A Pretty Decent Day.

Yesterday morning I was so slow in getting my act together, it was wonderful. I got up late and sat here behind the computer for as long as the Überhund allowed it, which was a long time. Those have got to be my favorite hours of the day, early in the morning in my bathrobe with a mug of coffee behind the computer. I feel that I'm in a timeless space, cut off from the world and nothing can interfere with me and what I'm doing. Luckily, nobody ever comes to the door, unless it is to deliver a package, but I usually know that ahead of time.

So, I sat there quite merrily, postponing everything until I had to walk the poor dog and then I got the show on the road and got dressed in my best duds and took him out. After that, I attempted to create some order in the much neglected apartment in which I succeeded a little bit. It looked less bad when I was done than it did before and that was an improvement anyway.

I had an appointment in town with my friend Von and I was planning to ride my bike, which the Exfactor had managed to fix to the point that the problem was much less that it had been, but I need a new back wheel. That will have to wait for a while.

Von and I were planning to meet on the Amor Square, which is really a small triangle downtown surrounded by cafés and shops. I rode my bike through the busy traffic and parked it in the underground parking and walked across those darned cobblestones to the square. It wasn't very busy, because of the dubious sky, which looked like it might start to rain any second, but it was warm out and I really hadn't needed my jacket.

Von had found a table under the canopy of a café and we very cozily settled in. Unluckily, at this café, they didn't sell Wieckse Witte and the waiter claimed that it was because it was not produced according to the original recipe anymore. Well, you could have fooled me, because I never tasted a better beer, but he suggested another white beer called Erdinger Weissbier, which came in a tall half liter glass, but which was not nearly as good as the Wieckse Witte, so I think they made a mistake. The next time, I am looking at all the beer charts before I sit down at a café. My tastebuds were ready for a Wieckse Witte and they were disappointed. Nevertheless, I had two glasses, because they made me so nice and mellow and mellow was what I needed.

We checked out the men that walked by and approved or disapproved. We always liked the ones that looked at us and made eye contact, because they were the ones that were most self assured. We talked about everything under the sun, including my son whose birthday it would have been that day. He would have been 34 years old. I didn't feel sad, but told Von a little bit about him.

When we were done having our drinks, we got up and walked around downtown where I had a soft ice cream and Von bought a bag of fries with mayonnaise.

We walked around eating them and ended up at the big square called the Vrijthof, where there are two big churches and many sidewalk cafés.

We settled down on the monument to I forget what it is for, so Von could finish her fries and I took some pictures of café Monopole, which was our first hang out spot.

And here is a detail of the facade.

It was time to say our goodbyes until next week and each go to our respective bikes. A few drops of rain fell out of the sky, but it wasn't much to speak of. I rode my bike home in the rush hour traffic, but I'm pretty nimble now and know how to time my moves.

The Überhund was sound asleep when I got home and didn't notice me until I was standing right in front of him. Then he was all full of happiness and followed me to the toilet where I had to sit and pet him.

I was beat! I felt like I had been on a long afternoon trek through the bush and I was weary to the bone. I made myself some coffee and downloaded the pictures I had taken. My legs felt like lead and I still had to walk the Überhund. I fed him first, so he could lie around digesting for a bit. It rained for just a little while and when it was done, we went outside and it was still balmy out.

It was great to finally just be home and to know that I didn't have to do another thing. I sat behind the computer for a while, but fell asleep behind the keyboard. I quickly put on my pajamas and my big cardigan and got something to eat and curled up on the sofa where I promptly fell asleep. I know I woke up at one time to take my medicines, but I don't remember if I tried to turn on the computer again then. I think it must have been all the emotions of the last days that made me so tired.

This morning I have creative therapy and I think that a bunch of my sculptures will have been baked, so I will be painting them. Putting a patine on them. I think that will be a lot of fun. If I don't do that, I am bringing a book with me to begin an altered book. I will start with a small book first to get a taste of it and to practice on, as I have never done it before and have only seen samples on the Internet, on other people's blogs.

The Exfactor is coming over this afternoon to bring me some full format photographs on a memory stick that I will be sending to John Mora. The photographs, I mean. The Exfactor has wireless and limited MB's per month.

Well, have a super day today, I am going to try and have one myself. I must after all that. Enough drama already. A little bit goes a long way.

Ciao...

A heck of a Friday.

I've decided that I don't like sculpting with clay anymore. I was working on a piece and I was very unhappy with it and said so to the therapist, so she said, "No problem," and took it and the rest of the clay and dropped and pounded it into a solid block again, so that I could start something new.

