Domino Mag Inspiration

Thank goodness that the librarian did some inventorying today over at the American Corner, otherwise I would probably have never found out about Domino magazine. Unfortunately, the magazine ceased to be published back in March 2009, so the library won't be getting any other copies of the magazine. Why all good things must come to an end?

Anyway, flipping through the pages of the double issue for June 2008 I got an inspiration. These are the images that really inspired me (the images are not from the magazine itself though, but are very similar to those appearing in the mag).

                                                       I'm a huge fan of sandwiches.

I just love bolsters. You can use them to enrich your living space or use them as pillows while watching your favorite TV show.

I would really love to have a garden dining set like this. The only thing I hate about this set are the legs which tend to sink into the ground if you place your set on the lawn.

A better option would be something like this but then again, it's a bit bulky.

Add a nice ottoman to your garden set, sit back and enjoy a piece of no bake strawberry cake. 

Mommy's Kitchen

And when the sun disappears below the horizon, turn on the lights and put on some mosquito repellent.

Hampton Bay Outdoor Diamond Lantern 

May Day

We had really bad weather yesterday. It was raining all day long and the temperature really dropped. It was freakin' cold but that didn't stop us from barbecuing. Oh, I forgot to tell you that I didn't go to Croatia. My friend called me last Tuesday to see if I'm ready to leave and to inform me that there's a possibility he won't be able to make it because he's very busy. I was still recovering from the bad cold I caught two weeks ago while visiting the sport airfield with my pupils and I wasn't in a mood to go anywhere, so when he told me the "bad" news I acted all sad and really disappointed.
To tell you the truth, I wasn't up for anything special on May Day. As I'm getting older I'm really starting to hate all kinds of holidays and celebrations. So much stress and fuss about the preparations... My favorite holiday activity is not eating and relaxing but it's actually work. Especially on Christmas Eve or New Year's Eve when I'm cleaning windows, vacuuming or baking something.
That's why I was a bit disappointed about not staying home on May Day. My only comfort was the fact that it   started raining the night before and there was no sign of stopping which meant that I wouldn't be able to do any gardening or outdoor activity.

Despite the rain our host managed to set up a barbecue under an improvised roof made of an old door leaned against the window sill and a piece of foil attached to the door. It was like watching Sponge Bob barbecuing under the sea. The water was dripping from the improvised roof,  the grease was splashing all around and the smoke was slowly entering the house though the open door.
After a nice meal, we talked a bit, watched "Me, Myself and Irene" during which we started dozing off, got up, ate again, watched some videos on YouTube and finally went home.

At the Larsson's

I have this strange habit of collecting blog addresses for later reading. I start reading them from the very first post to the newest, freshest, and then cross the addresses out, but I don't erase them. 

One of these addresses is Chez Larsson, a blog run by a woman who enjoys organizing drawers, cleaning cabinets, building furniture, and she even has a regular job. It's really refreshing to read a blog that is not run by a designer, an illustrator, or a collector of odd decorative objects. Who could have know that organizing your stuff according to their color and shape could be such fun?

I'll tell you a little secret. I love boxes and organizing stuff, rearranging them differently every now and then. I'm not an artist, a singer, I lack creativity, I'm a lousy cook and a lousy tailor, I'm pretty bad at keeping a garden, but I love making spaces nice and tidy. Boxes are my life, as well as suitcases are. I traveled a lot in the last 10 years so I'm pretty much used to living out of a suitcase, or a box, if you like.

I inherited this love for organization from my late father. Since his military days he was used to putting stuff in their place so he could find them easily at any given moment. He sure didn't have any trouble finding his documents, keys, notebooks with lottery numbers, glasses, even tools, or anything he himself would place in a certain drawer or cupboard. He would say that that keeping a place neat and tidy makes life easier and less stressful.

As much as I'm trying to be tidy, I just love making mess every now and then. I find mess challenging. Where's the fun in keeping you place tidy and finding your stuff easily? That's so boring. When you make a mess, you give yourself an extra task and keep yourself busy. 

Happy Easter!

Thursday supposed to be the last day of work before the spring break. I was about to leave for work when I received a phone call from my workplace telling me that I didn't have to come to work since the kids won't have English classes. So, my spring break unofficially began on Wednesday afternoon when I left the school building. Yay!

Today's day was reserved for egg painting. The event was organized by and held at my boyfriend's aunt's place. There was cooked corn, ham and boiled eggs on the menu. Even the local TV crew came to shoot a 30 mins documentary about the traditional way of celebrating Good Friday. I had other business to attend to so I missed the shooting, but I got there on time for the painting. I don't like TV cameras anyway.
I spent the rest of the day in bed because I came down with the flu. I hope I'll get well for my trip to Croatia on Tuesday but I somehow doubt it.

kids painting eggs

just a couple of the 67 visitors

Where are those boiled eggs?

uncle Steve takes the kids for a ride

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I like reading other people's blogs because they give me inspiration, they teach me a lot of useful stuff and because sometimes they give me insight into the personal life of those bloggers.
What I'm less optimistic about is posting new stuff every day. I cannot imagine how anyone can have so much time to carefully and patiently collect pics to post them. I admire people who manage to keep their blogs constantly updated, despite their daily chores, kids, family and jobs.

I like looking at those pictures of neatly stacked and piled objects on display. I wonder where do the fellow bloggers get the patience for that. Another thing that puzzles me is whether they really have so many flower printed cups and do they really eat from the china they take pics of (once they set the table for different meals). Looking at those pots and glasses and different dishes the designers offer us and claim to be the "must haves" I can't help but wonder, do we really need them to be happy? Or any of those seemingly useless objects?

Madelief

A little digression that I have to make. The spring break starts in less than two weeks. I'm very happy. I'll be at my boyfriend's place doing some gardening and landscaping, and hopefully I won't be thinking about my job. I won't have to hurry back home on Sunday to commute to work on Monday. Plus, 4 extra days with a friend of mine in some seaside resort in Croatia... Well, I'm starting to hate those places but I'm looking forward to seeing my friend. I hope he'll bring me a nice present for Easter.
Sadly, I won't be with my boyfriend and our friends on May Day.

Spring poems

During my class of extracurricular activity, a teacher in a class I teach suggested me bringing in some poems written in English for kids to practice writing and reciting in English. Here are a couple of poems I have just found on the web:

Spring Spring is a great time of year Winter's gone, now all can cheer Looking forward to summer, leaving behind the past In a short time, glorious weather at last Spring brings us flowers and life anew All sorts of animals there to bid you ado The spring gives us budding and trees that will turn green Giving us a place where their welcome shade can be seen Winter water rises to a pleasing temp Spring truely is a time that's heaven sent Spring passes quickly in weeks but a few Then summer bursts in with all things anew  James Casey  Poem Hunter April Rain has such fun in April, it patters through the trees Talking to all the leaf buds and robins that it sees It splashes through the puddles and skips along the walks Goes coasting down the grass blades and dandelion stalks It dips in all the flowers and when the clouds blow by It paints with flower colors a rainbow in the sky. ~ Author Unknown ~ April April is made of such wonderful things Sunbeams and tulips and butterfly wings. ~ Author Unknown ~ Nana's Corner April Gertler

Happy name day Daddy!

Today is my father's name day. It's been two months since he's gone. My mother bought a bunch of red carnations to take them to his grave. Since I couldn't go with her today, I just thought of him and his last year's name day. I think he never actually celebrated it, but his aunt used to phone him on this day every year to congratulate him.

Happy name day Dad!