It's a holiday today in Germany and I have some additional time off work, which I am trying to use to reorganize and reprioritize. Lots of change in the air! I went out dancing last night for the first time in years!

Here are some shots from around the house. I need to get back into the habit of taking a camera out with me... maybe even start shooting some film again.

Happy Thursday.

Treasures galore.

Sorry for the even longer than usual absence in posting. Last week was jam packed and I needed the weekend to get some stuff done and recover. Whew.

Last week I bought this fun piece of art from Tania. I love love love it, but haven't decided where it'll go in our apartment. Plus she surprised me with this cute rain drop stuffy broach. Thank you, thank you!
We met up last week and she took me to a nice Café in Friedrichshain where you can buy second hand books for 1 Euro each. I don't think all the books are 1 Euro but it's worth checking out. I picked up a bunch of books that were published in the German Democratic Republic.





I just can't get over how funny that hamster picture is. One of the books had had an elastic stuck between the pages for who knows how long... I love finding these things.


I also met up with our friends Leanne and Derek and they gave us some sweet presents that were intended for Christmas. Yes that is how little I see some of our friends here. Sniff. More books! Yeah!


Happy Monday.

Laundry day.

Today is laundry day around here. I kind of love having my clothes hanging all over the house, drying. We don't have a clothes dryer, and haven't really used one for years. I've come to love the crisp feeling of clothes that are hung dried. I really miss having an outdoor space to dry our clothes.

It's beautiful in Berlin. Still a little bit cold. But the sky is blue. It feels like a day to open all the windows and get a little spring cleaning done.

I'm happy to report that I finished a sewing project that I have been thinking about since last fall. It's a present for some friends of ours so I'll have to post some photos later so as not to ruin the surprise. I can hardly keep it in!

I've just finished reading my first German book. Maybe I'm a little too excited about this feat. I started reading a couple of books in German last year, eventually became bored and abandoned them. My new goal is to read 10 German books this year... I only have nine more to go. This week I picked up a crime novel by Swedish writer Henning Mankell, of course it is translated into German. I like crime films but don't tend to read so many crime novels. I have to admit that the "who done it" aspect keeps me interested. This book has started out a bit brutally so we'll see if i can bear to stick with it. I would imagine that it won't get any more graphic than reading Cormac McCarthy.

Happy Sunday.

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!