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In a family that consists of four women shoes are an important part of our life.
The only male in our family has only one pair of shoes. He wears them out, I buy new ones. Always the same. He just wants something that prevents his feet from getting cold and wet. When it’s dry and sunny he happily goes outside on his socks.
Not the women in our family. Oh no! The girls love their shoes. They have several pairs and always find a reason to really need more. If only they had an unlimited amount of money…
So in our house you always find some shoes lying around. Like these. I can’t imagine why she kicked them off in front of the dishwasher and forgot them just there. But she did. They remained there until she wanted to wear them the next day (I sometimes “experiment” with ignoring things like that, just to see how long it takes them to notice – believe me, a long time…).
These were also on the floor, but that was to remind me to sew those elastics on the new shoes. The old shoes are completely worn out. She started ballet only two years ago, but she’s very determined to be the best she can be at it.
And these mark my baby girl not being a baby anymore. The yellow shoes are last year’s. I loved them and she was happy to wear the shoes I picked. But not anymore. Oh no. She has a taste of her own now. That’s okay. She sixteen, it’s about time. It just takes a bit of adjusting.
This one was always happy to buy whatever I suggested (her sisters were a lot earlier on this), but not anymore. She’s growing up really fast now. Her new found taste of her own is a bit different from mine. I can still suggest, try to compromise, but it’s her decision. So it’s black and shiny and heels now. She did listen to my “you can only afford one pair now, so you should pick something that you can walk on each day”. I have to treasure that, because one day she will go shopping on her own and bring something unwearable. I know. The other two did so too.
That reminds me I was working on a post about motherhood. It’s all about adjusting, you know? I’ll try to finish writing that post soon.
And than there’s me. I like shoes, but I hate trying them on. Coming from a childhood of “sensible shoes” and not being able to fit in the cute shoes the other teenage girls wore. My feet are not big, but they are wide, and I have a high instep.
A few days ago I was at the mall with one of the girls, complaining that the pumps I was wearing were old and hurting my feet. And that they were all I had for summer apart from the cheap slippers I ungracefully flipflop around in most of the time.
This daughter loves shoe-shopping and gently steered me into a shoe store (oh, the bliss of grown up daughters that take over when they need to!). And lo and behold: we found the perfect shoes!
The best of it all: I won’t have to shop for shoes until summer is over…
Well, isn’t this a superficial little (ahem!) post about shoes? I’m sorry, it just happened to grow on me after buying those shoes and noticing the other shoes in the house. In my defense: I have a new burst of writing inspiration and I’m writing the final scenes of my novel now. These tales of our shoes are a welcome distraction from the sad fights my main characters are having right now! I sure hope they work things out today…
Last year I thought this rosebush was dead. I was too busy to pull it out. This spring it came back to life! Sometimes being a lazy gardener has it’s advantages!
Yesterday was one of those days. I don’t know if it’s just me, or something typical for housewives (um, can I still use that word? I do think of myself as a housewife, but it’s old-fashioned, I know).
It was one of those days when I’m running around all day, but just don’t feel that I really *did* something. I mean, I did three loads of laundry, vacuumed the whole house, cleaned the bathroom and the toilet, cleaned the cat’s litter box (twice), dusted, did some decluttering and a little bookkeeping. Oh, and I did some grocery shopping too.
At three o’clock I felt exhausted and not at all satisfied. I did a lot, but nothing was really “done”. I will be doing most of it again tomorrow. It’s the kind of work that is never done. Uusally I don’t mind, but sometimes I feel … well, you know, restless.
And then… ha! I went up to my room (still love the sound of that!), pulled out a piece of fabric, decided I needed a new bag and just started cutting. Less than two hours later (did I mention I love my serger?) I had a cute bag and my head felt clear enough to get on with another big chore.
I love the elastic front pocket I “invented” last year and made again for my autumn bag, so much that I decided to give this bag two elastic pockets. One has a phone pocket and room for pens, one is just a big pocket.
The inside of the bag is plain white, with a some very simple pockets. I had no time for zippers and I usually don’t pull those closed anyway, so no zippered pockets in this one. The bag itself closes with a vintage button, that is very hard to take a picture of, but is very cute.
