Changes

  




































Hi everyone, It feels good to be back! Two busy weeks ended with the birthday of a friend yesterday afternoon. In the morning we had an hour left to spend in the garden.

When we rented our allotment garden three years ago, we were told that the equestrian centre that was situated behind our garden, would disappear soon to make room for houses.

Everything stayed the same for nearly three years, but when we approached our garden this weekend the centre was suddenly gone. Not only the horses and stables had disappeared, but the old willow trees behind our garden house as well. How I miss it all. I know there are far worse things in the world, but at that moment I felt sad.

Dark thoughts made room for bright ideas. Perhaps we could place a wire screen and plant Clematis Montana against it. I can already see the screen covered in little pink flowers next spring. The trees having gone has one big advantage: we have more sunlight! That means a wider range of choice in flowers to plant!!

The garden itself has changed as well. The crocusses made room for daffodils, scilla, hyacints and grape hyacints. The trees are full of blossoms in the prettiest shades of pink and white. It looks so beautiful against a blue sky! I bought some bright pink Primula's and a Magnolia tree to put in the garden and I made my first garden bouquet. It is tiny, but that doesn't matter. It looks very sweet and it makes me happy.

I decided to join Jane's 'What's blooming in your house today', actually it is more 'What's blooming in my garden'. Sorry Jane!

I wish you blue skies and sun for this week. Enjoy!

Lieve groet, Madelief x

In full bloom

I am so happy. Spring has arrived at last! What a lovely weekend we had. There was sun, mild temperatures and no rain. It was a joy to walk through the garden and see the crocusses and longworth in full bloom. I could see some pink primula's popping up, the first scilla's and daffodils. I bought some blue violets which I put in an old washing bowl I found on Marktplaats.

On the saturday fleamarket I spotted a 1950s teapot and some kitsch rose cups. They will look great in our outdoor kitchen! 

The next two week will be busy for me. Work, work and more work :-)! I don't think I will be able to sit behind my computer often. I hope to see you all back again in a week or two.

Have a great time!

Lieve groet, Madelief

We love cupcakes!

Last week two of my daughters were having a holiday break. One of the things we often do during a holiday is baking. As we love cupcakes, the decision what to bake was easy to make!

We intended to bake marshmallow cupcakes from the Hummingbird bakery cookbook, but during the process of melting the marshmallows something went horribly wrong. We ended up with a strange looking mixture that looked more like chewing gum. We threw it all in the bin and made plain cupcakes with a marshmallow topping instead! When I tried to make a photo of my two teenagers at work (to proudly present to you) they turned their backs to me :-)!

I would like to thank Maaike from the blog Crejjtion for the super giveaway she sent me. The girls and I were very excited to see what was inside the beautifully decorated envelope. Maaike made a lovely bag with tiny flowers and polka dots, which I now use to take my lipsticks in to work. She also gave me some great looking fabrics, a sweet notebook and a crazy card :-)! Maaike thank you once again!

Wish you all a happy evening & lieve groet from a sunny Rotterdam,

Madelief

Pastels & florals

 It's a sunny day in Holland. We have a cloudless blue sky and temperatures rising up to about eight degrees celsius. Although the nights are still cold, it looks and feels as if spring is in the air. Today I had a day off from work to spend with my daughters. I have two of them home for school holidays. This morning when they were still asleep I went to our garden. In the afternoon I decided to have a look through my wardrobe. Just to see what I have and still like for summer and what can go. Seeing the floral patterns, the bright colours and light materials really made me happy. Hello spring & summer......please come soon! I bought a pair of Chie Mihara shoes in a purple/greyish color in the sale recently, to match my outfits. I promised Nicola from September cottage I would show them.

Have you already bought something new for spring or summer?

Have a lovely afternoon!

Lieve groet, Madelief