crafty mum in changing places

A clean slate

Hello to you and a Happy 2013! Time for a new start (as if we hadn't tried this last year...).

The skies here in Seoul are sunny and although it is freezing cold (minus 12 degrees) I appreciate the everyday sun in this wintertime. The Korean winters are the best I ever experienced. And there weren't just a few thinking of my age!

Nonetheless there is time for some colour and I am planning and redecorating again. I don't want to change my whole palette but just move colours from one room to another. More on this in another post because I am working on the inspiration boards! And I even would have been able to finish them if the neighbour had not rang my bell at 5:30 yesterday morning just to tell me that water was running out of our garage... So we had a little indoor pool and I spent my morning seeing what the plumber was accomplishing down there. Then car inspection. Waiting in the cold to be told I need new tires. Ok. What a fascinating outlook. Don't you just like shopping for tyres? And I don't mean the funky ones that can go on these gorgeous Korean or Japanese Bicycles. Now, the real black uninspiring tires on the car!

So I sat down later in our cafe and grabbed the magazines laying around. And I was greeted with lovely colours and displays. 

The Korean magazine "Luxury" showed monthly inspiration spreads and i just love the colour outburst with all the roses here

And I wanted a Bergère for the longest time. Let it be a chair or two seater - I don't even care! Maybe this year is the year for it!

And our children would definitely (still) love this tepee somewhere inside our house or in the garden or even in the wild...

And it makes me contemplating crocheting a globe like the one in the picture and embroider it if I only would find the time with all the things I want to do!

And this throw together makes me want to plan picknicks somewhere around here. We all should have more picknicks! We had some in Paris last year, but that was vacation. I should surprise my children this year more often with having a picknick ready in the car after picking them up from school and then just head to a park or the river or the mountains (maybe not mountains - who would carry the stuff, huh?).

 

And like every holiday a huge jigsaw puzzle for the whole family was a must. We just love spending the day in our payamas and just play around!

And as you can clearly see in the picture: I treated myself to some nice new quilting books because I finally made the decision what new sewing machine to buy. We got her and she is now waiting for me to be discovered and used!

And again we had George at the vet for some smaller surgery. He had lumps at his doggy elbows and we decided to have them removed, because they started bleeding from time to time. The vet was not in favor of yet another surgery at George's age but it got worse and we had to do it. Two years before it was all benign because it was just dog hair growing inside. But one never knows and we wanted to be on the safe side.

Oh yes, and we ate well. The proof: leftover indian curry. the best thing about cooking vast amounts is the idea of leftovers. Nothing can make me more happy on an idle day like the refridgerator full of leftovers where I can just dive in without having to spend a lot of time. And it is homemade food and not fast food or convenience food!

And we spent days surfing around with no homework breaks in between.

Off to new horizons we treated ourselves to the wonderful and HUGE Anish Kapoor at the Leeum. it was just amazing! A bit bewildering for the children but I think you have to train them to get into contact with all kind of art so they can develop their taste and likings.

When the children started school again I made time the first morning for the Penguin Books exhibition at Kyobo bookstore I spotted before Christmas. Times were crazy then so I hoped it would still be on after the holidays. luckily it was and I loved to see the history of this publishing line and all the wonderful book covers.

And we were happy that George is better now and his active lively self again....

Start of school means also earlier pick up time for Jakob and mum-and-me-time. We stay at one of the cafes around school and sit and chat and read and play. That is so wonderful and I am enjoying it because you never know when they stop wanting to go to a cafe with mum...

And you can see how we have to gear up because of the cold:

As I can see from his face (or so I wish to see) is he still happy in going out and spending time with me - lukcy me!

See you soon, I am off to school for another early pick-up!

Yvonne

Long time no see...

Dear readers and followers and passers by!

It's been a while and for good reason. I was so in swing with posting and uploading in the beginning of the year and then several incidents kept me from going on. three children are not enough to keep me from posting but when one of them needs to be taken to the hospital every other day because he fell and needed crutches:

it only took him a few days and he fell again. This time UP the stairs and he needed some small plastic surgery on the other leg...

And so it went...

I tried to cheer me up in between driving to school and the hospital by visiting some nice cafes around here like the newly renovated Paris Croissant in Hannam-dong. It is a chain but all the branches are so nicely done and the food is good quality!

