A little bit late, but only for the best reasons

This is last weeks’ #project52 post… It didn’t happen over the weekend because I was too busy doing the things that feature in it

 

My wonderful friend Sarah came to visit…

we had a bit of an adventure getting to the cafe at the Noordermarkt for the traditional apple pie pilgrimage… but the pie was worth it

 

…then we went on an even bigger mission to get kibbeling at Nieuwe Sloten, but it was well worth it

Then she surprised me with this AWESOME scarf, that she crocheted just for me….

… I have named him Benedict. Isn’t he magnificent?

She also brought me a very cool Totoro t-shirt…..

… and a care package with tea, chocolate and jammie dodgers!

… much tea was consumed, we laughed a lot and I get the feeling I am going to spend all week recovering from the lack of sleep. But she can come back next weekend and every weekend if she likes. She’s like a big sister, partner in crime and best friend bundled into a wise, caring bundle of energy, curiosity and wicked humor. My PhD wouldn’t have happened without her help, she’s been there for me through some weird times. I’ve had the honour of being her friend for more than 15 years now, and she’s exactly who I want to be when I grow up…. (and she’ll want to strangle me for getting all sentimental). Love you woman!

There is no try… the #ISAPafterparty and beyond

One of the things I said I needed to do regarding the #yearofyoda was to start being more proactive in my research career and putting my ideas and professional stance across more strongly and confidently. Boy, is it terrifying. If you follow my twitter feed you’ve probably seen an extended conversation that started at the ISAP biannual conference in Vienna last week, about a lot of serious (and not so serious) aspects of and issues in archaeological geophysics at the moment.

One of the things I agreed to do was post up a series of open documents laying out my ideas in a more expansive forum than twitter’s 140 characters, to try to keep the impetus generated at the conference going. I’ve just posted them up on an openly shared google docs folder that you can find here. I welcome any feedback and I’ll try to keep them updated with what everyone adds, keeping my own opinions clearly demarcated. It’s a little bit scary, all of this. In some ways, I don’t feel like I have the experience or the authority to set an agenda in this way. I’m hoping people I perceive to have more ‘gravitas’ will join in and I can at least act as a collecting point, a facilitator!

In other news, me and my brain have had a bit of an interesting time. Vienna was a good distraction from all that, and getting back in touch with other people working in geophysics was really good for some of the confidence issues I have been experiencing. Various things have gone a bit ‘wrong’ since getting back from Italy and I am determined this week to get back on track, to eat healthily, sleep properly and focus hard at work and on making plans for next year. This week’s photo is a little taste of life in the Netherlands. Here in Groningen we have ‘city sheep’ that belong to the city council and keep the verges and canal-sides trimmed. I was walking home from the shops yesterday to find them all penned in the park behind my house, getting their annual haircut!

#project52 week 23 City Sheep!

Snapshots

I owe you all at least three weeks of  #project52 pictures, and at some point a longer blog about fieldwork and life in general but it has been a really busy few weeks! So, without further ado, here is week 16:

 

#project52 week 16 Birthday Cake!

I was home for 4 days before I went away to Italy again (this time with Matt, for my birthday) – I think I wrote the last blog just before I headed to Black and Bloom in Groningen to pick up the awesome cakes they made me to take to work. We have a tradition where you bring in cake for everyone on your birthday, but I was away for my actual birthday…. and besides, who really needs an excuse to eat brownies?!

Week 17 was spent in Italy with Matt. It was the first time he has ever been, and we had a wonderful time. At some point he’s going to put up the pictures he took, and I’ll post some here, or link to them, but he’s not had time to sort them out yet (over 9GB of images!!). I hardly took any; it was nice to be in Italy not working for a change, and I was too busy taking things in properly to be snapping all the time. I did get a few though, so my week 17 picture is of M at Herculaneum, which was amazing.

#project52 week17 Herculaneum

 

Week 18 contained many things. Again, I was only home for a few days before zipping off again, this time to the Uk for a wedding. It was also Queen’s day / the inauguration of the new Dutch King, and so I went for a wander in the heaving city centre with Olivia. Everything was either orange, or red, white and blue (or sometimes all 4). We went to a roof terrace overlooking the main square for cakes, and even the cakes had little orange crowns:

#project52 week 18 The last queen’s day!

I’ve been so busy for so long it has left me a bit run down, and earlier in the week, a bit blue. But today Inger (my friend and landlady), Steven and their wonderful daughter Oda arrived. How can anyone be sad with these three around?

#project52 week 19 Flying baby!

So I’m off to cook us all a tasty (I hope) curry, and hopefully things will quieten down a bit and I can post more regularly. I don’t go away again until the 27th now, when I head to Vienna for ISAP….

Snow, sculptures and getting on with things

No great long-winded post today. It’s been a pretty good week (despite a slightly ‘interesting’ brain-day on Tuesday)- I crossed some big things off my ‘to do’ list/heap/mountain. I’ve had a really  nice weekend as well. This is the year of Yoda, which as previously mentioned involves doing more, saying yes and generally making the most of things. I didn’t have any epic adventures this weekend- I stayed in Groningen. But I did venture to my local independent (and awesome) coffee shop (not THAT kind) for breakfast, tried and loved new coffee, went on a huge photography mission and stomp, Skype with my nearest and dearest and confirm a visit from a wonderful friend. Said coffee shop (Black and Bloom) have a coffee and games afternoon next Sunday, which I am going to be brave and go along to. Fluxx (a card game) is a good ice-breaker, and it’s being run along with my friendly local gaming store (who really fit that description).

I also did two long (30 minutes+) runs without any of my usual wailing and gnashing of teeth, a chunk of work on my PhD papers and still had enough time to hang out online with my beloved for a big chunk of today. What I didn’t do was waste my weekend numbing my brain with T.V. or feeling needlessly anxious! So, this week’s #project52 picture is of a sculpture that is odd but rather lovely that lives on the canal-side on one of my routes into the city centre. Posting him and chatting with Sarah about him needing a scarf is what prompted us to fix the dates for her trip, so he’s here for two reasons: 1) I like him a lot and I keep meaning to post more pictures of the art all over the city and 2) he’s a harbinger of good things

#project52 Week 10

I’m feeling really good right now- I went running in the snow this morning without a squeak of protest, and the soup I made for dinner is delicious, even if I did grate myself into it a bit. Part of me is wondering how long it will stay this easy to do all the right things, but a more sensible part is kicking it under the table and whispering to me to just enjoy it while it lasts…

Prologues

It’s been a while since I last posted, and my good intentions to talk about Italy, and CAA and lots of things in between have fallen by the wayside. I find myself staring the end of the year in the face, wanting to write my traditional posts to mark the passing of time, but having too much unsaid from the last few months.

2012 has gone by very fast, perhaps as the newness of life here in the Netherlands has worn off a bit and things become more homely and familiar.  I was back in the UK for a few days in the middle of November and it was the first time it hasn’t felt instantly ‘normal’ to me. There is a lot I would like to write about, musings I want to share, but my beloved M is here and I am feeling very selfish and jealous of this rare quiet time we are having together. It is simply wonderful to wake up with him every day and know that (for the next 7 days at least) there is nothing to take us away from each other. Separation just makes me realise how much we took for granted before, how lucky we are, and teaches me not to squander the little moments and quiet times when we do eventually live together again. So you aren’t going to get a big long blog from me now. I will write more tomorrow, about hopes and fears for 2013, and then again in the new year looking back at the old.

For now, I just wanted to say a belated Merry Christmas to you all, and to be a bit smug about how happy I am right now. Take care of each other,

 

K x