Le Temps Jadis

{what's up}

2012-01-25T05:00:00.000+01:00

I hope you had a good start into the new year. We did. The first two weeks are a bit sad, because of my mom and dad. But as I wrote before, I have found some peace accepting their passing.

The first two month's are always the dullest to me. December has so many highlights. Even though I am always happy that day to day live resumes, January and February are a bit boring.

I am also looking forward to spring, even though we still have to wait a little. The weather gods have been kind to us though. No real snow so far and I am very grateful for it. After two winters with lots of snow I have had enough for the next couple of years. As a matter of fact, some of the flower bulbs think it is spring already as green sprigs and leaves are popping out of the ground and some crocuses are blooming.

H. and I have tried to book our vacation in Lugano. We sent 3 e-mails so far and I tried to call, but no respons. Usually we send an e-mail in the beginning of December and receive an response before Christmas. I hope signora Fischer, the owner of the hotel, is well and that she has not decided to close the hotel. Otherwise we will have to try to find another hotel and we both don't like the idea. It is a luxury problem though ;-)

I work full-time and off late I am experiencing difficulties working the 40 hours I am supposed to work. It would be a bad idea to start working less hours as my employer is downsizing. I am not afraid to loose my job, but if I would start to work less hours it would be hard to get more hours if that should be necessary in the future. Fortunately I have lot's of days off and I am able to buy 10 days extra.

I started to sell some of my Barbies, the "new" ones. I need to downsize the collection and I also want to get back to the heart of the collection, my vintage Barbies. I don't make money on the Barbies that I sell. Crisis has hit the Barbie world as well. I don't mind as long as I don't have to sell for next to nothing, I would rather give them to a friend's or colleague's child or grandchild.

As you may or may not have heard, Google is getting rid of Google Friends Connect. First they will no longer support for non-blogspot blogs and not long after it will be discontinued. If you are following my blog through Google Friends Connect, I advise you to start following my blog through the RSS feed in a Reader. I would really appreciate it if you would continue to follow my little blog.
My namesake Marianne of Songbird has made a very nice tutorial on how to follow a blog through Google Reader.

Well, that's was a lot of text. Very uncommon for me LOL

Have a nice "rest of the week".

A photo of last year of our snowdrops.

{tea}

2012-01-22T05:00:00.000+01:00

I recently showed you some pics of my new coffee maker. I need a good dose of caffeine every day, but I also love tea.

This a my favorite at the moment. In Dutch it is called Sterrenmix (mixed by Blanche Dael in Maastricht). Translated it is Starmix, star because of the star anise that gives this tea a lovely flavor. But as you can see there are other ingredients as well.

This tea has a reviving effect on me!

Do you like tea?

{the crochet book}

2012-01-20T05:00:00.000+01:00

H. gave me this crochet book as a present for Christmas (at my request).

The Crochet Book by Cath Kidston.

A nice chunky book filled with ...ehm yarn.

There is enough yarn to make a 30 x 30 cm cushion. The colors are lovely and very Cath Kidstonesque.

I haven't started yet as I am considering to make something else out of it. Maybe a sleeve for my iPad as it is now covered in very sturdy but dull grey sleeve.

Well. We'll see!

Have a nice weekend!

{today I ♡}

2012-01-18T18:35:00.000+01:00

this hallway, look at the floor! Wow!

I am sorry I have to do another I ♡ posts. I haven't had time to prepare a post for you.

Bye,

{today I ♡}

2012-01-15T05:00:00.000+01:00

...spring. Even if we have to wait a little bit more. Sigh ;-)

Photo: BBC H&A

Bye,

{oma}

2012-01-13T05:00:00.000+01:00

Oma is the Dutch word for grandmother. Amongst my mother's belongings I found some beautiful photo's of my oma. Unfortunately I only have faint memories of her. Mostly of when she was living with us after she was diagnosed with leukemia. My mom took care of her. Both my grandparents on my mom's side died young. My granddad (opa) of silicosis (he worked in the mines) when I was 10 months old and my oma when I was 3.

My mom always talked lovingly about her mom and it wasn't until she died that I realized she most have missed her mom until she died herself.

My grandmother was a young woman in the 1920's and 1930's and the fashion back then was so elegant.

My grandmother and grandfather on their wedding day.

With on of her sisters. My oma is sitting.

With both her sisters. My oma is on the right.

I don't have photo's of my father's parents when they were young, only of when they were older.

Do you have photo's of your grandparents?

Have a nice weekend!

P.S. For those interested in the tech stuff. I used my iPhone and an app named Shoebox to scan the vintage photo's. It saves cropping (Shoebox does that) and uploading (iCloud does that). I know, I am lazy LOL. The scans are also uploaded to the site of Soebox at 1000memories.com.

Oh yes, I don't own stocks and I wasn't sponsored ;-)

{dolce coffee}

2012-01-11T05:00:00.000+01:00

In november my boss gave me a gift certificate as an appreciation for going the extra mile last year.

The gift certificate didn't make it very long though. I had been tired of my Philips Senseo coffee maker (of 8 years) for a while and wanted to by a Nespresso or Dolce Gusto (Nescafe)coffee machine. I decided on the Dolce Gusto for two reason. Their machines are cheaper and the cups can be sold in any supermarket.

Do you see the layers in the late, it's perfect! And it tastes great!

I love my coffee maker!

Bye,

{today I ♡}

2012-01-06T05:00:00.000+01:00

this beautiful sunny turquoise kitchen (via House of Turquoise)

Have a nice weekend,

{eight seasons}

2012-01-04T05:00:00.000+01:00

H. gave me a new sleeve for my iPhone for my birthday, the old one had worn out. I ordered one from Etsy and had to relinquish it to H. untill my birthday LOL.

I ordered this sturdy leather sleeve at Eight Seasons.

It arrived nice packed and well protected within a couple of days. Katrin of Eight Seasons makes nice bags and accessoires of leather. I love her bags adorned by beautiful leather flowers appliques.

Bye,

{time flies}

2012-01-03T10:00:00.000+01:00

Today it is two years ago since my mom passed away so sudden! I had so many questions that were left unanswered, it made life difficult for me for a while. In the past months I have finally started to accept the fact that she is no longer here. It gave the peace of mind I needed to enter the month of festivities, which was so difficult for me last year. I am so grateful for that peace!

I miss her and my dad (who passed away 10 years ago on January 17th) so dearly though.

I decided to take a day off. Not to mourn and pity myself, but to think of her and dad and to "be" with them.

Thank you for "listening"!

P.S. There is a photo of mom and dad on their wedding day in the right hand side bar.

(happy new year}

2011-12-31T05:00:00.000+01:00

love,

{london in pictures}

2011-12-28T11:20:00.000+01:00

Leaving Dover harbor

M&M World, what a blast.

River Thames from Tower bridge, upstream.

The Tower from Tower bridge.

Me, standing in a phone booth using my iPhone.

Horse Guards.

Piccallily Circus, as one of our fellow travelers called it.

Natural History Museum. I a little proud of this one, it has a HDR feel to it.

Laduree at Harrods. Just a sneaky pic. No photographing allowed ;-)

Tower Bridge.

French Coast at Calais.

I hope you enjoyed looking at them.

{it's christmas time}

2011-12-23T05:00:00.000+01:00

{cath kidston}

2011-12-21T05:00:00.000+01:00

We've just returned from our little trip to London. I had a great time there, but the highlight had to be my visit to the Cath Kidston store in Windsor. Sorry, Your Majesty!

