Roses + A Pretty Lady

Our moving company has given us an estimate and we've hired them so the official boxing it all up process is soon to begin! Yay! I feel like the countdown has started now that we have secured a move date and have a company doing it for us. We'll be moving less than 6 weeks! Weeeeee! But the goal for now is to simply enjoy the process and live each day fully until we move because we cannot always live so goal-oriented that we forget to cherish the here-and-now.

fading roses from my husband

“One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon-instead of enjoying the roses blooming outside our windows today.”

So, how are you doing? What's new? I've been under a lot of deadlines lately so I have a rather foggy brain right now -- you know that feeling of having so much on your mind that nothing feels in focus? Well that is me until September 1st at least. I keep telling myself it is worth it, because this is my first book and I want to do a good job. But my, oh my, one really needs to have nothing else to do while writing a book because when you also have a business to run like I do, it can be quite a challenge to juggle it all. But you know what? I'm already working with my agent on the second book so I have to confess that I LOVE the idea of doing more books. :)



vintage painting i found

“Painting is poetry that is seen rather than felt, and poetry is painting that is felt rather than seen”
I snapped a few photos for you, one of some lovely roses from my husband that have faded and fallen (but that still look so pretty), and another of a an oil painting that I picked up from an antiques store in Hannover yesterday for €14 that I absolutely love. No one signed it, but it looks like something from the 40s or 50s I'm guessing and it came in a frame that said Made in West Germany so I'm thinking that is where the piece was painted, it may have its origins in Berlin. It's sweet, isn't it? I love the color scheme -- so pretty and soothing. I wonder who she was? I like to put little stories together in my mind whenever I come across a portrait painting like this. I have named her Femke (Fem-kah). Is suits her, doesn't it?

(images: holly becker for haus maus)

Comments

julie said…
beautiful roses, and very true words. i can understand the feeling of having so much going on in your mind that you can't concentrate. i feel that way at the moment however i am not making the progress you are. i am making baby steps but i think i am holding myself back in making the big steps.

very happy for you about your move. looking forward to your blogging course shortly also. seriously i don't know how you do it all holly. hopefully your wonder woman skills will rub off on us all :)
cloudy said…
Moving in autuum is always special! And indeed, the woman on the painting looks pretty, I like the colors too!

Oh - and I'm really curious about your book!! Yesterday at the library I saw a lot of interior design/decorating books but no one had a those kind of before/after pictures in it, which makes me sad, because i don't know how to work with decorate books!
I don't get the idea to transfer these techniques and inspirations in the books to my home...phew...so I can not wait to see YOUR book!

have a nice sunday,
cloudy
Kerstin said…
Your painting reminds me of a story that a friend from Canada told me: he is a passionate aviator and once upon a time he purchased an oil painting of a pilot at a flea market in Germany while on a visit with his wife's family. He just felt drawn to it. Because he loves to research he eventually found out more about the pilot who also happened to be Canadian and whose name was Bill Hall, so he and my friend shared the same first name! Many years later my friend Bill, who lives in Vancouver BC, was looking to buy a used car and quite by accident came across one that was for sale on the other side of town. Strangely the car's previous owner had the same last name as my friend Bill but this is not the only coincidence. Through a series of happenstances it turns out that this previous owner, who shares my friend's last name, is also the nephew of Bill Hall! I just love this story that started somewhere at a flea market in Europe and closed its loop in Canada :)
Heidi said…
Wow, your new place is gorgeous, love your blog, I am a german transplant in the US, btw my nephew lives in Hannover...
Ursula said…
@Holly
You'll need quite a bit of unwinding and real relaxation once you've mastered all the present chores and timelines! But what a blessing to have it all, especially when so many people are struggling so much to barely make a living.
As for the lovely painting, judging by the lady's hairdo and the neckline of her dress, I assume it rather originates from the sixties, maybe late fifties, certainly not the fourties.

@Kerstin
What a curious story, worth to be the center of a novel! Life sometimes makes us wonder, if maybe there is a special plan hidden behind the facade of our daily lives ...
La Belle Vie said…
You have the most exquisite taste! Wow!

The quote is lovely... I've struggled with that a lot over the years through infertility and our agonizing adoption process. I keep having to remind myself that life is here to be lived. I am too blessed in this moment to keep holding my breath for the next.

I am so excited for your book!! There is no doubt in my mind it will be spectacular.

Jessa xx
jja said…
"But the goal for now is to simply enjoy the process and live each day fully until we move because we cannot always live so goal-oriented that we forget to cherish the here-and-now."

Dear Holly you inspired me so many times until now, just with sentences like this one above.

I also have foggy had, so many deadline for me to, it will be a hell of a week, my next week. I use my breaks to realy on your blog, so thank you :-)
You certainly have an eye for picking out wonderful and interesting flea-market pieces. She has the kind of face a novel could be written around! I am thinking that where you are living is an excellent source for flea-market finds. My Italian friend has just moved to Bonn so methinks it is time for a visit (with a back-pocket full of €s.......

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