Monday, 9 July 2012

Silver Linings

Well hello there!!!! How are you all doing? It's been a little while since we all had time to sit down and chit chat chatter with each other, hasn't it? We're all here now though, so that's the main thing :-)
So what's new?

I've been going full steam ahead for the last couple of weeks, balancing school and work. I've got to be honest, I've questioned how much longer I can go on like this for. Exhausted is the word that comes to mind, plus I've been a little moody :-S
It's ok though, there appears to be a silver lining to my big tired cloud! It comes in the form of a HOLIDAY!!!
I've decided a week away from German school and work will do me some good. A silver lining in the form of a week in Barcelona with Dennis! I can not wait!!! Just two weeks to go!

Talking of silver linings!! It's been pouring with rain all day here in Hamburg. However, for a brief moment the clouds parted and the sky was a glorious bright blue, scattered with big fluffy clouds. I grabbed my camera to share the loveliness with you all!


What with feeling tired and having lots of other things on my mind It's been tricky to find project inspiration and ideas. Today the 'idea tap' switched back on again and is now flowing heavily!

I picked up some Zpagetti yarn whilst in the city today. It's a type of yarn made from off cuts of cotton fabric. I've been looking at this yarn for months and figured why not give it a try?


I couldn't resist taking a picture of it as if it were actual spaghetti! I'm a geek.......I know!


I haven't started making anything with it yet, but it looks like it's going to be fun to work with. I'll let you know how I get on.

I also picked up some gorgeous bright turquoise lace. I'm going to give making a light lace scarf a try. I was going to go for a more neutral colour but as its for a friend I let her decide on the colour she wanted. It's a very vibrant choice!


I'm very excited to give both of these new yarns a try. They couldn't be any more different from each other. It's yarn chalk and cheese.

One last thing to show......My mum picked up these buttons for me whilst on a trip to Bangkok.
They're so fun!!! Plus buttons are so expensive here in Hamburg, so It was lovely to receive them. I'll definitely put them to good use!



Now that I've shown you all of new yarn and buttons, hopefully I'll have some exciting projects to share with you soon. 
I'm going to go have a play with the Zpagetti yarn for an hour before settling in to bed with my new book. 
A dear frieed of mine bought this for me!!! SOOOOO sweet of him!!!! THANK YOU T.A!!! I can't wait to start reading it!!!
 

My Silver Linings:

1. Holidays in the sun with Dennis
2. My lovely yarn filled hobbies
3. My gorgeous family and friends
4. Blue skies with marshmallow clouds
5. You guys, our cheeky blog readers......thank you so much for taking the time to visit Dennis and I here on our blog, It means so much to us both!!!

Hope you have a week full of silver linings!!!
Matt xxx
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Friday, 29 June 2012

My life on board!

Hello everybody!

Finally a blogpost from me, Dennis! Sorry for the huge delay! (Especially sorry to Matt, whom I promised to write this ages ago!)

As you might have read, I'm working on a cruise ship at the moment. Since 2 and a half years this has been my job, ever since I left the musical Tarzan where Matt is still working. It's been a big adventure in many many ways!


The first amazing part about this job is of course the travelling! I've been so many places over the last years. I started my first contract in Asia and visited Thailand, India, Malaysia, Brunei, Sri Lanka and we made our way to Africa: Egypt, Morocco, Israel, Jordan. After that we went up north to Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

I've also been sailing around the Canary Islands, Madeira, Lisbon, Barcelona, Mallorca.

The contract I'm doing now has taken me to Iceland, Norway (even the highest point, North Cape) and Scotland.

Our ship from a distance in Akureyri - Iceland

Besides the traveling I also love my job on board!
I'm one of the 6 lead singers on the ship. Three girls and three guys. Besides that there are 8 dancers, 3 artists/acrobats and 2 actors. Together we're the show ensemble. There are 4 shows played every evening, of which I normally only play 1 and sometimes 2.

As a singer you have about 14 shows to learn, and this happens in Hamburg, where we have our rehearsals before going on board. In 6 weeks all the shows have to be in your head, which is quite crazy and intense!

Bergen - Norway

I sing many different styles on this ship, from Meat Loaf to Phil Collins, from Bon Jovi to the Beatles etc... It's such a great challenge to perform something else every night! 

Me in my Solo Show

Besides all these shows I also have a show all by myself. Each of the singers have to create their own solo show, in which you can perform the songs you like best. My solo show is very much Michael Buble, Frank Sinatra, and Josh Groban. I'm always very very nervous before performing my own show, but afterwards I feel great!

It's a great experience to work on a ship! I've made a lot of great friends and I'm always having a good time on the ship! The only hard part of course is when you have a special someone at home! I'm lucky with the length of my contracts though, because I never sail longer than 3 months in a row!

My next contract will start in September and will take me to the USA! I will be in New York and we'll also sail towards the Caribbean! Very exciting!

I've also been knitting on the ship but I don't have anything to show you guys yet! So I will just show you all a lot of pictures of some of the places I've been and some of the shows I've been doing!

There's obviously too much to post, so I've decided to only post pictures from the countries I've been to this contract! Enjoy!

Dennis xxx

Beatles Show

Elton John Show

Me and some of my colleagues

On a Quad to the North Cape - Norway

My roots: Amsterdam!
In Bergen - Norway
Gulfoss - Iceland
Gulfoss - Iceland
A crazy jump in Iceland!
The heat coming from the earth in Iceland!

Geysir - Iceland
Meeting an ex colleague in Oslo!
Canterbury Cathedral





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