Monday, January 8, 2018

I'm just here to tell you I will be away again

Happy New Year my dear blogsy people!

It took a bit longer for me to get back to the blog than I expected, sorry about that.
I had intended to do a couple of posts before I would go on another blog break (because I have a vacation coming up), but life got in the way, or I got in my own way, or whatever, and it just didn't happen.

So basically this is a post to tell you I will not be posting for a few more weeks, just so you know I didn't fall of the face of the earth. ;-)

But I do have some pics for you of the last couple of weeks so you can see what I've been up to.

I took plenty of beach walks. The changeable, often rainy, weather makes for amazing skies.

A beautiful sunset over the Frisian frozen landscape, taken from a bus.

Visited the prison town of Veenhuizen with coworkers. That's right, a prison town.They have three. Long story. Google it.

The main street of our town went all out with christmas decorations this year.

At home I did the same.

Spooky assisting me in my journaling.

Spooky assisting me in wrting my christmas cards.

Trying new types of patterns in the journal. I'm intrigued.

Journaling with a cat on your lap is quite a challenge!

For the first time in years I had an actual christmas tree!

Fog over the Wadden Sea.

A christmas walk. The weather was unexpectedly beautiful.

Sometimes you just have to write and write and write.

Me being home during the holiday week was very much appreciated by a certain someone.

Drawing and sketching with a friend in a café. It doesn't get any better than that.

2017 in journals.

Dark clouds approaching.  We have had plenty of those this season.

My first walk of the new  year.

Finishing up some grid drawings, because I just never tire of them.

A beautiful tree on a lunch walk.

My christmas present to myself. Sigh.

Clearing away all the christmas decorations. I guess the holidays are really over.

And so we have entered a new year. 2017 for the most part was good to me.

Except at work, where a huge project has been causing me a lot of stress over the past year and this will continue into the next one, because we are not done yet.

In general I am  not a person who takes her job home with her, so this is a new experience for me and I don't much like it. I want my work to stay at work if you know what I mean. Now I find myself worrying in the middle of the night or checking up on things on my days off.

I think it's because of this that in my free time I need to unwind a lot and take a lot of rest and just do fun stuff and not think too much. In that respect 2017 has been a wonderful year. I have been on so many outings and vacations, trips and adventures and I've had a blast with all of them. I'm very grateful for tons of good experiences.

So 2017 was a bit of a dual thing. Wonderful in my free time, stressfull in my worktime. Not so strange then that sometimes I find it hard to really focus on the blog or other things that require a bit of discipline in keeping them up like my morning art. But I am not ready to give them up either. I just feel like I need to find a new kind of balance.

It's probably good that I have a vacation coming up where I take a bit of distance from everything that's going on and get a bit of a fresh perspective.
Just like last year I will be going to the island of  Schiermonnikoog, except this time I will go for two weeks instead of one!

The reason I chose this island again is because it's small and compact and I know it very well.
Some vacations I love to explore new areas and go on many outings, but this vacation I want to rest and read and just enjoy the beautiful landscape. So I have no great plans, except to relax without distractions. I look forward to it. A lot.

With a few workdays before I leave and a family weekend right after I return I will probably not be back on the blog until the beginning of February.

Until then I hope the beginning of 2018 is smooth sailing for you and that the new year will give you all that's good and kind.

I'll be seeing you in February and I wish  you all a wonderful and artsy time!