Day 344-345 Animal Farmers and Music School Cleaners

I spent the last couple of days helping out on the small family farm. Nothing has changed our relationship. Not even 12 years abroad, living in a cosmopolitan capital of 9 million. The strong smell of manure over 30 Celsius is the same and the heavy dust of hay whilst feeding the animals grabs my arms the same way as it did many years ago. The beauty of life is the ability to never forget where we come from wherever life takes us. I remember the embarrassment when I started my A-levels and I was the only person whose parents worked on a small farm. The boy in the class in front of me giggled as he turned his head back and whispered: ‘Animal Farmers’ with a smirk. As a teenager I did find it difficult to be put in a ‘farmer’s-daughter-box’, which meant at that time: not intelligent enough to achieve anything else. I only got to know years later, that his mum was a cleaner in the music school. And I had nothing to be ashamed of. No smirks and no boxes. And boxes are there to step out from. Also, little did I know how much those skills I learnt at home about animal breeding and working the land would mean during our research trip to Mozambique in 2007. And how much, those skills keep me in a unique position to be able to understand the importance of sustainability once I started MA. Sustainability all starts on the land and in the barn. Everything else, all the theories only comes second. I take my hat off in front of farmers. It is hard labour 24/7. I need to go, the cows and calves are waiting for their evening feed.

Day 343 Kitchen Victory

Kitchen is done!!! There is light at the end of the tunnel!!! I almost forgot how big it is without all the boxes. Olympics medal news for Hungary: Csernoviczky Eva women’s 48kg judo BRONZE, Ungvari Miklos men’s 66kg Judo SILVER, Szilagyi Aron men’s individual sabre GOLD medal. This is amazing, a small country with great sports men and women 

Day 342 Via Compassion or The Road of Order

Heat, heat, heat! I chose the hottest part of the day to move the majority of the stuff I planned for today. I was determined to watch everything I could of the Olympics during the remaining time and read friends’ updates from London on Facebook. Many of them have tickets. It wasn’t certain yet, that I was going to move when the first round of the tickets came out, but I must have had a sense not to apply as I packed up and moved home before it all started. Many people asked why I wasn’t staying for such an amazing event. I can watch live on TV everything involved Hungarians. I would have never been able to do that in London. I would be running around working. Good news: we are going to have the first strategic meeting about Vondores and Glocal Trinnovation with Angela, discussing the research versus business next Saturday. How exciting!!! After a minor melt down yesterday evening, the music room is finally done. I never ever want to move again. I can’t wait to get The House with The Garden in order. Every time I go to the studio and the kitchen I get stressed. Since ‘The Great Sorting’ in 2010 I can’t stand mass. I don’t mind other people’s mass around me, but my stuff has to be in order. I am actually very compassionate about others’ mass as I know how it is like, when tidying is the last thing on the to-do list.

Day 341 The Olympics

I have ordered the digital piano and watching the opening ceremony of the Olympics. London 2012 yay!

Day 340 Tiptoeing on the Land of Undiscovered Digital Pianos

I just spent the last 4 hours surfing the net for a digital piano. Decisions, decisions, budgeted decisions, which make it easier at the end. I found my dream one: a Kurzweil MP10 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtH7exgBMSI). But more likely I am going to buy a Hemingway or a Thomann to learn and will see if there will be a need, will and last but not least enough disposable income in about a decade to upgrade. Of course, I haven’t finished preparing the music room in the library, which was originally the hall with the staircase. The kitchen used to be a garage turned into a hairdressing saloon and converted into a hall, dining room and kitchen in this very order by myself. Plus a pantry on a shelf. And the original hairdressing saloon became the living room and now eagerly waiting for the noble title of Atelier Vondores. Yes, yes, yes!

Day 339 Atelier Vondores

Finally rain is showering The Garden. I am sitting under the rigid pergola and watching the trees as they reach out with their ballerina branches to the raindrops. They are dressing their leaves in that luxurious, see through organza from the life-giving mills of the greyish clouds above. The air is fresh and somewhat heavy at the same time with all the body odours of the plants and the earth. I love this smell. How much I missed this in London! It is full of that imaginable fragrance and great sensuality of Eden: the innocence of living creatures. Everything is gray around me, but the idea of peace in this grayness is priceless. Upstairs is done! It took 4 days, but this morning when I woke up and looked around I knew all the space is going to have the best use during my stay. I start on downstairs in a couple of hours. That will take at least a week and the majority of time will be spent on the studio. From now on I am going to refer to it as Atelier Vondores :-) This is how I’ve been calling it for a long time anyway. It is time to go ‘public’ with it :-) I need to do some scathes for ‘The Suits of The Wharfiors’. Am having some thought about sleeves and collars!