I also made a new friend: Griffin, the dog of my friend Ilze. I checked on him from time to time whilst there were away house hunting in Hongkong. I think he likes me and I am telling myself it is not only because of the chewy bones I always brought for him as a treat...

April greeted us with cold and rainy weather and we were desperately waiting for spring. 

Because the outside did not provide it we tried to install it in our house on the window sill in the kitchen

And then I had to have another operation: cysts from my breasts had to be removed. they were benign but too big and could  become a hazard in the future. So again a major operation and waiting for the results. All was fine but you worry and rething and reflect and ponder anyhow... My mind was simply to occupied for blogging and posting pictures on Flickr. I missed it but simply did not have the energy!

An after all that spring finally arrived with all its beauty and mild climate and sunny days! We welcomed spring in our house and also in the garden.

Over the following weeks we could be found around town in the various greeneries to get some little treasures for the garden.

And I love the varieties of succulents you encounter here in Korea. I am having problems chosing only some....

The pictures remind me of the year before when we moved to Korea: an new, unknown territory which is now home. In fact it became home very quickly. 

I am so thankful for that move and for the new life that opened up for us. The last months have been a bit rough due to health issues but we recovered quickly and are now open for everything to come!

I am sorry that I have been away for so long and will answer your lovely mails and comments within the next few days! And for everybody who is eagerly awaiting some snail mail from me: I am also working on that and am getting into a routine again!

Hope to see you soon!

Yvonne

 

 

 

Week in review - about the everyday

Sunday is a good day to resume the week. We have been busy with sleepovers, shopping for farewell-party-gifts, preparing healthy food, finishing knitting projects and gathering inspiration for our Paris trip.

The best thing I got was this Panda Bear:

It was given to me by Jakob, the little boy who grows up so fast and tries to be so cool these days - just like his older brother: 

Moritz still ponders on how to become famous and rich without doing nothing except lying on the bed and reading Donald Duck or playing Lego. Any tips from you would be highly valued!

The other thing he is awaiting impatiently is the new Angry Birds version

I finished some knitting I started in December. I thought it would be a good idea to finish this cowl before springtime.

Here are some close ups: 

It is so light and fluffy and soft and keeps me warm - I could wear it all day!

I also kept up with my healthy eating habit and even spruced things up there. More on Monday about that! This was a weekday lunch for me: fried potatoes, kale, beetroot salad, coleslaw and green tea.

And I took the little monster out shopping on the Namdemun market to get some farewell present for a friend who is leaving Seoul next week. She spotted something when we were there together and I went back to get it for her.

This boy loves to pose and he got himself a new bag. How could it be: Angry-birds related!

We spotted some astronauts where spectacles were sold and Jakob asked me if we could borrow then for his upcoming Astronat and space party.

At Lotte Department store, an incredible store like our German KaDeWe  (just see some pictures here) we spotted some unexpected but familiar ladies

... and some cute little monsters formerly unknown to us:

Around the corner everything was like normal: streetsellers offering pomegranates directly from their lorry

A few metres away from a French inspired bakery chain with a typical thing you need when opening a cafe in Seoul: Something French and a vintage inspired bicycle!

So back home we went to find a dog curled up in his basket

And some Paris inspiration and the dumbbells awaiting me in the bedroom

And today is a day for walking through the woods here

or curl up with a book and a tea here:

And maybe we even decide on doing both!

Have a great Sunday!

Yvonne

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Staying in or "Home sweet Home"

Some of you might know that I love to explore foreign countries and places and roaming the streets to look for inspiration.  Like the  Diane Arbus quote:

"My favorite thing is to go where I've never been"

But there is also the other side: I am really a couch potato and if my husband is at home I love to stay in and talk and talk and cuddle and talk and so on...

And I also love being a loner! So today I was lucky because Markus took the children to school and I could just stay in. And I am free until 4 p.m. That is pure luxury. I will be pottering around a bit, read, craft, indulge in yesterday's leftovers over the day and enjoy beeing free here.

So I want to share some inspirational quotes about home from my Pinterest today. If you want to locate the originals you can just click through the photos to my Pinterest board and see who is behind these!

And I think Jane Austen was totally right!

