From a different time.

I'm still a little sick over here. But am definitely over the worst of it. I got a chance to bike around town today... and have also been quietly working away on a few projects that have been on the go for awhile. Here are some photos from the past few days.

I can't wait to start this project that I found through Jenny's blog.

Happy Friday.

All modern giveaway.

Photos courtesy of Fieldguided

Just wanted to let ya'll know that Anabela over at Fieldguided is having a giveaway. Pop on over for more details!

If you haven't had a chance to look at her blog yet... do it. She inspires me often with her lovely style!

Happy Wednesday.

around.

Yesterday we came across a pile of free books on the sidewalk and managed to score a few good finds! Best of all we picked up half of a suitcase that is still in pretty good condition. Luckily the rain hadn't gotten to it. We ended up hanging on our wall as a make-shift shelf. We're just one step ahead in the decorating department.

Fall activities.

It's sick time again. Luckily my week isn't so packed with things to do. I've been lazing around the house today knitting, reading and napping. I think this is the perfect way to cure a cold.

We had a lovely weekend and finally ended up going apple picking. We loaded up a van full of friends and drove the gang here... just north of Potsdam and about 40 minutes outside of Berlin. It was just really nice to get out of the city for a couple of hours. And I have tons of apples that I'm going to whip into apple sauce and apple butter. mmmmmm.

I'm resting up today so that I can go and see Wendy and Lucy tonight at FSK. I've been wanting to see this film for awhile now and it has finally been released in Germany.

I've also started taking advantage of the Staatsbibliothek in Berlin. It is an enormous library of spacious modernist architecture. I tried to find some good photos to post, but have not had much luck. It feels good just to set foot in this place. I've also come across a few great books... one of which is on Josef and Anni Albers of the Bauhaus movement. Over the past year I've seen a few of Anni Albers weaving projects and keep falling in love over and over. I think that this means I should start experimenting with some weaving of my own. We'll see about that. Until then I'll just pour over books of her work!

Happy Tuesday.

Ps. Yes, that is our friend Justin climbing trees for apples.

So we've had a few grey days in a row and it's starting to wear on me. I don't mind them once in awhile, it gives me a chance to get all cozy indoors, but today I just need sunlight. On the bright side, i have no reason to go out today and can concentrate on German. Ah how I've neglected the German lately. Above is some proof that I'm getting down to business.

Nothing much else to report on here except, we might go and see Bat for Lashes next week at Postbahnhof. I haven't been into going to shows too much here because they are often in huge venues. I miss the little guys of Toronto... maybe the problem is not with the venues but the bands that I am going to see. hm. I'm thinking of going to see the Nan Goldin and Robert Frank exhibitions at C/O this weekend. But dread the weekend crowds... maybe tomorrow morning!

Also thinking about doing a Berlin underground tour. But haven't done any research yet... have heard that there are still intact underground mail delivery systems in the city. Hopefully I'll be able to dig something up on that!

Happy Thursday.

Ps. The apple pie was a success but the light in our apartment was too crappy to document said success. We'll be going apple picking this weekend so hopefully there will be many more chances. Hello baking season!

It's arrived.

Ho hum. I'm bumming around the house today trying to stir up some motivation. To do what? Anything. Stuff that should get done when one has a day free to do anything one desires. I've found myself drinking copious amounts of tea and knitting for the past few hours. I've also been looking through my brand new issue of Lines and Shapes which arrived yesterday. One of my favourite artists in the edition is Takashi Iwasaki, who surprisingly enough lives in Winnipeg. I love that he works with so much colour... and embroidery!!




Over the past months we've been trying to introduce a bit more colour into our daily lives. Or at least into our apartment. It is a slow work in progress.


Tonight M. is having his ritual bi-weekly film night... Soiree Noire. We're screening Orson Welles', A Touch of Evil and I'm baking an apple pie. Off to the supermarket.

Happy Wednesday.

Ps. friends of ours in Vancouver announced the birth of their healthy little boy a few days ago!! Congratulations Adam and Leanne. If you're reading this... I can't wait to see some photos!

The weekend.

Oh brother. Bureaucratic stuff is dragging me down. I shouldn't complain too much though... I'm sure that there are people out there that have it way worse than I do. My latest experience is with private health insurance. I swear that I'll never do it again as it is almost impossible to get them to pay for anything. Ugh.

On the other hand we had a lovely weekend here in Berlin. It was rainy and super cold but we ended up getting our social activities on.

I saw a Herlinde Koelbl photo exhibit with a friend at Martin Gropius Bau.

We went to an Egyptian-themed show at Basso including a crazy/messy burial performance. I had a conversation that got me into watching 21 Jump Street again. And... I ran into an old co-worker of mine from Toronto. Who knew. Us Toronto folk are all over this Berlin connection.

Saturday I didn't set one foot outside. It drove me a little crazy but I got some quality relaxing done.

