the end of winter

we are at the end of the season, winter is tired, the grass is dried up, so much looks silvery-bleached. i saw it on my last walk along the edges of the big lake, and i saw it on a train trip the other day. in my planters, some tiny green tips are starting to show. no way of telling yet whether they are the bulbs i planted or simply some daredevil weeds.

p.s.: i'm thinking much about pinterest and tumblr, and whether to delete my accounts. for all the known reasons. are you thinking about this too? if so, i'd love to hear, please feel free to send me a message at twinklestar at gmx dot net, i feel as if i'm a bit stuck with my own reasoning.

winter walk (II)

from the winter walk on the heath, by the sea. i'm feeling so restless recently. i have so many ideas, and not nearly enough time to pursue them. apart from pressing deadlines, there is work being done to the apartment (the last two days, pipes were replaced, which meant no running water or heating for the best part of the day, and lots of dust and dirt).

i feel like i am chasing some unicorn. unlikely, that i will suddenly have lots of spare time on my hands in the near future, so i will have to find other ways of pinching moments for photo taking, writing and other creative things. can you relate? what do you do?

the winter's crop

the first ten days of the new year have already proven to be a whirlwind. hope you got off to a good start?

i often think how lucky i am to love my work, yet lately there never seem to be enough hours in the day, or days in the week. and so there also never seems to be enough time to think about food much in advance.

could you help me out here - i'm looking for ideas for healthy winter eating: favourite dishes, ideas for winter vegetables and fruit, or links to websites are all more than welcome! i'm thinking vitamins and freshness, and perhaps a little less cream...

having

having a gift: is it an obligation (or: does having a talent imply the courage to use it)?

the season of rain

it's here again. the season of rain.

today, we are having mayoral elections in berlin, so i'll be donning my hideous rain cape soon, cycling to the polling station, then onto the museum bookshop for my sunday shift.

i'm starting to crave cakes, pears, lambs lettuce, walnuts, mushrooms. what's your favourite seasonal dish? any cake recipes? or savoury treats?

(these images were taken on a ferry ride - there's a post about berlin ferries over on mostly berlin. with the very same pictures, something i rarely do. i had to, this time...)

**

at the moment, i don't sleep well and have constant tension pain in my neck and/or headaches. i just can't relax. herbal teas, taking baths or a glass of wine in the evening, you name it, i've tried it. do you have any good tips? i'm just a little worried that this will continue until the end of summer, as i'm chock-a-block with projects (which is great, but stressful).

just quickly

i'm über-busy but fine. could do with a bit more sleep and a bit less pressure. but life is good.

the cat's always busy too, as you can see (and if she isn't busy playing or watching the street from the window sill, she's busy sleeping. as you do. - these pictures were taken with my praktica ages ago.)

oh, and i'm looking for recipes for preserving fruit and vegetables, for chutneys etc. i've already found some contenders for a fig and balsamic chutney and a rhubarb chutney, but i'm grateful for any tips, book recommendations and links.

happy weekend everyone!

welcome

recently, quite a few new readers seem to be around here. welcome!
would you mind telling me who you are and how you came here? no pressure, but it would be lovely to get to know you a little!

also thank you for your well wishes. still feeling a bit shaky, but much better already.

light and shadows in my kitchen, late afternoon.

a quiet moment

the less time there seems to be, the more i need those quiet moments.

p.s.: who are your favourite photographers?
i hope you'll forgive my lack of commenting of late. i'm working so much it's not true.

seven things

i've been asked to tell you seven things about myself a couple of times before, and it always makes me think and take stock a little. most recently i was tagged by elizabeth (of primoeza), and had written a post, all ready to go, when blogger had that glitch the other day. some of it was saved as a draft, but only a small part. now, even more has disappeared, so i might as well start over.

here's the latest edition of seven things then (thanks to elizabeth, and my other friends who recently tagged me to do this, i wish i had gotten round to it earlier.)

1 //
i've been through some difficult times recently, and i'm so glad to have friends who were most patient in listening when i had the umpteenth meltdown. (i'm much better now!)

2 //
i wouldn't have thought that a new hair cut can be such a catalyst. oh dear, i'm such a cliché.

3//
i love gardening even more than i thought. this weekend, i'm going to plant some more flowers (cosmos, delphinium, dahlias) and support the peas and beans with found sticks. (a little garden series is coming up!)

4//
i had forgotten how much i love going to the theatre and concerts. (thanks a million to sylee who heard about last-minute tickets for the sufjan stevens show, wohoo!)

5//
i hate testiness and sulking in people, and yet put up with it so often, wanting to please everybody. not anymore.

6//
i love making plans. and making them happen.

