To plant a garden....

While the branches of the trees sway in the wind and sunbeams try to find a gap in the clouds, I am in the garden. 

This week, when at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, lightning struck at a moment when I least expected it (figuratively), but in a Happy way!

Since then my head is in a spin. I cannot think straight. As I work in the garden, my mind keeps wandering. I put bulbs into the bin and I can’t find my shovel, while it is right in front of me. 

I don't think there is a beginning, nor an end, but I just try to hold on to that delicious feeling for a while longer. Above all it made me realise -even more so than before- that there are second chances in life and there is a tomorrow.

As I plant some more bulbs into a terracotta pot, a huge smile spreads across my face. Let’s go for it!

Wishing you a good week and a Happy Valentine’s day!

To Love & Friendship,

Madelief x

'To plant a garden is to belief in tomorrow' 

Brideshead revisited

Have you ever been to Castle Howard in North Yorkshire (UK)? If you have, do you remember the drive with the blind summits leading up to the castle? We thought it was a spectacular start of the day. It felt a bit like a roller coaster ride, going up the hill and down again several times :-).

It wasn't my first visit. A long time ago I visited the castle with my boyfriend Jan. It was our first holiday together. Since I had seen the 1981 television serial Brideshead Revisited, an adaptation of the book by Evelyn Waugh, with Jeremy Irons and Anthony Andrews as Charles Ryder and Lord Sebastian Flyte, I was hooked. Both to the serial and it's larger than life characters and to the amazing setting. So when choosing a holiday destination, it did not take us long to decide.

This post is dedicated to my boyfriend at the time, my late husband, whom I had one of the best holidays ever with.  

The house and grounds of the castle are magnificent. Building works started in 1699. It took almost a hundred years before completion. Part of the house was destroyed by a fire in 1940, but after extensive renovation it looks beautiful once more. 

When you walk through the park and surrounding hills, the view of the the house, the temple of the four winds and the mausoleum are breathtakingly beautiful. The garden is lovely too, with an abundance of roses, a large vegetable patch and borders with annuals and biennials. We were there on an cold and cloudy day, but enjoyed it very much.

If you would like to know more about the castle and gardens, please visit the website of Castle Howard.

Happy week ahead!

Love,

Madelief 

* Thank you for you kind comments on last weeks post. I enjoyed reading about your experience with dahlia's.  

Photo 2: Google images

The last roses

Words don't come easy to me today. My head is full of memories of my love Jan, who passed away a year ago. 365 days without him..... The girls and I miss him sorely. His humour, his hugs and wise words. And his laughter, which was really addictive.

It has been a difficult year. Getting used to living without him. Trying to accept what has happened and to know that he won't be coming back. Now and then I think it has all been a mistake and I want my old life back. I know it won't happen, but how I wish it could. 

With much love and gratitude I look back at the 30 years we spent together.

In today's post some photo's of our garden, a place we both loved and spent as much time in as we could. The last roses are for Jan.
  
Thank you for your kind comments, emails, cards and sweet little gifts we received over the year. They made our days a bit brighter.

Wishing you a Happy weekend!

Love,

Madelief x