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D. basting her own bedspread. I had been making promises to the daughters, but had a hard time keeping them .I can hardly find any time to craft and finding time to sew is even harder, since I can’t use the machine when T. is trying to concentrate on his programming. So when I can sew I work on my own very big projects (almost finished!). Also they wanted some rather difficult things. I kept procrastinating, until yesterday it hit me.

I started them to work on their own. They are almost seventeen so it is about time they learn more sewing skills than just sewing on a button.
D. is basting that beautiful but awful slippery golden fabric onto the batting. When that is done, we have some red nicky velours for the other side. No need to explain that needs a lot of basting too! Well, anyway, she is learning from it. And she likes it.
”It’s so much fun to actually make something yourself!” she stated yesterday. I know, girl, I know!
(Meanwhile E. is cutting her dress, for the fantasyfair. I hope to get some pictures of that later.)

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This is my kitchen cupboard. It’s a mix of old and new stuff.
The black tins are thrifted. I got the big one from my mother last christmas and found some matching ones. They are filled with spare lamps and batteries. The top two tins on the right are vintage, the bottom one is fake vintage. When we got married somebody gave us some money to spend in a specific shop. There was not much we liked and we choose this big tin because it was the best we could find. I have used it ever since (17 plus years!) and have grown to love it..
My plates, cups and saucers are new, as are the huge soupbowls on the left. The green tablecloth is kind of vintage, I remember my mother using it when I was a kid, so it must be about 25 years old.

Oh, that is vintage, isn’t it? I guess I just don’t like to call things that were really mine when I was young vintage, it makes me feel old…

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The sun is shining today! Well, it was this morning anyway, the clouds are growing fast now. But it’s better than before.
I wanted to take some sunny pictures, but I had a hard time finding a good spot. My house is… a bit (understatement) of a mess right now. But here’s the window-sill in the hallway. Never mind the not so shine windows…
My buddha (which should be rubbed by visitors, but never is) seems to be enjoying the sun. The horsething next to it is a “klopper” (a thing you hang on the outside of a door to knock with instead of a doorbell) and should have been on the door for over a year now. Maybe next week…

Scheveningen

The weather was nice yesterday, so we went to the beach.



We really enjoyed the sun and the blue sky







The wind was hard though – look at those waves against the poles of the pier!

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We got our cat from the animal-shelter last year He is at least ten years old, but lively and healthy. We enjoy our newest familymember very much, but there is a downside to accepting an older cat into your home…
He has certain habits from former homes and we can’t get rid of those without being way to harsh.
One of those habits is that he is used to hanging out on the kitchencounters. Our other cats (who we got very young) were not allowed on the counters, but he is on it constantly. He thinks of the sink as his personal waterbowl. And every bit of waste that ends up there (when rinsing dishes or pans) is checked out by him. He gets very upset when we clean that up before he got a chance to taste it…
Oh well, it’s kind of funny to see him like this. As long as he keeps his mouth out of my pans.

Uhm… He does, as long as we stay in the kitchen all the time while cooking. That does make things a bit complicated sometimes…

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I went outside today (in the rain!) to look for signs of spring. And I did find some. Look at my rosemary blooming!

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I find myself really longing for spring…
Everything has been gray and dark all day. I even preferred the showers we had yesterday and during the weekend. At least we had some sunshine in between.

But there is hope… forecasts say that we can expect higher temperatures and more sun next week. So I guess I’ll just have to wait this out…

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I always make the same mistake: I buy Easter candy (and also Sinterklaas candy) way too early. I try to be very reasonable about the amount I buy. Enough to enjoy it, but not overdoing it. Usually I manage to keep it from my sweettooth family until about a week before the big days, but than we (- they, I can’t eat sugar) go through my stash rather quickly. So just a day or two before the real holiday I give in. I don’t want to spoil the party and let Easter pass without chocolat and sugar. So I buy some more.
I buy too much, leaving us with lots to eat after the holiday has been long over. No complaints from the kids or DH but I like this kind of candy to be special for a few days only. Throwing it away would be a big waste, though. So I just sit their sugarboosts out a few more days. Uhm weeks , judging by the amount still left today.

Meanwhile I really enjoy the colour combination of my flowers, my vintage tin and the candy…

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We’ve had hardly any snow this winter or any winter for years. White christmasses are really rare here. But this year we had a white Easter…

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Our Easter-breakfast. We have this tradition to have an extensive breakfast together on holidays.
On normal days the five of us don’t have breakfast together (the kids have variable schooltimes, start work very early on saterdays and sleep in when they have vacation. Also DH is not a morningperson), so we cherish this special occasions.

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Edited to add the result of the mess above:

Painting eggs

When I was shopping I found a little set to decorate eggs. Very simple, just a few stencils and some markers. I thought it would be a nice way to add some decoration to the Easter table. Something simple that I could manage, because of course the girls were too old to want to paint eggs. Or so I thought.
I was wrong.





And that reminded me of years ago, when every year, in the week before Easter all three of them invited a friend for a "spring party". First we painted eggs, then we ate pancakes. A simple tradition that felt very special to all of them. We heard a while ago that class mates were fighting among themselves about whose turn it was to be the friend that was chosen...
I didn't have a good camera those days and there aren't a lot of pictures, but I have these two. Good times.

1997:



and 1999:

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Spring flowers

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Ranuncula

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A new hobby

As if I needed one. But you've already seen it in the pictures of the last few days, I started beading. I never thought I'd like that, but I do. Instant gratification, I guess.

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Today I have two pictures, since I really wanted to show these. I love tulips.

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