The joy of notebooks, of pen to paper

I have always had a notebook or paper in my hand or in a drawer for as long as I can remember. As a child, I always had little notes or little books with things tucked in like a found feather, a stamp, a clip etc. 

I must have got this from my Mother because her regular letters often had a few seeds, a guinea fowl feather she knew I would like, stamps, newspaper cuttings, photos & more. 

As a lifelong teacher, it is natural to have a diary in your handbag  because your academic life runs to time & timetables - punctuality is key to keeping everything on track. 

 

The South African artist Robyn Gordon has a wonderful Instagram & Facebook page where she shares inspirational art, artists, thoughts & one of hers today (reshared from previously) is about notebooks. 

A quote from Robyn's post today ... 

“For me, a notebook keeper is someone who loves books -- holding them; the left and right layout of them; the intimate scale of them; the tactility of them…AND someone who loves the way you can fill them, put them on a shelf, and begin another, and how they accumulate on your shelf; someone who loves the modesty of them; who loves that they are a kind of mobile studio; and someone who loves the daily ritual of sitting down in a quiet place, opening their notebook and responding there to whatever they are experiencing at that moment.”

- Sandra Brownlee

It resonates with me because because I have notebooks everywhere at home, especially up on my desk, my personal space, the vintage desk I painted cream with the vivid pink of Emperors Silk in the insert. 

I am rather partial to monograms too & have several on my desk. 

There are also very personal things like the last birthday card from my parents, Ethiopian glass angels to watch over me as I work, cards from the daughters, my photo in print from a church, my parents early photograph album etc 

This space inspires me …

The desk contains mainly travel journals from my trips around Europe, Africa Karoo, Road tripping, The Balkans, The Baltics, Scandinavia, Transylvania, Morocco, Spain, India & trains, Austria Graz, Spanish Civil War, France, French Affair, Anne Frank tour , NC 500 Scotland etc. 

They are filled to bursting with memories of trips taken alone, with hubby, with friends, with family & they are special.

My space is watched over by Isabella, a mezzotint that I really loved & bought. It was  framed after some deliberation. 

I love the calmness of her 'all is well' gaze. She is Isabella Simpson by Henry Macbeth Raeburn. 

I have a whole shelf of academic diaries but consider those to be 'work' so they are kept separately. 

My Mother was a great letter writer & she shared news from their life in Africa when we were so far away. 

I knew the neighbours, the gardener, the petrol pump attendant, the butcher, the baker etc from her  stories of them.

Her letters are in my desk upstairs, along with those of my Dad who was not a great letter writer but we spoke daily from across the world. He knew all the family news; a call from Dad & I was up to date on everyone. 

 Their letters are in two very different letter holders I made  ... 

I kept travel journals & notes from trips to Africa - the books crammed with what people said, what ancestry info I gleaned from our conversations, shopping lists,  selling up a house & the possessions etc. They are all there to re-read & be transported back to that time, a time warp …

For at least a decade, I have kept a travel journal of my trips around Europe, some more comprehensive than others but it is interesting to reread the entries & to see how you viewed the people & places you visited. The best travel journals are bulging in their ribbons - full of maps, notes, bits of paper, entrance tickets, receipts, postcards, a pressed flower, a feather & more; all the things that caught your eye on the trip. For each person, the journal is different, personal, unique ... 

There is something very grounding about committing thoughts to paper, it engages the brain in a way that technology does not. My handwriting is not neat when I am rushed, as I often am on trips, but it is just for my benefit so I would rather write imperfectly than not at all. 

It is writing for yourself. 

This past birthday I was gifted 2 beautiful notebooks, a special candle in a gift set & a friend sent me some of her gorgeous hand painted notes from America. 

Another friend made a journal bag to carry books or a kindle in when travelling - they know me too well. 

They are all greatly appreciated as they inspire me to take more time to sit & write ... 

I sincerely hope that I am not alone in keeping notes, journals, diaries, records of things. Do tell if you do too .... 

As always, thank you for stopping by, my blog is in part a record of the things I enjoy in life .... 

Dee 📚📖🔖📘📒

Salzburg’s Cafe Tomaselli

I just have to share the charming Salzburg cafe life with you. Salzburg is such an elegant & charming city& I loved every second I spent there. It is a place that leaves you wanting more, to want to return to visit every single corner of it ...

While there with Ms M, my sister in law (family by marriage, friends from choice) treated me to a gorgeous afternoon coffee at the oldest coffee house in Salzburg. It was my wedding anniversary & she kindly treated me - how spoilt am I?

The Cafe Tomaselli in Salzburg is situated in the heart of the old town or Alter markt where it has been for the last 150 years.  It is an iconic cafe, visited by locals & visitors alike ...

The very elegant entrance ...

Some of the cakes are brought around in perspex containers to each table so you can select from those on display.

I choose the classic apple strudel which everyone must indulge in there.  We selected the coffee with  the Mozart liquor to go with it. The waiter helpfully told us to have a sip them pour the rest in to the coffee ...

Such a wonderful way to take coffee & cake ...

It is a very elegant cafe, busy with people who want to enjoy the surroundings.

Cafe Tomaselli since 1703, Ms M posing at the entrance ...

What a fabulous treat that was, a special coffee in a special place, very thoughtful of Ms M

Elegant horse carriages glide through the streets, a scene not changed in generations ...

