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.

 

 

China on my mind

 

The title is a bit misleading, but I thought it would be appropriate for today's photo's. I packed two  boxes of china, to take with me to my garden. As soon as temperatures rise, the porcelain will be on it's way :-) Hopefully I will be able to host my first tea party in April, when I have a special birthday coming up.

Thank you for leaving such kind comments on my last post. I enjoyed reading about your gardens and the work you did. It seems I am not the only one, who can't wait to start digging :-)! I managed to do some garden work last Wednesday, which was bright and sunny in Rotterdam. At least, the morning was.

I cleaned up the last fallen leaves, did some pruning and smashed a glass pane of my greenhouse. It gave a huge crash. Luckily no one was harmed. I now know for sure, happiness must be on it's way. About time too! After I cleaned up the mess, I sat in the sun for a while, contemplating how on earth I am going to fix that glass pane....

Let's hope for some sun (no more rain and storm please) the coming week! Have fun!

Love,

Madelief x

 

The first spring flowers

Some of you asked me to post a few photo's I made at the photography course last week. I had a good look at them, but somehow I don't find them interesting enough to share with you. What I did instead, is cycle to my allotment garden and take some photo's there. Keeping in mind the things I learned at the course. Hope you can see the difference :-).

The garden looks beautiful! Although it's still bare, there is so much to see. The tiny white heads of the snowdrops lighten up a dark corner. There are crocuses everywhere. However best of all are the hellebores, under the old hazel tree. They look truly magnificent. I only have two varieties in the garden at the moment, since I lost my white hellebores, but the ones I have are very pretty! When I stand in the middle of the garden and look around me, I can see all sort of shoots begin to emerge: daffodils, tulips, bluebells and even the first aliums.

The early morning light in our south facing garden is enchanting, on this sunny winter day. I had to contain myself, not to prune the roses yet, or get rid of the thick layer of mulch, which I covered the Dahlia bulbs with. A colder period is still possible, and the risk of frost and ice, which can play havoc with my garden.  I hope the weather will stay the way it is: mild for the time of year and sometimes even spring like. Can't wait to pull on my boots and start planting and seeding.

Have you been working in the garden lately?

 

Love,

Madelief x

I made the photo of the windmill, which is close to our garden, especially for Noelle. Noelle, here it is at last :-)! x