For the Love of Textiles

I am writing this blog while traveling by train from west to east. Today work starts again. The seven weeks holiday has been great. I have lived with him all these days and it felt as it has been like that for many years. He made coffee this morning for the both of us. A few weeks before the holiday started I have made a decision. The coming year I am going to search for another job. I have taught almost 25 years and for most of the time I have loved it. I am very gratefull for all the experiences I got over these years.  The students who I taught and from which I learned a lot. My colleagus with whom I worked together and they also taught me a lot. But I noticed within myself the urge for a change.  My motivation is going down. That is not good for me, and not good for my students and colleagues. I have a hate/love affair with the fashion world. The over-production of garments. The horrible situations in the factories. Those are a few rea

Chartres. The city with the biggest Cathedral from France. It belongs to the Unesco World Heritage. Most of it is built between  1194 and 1250. More than 800 years old. We both had never been there. Entering the square where the Cathedral is standing the only thing I thought was : How on earth was this made? The scale. The details. The stonework. The stained glass windows. And:  Who made it? How many men did fall down during the building? How proud they must have been when a statue was ready and placed. It is a huge and  very impressive building. Like a landscape made of stone. On the outside by the entrance is beautiful stonework carving. It reminded me of patchwork patterns. I have to say: there is beautiful stonework everywhere at the Cathedral. Beautiful long statues look down on you. We walked in and my first thought was to walk out to calm down. The hight of the ceiling and the light of heaven. The

It was: Bye Bye Swimmingpool. Bye Bye Beautiful house. Bye Bye Dordogne. from Beune to Chartres. We found a hotel in the centre of Chartres. Had a good vegetarian dinner in the Italian reataurant named 'Roma Nostra'. (Still amazed that going our for a good vegetarian dinner in France is not possible.) At our neighbour table 2 priests in their black outfits were eating and drinking. They didn't need to pay the bill. The owner of the restaurant only told them: Pray for me. Next time we will dress up like priests for a free dinner. They left, wearing over their outfit a motor jacket, and holding in their hands a motor helmet. Priests on a motorbike. We walked around on our last evening in France and found out that Chartres had a light festival in the centre. The so called: Chartres en lumieres . We remembered our first night in France. Bayeux also had a light festival we saw. We passed a markethall and there it was. We both l

The last day in our French paradise has arrived. No more swimming after waking up. I look good and feel good. Calm and relaxed. Tomorrow we set off to go home. We will be home on saturday. Driving back is also part of the holiday. No rush. Relaxed. It has been a great, and memorable holiday. The first time with him. We go so well together. I feel so close to him. The feeling that we belong together. All I can say is that I really love this man. There have been moments that I look at our relation from a distance. That I step out to watch at it. Than it feels like a miracle. How is it possible that I can feel this again for a man? After being together for more than 30 years with the love of my life? I totally didn't expect that this would happen, and that I could feel it again. That I would be able to love a man again, the way I did for all those years before he passed away. That mourning can go together with the joy of a new love in

Dordogne. Caves all over. The most important one is ofcourse Lascaux. Closed for the public but the secret is still there. We couldn't leave here without going to one at least. Very close to where we stay are a few important ones. The one we choose is named: 'Grottes des Combarelles', with engravings who are  13thousand years old. Not many people are allowed to visit it during the day. This cave was allowed 35 people a day. Seven in a group and a guide. But getting a ticket took time. You gave to be there round eight and the ticket office opens at half past nine. When we arrived at ten past eight there was already a long cue waiting. We were lucky. There was space in the group at half past twelve. At the ticket office we could see some scematic drawings of the figures we would see. Outside are: Rocks in various colors. Plants, And mosses. The door to the cave was opened and we stepped in. Photograhy is forbidden. Dar

Tibetan buddhism is all over the world. It can be found in the Dordogne too. Not far from where we stay is a is the 'DHAGPO KAGYU LING" centre. Settled on the hills close to Saint-Léon-sur-Vézére. We both wanted to go there. Jos knows a lot about buddhism. I am interested in it. The centre has started in an old farmhouse which is now one of the two temples. When we arrived we immediately saw the stupa with a lotus on top. I lighted a candle in memory of Bram. Than a monk arrived and started speaking to me in Tibetan. I couldn't understand a word, but it was interesting to listen en to look at this old man. He invited me to walk in circles round the stupa, which I did for  few rounds. There was silence and during the walk he pointed to the surroundings. All I could do was smile to him. I said -in my way- goodbye to him. It was an interesting experience for me. Monks are dressed in red, purple and orange or a mixture of those colours. That stands

Verhaaltje In het circus in Saint-Cyprien leefden twee zeemeerminnen. Een met een gele staart, de ander met een blauwe. Ze hadden allebei roze haar. En een glitterjurkje. Two mermaids were living at the circus in Saint-Cyprien. One with a yellow tail, the other with a blue one. Both had pink hair. And a glittering dress. Ze wilden graag zwemmen in het zwembad van Beune, maar ze durfden niet. The really would like to swim in the swimmingpool from Beune, but they didn't dare. Ze waren bang voor water. The were afraid of water. Toen durfden ze opeens wel. Than suddenly they dared to do it. Ze genoten in elkaars armen van het blauwe water. The enjoyed in each others arms from the blue water. Ze verdronken bijna en redden elkaar. The almost drowned and saved eachother. Ze wilden voor altijd samen zwemmen en nooit meer naar het circus. The wanted to swim togehter for always and never back to the circus. JvH