In The Race Again....

Well after numerous tries to keep up with my journaling not just while I am travelling but everyday lovelies…along with getting my online shop up and running ….the shop is slowly being created behind the scenes and should be ready within a couple of weeks, thanks to my niece who is helping me.

Sometimes or rather most days are cut across despite my best intentions of putting my studio work to the fore.  I work for my best companion who is my dear husband for 30yrs as he is in private practice and he in turn has supported me endlessly in all I do despite my random and spontaneous ways being a creative.

What makes a day different for us, our families, our work colleagues, our friends, amidst what is happening around us.  It is the little things that make a difference to a bland life and hum drum routine day in and day out.  I have so enjoyed many of the blogs and little write ups of some of the women I follow on Instagram across the world, all making a difference and bringing a certain loveliness to many lives, whether in a business or in their homes amongst their family and friends.  It’s really like a beautiful army where ones gets drawn into the beauty of so much around us, so much that often is not seen.  It like the old saying of the goodness of ‘stopping to smell the roses’…….its the little things, like notes in the children’s lunchboxes, candles lit for dinner, weekly flowers picked from the garden, little arrangements on a table, seaside collections impromtuously placed in places that you walk by to bring back memories of that last seaside holiday…..it takes courage to lift the atmosphere around us, to choose to make a difference in our family & friends lives.

So maybe think of someone who needs a lovely today, tomorrow & make it happen.  As another friend said just 45minutes in the garden can change ones thoughts, lifting their spirt for the day which flows on to others. We are accountable as to how we live & what we impart…….

Ladies Deck Chair covered in Cabbages & Roses Canvas....Chick pom pom cushions as well

First Morning Leiden

Saturday morning we awoke to the sound of many boats going up & down the canel as it was quite hot.  For most here it must have felt like a summer holiday as they had stripped off wearing only their bathers to soak up the sun. There was much chatter & music & as I mentioned many had picnic baskets set up. The Moore Hen & her chicks, along with the Swans just disappeared into hiding. 

After a leisurely breakfast we went to explore more of where Tony father had grown up - having found the building that his grandparents owned & where he grew up ... they lived in the top part & rented the bottom part out.  We have had a few laughs as the bottom part is now a Tattoo Parlour ... we actually spoke to the owner of the parlour today as she happened to step outside as we were taking photos & told us a little bit about the building but obiviously didn't know the whole history.  We then went into the centre of Leiden to the Saturday weekly markets that have been operating since Leiden began. There was such a choice of cheeses, meats, breads, fruit etc along with stalls with rolls of fabric & clothing.  

We came back to our boat laden with lovely fresh bread, homemade dips, cheese & an extra bottle of wine. We had shared delicious fresh baked coconut merangues as we walked through the stalls. We spied a fantastic restored warehouse that now has the front part as a coffee spot with the back part fitted out as a restaurant.  Incorporating the old with the new which brings such character & atmosphere .... the extension of the coffee spot spilled outside into a permanently moored barge ...

I walked back into the centre to  where the markets had been in the afternoon as I had spied a fabric & wool shop.  It was so worth my walk back as Marlies who owns 'Meet & Make'. It is a dear little shop which is ling & narrow with fabrics lining one side & wools lining the other side. The amount of wool was amazing with such a selection of styles & colours. Marlies also stocked the English Merchant & Mills vintage style sewing products. I came out with a little parcel but hard to hide as this will need to find a space in my already tight packed bag ....

in the evening we had a Nikki g to have dinner at the well known ' Printenkabinet' restaurant.  It is operating in what used to be the Leiden's University Restoration of Prints. This moved a number of years ago but it was of significance for us as Tony's father had been one of the Art Restorer's there after the 2nd world war.  It was a special journey to come back to Leiden to explore where Jan (Tony's Dad) had grown up, worked. We were treated well, taken around the restaurant, able to take photos & a copy of the history. It turns out that the University's restoration program still happens & the people of the University still go to the restaurant. 

Off to catch the train into Amsterdam ... 

Outside our boat as we leave to go to the markets

this is what we pass as we walk into town !! 