Last night we saw Julie & Julia. It made me want to cook... and cook and cook. Afterwards we enjoyed an amazing dinner at Felix Austria in Kreuzberg. The food was amazing, very Austrian, and not over the top expensive. Go there if you have the chance. The atmosphere was sweet and old school. We were just sad that we didn't have any room left to split a Kaiserschmarmm.

Happy monday.

Grey days.

Ah what a rainy week it was. And it just doesn't seem to be stopping any time soon.

Today I took a little walk while I was on my lunch break and noticed that there is a ton of history right around the corner from work... and from where we live for that matter. Namely Checkpoint Charlie, Topographie des Terrors, Martin Gropius Bau, Unter den Linden in all it's Prussian glory, Gendarmen Markt, and the Holocaust Memorial. If I get it together I might even promise myself that I'll check out a little bit of each site on my lunch breaks. Truth be told... I just love walking around when I have some free time in the middle of the day.





A dear friend asked me if I would be able to make her a draft stop for her front door. So here are the fruits of my labour. She wanted a Dachshund... but I think I gave it an elephant face. I hope you like it K.! If you read this before you get it.... sorry. I wanted to surprise you but it was one of the most exciting things that I ended up doing this week!

Happy weekend.

Thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving Canada. We had a dinner last night with some Canadian friends but cheated a little bit. There was no turkey involved. Instead M. cooked up some mean Indian dishes... and I baked an apple pie! Unfortunately in the frenzy of it all I forgot to take photos. The best part is that M. managed to make paneer from scratch when we came home around 2am on Saturday evening. I was awestruck.



I ended up buying these shoes at this shop on the weekend. I have either slip-ons or boots and needed something in between for the coming winter weather.

On Saturday I crossed the huge job of replanting our window boxes off of my list of things to do. I even managed to save a dying fern that our cat had been slowly eating. I have to admit I felt like I had super powers on Saturday and don't remember ever getting so much stuff done in one day. We even had a friend stop by for a quick one night stay and I managed to get some crazy cleaning done before he arrived. I plan to do these crazy cleanings with much more frequency in the future.

Here is a really nice blog that I came across while reading this really nice blog.

It's raining here in Berlin.

Happy Monday.

A day for...

I was surprised today at having my schedule suddenly cleared and have decided to take a day to do some things for myself. I am happy to report that it is beautiful out today, unlike yesterday. I shouldn't complain too much about the rain though. It gives me a reason to stay inside and get cozy.

I'm going to work on finishing up a project (see above) that I started working on in August. And I might even go out and buy some new plants for our space. You can view one of my unfortunate victims above. If I'm super ambitious I might even get some fall gardening done. Our window boxes have suffered greatly over the busy summer and were often forgotten. Later on I might sit down with a movie and get some more of my knitting done.

What I really need to do though is take a trip to either this or this shoe store and buy some new fall shoes for myself. I think that this will be the top priority of the day.

Happy weekend.

dum de dum.

It's been a quiet week around here. We haven't left the house all that much. I've also been getting more work offers, which is great!



M. is hosting a noir/french themed movie night at our place every couple of weeks. Last week we watched Army of Shadows by Jean-Pierre Melville. This week it's Plein Soleil by René Clément.



Happy Wednesday.

Another week gone by.

Wow. This week I was sort of thrust back into the working world, and I must say that it feels pretty good! I need to start remembering to pack a lunch for work though. Eating out all the time is such a drag.

We did manage to get some fun stuff done this week. Today Germany is celebrating it's reunification and over the course of the weekend a French theater company has been depicting a reunification story throughout the city, called Riesen in Berlin (Giants in Berlin). It's pretty amazing considering the actors are two enourmous marionettes traveling throughout the city with the help of crane-like contraptions, tons of people pulling their strings, and other props likes boats, bikes and diving equipment.

Last night we went to see Kiss Me Kate at the Komische Oper. All I can say is that it was full of cowboys and glitter and pretty entertaining. Highlight: you can view subtitles on the back of the seat in front of you.

I'm finally starting to see some fall colours around Berlin, and it's getting mighty cold. I even wore gloves while biking around this morning. After we saw Riesen in Berlin, we stopped by the Neue National Gallerie and saw the new Thomas Demand show.

I've put some projects aside for the last couple of weeks while I get into work mode... and I'm hoping to have time to get back into them soon. I don't like having so much stuff on my to do list, and it just seems to keep growing. I'm hoping that this week I'll finish a scarf that I've been working on for the past year. And maybe even work on a bag project that I've been thinking about for awhile. Oh sewing... how I miss you.

I'm pretty excited to get into the new issue of Cut magazine (that I just stumbled upon in the museum book shop). This is one of the best sewing magazines that I've seen, and I'm happy that I can now understand German so that I can enjoy it.

Nothing much is planned for the rest of the weekend. I might check out a craft fair in Neukölln tomorrow. Otherwise we're just laying low.

Happy weekend all.