Busy life

#30DaysWild
Bumblebee approaching flowering cabbage.

Random Act of Wildness: Mapping Wildlife

This morning after breakfast the kids wanted to know what their wild challenge for today might be.  Before I could even make a suggestion they remembered "Map your local wildlife" was on one of the "Random Acts of Wildness" cards and that's what they wanted to do. The pencils were already on the table and so they started drawing a map. They were talking about the wildlife they've spotted in the garden. I was surprised at how much they remembered and how little help they needed with this task. It was fun to listen to them and watch them draw little creatures and write down animal names.

30 Days Wild

This is Day 1 of 30 Days Wild. I've signed up with the Wildlife Trusts to be a #30dayswild blogger.

If you've stumbled across my blog because of that, Hello! My name is Katrin, I’m living a creative life in Yorkshire, where we turned an industrial building into our family home. The car park became our garden where our children play, explore and create. I’m a Bavarian vegetarian textile designer, my partner is a independent filmmaker and our kids are 4 and 6 and simply gorgeous.

We've been building an insect hotel. The kids really enjoyed assembling the parts and thinking about where to hang it and who might move in. We've found a sheltered spot on the tree house, where it's protected from most of the rain, but also in sight for the kids to see what's happening. Hopefully I can show you some of our guests by day 30.

Freitag's Links

★ I want one: Lamzac 

★ Realistc dolls by Michael Zaikov  (deutscher Artikel hier) 

★ Lonely Planet's Top 10 reasons to visit Bavaria  

★ No diet, no detox: how to relearn the art of eating 

★ 10 Artists who contemporize the ancient craft of embroidery

★ Paris' modernist housing estates and their elderly residents - in pictures

★ Tutu makers are in dangerously short supply

"Good design isn't about technologies and devices – it has a social heart and a role to play in meeting the needs of people facing impossible challenges."
Dr. Harriet Harris, one of the leaders of this project, Royal College of Art, London.



"Whilst our wearable won't solve the whole problem it addresses a small part of it."

via Dezeen

Support on Kickstarter.

We all hear about refugees in the media every day, still the facts are hard to grasp.

Right now there are 60 Million people, who have become refugees and this number is still rising.

More facts on the UNO website or in the video below.

However we will try to solve this problem, education and clever design need to be at the heart of it.

Three years ago...

Thank you for being patient

Look what I've found in my garden today! The kids (and I) were very excited. We've also found a tiny daffodil, a rosebud and a nearly red strawberry.

First crocus of 2016!

For quite some time I have neither been gardening nor blogging. Other things have taken over in life. So if you are still popping by, thank you for being patient. If you are new, welcome to my blog. Soon there's a lot coming up on this blog, as well as in the garden.

The Art Market

My bubble wrap tutu and the foam wrap corset was on display at the Art Market in Holmfirth last week and will be there again today!

Freitag's Links

★ 9000 Fallen Soldiers Etched into the Sand on Normandy Beach to Commemorate Peace Day

★ The Tour De France Explained in Animation

★ 10 Social Media Facts and Statistics

★ 10 Contemporary embroidery artists

★ Awesome Public Benches

★ This Pregnancy Photo Didn't Exactly Turn Out Like The Pinterest Original.

★ 12 Things Men Do Differently To Women.

Drawing workshop

Either write something worth reading 

or do something worth writing. 

Benjamin Franklin

I am not a writer. I am a doer and maker and struggle writing about the things I do and make.

I regret not keeping a diary regularly and I wish I'd have posted on this blog more frequently. There was lots going on in the last few weeks that would have been worth sharing and a lot more within the last few years that would have been worth remembering.

The trouble is, when lots of things are happening there is not much time to write about them.

"Ich kann die Welt nicht verändern, aber einen einzelnen Menschen, mich selber."

Karlheinz Böhm

Freitag's Links

★ The Internet in Real-Time
How quickly data is generated. 

★ A tiny Austiran town is reinventing the bis stop

I'm thrilled to see this beautiful and inspiring project.

★ Made me smile to see this English gardener cutting his front hedge in shape of a dragon. 

★ Bees make blue honey after eating M&Ms

★ Wishing I could be at the Africa Festival in Würzburg this weekend.  

Hanna, Jacob and I having fun banging the drums at the Africa Festival on the Talavera Mainwiesen in Würzburg last year! 

Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles

Big congratulations to our friend Jeanette, who won the Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles!
(Again!)

The Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles is completely off road - 2500 km through the Sahara dessert. It is not about going fast, but about navigation and driving skills.

Over eight days the teams have to find checkpoints and reach them with the least mileage possible. Which is a tricky task, since they are not allowed GPS and are only given a map from the 1950s, coordinates and a compass.

Driving skills are tested to the limit in this diverse and difficult terrain.

I can't stop looking at images of the Rallye and the dessert. What a landscape! What a challenge!





P.S.: There is no prize money. "The money generated helps to finance teams of doctors providing medical care for the population in the remote regions of Morocco. Annually and with the infrastructure of the Rally, a medical caravan, including a mobile clinic with 8 doctors, cares for the rural population. This year 4,582 people received free medical care. In addition, aid for children’s education has been set up as well as aid for an orphanage for children under six years of age." - Wikipedia

What a fabulous idea

Airbnb Presents: Airbrb from Airbnb on Vimeo.

P. S.: April, April!

Antique wedding dress

John's mum gave me her mother's wedding dress. Of course I had to try it on. 

It's beautiful. The detail is stunning. I will take more photographs of it soon. Until then: 

Four years with this little girl ♥

Restraint has been selected for Dança em Foco

YAY! Our latest dance film has been selected for Dança em Foco, International Festival of Video and Dance.


RESTRAINT from John Coombes on Vimeo.

Home tour vs. studio tour

I just watched Sarah Jessica Parker giving an interview/mini home tour for Vogue in one take, which reminded me of the studio/home tour video we did a while ago. The single take studio tour starts at 3:30.

My TipiLotta indoor playtent on byGraziela's Blog

Ich freu' mich riesig!