7//
i feel at a crossroads with my photography, at a point where i feel i'm caught in set ways. more and more often, i'm ever so bored with my own pictures. i don't know, what's next. but i'm curious.

feel free to play along if you like, and let us know in the comments if you do!

p.s.: these are two photos from my archives, taken with my praktica in 2009, in venice and at home.

two

and here:
number two.

one

have been playing with different angles and different degrees of abstraction - which of the two pairs do you like better? and why?

here we go:
number one.

morning!

breakfast at a friend's, a while ago. always good to have a pirate's sabre around the house, no?

quick question: do any of you have good links for tutorials on tie-dye (preferably simple shibori, but doesn't have to be)? any suggestions very welcome!

p.s.: meeting pascale was just perfect. lots of talking, walking around, berliner weisse at prater beergarden, and some more talking. and you know what - i even got a little sun-burnt!

how to catch that rare beast

these photographs were taken by my mum in the early 1960s, when she was spending her holiday on the lago maggiore, northern italy. she took such wonderful pictures with her simple little agfa camera. and, judging by the second photo, which a friend must have taken, she had the perfect time. coffee on the terrace, with perlagoniums and a view anyone?

i myself, meanwhile, am feeling truly uninspired. i haven't shot film in weeks. i miss it terribly, but the light is bad. very bad. so how can i catch that rare beast: inspiration?

p.s.: we could start a whole discussion about the notion of inspiration here, i suppose. do we need inspiration, or do we overrate it? is being creative 90% commitment to just doing things, i.e. 'work', rather than something almost magical and therefore elusive? -- and: is pressure counter-productive?

follow my blog with bloglovin

the real thing

after a brief thawing episode last weekend, it's been snowing again. this is the real thing.

i'm up to my ears with work. how are things with you? anything lovely or exciting happening lately?

follow my blog with bloglovin

rest

busy times. after having to skip last weekend due to work, i'm really looking forward to this one. there's still work to be done, but it will be quieter and i'll be taking a much needed rest. also hoping to take some photographs. will make an advent calendar for my man. also decorate the apartment a little, this time round with white candles, silver baubles and pine cones.

oh, and did i mention that it's officially winter now? the day before yesterday is started snowing, yesterday was probably the last day for a while that i'll be using the bike. if it can be helped, i much prefer riding my bike in temperatures below zero to sitting on the train squashed between sniffling people. but what can you do.

finally: an idea has been brewing for a while, i've been thinking about having posters made. it's still just an idea, but can i ask you a favour? when you have a minute to spare, it would be great if you could go to my flickr and leave a comment there, should you spot a pic you could see as a poster. any feed-back would be much appreciated and help me to make some decisions.

have a great weekend! (any plans?)

follow my blog with bloglovin

sunday inspiration

1. Untitled, 2. Untitled, 3. from, 4. Untitled, 5. Untitled, 6. ., 7. marina & her birds, 8. tarte au citron, 9. FIAT 500

has it really been that long that i've done an inspiration post? it feels a bit like the last few weeks have flown by with lots of work and things that kept my mind occupied, and there wasn't really enough time to look for inspiration and really let it sink in. so now, i feel a bit stuck. i'm hoping things will calm down a little, or at least that i'm finding some mind space to let myself take in things. whenever i don't do that for any length of time, the well will run dry. do you know that feeling?

anyway, here are some inspirational images from a couple of very gifted photographers on flickr. do click on the link underneath the mosaic to find their photo streams and see more of their work. i think in these, the light speaks to me, as does the stillness of the nature and landscape scenes. oh, and there are rather a few blues in there as well, lightened by some golden hues, aren't there?

have a good week.

follow my blog with bloglovin

market days

saturdays are market days around here. i'm already looking forward to going tomorrow. what are your plans?

p.s.: i'm thinking about switching to flickr when posting photos here. only i can't find an html code for an 800 size (the size i'm currently using with picasa). anyone got any ideas? many thanks!

oh, and since dorte asked why i want to link to picasa or flickr in the first place (i love questions! :)): simply because the large size that blogger allows me to upload directly is too small for my liking. or have some new developments bypassed me?

pondering

why are we afraid of big changes when there are little changes all around us, all the time?
can you live outside the mainstream?
how does the microcosm of relationships and friendships address different parts of ourselves?
should i seek out new ways of bringing bread-winning and art together?
how can i miraculously get a hasselblad? (would you check your attics, just in case?)

this is a corner view. for links to other corner viewers, head on over to jane's.

follow my blog with bloglovin

altogether different

just when i've been shooting miles and miles of kodak 400 and think to myself how much i love the grain and that this might be it after all, i'm picking up some slide and that gets me too. am i too promiscuous?

follow my blog with bloglovin