Where I’m Writing From
I finished setting up my desk yesterday. It’s in the bedroom.
My desk is always in the bedroom, and Martin’s is always in the living room. It doesn’t seem to matter where we are. It always ends up this way after plenty of conversation. I don’t know why, but I do very much love my new home.

I seem to keep my desk very simple. My MacBook is from 2007. I prefer Pages over Microsoft Word at any moment (though I was slow to make the switch). And Martin says I am very good at polishing the keys. i.e. I type a lot. You can see our bed in the background – also very simple. I would love to upgrade to some beautiful sheets and a duvet cover. But for now we chose other things – like the experiences of the past year in Germany.
For the first time, the printer is by me, right between the bed and my desk. It makes managing my shop so much easier.

Our desks and mattress are the only pieces of furniture that belong to us in this house. It helps to have a piece of our own here.
Our bedroom doesn’t actually have a door. The fourth wall is a series of large white canvas curtains that we can open and close as we wish. I tucked my desk up against them, as you probably noticed on the entire right side of the first picture. That way when I look up, I can see this:

There are so many things in front of me to look at. Sometimes those things are little spiders and ants in all that aloe. You really learn to relax your expectations and requirements in the world when you live in the country. Otherwise you go crazy. (A big thanks goes to Martin for handling the mice and mouse traps – I still can’t deal with that.)
I watched those deer stroll across the long grass in front of the house, and all they did was reach down to eat the dandelions. Pop. Pop. Into their mouths went every blooming yellow dandelion.
What do you like to look at from your desk? A pretty picture on the wall? Maybe a window or your favorite wall color? Then there are always the little details like a handmade pencil cup. What makes your space matter to you?








June 22nd, 2010 at 11:35 am
Lovely view you’ve got there! (And I dream of keeping my desk that tidy….) My desk, which happens to be a drafting table that doesn’t belong to me, is currently raised to counter level to add work space to my kitchen nook, so I don’t have to balance the cutting board on the corner of the sink…. Fitting together the pieces of “home” continues to be a work in progress, here!
June 22nd, 2010 at 1:17 pm
That is a great view, but all I have in my mind are questions that are none of my business. Like, I assumed that you sold everything when you moved to Germany, but I guess you still have a house here? With a bed? And you’re not just staying with family or renting a place? So does that mean you plan to move back to the States and Germany is just a temporary thing? Or you’ll be switching back and forth every few years like my (Oregonian) friend and her (Dutch) husband? See, none of them my business. :) So I’ll just say enjoy your view! :)
June 22nd, 2010 at 1:24 pm
haha. No problem, Cameron. I know we are far – okay FAR FAR – from normal in our situation. So I’m trying to figure out how to best explain it. I can’t even figure out what to say to the question, “So where do you live?” when I go to town for groceries.
Katie
June 22nd, 2010 at 5:29 pm
My desk ends up in the bedroom too – where it is said, by some, it shouldn’t be – but I find that it is quite pleasing to have it there. It looks great and I can quickly find any information I want. It is under a window that looks out on a creek with lots of birds. Being a lover of fabric, however, I am okay when the curtains are closed too. I like to see the light through white linen.
June 22nd, 2010 at 6:24 pm
I have coveredl the wall over my desk with pictures and quotations from magazine clippings. The whole wall has become a large vision board!
June 22nd, 2010 at 7:26 pm
Well, my “desk” is actually the dining room table. In front of a floor-to-ceiling window overlooking the mountains and valley and a reservoir. So even though we live smack-dab in town, It is an “out-in-the country” feeling. Very soothing. And all I need a desk for is taking care of household finances so it works well. I keep my “desk” in a basket on a shelf in a closet in my husband’s office, so I just pick up the basket full of my paperwork and plunk it on the table and get to work. When done, I put the basket back on the shelf, and do my filing into the cabinet in that same closet.
June 22nd, 2010 at 7:31 pm
I forgot to mention that I really love the view from YOUR desk, Katie! I love the stonework on the planter and of course the never-ending wide open spaces beyond! Very inspirational.
June 22nd, 2010 at 10:54 pm
My view is a view of the backyard we share with our neighbors. Sometimes spiders radnomly pop down from the ceiling while I am typing but I have grown used to it so that I don’t jump out of my chair anymore. I am an American in Germany who goes back to AZ July 30 in order to meet the 90 day requirement to return home for those without a visa and then we will come back again for another 6 months. It has been a journey to undestand the wealth of space we hold onto/become defined by and something I will not forget. From a fellow flyer, Robin
June 27th, 2010 at 11:56 am
At work – lookint to photos (big wall photos of my cats) in one big institution where everybody else has some expensive art on the wall. My boss wanted to buy me also some famous art, but I prefer my cats :-)))
At home – view to the back yard full of trees and some flowers – in the middle of the big city.