About dogs and camels

Mark and I rented a beautiful movie recently, "The Cave of the Yellow Dog". As the director said herself in an interview, the story can be told in one single sentence: A little girl finds a dog and wants to keep it, but her father is opposed. The father in the movie is a nomad who lives in the mountains of Mongolia. What makes the movie so wonderful is the whole setting, the gorgeous landscape, the way family life is run in their tent, the vivid and joyfull mind of the little girl. The movie takes time to show it all and has such a warm and lovely spirit. And it made me wonder about the lives of the nomads. How to they value their lives? Do they feel rich or poor? Or don’t they think in those terms. What are their worries? What makes them happy? For the little girl it’s her dog, and she can keep it, in the end.

Because we so loved the movie, Mark and I saw another one of the same director this evening. It’s called "The story of the weeping camel" and is also set in Mongolia. In the family of shepherds there’s a little camel born, but the mother does not want to feed her young. After several tries, the family asks for help from a music teacher. They sing and play the violin for mother and calf in an attempt to reconnect their bond. And that works out fine. Again, we saw the cozy family life of the nomad people and the way the lead their lives in the Gobi dessert. In between the sandstorms and endless horizons. How the little boy wants a television and grandpa doesn’t like these modern things. Like my own would have said.

So if you want a nice evening, slow down, and experience warm feelings that resonate through you, like the songs through the camel, go watch these movies.

Trains and planes and automobiles

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Some weeks ago, I bought a cheap T-shirt with a plane. It was only € 1,= and although I knew it was to small for Pelle, I thought I could make something nice out of it.
And so I did. I kept the image and sewed a new shirt around it. Since I was using a new pattern I struggled with the binding. The one I made from an old T from Mark wasn’t stretchy enough. I tried again but it just didn’t look right. Yesterday I found a store 9by coincidence) where they sold the special knit needed for those necklines (boordstof, in Dutch). I was so pleased! What a joy those finds can be, huh? It makes me feel so fine!
So I took a third shot and now the T’s done and approved of by it’s owner.
Sometimes I would love to be quick in my sewing, but sometimes I just want to go for the best result. Looking at it an enjoying the way things turned out.

Holiday

We had a wonderful holliday. Our tent turned out to be a house with canvas walls. We cooked on a wooden stove and read by lamplight. Pelle enjoyed the life on the farm and loved the donkeys.

We borrowed a special bike so Pelle could ride on his own behind daddies wheels and we could explore the environment.

It was the perfect mix between what we liked (camping and biking) and what was doable and fun for a little boy. I think we will do it again in the fall. How cosy it will be when it is cold outside and the fire is lit inside.

Being a mother

No, I was not on holiday. Our computer took one. But now he likes to work again, and I first intended to do a lot of catching up. Telling you what happened in the mean time. But some things will return here, in one way or another and I just focus on our birthdays. Pelle turned 4, on Tuesday and I myself became 45 on Monday. Yes, I just turned 41 when I gave birth.
I would have loved to be younger, not for the sake of being a younger mother, but for the sake of enjoying motherhood earlier in life.
But nature went its own course and after 3 miscarriages Mark and I gave up on our longing of being parents. I made a decision at 40, consciously gave up on my desire. Because I just didn’t want to grief anymore over a life I would never have. Because I honestly felt that Mark and I would continue to be happy and live a full life without a child. Because I wanted to live in the here and now, with all that presented itself.
Of course that’s something that grows in you. Zen practice helped me a lot. The philosophy that you have to let go in stead of hang on to. If you let go, life really opens up to you. So that’s what I did. I let go. And than things took an unexpected turn. There was this little soul that tried to nestle in and ... it stayed. And at the end I’m so thankful that Pelle came. Because of course I just didn’t know what I was giving up on. The immense joy and happiness, the love I feel and never knew I had in me. Having a role in life that I like so much and is sometimes challenging but never to hard. Seeing my partner and soul mate, being the most loving and caring dad I knew he would be. Fulfilling our potential in such a great way. So there’s reason to celebrate. And that we did last Sunday. With friends and family. And it was a great day. I am blessed.

See you in a week. We’re going to camp in a huge tent.

Every inch a boy

At three years of age (almost 4) Pelle knows quite a lot of carbrands. Whenever we bike or walk outside, he summs up what he sees: Opel, Volkswagen, Audi, BMW, Toyota, Peugot, Renault, Ford. So I made him a T-shirt with cars on them. I appliqued the cars with a yellow and green cotton and stiched the wheels and windows with the sewingmachine. Because of the yellow on the front I included a yellow band on the arms. It was so much fun to do. But I'm still wondering if I read all the other blogs how on earth those mums whip up 1 T-shirt in an hour. This one took me 3 evenings. I don't mind, since it's so enjoyable, but still, I guess my techniques are to complicated.

When I finish the other UFO’s waiting in line (7 down, 3 to go), I will be making him a pant or T with busses, because the bus is his absolute favourite vehicle at this moment. He jumps from joy when I announce that we are going for a ride and can watch them for houres on a row.

Unintended PJ

I originally made these PJ pants as a lining to a corduroy pant I made this spring. But since I decided that the pants are warm enough by themselves I finished this one off by adding checkered cuffs. (The wrong way round, as you can see. I might mask that with a biasbind). I used a flanel fabric of the shirt off one off Mark’s PJ’s. So father and son now have almost the same pants.
Pelle is not wearing the pants yet, because it’s way to warm at the moment. We are having so much sun right now. A wonderfull beginning of the hollidays.
The pants are part of my challenge, to finish off all the UFO’s lying around. You can read more about it here, and here, and here. I’m 6 down, and have 4 to go, yet. I’ll keep you posted.

Memorable Friday

Yesterday, my mother finally came home. After her fall on Gran Canaria, she recovered in a nursinghome. It took quite some time but now she's back. I'm very glad.

For Pelle, it was his last day for the toddlersplaygroup. Since he will become 4 later on in July, he will go to school in August. And since the hollidays started over here, it was his time to say goodbye.






Icecreams!




Hey guy, your the sweetest boy on earth!