My cup of tea

While strolling through the flea market last weekend, I spotted some beautiful porcelain in between rusty tools and kitchenware. The golden rims where shining in the sunlight and the bright colours, although faded by a thick layer of dirt and tea stains, shone through. I could not believe my luck. These fragile cups and saucers and butter dish where exactly my cup of tea. Especially the Adderley cups with its sculpted shape and pattern of pink blossoms and catkins, appealed to me very much. The Limoges butter dish is very pretty too and will look perfect on our Christmas table. 

Speaking of Christmas, I could not resist draping a string of fairy lights around our mirror in the dining room. I have never been this early before, but the evenings are so dark that the house needs lightning up, to make it look more cheerful. The fairy lights, an abundance of candles and off course a brightly coloured bouquet from the garden always do the trick for me.

When will you start decorating for Christmas?

Wish you all a wonderful weekend!

LOVE,

Madelief x

Season of mist and mellow fruitfulness

The words in my title were borrowed from the poem To Autumn by John Keats. In this poem Keats captures the essence of autumn. Have you seen the film 'Bright Star' by Jane Campion? It's about Keats's short life and love. If you haven't, you should. It's almost as poetic as Keats's poems. You will love it!

 It's amazing to see how quickly nature changes. Two weeks ago my garden was still green. Only one week later part of the foliage has turned into shades of brown, red and golden.

When I entered the garden last Sunday, it all looked a bit hazy. It felt like walking through a thin layer of mist. The grass was soaking wet and covered with the first leaves of the Hazel tree.

The hosta's and ferns are slowly wilting away, but the Dahlia's, Cosmea, Rose The fairy and Rose Coral Dawn are still in bloom. The asters are flowering abundantly. We have not done a lot of work in the garden lately, so it was high time to put the spade into the ground and start digging.

The flowers beds were cleared, the greenhouse was emptied and the pink and purple tulip bulbs, which I bought more than a month ago, were finally put into the ground.

After some serious contemplation I decided to get rid of the gladioli bulbs which I planted last spring. They are just not my thing. Although I like a garden that looks a bit wild, gladioli are a bit too much for me. They have been all over the place, except upright :-)!

It was delicious being outside and forgetting everything around me, while taking in the colours and smell of autumn.

Have you done any work in the garden lately?

Enjoy your weekend!

LOVE,

Madelief x

Little black dress and a bit of colour

Dress by Cos

Sandals by C8 Shott Copenhagen

Necklace by Oasis,  vintage 1950s ear clips

It was my intention to publish this post three weeks ago, when the weather was still warm and sunny, but I forgot all about it. I realise temperatures have dropped in our part of the world,  but in for instance Australia, New Zealand & Brasil, summer is on the doorstep. As I do have some followers in these countries, I decided to publish this post anyway :-)

According to Wikipedia a little black dress is an evening or cocktail dress, cut simply and often quite short. The dress is intended to be long lasting, versatile & affordable and quite chique!

When I opened up the doors of my wardrobe recently, it struck me that I have quite a collection of them. Most dresses are more than five years old. There are lots of vintage and second hand finds among them, like the L.K. Bennettt dress I found in a charity shop recently. While other dresses have already left my wardrobe, because they are no longer fashionable, my little black dresses still look good. They seem to be timeless. I often combine them with scarves, vintage bags & jewellery. 

Whenever I am not sure what to wear, I often choose one of my black dresses.What do you pick out of your wardrobe when in doubt?

Due to personal circumstances, I will not be able to post regularly or leave many comments. I will try to pop over now and then, but I don't know how often. I hope you won't mind too much.

Wish you all a wonderful weekend

LOVE,

Madelief x

Dress DKNY

Dress Sisley

Corsage by Zeeman

Dress H&M, Scarves De Bijenkorf

Dress L.K. Bennett

Collection of vintage bags

Fabulous fifties

 

Ball gowns in the prettiest shades of pale, hats and tailored suits, quirky bathing costumes and Elegant Parisian haute couture, lured me into the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague to see the exhibition Fabulous Fifties.

When you enjoy retro fashion and the fabulous costumes worn in tv series Mad Men, this exhibition is worth going too. I was really impressed. The Victoria and Albert museum in London has an amazing costume collection, but our Dutch Gemeentemuseum has too! Much thought was given to the décor, with vintage style curtains and eye for colour & detail. The clothes on display vary in style, from chique and Elegant, to office wear and rock and roll. 

When you are looking for something fun to do one of the coming weekends, pop over to the Gemeentemuseum and see the exhibit. While you are there you may well enjoy the exhibit Happy Days too. It's about art in The Hague from 1947 to 1967.

Wish you all a Happy weekend!

LOVE,

Madelief x