Day 338 Old Habits never Die

Or The Idea Behind Changing The Self and The Truth Behind The Self Itslef. 6am. I’ve already been awake for about half an hour and had my morning coffee from the cafetiere I brought back from England. This is one of those delicatessen-gadgets I wouldn’t be able to buy in Hungary. We are a nation of freshly brewed strong espressos, flying off the stoves in old fashioned café makers. There is no coffee tasting like that. Cafetiere is more of a posher version as far as I am concerned. I moved the furniture around upstairs yesterday. That says all about my rest and my old habits. It is time to admit, I am not a kind of person who easily rest, but the prospect of doing nothing for a while can carry me through many hours spent with work, work, work. I brought two bamboo chairs up, moved the tv and the rooter and praise God they are both still working even though I had to unplug everything and untangle all the cables. Now, there is a small section of a seating area (second living room) up here where I can translate the book and do the blogging and all sorts of writing in the morning by the rising sun. After lunch I move downstairs to the studio and get started on the design and making. I am still deciding if I should extend and prototype the clothes first I wrote in the book: Perfectly Imperfect World or concentrate on the collections to jot down on paper I have in mind for Vondores. Decisions, decisions. Most likely the latter is the wise choice and leave the first one to the time of publishing. There is plenty time to make a final decision, as I need at least other 2 weeks to organise The House including the studio. Upstairs is already the 3rd day in and this is the smaller part. The Garden is also crying for some tender loving care. But that is an evening job an hour here and there. Living away had painted a shadow over the incredible blessings of The House with The Garden for over a decade. But now first time in my adult life I finally feel at home. I am content. Listening the birds’ singing and breathing in the fresh morning air, I am indeed happy.

Day 337 First Sunday

Of course, there is no routine yet. How could it be when this is the first one? In the morning I was planning to clear the top of the desk, but later on I decided to put my clothes away upstairs. That took less time and brought an instant feeling of satisfaction. I need to make a decision how I am going to organise the studio. I can’t really start clearing before that, otherwise I might end up moving things multiple times. The desk needs to go in front of the big window that is for sure. The big 3 door wardrobe, I am planning to keep all my fabrics and haberdashery in should go behind the door or by the wall next to the big windows. Then I need to put the piano in the library because of the fibre dust. Well, first I have to buy the piano before I can put it anywhere to be honest. We had a family Sunday lunch and I missed out on church. I have to make sure I listen to the sermon from SPS online http://www.facebook.com/groups/230760660340746/

Day 328-336 Sweet Sweet Home

I had the busiest 8 days of the year so far. I slept an average of 4 hours per night and worked about 18 a day. Every day I intended to write the blog even if it was just a sentence, but by the time I opened Word, I was fast asleep. 14th July: finished the ‘The Wonders on the Land of Lace and Wood Wedding Dress’. It looked just amazingly stunning on the bride. I made matching decoration to her shoes and bouquet. My stuff was picked up and taken to Hungary. 15th July: Last service at SPS with many say goodbyes. Mum arrived in the afternoon. How wonderful. 16th July: Making and fitting a toile for a lovely client. Baking cakes until 2am for the party. 17th July: Graduation and Goodbye Teaparty. Almost 60 people came. 18th July: Work from 8.30-23. Other only 3hours sleep. By that stage I was so tired , that I could fall asleep during a conversation. 19th July: Said goodbye to the wonderful Edwards family. Took the Thames Cable Car with Mum and had the last supper in Love Shack. And finished the duvet suit by 4am in the morning. 20th July: 12 hours journey from East London to The House with The Garden. 21st July: 12 hours solid sleeping to restore at least some of those nights spent with work instead of resting. Unpacked 14 boxes shipped from London. I can’t express how grateful I am for The House with The Garden. It is indeed Home, Sweet, Sweet Home. I am planning to rest for about a week, organise the studio turned living room and be creative.

Day 327 The Seven Reversed Wonders of Packing‏

This is just one of them. By accident I packed away one of my client’s measurements: Argh!!! The lightning struck just before dinner and I could feel a good mixture of disappointment, panic and the reasoning 'calm-down' effect rushing up from my body to my head. And as I stood in the kitchen in a strangely weeping voice I said: Guys, I have to share something with you. ‘Which box.’ they asked. ‘I don't know.’ I replied for almost everything they enquired. Helen finally said: let's pray for a solution and she did as we said Grace. Within 10 minutes a solution struck and I started the toile. God is awesome!!! And now I can't post this because our internet is off. (This was at 2am, let's try again.) To be continued… 6.30pm following day: Now I am at home and finally posting this, after a 3 hours styling session for Kerst’s ‘House of My Heart’ concert (http://www.kerst-songs.com/kersts-walkabout.htm). I am full of excitement about finishing the ‘The Wonders on the Land of Lace and Wood Wedding Dress’.

Day 326 Party with a ‘Cake-Overflow’

Another amazing party this morning at SPS’s Mums and Tums! We had a massive ‘cake-overflow’. I must have put on several kilos since my birthday and it doesn’t seem to stop. It is so amazing how much a have learnt from toddlers during the past 9 months. They surprise me every single day. Their little personalities are like lights in distant houses, which lead the way to rest. Of course, I didn’t wake up at 5pm this morning. And yes, I am far more behind with the sewing than I was yesterday.

