evening, and not much to do

 The day spent quietly after a lazy morning. Heating up things and eating them at midday. It was mainly potatoes that were heated up, half an hour until done, then consumed with butter and salt. This is not really a meal, but it is alright. There will be no complaints. The morning was quiet.

It was so quiet that it has become difficult to remember which day it is. Breakfast was poached eggs on toast and coffee.

Tidied up the table in the shop, and found the missing part for the lens holder. This was no more than a tiny brass ring of a defined thickness. This was a lucky find and illustrated the advantages of keeping things tidy.

The day was just spent doing small errands around the house. The plants in the back yard received another watering, and they appear to be thriving.

Walk to a different store to buy potatoes and a toothbrush. It was an interesting walk, and the store is very much more expensive than the usual one.

Now it is evening, and there is not much to do.

strange

 A strange day spent speculating in the morning, trying to get things into some kind of order. Read the news, and establish that there is no great order there. Wordle has the word Bliss as its solution, that is just not fitting. Water the plants and the trees in the back yard. Then make the decision to go to the building suppliers and to buy the plain work table seen there upon the last visit to the place. Go there, get the table and get out as soon as possible. The speakers in the building are playing some nonsensical Michael Jackson melody.

Take the table home and assemble the structure. It is not great, but it will serve. A woman comes into the shop looking for the tenant before last. She is a translator and plays in a jazz band. Offer to help her out with the printing of a few pages, but it turns out that she has forgotten the thumb drive upon which the documents are stored. To bad, so sad.

Make a plate of boiled potatoes, they are still good. The package of tubers bought last week is now been consumed.

In the evening visit the artist in his studio, he is unwell. He and his companion both have a lung infection which is sapping their strength. He has still decided to go out and to do some work.

Drink a few beers in his company, and now it is one minute past midnight

the cat and I

 Up far too early and had a shower, trying to kick start the rest of this life. Maybe an exaggeration, but that was the thought behind it. Made a sort of breakfast afterwards downstairs.

At the same place now, drinking cold beer from a bottle.

The day was spent searching for a house for a friend in the morning, it was not far away, and then going to the opticians to have the eyes checked for flaws. The flaws, or the account thereof will be sent on per email. It is probably  just a further way to make money.

Then buy some coffee, and have a cup in the café. Go home with the coffee in its little bag,  It smells marvelous. A scent of comfort and luxury.

Take the car to the big hardware store to buy some paint and to check, against hope, to see if it is possible to buy a miniature hex screwdriver there. There is a very helpful assistant, a man who has a passion for model railways. He helps, and is friendly.

Buy the small can of wax oil to finish the floor in the shops back room.

Back at home take the bad copy of the pictures to the artist's studio and compare them to the original that the customer had wanted. They are the same pictures, and the printing quality is good enough. In the studio relax for a while, and write a message to the girlfriend of long ago. She writes back. Walk back through the park, now flooded with people celebrating the springtime.

At home again, scout the floor with steel wool in preparation of the next coat of wax oil. Apply the oil with a small roller. When it is done, close the door. That will take a week to harden, and then it will be possible to use the room.

Go upstairs to the bedroom, take a rest. fall asleep in the evening sun.

Now it is an hour before midnight, and we are downstairs again, the cat and this person here, and now this post will be posted

no throw

 The party last night was a success even though the host and his companion were ill. There were many people there. 

There was the sale of one picture, that was very nice.

This morning, a longer sleep, and then the realisation that nothing is changing, and slowly but surely there is a sensation that the walls are closing in. It is just a sensation, one of tightness and tiredness and a lack of progress. It is not pleasant. Take a walk using the long way round to go to the studio in order to clean up. When there realise that there is no one else there. Telephone with the artist to see if everything is in order. Hear that it is so, the man has a very nasty cough.

Start to clear up, collect all of the dirty glasses, and start to wash them in the sink.

Then people start to arrive, one by one. They all do something, and in the end everything is done.

After a cup of coffee, go home.

The printer produces disappointing results, finally it will be necessary to accept that the one printer is entirely broken. This is saddening.

Eat the potato salad left over from the party.

Feel better after that. It was a good idea to take the leftover salad home and not to throw it away.

party tonight

 The train arrived at ten past ten, and so there was plenty of time to have breakfast and to shower and shave. Took the car to the railway station so that the baggage would have a place to stay. It was no long way to the artists studio, and there was a parking spot available right in front of it too. That was very comfortable indeed. Open the door to the studio and show the friend from Berlin the sculptures. She was interested, and had a few smart comments to make. The son arrived, and she spent plenty of time chatting to him, which was all fine.

