KissKus

Camping is fun/not so fun

Last week after we dropped the children off at the oma's, Michel and I had five days to ourselves. No work, no children... what were we going to do?!
On Monday we decided to go camping in Limburg, which is in the south of Holland (a looooooong way down, an almost two-hour drive!). We brought a little tent and a couple of books and not much else.

The campsite was lovely and almost deserted. We set up our tent... it was perfect!
On Tuesday we spent the whole day reading in the sun and we both finished our book (this was mine, very enjoyable).

Unfortunately, it started raining in the late afternoon, but we decided to take advantage of it and had a wonderful meal in a cosy restaurant.

However when we arrived back to the tent our bedding was damp, the mattress had already proved to be uncomfortable the night before. There was nothing to it than try to get some sleep. All through the night it continued to rain and our bed and duvet went from damp to downright wet. When it was finally time to get up and we looked under under the mattress it turned out that we had been lying in a large pool of rainwater... nice! Apparently, the bottom of the tent wasn't water-resistant.

There was no way we were going to stay another night in an even wetter tent (it was still raining), so we packed everything up and went to the most southern city of our country: Maastricht.

It was an 8o km drive, but because of the rain, accidents and roadworks it took us three hours to get there! When we finally arrived we comforted ourselves with a piece of traditional Limburger cake.

However, Maastricht was lovely and we enjoyed ourselves there and when we came home that evening we still had a good feeling about our little break.

And the best thing was that our own bed never slept so nice!! We have once again proven that there's no place like home!

Oilcloth in action

I simply couldn't leave the oilcloth that I bought in Deventer alone.
So after a little frantic sewing the result was this:

and this:

Six tissueholders and three penholders/etuis.

I love these! And I love oilcloth. Before I tried it, I'd never thought that sewing oilcloth would be so doable...
It's just perfect for all kinds of pouches and stuff. It will not get stained or wet, which is a luxury to any mother :)

I can't wait to make other things, for example another organizer like this one:

And I want to try and glue the oilcloth onto wood shapes in order to make decorative pieces for the children's bedrooms. I think oilcloth and I have a long friendship ahead of us!

When men go wild...

The other day we went to a woodcutter's festival in a village near us.

First there was a Jack Russel-race which was great fun since both the kids are terrified of dogs (Michel and I aren't fans either).

Then we watched the chainsaw woodcarving contest. Simon thought the sound of the saws was too loud.

What he did enjoy were the tractors that were parked everywhere.
This was definitely the largest, awesomest tractor we've ever seen:

We also enjoyed watching a demonstration of the fire brigade.

When we cycled back home, we were all pleased with a day well spent.

And it managed to stay dry....

... until we sat down outside to eat our homemade pizza.

That's summer in Holland for you all!

The hole is getting bigger

Nr. 5 is a fact.

It happened quite unexpectedly, again with blood and other yuck.

However, Amber has now assured us that she has no more loose teeth (at the moment).

In full bloom

After an early dinner we went for some fresh air tonight. Luckily the rain had disappeared and except for the fact that we were wearing our coats, you could almost pretend that it was a summer evening.

We went to the heath in Hilversum, the town we lived in until we moved here almost two years.
We lived very close to the heath and therefore we spent many, many hours there. In the snow and in the sun, pregnant, with baby nr. 1 and then with baby nr. 2.

We dragged everyone along with us onto the heath. The fact that nature is rare in the Netherlands and that we didn't have a garden then made us cherish this place even more.

The good thing was that on the other side of the heath there was a nice restaurant where you can get a lovely cup of tea or coffee. Needless to say that we went there often. And we still go there now and then, since it's only a short drive there.

Today we started at the restaurant and walked onto the heath where all the heather was in full bloom... a splendid sight. We enjoyed the sun and the silence and the children said we were on an adventure (again! two days in a row!). A magical moment was when we came face to face (well, almost ;)) with a deer.

Of course, our walk ended at the restaurant where we had a lovely dessert consisting of chocolate milk and cake.

I love it that the children can stay up a bit later because we don't have to rush anywhere in the morning... holiday bliss!

And Amber lost her fourth tooth today!!

