Thoughts on creativity

Today was another rainy and cold day so I spent the day sewing. I had a skirt I wanted to shorten and decorate a bit and I have some great fabric that I had bought to make some skirts so I had plenty of stuff to work on (besides the three quilts that I have at various stages of completion.) Yesterday, as I sewed (one of the quilts), I re-listened to all the general conference talks and the day went so quickly. So today I decided to listen to the Mormon Channel. What a wonderful service for church members. It is such a blessing to be able to listen to BYU devotionals, CES firesides, Womens Conference addresses and faith promoting stories. One of the things I thought was a great idea was a synopsis of the Ensign magazine for a particular month with the feature article and the visiting teaching message and then a few other short articles.

The feature segments that intrigued me today were the ones called "All things Creative." The first one I heard was a group of writers - which got me thinking of blogging. The second one was a mother with three severly disabled children and how she had to be creative in her home. The last was a woman who was an artist being interviewed by a man who was an architect. All were able to use their talents in different ways to do something they loved and to be creative. So here are some of the things I've thought about throughout the day:

I'm not at a very good writer but am grateful that I can write enough to put thoughts, ideas and some feelings on paper. I do have some children who are wonderful writers and I hope they will do a lot more writing in the years to come. Dennis is also a good writer and has edited my writing for many years. He has talked of wanting to write a childrens book and hopefully someday he will.

As far as art goes, I can't draw or paint at all. Well, I guess that is not quite true. I paint walls just fine and I have even gotten creative upon occasion. I enjoy sponge painting, rag rolling and trying different techniques. Now that I've had a year to look at a lot of art, I might get a little braver. Some of the things that are called art in some museums, I think I might could do something just as interesting, maybe even pleasing. I know I enjoy looking at art and learning a little about art and artists. I feel enriched by the many great classic works of art I've been able to see the past couple of years.

I think being a mother and homemaker takes a great deal of creativity (and inspiration, dedication, and determination.) I think back on all the creative methods we've used to get kids to go to bed, do chores, practice the piano, memorize scriptures, tackle big work projects, etc. Cute posters, games, competitions, rewards, punishments, and parental tantrums all had their time and place. It was always an interesting and rewarding challenge to come up with the proper thing that would prompt the desired behavior. We had a lot of fun in some of our "work" days and I am so glad my children have learned how they can make even hard and unpleasant jobs be fun or at least pleasantly bearable. They are even better than I am at motivating each other and making a task fun. (I'm thinking of garage clean-out jobs, fence painting, yard work and gardening with great memories of some pretty clever games and activities.)

Using creativity to make a house look homey as well as functional was something I've always enjoyed. Whether it was sewing, building or painting, I always enjoyed finding ways to be creative at home. Some of the time my projects turned out very helpful and useful and have served their purpose for many years. Other times, I would get done and after all the time and effort, I would look at the finish product and wonder why I didn't just go buy the darned thing all ready made. It usually gives me such a sense of pride and accomplishment when I figure out how I want something to look and then have it turn out as nicely as I had hoped. The last couple of years, I've done a lot more quilting and really enjoy that creative process. I am beginning to understand color a little better but still am very conservative when it comes to putting colors together. I like quilts that make up quickly so I can move on to the next one. I have so many I want to make and so many things to try and do that I will never be short of fabric or projects. We have a running joke in our family that when times get hard, we may go hungry but we will never go cold.

One of the things I know can be a creative skill is cooking. I apprecaite people who are very creative and good at cooking and I can be creative when I need to but cooking just isn't something I want to spend the time or energy into developing a skill in outside of providing nutritious and nice tasting meals. I can't think of many things more frustrating than to spend several hours preparing a meal, to have it eaten in 15 minutes and then spend another hour cleaning up the kitchen. No thank you. I'll just appreciate the talents of others!

I like the challenge of creating beauty in my yard and garden with flowers, trees and shrubs. I've been known to be a little extreme over the years when it comes to flower pots but they are so fun because they are quick and easy experiments. Each one is a exercise in the use of color and texture and size; dreaming of what it could look like and become. Some of my plantings haven't been very interesting or done exactly as I had hoped they would and others have brought me so much joy to look at. Flowers are one of God's great gifts of beauty and it brings me such great joy to be surrounded by them.