That was great, but the problem is that I am not the least bit inspired and don't feel the least bit gifted and think that I will never make anything resembling a halfway decent sculpture again.

I tried to copy something and it left me extremely frustrated and I wanted to walk away from it and go home, and then I tried to use my own imagination and make something of my own and it is not working out at all and I want to take the whole thing and drop and pound it back into a solid block of clay and never look at it again as long as I live. And that's what I think I will do next week and just turn my back on it. I'm sick of it, I tell you.

So, except for the coffee break and the time before we started to work, when I sat and chatted with the other people in the happy April sun, the whole morning was a complete waste of time. I felt like a klutz with two left hands and not an ounce of talent in her body, who was manhandling the clay into abnormally shaped proportions that made no sense whatsoever and had no redeeming qualities. A kindergärtner could have done better.

So, the next time it is back to the collages and hopefully I still have the talent and inspiration to make those, though I think I have run out of creativity. It's disappeared out of me as if I am a bucket with a leak in the bottom and the bucket has run dry. I don't know if the old tricks will work anymore, but I'll give it a try. Maybe it is time to find something new, but what in the world that should be, I have no idea.

Oh yes, an altered book, I can try that. That is something I have been interested in trying for some time, though I don't know if I know enough about it to do it successfully. I may give that a try, though my resources are limited. I'll give it a good thought this week and investigate it a little bit. Lisa Sarsfield knows much about them.

After such a lousy morning, I was more than ready for my afternoon and after I walked the Überhund and fed him his Butcher's, I walked to the bus stop and caught the bus downtown. The first thing I did, was exchange the leggings I bought last week that were much to big on me and I managed to find some in various colors in the right sizes.

Since the weather was so beautiful and since it was Good Friday and a holiday for many Europeans, downtown was extremely crowded and I had to shuffle along through the crowd of people, while I made my way to the Our Dear Lady Square. When I finally got there, I had to try and find Von in the throng of people and tables and chairs, but she found me and we managed to find two empty chairs at a table along the side of the square under the canopy in the shade, which was good because the sun was hot.

After I had my obligatory cappuccino, I had a Wyckse Witte, which is a pale beer served cold with a slice of lemon and mighty tasty. It was so good, that I had a second one, but I do have to emphasize that I make them last a long time, I don't guzzle them down.

We discussed men. Is there a better subject to discuss on a lazy Friday afternoon on a café terrace with a beer in your hands? I explained to Von the type of man I would fall for, so she could be on the look out for him. I don't think he exists in this town, because I've never seen him, so I am fairly safe. She won't suddenly show up with him in her wake.

When Von went to the restroom, there was a man who asked if he could sit beside me when there were other chairs free, so that was interesting. I had to tell him that the chair was taken. That was a close one.

We walked through town to where she had parked her bike and suddenly she popped into a flower shop and came out with a bunch of yellow tulips for me. I thought that was very sweet. I have them sitting in a tall orange vase on my desk, looking very festive.

I had forgotten my house keys and had to go to my sister's house to get the spare keys and by the time I got home, the Überhund was very happy to see me, but I was beat. I made myself a mocha Senseo and rested my feet that hurt from walking on the cobblestones. My little toe was very sore and needed tender loving care.

The Exfactor had been by and dropped off a measuring cup, which I had asked for, a pack of Senseo pads decaf and a box of cookies, some of which I shared with the dog. They were a quick pick me up which I badly needed.

After I recovered sufficiently, I took the Überhund for his walk and returned the spare keys to my sister and now I vow that I will not do another strenuous thing for the rest of the day. Except for clean up some cat barf that I discovered by the coffee table and that looks like it's going to be tough to clean up. It's on the area rug and it looks orange.

The City Government had a great idea to make all the downtown street authentic and cobblestone them, but they are a pain to walk on and after a while your feet hurt, unless you wear hiking boots. Forget anything with a heel. They get stuck between the cracks. I wore my flat comfortable boots today, but still my feet hurt. Not such a good idea, huh?

I don't know how to grade this day, I give part of it a 5 and part of it a 7. It was a very mixed day and now I think I need some peace and quiet. Tomorrow I have to do some grocery shopping, not much, but enough to get me through the 2 days of Easter. By rights I should have some chocolate, but I may forgo that.

I had my camera with me, but forgot to take pictures and Eduard hasn't sent me any, so no pictures to day. I'm too lazy to go look through all the folders for some appropriate ones.

Have a great evening, we never did get the thunder showers that were promised.

Ciao...