France, vous restez spéciale!

We couldn’t resist another trip with our camper Wally this year.

And again…we went to France!

This time Wally took us all the way to the southernmost tip of France, Frontignan on the Cote d’Azur.

But on the way there we stopped at all kinds of beautiful places like Maclas, 

Le-Puy-en-Velay, Nîmes, Auxerre etc, etc…

A new popcorn brooch!

As a jewelry designer you’re always looking for nice jewelry. In my case these are brooches; I absolutely adore them!

I always search for new original ones at every flea market, in a second-hand store or when traveling.

This time I found one in a nice concept store in 

Le-Puy-en-Velay, France!

Shop: A l’oree du bois 

Brooch: Judith Lacroix

 

Slowly getting there

As said: another new cactus is on its way… 

This too is not growing as fast as they used to, but it is developing!

This time it will be a slightly different one, a new species. So stay tuned!

A calm day in the garden

After a long time, I have found the peace to read books again!

Actually I’m a real bookworm, but for unknown reasons I have only occasionally read a book these recent years.

Now my library membership is finally being put to good use again!

 

Camper weekend ‘am Rhein’

When we bought our little Wally the camper, 

we could’t have imagined how much fun he would be bring!

‘Cause it was just for a weekend, we didn’t want to go far from home. 

Königswinter in Germany turned out to be right place to stop; a wonderful place with beautiful cycling paths along the Rhine and even pedal boating on the lake in the park!

 

A visit to Kasteel Wijlre Estate

What a beautiful place this is: the building, the garden and the exhibition together form a perfect symbiosis.

It was a wonderful day in combination with a bike ride through the Limburg lanscape!

 

Old habits die hard

I hadn’t crocheted a cacti in ages. But another one has emerged! It took a while; it seemed to grow almost as slowly as a real one… 

Probably now there will be more to come!

Space jumper

Lucky enough, a lot of friends of mine are creative too and like to receive a handmade crocheted gift!

This friend is crazy about the universe, the moon and sun…that’s why she gets a little sweater with a tiny rocket on it!

If you want to know a bit more about her work, you can go to her site.

 

 

Mauritshuis, Voorlinden, Scheveningen

Last weekend we made a little city trip to The Hague and its Mauritshuis. Even though I had never visited the museum before, most of its paintings were quite familiar!

The next day we went to museum Voorlinden to see the  wonderful retrospective exhibition from Ron Mueck.

We ended our small cultural trip with a lovely walk at the beach in Scheveningen.

 

Eben-Emael

Not far from the border of the Netherlands lies the town Eben-Emael.

It’s an alien environment with Ufo-like shapes that rises from the landscape.

These are the remains of a former Belgian militairy defense work. 

It’s definitely worth a visit.

 

Happy cat 

Well, when you see this picture I think you have to admit: 

nothing’s better than being a cat,

feeling the warmth on your belly 

ànd having a two-legged roommate that loves you to the moon and back?

 Anselm Kiefer 

When I scroll through the album on my phone, I’m still impressed by the photos of Anselm Kiefer’s exhibition last February.

What a wonderful world this artist has managed to create. His work radiates a serene beauty but also restlessness. Somehow you can feel there’s more to see than just the image itself.

 

France: a lovely collection of colours and textures 

It’s a fact that I have a great eye for detail. 

So it happens quite regularly that I get distracted by things around me during a conversation.

Of course in France it wasn’t that much different;

such beautiful colours, shapes and textures I couldn’t resist capturing on film…

 

Father’s Day

Did you give your father a nice present for Father’s Day yesterday?

Maybe a nice brooch that fits his hobby…or was it a tasty dinner or a visit to the cinema?

Whatever you did, I hope you gave him a big hug and had a joyful day!

 

Sous le charme de la France!

We travelled trough France for two weeks with our little vintage camper van.

We visited many beautiful places, castles and museums in Burgundy and surroundings.

We’re so proud: 

our Wally was in top shape and didn't make a sound!

Sleepy Sunday afternoon

While the weather outside doesn’t seem to bother about the fact that it’s summer time, 

we stay warm and cosy inside.

Hope it’s going to be better soon…

Nevertheless, have a nice Sunday everyone!

 

 

Little jumper 

Here’s another little jumper! This time for someone who has a special reason to cherish the symbol of an anchor…

Crocheted in soft nude tones; the colours the recipient truly loves the most.

Bird feeder

We have a lot if blue tits and coal tits in our garden. It is lovely to see them flying around, especially now they have nests with little chicks.

So we decided to buy some mealworms;

you can feed these worms to the birds all year round, they contain a lot of proteins and also serve as food for the little chicks.

The parents have flown back and forth…now it's this youngster’s turn!

 

Tiny sweater

I own a second hand shirt that I’m very fond of, 

so I crocheted a tiny look-a-like copy.

It turned out quite well I must say!

 

Two sisters

Last year I made a stitched frame for newborn ‘Lucia’ in the colours of her big sisters’ birth announcement card; a while ago I embroidered one for Rosa herself, 

in the colours of her little sisters’ birth announcement card.

 It’s nice to have a picture from the to frames side by side!

Order your personal frame in my Etsy shop!

 

Kabouter David

When I saw this gnome in the shop, I couldn’t resist taking him home with me.

Probably it has something to do with my childhood; when I was about 6 years old, I loved to watch the series ‘Kabouter David’ on the television:

this little rascal (drawn by Rien Poortvliet) experienced all kinds of adventures and traveled all over the world with Swift the fox.

Now I have my own little friend with red pointy hat!

Happy King’s Day!

Every year on April the 27th it’s King’s Day in The Netherlands. Generally we celebrate with orange attributes, even the cakes or ‘tompoucen’ have this colour.

But in Maastricht we have pies, that’s even better!

 

 

An abundance of colours!

When you live in the Netherlands, it is quite unusual if you’ve never visited the Keukenhof.

So when my brother asked if we could go there together, it was the perfect opportunity.

What a wealth of tulips and beautifully landscaped flower beds, unbelievable!