Laaste dag!

I always surprise myself with how much of the Dutch language I remember. I can reliably travel, shop and eat but after that I'm sort of useless. I wish I had worked harder at being fluent.

Mark perfectly framed a swan swimming the canal.







Today was a low key day. I finished a pair of book earrings, and started on a pair to match the necklace I finished earlier this week.

Tonight we went into Hoorn, shopped a bit and then ate Japanese.

Tomorrow we are off to Bad Godesberg in Germany where I will meet up with my beady German friends. I happen to love train travel and am excited at the prospect of a day of beading on the train. I haven't picked which of the sketches I will work on next, that will be a decision for tomorrow.

Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

More Holland

We left our plans up to the last minute, thinking about weather and interest, but decided with a relatively rain free day to take the train into Amsterdam. I have a long history with Amsterdam having started travel here almost quarterly since 1996.

We started at Amsterdam Central, arranging our travel to Bonn in a couple of days. Then we headed to Keupel Cafe, associated with the Renaissance hotel where I often stayed. Mark had his favorite DeKoninck




And I chose an uitsmitjer , an open faced ham cheese and fried egg sandwich. I'm working my way through my favorites, having had satay, carpaccio, goat cheese salad and bitterballen. Tomorrow perhaps Pannakoeken, a Thin Dutch pancake. Oh and I had stroopwafel for dessert tonight.

We took several shots of Outstanding buildings. This one broke ground in 1624. A recent sustainable building show I watched, was targeting a hundred year building......Seems maybe we should aim higher.




This angel is a favorite landmark near Amsterdam Central


I've been shopping at Cora Kemperman for years but didn't find any must haves today, I'm holding out for the yarn shop in Germany.


And this one is for daughter Casey, Starbucks in Amsterdam.



We have one last day and no big plans....

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Inspired

Mara from Italy shared this Etruscan Treasure inspired piece. The design has always been a favorite of mine. Mara's version uses peyote and herringbone with a fabric necklace, but the graceful teardrop shape remains the same and grounds the design.






Nice job Mara, and thank you for sharing.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

A seed bead Rivet

Beads in Motion is the challenge I arranged for myself....the next book will feature beadwork which in one way or another moves.

I wanted to sandwich discs of beadwork together but allow them to spin freely around their core.



The metal girls of course do this with rivets, so I designed one using a bezeled rivoli, a peyote tube and a ladder stitch medallion. It works beautifully.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

all things Dutch

We've had an excellent stay in Holland so far. Yesterday on our way to the train we realized we were in for a cold, windy and rainy day so we chose to stay in Hoorn, rather then our planned trip to Haarlem, enjoying Saturday market and wandering the streets.

On our walk home we caught one of the days only rays of sun








This is an old Dutch house with a tiled and thatched roof, unique and beautiful.

In Hoorn's waterfront marina we saw this Old Dutch sailing boat. I must say that in the cold rain this did not seem like an appealing mode of travel









Yesterdays trip to Alkmaar provided this excellent Molen or windmill as we know them.









Given the amount of wind and rain, the combination which makes the normal umbrella pretty much unusable, I was intrigued by this odd shaped umbrella I saw. It turns out it had been designed by two young Dutch guys, and the shape is meant to move wind over it and not under it. I decided it was a must to own one and be fully Dutch.









I am oddly mistaken for a Dutch person quite often. Although I am short the full ruddy cheeks and white hair are quite common, Once while sitting on a canal bench and knitting, a canal boat full of tourists were pointing me out to one another and taking photos. I'm sure they thought it was the quintessential Dutch scene of the older white haired women knitting by the canal.

Today I initiated another new beader. Friends from Friesland visited and seven year old daughter. Dagmar is a girly girl with pierced ears and three dainty rings on her fingers. Together we made several pairs of crystal earrings. She chose and arranged her favorites on headpins and I wire wrapped them. She left a happy girl.

This is Dagmar being silly










And her handsome brother Kaj









I lived in Holland when Kaj was born and knitted his first hat and a baby sweater. I must have made Dagmar a sweater too, but at this moment I don't remember, I hope I did.

Despite my limited Dutch and their limited English, we managed to communicate today and had quite a bit of fun.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

It's hard to imagine

I woke up yesterday to the news of Steve Jobs passing. It was clear it was Inevitable after his resignation, and still I wasn't ready for it, sure somehow he would find a way to have more time.

I've only just bought my first MAC, but was part of the Silicon Valley workforce in 1984 when Apple made it's debut.

He was an amazing visionary, his products so life changing, he will be sorely missed. Such a huge life force is rare and we were privileged to have his genius guide the technology of our time.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Crazy

zo...as they say in Holland, I wrote a big blogpost, complete with Pictures
posted and read it and it seems to have vanished.

I took the train to Alkmaar and had koffie





Resisted these salt and peppers, which may have been a mistake





Shopped for dinner at Albert Heijn

Found the secret light, and took picture of Joris...





tomorrow to Haarlem where we lived for one year in 2004, lot's of memories.

Posted using BlogPress from my iPad