The next stop was in the old town, and a cup of coffee in the local café. That was nice. There was talk, and the son was talkative, and that was the end of the next two hours.

Then she was taken back to the train, and goodbyes were said on the platform.

The afternoon was spent trying to source parts for a camera. Such parts are not easy to find, things are always too big or too small in one direction or the other.

There will be a party in the artist's studio tonight.

no chance

 There was no chance of early bed yesterday, things had to be done and setup and so forth.

Tomorrow morning there will be a meeting at the railway station with an old friend..

Today started with painting a floor at midday and a long afternoon rest after a visit to the studio to hang the pictures. All is well now.

Except that the neighbour of the son in Bayreuth died of the injuries sustaining after a fire broke out in his flat last weekend. The son bought a bunch of red roses for the memorial.  

Off to the studio again now, it is an escape of sorts.

bed early today.

 Why was today miserable when it should not have been? Things worked out, and yet the misery stayed. Now it is evening, the floor in the extra room has been cleaned, the film has been made, and a surprise package was received in the mail with a pair of woolly socks in it. That was nice. 

So why on earth are things miserable.

Who knows, it all went well. Even the cat received a surprise meal of a saucy soupy kind of cat food.

The wife was away all day, and left a mess behind her. The depressions are closing in from all sides, and yet there is nothing to complain about.

Spaghetti and sauce is not really possible on a single hotplate, so it was just spaghetti and butter.

At least it was filling.

It will be a case of going to bed early today.

back and forth

 An active day, up in the morning, took the pills and worked at arranging the internal rumouring in the head. Took the pills, all five. Two of them are vitamins, one has to to do with hydraulic management and two to keep the blood pressure at an acceptable level.

Wash them down with a strong cup of espresso.

Take the car to collect the cameras from the artists studio. The car is covered in reddish-brown dust, perhaps it is pollen, or perhaps there has been some building demolition going on in the neighbourhood. Drive to the car wash first. They used to supply pressure washes and brushes, now it is all rather fancy with wax and foam and stuff. Follow the instructions on the machine, and walk around the car hosing it down. The whole business costs rather more than it used to.

Then drive on to the artists studio, and find the door open. The author is playing the saxophone inside. Walk in and take the cameras out. The man does not notice a thing. Anybody could walk in and take out anything whilst he is playing.

Oh well, that is the way the things are here.

Wait and chat with him, and then leave.

Attend to the shopping on the way home.

At home, just potter about, then go to the small hardware store to buy some steel wool. It is for cleaning the wooden floor. Return home and try it out. It works, but the grade that was available in the shop was too fine.

In the afternoon return to the studio. Have a chat and eat cake. In the early afternoon the pictures for the film are made. Then there are a few things to tidy away, and then the artist and his friend give a lift home in the rain.

It is raining now, it is thirty five minutes to midnight, and all the rubbish has been taken out and left in front of the door for tomorrows collection.

tired

 The day started early with birdsong and warmth. Summer is better, no matter what people say or do. Shave and shower, then check up on the things downstairs. 

Make a small breakfast.

There are problems with ttihe software needed to operate the big printer, it is remarkably hard to get things that have been paid for to work. There is suspicion everywhere, it is just difficult. They had a perfectly good system with dongles once, now nothing seems to work properly any more.

This is too bad.

At midday leave the building and spend the whole of the afternoon taking pictures of small wooded figures. In the evening, chat with the artist, and listen to the participants in the studio discuss the upcoming party. It will become necessary to remove the photographic gear from the studio, it would disturb the party.

In the evening go home tired, it is not particularly late, but still,  tired.

days end

 The morning was slow, almost usual now. But at least resting with the windows open and listening to the sounds of the birds is nice. The fresh air is good too. After getting up cover the bedclothes in their casings, all of these things now being thoroughly dry.

Breakfast downstairs, toast and poached eggs and perhaps too much strong coffee. It is all worth getting up for. Look over yesterdays pictures again, they are not all bad. That is satisfactory.

Read about the death of the pope. Remember with admiration that he did his work to the very end.

At midday go to the artist's studio. On the way meet the egomaniac drummer, who is concerned that nobody wants his company. This is a shame, but it is true that if you talk badly about everybody behind their backs at some stage everybody will know. It is not such a large town.

At the artists studio take pictures of ten more figures. The going is slow, it is all very troublesome.

And now it is threes minutes to ten in the evening and this is the day's end.

Look forward to sleeping with fresh covers on the bedclothes.

furniture

 It is Easter Sunday morning, woke up late after a chilly night under the freshly washed bedclothes. Some of them were not dry by bedtime and could therefore not be used.

