Low budget crochet

 

Inspired by the bright colours of the sweet peas in my garden, I started on a new crochet project.

The pillows on our couch could use a revamp, so off I went into town, in search of material. With the summer sale still going on, I was lucky to find some yarn at bargain prices. The balls are a mix of wool, acrylic and cotton, but I don't mind about that. The colours look fine together!

It was my intention to sew the covers myself, but when I found six basic cushion covers for less than eight euro, the decision not to was easily made. Yesterday evening I finished the last cover.  Let me show you how they look like.

I would love to hear what you are working on at the moment.

Happy week!

Love,

Madelief x

 

A great place to stay

 

In Bergen, a beautiful village, close to the seaside, in the Dutch province North Holland, a lovely Bed & Breakfast is situated. It's called 'In de Aap'. We were lucky to stay there for three day's last week.

Our room was called 'The Casita'. It's on the ground floor of the B&B and has a Mediterranean feel to it. The walls are covered in soft pink plaster, which looks a bit like Moroccan tadelakt. Patio doors open to the front garden. There is a small seating area, a four poster bed, a little kitchen and a stylish bathroom with a rain shower. We both loved it!

In the morning a delicious breakfast was served in our room, with fresh rolls, juice, fruit, eggs,  & yoghurt.

In de Aap is a great place to stay. It's conveniently situated for enjoying the sea, the beautiful dunes and the towns of Haarlem and Alkmaar. They are both within half an hour's drive. Even Amsterdam is not too far away.

In this post a small selection of the photo's I made. I will show you some more of Bergen and the surrounding countryside soon.

Hope you are enjoying your summer holiday too!

Love,

Madelief x

Absolutely delighted!

It's quiet in blogland. Most bloggers are probably enjoying the summer holidays, and rightly so. I haven't been spending much time behind my computer either. The weather is too fine, not to enjoy! It keeps luring me outside :-). I love to go the beach, make long walks and step on my bicycle.  We made a short trip to Bergen recently, a lovely seaside town not too far from Amsterdam. I will show you some photo's soon. I have also started on a new crochet project, but more about that soon as well.

We enjoy the peacefulness of the garden too. There are many shady places to sit and relax. I am a bit disappointed with the colour in my garden at the moment. There are some mid season plants missing. My mother bought me some phlox recently, which will brighten it up a little. The Sweet Peas are looking exceptionelly well. They are all over the place, growing abundantly, a riot of colour. Hurray to them!!

 I want to say thank you to Conny, from the blog Conny's cottage, for winning her lovely shopping bag. A big kiss to you Conny!

I was absolutely delighted to receive a mail this week, that my garden was featured in the July issue of the American magazine 'Creating Vintage Charm' :-). Thank you Sonia, for your kind words and making it all look so pretty!

A lovely week to you all! Enjoy the summer!

Madelief x 

 

Tom tom, Heritage and Orange delight

Temperatures are back to normal in Rotterdam, but last week was warm and humid. My husband and I went to the garden often, to water the plants. As we grow lots of plants in terracotta pots and have a greenhouse with cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers inside, this is really necessary.

We picked blackberries, raspberries and a few gooseberries. Due to the wet spring, part of our gooseberry crop has mildew, so no gooseberry jam or pie this year....

In the middle part of the garden, where there is a lot of sunlight, the roses are growing abundantly. The New Dawn rose is huge and covering large part of the veranda. Heritage, Tom Tom and Constance Spry have lots of flowers as well. The roses in the front part of the garden are having a difficult time. They do give flowers, but somehow don't grow that much. It's the part of the garden where the soil is rock hard (heavy clay). I added sand and fertiliser to the soil, but I guess this was not enough.

Does anyone know the name of the little orange bush rose on my sixth photo? I bought it in a supermarket last year, but it did not have a label attached. I call it 'Orange delight', but perhaps one of you knows it's real name :-). I would love to hear!

How do you and your garden cope with the heat?


Wishing you a lovely new week!

Madelief x