yarny bookworm

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Freitag, 29. Mai 2015

Crafting update

Hello my lovely people! 

Thank you so much for your good wishes to our wedding! We managed our first month and we're still very happy and very much in love! :) 

I'm tied to the couch right now with a very,  ery bad cold! I organized a three-day-long meeting for some european publishers. We made an excursion with them to an old abbey and to Austrias oldesr vineyard. 




Crappy photos, I know! But inside an old library without electrical light and down under in an 1600 year old wine cellar you don't have the best lighting. It was a really funny and nice trip but it was raining all the time. And that's where I caught my bad cold. I'm lying on the couch right now and when I'm not asleep I use the time to do some crochet. My sister in law is pregnant and the baby will be born in the next ten days! And I promised her a baby blanket. So I should really hurry! And here's a sneak peek. 



I will show you the full blanket once its gifted to my lovely sister in law and my new niece/nephew. 

I also bought some new yarn for my next project. I worked with a yarn called "Catania" from Schachenmayr a lot before. It's a cotton yarn and it's mercerised and soft and shiny and comes in the most beautiful colors! This type of yarn is called "Catania Denim" and it's kind of a stonewashed color range. I saw a similar yarn on another blog and the blogwriter made a beautiful bag with it. I have to do some research now to find out where I saw that bag and that yarn so I can make it myself. If you know what bag I'm talking about - please let me know! I'm thankful for every single tip. 

But enough talking. Here's the new yarn:





I can't wait to start working with it! It's so beautiful! 

And since this post shouldn't be a about yarn: here's the lastest addition to my ever growing washi tape collection: 


So what are you making or planning or buying right now? I'd love to know! 

Have a nice and happy and sunny weekend! Xoxo

Dienstag, 26. Mai 2015

YES!!

It's been over a month now since my wedding and I still haven't realized, that I have a new name now and that I'm really and truly a MARRIED woman! But so far I LOVE IT! It's a great feeling to know that my man really said YES! Can you believe that? I'm not always a simple person (though I try to make him as happy as possible!) and he really decided to spend the rest of his life with me and endure my ongoing madness! Crazy! But you can't say no to that! I really believe that I would never find another person whom I would love so much and who would be so crazy about me in return!

So let me tell you a little bit about the way a traditional marriage in my rural part of Austria is celebrated and then I will tell you how we did it. Two totally different things!

I grew up in a veeery small village. There are only 1800 inhabitants and it's located in the very east of Austria, just a few kilometers away from the Hungarian border.  There's internet, we have roads, shops, a pharmacy, a doctor, schools...but we also have traditions. And as some traditions are very nice and thoughtful and pretty, some of them are rather...let's say antique and outdated.
When you have a traditional marriage in our village, it starts the day before. Husband and wife spend the last night beofre the wedding apart. Friends and family arrive at the evening before the big day to bring A LOT of sweets and baked goodies. These are called "Krapferl" at this part of our country and are very similar to christmas cookies. My aunts baked. And baked and baked and baked. We had TONS of cookies in our house. Let me tell you that our wedding was really small. We invited 21 guests, one of those was our lovely photographer. So there really was no need for us to have six (yes, SIX) cakes. SIX CAKES FOR 23 PEOPLE! Do you see how insane that is? But just try tell these to my aunts. So we had a room full of sweets. Cookies, cakes and pretty much any other dessert that you can imagine.


this was all made by ONE.SINGLE.AUNT!!!


all of our cakes and sweets. everything is handmade. isn't this amazing? 20 million calories, all in one picture!


But the relative and friends not only visit to bring the cookies but they also came to bring the presents. So there were a lot of envelopes with cards and money.
We also got some traditional gifts such as crockery, bed dishes and linens. My brother and his girlfriend gave us Harry Potter wands. Hermiones for me and Rons for my man as they end up married and with kids. He knows how crazy I am about Harry Potter so this was a wonderful gift!

It was a nice evening full of eating, drinking and talking. At 10 pm everyone was gone and I collapsed into bed, where I couldn't sleep because I had a very sore throat and couldn't stop coughing.

On the next day I had my hairdresser appointment and afterwards my friend came over to do my make up. Everyone asked me if I was nervous already and surprisingly - I was not! I was really calm and relaxed and I looked forward to the day.
Meanwhile my man met with his guests at the restaurant of his mother. He had rented a Mustang for the day. (It looked like this . Not the usual wedding car, but we like it unusual!). They all drove half an hour to my parents house where we all met.
If this would have been a traditional wedding, some men would have blocked the road to stop him and my man would have to pay them money to be able to continue driving. Thank god nobody did that!