So now I have a new bag. And I found a great way to deal with “those days”. I have a feeling there will be a lot more “making something” to make up for all the “doing nothing” around here.
:: It was finally warm enough to swim
:: The cat found the perfect way to keep his head cool, while sunbathing his belly
:: I was very content watching them all enjoying themselves. And knitting, of course.
Okay, come on in! Mind your head, the door is kind of low.
First let’s turn our heads to the left: that’s my sewing room. Isn’t it great!
Before we look closer at it, let’s turn to the right.
This is not quite ready. My writing spot. I think it will be different, more inspirational when I have been using it for a while. This week I have been writing downstairs, keeping Theo company (he hurt his foot, so he has been working from home). The red teatray will provide extra workspace when I need it. The built in closet needs a door or a curtain. Although I do like seeing the vintage dresses that have been hiding under the bed for so long. If only I would fit into them… Oh well, let’s return to the tour of my little room.
See how sunny and light this little room is? The window is right between the sewing table and the writing spot.
This is the table I told you about. It’s just the right size. I have been going back and forth between the serger and the sewing machine when I was making the pj pants, and I have also been quilting a large project. In both cases the table is perfect. The book cases hide some storage space, where I put things I won’t be needing much, suitcases, christmasdecorations etc. I can pull the left bookcase aside when I need to get something.
Buttons. I started to sort them into the glass jars. You know, by color, like I have seen on so many pictures. But I like the way they look in those flat tins too.
My stash. I didn’t keep my New Year’s resolution and I did add to it. But on these shelves it kind of dissappears. I can hardly call it a stash now, so I need to buy more fabric. Ha!
In this picture you can’t see my yarnstash, but in the top picture you can. Much to my surprise there was a lot more of it than I thought. I really need to stop buying yarn. but hey, if I see some good stuff in a thriftshop it is hard not to buy it…
I have no idea how to call this, but it’s meant to be in the kitchen. The big drawers say: flour, sugar, tea, noodles and rice, the smaller drawers would hold herbs. It belonged to my grandmother. I use it to hold my sewing notions, beads etc. The sewing box is vintage too, but I bought that on the market.
I have always wanted to have an inspiration board. Now I have three. To the left: some of the bags I made.
So there you have it. It’s not stylish, well decorated or highly organized. But it feels so good and so “me”. I love going up there and make stuff. Create. Not having to clean it all up over and over again (I did for the pictures) helps me to get so much more done.
When I start using the writing corner I figure that will be much the same.won’t have to put my little notes (I write down all my brainwaves of stories, plots, dialogues etc. on index cards) away, but I can sort them, stack them and shuffle them any time I want. I can just leave the laptop open to write when it “comes to me” and walk away when I’m stuck. Or go over the other side of the room and play with buttons, fabrics and beads.
I feel so lucky and grateful for this space.
Now, if you’ll excuse me. Just looking at these pictures makes me itch to go up there and sew.
Hope you all have a great weekend! I think you know where I’ll be most of the time…
Two old flannel sheets = four pairs of pyama pants. In just a few hours. And most of that time was spent figuring out the easiest way to construct the elastic-back/tie-in-front waist.
The girls love them!
No. I’m sorry. Still no pictures of the room. I have been searching for the perfect sewing table and I found one in a thrift shop today for only 3,50 euro. But there is still a lot of tidying up to do, so please be patient! (I know I am not, I want to have it all ready right now, but my back does not agree. I have to slow down a bit.)
I can show you this: from my window I have a great view of the cherry tree I love so much that I have shown it to you over and over again. Now I have a different angle. So cool!
See the cherries? I wonder if I will be able to see the birds taking them this year! I’ll have to keep my camera ready for that!
Well actually to look at them. But that will do, I think. I really needed that today, even more than usual…
See that? I did that.
Now can you guess what Theo got me for my birthday?
Yes! You guessed right. He got me a serger!
So today I’m happily trying to get a feel for this thing. And I hope to start some real projects very soon!
The room is ready to use, but there are some small things I want to change or finish before I show it to you. Stay tuned for that!
