The garden on a damp evening
After a long spell of beautiful weather today was a lot colder and more wet. The garden was dry like a desert, so the rain was very welcome.
Some photos of our garden this evening:
Garden
July 07, 2009
July 04, 2009
Summer party
Busy times here with the end of the schoolyear near. Lots of events happening and parties to attend. Yesterday we held our own party for Amber.
The day was a success.
Some highlights were:
Unwrapping presents
Off for an adventure
A water fight (it was warm!)
Birthday treats for the children to take home
And grandma made another party dress.
Another reason to celebrate is that this is my 400th post! I would love to do a give-away, but I just wouldn't manage it right now. Perhaps a bit later on when life isn't so hectic.
Still I would like to thank everyone who has been reading some or many of those 400 posts. Blogging has definitely enriched my life and I still enjoy it very much!
Happy weekend everyone!
June 15, 2009
Peg bag
Not long ago we finally bought a rotary clothes line. We had wanted to live a bit greener and save some pennies in the process. Besides, it's common knowledge that nothing beats the smell of laundry that's been dried outside.
And it works great. I've really been enjoying hanging the clothes outside. It's a bit more work than putting everything in the dryer, but I find it to be a very relaxing job.
And since I needed something to put all my clothes pegs in I made this peg bag.
I really made it up while I went along. I used a kids' clothes hanger and my favourite oilcloth. I used the hanger to sketch a basic pattern and drew the hole by using a bowl. It all came together really fast and I am pleased with the result.
The oilcloth is a little too tightly sewn around the hanger though and the hole is a bit too big and not placed high enough (the pegs spill from it). Still, not bad for a first attempt. Already this bag has made hanging the washing even more enjoyable!
June 02, 2009
In bloom
I took some photos while we were basking in the sun today (love this weather).
The garden looks wonderful right now, so fresh and green.
My mum put most of these plants in, she is the head gardener :)
We did, however, keep a lot of the plants that were already growing in the garden when we moved here.
Doesn't this photo look a little surreal?
Hey, three more pretty flowers!
July 06, 2008
Garden Sunday
We worked in the garden for most of today. We eliminated the prickly bushes (they didn't go down without a fight!) and pulled weeds. I'm sore, but satisfied with the result.
Here are some images that made me smile today:
A new colour hollyhock revealed itself
Flowers given to me by Simon, which he picked them himself from oma's garden
A beautiful and curious double rainbow
Amber fresh out of the shower: hearts, apples and polkadots
I put some more photos up on Flickr.
July 01, 2008
Luscious link love
I was thinking of putting up a few links today when I read seemownay's post. She came up with the idea of luscious link love and so today I will join her.
I wanted to tell you about the swaps that I signed up for. I haven't done a swap in ages, because other things needed my attention (like a baby...), but I discovered two that I just couldn't pass up.
The first one is a Babyshower Swap hosted by Hey Bubbles. I never had a babyshower and in fact the whole concept of a babyshower doesn't even exist in Holland, so this will be the perfect opportunity for me to enjoy it a little.
The second one is the Sheet Square Swap hosted by SeeKatieSew. Sounds like so much and a perfect way to refresh my stash! You can still sign up for both swaps, so head on over if you're interested!
Recently I transported all my blog subscriptions over from Bloglines to GoogleReader and I must say that I love it so much! I find it more organised and better layed out. However, for me the best feature is the blog recommendations that they make for me based on the feeds that I'm subscriped to. I've discovered so many lovely, new-to-me blogs already!
Here are a few:
Elsie Marley
My Spare Time
Wink Designs
Thompson Family Life
Today's images were brought to you by my garden.
June 12, 2008
Girls girls girls
Yesterday we held Amber's birthday party for her friends. She had set some strict rules beforehand: she wanted princess cups and plates, she wanted a treasure hunt and she only wanted to invite girls.
So Michel and I knew what we had to work with.
We divided tasks: I was responsible for the food & drink etc. and Michel for the overall organisation and especially the treasure hunt.
We were incredibly lucky with the weather. After a long spell of beautiful summer weather, yesterday was supposed to be the first day of it being colder and wetter. But not over our house! It was mostly sunny and warm enough to have all activities outside.
We started with hotdogs and lemonade.
