Legends of the Sun Pig

I got rid of another “bookcase” from my study today. “Bookcase” in quotation marks, because it had been storing stationery, files, and assorted office debris rather than books. The beautiful chair I bought a couple of months ago I ended up moving downstairs into the library corner of the living room, because the study was feeling too crowded with it in place. I’m trying to find the right balance between more space (which is nice) and really nice stuff (which is also nice).

I took the new camera with me on my trip to drop off another load of stuff at the Kringloopwinkel. I had though to take some pictures of the Kissing Couple XXXL statue from across the water, but they were too far away, and the air was too hazy. But just as I was about to turn back to the car. I noticed that I had been standing just five meters away from a perfectly still heron. It was intent on watching the water, and it let me get a little closer to take some shots of it instead.

Daily self-care checklist:

• Sleep: excellent. Fiona’s school had an inset day, and I was able to sleep late to 09:30.
• Bass: no
• Walk: yes, about 2km in bits and pieces on the way to the Sugar Factory with Fiona to see an Emma Blackery gig
• Photography: heron, and lots of pics at the gig, most of which are underexposed and out of focus. Some of them have great potential, though, but I need some more time to select the best and clean them up.
• Snacks: kruidnoten again

It’s been a day of tidying and sorting through old stuffs.

Daily self-care checklist:

• Sleep: poor and too short, but I had a nap later in the morning
• Walk: 2km to the shops and back, to drop off a parcel
• Photography: Just a couple of shots indoors
• Bass: no
• Snacks: kruidnoten

Abi and I went plane-spotting-spotting today. Schiphol has numerous spotting sites dotted around its six (!) runways. I figure they’ll give me some good sites for taking pics with the new camera, but I wanted to take a look at them first and get a feel for what kind of conditions they’d work best in. The big official spotters site is to the west of the Polderbaan, for example, so sunrise will be behind planes taking off.

We had a look at a few sites. The main ones are well placed and have amenities. The Polderbaan was busy, and there was an ice cream van and a food truck catering to at least a hundred sightseers and photographers; the site at the Buitenveldertbaan is at a McDonalds. We watched a few planes take off from the Polderbaan, and had a milkshake and a coffee at Buitenveldert.

Daily self-care checklist:

• Sleep: good
• Walk: weeeellll, I got out of the house, and we wandered a few hundred meters in the outskirts of Hoofddorp so I’ll go with a maybe.
• Photography: yep
• Bass: yes
• Snacks: Madame Cocos dark chocolate coconut ball, and a pile of kruidnoten that Alex’s gaming buddies left behind.

Daily self-care checklist:

• Good sleep: yes
• Walk: yes, 1.5h minimal Twiske loop with frequent stops for photos
• Photography: see above
• Bass: no
• Snacks: 1/2 koffiebroodje and one Madame Cocos coconut ball

I took better photos today, but they were for private use. I met up with Phil and Hilary Roberts in the morning. We went out for a delicious brunch at Little Collins, and spent most of the afternoon wandering around Amsterdam in the warmth of a brilliant autumn day.

Daily self-care checklist:

• Walk: lots
• Photography: lots
• Bass: no
• Snacks: packet of peanut M&Ms on the metro back with Fiona, and a dark chocolate coconut ball from Madame Cocos (Vendor at the Albert Cuyp markt. I’ve had them before, from a vendor at the embassy festival in Den Haag last year. They’re amazing.)