Walking in a winter wonderland

This is my last post before Christmas. I am taking a short break from blogging, so the next two weeks I won't be leaving messages either. From tomorrow on I will be in the kitchen with my girls, baking cookies, merinques and all kind of other delicious treats. I also have to make some preparations for our Christmas dinner. My parents and my brother with his little son will visit. This year we divided courses. My mother will prepare the first course, my brother the desert and I will be responsible for the main course. I will make something simple; Boeuf Bourguignon with baked potatoes (my fathers favourite), red cabbage with apple, salade and cooked pears. A lot of presents have been placed in front of our fireplace and under the Christmas tree by Santa. The girls have to wait a few more days.... !

The pictures I show you today were made last sunday, when my husband and I made a walk to our garden. It was truly a winter wonderland!

I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

See you in 2010! Lieve groet, Madelief

Our Christmas tree

Dear blogfriends, thank you very much for your kind birthday wishes! I still can't believe that it is already twenty years ago that my eldest daughter was born.....

As you can see on the pictures above our Christmas tree is finally decorated. You have to know that I have at least eight boxes of Christmas ornaments in our loft. More than enough to decorate not only one, but three trees with!

I finally chose silver, grey, very soft pink and white ornaments. I added the little angels and hearts I bought at the Christmas fair. I am very happy with the result. The tree looks simple but beautiful. What I am most happy about is that it is still standing upright. Hopefully it will stay this way till New Years day!

At the moment snow is falling down heavily. I think there must be at least ten centimetres of it outside. We just went for a walk to our garden. It was magical. I will show you the photos soon. Enjoy your Sunday!


Lieve groet, Madelief

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

It was such a lovely day today! When I woke up this morning, I could see from the light shining through the curtains, that there was snow outside. I was one of the first to go outside. Not only because of the snow, but mostly because I start work at a quarter past seven. What a beautiful, still world it was. So special to hear your own footsteps! Even in town you could hardly hear the noise of the trains and cars. 

I took a break from work, to take some pictures when the sun was coming up.  It was fabulous to see Schiedam waking up; the snow, the old houses and lanterns, the Christmas decorations. The pictures may be familiar to you, but with a layer of snow everything looks different. When this post is finished I will finally write my Christmas cards. I have been postponing it because it's such a huge job. I also have to make some preparations for the birthday of my eldest daughter. She will be twenty tomorrow! I wish you all a lovely evening!

A cold sunny day at the fair

I would have loved to show you some photo's of our Christmas tree, but unfortunately it is not possible yet. We were just ready decorating the tree when, with an enormous bang, it collapsed into our glass table. About one third of our Christmas balls did not survive. Such a shame....Well, in Holland we have a saying that broken glass brings happiness....  It helps a little.

Therefore I show you some pictures of the Christmas fair at the Marienwaerdt. I went there today with two friends. It was very cold, only three degrees Celsius, but we had a lovely day! Unfortunately I did not find any new balls, but I did find some little silver angels for in the tree and tiny hearts made of silver bells. I will show you next time. 

Enjoy your week. 

Lieve groet, Madelief

A touch of gold

Although I am normally more into 'silver',  I can appreciate a 'golden touch' around Christmas time. I even bought a lovely golden dress from Ebay. It's hanging in my closet, waiting to be worn. Perhaps for Christmas. However.....I also have a short black brocade dress with a fine sparkling blue pattern on it! It will be difficult to choose. Fortunately we celebrate Christmas in Holland on two days!

Because I am very busy lately at work and home I haven't found time to take any pictures. Therefore I show you some I found on the internet. I think they look absolutely gorgeous! Tonight we are going on an expedition to find the perfect Christmas tree......and then......decorating :)! Hopefully I can show you some pictures next time.  I wish you all a lovely Wednesday! 

Lieve groet, Madelief

Photo 1 Agnes Lopzes; photo 3, 4, 5, 6; photo Chris Everard 7 Style me pretty, photo 8 Design is mine - Collage photo: photo 1 unknown, photo 2 Jose Villa, photo 3 & 4 sunday suppers; photo 5 style me pretty, photo 6 unknown, photo 7 Snippet & ink

Christmas castle fair

Some of the Dutch bloggers have been to the castle fair in Haarzuilens. I love to visit the fair as well. I often go with my mum. We like the same things and enjoy each others company very much. It's a joy to do somehting like this together. We always go early and are often one of the first visitors to enter the park. The advantage of being early is that there is still enough space around the stalls to see the beautiful things on display; Christmas decorations, brocante, plants, Christmas wreaths, outdoor clothing etc. It's not only 'material things' that we like about the fair. We enjoy listening to the choir, looking at the people around us (how do they look/what do they wear/who do they belong too :) and breath in the festive atmosphere. During our visit last year, the lightfall was very pretty. In between the showers the sun now and then appeared. It gave the fair a magical touch.

I wish you all a happy weekend!

Lieve groet, Madelief