Just one of the flower stalls - the amazing selection of flowers & especially one of my favourites Peonies & bunches of Sweet Peas

this is one if the permanent fixtures on each side of the centre bridge over the largest canel tuning through Leiden  

Quick trip to Koh Lipe

After a few days with our family who live in KL we left for an adventure on a little island called Koh Lipe which is one of the small islands at the bottom of Thailand. We went in two taxis’s to a small airport about half an hrs drive away -  from there we caught a plane to Sebang.  After an hrs flight, we caught another taxi but could all go together to the Ferry. We had to go through immigration before boarding the Ferry that then took an hr to get to Koh Lipe. As the ferry anchored out from the beach, we had to jump onto a little wooden water taxi that then took us to the beach stopping just short enough that it was shoes off & walking in the water to the beach. We gathered our bags up that were lined up on the beach together with what we were carrying & walked up to join the que to go through immigration ... we found Icecreams for the boys while Matt joined the que. when it was out turn we fell Into line with Matt ... 

After that done ... we caught 2 motorbike taxi’s to take us & our bags to our resort the other side of the island (the Island is very small).  We had a little wooden hut with an open wooden verandah with seats on. We were one end & the family were the other end. The little boys would come running down to us to say they were ready to go for breakkie, or swimming or at the end of the day, showered, changed & ready for an adventure of where would be going for dinner as food was an important part of the holiday !!!

Our days were constant with swimming, snorkling & a couple of days we hired kayaks. The boys loved having a go at rowing as we went to a couple of different bays where it was turns to swim, snorkeled or built sandcastles, including waking out to a little island when the tide was out & getting back before it came back in .... 

There were lots of places to eat at & the last 2 nights were the most memborable. We caught motebike taxi’s into the Main Street where there was such an array of food, seafood & all sorts of cuisines. The last night we again caught motor bike taxis whereupon it was quite a hair-raising ride. We went to a lovely restaurant almost the other end of the beach from us, but through the town & just as you got to the resort restaurant there was a huge hill to go down & you felt like you were were going to go straight through the building at the bottom ... needless to say it was just as hairy going back up it at the end of the night ..  

So many wonderful memories, photos, collections of seashells & dried coral which we managed to get through customs on our return ... 

Looking out to the moonlite water from our resort. 

The Island we walked out to & back !! 

Exploring ..

Shells amassed on the island that looked like bones the one we had walked to but then kayaked to as well - very spooky ..

One of the stalls on our walk to dinner ..

Early morning tranquility ...

On the other side of the island where the adventure began & waiting for our Ferry to go back !!!  A great few days ....

Last few days in Hungary

Sunday saw us up early and back into Pecs to the Markets again but these markets are open to anyone to exhibit ther than dealers.....so as we arrived it was such a bustle as many were scrambling for their spots, there were a few arguments but most were just about their business setting up.  It was already warm and we knew that by lunch time when it finished, it would be very hot and most vendors were totally exposed to the elements.  We wandered around and again it never ceased to amaze me how Maud spied things amidst  what looked like a maze of things. She moved fast whereas I was lingering looking. We did find some great and unusual things,  one thing that stuck with me was a wire fold down basket which turned out to be a fishermans basket.......

We stopped for morning tea where we had a couple of days ago, but this time there were more food stalls & little lines but we were served fairly quickly. Again we went for our spicy apple turnover and sweet tea.   Time to go and so as we drove off we decided to stop by a little grocery store to get some fresh provisions for lunch.  

Come Monday we were to drive to the other side of Mohacs where we were to catch the car ferry across the Danube and drive roughly for 45 minutes down the side roads to get to the Indigo Dyer.  We meet the Dyer  and Maud catches up with the widow of the Dyer who had done it all his life having followed in his father's footsteps....while they chatted the young man keeping the business going took me on a tour of how the dyeing is done including the little museum and shop.  It was fascinating and so labor intensive....we had a great time there having spent almost 2hrs.  Maud left a large pile of Hungarian sackcloth and sackcloth fabrics to be dyed with some  having hand  printed patterns using 100 year old print blocks.  I was able to purchase some dear little table cloths to bring home for my girls and friends, along with a piece of dyed & printe. Having been so long we then then drove back to be in time to catch the ferry back.  On the way back past lots of farms we passed a number of army trucks and police cars.  There was an increase in the patrols due to being so close to the Serbian Border which has been closed to refugees.  

Approaching the Car Ferry

On board crossing the Danube

The blue of this motor bike caught my eye but it is quite old but kept well

On the drive back to the ferry

There were so many farms left abandoned along the way....

Crops that's are harvest d by corporations.  

Some of the fabrics drying at the dyers. 

The dyeing vat...