I was nervous when I heard the car outisde! At this point, people from all around the village, family, friends, neighbours and strangers had gathered around our house to have a look at the bride. Normally the bride and the groom and all invited guests would walk from the thouse to the church and everybody in the village would stand beside the road to have a good look at what everyone is wearing. Insane. I didn't want to present myself like that, so they just had a little glimpse at me when I walked outside and got into the car.


me and my first encounter with our Mustang! love the green! And here you see a glimpse of my crochet shawl!


We then drove to our location, a beautiful thermal spa and lodge. You can have a look at their homepage here. The ceremony took place at the library and anyone who knows how much I love to read knows that this was the perfect location! It was really nice and beautiful, my brother played the guitar, his girlfriend (a jazz singer) sang some songs, the mothers cried, we couldn't stop smiling and I was so excited all the time that I forgot my bouquet in that room and have not a single photo of it now.

After the obligatory champagne we took hundreds of pictures. Of every guest and then of course of the two of us. As my man doesn't know about this blog and as I don't want him to know about this blog, there won't be any pictures of him because I can't ask him, if it's okay with him. Does that make sense? Anyway, these pictures are rather personal so there will only be a few of them for you!

We then had dinner, danced a little and had a wonderful time with our closest family! We stayed at the lodge for two nights and in hindsight we should have stayed there for our entire honeymoon as our holiday in Mallorca wasn't really like we imagined it to be. But that story is reserved for a separate blog post.

At a traditional wedding, people would have "stolen" the bride which means that I would have been kidnapped by the friends of the groom, we would have gone to a bar and after a while the groom would have had to come to that bar, get me back and pay the bill of the consumed drinks. Let me tell you, I've been to weddings where the poor man had to pay hundreds of euros!
There also would have been a midnight dance, where EVERYONE dances with everyone. Which means, the bride has to dance with every single guest and also the groom. During these dances the godmother of the bride would slowly have to take off the veil of the bride. I didn't have a veil. And if you have a big wedding with 100+ guests (which is rather usual in the countryside) that means a lot of dancing. I've been to weddings where the midnight dance lasted over an hour!
After that dance, people would start to throw coins in the middle of the dancefloor and the bride and the groom would have to sweep up those coins whereas guest would always run through the pile of sweeped up money so it's harder for the bride and groom to collect the money.
Then there is a conga line accompanied by a ridiculous song about cowboys and bears, then everyone stands in a circle to sing a heartmelting and cheesy song about the value and friendship and by that time it's way past midnight and the bride and groom are normally so exhausted that they just want to go home.

We avoided all that. We had our dance (neither my man nor I are great dancers), we laughed with our family, we got tons of gifts (4 weekends at 4 different romantic/wellness/mountain hotels all over Austria!!!) ate tons of food and went to our beautiful suite at 2 pm.

The perfect wedding!

And for everyone who kept reading until the very end (thanks for your patience): Here are some pictures:


to me - the prettiest dress in the world!




me in my dress in our hotel room



we all sat on one table, since we were only 20 people. We made the decoration ourselves. I still think it's the perfect table!

Dienstag, 12. Mai 2015

I want to ride my bycicle...

... all day long! I've told you in my taking stock post, that I bought a new bike. I've never bought myself a bike. The last bike I got was a super cool mountain bike that I got for my 15th birthday and that I still use to get to the train station every morning.

But it's not pretty. It's practical, but not very nice to look at. 
My man and I went to a holiday fair a few months ago. As we wandered through the big hall, I saw a Puch stand that had a lot of beautiful bikes. Just on the opposite site, there was a Harley Davidson stand. So I drifted over to Puch (a very old, very good Austrian brand) and my man drifted over to his beloved Harleys. After a while we met in the middle, each one yelling "I want to have that!!!".

I've been swooning over this bike ever since. I just couldn't get it out of my head. So last Saturday I just went to a store and bought it.



Isn't it beautiful?



We took it for a ride and also did a little Geocache Tour while we were around. Beautiful day!







Have I told you that I LOVE it?
It's so pretty! :)

P.S.: I'm sorry for delaying the Wedding Post AGAIN but I'm getting the pictures today, so I have to sort through them first to decide, which one I will show you. It's a long weekend here in Austria, with tomorrow being my last day of work for this week (yay) and the weather forecast predicts rain and wnd and cold (nay) so I'm sure there will be enough time to blog! :)

Have a nice day, everyone! 

