Preparations

Soon I will be the witness to a wedding. Fortunately I already found my perfect dress. I wanted something in a strong colour. Green, blue or mustard. It was a risk to order one on the internet. But it was exactly what I expected and has an almost tailored fit. Now I'm experimenting with accessoires. Want them to be handmade. Here a simple beaded crochet bracelet.

The good life

The big bag of ripe apples from my uncle (thank you Antoon) and my new new juice extractor (thanks Dirk & Cecile) allowed us to make our own applejuice. A beautiful pink liquid because we steamed the complete apple, peel included.

Recession colours

I'm still in a crochet-phase. Bracelets with beads this time. Very easy and quickly made. I used this fine tutorial.

Have a good journey!

Just fifteen and she's going to study in Russia for a year! I admire our girl next door Katarina. She's an autodidact russian speaker and this is the logic thing to do. I made a passport-cover for her. Using fabrics from one of her old dresses.

Co-workers

You would think that the writer of 'the big diy-book for girls' is always crafting with her girls. The opposite is true. They always see me making things and the girls help me, but I hardly ever sit down with them to actually craft on their level. Yesterday I did. We folded these origami dresses and they drew the ladies to wear the beautiful gowns.

Wearing it today

When I saw two beautiful new necklaces on Hetty's blog I wanted to make one too. No time to go to Amsterdam or another beadshop. So I decided to use what I had in stock: thin wire and old black beads that I found in a secondhand-store a few years ago. The tutorial was easy to follow and gave the desired result.

Blockprints

Our little one is (slowly) getting bigger too. A while ago we changed her room and she got a bigger bed. I promissed her to print a new duver-cover with her own drawings. We chose a drawing of a love-letter and cat flying through the air with balloons. I printed it today. You can see a part, but it still has to dry. I'll show the finished results in a few days.

Still learning

Today we ate a really tasty salad. Mixed lettuce, goats cheese, figs, covered with a pink dressing of olive oil, raspberry-vinegar, honey, pepper and salt. It's a new food-obsession: raspberry. After the delicious homemade raspberry-jam, the tasty raspberry-vinegar, we ate the most fantastic dessert in a french restaurant: 'Crepe' with raspberry's, covered with vanilla-lemon sauce. How could I have 'missed' the wonderful taste of rasberry's till now? It's not that I never ate them before...

Friends in the right places

Thanks to Yvonne, who's volunteering in my favourite thriftshop, I found this fantastic lamp. A thin metal witch-hat. Do you know who designed it? To complete it I ordered beautiful ochre fabric-covered flex at Snoerboer. And they were quick. Just one day after finding the lamp it is hanging over our dinnertable as if it has been there forever. I love it!

update: the pendant is called Semi and designed bij danish architects Bonderup & Thorup in 1967

A new phase

No babyseat in the front of my bike, no childrensseat at the back anymore. Both girls are cycling to school on their own bikes these days. On my bike just a metal frame to support the occasional passenger. And a homemade cushion, made of a piece of foam wrapped with oilcloth scraps and two keycords to fasten the cushion.

From the attic

See the similarity? On the left you see me on a, as we used to call it, family-swing. It litterally was, because everyone in the picture is family (you might know the little girl on the right in the checkered shirt: Marieke). On the right picture you see our daughter in the same dress as I was wearing then. From Oilily, when it was still named Olly. Quality shows. Not only is it in a perfect state, but also rather fashionable. She loves the dress!

Avec un cappuccino saveur chocolat

I took my crochet-supplies to France. And two patterns for bottle-carriers (0,5l). I thought those carriers would come in handy when going to the zoo, caves and castles. Both patterns are easy to use. If I would crochet another one I would combine the patterns. Blue bottom (more solid), yellow body (quicker) and blue strap. Blue and yellow tutorials are the be found on Ravelry (you have to sign up first).

Natures toys

Children need so little to play. After a while the toys we brought to France lost their interest. They walked around the house searching for something to do. And they found something. The result: the laundry rack became a flower-ornament and the apples were turned into 'Appy's', dolls with flowerhair.

Early

It seems a very good fig-year. We have a plant in open air and it does just as well as the one in my parents glass house. Some we ate on a pizza. Others ended up in these small jars as jam (in dutch).

So cute!

Yesterday we picked her up. Our new cat. Fientje. Ten weeks old. And she seems to feel at home already. I admire her because she keeps calm, even with two girls chasing her all the time. She was also welcomed by these two mice. Made to this tutorial (different ears and a bell inside).

Romantic

Just before leaving for France I made these bracelets for the girls. Very quick and simple crochetwork. Add a sky-blue (because that's the girls favorite colour at the moment) button and wrap around the wrist.

Back

You probably haven't noticed, but we've been on vacation for two weeks. Again to our lovely home in the middle of France. Perfectly styled by my mother (if you can see through our mess) and photographed by our daughter. We've spend some family quality time over here. First with my brother and his family, then with the four of us and the last days my parents joined us.

Dinner

Today we ate red flanel hash (in dutch). An american recipe, with russian origins. One of my husbands favourites. He likes to have a baked egg with it. We used our homegrown beets and purple potatoes (vitelotte, I think) for the dish. Yummie!

Wonderful idea

Mail from Singapore. Friends of ours have been living there for a few years. But now the project is finished and they will be coming home. The kids had to say goodbye at daycare and school and for that occasion their mother made these cute keyrings. Typical dutch herrings. So simple, so beautiful. Thanks Brigit.