But the weather is splendid. Make breakfast in the shop, and then go to the Argentine's place and ring the bell. The slightly infirm man  cannot transport his shelving units from the balcony where they are currently stored to the sitting room where they belong.

Pick up the one unit and carry it in to the living room. At that point notice that there is damage on the rear part of the unit. There are no screws to be found in the Argentines flat, so return home to get the necessary bits and pieces.

After that, the job does not take long at all.

Help the man take a few packages to the cellar, and repair the padlock on the door to his compartment there, All it needs is shaking, then it works again. Afterwards, put a few more shelves into the shelving unit, and leave.

Return to the house, and make a cup of coffee in the shop. It is the good coffee from the coffee shop, and it is lovely.

and that is very good

First things first this morning, throw the bedclothes on the floor and take down their covers. They all need to be washed. Take them down to the bathroom and discover that only one bedcover will fit into the machine at a time. This does not matter, There is  plenty of time to run the machine three times. 

It is so quiet in the house, perhaps the wife has gone to her parents place for Easter. That would be a pleasant break from the permanent silent accusation. She has left a plateful of dried food for the cat. The cat does not seem to think very much of dried cat food.

Fill the machine  with the bedclothes, leave the remainder on top of the machine.

Have a cup of breakfast coffee after that, and then walk over to the supermarket to get some groceries. On the way two police cars pass in a great hurry with their blue flashing lights on but without their sirens sounding. At the traffic lights they both go separate ways and start sounding their Martins horns. This is probably some strategy.

Buy some groceries in the shop and then return home.

Feed the cat again,  and note that there are no plastic refuse bags in the kitchen.

Go upstairs and take a rest.

And the day goes on, the machine finishes washing so put the bedclothes into the dryer and the next duvet into the machine. Altogether there are three.

And then go on to the gallery meeting.

Leave it early, and then go to the artists studio. Make a test with the camera, and return home to evaluate this on the computer.

It is not as bad as feared, that is very good.

No way, none at all.

 now it is a quarter to nine and eight hours have been spent taking pictures of tiny figures. Each one needs individual adjustment, individual lighting, and it is all a lot of work.

The morning was a disaster, it was hard to get up. All the joints hurt, as do the knees. Maybe it is simply  getting older, approaching seventy faster and faster, and moving ever more slowly through the days and months.

People are texting all kinds of requests, and things are getting difficult. Meet the two artists that effectively stopped the exhibition, and remain polite and distant. It is not easy.

And in the afternoon, spend all day in the artists studio, making photographs of figurines.

And then people text saying that they want to go out.

No way, none at all.

no real pleasure

 The day started with all its usual doubts, really, why bother at all. Take a shower, have a downstairs breakfast. It is all just a little bit bitter.

The coffee is deliciously bitter, there is nothing wrong with that. 

In the late morning go to the studio and take a few more pictures. Not very many, but enough to check up on the faults found last night.  Tidy up and then return home.

Make a late midday meal of some hot potatoes, this is pleasant. Test the efficacy of scrubbing on a piece of wooden floor, it will be shown if the special wood cleaner is effective or not.

And now the cat has just jumped up onto the knees, only to jump back down again after a short while.

In half an hour there will be a meeting with friends to go to the cinema There will be a film about a jury and a juror,

There is no real pleasure in any kind of movement at the moment.

 The day went on and on, the highlight being out to have a cup of coffee with the son

The post was much longer, and it failed to publish

relax

 it is twenty to midnight and the pub is quietening down  towards a midnight closing time. The day started early with a nice breakfast in the shop. Time was spent at the artists studio taking pictures of the tiny sculptures until exhaustion set in. Home, work on the pictures, frame them  and correct them with that editing software. 

Talk to the son, congratulate him pn the repair of another ancient computer. Be ignored , pointedly, by the wife.

Marriage had turned out really badly.

Go to the pub

Relax in company

 

tiny wooden figures

 A slow day with boredom on the one hand and work on the other.

It is now eleven in the evening, there is not so much to say about the course of the day, the components of which have all occurred on some of the other days of this account. There was some shopping, also the purchase of a large bottle of distilled water. Charge the printer with the destilled water, there is always the chance that it may work at some time later on, and the water will harm it less than drying out would.

Buy some cat food, the cat was most disturbed today because of a complete lack of attention from its owners. 

At one in the afternoon the son gives his father a fright by sneaking up on him. Oh well, that is how it goes. It is nice to see him in good spirits.

The cat explored the shop again today, it was possible to prevent it escaping onto the street through an open window.

