Analogue Blogging aka Memory Journaling

New year, new passion? 

Probably! 

Hello dear readers!

I am busy (yes, again), designing the foundation for future memories and it comes with a lot of paper. Nice paper of all kinds, countries, weights and colours. A playful, recently revived passion of mine. As far as I can remember, paper always brought joy. (*)

(*) The only time it did not bring a lot of joy was duing our hike to an acient paper mill in the middle of France on a hot summer day. We really did earn that visit. Lasting memories. 

Paper from Italy and England, companies with a long tradtion, dating back 200 years and more

 Playing around with various types of paper and  - also important - finding the favourite proportion.

Trimming notebooks to a preferred proportion

Approaching the right proportion. Which proportions do I enjoy? What proportions feels good in my hands? Which one is nice to look at?

 Prototyping:

The blue notebook to the left has a fine proportion for text & photos and allows a good amount of unused space on the pages. Inspiration: SZ DVD Edition. The grey notebook to the right has (almost) the proportion of the popular "Midori Traveller's Notebook". (the width of the Midori notebook measures ca +3mm)

Very much to my surprise the Midori-width is almost the Suhrkamp's pocketbook-width. Those pocketbooks do seem small, but they do hold a lot of words. Those books are a 20th century design icon. But with a width of 11cm, any 10cm-wide photos is likely to cram a page. I will stick with the proportion of the blue notebook. For now. :-)

Here I have been playing around with the trimming: flush trimming, overlapping covers ...

Now that I have build the foundation, I can move on to the next step, which is every bit as entertaining as the first one was: printing memories.

  

I will keep you posted!

Paula

Hochwinter

Hello!

You remember the view over Vienna? Well this time it's all muted pastells:

And it was cooler. Way cooler. Freezing cold. It has been freezing cold for almost a week. We call this time of the year "Hochwinter" - midwinter.

This snow that is meant to last for a few days (not something we can take for granted in Vienna. Usually snow thaws immediately after the snowfall in Vienna.

Well, this year does start mono-thematic. It's the Lainzer Tiergarten. Again.

I can't help myself: these surroundings are just too good and need to be shared.

Our walking route was exactly the same one we did choose a week ago, only this time it looked ... different.

The Trees are wearing tiny snow blankets and the visitors visibly changed their appearance as well:

 Mountain gear in the city. Because we can. haha. 

We started late in the afternoon - late in terms of midwinter - past 2pm. Ouch. Gates close at 5pm. We made it, in time. Mostly because I spent only little taking photos. Not much time for proper tree watching. A quick glance to the left and a look to the right. Check!

When trees become bending roads. I like this shot!

Me, tree-scouting

There is something wonderful about those heavy grey skies above Vienna during midwinter. They look really heavy, like lead.

 Carl Moll captured the typical heavy winter sky on a late afternoon beautifully over 100 years ago:

Carl Moll: "Belvedere in Winter" colour woodcut, 1903 as seen at the ALBERTINA (exhibition ends 15 Jan 2017)

There is not much going on in todays photos. It is quiet, coppice, trees and most of the animals who live in the woods take a rest while we walk ....

 .. and walk ....

...enjoying scenic views while we walk, all the way through l'Heure Bleu.

It's fascinating, HOW blue the light gets. You won't see the Bleue as clearly while being are out there. Our brains somehow filter those nuances. But the photos (out of camera) show them clearly:

This is where Vienna ends and Lower Austria begins.

.... until the moon finally lead us towards the closing gate, 5 to 5.

The park is now closed for good, until 4 Feb (only a small part will be open to public).Those days around Christmas and New Year are special, because the park administration lets us in and allows us to disturb the rest the animals need during midwinter.

Can you tell, I DO love this city.

Stay warm :-)
Paula

The Good Old Traditions

Hello and a Happy 2017!

Frequent readers, longtime followers might remember that we love to start the new year at the Lainzer Tiergarten.

This year we expanded this tradition and went for a walk yesterday, New Year's Eve AND today.

Well, what a difference 10000000 fireworks make:

"Wien Blick" (Vienna View) yesterday, Dec 31st,  3pm, –before the fireworks: you could see Kahlenberg and Leopoldsberg

Wien Blick Jan. 1st, 2pm. The view is gone. I guess you can say the Wien Blick is not worth it* the day after the fireworks. :-D Now we know ... (*it is a steep hike, up the hill)

Rewarding nature in the shade, touched by a few sun beams during the winter's day

No one halted to capture this magic. I had to. You know me. #whereabouts:Vienna

1 hour before the gates at the Lainzer Tiergarten close, still 3 km ahead of us. You can't just walk by, well, I just can't ...

Right in front of the gates the last photo halt. Funny, what people "need" to throw on ice surfaces. I don't quite get it. Yes, there is the moon.

The gates close at 5pm. By 5 it is already really dark. And there are no lights in the wood. So you better not be late.

Not pictured are the many Viennese people who visited the Lainzer Tiergarten today.

In case you come to Vienna and want to do something hardly any tourist does on New Year's Eve or New Year's Day: come to the Lainzer Tiergarten, you won't regret it! You can get there by public transportation.

Yes, these woods are a part of Vienna. A corner of my hometown I 💓, even in a moody light like today.

all the best!
Paula