I really appreciate how creative Dennis is. He is amazing when it comes to solving problems and thinking outside the box. Sometimes it frustrates me during the process because I really like the safety of the inside of the box. Many people have come to him for many of his different types of problem solving abilities - from technical, to legal, to logistical.

Since we've spent this year in Europe, I've had a chance to look at a lot of different architectural styles. There are so many buildings here that I don't think we will ever see in Utah. They fascinate me. Some are just so interesting and different in their use of line and style. Some are just so odd that it makes me wonder what would possess someone to design or build such a thing. And some are so breathtakingly amazing. I will probably not ever be able to tell the difference of the different building designs or styles but I know I can appreciate what I think looks good and interesting whether it is of a classical style or a very modern design. I think I can now appreciate some of the genius on Frank Lloyd Wright even though I really don't like his style.

I hope I still have many more years that I can be creative and I can enjoy and appreciate the creative talents of others. It's a wonderful world we live in with so many opportunities to explore different talents and develope the ability to to bring joy to ourselves and others.

I love Presidents Uchtdorf's talk about creativity:

"The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul. You dont need money, position, or influence in order to create something of substance or beauty."

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf: The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul. You dont need money, position, or influence in order to create something of substance or beauty.

Category: Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

Dieter F. Uchtdorf Create mormon mormons LDS

www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhLlnq5yY7k or see youtube - mormon messages - create

Another busy week

The fountain in the gardens at Palace Het Loo

This week has once again been busy with seeing many great things and hostessing family and friends. On Monday morning, I drove to Germany to pick Dennis up from the airport. He dropped me off at home and I spent the day cleaning, grocery shopping and preparing for the week.

That evening, Harry van de Sande (whom Dennis had known on his mission and I had met when he visited us in Bountiful) brought Elder Chlarson, Tric and Ashleigh to our home. We had a nice evening of visiting.

(Ashleigh took this beautiful picture with the garden and the fall leaves.)

On Tuesday, Chlarson's and I rode the bus into Nijmegen. It was their first time on the bus here and so it was a nice time. Elder Kenny C. had served in the area on his mission so in some ways he knew a little more about the little alleys and little obscure places than I did but we saw all the main sights, did a little shopping and ate dinner on the river bank. It was a beautiful sunny day so it was perfect. In the early evening, we took a bike ride to Valburg to see the countryside and windmill and then rode into Elst to see our little dorp and visit the grocery store. Dennis brought us home a rijstoffel for dinner so they were able to taste Indonesian food.



On Wednesday, they finished packing and we loaded everything in the car and headed out on another adventure. After dropping Dennis off at work, we drove to Apeldoorn to visit the Palace Het Loo. We had a wonderful morning seeing the palace, learning a little history and then exploring the gardens. It was once again, nice weather so it was fun to be outside. We went to a little cafeteria for friets and croquettes for lunch and then I drove them to their hotel that is near the airport Schiphol. Traffic was quite backed up on the drive home so I didn't get Dennis picked up from work until almost 7:30.




Thursday, Dennis dropped me off at Vermillion's first thing in the morning and we headed for Haarlem. We spent most of the morning sitting in traffic on the highway. We eventually were able to pass one of the worst accident scenes I've seen since coming here. We made it to Haarlem at 11:30 and found the Corrie ten Boom huis just in time for a tour in English. It was a very good tour and the tour guide was a very sweet old lady. She was a wonderful story teller so it made for a nice experience. We ate lunch in the Grote Market and then toured the Frans Hall museum. It had quite a few of his works but also a lot of others of those who where fellow painters from Haarlem. It is a big museum and besides great works of art there were beautiful pieces of furniture and delft ware. I really enjoyed it and have loved the opportunities I've had to see so many great works of art.