Then it was time for presents. I came up with the idea of using a dice to keep things civilised. The girl that threw 6 first was allowed to give her present. This worked very well; everyone stayed focused. No yelling or running around... that's my idea of party fun!
After this it was time for the treasure hunt. They read the instructions first... their quest was to find the silver teapot that we needed later for the tea party.
What followed was lots of exciting running:
Solving puzzles:
Collecting letters at the strangest places such as the local supermarket:
And then finally they had to put all the letters in the right order to find out where the silver teapot was hidden:
Under the slide!
After all that hard work it was time for tea (lemonade):
Please notice the princess cups and plates... when I told Amber that I didn't really like princessy stuff, she said: Well I do! And it's my party!" And that was the end of that discussion.
After some more playing it was time to take everybody home. Everyone had enjoyed themselves and Amber was very happy. Michel and I were pooped out (we've had quite a few late nights as well lately), but we were able to look back at a very successful day. Next party is in September, so we have some time to recover.
More photos are on Flickr. I really love these two photos of Simon. He kept a little distance between him and all these girls :)
Next post I'll show you the crafty bits!
Hmpf... I still don't get the photos to show up right since the Typepad-change. Any tips on how to get these photos published properly?!
June 06, 2008
Tablecloths, 300th post & a give-away
I've been sewing like a woman possessed today. You see, it's Amber's birthday tomorrow, so I still had a hundred things to do. Yes, I do everything at the last minute, don't you?!
The main thing that I had to do was make her a birthday dress. Ever since her first birthday I've sewn her a birthday outfit. I think I missed one year when we were on holiday in France, but this tradition is very important to me. The only problem is that every year I start far too late. However, I wasn't stressed today and I'm happy to say that the dress is almost finished.
Her birthday party's theme is high tea and I happened to have three great "tea" fabrics. These two Japanese fabrics that I bought on Etsy:
And the fabric that I scored on Queensday.
By the way, this has got to be the cutest matryoshka fabric that I've ever seen...
...this I will definitely keep for a very special project!
Anyway, I used these fabrics to make two tablecloths. They were so insanely simple to make that you could hardly call them a craft project, but still I'm very happy with the result.
At first I thought that I would use them for Amber's birthday only and then cut them up for another project, but I like them so much that I think they will be our summer tablecloths.
While I was glued to the sewing machine I also whipped up two medallions for Amber and her friend who swiped the whole garden (on their own initiative!):
They were so proud of them and I was reminded how rewarding it is to be able to make things: a precious moment.
So yes, it is my 300th post today!! I suppose I should have made a medallion for myself as well this afternoon :)
I've written a hundred post since July 2007. Not so much in August and September and then everyday in November. I still enjoy blogging very much. I love the combination of keeping a record for myself and the interaction with other bloggers. The inspiration I get from it is amazing.
As a thank you to all my readers I want to hold a little give-away. Leave me comment before Tuesday evening (my time <-- see the clock) and I'll draw two names. I thought it would be fun to make an oilcloth pyramid pouch and tissueholder and let the winners choose the oilcloth that they like. Oh, and lurkers... don't be shy and please leave me a comment too!
Well, I'd better get back to that dress and then get some sleep... big day tomorrow. She'll be 7!! How can I be the mother of a 7 year old?!
June 12, 2007
Adding some colour
Just around the corner of our street there is a huge field. It's quite extraordinary that in our small, overcrowded country this field even exist. After all, how many houses could not be build on this piece of land? However, it's a beautiful place surrounded by old trees. It even has a decorative old fence!
It is very green though. And over the past weeks I found myself fantasizing about a little more colour in there. So I started collecting seeds from our garden and this morning Simon and I went on our mission to create a flowerfield!
He loved scattering the seeds everywhere and continually found a better spot. At some places the grass was so high it almost reached his face. Of course that only added to the fun!
We had lots of poppy-seed (we have so many in the garden) and these pink flowers that I don't know the English name for.
I expect we will be making many more trips to the fields this summer with fresh supplies of seeds. And then we'll have to wait until next year in order to see whether our plan worked!
June 08, 2007
Birthday recap
The birthday girl:
The preparations:
The friends:
The presents:
The refreshments:
The turds:
The longest drawing ever:
The crafts:
The end:
