People are creatures of habit. You are no stranger to such. Incessant, maddening, tormenting…..You go all-in, wagering every chip that you have on black. You repeat, replay, rewind….it’s never the same. Fortuna ensures variety is on offer. Every day….until even you start seeing the patterns in a seemingly Brownian motion transmitting from an analogue TV set.

You stare at the wilted roses sitting forgotten and forlorn in a vase smudged with fingerprints. You resist the urge to whisk them away. Quite easily so. Instead you surrender to the hypnotic notes of Satie’s Gnossiennes….No 3 Lent. You know them intimately, all six sheets, perhaps with the exception for no 6….far too upbeat for your liking.

Having nothing better to do you google Gnossiennes and stumble across an intriguing, if curious definition…

gnossiennes

n. a moment of awareness that someone you’ve known for years still has a private and mysterious inner life, and somewhere in the hallways of their personality is a door locked from the inside, a stairway leading to a wing of the house that you’ve never fully explored—an unfinished attic that will remain maddeningly unknowable to you, because ultimately neither of you has a map, or a master key, or any way of knowing exactly where you stand.

It’s been a busy week here concluding Sinterklaas and decorating the Christmas tree. It’s a special tradition as our decoration goes back to the 1940’s – most noteworthy an angel from my mum’s, and Christmas bells and balls from my own childhood. We continue to buy a few new pieces every season with our latest acquisition being a few decorative glass bonbons. It’s a cosy welcome to wake up to every morning!

our Christmas tree

Christmas bonbons

our latest acquisition

pakjesavond with Sebastian

BrickArms 

… and Tintin collectable – courtesy of Sinterklaas

 

 

It’s always an amazing experience when one gets to visit the Efteling. The weather was fantastic and staying until closing time we also got to see the spectacular light show. A must see and feast for the young at heart!

 

Enchanted tree

treasure hunt

glorious weather

took the tour with the Efteling train

 

and sampled almost all the roller coasters  including the (in)famous Python

A short post on the last day of our lovely holiday. Thank you all for the kind FB birthday messages, calls and texts. To the few that were wondering where I’ve been hiding in all these months and in some cases years – all I can say it’s just been a hectic period, but I am convinced it will not last forever.

Tomorrow we are flying back from Nice and Biot. So it only seems fitting to upload some pictures of the holiday.

love

Sx

Birthday evening

my first tennis lessons

shopping in Nice

exploring the city

…and Biot

You reach over for your iphone, wondering for a brief moment if you should stop yourself in your tracks and go back to sleep. The summer nights have been playing havoc with your sleep and some mornings have been so early they can best be described as late at night. But to your surprise it is 8.09. You lounge leisurely in bed for the next half and hour playing brain games whilst sipping on a cold cup of tea that has infused since it was brewed last night. The sweet hibiscus aroma hits your palates and whilst you savour it, you decide you need something stronger. 

An hour later and you are on the terrace working on your second cup of coffee. The weather is glorious so you station yourself in the only corner basking in sun. It’s a beautiful day with so much to be grateful for…

 

I am not quite sure how it happened….ceasing writing…and with that bursting the metaphorical bubble of existence. Discouragement led to a slow dwindle of posts and one day I turned off the tap altogether. In the beginning there was just silence. The voice that would incessantly tell stories fell quiet, and with that my soul seemed to die…little by little. Not sure what suddenly awoke it but perhaps a painting that I acquired for a mere penny which was delivered yesterday.  According to a tattered label on the backside, it was painted in 1802 portraying a young man born in 1777 – 199 years before I was born. I’ve given him a place in the the hallway and I find myself slowing down every time I pass by. …and there I stand watching him as he watches me….silently. And I wonder who he was, what became of this man born a year after the American declaration of independence, painted just as Europe stood on the brink of the Napoleonic wars? I only know his name…Peter Heinrich Reimers…but for now he is Dorian Gray…

the picture of Dorian Gray

 

 

 

I don’t think I have been sitting still since touching down on the melting tarmac in Malta (temperatures are hoovering around 30 degrees, which is a lot better than the furnace oven we left behind!). All well and said, we were lucky to get an offer simply too good to refuse, for a day on the sea together with Victoria and friends – not to forget a pink flamingo that decided to tag along.

Really the best day so far, providing ample opportunity for relaxation and catching up on some sleep.

Embarking on our journey around the northern coast of Malta

Lovely scenery

Too good to be true

chilling to the sounds of waves

sun, sea and blue skies

fun in the blue lagoon

super food lunch