I have been drooling over Cath's stuff on her site and the ocasional paper catalog for years. I ordered some things over the internet through Ebay as Cath was demanding a small fortune for shipping outside the UK. A couple of days before we went to London I visited Cath's site again to take a look at her collection and I found out she now has a EU site and shipping has gone down, yippee!

I loved, loved, LOVED the store in Windsor. I was completely overwhelmed by all the goodies, I missed that they had another floor. H. had pointed it out to me.

I was naughty and took some photo's with my iPhone. I was pretty nervous about it as it is forbidden, so I hid it in the pocket of my coat. I took it oud occasionally to take a pic quickly, that is why they are a bit blurred.Later H.told me they had camera's all over the place, but nobody made a remark. They lady at the counter was extremely kind.

Now push that darn button, I want to go in!

Sigh!

I would love to have this bed at home!

Nice!

Love the curtain!
H. was in they way when I made this photo. I zipped him though!

I loved the quality of the wallpaper. It is expensive but has a very nice quality!

A display in the window.

My loot! I kept it down a bit as I am counting on a CK sale soon.

Later that day we visited Harrods and I can tell you I wasn't as impressed wit Harrods as I was with CK's shop!

Take care,

{almost christmas}

2011-12-18T05:00:00.000+01:00

Happy third Advent.

Take care,

{today I ♡}

2011-12-16T05:00:00.000+01:00

.....this lovely Christmas decoration.

Photo: The White Company via Country Days

Happy weekend!

{devastation}

2011-12-11T15:07:00.001+01:00

I work in the town of Heerlen. Heerlen has (or should I say had) the first American style shopping mall. It was built in 1965, the year after I was born. It was rebuilt several times, once after a fire. A couple of months ago, the shopping mall starting having problems. Some pillars in the parking garage underneath the front part of themall started to show cracks. Although the owner did everything to mend it, the problem went further and further until the entire mall was closed last week, it was on the verge of collapsing. A big hole had appeared in the floor of the parking garage, one of the pillars sank into the hole. You can see photo's of the state of the garage on the internet, it was a scary sight. The shopping mall is built in compartments, which are not connected. It was decided to demolish the part that is was affected immediately, before it would collapse. The shopkeepers of the affected part weren't allowed to empty out their shops, it was too dangerous.

Photo: H.M.G. van Rijk via L1.nl

The sight of a part of the shopping mall being demolished with everything in it makes me sad.

It has been on my mind all week.

I hope they will be able to determine what the problem is and solve it and then rebuilt it.

Take care,

{and the winner is....}

2011-12-08T19:24:00.001+01:00

Today at noon the give-away for the Ramsign house number ended.

So I had Random.org draw a number. And the winner is.....(drum roll).

And who was commenter number 5?

Congratulations to the winner! Ele of Ele's Kleine Wunderwelt

Ele I will send you an e-mail.

Thank you to everyone who took part in the give-away and a big thank you to Ramsign for sponsoring this give-away.

Take care,

{24kitchen}

2011-12-07T05:00:00.000+01:00

I am not much of a cook, but that doesn't keep me from watching foodshows. I love Jamie Oliver and Nigella Lawson. On October 1th the first Dutch cooking channel, 24 kitchen, was launched. H. and I always say: There is nothing on TV, now we can't anymore. We both love this channel.

Most of all I like the shows by chef Rudolph van Veen. He is a master chef and master patissier, yet he makes shows about easy to cook meals. I read somewhere that he wants to make cooking a healthy tasteful meal more fun for people. This guy made desserts for the Oscars in 2005, now he shows you how to make apple pie. I like that.

Photo: 24kitchen

And...Jamie Oliver will have his first appearance next week! Nigella where are you....?

;-)

There still is some time to take part in the Ramsign give-away. It ends tomorrow.

{gifted magazine}

2011-12-04T05:00:00.000+01:00

You know how much I love reading magazines, also digital ones.

Ez of Creature Comfort blog made this beautiful giftguide for the holidays.

Open publication - Free publishing -

More christmas

Enjoy!

P.S. Don't forget to take part in the Ramsign give-away on this blog.

{ramsign give-away}

2011-12-01T05:00:00.001+01:00

I love enameled signs. I still have the original old enamel house number sign that used to adorn the house. A black 6 on a white background. I think I hid it in our little garden housen (H. calls the garden house 6A) after we bought a new and shining 6 a couple of years ago. It is over 50 years old.

I have to admit that I like the enamel sign better then the shiny new one (don't tell H.)

photo: ramsign

Ramsign is a Danish company that specializes in manufacturing and selling classic enamel signs based on original designs and techniques. They sell house numbers, doors signs, adress plaques and name plates.

Today I am able to offer a house number to one of my lucky readers, courtesy of Ramsign.

Visit their site at www.ramsign.com (for my Dutch readers www.ramsign.nl) to choose a house number.

Then come back to the blog and leave a comment, tell me what design you like. If you place a link to this give-away on your blog let me know in a separate comment and you are throw into the big black hat for another chance.

photo: ramsign

You can enter until noon December 8th (local time), I will draw a winner in the evening with the help of random.org and announce the winner on this blog.

You can take part where ever you live. Ramsign ships worldwide. I will send the information of the winner to Ramsign, they will take care of the rest.

Isn't this a great give-away? I wish I could take part LOL Now go visit Ramsign's site, hurry back and leave a comment.

Bye,

{today I ♡}

2011-11-27T05:00:00.001+01:00

....Siri

Siri does not support Dutch yet. But he/she (depends where you live) understands a name, so you can ask him to dial a number. For instance, "call Hans". I added the word "home" to our home number and as a joke I started to ask him to "phone home". Now I use it every time I want to call somebody.

I can also dictate a message or ask him to find information for me on the internet.

And yes....he recognizes me ;-)

Have a nice first Advent.

See ya,

P.S. keep your eyes on this blog (or your RSS reader), I am hosting a super give-away later this week.

{maastricht}

2011-11-25T05:00:00.000+01:00

Last week I took a day off and we went shopping in Maastricht. Maastricht is a lovely city, the river Meuse flowing through it. It's rich history shown in abundance in every street and corner of the old town centre. Once a roman settlement named Mosa Trajectum, later occupied by the Spanish and the French. Especially the French influence is still very noticable today.

Maastricht is a great town to shop and sit on a terrace, sipping a cappucino and watch the world go by.

The river Meuse is flowing through Maastricht. Maas (in Maastricht) means Meuse.

Well ahum, we actually didn't sit on terrace and didn't sip a cappucino.

Instead we went to the coffee bar of Douwe Egberts (a Dutch coffee brand) and had hot chocolat. Yummy!

The Iittala shop.

The Hermes shop, too expensive for me.

Take care,

{today I ♡}

2011-11-20T05:00:00.001+01:00

Autumn......in a cafe. Ehmmmm!

On Saturday morning I have coffee with a friend. This we the cafe had an interesting setting LOL Fortunately I am not the one who has to clean up afterwards.

Have a nice Sunday!

{autumn}

2011-11-18T05:00:00.000+01:00

The weather has been so great, you would almost forget it's autumn. I made these photo's with my iPhone 4s. It has a very nice camera!

Take care,

{waterfall scarf}

2011-11-12T19:01:00.001+01:00

I am not that much into knitting and crochet, but off late I got bitten by the bug.

Of cause the projects are very simple, but non the less much fun.

A colleague came to work one day wearing a lovely boa like knitted scarf that I really liked.

I asked her to buy the wool for me and knitted my own.

You can click on the photo for a larger version.