Standing in the Grote Market in front of St. Bavo KerkThe beautiful organ pipes

Today, I had a hair appointment and did some grocery shopping. I should be cleaning the house and getting ready for Tom and Sandi and family but I'm taking a break for a bit to do this.

More sight seeing adventures

This has certainly been a week to remember. I rarely have weeks with such a variety of activities and people of do things with. It started off with Dennis and our trip to Zeeland last Saturday. (Mentioned in the previous blog.) On Sunday we went to Breda to visit Charles MacLean and his wife who Dennis had known while on his mission here. Monday morning was Dennis flight from Dusseldorf to SLC so we were up and on the road early. I dropped him off and I came back in time to meet with one of the people coming to look and give us a bid for moving us back to the states. After that, I met Armanda at the church and we drove to Germany to the Methorsts for lunch and a little shopping.


Tuesday was Princjesdag, which I've already written a little about. We took the train - my first time - to The Hauge. The fun things about the train was that we had the fortune to sit by some darling young girls who were traveling to their various universities. They were really fun to talk to (maybe because they all spoke such good English) and I was impressed with what they were doing with their lives. Once we got to The Hauge, we had to find our way to the restaurant since all the streets were blocked off. The police officers that we talked to were very helpful and I thought it amazing that they were all so happy and friendly. All in all, it was a long day but very fun.

Wednesday, I went and picked up Marge. She is the mom of Alyna's best friend from the school here. They are native Dutch but speak good English. We went to Milliger Theetuin. It is a two kilometer walk through "nature" to a very nice little tea house. The Dutch really like things to be "natural" and so walking out among the trees and along the river is very special. The tea house was like being dropped into an exotic paradise. It was very peaceful and beautiful. It was a nice, relaxing day. After dropping Marge off, I did a little grocery shopping and then stopped by Vermillions to say hi. I got there at about 4:30 and they invited me to stay to dinner and institute so it was after 10 PM by the time I finally got home. It was fun to be with the YA's of the ward and discuss the scriptures.




Thursday, I was off early and went to pick up Armanda. We drove into Amsterdam and went to the Hermitage Museum. It is a newly opened museum with all kinds of fancy clothes, accessories, portraits, etc. from the Hermitage in St. Petersburg. It was fun to look at the clothes and discuss the fabrics, style, and workmanship of each gown or uniform with Armanda. I wish I had just a little more of that talent. Afterward, we strolled through the booths along the Waterlooplein and found some fun little trinkets. We sat by the canal for a while and did some people watching and then headed back to Armanda's. I spent the night there and the next morning we got up and worked on some of our sewing projects, we always seem to have several going at the same time. Today was skirts and bags. We went shopping to a fabric store about 20 minutes from her house. It is always so fun to do any sewing or crafty things with Armanda because she is so talented and has all the right supplies. We had a nice day.


In the afternoon, I had to head home and get ready for a Young Women Activity. We had our girls and the girls and leaders from Nijmegen come to my home for an activity about photography. Lydia planned a very good activity and we learned a lot and had fun. It was nice to get to know the leaders and girls from the other ward.


Saturday morning, I was out the door early, again! I picked up Lydia and Mickey and Doug and we drove to Ede to see the 65th Anniversary of the Allied troups arrival in the Arnhem area. There were suppose to be about a 1000 parachutists and 120 veterans from the UK participating in the even. It was a beautiful day and there were interesting things to see all day. When we arrived there were para-sailers gliding around and entertaining the crowds. Then all the military vehicles paraded by. There were bagpipers, bands, a two cannon salute, laying of flowers on the marker that commemorated the site, military troops from the US, UK, and Poland, and a lot of different airplanes and parachutists. I thought it was interesting that some of the parachutists were German - how's that for forgiving. It was amazing to see the thousands of people who came to watch and participate in the event. The drop zone was huge and it was ringed by thousands of people.





All in all it was a very fun and interesting week. I was happy to be able to take a nap today and try to gear up for another busy week. Dennis flies in early in the morning so I'll be out the door before the sun is up :).