There's a big hole where her teeth used to be... it was a bit of a bloody mess when her tooth finally came out, but we're all relieved. The way she looks now is a big improvement on the way she looked earlier in the day, when she was still able to do scary tricks with her dangling tooth... brrrrr.

Today-this week

We went to one of our favourite Dutch towns today: Deventer.
We go there about twice a year (this was the last time we went) and every time we discover something new and amazing.

The first thing we did when we arrived was have lunch at this lovely place.

See a photo of the interior here.
Lunch was delicious and very cosy.

Then we went straight to some back streets that we had discovered at our last visit.

I bought new oilcloth. I'm so in love with the fabric on the left that I kept staring at it on the way back in the car.

We discovered a shop that sold nothing but dolls houses and accessories. Here is a (bad) photo of some things displayed in the shop window.... wonderful!

I love the next photo of Simon. He was thirsty, so he just sat down to drink... things are very simple when you're little!

The last bit of the way home we took the touristy route and enjoyed some of the best things about our country: the grass, the cows and the clouds (do you see that hole in the clouds?!).

We even went on a ferry without really knowing where we were going... the children thought it was an adventure (so did we)!
This hilarious sign was on the ferry:

It says: buy the paper before you read it!

So that was our day today.
You may have noticed that I've been absent this week. There is no real reason for it. Michel and I are both free from work now and we've just been busy adjusting and enjoying. I think I just switched to light blogging because of summer... I'm still here though!
Btw, thank you so much for your kind words about Michel's new job...they're very much appreciated!

Oh, and since some of you so nicely asked... I will translate the recipe soon!

Celebratory dinner

Opa and oma picked up the children today for a couple of days of fun.
After a quiet afternoon I cooked an extra special dinner, because we had something to celebrate. No, not that the children are away ;)
But Michel has a wonderful new job!!

He had the interview last week and the same evening they phoned to say that they wanted him to take the job :) All details are sorted now. It will be a fantastic new challenge for him.
And the best thing is that he will work less hours, but he'll be paid more!

So the dinner... it's called "Kip in the hoed", which means "Chicken in the hat" and it was delicious!! Unfortunately, I'm not very good at translating recipes to English, but if anyone's interested then I could give it a try ;))
Man, I'm stuffed!!

Dishtowel tote

This is my first dishtowel tote. I've been wanting to make one for a while, so hurray! another thing to cross off my list!

This bag was unbelievably easy to make... it really comes down to sewing two dishtowels together and then a little more (but only a little!).

I thought I'd strengthen the handles with some ribbon and I made a flower from a bit of leftover fabric.

I gave it to my MIL yesterday as a belated birthday present. I am so bad though, because the button was hardly sewn on! She still has to do it herself... some present, right?! However, she is just soooo good at attaching buttons, whereas I stink!

The next dishtowel bag that I want to make will involve a zipper. I make no promises to when it will be finished though ;)

I made it

I managed to get a little sewing done yesterday, although it isn't much.
It seems that tissueholders are all I can muster at the moment (I try to let it go...).

Someone asked me to make a tissueholder in which pink, hearts, ladybirds (all girly things) were incorporated. I hope she likes one of these and otherwise, I'm sure I can make someone else happy with them.

This weekend will be SUNNY! I think most of the time we will be eating with family and friends, starting tonight with a BBQ... not bad, I'd say!!

I'll leave you with this very funny photo of Simon... he sure is fond of his dummies :))

Humpf...

While I was at work my family went swimming!

Do you realise what this means though... the weather was good enough to go swimming! Outside! Michel even got sunburnt! Could it possibly be that summer has come at last?!? Let's hope so... we all could do with a bit of sunshine on our faces.

I've had a bit of a blog block these past days, which is mainly due to the fact that I haven't been sewing for a while. We've also been spending some time with my sister who was back from England for a short visit. Amber and Simon we're happy to see her again.

I'm hoping to relax a little more. Even though Amber doesn't have to go to school, we still seem to be running around a lot. Tomorrow I'll just enjoy the lovely weather and perhaps I might even get some sewing done.

Oh, I finally finished Harry Potter! I promise I won't spoil anything, but mail me if you'd like to talk about it ;)