It looks complicated because of the yarn that is used, but it is as easy as knitting a scarf with regular yarn.

I used yarn named Katia Ondas but you can also use Can Can by Lammy Yarns.

The yarn is a sort of netted ribbon. It looks like this when you buy it.

There are several colors to choose from.

You knit on the edge of the ribbon. The rest forms the ruffles while you knit.

I used #7 needles and 2 balls of yarn. I started with 10 stitches (is that the right word?).

I knit tight, so my scarf is a bitt shorter.

I found two nice films on Youtube here and here explaining how to knit the scarf. The second film is in Dutch.

If you have any questions, just ask away!

Have a nice weekend!

{what's up}

2011-11-06T09:10:00.000+01:00

I thought I let you know what I have been up to this past week.

I put down my crochet temporarily in favor of knitting a scarf. It is really very nice, I will show you some pics when it is ready.

I installed Lion on my computer, something I've been putting off for a while. I still have to work out all the features though.

I received my iPhone 4S last Friday, transferring all my apps and information from my 3GS to the 4S went well.

I worked yesterday, doing some overtime for a project my employer started a couple of weeks ago. Very nice since I will get 1,5 the time that I invested back in time I can take off later this year or next year. Yay!

My sister has some stuff from her old home in storage. She decided to get rid of most of it (I call that super de-cluttering), we started yesterday.

Blog reading ( too little though, I have not been able to keep up with the new posts appearing in Google Reader). BTW what do you think of the new Google Reader?

What have you been up to?

Take care,

{autumn}

2011-10-30T18:06:00.001+01:00

I hope you enjoyed your weekend! I surely did! It was lovely weather and yesterday I was able to enjoy my favorite method to relax. You know what that means....

Today H. and I went for a walk and I made these photo's.

A perfect weekend!

{Jan}

2011-10-23T18:52:00.002+02:00

Unfortunately my friend Jan lost his battle with cancer. I told you about him earlier this year, remember?

He fought like a lion, getting huge doses of chemo. About a months ago he also started getting problems with his heart and lungs. He had a heart-attack while the doctors where performing a catheterization. From then everything started going downhill. Jan died on October 16, he was cremated yesterday. I am very happy that I was able to visit him and his partner several times before Jan's death.

I met Jan about 9 years ago. Back then I collected Barbies fervently and I visited a couple of Barbie shows a year. I hated having to travel though. Then I heard that a man was organizing a Barbie show nearby. I sent him an e-mail to tell him how happy that made me and he invited me over to his home. That is how I met Jan and his partner. We have been friends ever since.

I will miss you, Jan.

Marianne.

{hooked}

2011-10-21T05:00:00.000+02:00

I recently started to crochet. I love al those nice things made from grannies, so I decided to give it a try, again.....

When I was a child knitting and crochet were taught on school. I hated it, because I was no good at it. When I had to knit a scarf it would end up half the width, because I knitted tighter with ever row. It would get dirty as it had to be undone and knitted again. Crochet wasn't any better. I even forgot how to crochet. Thanks to You Tube I know now and I also know how to crochet a simple granny.

I intend to make enough grannies to make a small bag. That also means I have to get out my sewing machine to make the lining for the bag. Oh wew, I hope that goes well LOL.

I will show you the end result.

A hint for you.....If the end result doesn't show up here, there is no end result.

BTW the Dutch word for "to crochet" is "haken" Haak is also the Dutch word for hook, haken is done with a needle with a hook. Hence the word (and the tittle of this post).

Are you still there....?

Bye,

{today I ♡}

2011-10-14T05:00:00.000+02:00

......this natural pool.

Even though summer is over, it would be lovely to have a pool like this in my garden.

You can enjoy using it or just looking at it. So soothing, much better a glaring aqua box.

Bye,

Photo: homemag.co.za

{2012}

2011-10-09T05:00:00.000+02:00

I know it is still 3 months to go, but I bought a new diary for the new year. It is really strange, even though I am a computer geek, I still love to use a paper diary.

I love Flow magazine (I have a subscription) and I loved last year's diary, but it was huge. Besides the diary, it contained little notebooks and stickers. This year the diary is huge too, but it consists of three books:

a normal sized diary, a book containing little notebooks and a book filled with stickers and tags. I can carry the diary with me and leave the other two books at home.

It is so cute, take a look.

Photo: Bol.com

My diary waiting to be used.

I found the small bunting in an envelope in the extra's book (also below) which also contains stickers and tags.

Photo: Bol.com

I am looking forward to 2012 ;-)

Have a nice Sunday,

{one more thing}

2011-10-06T16:50:00.000+02:00

Photo: Apple.com

This morning I learned that Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Inc., passed away yesterday.

He was only 56 years old.

The most fitting words I read about him today were the words of President Obama.

"Steve Jobs was brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he could change the world, and talented enough to do it."

{mogno}

2011-10-05T05:00:00.000+02:00

Mogno is a small village deep in the Maggia Valley in Ticino Switzerland. In the 1986 the village chapel and several houses were destroyed by an avalanche. The famous Swiss architect Mario Botta offered to design a new chapel. It was named San Giovanni Batista (St. John the Baptist) and built on the very same spot. White marble and granite (gneis) from the valley were used both inside and outside. The combination is very beautiful. Once you are inside a feeling of peace seems to decent on you. I really loved it.

The chapel is built to withstand future avalanches.

Entrance

Entrance. The stair leads to the church clock and doubles as a drain for the rain water.

Take care,

{today I ♡}

2011-09-30T05:00:00.000+02:00

......this lovely fire red Aga.

It stands out in the greige painted kitchen.

Have a nice weekend.

Photo: The English Home

{and the winner is...}

2011-09-26T18:09:00.001+02:00

....# 11 on the list of comments, as decided by random.org.

And # 1 is....

Congratulations Angel.

Now I need your name and address so we can get your give-away on the road.

Please send me an e-mail. You can use the contact button underneath the header.

Bye,

P.S. For those wondering, SCC in Angel's comment stands for Shabby Chic Cafe a very nice forum about decorating in the SC style.

{lugano fleamarket finds]

2011-09-25T05:00:00.000+02:00

Lugano has a very nice flea market on Saturday. I think I found out about that after my umpht visit there.

So Saturday is flea market time. H. just has to endure it (he doesn't like flea markets).

This year I found 2 nice doilies there (only one on in the photo). The are Swiss, from Saint Gallen , supposedly made in the 1930's or 1940's.

In a little shop I found this nice little plate (9,5 cm or 3,8 inches). It was lying on a table outside it looked very familiar when I saw it. So I turned it and I found that it was Dutch LOL. It is from Makkum a Frisian town H. and I visited earlier this year during our stay in Bergen (near the coast). Makkum is well know for it's earthenware. Especially Royal Tichelaar. They have their factory in Makkum and the factory also has a large shop. The little plate's price was 2 Swiss Francs (about $ 2.2 or € 1,7) and I am pretty sure there was nothing priced € 1,70 in that shop when we were there. As a matter of fact Makkum earthenware is very expensive. My plate is from the 1960's but the plate is still made, not with this decor though. Now it's price is € 122. Yep, I did well that day in Lugano.

I knew that when I entered the shop. But I thought the shopkeeper was Swiss and wouldn't know anything about Makkum earthenware and I was wrong. The lady was Dutch, she knew about the plate as she bought it herself in 1964. She must have paid even more back then, but she didn't mention it and I didn't ask. I guess it was my luck that Dutch earthenware must not be very well known in Switzerland or not of interest to Swiss people. And that it wasn't snatched up by another Dutch tourist.

