This is the view I see  everyday while I sit at my desk and type away. As the boat windows are below street level I can glance up and see people coming and going with their bikes, chatting, etc. All the while I sip my tea and get back to the words on my screen. The words are getting plentiful now, I’m on a roll. And rolls are good.

I shall not digress, but I just wanted to stop in and say hi.

xx

PS I did digress a little though, and posted in the library what I’m reading now, it’s a really good book.

PPS For Amsterdammers, there is an upcoming event organised by a friend of mine. It’s called swap and the city where you can exchange your perfectly good items that you never wear for fabulous fashion finds. There are heaps of fun things organised for the afternoon too. Sounds pretty cool, read more about it here. It’s on November 29 from 2-5pm so gets your tickets soon if you plan to go!

It’s beautiful riding around this city on my bike feeling the chilly breeze against my face, leaves falling all around like it’s raining gold.

I thought it about time I tell you what I’ve been up to for the last 5 months. Have you been wondering? Maybe you have, maybe you haven’t, but I’ll tell you anyway…

I’m writing my second book. It’s the next  Made by Hand book and yes, it’s Amsterdam. I’m still working on it and at the moment I’m writing and editing images. Autumn is the perfect time to be writing – being tucked up inside mon petit bateau as the weather turns cold and damp.  Inside here it’s super cosy, and I spend my days making cups of tea and writing about the ateliers and boutiques I’ve chosen for the book. It sounds romantic no doubt, but of course there is alot happening behind-the-scenes. Writing books is intense work. But, the wonderful parts override the hard parts, and one of the best parts of this job is the excitement of discovering these special places and being able to share them with you. One of the difficult parts is keeping them secret for so long! But that will make the book unique and special which is always my goal. So, until I finish I may be a bit sporadic with my posts but oh, I really hope you’re gonna love what I am creating…

Amsterdam: Made by Hand will be released worldwide in April, 2010 by The Little Bookroom.

…was fun. It was cold, and foggy, and not so much wind but hey, the scenery was  beautiful. A lovely and somewhat spontaneous  mid-week treat.

Today I was riding through the jordaan area of amsterdam which is one of my favorite spots (but then I have many favorite spots in this beautiful city). And I thought of you. So I whipped out my little pocket camera, put the strap around my neck and snapped some photos while I was bicycling. Would you like to come for a bike ride with me? If so, scroll down to see what we see along the way…

I hope you enjoyed the ride! I am going to be traveling far (but not so far) and wide (nor that wide) this weekend, so I won’t be back in the (blog)house until Tuesday. I will try very hard to have a relaxing time over the next four days, and I hope to have some pretty photos for you upon my return. Thank you so very much for your company this week, I hope you’ve enjoyed all the posts. Bon weekend!

xx

…and it’s only a little after six. I am enjoying the cooler weather but I’m also a bit anxious about it, knowing well what winter means here – dark days, cold cold air and rain rain rain. with a little more rain. on the rain.

But! It’s not winter yet so I shall not fret.

Today was another rather eventful day, and in between my work I…

1. had a conversation with a lovely lady in her 70’s, who has lived in the same apartment in Amsterdam for over 65 years. I couldn’t help ask her a million questions, and she obliged and told me how people dressed 50 years ago, so elegantly, and that the street below her apartment was one of the most fashionable, now, not so much. We shook our heads.

2. was riding behind a woman who got her front wheel caught in a myriad of tram tracks and went head first into the tarmac. I stopped and tried to help her up, she was in shock but not badly hurt. People, please please please don’t get your wheels caught in the tram tracks, it’s terribly dangerous.

3. caught a few minutes of Bargain Hunt while I was eating my lunch – one of the best episodes! Tim Wannacott is classic, what would he be like as a dad, or grandfather? hilarious, or terribly embarrassing? I wonder how I would do on that show, the auctions look like lots of fun.

4. uploaded my guest’s next post! But she did all the work as you can see, and all the traveling – check out where she has taken us this week (thank you zoë!).

5. took loads of photos. but those, i cannot show you yet.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this week’s post. Do you feel like I’m holding back? I am, a little. Because I have so much going on, and so much I want to tell you but want to be able to have longer moments to tell you whats going on, rather than rush rush rushing posts. I don’t like to rush.

Bon weekend!

xx

PS I’ve been thinking that it’s time that I have an assistant, but I just don’t know. Thoughts?