My new home

Wow, it is more than a month ago that I wrote a blog post ... But I have finally moved. And I have had a temporary internet connection since Friday. Our apartment has been completely updated, but it turns out that the brand-new cable sockets are empty. Not good when you have cable internet :(. They also needed to completely re-do our brand-new wastewater pipeline and re-install our wrongly installed toilet. Oh, and I have an oven that I can't use, or we lose power in the whole building ... Yep, the joys of modern construction. Just imagine I would run my embroidery company the same way these builders run theirs :). On the upside: my husband has an ultra-short commute to work. A five-minute walk through the snow is much nicer than a 20-minute drive! So, let me show you where I live and what my workspace now looks like.

View from our balcony with the cheesery on the left and the Abbey wall on the right.

With a little over 60 sqm, our apartment is rather small. When you come in through the front door, there is a bedroom on the left. It also has my husband's workspace in there. Straight on from the front door is the bathroom on the left and a galley kitchen on the right. And on the far right is our living room with my workspace. As our apartment is on the first floor, we have a south-facing balcony running along the full length of our apartment. Timmie the cat loves the balcony. Especially as he can visit our nice neighbours on either side. And there is plenty for him to see. To the left of our building is the monastery's farm. To the right is Ettal Abbey. And right in front of us is the cheesery. Local milk is delivered there each morning and turned into delicious cheese, yoghurt, quark and butter.

Our living room with my embroidery books and workspace.

Ettal is a small village which basically evolves around Ettal Abbey. It currently has 724 inhabitants dispersed over three hamlets. Apart from the cheesery, there is a very fine bakery, but we don't have a village shop. Most people living here either work for the Abbey or are employed at Linderhof (one of the palaces of Ludwig II). The population is rather internationally diverse. The monks currently run a small refugee home (next to our building) and have turned a wing of the monastery into accommodation for Ukrainian refugees. The vibe is quite different from Bayersoien where I used to live.

Our living room with thedining table doubling as my computer desk.

Squeezing my large studio into a corner of our living room was no small feat! Luckily, we have a dry and warm basement box where I can store my Lowery stands and magnifier lamps that I use when I teach on location. Sorting through all my stash and embroidery stuff turned out to be a good thing. It was the perfect opportunity to give away things that I knew I wasn't going to use anymore. It was also a good time to throw away any WIPs that had been lurking in cupboards for too many years. Everything is now orderly packed away in IKEA's Ivar shelving system. I can set up my trestles or Lowery stand in front of the balcony doors to take advantage of the natural daylight. The dining table doubles as a computer workspace and filming area.

As my apartment is so small, I do not have the opportunity to teach here. Nor do I have the space to stock embroidery items for my webshop. This means that my webshop will be confined to selling digital products, workshops and courses (with maybe the occasional piece of fabric and gold thread). I am currently preparing two weekend workshops for August and September. More details will follow early next year.

Just returned, but already taking the next blogging break :). As we are moving into the holiday season, I am taking a break from blogging again. My next blog will be on the 9th of January 2023 with details of my upcoming workshops. Wishing you all a lovely Christmas and all the best for 2023!