Have a nice Sunday!

P.S. I will announce the winner of the give-away tomorrow.

{today I ♡}

2011-09-22T20:21:00.000+02:00

this library made with Billy bookcases (via Ikeahacker)

Have a nice weekend,

{today I ♡}

2011-09-19T09:51:00.001+02:00

........Swiss Chocolate ice cream by Mövenpick. Sigh!

After I first tasted this ice cream I forgot about my diet LOL.

We returned from our vacation in Switzerland yesterday! I will tell you more about it later this week.

I have a lot to do.

Don't forget to take part in my give-away.

Bye,

{give-away}

2011-09-15T20:38:00.000+02:00

It has been a long time since I did a give-away! So it is about time...;-)

Here is what you can win.

A coton tote from H&M. H&M as started a project to get children out of work and into schools. It is called All for children. I have to admit I bought the bag without knowing it, I just liked it. The other two items are a notebook by theNeues with the map of Amsterdam printed on it and 3 eco friendly pencils.

All you have to do to win is leave a comment (it doesn't matter where you live).

The give-away will end on September 23rd at 8 PM local time (2 PM Eastern Time).

Good Luck!

P.S. If Blogger is not letting you comment, send me an e-mail at letempsjadis [at] tele2 [dot] nl and I will leave a comment for you.

{link love}

2011-09-13T19:53:00.000+02:00

It has been a while since my last "link love" post, so here are some nice links.

24 homes

A great shabby chic blog by Karin Joan and Claire.

Lonny Blog

The blog of the e-magazine with the same name ;-)

Young House Love

A great blog about a young family patching up an old home.

The real Blogger Status

This is an unofficial blog about problems on Blogger. The subtitle of the blog is "What Blogger won't tell".There is also a lot of information about Blogger's features.

Mooie plaatjes kijken

Is Tumblr blog with a Dutch tittle, but no text at all. "Mooie plaatjes kijken" means "to look at nice photo's". And that's what is shown, lovely photo's found on the internet by Denise.

Enjoy!

{911}

2011-09-10T19:22:00.001+02:00

To remember those who lost their lives 10 years ago.

We must never forget.

Hugs,

Marianne

{today I ♡}

2011-09-07T20:13:00.000+02:00

...the fall/winter issue of Flea Market Style.

Margot of Margot Junkin Journal also ships this magazine outside the US.

Bye,

{house doctor)

2011-09-01T20:00:00.000+02:00

A little while ago I told you that a specialist was coming over to take a look at our moist basement. The service is called House Doctor, which is very appropriate. We wanted somebody neutral to take a look at the problem, tell us what the cause is and advice us on how to remedy it.

The guy came over last week, and... pfff.... my biggest fear didn't come true. There is nothing wrong with the fundament of our home.

Secondly the moist problem is contained to the basement. Our basement is like a concrete box. The concrete doesn't keep out the water anymore. The walls above the soil are dry, beneath the soil they are moist. His advice was to have the walls injected with a resin and to have the basement window which is located beneath the front door replaced.

This is our front door. Beneath the grid in front of the door is a connection to the basement.There is a sturdy iron window there that is letting through water. We need to replace the whole thing and possibly connect it to the sewer so it can dispose of the rain water.

So, we have plans to have this fixed next year. The window thing first as it posses the biggest problem and the injection with resin later next year. I really want to have this done before we start with the bathroom and the hall and stairs.

Bye,

{today I ♡}

2011-08-25T20:15:00.000+02:00

.... this tableware named Botanice Garden prints by Portmeirion (via Country Days)

Have a nice day!

{the return of marks & sparks}

2011-08-19T05:04:00.000+02:00

Marks & Spencer are to return to the Netherlands. And I can tell you, I love it! There was a shop in the Kalverstraat in Amsterdam about 20 years ago. My sister lived near Amsterdam at that time, whenever I visited her I HAD to visit Marks & Spencer (amongst others). In 2001 Marks & Spencer withdrew from the European main land. And now they are coming back...

Two weeks ago I found this set of bath foam at a fleamarket..

So I decided to pay their site a little visit. I found out I paid too much for the set LOL (but who cares). I also found out they only charge GBP 7,50 for shipping to the Netherlands. Now I can replace the chopping board I bought in their Amsterdam shop a long time ago and threw out only a couple of weeks ago.

But...if things go as we planned I will pay one of their London shops a visit later this year.

Have a nice sunny weekend!

P.S. A little message for those who "liked" me on Facebook. I de-activated my account there. It is still there, but not visible. Somehow FB and Twitter can not arouse my interest. I am on Google+, which is a bit better (but not much LOL). If you are interested in an invite, let me know.

{itsy bitsy spider}

2011-08-13T17:38:00.000+02:00

Today I made this photo of a spider in it's web. It had rained, so there are little drops of rain on the web. Although I am a bit limited by the capabilities of my point and shoot, I like this photo.

To me seeing spiders in our garden is a sign of autumn nearing. Unfortunately the weather has not been great since the beginning of July, but then again we had a great spring. For me it balances out things a bit.

I hope you are enjoying your weekend!

{to eat or not to eat}

2011-08-07T09:26:00.001+02:00

..that is the question.

As you know I am on a diet. I lost 5,5kg in 5 weeks, which is pretty good (I think). Today I tried on some of my older summer clothes and they fit Yippeeee! I want to loose another 3,5 kg's.

Yeaterday I read on Yvonne's blog Yvestown how she loses weight. She lost 16,5 kg since mid May, which is great result. She does the Cambridge Weight Plan. Two meals are substituted by Cambridge shakes, the rest is low carb. You should take a look at her site as she published some recipes of soup which are very easy to make.

My diet is similar to Yvonne's. I also substitute two meals. In the morning I eat (drink) a shake and I eat a bar for lunch. I am allowed a snackbar (75 calories) and 2 pieces of fruit. In the evening I eat what H. eats. But no fatty things liks fries and I don't overeat. Enough is enough. If I want something in the evening I eat some more fruit or some cucumbre. I don use the Cambridge products, I use Weightcare. The site I am linking to is Dutch. I didn't find a English site.

Yesterday I made this salade, with lot's of salade, smoked salmon, red pepper, eggs and some onion. We always add the dressing when the salade is on our plates, as we both like different dressings. I put on a mustard/dill dressing.

Yummy!

Have a nice Sunday!

{orton effect}

2011-08-04T04:44:00.000+02:00

The Orton effect is a certain way to proces an image in Photoshop. The effect was discussed on the blog of Adobe Photoshop Elements Techniques a magazine about PSE. I gave it a try and I really like what it does to my photo's. It adds warmth and depth, an etheral look. The Orton Effect is named after Michael Orton, who invented it in the 1980's. Originally it was used sandwiching films which were differently exposed together. Remember, back then we had analog.

This photo of our red hibiscus is processed with the Orton effect. Maybe not perfect I still have to play around settings a bit.

This is the original photo. I only added the watermark and cropped it.

What do you think? Do you like the effect. Or do you like the original more?

Bye,

{no deco}

2011-07-30T19:40:00.000+02:00

I know it is a bit quiet on my blog lately! I have put it to rest a bit as I was getting a bit worried about blogging! I used to do about 2 - 3 post a week and I don't want it to become a obligation!

There isn't much decorating going on in our house at the moment, even though I have a lot of plans in my head. Like the new bathroom and having the paneling in our hall and stairs painted white, replacing the flooring on the upper floor and...

