Spring tea

 

 

Hello everyone,

My overnight bag is packed. The bare necessities for a weekend in the country are inside. At the last minute I added a little black dress. You never know where I may end up. A girl has got to be prepared! 

No, it's not going to be a wild weekend with fancy parties :-) I will be staying with my aunt, who lives in a beautifully converted 19th century farmhouse near Gulpen, in the south of our little country. I look forward to it very much. It's lovely to see her again!

The countryside around her little village is breathtakingly beautiful. I can't wait to put on my walking shoes. How I love to clear my head, climb those hills and enjoy the far reaching views. 

Today's photo's were taken last Wednesday. The girls asked me to bake something. I did not bake anything for a while. Not because I don't like to bake, but with only the three of us in the house, a large cake seems not such a good idea :-)

I made a Somerset apple cake from the cookbook Gorgeous Cakes by Annie Bell. It was really good! The granny smith apples and lemon juice add zest and zing to the cake, while the ground almonds give it a bite. I can recommend it to you!

The amazing embroidered table cloth you can see in the background, is a recent vintage find.

Well, that's it for today. Wishing you a happy weekend! 

Love, Madelief x

 

A royal outing

 

One of my friends turned the age, when you are considered too old to work, but too young to retire. To celebrate this milestone, we took her on a royal outing, to Soestdijk Palace in Baarn.

My friend, who is called Beatrix, like our former queen, was dressed for the occasion. Wearing an orange cardigan and wrap. Orange being the colour of the Dutch royal family. My other friend, who is called Wilhelmina, after Beatrix's grandmother, was smartly dressed as well. I felt slightly out of place in my retro punk outfit ;-)

For over six decades, Soestdijk Palace was the home of queen Juliana and her husband prins Berhnard, until their death in 2004. Nowadays it's open to the public.

The middle part of the palace was built in the 17th century as a country house. Over the years it has been extended and refurbished. During the French invasion of Holland in 1795, it became the home of Louis Bonaparte, Napoleons brother. When the palace was once again in Dutch hands, it was presented to William II in 1815, for his services at the battle of Waterloo. In one of the reception rooms you can see a large painting by Pieneman of Prince William holding the French army for two days, before Waterloo.

We enjoyed the splendour of the 17th century palace with it's amazing windows and paintings, beautiful china and glassware and impressive chandeliers. Some of the curtain edgings, looked remarkably contemporary. Guess they liked pompons too :-)

The garden was designed by Zochers in the English landscape style. I think it will look lovely in April, when the rhododendrons are in bloom.

If you are interested in visiting the palace or gardens. Please have a look at the palace's website. Hope you enjoyed my royal outing. It's a bit different from what I usely post. More colour next week!

Thank you for your kind comments on my last post too. I enjoyed celebrating with you :-)!

Wishing you a lovely week ahead!

Madelief x   

 

Photo 5 by ANP

On the cover

 

 

Before you read this post, put on Colin Farrell with 'Happy' :-). That is how I feel at the moment! Just after I published last weeks blog post and opened up my mailbox (the real one, not the one line one), I was in for a pleasant surprise. Do you remember I wrote about the glass of my green house breaking and hoping for a bit of luck? Well, I believe my fortune has changed :-)

The Victorian Homes magazine was sent to me, with one of my photo's on the cover. I jumped for joy :-)! It looks absolutely fantastic! Beside the cover photo, two beautifully written articles are inside, about the tea parties I have in my garden and my collection of vintage tea cups. All photo's in the articles were made by me. I am so incredibly proud!

If you are interested in the magazine. You can buy it at Barnes and Noble and select book stores and grocery stores in the USA. You can order a copy on line too.

I spent some time behind my sewing machine last week, to make new cushion covers for in my garden. I love a bit of change now and then. Let me show you the first one. I am quite happy the way it turned out. It's partly made of vintage fabric.

While I am writing this post, I can see large patches of blue in the sky, while the first rays of sunlight shine through my window.  I think I will put my sewing machine in the cupboard for a day and head off to the garden! When I was there yesterday, I noticed the first daffodils and hyacinths in bloom. At last, at last, at long long last :-)

Wishing you a sunny day. Have fun!

Love,

Madelief x

* The floral dress on the photo's was a recent vintage find. It's absolutely lovely and perfect to wear at tea parties in my garden. The crochet necklaces were made by me.