Spent the later afternoon and evening in the artists studio taking pictures of tiny wooden figures.

white paint

 Had breakfast downstairs, and then painted the  side room of the shop. It has a lot of all space with its high ceilings, and it took time. It was several hours work.

Afterwards, have a break, and then tidy up things superficially. Remember to remove the masking tapes before the paint dries, to prevent tears in the surface.

Then replace all of the sockets,, and then leave the house. Walk down to the artist's place to take a few more pictures of the small sculptures. There are so many of them, and partly they are very tricky to take pictures of.

There are another thirty five to go now.

Return home with the artist, and sit around for a bit.

Perhaps it will be good to go to the pub now.

sense of duty

 Awoke, and reflected that today being Saturday it would be a nice thing to remain in bed. Enjoyed said nice feeling for an hour and then the bad conscience threw the bedclothes on the floor and forced a shower, then got dressed and made the bed. It was just guilt, there was no real reason there at all.

Downstairs, in the shop, make breakfast, make toast, have some coffee, that is all in order. The coffee is from that bag of the cheap stuff, it is not good. But it is warm and bitter.

Test a few things and talk to the son. He is sensitive about many things, it is not always easy. He agrees to help with the installation of a router. That is kind of him. The wife has gone off somewhere on her bicycle, she has no need of her husband.

Go to the main street, to the coffee shop, and buy a quarter pound of the good espresso coffee. That will last for the next few days.

Spend the afternoon with the artist, he is discussing the ability to  set up barriers and divides in his studio. Go to the building suppliers with him, and spend some time looking at the available gadgets. Decide that a visit to the more professional builders suppliers will be necessary on Monday.

There is a constant feeling of stress, and yet the day is balmy.

There is no great future in many things. Go home, and eat the Kebap that the artist had given as a treat.

It will be necessary to visit the Argentine later on in the local pub.  There is no great wish to do this now, but there is a sense of duty.

20

 It is four minutes to midnight#,

It is time to go to bed.

The day was spent taking pictures of tiny wooden sculptures.

Hard to focus

Now it is time for bed.

People came to disturb, 

twenty pieces done in one day.

the way it is

 The day spent quietly, walked to the artists studio and started to set up the equipment for a further set of pictures.

Things are quiet. On the way to the studio drop by the café, and see there! the scarf that was missing yesterday is hanging on their coat rack. That is nice.

At the studio set up the system anew. The last set of pictures was not entirely satisfactory, now try again. The problem is regulating the brightness of the background.

Work away all day, and go home in the evening.

That may be the way it should be.

and refused

 For one they accept, now they refuse. The ceramists see the photographs of the work of the artist as being too competitive which is a compliment of sorts. But that is the end of the exhibition at Hörlkam, that was not professional. It is a showcase, not a show. The offer to accept the landscapes but not the other things is not really useful.

too bad, quite disappointing.

The day has been spent trying to revitalise the printer. It will not allow itself to be revitalised by simple means. It is good that the other printer is there.

Wander about town, but this is all really unsatisfactory.

The son comes down and  helps to set up the computer.

Boil a pot of potatoes for an evening meal. Potatoes with avocado sauce, why not.

In the evening went to the pub and discussed the pictures for the exhibition there. This all went well, it was unproblematic really. Drank a second glass of beer and tried to solve a three dimensional puzzle.

Gave that up, and went home.

accepted

 twenty five past eleven now the day is gone. The morning was spent with a bit of shopping, the afternoon was spent at the ceramic artist's place planning the hanging of the next exhibition and the evening was spent at the artists studio discussing the prices for the pictures and showing the prints for the exhibition in Hörlkam and receiving praise for them. That is nice. 

Then go home. Write these notes.

The car will need petrol and the printer will need paper.

It is all complicated and troublesome.

But the pictures have been accepted.

They have been accepted by all of the artists.

explain

 spent the morning preparing pictures, and in the early evening realised that the person who ran the pub would not be keeping his appointment.

hat is too bad, so sad, but typical of this town. Much talk snd everything left to somebody else.

Sit on the pub now, much too early and write these notes on the 'phone. This is exercise for the thumbsWatch a wiLdly gesticulating young woman trying

to explain some complex thing to a young man.

quiet

 Today spend the morning in the shop, thete is a surprise visit by the ceramic artisy couple. It is very pleasant to have visitors, They look around, and seem happy. Now there is an appointment for Tuesday afternoon..

Pack up the things and make way to the artists Studio.Set things up there and spend the whole afternoon taking pictures.

be driven home by the artist, this is a great comfort. Go to the pub later, it is Sunday pleasant

frustrate

 It will be ten in the evening soon. The early part of the day was spent taping plastic over windows to shield them from the spray from the paint brush and the roller when  the room is painted for the second time. It is work in preparation, in the hope that it will save work later.