Unfortunately we have a bit of a problem in our cellar. It is very damp! We will have a specialist take a look at it in two weeks. He is independent and will try to determine the problem and give advise on how to solve it. This way I will be able to choose an company and have them fix it without having to worry about getting an advice from them that is only beneficial to them, if you get what I mean. This probably will be an expensive job and we don't want to end up paying too much because we don't know anything about it.

In the meantime I just hope their is no underlaying problem.

Today we went to Ikea to see if they already had the new catalog, but they didn't. When passing the bathroom section we saw these drawers with sink and mirror cabinet we both like. I pinned it to Pinterest so I won't forget. Here are some pics.

At Ikea they used two of the mirror cabinets, so you have lot of space for your things. The sink is porcelain and the drawers are very spacious. The whole thing is on legs, so it is easy to clean underneath. Maybe we can use a closet from the same range to keep towels in.

Have a nice weekend with good weather. We have had a very rainy July, the forecast for August is better.

Bye,

Photo's Ikea.nl

{today I ♡}

2011-07-24T05:09:00.000+02:00

.......cupcakes

I'd love to eat one, but I can't. I am on a diet.

I lost 3,5 kg (7,7 pounds) in 3 weeks and I need to loose a bit more.

Have a nice Sunday!

Bye,

Photo: Lily's Cupcakes

{dear self}

2011-07-22T05:17:00.001+02:00

Photographs hold a magical quality. They show as loved ones, long lost friends, pets we once had, beautiful place we've once been and of cause our selves. They instantly transport us back to the place and time it was taken. When we look at a photo a little drawer is opened, containing memories. We remember when the photo was taken, where it was taken, what kind of weather it was, the smell, who we were with...what we felt.

On the the site "Dear Photograph" people return to the place a dear photo was taken, to take a photo of the past in the present. The site is founded on these emotions. It is not about a perfect photo, but about our (im)perfect past. We love to travel back to feel these emotions again, to see the people and places we may never see again in person. In a way the site should be called "dear self" as the photo that we take now of the photo that were taken then, we take for our selves.

Have a nice weekend!

{jurianne matter}

2011-07-15T19:46:00.000+02:00

Jurianne Matter is a Dutch designer and product stylist who designs beautiful paper work or should I say paper art. I don't own anything by her yet, but I am very tempted to buy the little tree cards. Off late I see a lot of her work on blogs and in magazines.

On her site she tells more about herself.

“I like to create beautiful, warm and festive little rituals relating to important happenings in life. This way they become experiences always to remember”.

She inherited her love for fabrics, paper and patterns from her mother and grand mother. After trying several occupations she started at the Interior Styling School at Artemis Academy in Amsterdam. She designs her own paperwork (like the beautiful items on the photo's below) but also likes to design for companies.

I don't own anything by her yet, but I am very tempted to buy the little tree cards.

If you like to see more of her work or get to know her better visit her site or blog. On her site is also a list of stockists.

Have a nice weekend!

Photo's: Jurianne Matter.

{connect design}

2011-07-13T05:04:00.009+02:00

As you know I am an Apple lover! Today I saw this iPhone case on a Dutch iPhone blog.

An iPhone case you can embroider. Unfortunately it's for an iPhone 4 and I have an older model (they turn old very fast btw). If I did have an iPhone 4 I would have ordered it, it's really cute. There are several colors and stitch designs to choose from.

The iPhone case is for sale in an online Korean shop named Connect Design. They have a lot of other nice design items for sale, but also retro items.

Like this watch notebook.

And Multi Lines, an extension line with multiple inlets. They won several prices for this design.

These are just a few examples. You will have to take a look yourself!

Take care,

="" href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank">

{today I ♡}

2011-07-08T17:11:00.000+02:00

.......Yvonne's toilet. Yvonne it the owner of The Yvestown Blog.

I love the wallpaper and tiles.

How about Blogger's new dashboard? I really like it.

Have a nice weekend!

Hugs,

{today I ♡}

2011-07-03T05:05:00.001+02:00

these clouds...

We had very hot weather for 2 days (Monday and Tuesday) that ended with storms, fortunately for us, elsewhere in the country. We had these threatening clouds and very little else.

A very happy July 4th to my American readers.

Bye,

{decorate}

2011-07-01T19:53:00.000+02:00

I am an avid follower of Holly's blogs Decor8 and Haus Maus and I really like her taste and flair.
So when I read about her book project last year I immediately put her book on my wishlist.

The book was published in the UK last March, in the US a bit after that and a German version will be publised later this year. I bought my copy at CDWOW, because it was sold out at Amazon.co.uk. CDWOW carried the US edition, published by Chronicle books.

The book arrived last week. I really and truly love it. It has a coffee table format with almost 300 pages.
It shows homes which are decorated in an eclectic way. Lot's of white walls and huge windows. Furniture and decoration is a combination of vintage and new. A lot of great tips, moodboards, how to's and loads of photo's. Holly (as stylist and writer) and photographer Debi Treloar visited the homes of designers and fellow bloggers. On almost each page is a quote by one them. It really is a beautiful mix. There is so much to see on each page, every time I open the book there is something new to see.

I made a few photo's. If you want to see more you can visit Holly's blog are take a peek inside at Amazon.

The cover

Some of the china in this cupboard is Mega by Royal Copenhagen a modern version of an old patern.

How about the turqouise Smeg

I love this pic. So much to see.

I had planned to attend the Meet the Blogger event in Amsterdam last Saturday, but I didn't.

I had some doubts about fitting in there, in the end I gave in to that doubt. Also because the trip by train suddenly was prolonged by an hour because of a detour.

I still do not regret that I didn't go. I do regret not meeting Holly and having her sign my copy of her book.

A big hug and kiss to my blog friend Ann Marie, who lost her dad this week.

I am thinking of you!

Bye,

Photo's: Debi Treloar

{flowers}

2011-06-29T17:00:00.001+02:00

Some photo's of the flowers in our garden.

Clematis

Hydrangea

Wow, purple petunia's.

Bye,

{today I ♡}

2011-06-26T04:43:00.001+02:00

the lantern I bought recently.

When the new door en window was installed I got a nice wide window sill, so naturally I had to buy something to put on it. Love the color, it compliments the door.

Have a nice Sunday!

{up!}

2011-06-23T17:37:00.002+02:00

Last weekend there was a fair in my home town. Usually we only walk past all attractions, as I get sick of most of them LOL. But his time there was a ferris wheel there too. I love ferris wheels, so.....

Have a nice weekend!

Bye,

{today I ♡}

2011-06-19T04:58:00.004+02:00

Photosynth.....

a great site for panorama photo's. If you like to see one I made of some photo's I took during our visit at the museum Zaanse Schans go here

This is just a part of the pano.

You can also click on my userid and see some other pano's I uploaded, including two I made with my iPhone and the Photosynth app.

You can also click on home and see some amazing panorama photo's.

Have a nice Father's Day.

{where is your blog spot}

2011-06-16T18:05:00.000+02:00

Blog Guidebook is having a link party, the theme is "Where is your blog spot".

So, this is my favorite blog spot........

My computer is in a special cupboard in the living room. The photo is not so great as it was pretty dark outside and I hate using the flash (I am anti-flash).

Why the living room? When I bought my first computer (in 1986) I didn't want to put it in a spare room as I was afraid I would never us it (duh). I put it on a simple desk in the living room. When I moved to this house my mom bought a cupboard for the computer as a moving gift, so again I put the computer in living room. Now that I am not single anymore it nice that H. and I can do different things and still communicate. Do you see the mess in the closet? When I'm done, I just close the doors and nobody sees it LOL

If you would like to read about other blogger's blog spot or want to participate, click on the button below and you will be transported to Blog Guidebook's link party site.

