The Beauty of Learning

I love to learn. I like trying new things, challenging my brain and just learning something new for the sake of it. Knowledge doesn't need a purpose other than that I enjoy to aquire it. Just mastering a new skill or being able to remember a certain thing after studying fills me with joy. That's why I thought I'd share with you some of the things I am currently learning and/or practising. Not all of these stimutlate your brain but i went out of my comfort zone and tried some new stuff.

• Memorising countries on a map. I realised that I don't remember shit from geology in school so I started to learn where which country is located on the map. I started with Europe which is where I live and at the moment I am doing Central and South America. I also have an app that asks me all countries in the world but I'm no good so far, except for European countries to be honest. If you want to try learning the map, there are many tests on the internet as well as some app which you can find easily.
• Sewing by pattern. I made a bathrobe following a pattern with a little help from a friend, pictures will follow soon, i hope. I want to make a nightgown that goes with it when I finally find the time to sew for a few hours.
• Memorising the periodic table. I used to know what Au or Se stand for because, wel, I had chemistry in school. Now, I hardly remember any of it and I don't like it. At all. So I'm currently practising that with yet another app.
• Doing the splits and the bridge. Because I hate sports but I really need some exercise. And because I was able to do them both. I'm still kind of flexible but I want to be able to do them properly. I will link the videos which I use do the stretching exercises below!

What are you learning or practising at the moment?
Have a great day,
The Countess

London! Part One

(This was written in autumn, I know it's spring by now, sorry about that, I kind of lost a few posts in my drafts.)

London doesn't need  a lot of words, just let the beauty of the city speak for itself! This is part one, more will follow soon! These pictures were all taken on Sonja's and my very first day, before the others arrived. We were incredibly lucky, the weather was really nice, it wasn't cold at all and it didn't even rain except for the night we arrived which was great because guess who forgot to bring an umbrella?!

Yay, light

Feed me!

Surprisingly, London squirrels aren't much into chocolate rice crackers

Yes, that's a thing.

See?!

Yay to the way the light falls in this one. Again.

Sonja trying to take a decent picture of a squirrel

Have you ever been to London? Which are your favourite places?

Have a great day!

The Countess

On How To Treat Your Loved Ones

I don't like children and I am not really a family person. Yet I have the tendency to go all mommy on the people I love. Not in the patronising kind of way, I don't believe in not letting people make their own decisions, I just like to make sure everyone is okay. There are a lot of people that have come into my life one or the other way, maybe through school, maybe through coincidence, maybe through the Green Youth, maybe through the internet and often it's kind of hard to keep in touch. Time is a very limited thing, unfortunately, and it's not always easy to see and/or talk to everyone as much as I'd like to. So I try to make up for it.

I haven't realised it for the longest of time but I tend to surprise people with food (especially cake and crisps and chocolate) and little tokens of my love. As I have horribly little time seeing people is a bit difficult but it is really important to me that I make sure my friends still know that I think of them and that I love them dearly. I'm not really sure why I do it, I just know that feeling loved and appreciated is wonderful so I want to make my friends feel like they have someone who thinks fondly of them. Maybe this kind of appreciation comes through a selfmade vegan cake, maybe through a little present, a decorated letter in the mail, a bottle of cheap vegan white wine I bring around or just a facebook message telling them that i miss and love them. Because I might not have time to give but I do have these things. It's not ideal but it's a start and I am sure my friends know how to read these gestures.

What do you do to make your loved ones happy?
Have a great day!

A Collection Of Stones

I found this in my drafts, wow how could I forget to post this, silly me...
 
I have told you on several occassions that I love and collect semi-precious stones and also fossiles but I never really showed you any. Well, I re-decorated my commode the other day and finally my collection has a worthy spot in my room. I have no idea if you are interested in these things but I thought I'd share some impressions with you anyway.

First of all, a few shots of some of my favourite stones. I don't always know their latin names and way too often I forget how they came into my possession but I like them a lot and they all have a special place in my collection.

 And look, you can wear them around your neck! Those aren't all charms I have lying around and I also have a few rings but they aren't that interesting to photograph as they are very simple.

Agate slices are my very favourite, they are so delicate yet hard and cold. I mean, look at this one, isn't it beautiful?

 

When I was a child my dad made me the little shelf. He used to collect stones, too, the big blocks of rose quarz were originally his. It became a tradition that he used to buy me a stone whenever we were at a market or on holidays. Now I buy them myself and I really need a new shelf as this one is full. At the Moment I keep the other stones in that little white bowl but even that one is too small now...

Do you collect anything?

Have a great day,
The Countess

A Little Bag

I am in the process of bringing more structure into my life and one step is trying to figure out how I can carry things in my huge hand bag without having to search smaller things for ages. I have a walking pharmacy and a selfmade bag for my pens and pencils which didn't turn out great so I'm not showing you. What I do want to share is this little bag I made:

I made it from one of the patchwork fabric pieces I bought and just added a bit of lace. It's handsewn because I wanted to do some actual needlework for once, I sew most things with my Singer to be honest. Anyway, this little thing now sits in my walking pharmacy and contains some random things no sane person would carry around but we are all mad here, aren't we?

So this is what I keep in there:

• Candy
• Chewing gum
• Salt
• Sweetener in the little flower thingy

So, who the fuck carries sweetener around you'll ask. I do. From now on at least. I recently found out that the sweetener in uni contains lactose and as a vegan I really don't want to use that (and I don't really like sugar in my coffee...).
It's a regular little plastic bag but I didn't wnat to make it look like I carry around drugs so I put some washi tape around it to make it look more harmless. And hey, everything looks better with kitchy flower patterns, right?

Do you carry around any weird things?

Have a great day!
The Countess

Pattens and Colours and Stuff

I buy too much stuff. But hey, at least I have something to blog about then!
The other day I bought two sets of patchwork quarters at the euro version of the dollar store. Yes, ten patchwork pieces cost a euro there. They came in two different colour schemes, one has blue as the dominant colour, the other one is pink. And...just look at them! Aren't they pretty?!

I bought them without really knowing what to do with them but since then the creativity fairy tickled me a little. I use one as a glasses cloth (creative, I know, aren't I artsy?!), I made a little bag for my pens and I made another bag for some random stuff I carry around and which i will show you in a different post. I will probably go and buy more packs so I can make a table cloth for two friends who just moved flats and an apron for myself. 
Do you have any ideas what i could do with these beauties?

Have a great day!
The Countess

Carnival!

So remember that time of the year where I dress up? Well, it was that time of the year again! i love carnival, it's a great opportunity to be really creative and try out some costumes and make-up styles without any boundaries. it is actually socially acceptable to wear wigs and rhinestones, how could you not love that?!

For the first day I went as a zombie queen:

Yes, i might have overdone it with the fake blood.

Aaaand for the other days I went as Flora, goddess of bloom:

Unfortunately, I don't have any good pictures of the outfits but I tend to put the focus on the make-up anyway. 
Do you like to dress up? As what/who?

Have a great day!
The Countess