History, Royalty and other such sights

This last weekend, Dennis and I did a little sight seeing. On Saturday, We went to the South-West area of the Netherlands and saw the towns of Middelburg and Vlissingen. We went to several museums, one of which was the flood museum. In 1953, a hurricane hit and killed almost 2,000 people and destroyed the homes and properties of 30,000 people. Water control and dykes have always been important to the Dutch people. The land they are able to settle and use and the ability to protect that property from continual flooding is a high priority here and has brought about many amazing technics for building sea walls, and water management.

These are from the top of the dyke, just to give you an idea how tall these are.



In Middelburg, we climbed to the top of the church tower - only 280ish stairs. The view was great.



The pipe organ in the church Lange Jan is so beautiful. We happened to be there during a choir practice so we got to hear the beautiful sound from the organ.
The inner garden in the Abbey was beautiful and very peaceful.

Dennis enjoyed "snuffling" in front of the town hall.
We went to the beach and enjoyed watching the wind surfers.
It was a great little day trip. Dennis then left for the Utah and I took some outings with some friends. Here's a little something about the first one:

On Tuesday, I met some of my sewing friends and we took a train trip into Dan Haag for Prinsjesdag. The American Womens Club in the Haag reserve a whole top floor of a resturaunt along the parade route. So not only did we get to have a great view of the parade but we got to meet a lot of other American women and eat a yummy rijsttafel buffet.

On Prinsjesdag, the Queen rides in a golden coach from Noordeinde Palace to the Binnenhog to address the joint sessions of the Senate and House of Representatives. She gives her speech and then the whole parade returns to the palace. Before the queen comes, there are many branches of the military that parade by, first the marchers and then the horses. There is a military band and all the pomp and ceremony that occurs for royal ceremonies.


Many of the Dutch citizens wear hats - everything from paper to very elaborate and beautiful ones. I had heard that only the ladies who actually attend the speech wore hats but as you can see, many people get in on the activity.
It was also fun to see the ladies in their traditional Dutch clothing.

Another Day in Nijmegen

Nijmegen is becoming on of my favorite cities in Holland. It is so old and beautiful. And.....it has a really big market on Monday mornings. Since there aren't any other stores open on Monday mornings it makes Nijmegen all the more attractive, at least for me.

Anyway, this past Monday, Tehawna Moore was in town again and so Armanda picked her up at her hotel and they came and picked me up and we went into Nijmegen for the day. We had a delightful time brousing through all the street vendor stalls, eating hot, fresh strop waffles and looking at all the old buildings in the center of town.



One of the interesting things we did was go into Stevenskerk and look for one of Armanda's ancestors, Hans Noot who was suppose to be buried there.
Armanda had never been there so after looking at all the names on the floor for a while, she went and inlisted help from someone who had access to the records of were different memorial slabs were in the church. We had to have some tables moved out of the way but we found it.





We bought lots of great fabric. Nijmegen has one of the best fabric markets I've seen. They sell everything from really cheap knits to beautiful and expensive upholsetry and drapery fabrics. The notions stalls sell amazing trims, laces, buttons, zippers and all kinds of other interesting things that I'm not sure how to use or what to use it on. It is soooooo much fun to look and imagine what could be made out of the more unusual and bizzare fabrics and how wonderful it would be if we had the skills to do some of the sewing that some of the more expensive fabrics would require.

Here's what I bought:

This was an interesting trim. It is a black pressed plether with velvet beaded leaves adn satin ribbon roses. I was thinking of using it as a belt on a cute top I bought that needs a wider belt than the 1/2" one that came with it.

These are two different pieces - one is black and silver and the other is brown and silver. I couldn't decide which one I liked best, so I bought both. They are so cute!!! Not cheap so I didn't get to big a piece. I'm thinking - a purse or bag.

This brown satin is just begging me to make it into a skirt. I can't wait to comply.

We had lunch down at a little cafe along the Waal river. It was very interesting to watch all the barges going up and down the river. The weather was perfect and it was a wonderful day. It was very different from going with Alyna, Jessica or Tina (I missed their energy, laughter and craziness) but it was nice.