It's a bit early but have a nice weekend!

Bye,

{link love}

2011-06-15T05:30:00.005+02:00

Here is some link love to keep you busy...

An Apple a day
*

Did you see the Apple keynote with new software from Apple? I am looking forward to iCloud, IOS5, but especially Lion.

Ikea live hemmet
*

The official Ikea blog. it's in Swedish, but the photo's are great. And you can use Google Translate....

Fuzzimo
*

I have Photoshop Elements (Photoshop CS5 baby brother) on my computer. You can use it spruce up your pics, but you can also use it for digital scrapping. At Fuzzimo you can find all kinds of great stuff for scrapping and also some tutorials. Lot's of great freebies.

Mirte Quake
*

Mirte de Zeeuw makes beautiful illustrations of birds. She sells those drawings as prints, but also uses them for cushions, bags etc. Love those Ornithology series.

Vosges Paris
*

Desiree named her blog after Place des Vosges in Paris. Here blog's subtitle is "A story in concrete and white". Here home has a more industrial look, a mix of vintage, modern and concrete. It even appeared in the Ikea Family magazine.

Enjoy your reading!

Take care,

{today I ♡}

2011-06-13T07:18:00.001+02:00

frosting rose cooking.

You can find a tutorial how to make them on Little Birdie Secrets.

I hope you will have a nice day.

Photo: Little Birdie Secrets

{pottery barn}

2011-06-10T18:48:00.003+02:00

Pfew, this week is over. It was the first fill work week in a long time. I have had so much days off, that I kind of forgot what it is like to work fulltime ;-)

But that is nothing compared to the bad news that was brought by a friend. He has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and unfortunately it's inoperable because the cancer has seeded to his liver. I have been thinking of him and his partner ever since the call.

But now onto something nice... (at least in my opinion).

As we all know, we non-US people are not able to visit Pottery Barn's site. If you own an iPhone ore iPad you can download Pixelmags' Pottery Barn catalogue app. The next pics are from that app.

Update 1: Liz of Violet Posy was kind enough to let me know that she was able to access PB's site from the UK and that they now ship to 79 countries.

I have tried to access the site after clearing my browser's cache and cookies, but it didn't work.

Maybe one of my Dutch visitors can give it a try and let me know what happens.

Thank you Liz!

Update 2: Today I was finally able to access PB's site, only to find out that The Netherlands is not on their shipping list. No need to say I sent them an e-mail LOL. Well at least I am able to look at their goodies. If you can't access them through www.potterybarn.com try this link

Have a nice weekend!

All photo's: Pottery Barn

{today I ♡...}

2011-06-05T05:31:00.006+02:00

.......this vegetable garden in wine boxes.

Have a nice Sunday!

source

{red door 2}

2011-06-03T05:30:00.002+02:00

Last year we bought a new front door. It is red (RAL 3005), a very nice and warm color.

One of our backdoors needed to be replaced as well, so we decided to have it made in the same color. The inside of the door is white.

We also ordered a roof (is it the right word?) for our terrace, so we can sit outside in the summer even when it's raining. Because we have a tree standing near the terrace, we decided to have only half of the terrace roofed. We can extend it later, if we want.

The workmen started at 9AM, within half an hour our old backdoor was gone, the kitchen was covered in dust and the black splinters of the old doorstep were lying all over the kitchen. This guy really went at it with a vengance (and a hammer).

Almost all the walls in the house are crooked. The house was built in 1957 when more houses were needed fast. I guess they didn't check level very often. I remember that my dad always was swearing when he made something. Even though some adjustments had to be made, it didn't really cause a real problem.

The only problem with the door was that the panes in the window above and beside the door were too small. They will be replaced with 2 weeks.

Nice 'n red LOL

Now we can sit outside when it rains or eat outside without the fear that a bird is going to poop in our dinner LOL. As you can see, the other backdoor is still brown (hard wood actually).

The wall (our neighbour's extensions was crooked too, by the way) still looks a bit bare. I have to think about that a bit more. I used some stuff from my extensive collection of.....well stuff.

We are enjoying our long weekend!

Hope you will enjoy your weekend as well.

{little ikea hack}

2011-06-01T05:30:00.005+02:00

A little while ago I told you here what I liked from Ikea's new collection. Amongst them was the Skurar planter. There is also a hanging version.

When I visited my Ikea last week I found two discounted (no chains) hanging Skurar in the bargain corner. When I the thought crossed my mind that they would be great as lamps. I forgot about that until I saw this hack on Ikeahackers. All you need is a light fixture. In the hack a fixture from Ikea was used, I had one lying around that I bought a couple of years ago and never used.

So my Skurar hanging planter turned into a Skurar lamp. Easy peasy. I had H. drill a hole in the base (or top?) of the planter. Then I put the cord through the hole and ready my new lamp was. I think you can also do this with standing planter version.

I love the doily look!

I put the lamp in our spare bedroom, currently know as the "empty" room. Empty is between quotations marks as it full with stuff currently not in use I also dry my laundry there. The lamp that I was hanging there was ancient.

Bye,

{memorial day}

2011-05-30T19:02:00.000+02:00

Today is Memorial Day in the United States.

I made this photo a few months ago on the Margraten Cemetery and Memorial. Let's remember those who gave their lives for freedom....

anywhere on this earth.

Take care,

{this 'n that}

2011-05-28T08:45:00.000+02:00

I hope you had a nice week. I had a great one. We both had a day off on Tuesday and Wednesday. It was H. birthday on Tuesday. Our relatives came over and we had dinner together (in a restaurant).

On Wednesday we went to an outlet shopping mall in Roermond. I was a good girl and didn't buy anything. I saw a lot of nice stuff though.

Next week will a "short" one too as I have to take off next Wednesday. We will get our terrace partly roofed and one of the back doors will be replaced. Thursday is a holiday and on Friday our office will be closed as well. I will post some photo's of the improvements later this week.

Have a nice weekend!

{garden close-up}

2011-05-25T05:30:00.002+02:00

Have a nice day!

{happy sunday}

2011-05-22T12:20:00.000+02:00

Peonies from our garden.

{today I ♡...}

2011-05-20T05:30:00.003+02:00

Paper art by Yuila Brodskaya

You have to take a look at her site. She makes beautiful things.

Have a nice weekend!

{elephant parade}

2011-05-18T05:30:00.005+02:00

Elephant Parade is a support organization that raises and donates money for the Asian elephant, that is threatened by extinction. A little while ago the Elephant Parade too over the town of Heerlen, not very far from where I live. Elephants are decorated by local artist (not necesarily painters) and famous people. These elephants were placed in Heerlen as a an open air exhibition. When the exhibition is over, they will be auction off. You can also buy smaller versions at a temporary shop over on the internet on the Elephant Parade's webshop

The elephants are so cute and very beautifully decorated. Here are some photo's which I lent from the Elephant Parade's site.

This little guy I found over at Ikea's this week. I love this one the best. He is decorated in the same manner a Dalarna horse. Unfortunately this elephant is "unofficial", it can not be bought in the shop.

Bye,

{the keukenhof}

2011-05-13T23:52:00.000+02:00

This is the post Blogger removed and restored. They had some problems. If you want to know more, read here

Last week we visited The Keukenhof on our way home. The Keukenhof is a flower show and guess what flower is featured there..... o.k. that was too easy. What you probably don't know that there a gaziljon sorts of tulips. Some even look like roses, so very beautiful.