Day 325 Baked Chocolate Brownie Cheesecake

Oh, yummy! Amazing Leaving Party today! Thank you so much Amanda and Gemma! It is a wonderful feeling to be valued and cared for. At 10pm reality hit home: I am overall tired from my busy schedule, behind with the dresses and it doesn’t matter how many cups of coffee I drink any more, I still fall asleep. My target is to wake up in 5 hours and finish the wedding dress. Let me prove I can do it…

Day 324 Canary Warf Swallows the Shadows

2am Just sneaked up from the kitchen and most likely woke up Izzy, auch. I whispered a ‘sorry’ when she lifted her head up to have a look what was making that rattling noise on my side of the room. I hope she went back to sleep with a comforting conclusion that it was me looking for something in a plastic bag, not a mouse. I had an incredible peaceful artisan afternoon with me and my sewing machines and the wedding dress fabrics. The actual fabric and the lining are cut, darts sewn and everything overclocked, apart from the top and bottom of the fish tail. I should really get up in 4 hours to be on schedule with the dress. And I definitely have to go to bed now, because the level of my tiredness is so bad I can’t even make a difference between the ever passing light of Canary Warf and a shadow of a mouse on our desk.

Day 323 Ivory Silk Sateen and French Lace

Past midnight. Just had a big slice of chocolate cake and wide awake again. I am still so excited about my surprise Birthday Party, especially a lot of people asked me about it today, which made me even more aware how much effort Christina put into organising it. I’ve been eating the leftovers all day with great satisfaction. The final fitting of the toile for my amazing Northern Irish’s friend’s American wedding was done by 10pm. Apart from that I had a very busy day again, doing Sunday School and looking after children. I am so excited about starting to cut that beautiful, ivory, silk satin sateen fabric and decorate it with French lace. Apparently I was glowing this morning when I talked about it. Well, this is how it should be when I am enjoying doing something :-)

Day 322 Surprise, Surprise

After yesterday’s drama, I had an amazing day today. Got up at 7am, did a couple of alterations, fitted the toile of the wedding dress, went to do fabric shopping on Berwick Street, met Christina by Barbican, where we spent a leisurely afternoon, sipping tea and eating chocolate brownies, whilst looking through a few fashion books. When we got to her place to cook dinner for my biggest surprise there were a bunch of our friends waiting for us with a BBQ to celebrate my birthday :-) I had tears in my eyes when they sang Happy Birthday. Amazing surprise! Thank you very much everyone, who was there and special thanks to Christina, who organised it.

Day 321 Drama, Drama, Drama, Drama, Drama

Seriously, I am always amazed, when a well-communicated agreement goes up in smoke due to someone’s changing their mind. I mean I only have 2 weeks left. Business flows out on my ears and by someone’s pure well-meant, but very badly timed actions all my careful planning collapsed in seconds. If I would open that imaginary pressure realise in my head, not only the flat, but the whole block would turn into a giant sauna. Basic toile for wedding dress is done. At least something to cheer me up :-)

Day 319-320 The Untold Story of Shivering Lady Finds Rest

Only one box left to pack. I started to prototype Helen’s Duvet suit this evening. Creative challenge is always welcome!

Day 317-318 2/3

'Mini - Victory': 2/3 of my stuff is packed! Blessing: I got a new client yesterday for a fast track wedding dress.

Day 316 Birth Day

I had an amazing birthday. Everything was just nice and comforting. I woke up fresh and happy after only 5 hours sleep and all the worry of last night has gone. Took the Sunday School craft over to church, did the café rota and had little tears in my eyes when an amazing family sang Happy Birthday to me. I cooked lunch for our Mission Year team, flatmates and Rachel. It was a 3-course blessings meal. All the ingredients came from friends who moved away and gave some of their food to us. We had crackers with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and grated parmesan cheese for starter and also toasted bread with Wendy’s delicious home-made chicken liver pate. The main meal was a pasta dish baked in the oven with bacon, peas and sweet corn with sliced boiled eggs on the top smeared with chili relish. The dessert, a childhood favourite: semolina with lots of real vanilla bean paste and cinnamon sticks, drizzled with home-made vanilla and rosewater chocolate sauce. I cooked it all in record time. But still was ever so grateful, that everybody was late. Steve very kindly took on the washing and cleaning up after the meal and we all retired to the ‘parlour’ aka living room to have tea and coffee. It was great to hang out with the guys. I got some lovely cards, presents and hugs, which really made my day :-) During the evening service I did the gospel reading Luke 16: 19-31. From church I got a ride to Bermondsey to pick up some jumpers and really enjoyed to be driven through Tower Bridge by car. On the way back as I walked across I felt an overwhelming love towards London. This landmark is an amazing peace of Victorian architecture.