Tag Archives: Life

Germination

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Life has been hectic over the last 21 days. If I had a moment to myself I decided to go out for a walk and enjoy the weather or nurture my little project below (see slideshow). My head needs a break because I have too much on my mind. And I’ve been lacking the patience to share with anyone: I wouldn’t even know where to start…

I was able to get a few pressing things of my never-ending list of things to do. Last week I have been investigating 20.000 different kinds of insurances. Boy what a drag and how utterly time-consuming. I’ve managed to arrange it online but they probably need some kind of proof of my insurance in the UK so I’m still waiting for their reaction.

I was supposed to be in Amsterdam two weeks ago but I ended up having an official appointment that day. The same day I was rejected eight times in a row on eight different occasions because I’m over-educated, over-qualified and too much of a specialist in my field. Wow… I never thought thát would cause ‘problems‘…

So in the meantime I’m networking, done research online and look after my 80 year old mum who has bad arthritis (which is a day job at times!). I’ve finished the update of my business website and have a new assignment: a UK client dealing in artefacts from Africa wants me to design their ecommerce website which I started Saturday.

They use local artists and help them expand their business in Africa on a non-for-profit basis. I’ve set up the ecommerce system, manually added all the products to the database (this was a lot of work but much easier instead of using the slow software interface) and started the design. Deadline is by the end of this month.

My grandmother’s Noritake bowls from Indonesia

On the sixth of July I received the gift above: two Noritake soup bowls and saucers from 1947 which came all the way from Indonesia: they belonged to my grandmother. They’re in a beautiful pastel soft yellow with *of course* golden rims. I’m extremely happy with these! It’s a cool inheritance and fine addition to my china collection.

About my little project: I’ve planted two year old seeds… They’d been sitting in their pods for at least two to three years, facing storms, rain, hail, thunder, snow and even hard frost. I collected, nurtured and believed in them while others kept telling me they wouldn’t germinate. Well all they needed was love and encouragement.

I feel these seeds reflect my life at the moment I just wonder when it will be my time to germinate and flower. I’ve never been a quiter and I never will be but it would be nice to receive some love and encouragement when one needs it most!

© Zesty Gal, One day soon they’ll bloom! (move mouse over picture for navigation)

Last Minute Chaos

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I’m racing against time lately and it’s not because I don’t have enough time, it’s because I’m managing it in a bad way due to the fact that I have so much to do and I have no list on paper -just in my head- causing it to short-circuit every now and then. I have exactly four weeks from today before I’ll be moving countries so once again I’m packing. I’m so tired of crap, I’m throwing out even more; most went to charity already and half of my books went to a friend here in London, I kept the ones in English (which is still too many *hehe).

I already started a while ago but every time I move I realise I should cut down dramatically. I’ve moved about 12 times since I was eighteen but the problem is that whenever one moves to a bigger place the more crap one collects and my last apartment in Amsterdam was twice the size of a regular one there. So these days I only buy things that I’ll actually use and give away what I don’t need. No useless nick-nacks collecting dust and no more books either unless they’re related to design. If it’s not functional and if I don’t use it it will be binned…

I don’t want clutter to rule my life, it’s causing chaos, is utterly distracting and will only take up space in my home, my studio and my mind. So while I’m packing I’m making a conscious decision to let go and throw out things especially the things that I feel I ‘might need’ one day. Because to be honest, that day never really came so far. In the meantime I’ve been meeting up with friends in the city to say goodbye for now. One friend -a programmer- has some projects coming up and he needs my help design-wise.

Like I mentioned in my previous post, I’m showered with requests lately: all of a sudden people want me to do their design projects. This Wednesday I’ll have to meet up with the accountancy firm, they want a brochure with the same design as the website I did a while ago where people can book online courses. There’s more last-minute things that clients need all of a sudden but I was able to put them off until after the move and when I’ll be back online again. I’m lucky that my line of work could be done from anywhere!

I’m sweeping the rooms of my life and it feels good to get rid of all the dirt, cobwebs and the skeletons that I wasn’t allowed to take out of their cupboard before. It’s May and I’m doing a total spring-clean. Aah, what bliss to embrace the changes and watch them evolve gradually in such a positive way. What a great season to start again…