For the love of grapes

It doesn't often happen, that one is unexpectedly beckoned into a vineyard and invited to some wine tasting. The funny thing is that it didn't happen while on holiday in France, but during a country walk with my uncle and aunt in Wahlwiller, a tiny village in the south of Limburg.

Wim and Lenie, who maintain the Wittemer Wahlwiller vineyard, showed us around, told us about it's history and the different varieties of grapes they grow. While it kept raining outside, we sat under a tent, with a view of the vineyard, and tasted some delicious wine, cheese and Apple syrup.

Visiting the vineyard is a joy. Wim and Lenie are very hospitable and passionate. You can see they love their grapes, wine and vineyard.

I was glad we had already climbed the hill. Further climbing on an almost empty stomach with only wine inside would have been a disaster! If you are interested in visiting the vineyard. Just check out Wim and Lenie's website.

We ended our day at my uncle's and aunt's. They live in a beautiful converted barn with a garden full of roses and Dahlia's. My uncle treated us to a 5 course dinner, which was absolutely delicious.

Peter and Ine, Wim & Lenie thank you very much once again!

Lieve groet, Madelief x

China cabinet

In one of my last posts I promised to show you the second hand china cabinet I found on Marktplaats (sort of an auction site like Ebay) recently. Well, here it is! It fits into our dining room perfectly and looks as if it has always been there. One of the advantages of having a big cabinet is, that you can stack heaps of china inside :-)! Today a 'blue selection'. From Staffordshire chintz ware, vintage glass, Moroccan earthenware to porcelain from St Petersburg in Russia.

Our old cabinet went to the garden house. This means that the cabinet I had in the garden house, has to go. If you are interested, please let me know. You can see a photo in this post.

I also promised to show you the apron I finished recently. It looks bright, cheerful and a perhaps a bit too much, but I like it!

Have a lovely evening!

Lieve groet, Madelief x

Sweet for my sweet, sugar for my honey

Not long ago we had a wedding in Amsterdam. As the wedding took place in the evening, we had the whole day to ourselves. We decided to see the exhibit 'Inwards and Onwards' in FOAM, by the Dutch photographer and film director Anton Corbijn.

The photo's at the exhibit are mostly of artists, like Kate Moss, Iggy Pop and Mick Jagger. They are all quite large, in black and white and have black frames. Which really makes them stand out.

I thought I wasn't that much of a Corbijn fan, but he proved me wrong. I enjoyed looking at his work. Some photo's are arty, others humorous. I especially liked the one he made of Johnny Cash, which you can see on my blog today. I stood in front of his portrait for a long time. Looking at his eyes, the lines in his face, thinking of the life he has led.

If you haven't planned anything for this weekend or the next one yet, I can recommend the exhibition to you. You can find Foam on the Keizergracht. You have to be quick, because the exhibition ends on the 1st of September.

We visited some more museums afterwards, of which I will show you some photo's soon, and walked the streets of Amsterdam. One of my favourite streets is the Spiegelstraat, which is full of galleries and antique stores.

We ended our citywalk in 'Het Vlaamsch Broodhuys', where we had a delicious tea. They have the cuttest sugar bags, which I simply had to show you!

Wish you all a  happy weekend! We are off to see family in Limburg.

Lieve groet, Madelief x

Photo's 4 & 5 by Anton Corbijn

Flowers and vegetables

Hi everyone,

After some lovely sunny day's, it's raining heavily in Rotterdam. I don't really mind. It's evening now and the garden can use some water. The garden looks beautiful at the moment. I probably said this two weeks ago too, but to me it just is! It's full of pinks, oranges, purple's and yellow's. The Dahlia's, Zinnia's and Cosmea are in full bloom and so are the sweet pea's. I picked a little bunch of flowers today, to take home with me. A thing that always makes me very happy.

We found a huge orange pumpkin hiding in the herbal patch. What is it about pumpkins? They seem to be wandering around the garden. Sometimes we think we have lost them, to find them back one or sometimes even two metres further away. Do you have the same experience?  I also put a cucumber and a courgette in my basket to take home with me. They taste so delicious :-)! To me there's nothing nicer than harvesting and cooking home grown produce.

I am sorry for not leaving comments with you all, but we are changing things around the house. I bought a new (second hand) dresser this week, which meant I had to empty the old one and fill the new one. It was more work than I anticipated. As we live in a second floor apartment, and the dresser is huge, we had to hire a lift. With the help of a friendly neighbour, we finally managed to get the dresser inside.....pfff! It looks absolutely great though! I will show you some photo's soon. Now I am off to the couch to put my legs up!

Wish you all a Happy Weekend!

Lieve groet van Madelief x