Interior happiness

Hi there!

Hopefully you have enjoyed a few days of warm weather in your country? In the statistics in my blog I see readers all over the world and I honestly envy the ones living under the sun the whole year round.

For my birthday Hubbie surprised me with a very practical present (one he can enjoy himself, but not by using it himself): a Thermomix. It is a high potential kitchen robot. His defense is simple: it saves you time! While unpacking this heavy appliance I wasn’t happy at all:

• it is ugly
• it is big
• it needs to stay on the kitchen counter – or you don’t use it
• it takes time to learn to work with it
• it has an elaborate manual, and I hate to puzzle out all the steps and certainly the safety issues*

I am lucky to have many friends, but at that point I felt especially lucky to have a friend with a Thermomix.  My friend Annick jumped in her car after my SOS-message, and patiently explained all the features of this machine. We made a red fruit sorbet together and it tasted delicious, yummy!

Last weekend I made béarnaise, different smooth (it chops so strongly!) soups and guacamole with my new toy. All easy and with tasty result!

So with the sun bursting through the clouds for a minute, I prepared (without looking in the Thermomix cook book) a refreshing, crunchy and sweet sorbet of Belgian strawberries. When eating them in my holy flashy goblet from Alessi, I feel like a goddess (no, I still haven’t received the Call).

What do you think the conclusion is?

O Sophia is very happy with her birthday gift, although she hates to receive presents for working purposes
O Sophia wasn’t happy at first, but she has learned fast and is overwhelmed by all the creativity she can put into her new kitchen help. Yet she is too stubborn to admit she cannot miss her aid in the kitchen anymore (she even talks to him).
O Sophia has put the Thermomix on Ebay and will buy a party dress with the return
O Sophia has never been happier in the kitchen, but hasn’t felt more frustrated when she is standing on the scale now

If you guess right, I will make you a whole meal with the help of my new toy. Write back and let me know!

Sophia

* if you don’t read the safety instructions you might end up with a blue eye from an ice-cube being catapulted out of the strong motor.

Do you like being guided in a museum or an exhibition?

I usually do.  I like to hear about the background of an artist or how she/he got inspired to make this specific artwork. But sometimes too much information can also limit the way you look at art.

Last week we – my dear friend Leen and I – visited the exhibition “Man in the Mirror” at the Vanhaerents Art Collection in Brussels. Vanhaerents is a private collection of temporary art.  Worth a visit! Here are a few impressions:

This work is a big box, totally covered with gold foil inside. The artist, James Lee Byars, put his own memorial in the scene. It originally was set up in 1994 as a performance in which Byars reclined in a gold-covered room, wearing his signature black hat. He referred to the performance as “practicing death.”

The view changes depending how the light reflects. When you walk by, the thousands of thin foils move.

These pieces are by Iván Navarro: the twins (two similar installations referring to the towers) and the electric chair. He works with light, mirrors and reflection and this way creates depth. Really impressive! Continue Reading

What is your favorite hobby?

Since September I have been taking a photography course – I think it lasts six or seven years – at an Academy nearby.  What I find most difficult at this point is the lighting: finding the right balance of the shutter and/or aperture.

As with most forms of art, what you think of as beautiful is personal. Our assignment this year is taking pictures, analog and digital, and adjusting them in Photoshop. We need to work around a list of subjects: depth, light, texture, animals, captivity, freedom, documentary, still-life, decline, portrait.

I worked this way. I just took my camera whenever I could, just when I went for a walk, paid a visit to a city. And while in Puglia, I took my camera with me in the car, wherever I went. Searching for the place to deposit my rubbish, I got lost but ended on the following spot. Catalog it under “decline.”

And of course Dori was again happy to pose before my camera.

I adore the work of Eve Arnold and Man Ray. Man Ray was a very versatile artist, he was a painter and filmmaker too. And of course all Magnum photographers are so talented. I am often in awe of contemporary pictures in newspapers and magazines. How one image make you wonder what tragedy lies behind it?  How can it tell so much with so little information?

Picture on top is Lee Miller photographed by Man Ray

Good morning all!

Do you like being busy with your hands? I do. I don’t find it hard to admit I am not a handy-woman, but I loved this project. Again, I got the inspiration from interior magazines such as Vogue Living and from strolling through stores. I saw one of these nice painted rough blocks in a store in Antwerp, asking price was 150 Euros.  I thought, well, this is easy to do for less if you have the time. I was totally wrong. It cost me, and Oldest – he just found a job, so I’ll have to do without my little servant from now on – a lot of energy.