We Dutch are getting a bit tired sometimes of The Netherlands being known for windmills and tulips (and some other things ;-). Yet both are an intricate part of our country culture and history. Visiting The Keukenhof is often regarded as the touristy thing, while The Keukenhof is a beautiful landscaped park with gorgeous gardens.

Tulips Galore.

Tulips with frayed edges.

I wouldn't mind a garden like this.

I love the way the sunlight is filtered on this photo.

It was crowded. Yet I was able to take some photo's with no people on.

Look at the green/white edged eaves. I have never seen those before.

Love this combination of tulips and anemoons.

Have a nice and sunny weekend!

P.S. The header looks a bit strange. I am working on it.

{lost}

2011-05-13T19:02:00.000+02:00

I made a post for today and Blogger managed to loose it. I hope they are able to restore it.

In the mean time. Have a nice weekend!

{fire and sand}

2011-05-11T05:25:00.010+02:00

Last week H. and I went to our favorite spot on the beach for a couple of days, Bergen. On the first night, when we were having our dinner at a seaside restaurant, we overheard a waiter saying that there was a fire in the dunes. a large plume of smoke was drifting from the land towards the sea.

Unfortunately the northern part of the Dutch coast has been victim to arson for over 60 times in the past year. That day the arsonist(/idiot) had started a fire in 3 places. The other 2 fires were put out soon, the one in Bergen took 4 days. Hundreds of fire fighters and 5 helicopters were used. Over 200 hectares of unique dune landscape went up in flames. Such a shame!

This is what the area that burned looks like.

A large plume of smoke was drifting towards the sea. Not a pretty sight. BTW I made this photo of two photo's ( with the help of Photoshop Elements)

This part of the beach was restricted later, because helicopters helped to put out the fire.

A Chinook helicopter from the army is helping. It can carry 10.000 liters of water at once.

Despite the fire we enjoyed our trip very much. The sea is beautiful. We also made a trip to Makkum alittle town in Friesland, the Zaanse Schans (an open air museum with windmills and old buildings) and the Keukenhof (I don't need to explain that). I made tons of photo's and will bore you to death with them in the next few weeks.

Bye,

{happy mother's day}

2011-05-07T14:43:00.000+02:00

Hugs,

{freedom}

2011-05-05T05:30:00.005+02:00

Today we celebrate the end of WW II and our freedom!

Take care,

{Q&A}

2011-05-04T05:30:00.005+02:00

Here is a little Q&A inspired by Liz of Violet Posy.

Which living person do you most admire, and why?

- My sister! She was diagnosed with schizophrenia about 7 years ago. Ever since she has fought with courage to control her disease and regain control over her life, with success (and sometimes a set back). Schizophrenia is caused by an imbalance of the chemistry in one's brain. If you want to know more, follow this link to Wikipedia.

When were you happiest?

- I turned down H. at first. I let my emotions (in my case bad experiences in the past) lead me. One day I realized I was making the biggest mistake of my life. I am happy every time I realize, sending him that text message, was the best thing I've ever done.

What was your most embarrassing moment?

- Many years ago I was walking towards the centre of town on the sidewalk. In front there were a man and a woman. The weren't walking fast enough (for me). So I decided to pass them. I made a few steps on the pavement, passed them, got back on the side walk and ... fell on my back right in front of them. I still see that image, me lying on my back looking at them, they staring back at me LOL

Aside from property, what’s the most expensive thing you’ve bought?

- My car. I own a Fiat Panda, it is my third car (in 20 years) after a Subaru Mini Jumbo and a Ford Ka (first model).

What is your most treasured possession?

- My mom had a beautiful ring made of her and my dad's wedding ring.

Where would you like to live?

- Lugano, Switzerland.

What’s your favourite smell?

- The smell of summer.

Who would play you in the film of your life?

- That would be a boring film!

What is your favourite book?

- All the books on interior decoration. Can't choose!

What is your most unappealing habit?

- I neglect to file my paperwork. After things are dealt with, I just put everything on one big pile.

What would be your fancy dress costume of choice?

- A Star Trek uniform. Beam me up Scotty!

What is your earliest memory?

- I think I remember seeing the house I own now for the first time. I was 10 months old when we moved, so I don't know if that is a genuine memory. I remember my mom dressing me for kindergarten!

What is your guiltiest pleasure?

- French Fries!

What do you owe your parents?

- My good genes LOL. So about everything I guess.

To whom would you most like to say sorry, and why?

- My mom! For not spending more time with her in the last 2 years of her life and for not "detecting" that something was wrong. I still I feel guilty!

What or who is the greatest love of your life?

- H.

What does love feel like?

- Like a warm coat with big pockets.

What was the best kiss of your life?

- Every time I kiss H.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?

- My and mine in connection with the house. As you know the house is my childhood home. I bought it before I met H. I still say my house! It's our house now.

What is the worst job you’ve done?

- My current job is my best and worst job. It is the only job I ever had!

What is the closest you’ve come to death?

- I haven't! Fortunately! I have seen death though, more then I care for! As you know I lost both my parents and I was present when my father in law passed away.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?

- I have always been proud of my financial independence. I have always been able to take care of myself and even buy a house (with a little help from my mom)

When did you last cry, and why?

- Last week! I missed my mom!

How do you relax?

- You all know. A nice magazine, sitting in the sun, sipping a coke! A lot of that is happening lately!

What single thing would improve the quality of your life?

- We will have our terrace roofed (partly) next month, so we can sit outside when it is warm and raining.

What is the most important lesson life has taught you?

- That you can't always control life! Sometimes you just have to let things happen. Good or bad!

Take care!

{today I ♡...}

2011-05-01T05:24:00.002+02:00

This beautiful photo of wisteria.

In the Netherlands wisteria is called "blauwe regen" , which means blue rain. You can see why.

Have a nice Sunday!

Photo: copyright is retained by respective owners.

{ikea love}

2011-04-27T05:23:00.004+02:00

I haven't been to Ikea for a while! Last weekend I took a look at their (Dutch) site to find out what was new. I really like these items.

Allsang solar lights for the garden. Very nice.

Lantliv plant stand. Want want! No room for it though LOL

Kurar planter. Love the lace look!

Soder lamp. Very nice for our hallway. I think I will have to convincing to do. I don't think it is H.'s taste.

Lacko chair for the terrace, it is weather proof.

Odmjuk milk jug. There is a whole service. Love it!

Dinera dekal service. Ver nice too!

I really have to pay Ikea another visit soon ;-)

Take care,

{Happy Easter}

2011-04-23T08:19:00.000+02:00

Take care,

{happy weekend}

2011-04-15T17:48:00.000+02:00

Take care,

{sköna hem}

2011-04-13T05:30:00.001+02:00

Right after I bought my iPad I downloaded some magazine apps. One of them is the app of the Swedish magazine Sköna Hem (Beautiful Home). I made some print screens of the magazine, so you can enjoy it a bit too.

Have a nice rest of the week ;-)

{today I ♡...}

2011-04-10T05:30:00.001+02:00

This colorful photo of pencils. It lifts my mood, every time I look at it.

It is first shown every time I open the Martha Sewart Living app on my iPad.

Have a nice Sunday.

{today I ♡...}

2011-04-08T05:30:00.002+02:00

A little while ago H. and I were in a computer store. I was holding the original iPad and Ipad 2 to check the difference in weight, well ehmm, I think I was fondling them LOL.

The weight difference in negligible btw.

