KissKus

What can you get for €8?

Yesterday I thought that today it would be fun to go thrifting/shopping in Hilversum. When I read Kristy's post I was even more determined... she challenged us to go thrifting on a budget of 6 pounds, which is 8,95 in euros.
I think I did well.

There was this pretty fabric, huge tea towel and lovely hand-embroidered hankie:

and this bedlinen and flowery curtains...

and this wonderful table runner and delightful hankie:

This Pyrex bowl:

I'm so happy with this. I had seen Pyrex things show up everywhere on blogs, but I never really knew what they were. When I saw this bowl today, I immediately knew it had to be Pyrex. I think I actually smiled when I saw the stamp :) The things you learn from blogging!! There were in fact quite a few Pyrex items, the prettiest being a small butter dish. Although I was quite smitten with it, I decided to be sensible and not buy it. I knew I wasn't going to use it and I'm not really good at neatly displaying pretty things. Besides, if I had bought two pretty Pyrex things then that would almost be the beginning of a collection, wouldn't it?! Considering the state of the house starting a collection would not be the wisest thing to do... This bowl is useful though.

Then there was this gorgeous tablecloth:

Oh how I love it!! Have a closer look:

And then this mug:

Michel and I like to drink our tea from  firm, colourful mugs. This one goes perfectly with the rest of our random collection (there you go... we already have a collection!).

And finally this large piece of fabric:

I love it, although I'm not sure what to do with it yet... any ideas?!

So that was all. I spent 8 euros precisely. There were lots of other lovely things that I could have gotten instead/as well. There were such pretty cups and saucers for only 50 cents, but again I was sensible... what was I going to do with them? I saw many things that I just knew would make some other bloggers drool... if only we'd be able to visit eachother's thrifstores!

By the way, I also did some "normal" shopping. I came home with a huge bag of clothes for the children... all on sale at H&M. I do love my bargains :))

I'll round off with this photo of the boy that claimed he didn't need a nap today... He climbed into his bed by himself just before we were supposed to have dinner and fell asleep right away. As you can imagine dinner was a challenge!

Chilling & grilling

This weekend has been the first in many weeks that we had a bit of summer weather here in The Netherlands. After an absolutely gorgeous spring, the summer up till now sucks big time!
So what do you do when suddenly a warm day presents itself? Well, bring out the BBQ ofcourse!

We spent a lovely Sunday with friends. Went to Weesp with them (longtime readers of this blog will know what we did there ;)) and then had a good old BBQ in the garden.

Amber had her hair did!

I wonder what this new week his in store for us...
At least a drawing (I didn't forget)... the winners are Katie and PJ! Send me your addresses so I can send your package!
And thank you everyone for your congratulations... here's to the next 200 posts!!

Sunday thoughts

We were visiting the graveyard this afternoon.
We brought some Lathyrus from our garden to Michel's colleague who died three years ago.

The children were merrily walking around and having fun. Personally I don't think there is anything wrong with having a little fun at a graveyard as long as you're not being disrespectful. For years we lived across a graveyard, where we would often stroll and enjoy the wonderful old trees and the quietness.

When we passed the little children's graves, Amber and Simon were very interested to look at all the decorations. Of course Amber started to ask questions. She seemed surprised that children could die so young and she thought that was sad. Simon said:"Het is niet eerlijk!" (it's not fair!). I couldn't believe how appropriate that was... it was like he understood what it meant if someone died.

We walked further and suddenly Amber called out:"Mum, this life has also died young!" She was holding a tiny tree that she had thoughtlessly pulled from the ground. We were stunned at how fast she had made the link between people and plants. At times like that I can only be amazed at the big and clear thoughts that go on in her head.

Children truly are the most precious people in the world. They should not die, but held close and be loved. I'm grateful.

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!

There we went...

Today the alarm clock went off at 3.30 a.m.
That's not early in the morning, folks! That's still the middle of the night!!

But despite the ungodly hour, we were very excited since we were going to fly on a hot air balloon.
After a 60 minute drive we arrived at our destination... it was then still only 5.15! We were told that the flight would be postponed a little because of the fog. They expected the fog to lift soon. However, at 6.30 they announced that the flight was canceled.

We were disappointed naturally, but what could we do? No-one wants to go flying when the weather conditions are possibly dangerous... We did feel rather giddy about having gotten up so ridiculously early... tiredness was already setting in at that point.

So what do you do on a Sunday morning at 7 o' clock in the morning when you're nowhere near your bed? You go for a walk ofcourse!
We just parked the car somewhere and started walking... and almost immediately came across our quest:

We saw this sign directing us to the "thick tree"... that was going to be our goal! So we walked, saw deer, mice, rabbits, walked, looked at pretty houses and gardens, walked, inhaled the fresh air, walked, listened to the birds and the quietness, walked and then just WALKED. Bloody hell, where was that tree?!?

(Meanwhile carved our names in a "not so thick" tree... sorry tree!)

And then at last, we found it!! The thickest oak in The Netherlands. It was a glorious moment.
We had reached our goal, so we could go back. But what way? By that point we had no idea where we had parked the car. By that point I also had a rather bad pain in my left knee. Also, we were getting really tired now. Did I mention that we were in the middle of NOwhere?!

*fast forwarded walking*

We were back at our car.
For normal people the day had only just begun. We, however, were ready to pass out. It's 21.30 right now and I think I'm going to do that... pass out!

Old and expensive

Bit of a dubious title ;)  Today we went here. Michel heard about this place that sells old building materials that are saved from demolition. It was quite a magical place. Old treasures stacked up everywhere. You simply didn't know where to look first. Very expensive stuff though (I held on to Simon tightly!). Staircases. Lots of beautiful tiles. Amazing doors. The main reason why we went there was to look for a dining table that they make from different kinds of wood. We loved the tables: simple, old, solid. Prices varied from € 700-€1400. Something to think about. Here I am on the road: And we haven't booked yet, but we're definitely going to England in April :))  

Labels: family, the dutch way, us

A day of fun and inspiration

Yesterday we went to Deventer, a town that we love to visit.
Michel in fact loves it so much that he always shouts that he wants to live there.

We had lunch (a healthy salad!) in a wonderful cafe that serves delicious high teas and real English food like crumpets.

We then went shopping in the little streets off the main shopping area. We came across such delightful shops selling such cute things!

I thought these lights looked wonderful so I took a photo. Later I saw that they were Tord Boontje...check out the website because this Dutch designer makes the most beautiful things.

I bought a couple of metres of oilcloth from Kitsch Kitchen and even managed to find some new shoes (not my favourite thing to do)!

We then had dinner at oma & oma's. They're leaving for Australia today to visit Michel's sister who lives there. I am worried about their flight though, because we're experiencing some very bad wheather here today (storm). Hopefully they won't be delayed too long.

And I've been tagged to share six weird things about myself, but since I think I'm the most normal person in the world, I need tonight to sleep on it ;))

Labels: family, inspiration, the dutch way, us