It was trial and error. I had the luck of getting my hands on some pine-tree cut blocks. They were left out to dry for a couple of months. We pulled off the bark and greased (smeared?) them with a product against termites. I bought a small sanding machine and sanded the surfaces with two kinds of sanding paper (one rough and one a bit finer). It took forever before they were smooth enough, but it was also kind of relaxing. Oldest painted the sides with a kind of matte white paint, and then I put some oily white paint on the top and bottom, so you still can see the grain of the wood, but it becomes a little lighter and better protected.

I put three in our living room, as small tables. And four of them got the luck to be transported to Southern Italy. They got an extra varnish coat, because they will end up under the white patio. Can’t wait to put my Aperol-Spritz on it.
Cheers and have a great weekend!

I was thinking: under what category should I put my magical visit at two abbeys last weekend? It sure was a special introspective experience, but no, I did not hear a religious call.

The excursion was organized by a colleague from Hubbie. It was one of those first lovely days, where you can feel spring finally bursting through. The first spot on the agenda was the Abbey of Averbode, where the monastic order from the Norbertines reign. This order was constituted by Norbertus van Xanten in 1121, and it follows the rule of Augustinus “prepared to each good deed.” Their traditional costume is white, which is why they are also called the white priests.

We were guided through the Abbey and the church by Father Eric. The fog in my head cleared out, and I suddenly remembered! When I worked at the bank in Antwerp, my first job, many, many years ago, there was this smart and handsome colleague, my age, who suddenly surprised us: He had heard the calling! He had followed his belief, and it appeared to have been a good choice: he is now Father Eric, looking happy and at peace, walking through the white corridors of the Abbey, explaining the rich history.

The first stone was placed in the 12th century, but the buildings suffered from fires and rubbing.  They received a big renovation and resurgence in the 20th century.

The Baroque church was built in the 17th century, and proudly glinting with light.

Within the walls of the Abbey, there are of course the quarters of the priests, their huge ‘dining’ room and ‘conference’ room. But there is also a wing for contemplation, where often groups of students stay. There even is room for individual guests, if you need some time for reflection. It costs about forty Euros per day, meals included, cheaper than a visit to a therapist! Of course, you have to send an application at least one week upfront and it must be accepted.  Don’t you think it sounds very appealing, being isolated from the hectic world, able to live within this beautiful surroundings? And the only sound you hear is the soft wheezing of Father Eric’s sandals. Without a doubt, Holy Sophia – prepared to do each good deed – would be admitted!

After some local beer tasting at the Abbey’s café, we headed to the  Abbey of Tongerlo, just ten minutes away. First we visited the museum within the walls of the Abbey, where we stood in awe in front of the Last Supper of Da Vinci. Like a real story teller Father Ivo explained us all about this masterpiece. This is not a copy – it is the real work painted the Master Leonardo Da Vinci himself and his disciples, representing the Last Supper of Jesus and his apostles. Though, technically it is a replica, as it was the second time he painted the same scene, but it as beautiful as the fresco of the Last Supper in Milano. You could say he had three years to practice on the first one and the second time was even better.  It was first ordered by the King of France who was so overwhelmed by the first masterpiece in Milan–“Formidable!” he exclaimed about a hundred times–so he had to have one for himself. The painting disappeared mysteriously during the French revolution and finally ended up here. It underwent a big restoration in the 60’s of last century, and is in far better shape than the fresco. Father Ivo is a man of the world, and referred to Dan Brown‘s analysis of the Last Supper, firmly stating this was proven not to be true. The apostle Johannes, sitting to the right of Jesus indeed has female features. But it was common to bring an important female figure into the painting, so Da Vinci has painted Johannes to the resemblance of a likely important woman in his life.

It was strictly forbidden to take photos, but your servant Holy Sophia secretly took a few. Here you see Jesus and Johannes.

A humorous knowledgable lady guided us through the church of the Abbey, which was new gothic, and more beautiful than the one of Averbode. We were able to still witness the evening ceremony of the priests. I burnt three candles for the good health and well being of our three children. We ended by a visit of the little cozy chapel within the church. Hallelujah!