Freitag, 8. Mai 2015

Taking Stock: MAY

Linking up with Pip from Meet Me At Mikes here are some things that are going around here:

Making : a baby blanket for my niece/nephew. Only four mor weeeeeks! :)
Cooking : asparagus. There is a farmer in our village who has the best asparagus. So yummy!
Drinking : water, water and water. It's finally getting warm here in Austria!
Reading: Ken Follet, century trilogy, Part 1.
Wanting: for the weekend to be nice and sunny as I'm planning to buy a new bycicle and then I want to ride it asap!
Looking: into a blue and cloudless sky! Have I mentioned that I love summer?
Playing: John Butler Trio. Summer Music
Deciding: whether or not I should change my job. I like my current one but the commuting eats up waaaay too much time...
Wishing: that I could decide on the job thing!
Enjoying: the weather. Life is easier when it's warm!
Waiting: for tomorrow so I can go and buy my new bike!
Liking: the feeling of being married.
Wondering: if we're really going to make our big trip to the USA next year.
Loving: my man. I know, it's always the same answer, but that's how it is!
Pondering: on thoughts about how it would be if we owned a house and a garden...
Considering: buying a house. We just need a ton of money...
Buying: this gorgeous bike. tomorrow. isn't it lovely?
Watching: Weeeeeds. We just started it on Netflix. I've already seen the first three seasons but that was some years ago.
Hoping: that the weather will last!

Marvelling: at all the nice fruit and vegetables that are slowly growing in our region. Fresh food. The best!
Needing: more time for myself. during the week I get almost nothing done.
Questioning: some of my choices. work related.
Smelling: fresh air and flowers.
Wearing: lighter clothes. NO JACKET!
Following: along with a 10-year-project that I'm making for myself. 3 weeks are done. yay.
Noticing: that I like my job best, when I can organize an event. Maybe that's where my carreer path should be going?
Knowing: that I live an awesome life!
Thinking: about my bike. Can you tell that I'm really looking forward?
Admiring: people who have a garden. I've overheard a conversation of two men on the train, who talked about what vegetables and fruits they plan to plant in their gardens this year. I got so jealous! I want to grow my own food too!
Sorting: out the mess at my work desk. So. many. papers!
Getting:excited when I think about the future!
Bookmarking: crochet patterns. I'm getting my Mojo back!
Coveting: tattoo ideas. I think it's time for number four!
Disliking: that the weather forecast predicts rain tomorrow. I WANT TO RIDE MY BIKE!
Opening: mail from my lovely pen pal in Norway. It's so nice to get mail!
Giggling: with my best friend last week when we had ice cream at the danube river. Life can be beautiful!
Feeling: blessed and happy.
Snacking: Manner Schnitten. Wafers with hazelnut fillings. Typical Austrian. So yummy!
Helping: my dad getting the pool ready on Sunday. Can't wait for my first spring!
Hearing: birds chirping in the morning. It's warm enough to sleep with the window open. Finally!

What are you up to?
We will get the pictures of our wedding on Sunday. I've already prepared a post for you, it just needs to get spiced up a little with some photos. So check in on Sunday evening if you're curious! :)
Have a wonderful evening! What are your plans?

Dienstag, 5. Mai 2015

The year in books - April

Long time no blog... hello to all of you. I'm so happy to be back in blogland, it's been some crazy few weeks. First things first - I AM MARRIED! He said yes, I'm so reliefed! ;) More on that topic in another post which I'm already preparing. Don't miss it because I'm not only going to show you my dress (which is what you all want to see - let's be honest!) but also MY FACE! Yes, I will finally reveal myself to all of you. So watch out for the wedding post. It will appear here in the next few days, I promise!

I did a surprisingly high amount of reading in April! So let's start with my list!

Emily Bronte - Stürmische Höhen (Wuthering Heights)



I can't for the life of me remember where on earth I gotten this book from. It's a very nice edition, and if my research is correct it was published sometime in the 1960's. But it's NOT second hand, that book was unread and brand new. I probably bought it in some antique book store but as I said - I don't remember buying this book which is very weird as I usually remember the purchase of EVERY SINGLE BOOK in my collection.
About the book: It was my first time reading Emily Bronte. As usual with older books, it takes some pages to get used to the style and the writing. But I managed that rather quickly and then really enjoyed this classic. The description of various scene was sometimes a liiiiittle too long and elaborate for my taste but that was the writing of that time. It took me rather a while to finish it, but it was worth every minute. A really nice and thrilling story and a fantastic read.

Victor Hugo - Der Glöckner von Notre Dame (The Hunchback of Notre Dame)



A classic. And I have to confess that I've NEVER seen the Disney Movie so I really had no idea, what that book actually was about. I bought it in an antique book store that I stumbled across accidentially in Hamburg. A beautiful edition and in a very good condition as well.
Anyway, even if I had watched the Disney movie before it wouldn't be the same as reading the book. I couldn't believe how cruel and disgusting it was. And thrilling. I couldn't stop reading it although it's a little exhausting to read that old writing. Such a tiny little font...but again an amazing story!

