I just held a peacock in my hand. A Royal Delft Peacock Symphony cup to be precise. It felt like a special moment, as I had created a series of reduction prints of these popular cups last September without having held one in my hand.

The real cup and my art print side by side. 

In an effort to connect with the clerk at the Schiphol Airport museum store, I showed her a photo of my print. She thought I was claiming to be a designer for Royal Delft and said she didn’t realize they had non Dutch designers! We laughed once she realized what I was trying to explain.

We didn’t have enough time in Rotterdam to make a day trip to Delft so we’ll need to come back. Seeing the making of hand-painted porcelain since the late 1600s sounds like an excellent reason to come back. Next time I’ll bring an actual print to leave behind.

And if I haven’t shown you enough cups yet, how about these “eat in” versions?!

You impress! Even a couple of days in your midst makes my mind expand with possibilities. 

Last night’s supper…it was a perfect finish for our cycling day. I imagine it’s what athletes in the Liège Bastogne Liège race fuel themselves with.

I have scarcely seen a more beautiful vista as today, en route to Maldegem, Belgium, on our bikes. We were kind of lost. It was windy and threatening rain. But if we were not a little bit lost, we’d have missed these. 

I love this trip. For so many reasons. Time with Peter. The cycling challenge. Movement while having a brain that feels more still. Beauty. Dark, thunderous skies followed quickly by sunshine. French. Dutch. Poppies everywhere. Finding an Antwerp printing museum that felt like it was custom made for us (starting in the 1500s…a long game). Red poppies growing everywhere! 

And I just had a cocktail called The Jane Birkin in a bar in Ghent. I feel happy.