There was a couple standing next to us. I overheard the man telling his wife how much he'd love to buy one. The woman replied: "Really, I'd rather buy clothes".

I am like the man I am afraid, I rather buy an Ipad......

So, that is what I did last week!

;-)

Have a nice weekend!

{spring walk}

2011-04-06T05:17:00.006+02:00

Now that the weather has improved go for a walk more often, and that really feels good!

Here are some photo's I took last week.

Have a nice rest of the week ;-)

P.S. I have changed the width of my blog. Let me know if you have problems viewing it.

{today I ♡...}

2011-04-03T08:43:00.000+02:00

Have a nice Sunday!

{stylizimo - soul of maia}

2011-04-01T05:42:00.009+02:00

In the Netherlands we say that if you have bad luck at lotteries, you have luck in love.

Lady luck is with me as I am lucky in love and in lotteries LOL

Last week I won the give-away of a beautiful necklace at Stylizimo. The necklace was made and sent to me by Soul of Maia a company based in Stockholm, Sweden.

The necklace arrived yesterday. It is so beautiful!
It is handmade of semi precious stones (green and grey agates and a rose quartz pendant) and metal parts made of tin. It is loonnnngg.

Thank you Nina of Stylizimo and Sussi Soul of Maia.

and

A nice weekend to you all!

P.S. The weatherman promised 23 degrees Celsius (75 degrees F.) for tomorrow. Yippeee!!

{helen amy murray}

2011-03-30T05:24:00.013+02:00

Once in a while I see something that I not just like but love instantly.

Today I received a new issue of Seasons, a Dutch magazine. Inside was an article about Helen Amy Murray a British artists who makes carvings with leather, felt and fabric. Works of art that embellish furniture and wallhangings.

Something like this....

Is turned into something as beautiful as this ....

Here is a close up of work in progress.

She stitches leather (or felt or fabric) on layers of fiberfill. Then the leather is cut near the stitches with a very sharp knife and the fiberfill pushes up the leather, creating a relief. From a distance her work looks like a carving.

If you like to see more photo's or read more about Amy visit her site here.

Bye,

Photo: first 2 photo's Helen Amy Murray, 3rd and 4th Seasons.

{today I ♡...}

2011-03-27T10:44:00.000+02:00

Have a nice Sunday and don't forget to adjust your clocks!

bye,

{bathroom}

2011-03-25T05:30:00.000+01:00

Our bathroom is the one room that needs changing big time. As you remember I bought my childhood home. My dad redid the bathroom in the seventies (I think), it is bahama beige. Beige bathrooms are in again, but the bathroom really needs to be redone. I guess you can say it was worth every penny my parents spent on it LOL

We have four bedrooms and we have plans to turn the smallest room into the bathroom. It may take a while until we go ahead. Unfortunately both H. and I are not handy, so we will have to hire somebody to do it. And that having to hire somebody is very expensive.

So, there still is time to look at bathrooms and try to find out what we both like. We currently have only one toilet downstairs (which will be renovated at the same time). So there needs to be another toilet, we would like to have a generous shower (no bath tub though) and I would like to have a big sink with enough space underneath to stash away towels, shampoo etc. Colors? I don't have the faintest idea. Something neutral probably!

Here are some photo's I collected on my bathroom pin board at Pintrest.

Is aqua a neutral color? I am not sure, but I collected several photo's of bathrooms with blue walls. I am not sure H. will ago along with that though. This bathroom is by Ariadne at Home, my favorite Dutch home deco mag. They design a Ariadne bathroom and kitchen every year. Last years was beige btw.

I read in a mag that small tiles in a bathroom are the thing this year.

This one definitely is neutral. Love the little tiles (they are also used in the bathroom on the first photo).

The door to the "new" bathroom opens to into the room. It takes up a lot of space inside the room. We can have the door changed so it opens the other way our choose this option, a barn door.

I like the idea of wood on the wall, but I am not sure it is a good idea in a bath room. Love the tub too, even though we are not going to have one LOL.

I really hope you are going to have a nice weekend. We will be off work until Thursday. I am looking forward to it.

Take care,

{home baked bread}

2011-03-23T17:05:00.000+01:00

Last weekend I baked my own bread.

Well, I bought a mix and added some ingredients extra (butter, milk and an egg instead of just water and butter) as advised by a colleague. Easy peasy of cause, but I was pretty chuffed the way it turned out and I LOVE it.

My, my, I am turning into the perfect house wife (not).

Bye,

{today I ♡...}

2011-03-20T05:30:00.001+01:00

Well, not just today ;-)

Tomorrow marks the start of Spring! The day we all have been longing for!

Have a great Sunday!

{happy weekend}

2011-03-18T05:30:00.003+01:00

Happy weekend to y'all.

Take care,

{first signs of spring}

2011-03-16T05:30:00.002+01:00

Last weekend we had some lovely weather. Unfortunately I had a cold so I didn't spend much time outside.

But I did make some photo's of the first signs of spring in our garden.

I hope you are able to enjoy the first signs of spring too!

Take care,

{japan}

2011-03-13T05:30:00.003+01:00

An earthquake...

A tsunami...

A nuclear disaster...

How much can a people take....

Mount Fuji by Katsushika Hokusai

{link love}

2011-03-11T05:30:00.013+01:00

It is link love time again....

If you are looking for information on how to manage and build up your blog, like attracting more readers and advertisers you should take a look at Copy Blogger by Brian Clark. Although I don't read every post Brian writers (he is very prolific) I try keep up with what he writes and read what I think is interesting. There also Problogger and Blogtyrant.

Flea Market Style is one of my favorite magazines at the moment, so naturally I follow their blog.

Cherry Menlove must be as close as you can get to a perfect housewife. She and her husband Robert live on a farm in West Sussex, England with their baby twins, Ned & Anaïs. She raises twins, cooks, cleans, does the garden, crafts, bakes etc etc and is looking glamourous all the time.

This one is for my Dutch readers, Van alle longen ben jij de beste, a blog about a young woman with cystic fibrosis who had a lung transplant (her 2nd) recently.

I admire her courage. She is more positive on a bad day then I am on a good day. Makes you wanna count your blessings.

How About Orange features craft project how-tos, decorating ideas, printable downloads, useful design resources, and lots of inspiration for people who like to create things. Jessica favorite color is orange, hence the name of her blog.

Have a nice weekend!

{belle blanc}

2011-03-09T05:30:00.002+01:00

In January I wrote a blog about the books on my wish list. The first book on the list is Belle Blanc - Aus Liebe zu Weiss (For the love of white).

The book is about all white interiors. It is written and photographed by Mirjana Schnepf of Belle Blanc and Biance Aurich of White Living. Published by Seewald Busse. You can buy the book at Amazon an The bookdepository. I am sure it is available at more bookstores.

I was able to order the book at a local bookshop (Plantage Boekhandel). I still had some book gift certificates waiting for that special book. One of them was a Christmas gift for my mom, our last Christmas together.

The book is GORGEOUS! It has a nice size at 28 x 22 cm and 160 pages. It is a hard cover, protected by a sleeve. The book is written in German, that should not deter you as there are far more photo's then there is text. Beside the foreword and the thank you page, there are 10 chapters like Entree, Wellbeing, Fabric, Bonne etc. There are even some recipe's. Although I would never change my home into an all white interior, photo's of such an interior make me happy. If you frequently visit both ladies blogs you know that their homes are perfect and their photographs are of timeless beauty.

Belle Blanc is a book to treasure and deserves a special place in your bookcase or maybe on your coffee table (as I do).

Take care,