Stephen Chbosky - The Perks of Being a Wallflower



When we travelled around the world 2 years ago we had to live through many many 10+ hour flights. And on one of those flights I watched the movie. To be honest - I never heard about it, I only watched the movie because Emma Watson played a role in it and as I am a huge Harry Potter fan I was curios how it would be to see Emma in another role other than Hermione. I didn't like the movie very much and as it was an overnight flight I feel asleep during the movie and didn't really understand the end because I missed a chunk of the middle. Nevertheless - when I was looking for a new book (and bought three because I couldn't decide which one I should leave behind) I stumbled about this one. I have seen it in some posts around the internet and most of the times it got positive reviews. So I tried and I liked it! It's the story about a teenage boy. He's writing letters to an unknown receiver and tells this "friend" about his live. He's making new friedns who introduce him to other people, to cigarettes, drugs and parties. It's a great coming-of-age story with a very, very unexpected ending and I will definitely read it again in the near future because I'm sure you read the whole thing differently if you have the ending in mind! Though it's a book for teenager and young adults I would recommend it to readers of any age. Great book!

Emma Healy - Elizabeth is Missing



Probably the best book that I've read this year so far. In this book the protagonist, an older lady named Maud is telling the story. Maud has Alzheimer and the reader gets an inside of her head and her thoughts and the difficulties she has to face due to her illness. It's amazing how this story is build. Maud remembers from time to time that it's been a while since she last heard from her friend Elizabeth. And so she tells her daughter, who takes care of her, that Elizabeth is missing. But no matter how often she tells people that her friend hasn't called in a while, nobody seems to care. Meanwhile, there are always snippets in Maud's present life that trigger a memory to an incident, that happened 70 years earlier to Maud's sister.
The author jumps between the past and the present and both times mingle more and more in the head of Maud until she can't differentiate anymore between what's happening now and what happened all that time ago.
I don't want to reveal too much but the book has a very, very good ending and is one of the most interesting and unusual crime stories that I've ever read!

Ransom Riggs - Miss Peregrins Home of Peculiar Children



Good start - dissapointing end. This book is the last of the three books that I bought spontaniously in the book store when I had to wait for my train. It starts really good, with a kind of horror story but very soon it get's tooo fictional and fantasy-like for my taste. Also the end was a little weak. But I really liked the concept of the author who links the story with old photographs, which are real and which he discovered over the years on various flea markets and second hand shops.

John Grisham - The Client



I love John Grisham. Although his books are often alike he always manages to write gripping stories that are real pageturners. A colleague of mine gave me the book once so it's a rather old version in rather bad condition. But like every John Grisham I read through that one pretty fast and couldn't put it down until I finished it.

Stephen King - Mr. Mercedes



I forgot the books that I prepared for our honeymoon in the hotel so I had to buy a new one at the airport. I didn't really know what Mr. MErcedes was about. The only thing I knew about it was that a man drove a Mercedes into a crowd of people, thus killing some of them.
What I found out while reading it was, that "Mr. Mercedes", as the killer was called by the police who investigated the case, contacted the retired Detective who couldn't solve the crime before he retired. The officer started to investigate again and a very thrilling cat and mouse game began. The end is rather open and I thought, that Stephen King might have left the opportunity to write a sequel when I found out, that it's the first part of a trilogy. A very promising start and I will definitely buy the second book as soon as it's published.

Jo Nesbo - The Son



As I finished Mr. Mercedes before we flew back home, I had to buy another book at the airport in Mallorca. I chose The Son because it appeared in the Austrian bestseller lists for a while and because I really liked "The police", another Jo Nesbo thriller that I read as first book in this year.
The Son is about a prisoner, who escapes to revenge his father, who allegedly commited suicide but (as the son finds out before he breaks out of prison) was actually killed. But who was the killer?
600 pages of thrill and suspension. Definitely not my last Jo Nesbo book, I want to read all 10 books that have the police officer Harry Hole as protagonist. Ambitious, isn't it?

So apart from "Miss Peregrines home of Peculiar children" every single one of the books that I read in April was truly amazing, unique and totally interesting. I would recommend you EVERY SINGLE ONE of it! Go and read them and tell me what you think about it. And please read "Elizabeth is Missing" as it is the best of all my April reads. What an amazing book! I lend it to a friend of mine and as soon as I get it back I will probably read it again.

Linking up with Laura at Circle of Pine Trees and her wonderful and fantastic the year in books. I love Love LOVE telling you about my reads every month! It's such a great idea. Thank you Laura for organizing this! :)