 

 

But most of all: home is the people:

 

Being home alone, there are endless things to dwell on:

Whilst crafting might be one of my favorite pasttimes and I really need time for it and cannot do it in between. Another favorite pasttime:

As I just told my husband yesterday: I envy the children for all their time at hand to read books. I did it as a child and a teenager like crazy and I would sometimes love to have a week end like this again: reading all the time and just stopping for eating at the family table (and not having to prepare meals) - bliss!

But there are other things to do at home and I have to admit that I am quite addicted to this one:

Unfortunately this means also home: 

But I might hang this in the laundry room and maybe I even could have fun with it. Or perhaps I put on some earphones and listen to somebody reading to me whilst folding. That might be a solution! I really miss my laundry room in Lüneburg. It was also the bathroom for the children and had a view into the garden. It was so lovely in there that folding laundry became easier. Here we just have a cold small annex to our pantry. So I might make some effort to liven things up there when the temperatures rise! 

Some more tips for a better day at home: 

And if it is not working either I could easily follow this advice:

I will now do the following: Do a load of washing, have my Elevensies (ready cooked and packed chestnuts - I love Korean fast food treats- some pistaccios, green tea and a slice of cheese) whilst reading. Then I will be decluttering the surface of my crafting table and start working on my Project life again until lunch (fried potatoes and kale, beetroot salad and some coleslaw). Maybe there is time for more reading or crafting or a nap - I take it as it comes!

And not to forget: I feel grateful for a day like this!

See you later!

Yvonne

 

 

 

No chocolate for me but much love

You asked if I got some chocolate because I posted the list about Korean monthly customs of giving things to a loved one. NO, sorry - no chocolate for me. I think I have to wait for the 14th of March and see what will happen...

But I got some love the other day from Jakob:

That made it up for a lot of chocolate I can tell you!

So I let my husband get away with the chocolate he got at the office.

And that made also up for getting lost today again whilst driving to Incheon to go through the procedure of getting my Korean driving licence... Such a pity I did not take pictures of that procedure!

The navigation system in my car refused today to take me to incheon via expressways and took the route through the suburbs. So I had to google-map my way to the next expressway. 

I got home safely after passing the tests at the issuing office and now will enjoy brown rice tea and a book before I have a date with my husband tonight - it turned out to be a good day after all!!!

Little helpers on the journey

Hello there dear followers! Today I'd love to introduce to you some of my little helpers on my journey. Or should I better say secret weapons? 

Some of you asked me about how to manage three children and en ever moving household and stay sane or how I am taking some of my pictures and the like. So here are some links to people and Apps and homepages that help me on a daily basis.

I am a follower of these blogs that help me during my everyday struggle, journey, path through life:

• simple mom
• The Happiness Project
• Zen habits
• Be more with less
• Fly Lady

To record the daily happenings for later use in my project life or to remember when scrapbooking or editing photos on the computer I have been using this smart app called Day One recently:

The good thing about it is that you can set reminders throughout the day and it will just signal you from time to time that it is time to write in your journal. That is such a good thing because we know: we have all these plans but during the hassle of the everyday we tend to forget!

You can also perfectly print them out (I take a screenshot now and then) and add them to my journaling for the ongoing Project Life Album.

To help me get fit and reach my goals concerning better health and moving more I also have some helpers on the list:

• NTC Nike Training Club: This is perfect for me because I am sort of a loner and not a person who likes going to a gym. With this one I can be totally flexible and use the training intervalls whenever I have time.

This is such a great App and I love that the workout is shown in photos and you can see how much you accomplished already plus you can add your own music from your iTunes playlists.

• move more eat well with Cathy Zielske: I can combine training and healthier eating habits with scrapbooking. Who would have thought that even exists!?

An then there are the Photograpy Apps that help me a lot:

Isn't it amazing what you can do with photos without an expensive camera and equipment or enormous photography skills?

So this is part of what me keeps going every day - netwise. I did not mention any of these great blogs where I get endless inspiration about food, travel, interior decoration and life. You are following them anyhow and that could easily get redundant if I would also start it. This should be purely every day life "gear" apart from the decorative interior design world. And I did not mention books and people you can actually touch and feel - this will be another post. I just let you go here so you can explore for yourself and find out if any of them could be useful for you as well. And I maybe have forgotten some or will encounter more useful ones. I will keep track and tell you later - promised. One good thing about posting something here is also public accountability, isn't it? It helps me a lot not to get sidetracked all the time - which is so easy in the www....

See you later! Yvonne