Finished the organza-over-silk-over-print embroidery. Still not in love with it, but it’s better.

I think the original idea has promise, though, so there will be more attempts. This was one quarter of a larger square of printed fabric. I think I’ll make variations on the theme of the other three quarters, and then perhaps frame them all together.

Today I learned that tetraptych is a word.

Do you know what they have in Italy? Handbags!

My red backpack handbag, which replaced an identical red backpack handbag, needed replacing again. Just like its predecessor, it failed by losing one half of the magnetic clasp. And, well, it was beginning to look a bit ratty.

I kept my eyes peeled for a replacement when we were in Italy last summer, but couldn’t find anything similar. During this weekend’s trip I walked past exactly one leather goods shop, during our twenty minutes of free time in town, saw that they had backpack-style handbags, and walked out with a new one 5 minutes later. What a stroke of luck.

The new bag is a somewhat smaller and simpler model. It doesn’t have the “flap” in the front, which makes it look a teeny bit less interesting, but maybe also more durable. It does have that magnetic clasp for the little closure strap at the top, but I’m thinking that if/when the magnet falls off again, which I’m almost betting it will do, then this bag should look OK even without it. (On the flappy version, the flap hangs askew when it’s not fastened, which looks distinctly ugly.)

Last Friday I went to the last of the concerts in the “Friday evening new classical” series. The one that made me book tickets to the series to begin with. Strings and a didgeridoo – which was too intriguing to pass on.

For a while it looked like I would miss it because of the conference trip with Active Solution, because that was originally pencilled in for Friday to Sunday. But the dates got changed so I got to do both.

It was… not bad. The strings and the didgeridoo fit together quite well. Especially the cello, which is roughly in the same register as the didgeridoo. But the didgeridoo didn’t stand out as much as I would have wished – it was somewhat drowned by the strings with their stronger, sharper voices.

Not a bad finale for the series, but it confirmed my already quite firm conclusion that this is not the series for me.

This morning we had our usual conference talk and team coding session. Then after lunch our team activity for the day was a hike – either around Monte Isola, or to the top. Both options were very tempting but, as another photographically inclined colleague pointed out, from the top you only get one kind of views, whereas the walk around the island will offer more photo opportunities.

The island is surrounded by a ring road, mostly trafficked by mopeds. The south and west coasts have small villages dotted along the road, with the hotels and restaurants clustered at the south-eastern tip. The north had fewer, and the east mostly held the industrial underbelly: ferry quays, a recycling centre, a fire station.

When we got back it was time to pack up and prepare for the trip home.

I still struggle to fully take in the reality of the historic castle that we stayed in. There’s just… a giant centuries-old, hand-woven tapestry in the dining hall. Just hanging there, for anyone to poke at.

It’s quite worn and faded, and has been painstakingly restored at some point.

A similarly aged painting hangs in a random hallway corner. I’d expect museum lighting and a label, but it gets no particular attention.

I thought at first that it might be a modern painting, done in an old style to fit in, but with the ragged canvas and flaking paint, it really isn’t.

Some of the guest rooms/apartments were ex-ballrooms, complete with painted ceilings, candelabras, fireplaces and antique furniture.

Conference day two, with Active Solution on Monte Isola and in Iseo.

The morning was dedicated to knowledge activities, just like yesterday. A talk, and then coding together in small teams. The weather was pretty fabulous again and we could sit and code outside in the garden behind the castle, without layers of sweaters. There was even a power outlet hidden in the stone wall – as if this spot was made for developers.

In the afternoon we went on a e-bike tour. All forty-plus of us. It meant a very slow pace and plenty of stopping, so that the group could gather up and cross larger roads with as little traffic disruption as possible.

The tour started in central Iseo, right where we got off the boat from Monte Isola, but soon took us out of town onto more rural lanes.

This was my first time using an e-bike. I’m not sure I like it very much. It felt strange to not have any resistance at all when pedalling – I felt that I didn’t get any proper contact with the bike, and it felt a bit unstable and unsafe. In the end I ended up turning off the electric feature on the flat, and only switched it on very briefly for going uphill, where I would normally have shifted into a lower gear. It felt good to feel the bike. I can imagine that e-bikes would be very convenient for commuting – there’s no way you’d work up a sweat, so there’s no need to shower and change when you get to the office.

More waiting – but with very pretty views and beautiful spring sunshine. Did I mention that Stockholm was barely above freezing when we left? Here it was the season for short sleeves and sun lotion.

Our destination was the Bersi Serlini vineyard.

We got a tour of the winery and a brief lecture about their history and process, learning most importantly that Franciacorta sparkling wines are definitely not prosecco.

A walk through their somewhat spooky cellars.

Afterwards there was a wine tasting, where we got to try out four different varieties of Bersi Serlini sparkling wines. They were… nice? I rarely consume any alcohol at all, and when I do drink wine then dry sparkling wine is probably the kind I am least interested in.

Afterwards we cycled back to Iseo. Had a half-hour of free time for a brief walk around.

Excellent pizza dinner at Pizzeria La Filanda. All the pizzas were served to share, and I was most happy to see that at least half of them were vegetarian, so I enjoyed this meal a lot.

Conference trip with Active Solution to Monte Isola in Italy.

tretton37 used to have annual conferences for the whole company, until everything went downhill. Active Solution isn’t going downhill so I got to go on a three-day conference trip.

Monte Isola is a pretty little island in Lake Iseo in northern Italy, an hour east of Milano. We flew to Milano, were transported by bus to Iseo on the coast of the lake, and then by boat to the island.

The island is basically a hilltop sticking out of the lake. There’s a ring of villages along the lake shore, connected by a road, and as soon as you leave the road, it’s all uphill.

We’re staying in Castello Oldofredi, an actual castle, parts of which date back to the late-medieval era.

Here’s us, listening to a talk about new features in the latest versions of .NET, in a vaulted renaissance hall.

After the talk, we had collaborative coding sessions. Most teams opted to sit out on the terrace. Quite a difference to the +3°C and light snow we left behind us in Stockholm.

Afterwards there was more enjoying of the spring sun.

For me, being so new to the company, the biggest benefit of the trip was to get to know the people. I make a point to go to the office once a week, but it tends to be the same faces there every week. Now I could put faces to the names I’ve seen, talk to the people I’ve seen only at a distance, and meet people from the other offices as well.

Viburnum in all its pink glory. And the season’s first bee, gathering nectar.

April is doing its usual thing, swinging back and forth between +10°C sunshine and barely-above-freezing days.

The first daffodil is blossoming.

Deer are frequent visitors in our garden, and are totally unbothered by my presence.

This past weekend was the last weekend of March and brought with it the turning of the clocks, i.e. the switch to summer time.

The Sunday I usually don’t notice it much. The Monday is still OK, I’ve got reserves and I don’t notice using them. But then on the Tuesday I’m tired and sluggish and everything feels off. Wednesday is often no better, and only towards the end of the week do I feel back to normal. How I wish we could stop this madness.

This evening I was too tired to cook and too tired to have much of an appetite, so it was breakfast for dinner. (Toast, smashed avocado, egg mayo, and my favourite juice – cucumber, kiwi and apple.) Complete with the morning paper that I didn’t have time to read this weekend. And with a little vase with the first spring flowers, that Ingrid surprised me with.