Fresh start (2)

Remember the breadmaking day? 

Since then, we've tried (very hard) to recreate the process which resulted in such yummy bread.  In particular, we've struggled to get any consistent outcomes from the sourdough/natural yeast starter.  We've had helpful advice from Clive, have tried again with a newly invigorated yeast mother but still felt dispirited and hopeless.

Then we went on holiday, leaving "Clive's mother" in the fridge for nearly four weeks without food.  Unsurprisingly, there was little sign of life when we tried to resuscitate her and we left her to sit there as a cruel reminder.

Then I came across this.  It was all we needed to get us going again.  We remembered that Clive had advised us to put half of his mother into the freezer "just in case" and having brought this back to life over the weekend, we've begun again.  A bowl of healthy-looking dough is rising in the kitchen as I type.  It looks and feels much more "the thing" and so far so good.

Update on Tuesday, September 1, 2009 at 8:48AM by Gill Thomas

 

Good, eh?

Fresh start

I am a better blogger whilst on holiday than I am when I'm at home.  For one thing, I have more to blog about.  Here, the days whiz by full of activity which is pretty mundane for the most part, although I did have an interesting Tuesday on the judging panel of a knitting competition.

On this Bank Holiday weekend however, I am preoccupied.  On Tuesday we'll start to set up an exhibition in Tewkesbury Abbey to celebrate 90 years of the WI in Gloucestershire and that's quite some task.  Needless to say, my mind is there already and I'm making lists.  And more lists.  Hopefully this time next week, I shall have great tales from the front line to tell.

If you're in or around Tewkesbury next Friday, Saturday or Sunday, do drop in!

For now, though, let's talk knitting as I try really hard to use today to relax and forget about next week!

Inspired by my friend Nita, at our recent "escape" to Urchfont Manor, I wanted to start a triangular lace shawl.  This is not the first time I've tried.  The archives here tell of failed swallowtails, of tinked Ene and of encouraging sessions with talented friends who reassured me and shared their tips and hints.

But, off on holiday with plenty of car time to knit, a skein of Handmaiden SeaSilk (Lily Pond) from my stash, I set about knitting the Little Arrowhead Shawl which seemed a fairly straightforward pattern that even I could manage.  Sure enough, I could manage, though I still made some basic mistakes which irritated me intensely (I'm such a perfectionist) and the end result is less than perfect and rather small.  Even though I added several extra pattern repeats, as many as my ball of yarn would allow, I find the shawl more of a neckerchief and the border pattern disappointing to the point where it might as well not be there at all.

But I did it.  I have a completed shawl and my confidence is restored.  Thanks Sue and Sue for sharing those tips and tricks which made it possible.

The other holiday project was a crochet scarf begun at Urchfont as a hookalong with friends.  They've all finished theirs already (some have made more than one!) and most are double the size of mine as a result of my tight tension issues.  Still, I'm pleased with it, am still enjoying the process but find that I can't do much at one sitting as the crochet tires my hands (tension issues?!)  The Sublime cashmere merino silk yarn is so soft and cosy and was an excellent choice but why did I choose brown?

 

Anyway, with these gorgeous yarns sitting on my table, yesterday I found myself thinking back to Nita's knitting and went in search of a pattern for a better lace shawl.  Still nervous of my ability, I was glad to find the Forest Canopy Shawl which looked pretty good and would be a great one-ball-project.

Look!

Hotel Art: the first batch

Remember the tulips in Den Haag?

  

 Such life, colour and above all, where else but the Netherlands?  Could there be anywhere else with better art than this, I wonder?

 In Weimar, of course, there's Goethe and Schiller above the bedhead.  I imagine every room had the same print which gave a fine sense of place but was a little dull.

Another print in Dresden, one of a pair, although the other, blue variation had so much reflection that it wasn't worth posting.  Imagine something along similar lines in blue and you've got it.

 

I rather liked these multi-layered images, even if they were rather too densely layered to be able to decipher.  But at the end of our corridor, there was the strangest, narrowest piece of art I've seen.

Though my photograph doesn't show the colours so well, this 5cm wide, metre long strip was a mixture of colour splatters and I could discern no particular design.  Imagine a yard of Jackson Pollock....

And finally for tonight, some of the Karlovy Vary collection.  At times, I felt that our room resembled something like a village art fair, with five unconnected pictures which appeared to be originals.

 

Mind you, the hotel lounge had a fair share too

Bearing in mind that only the Party Faithful could have stayed here in "the old days", when it was the Grand Hotel Moscow, perhaps it's unsurprising to find the place filled with all kinds of treasures? I wonder how many pictures are on their inventory?

Cute

Sorting through photos, I realised that I haven't shared this advertisement from the bratwurst man in the square in Weimar.  How could you refuse?

Shared enthusiasms

A delightful part of our trip was spent with friends though our very first day with Ilja and Marieke in The Hague seems so long ago now.  They were keen to share their favourite parts of the city with us, not least the Mesdag Panorama

Until now, I had no knowledge of these Panoramas but was fascinated to learn more from Marieke, whose enthusiasm for this medium was rather contagious.  She explained how the standard-size canvas would be rolled up and transported to different venues, as a kind of precursor to our cinema screens.  The dark passageway leading to the panorama itself was all part of the experience, as was the spiral staircase to the viewing platform; both of these devices a means of taking the visitor out of the real world and into the imaginary landscape depicted on the canvas.

The Mesdag panorama is special, for it was painted by talented artists who have created a true masterpiece, signing it by including themselves in their work.  The small platform in the centre of the viewing area showing the glass plate which was used to draft out the work - the artist could stand and look through the transparency to check perspectives and scale - the really impressive aspect of this piece.  The view of Scheveningen is enhanced by a sandy apron in between the viewer and the panorama itself and the illusion is completed by the daylight pouring through the clear skylight.  The shifting clouds and changing levels of sunshine affect the atmosphere with surprising effect and on this, a changeable day as far as the weather was concerned, we saw this to best effect.

Van Gogh loved it and so did we!

As usual, I had more than one camera in my bag and handing one of them to Marieke for the day meant that my collection of images from The Hague is especially fun.  How strange that the only two photographs we took before we realised that photography wasn't allowed in the museum are so similar

Neither of us had spoken about how we'd approach taking photographs of the day, we hadn't discussed details - and yet both of us zoomed in on these hands.  Spooky!

Marieke takes the honour of best shot of these rather curious sculptures which are around the city this summer.  The work of Mexican artist Javer Marin our opinions varied according to the time of day, the location and for me, the subject matter.

I found these two huge heads rather interesting and wanted to take a closer look at the detail immediately.  Quite captivating whether in sunlight or shade, the expressions on such a monumental scale are well placed in these large open spaces and quite in keeping with their surroundings.

Unlike dear Louis Couperus, standing there most apologetically in contrast.

But not all of Javer Marin's artwork hit the spot for me.  Right outside our hotel, this large piece invited me to take a closer look.

But having done so, I can't say I liked what I saw.

But such things give us plenty to talk about over a bottle of good prosecco and a plate of cheese...not to mention supper afterwards!