• Miscellaneous

    All Souls’ Day

    Every November, 2 we celebrate All Souls’ Day here in the Czech Republic. On the one hand it is a Christian feast when a church prays for the faithfully deceased, on the other hand it is a day when many people regardless of their faith come to cemeteries, clean and decorate for winter their family tombs and also light a candle in memory of those buried there. It’s a beautiful tradition and I always like to see so many candles lit at the same time and expressing all the memories and prayers. As much as I like that tradition and tried several times to capture the atmosphere, I’ve never liked…

  • Miscellaneous

    Bee house impression

    Do you like honey? And do you appreciate knowledgeable local beekeepers? I do, so when Lenka, a colleague of mine, invited me to participate in the 1st year of “Honey days” planned to be held in their family bee house, I was looking forward to that occasion. And I was not disappointed at all when the day arrived as I got to know a lot about how bees are cared for, how the honey is made and collected, and what are the rules of proper beekeeping. Moreover, the weather was fine and the atmosphere of the  excursion was very friendly and kind. One usually sees just a few beehives together…

  • Miscellaneous

    Using Trello for learning vocabulary

    Do you know Trello? It is an online board system for planning and organising that can be used by individuals, teams or whole companies, you can read everything about it on Trello’s website HERE. After a colleague of mine had told me about its existence a few months ago, I created my first board and it occurred to me that I could use the system also for learning foreign vocabulary. I created a new board for that purpose and here is how it works for me. (Sorry for the lower quality of the print-screen images.) In a nutshell, a Trello board is a set of columns with cards which you…

  • Miscellaneous

    Merry Christmas

    I thought I would not create any Christmas post this year but here I am as I could not resist the tugging of the moment. I find the Christmas card I’ve created this time to be soft and peaceful and playful and those characteristics reflect both my feelings and my wishes to you. Enjoy the Christmas time in a peaceful and relaxed way and get all the energy it offers. MERRY CHRISTMAS!

  • Miscellaneous

    Castle art

    In June, my hubby and I visited the Kašperk castle. We decided to participate in a guided tour to see the insides of the castle once again and to listen to the history of the place. During the tour, I noticed in an inner yard that several of window openings were covered with boards featuring drawings of coats of arms. The drawings were attracting my attention more than the history so instead of listening to our guide I was taking their photos with the aim of processing them somehow back at home. The coats of arms don’t seem real although the “leaves” on the sides resemble a similar decoration in the…

  • Miscellaneous

    Heart-related

    Valentine’s Day is a feast imported to the Czech Republic especially based on commercial reasons and is not celebrated by many. At least I don’t know anyone in my circle of family, friends, acquaintances and colleagues who would celebrate it… There is no local tradition connected with it and also, romance doesn’t seem to be a popular word here, rather something to sneer at. I don’t celebrate Valentine’s Day either but it inspired me yesterday when I was thinking about a topic for a post. Here are a few heart-related photos I took on various occasions and haven’t shared yet. No. 1: Window This is a detail of a little…

  • Miscellaneous

    My bullet journaling adventure continues

    Have you ever heard of bullet journaling? To put it in a nutshell, bullet journaling is a way of keeping one’s events and tasks organised. It uses a bullet journal, which is a self-made planner. It can be more or less creative, full of drawings and colours or based just on simple notes. It has its rules but they are adaptable, you decide which apply and which need to be changed. I started my bullet journaling adventure almost two years ago in February 2016 and I’m here today to tell you I still keep a journal and adapt it to my needs. If you compared how my bullet journal looks…

  • Miscellaneous

    Christmas wishes

    Christmas will be here in just a few days so before you become absorbed in final preparations and Christmas festivities, I’d like to wish you Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. When I was looking for some wise words to share with you on this special occasion, I came across the following quote by the comedian Demetri Martin. It made me laugh and feel the mirth and I thought, why not something funny for a change? Here it goes: “I set a personal record on Christmas. I got my shopping done three weeks ahead of time. I had all the presents back at my apartment. I was halfway through wrapping them,…

  • Miscellaneous

    Tightrope walking

    “The secret to life is finding the right balance to everything you do…” Last year I visited the castle Kost with my family and at that particular weekend, the castle hosted an event including several performances, one of them tightrope walking. High above the court a rope was tightened and a few performers made their way to the other end of the rope and back. With my camera, I tried to capture the moments I loved best and here are some of them. I love the S shape of the body of the man captured in the photo above, the figure dressed in the trousers resembling a skirt somehow makes…

  • Miscellaneous

    Planning and scheduling

    Do you like when life is somewhat chaotic or do you rather prefer planning and scheduling? As for me, I stay on the planning side of the fence most of the time, I like when things work as I expect. Planning helps me to get organised, to meet deadlines, to capture my ideas, and it motivates my creativity. It focuses my thoughts and activities in the right direction. I like to visualise the planning to see at a glance the condition of my plans so from time to time I create various tables to get there. To inspire you, I’d like to show you one of the tables today, a simple…