t sure how to shake him off and seriously contemplated ducking in to “Ann Summers” (a lingerie and more shop) but thought he may take it as an invitation so decided against it.

So, just as he was pushing a business card of the restaurant into my hand I did the next best thing, smiled said good bye and turned into a shoe shop. As I turned my back I heard him shout after me “I do hope to see you soon.”

Feeling somewhere between creeped out and flattered I spent the afternoon running my errands and keeping my eyes peeled to see if my paramour was following me. And I have to say that I am quite glad to be gone for the next two weeks, maybe he’ll find another to admire in that time and I’ll be safe once more.

 

packing problems

Tags

family, Germany, packing, travel

On Thursday I am leaving for Germany, my baby niece is being baptized. But, as always, going away involves some serious packing. After all there are two sets of nieces and nephews that need to get some aunty love in form of gifts, I have  a stack of books for my sister and the all important tea, then there are a few other gifts that need to be packed, and on top of all of that I will be needing clothes for nearly two weeks.

And not just any old clothes either, an outfit for the church, and then there is a little trip up to Copenhagen with my Godmother that requires a few nice garments. And of course I will be needing my camera, laptop and all that other stuff that requires a selection of cables and plugs. And of course a few pairs of shoes!

So while I take care of my washing and pull out my suitcase from under the bed I think between today and tomorrow I will somehow get the chaos sorted. After all I do so love to travel and the packing problem is a price I am happy to pay.