Author Archives for Ellen

Growing up slowly

I didn’t realise i had already written a post about growing up.

I am still growing up. I do feel progress. I am getting a bit more control over myself. But i still make many mistakes, many ill judgements. Learning every single day. Thinking about the day. Figuring out what to do next. Make my excuses when i need to.

I have this temporary space. A bit of money and a place to live. I am already working on a new movie. It will be a month or two i think before it is finished.

Source: Growing up

It is now more than two years later. I still feel the same way. I hope i am right when i feel myself growing up. I still make many mistakes. I still feel many things that confuse me. Pull me in different directions. I still think thoughts about which i am not sure. I still do things to postpone doing something else, to lead my thoughts away from problems, to distract myself.

I am still quite inexperienced. Inexperienced with men most of all. I have protected myself, not consciously, but still.

I like to call myself bright, intelligent. But most often i am stupid, dumb, self involved, shortsighted, blind.

I can only accept this. Do my best and try to learn as much as possible. Really learn, in depth. Really look at myself. Really think about what i do, what i feel. Don’t run away in fantasies, all to easy to me.

The past months have been a learning experience. Better said, my entire life is a learning experience. Every single bit of it. Some days i do fine. Some days i do worse. Hopefully i do learn a little bit from everything.

The past months of not having a home anymore are a lesson to me. I do really value this. I do see how i am limiting my feeling of home to the one room i am renting. My place. My little home.

I am still not sure which way to go. I hope i will find something to move me soon. It might be my drawing. I hope it is. Not sure though. I hope i can find a first step to take with confidence. Preferably before my money runs out.

🙂

Published on August 18, 2020 at 6:00 by

A holiday

A harvest of big carrots
Two old appartment buildings being demolished
Another view of the same apartment buildings
A huge harvest! 19 kilos of courgettes, 20-25 kilo's of green beans!
Cosmos flowers
Zinnia flowers
Kale doing good
Cabbage
A beautiful sunflower
Melde, saltbush or orache in english in flower
Published on August 17, 2020 at 6:00 by

Lunchbreak

In my lunchbreak i walked up to the fish stand on the Bergweg and got me one herring. Yum. On my way over there i saw this family of Egyptian geese.
A red hollyhock on my way back
A big tree
Magenta flowers
The grote lisdodde, the bulrush
Looks like a Snowball Hydrangea - not sure about the name though
Published on July 23, 2020 at 6:00 by

Into town

After a lazy morning spending time reading and drinking coffee and ironing my linen dress i went into the city for some things i would like to get for me.

First i got my lunch at the market. Two herrings with a bit of onion, sliced in bite-size pieces. I sat besides the Markthal on the side of the grass field enjoying the herring while i was watching the children play in the climbing frames.Sad this field will go away soon. A big appartment building will rise on that spot.

I walked on to the Bijenkorf. I had done some research on what i would like to buy for myself from the brand The Ordinary. I took the regimen guide as a good place to start.

Example regimen for general signs of age:
AM
“Buffet”
Hyaluronic Acid 2% + B5

PM
“Buffet”
Granactive Retinoid 2% or 5% in Squalane
100% Organic Cold-Pressed Rose Hip Seed Oil

I did buy the Buffet, the Hyaluronic Acid and the Rose Hip Seed Oil. The first two are new to me. I am curious to how they will work on my skin. My skin is normal/oily and sensitive. Luckily i don’t have the eczema anymore which was bothering me a year ago. I hope that will stay away.

I walked back and went to the Albert Heijn to get bacon for the dish i want to make for this week. A bit like coq au vin, but without the wine. I still have some sealed chestnuts and dried mushrooms i will use for it. I also bought some peas. Onions i still have. And of course some courgettes. We have so many from the garden. I will also use the rosemary and fennel seeds. Maybe some star anise, not sure about that.

It felt good walking through town, glancing at people and see what they are doing. For a short while anyway.

Salute!

PS. I did buy some wine, a German dry Riesling. Half of it went into the coq au vin, the other half i drank while talking with my house boss sitting on the balcony. Nice!

Published on July 22, 2020 at 6:00 by

Lovely pictures from the garden

A calendula flower in the containers close to the railroad
Cabbages
A spider
Cosmos and nasturtium
A beautiful cosmos flower
And a beautiful courgette flower
Tomatoes ripe for harvesting
A yacon plant
An apple tree outside of the garden surrounded by hollyhocks
Wild flowers outside of the garden
Published on July 20, 2020 at 6:00 by

Bibliotheek

Today i went to the library to return the fourth book in the Game of Thrones series i am currently reading. I hadn’t plan to get another book. I did go up in the library and did look around if i saw anything to my liking. Nothing in the young adult section. Nothing in the English section.

I went to the ethics section and saw a book by Jordan Peterson, 12 Rules for life: an antidote to chaos. I sat in a chair and went through it and read some pieces. I put it back. Close by i saw some other books. About Emmanual Levinas. Tempting. But no. Then my eye fell on a book by Frans de Waal: De aap en de filosoof (The monkey and the philosopher). I am gonna give it a try. Well, once i have finished A Dance with Dragons of course.

Ooh, the title of this post, Bibliotheek, is the Dutch translation of the English word library. Just so you know. 🙂

Published on July 17, 2020 at 6:00 by

Summer gardening

Pumpkins in between the beans
The beans growing huge!
And very flowery 🙂
Fennel heads flowers
Green tomatoes
Courgettes, zucchini for the USA citizens
Grapes
Thyme
The figue
Zinnia flowers with nasturtium and a cosmos
Published on July 16, 2020 at 6:00 by