A late summer's day in the garden

It was a fine late summer day in the garden yesterday. Although there is not that much in bloom beside dahlia's, sweet peas, Japanese anemones and hydrangeas, I still managed to pick two bunches to take home with me.

Several roses are having their second flush and I hope that I will have some Zinnia's, Sedum and Asters shortly. There are other Dahlia bulbs that I planted of which I haven't seen the flowers yet, so perhaps I am in for a surprise later in the month.

Things are happening in my greenhouse as well. The first tomatoes are ripening on it's branches and there is the curious case of the round cucumber, which I will share with you some other time!

Thank you for your enthusiastic comments on last weeks post! Several of you asked me about the colourful tea cosies. My friend Ilse made them. If you are interested in one, or would like to know more. Please drop me a line and I will send you her email address.

I am off to town. The weather is still glorious and I am going to enjoy every minute of it.

Sending you some sunshine and wishing you a beautiful day!

Love

Madelief x

Instagram tea

Just a quick post to show you some photo's of a wonderful tea party I had in the garden. Eleven kind and interesting ladies, that I know through Instagram, joined me.

I can't tell you how inspiring and much fun it is to come together with like minded people. .

The ladies that joined me today are all so talented: running shops, baking the most delicious things, making beautiful floral arrangements, sewing historic clothes, organising children's workshops, making crochet masterpieces..... Lucky me to have them at my table, to hear their stories, get advise and give me ideas.

Dear Ilse, Saskia, Lia, Jolanda, Chantal, Mirjam, Ella, Nicole, Miriam, Lia and Nathalie: thank you so much for taking the time to come all the way to Rotterdam.  I had an absolutely lovely day!

I am off to the couch now to put my feet up!

Wishing you all a great week!

Love,

Madelief x

With special thanks to Ilse for helping me out today. Dear Ilse, I couldn't have done it without you! xox

Struck by light

Sometimes when you least expect it, you can be in for a stroke of luck, or a beam of sunlight, to be precise. It not only makes you look in wonder at the beauty that you witness, but happy to be able to see it, and even capture it on camera. Especially when it is on one of those dark days when the clouds are thick, hardly any light shines through and you have to seek shelter for the rain several times..... Now you know that photo number one, was a lucky shot indeed! :-)

The girls and I loved Chatsworth. Every bit of it. When we passed the gate, saw the green parkland with it's old trees, the sheep walking leisurely on the road and the majestic house in the distance, we could hardly wait to park the car and walk around. What a lovely home the duke and duchess have.

My daughters wanted to see Pemberley, the house where the 2005 film by the book of Jane Austen Pride and Prejudice was filmed. I wanted to the see the home of the late duchess of Devonshire, Deborah Cavendish née Deborah Mitford, who passed away last year and whose life and that of her five sisters I find interesting..... and, ok I admit it. I wanted to see the lake where Colin Firth jumped into, in the 1995 BBC series with the same title. Guess what? It appeared to be at Lyme Park, not Chatsworth! Ha, ha,  I even had a book which said so. Serves me right. Should have taken more time to read it properly :-)

Overall we were not disappointed. My daughters even preferred it over Versailles, another grand house, because it's less crowded and you are able to see and enjoy the atmosphere more. It's absolutely beautiful, both inside and out. I don't want to go into details, but if you would like to know more about the history of the house, the garden and parkland or the interesting people who once lived here, please have a look at Chatsworth's website.


Something entirely different. I promised to announce the winner of my giveaway today. The book Wohnen mit Blumen, by Callwey publishers, goes to the UK, to Claire from the blog Thriftwood. Congratulations Claire! Would you be so kind as to mail me your address? Hope the others will have more luck next time.

Wishing you a good week! Enjoy!

Love,

Madelief x