On the way to the artist*s studio meet up with the librarian. He is angry about the populistic politics that are so popular now. We talk in the park for around half an hour.

At the studio there is a couple doing work on the kitchen. They are very busy and very particular. 

Spend the afternoon trying to establish the limitations of the lens. It is not easy work. Certain structural things are missing, they have not been delivered as promised. This leaves sketchily propped up cardboard falling into the little set with the figurines in it .

It is just a wast of time. Do A series of exposure tests and then, after several hours of frustrating work, decide  to call it a day.

Hae a bottle of beer, why not.

pictures

 It is half past midnight now and the friends have left me at the door. They stepped in to have a look at a few pictures, then they left, both on one bicycle.

The day was busy enough, there was the upstairs bathroom to be cleaned and other work to be done in thehe house. Because the son is expecting visitors, the wife is cleaning her mess in the living room. This is the first time in well over a year that these things have been done.

Not to be outdone, clean up the bathroom.

Buy some momentously cheap cloth in a shop at the corner and take it to the artist's studio. It works well as a light blockage, keeping the daylight off the small stage where all the figurines are to have their pictures taken.

Lie down on the couch, and sleep for half an hour inside the studio. Then make a telephone call and realise that the opening of the exhibition at the gallery is forgotten. Hurry to lock up the studio and to make the way to the gallery. The show there is in full swing, the place is packed. It is difficult to look at the pictures for all the people. There are so many people making intelligent comments.

The room is full of people in the know.

The artist turns up, have a longer conversation with him, afterwards go to a local place and have a pizza with the artist and his friend. She is a very pleasant person.

By the time the food is eaten, the drinks drunk and the bill paid it is midnight. The artist and his friend wheel her bicycle and keep company up to the house. They step in to look at a few pictures

misplaced

 Today is the third of April, and all is well. The day started with some major disorientation, but things are better now. After cleaning the stairwell and sweeping up a few things walked to the artists studio and set up the equipment ready to take the pictures of the wooden figurines. It was easy and relaxed in the studio, setting up the light and then the camera. There was the exposure to be checked, this all went quite well.
Then the son telephoned, he was unable to find a small tool which he needed to set up his network properly There was no way to help him, he was the person who had used it last. Tidied evrything up, covered the setup with a blanket, and walked back to the town centre.

Bought some black card in order to be able to model the light around the figurines better, to increase their plasticity. Then walked on home.

Found a small connector on the floor where the son had forgotten it. Took it upstairs and left it on the table for him to find.

Then went out again to do some shopping, to get some food in. Find out that there is a toaster on offer at a very low price. There had been no intention to really buy one, but it is nice to have a downstairs toaster to complement the coffee machine.

Meet the son on the way to the shops. He is in good humour, he had found his gadget. He had put it down whilst replacing the crockery in the shelving. It was in there in the cupboard beside the plates. All was well that ended well.

Stop at the coffee shop to buy another quarter pound of that excellent ground coffee.

The people there were in a hurry, they were closing for the day.

Go back home and start to write these notes.

disgrace

 apart from driving the camera and tripods to the artists studio, had a relatively easy day of it. Because of the late night last night woke up late this morning.

It really was most pleasant to wake up to the birdsong so loud thought the open door to the balcony. The weather is getting warmer again.

The day was so quiet.

The son successfully cleaned up a room.

This is a first.

He wants to hold a party and is worried that he will be a disgrace before his friends. But perhaps he will develop a taste for tidy rooms.

a quarter of a pound of fresh ground coffee

 The first thing after putting on clothes and showering is to go to the doctor, the urologist. He prescribes a pill to be taken to control incontinence. How nice of him to use that awful I - word so freely. Go to the café to have a coffee and a bite to eat. It is frustrating, the doctor is just fast.

Return home to set up the printing software. This is actually a measuring software, a good thing if it works. At first it did not work, until a missing connection was found. Then it worked like a charm, it was just that a single feature appeared to be missing. Perhaps this had to do with it being trial software. Write a note to the supplier asking whether the software would be absolutely fulyl featured  when the licence money was paid.

Buy some coffee at a coffee suppliers on the main street. Just buy a very tiny quantity of their freshly ground "barista espresso". It did not cost much, and upon trying it at home, established that it was really very nice.

Prepare all the cameras for the work starting in the artist's studio tomorrow.

Talk to the son, but he is seriously involved in preparations for his Lan Party. This is something for young computer afficionados.

It is a bit lonely in the rooms that should be a shop or a gallery.

Prepare the back room for its second coat of paint.