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.
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| I took plenty of beach walks. The changeable, often rainy, weather makes for amazing skies. |
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| A beautiful sunset over the Frisian frozen landscape, taken from a bus. |
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| Visited the prison town of Veenhuizen with coworkers. That's right, a prison town.They have three. Long story. Google it. |
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| The main street of our town went all out with christmas decorations this year. |
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| At home I did the same. |
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| Spooky assisting me in my journaling. |
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| Spooky assisting me in wrting my christmas cards. |
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| Trying new types of patterns in the journal. I'm intrigued. |
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| Journaling with a cat on your lap is quite a challenge! |
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| For the first time in years I had an actual christmas tree! |
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| Fog over the Wadden Sea. |
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| A christmas walk. The weather was unexpectedly beautiful. |
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| Sometimes you just have to write and write and write. |
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| Me being home during the holiday week was very much appreciated by a certain someone. |
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| Drawing and sketching with a friend in a café. It doesn't get any better than that. |
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| 2017 in journals. |
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| Dark clouds approaching. We have had plenty of those this season. |
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| My first walk of the new year. |
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| Finishing up some grid drawings, because I just never tire of them. |
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| A beautiful tree on a lunch walk. |
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| My christmas present to myself. Sigh. |
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| 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!