I hope you have enjoyed this post as much as I enjoyed sharing it,  thank you for stopping by & spending time on my blog, 

Dee ~💕~

Salzburg, the home of the Sound of Music

Who else loves The Sound of Music? I grew up with that musical, I know the songs off by heart, the scenery makes my heart soar & so I was absolutely delighted to visit Salzburg & visit many of the places used in the film.

The statue in Residenzplatz square / Residence Square is seen in the film but unfortunately statues are covered up to protect them in winter so only the top is visible with the market all around it ... 

During their carriage ride through the city, Maria and the children sing as they pass the Residenz Fountain. Relatively recently, a patch of the original river-stone surface was revealed, prompting the city to overhaul the Residenzplatz completely.

The Summer Riding School / Felsenreitschule , seen in the final scenes of the film, it is where the singing competition is held & we see only the inside of the building ... 

The Felsenreitschule as Film Set For fans of the famous Hollywood blockbuster “The Sound of Music”, the Felsenreitschule is a must-see. It was on its historic stage that Maria, the captain and the children took part in a music competition and performed their folk songs. Immediately afterwards, they fled to Switzerland to escape Nazi persecution.

St Peter’s Monastery, Cemetery & Catacombs were founded in the 7th Century & they are one of the oldest & most beautiful cemeteries.   Sound of Music fans are familiar with them as the Van Trapp Family hide in them ... 

Mozart’s own sister Nannerl is buried amongst these graves, as are many artists, merchants, scholars, and famous people.

St. Peter’s and “The Sound of Music”

International guests know the cemetery and the catacombs as a famous backdrop for the Hollywood movie “The Sound of Music”. Pursued by the National Socialists, the Trapp family fled through St. Peter’s Cemetery, finding a secure hiding place in the dark rocky recesses before ultimately escaping safely to Switzerland.

Music at St. Peter’s

Mozart and Haydn both have close ties to St. Peter’s. In 1769, the thirteen-year-old Mozart composed his “Dominicus Mass” for the abbot, while just a few years later Michael Haydn was commissioned by the abbey to write his “Rupert Mass”. Today, the Baroque Hall at Stiftskeller St. Peter as well as the Romanesque Hall are regularly used for concert events including “Mozart Dinner Concerts”.

The Mirabell Palace and gardens across the river - Mirabell Gardens, along with the Felsenreitschule and Nonnberg Convent, is one of the most important shooting locations from the famous Hollywood musical “The Sound of Music”. In the film, Maria and the children dance around the Pegasus Fountain in front of the palace, singing the song “Do Re Mi”. At the end of the scene, the Trapp family stand on the steps in front of the Rose Hill and sing the song’s final bars. At the same time, viewers are enchanted by unique views across Mirabell Gardens towards the fortress.

The Nonnberg Priory lies a little above the city, not far from the Riding School, its red turrets just visible. Every morning at 6:45 am, the sound of the Nuns singing still waft across the city. 

Origins of the Convent

The early days of the convent are now shrouded in darkness. It is a fact that Emperor Henry II established a Romanesque basilica on the grounds of today’s convent at around the turn of the first millennium. In 1009, a Christian institution was consecrated to the Virgin Mother, making it the second oldest church in veneration of the Virgin Mary here in Salzburg. Erentrudis of Salzburg was the first abbess of the Benedictine convent, taking her own special place in history as the city’s patron saint. Her rock tomb is located in the crypt of St. Mary’s Church.

Nonnberg Convent as Hollywood Inspiration

The convent became famous internationally thanks to novice Maria von Kutschera. She was sent by her abbess as governess to widower Baron Georg Ritter von Trapp, for whom she was to take care of his children. Shortly thereafter, Maria married the baron, subsequently founding a family choir in the early 1930s. Her story served as inspiration for the world-famous Hollywood movie "The Sound of Music", continuing to captivate visitors from around the world to this very day.

I hope you are also a fan of The Sound of Music & that you have enjoyed this blog post. Leave me a comment so I know you have visited.

Dee ~💕~

Salzburg, the city of music ....

My hairdresser, Andrea is Austrian & she said Salzburg is her favourite Austrian city. She is from Vienna & having visited Vienna in the summer & loved it, I was surprised at her being so passionate about Salzburg.

However, they are two very different cities & I loved the compactness, age, history & stories of Salzburg.

It is naturally the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart & his name is everywhere ...

A statue to The Magic Flute - it is a lovely statue

 Mozartkugel - the name is a great selling point in Salzburg

Mozart’s birthplace He was born in 1756 at the Hagenauer Haus, no 9 Getreidegasse,  a small apartment on the third floor, not the whole building. The family lived there for 26 years. He only lived until the age of 35.  It has a constant stream of people outside as it contains a much visited museum too

Mozart knew the Catholic Cathedral well, originally built in AD 767, it was destroyed by a fire & rebuilt in 1598. 

A view over the square from the entrance to the Cathedral ...

The very impressive interior of the Cathedral with its elaborate dome ...

The traditional squares host Christmas markets & they attract great numbers of visitors to the City

The fortress dominates the hill above Salzburg 

Mozart presiding over a large square with a pop up ice rink well used by children

His history is entwined with that of his birthplace, he only lived for 35 years but what an impact he had on music.

Beautiful views of the river & life beyond the city centre

An interesting building over the river on the hill ...

Some bling, Austrian crystals ...

Salzburg personifies elegance & charm ...

Austrian crystals to bling up your Christmas ...

 Even the Christmas markets are elegant ...

The other important musical connection deserves its own blog post, so stop by again soon, 

Dee ~💕~