Thursday evening we went to a lovely concert of the Maria vespers of Monteverdi. It was very impressive and the music has been singing around in my head constantly since then.
Last Sunday we set up our xmas tree! It brought back lots of memories, especially of my late grandparents, who used to have a tree with
real candles (at least I think I remember this vaguely)... and lots of chocolate (kerstkransjes) in the tree (never lasting long). They always did their best to make something special of an event, such xmas or sinterklaas. You gotta love that!
In the afternoon I was busy making a xmas star, my first handmade, and the I really like the result!
I was also busy making gift packages for my little "webshop" ; doesn't it look nice?
I took up knitting as well; trying out something very simple at first : a scarf. It feels nice. The wool is so soft and warm, and I love the colors!
Yesterday back to work. Unfortunately, even in the city the snow has taken it's toll. Taking the bicycle is no longer an option. In such cases, I prefer the tram, but public transport is not working as it should either. Which means waiting a loooooong time in the cold before the tram arrives, which is usually packed with passengers, or walking. Either way, it takes ages to get from one place to another. These days I prefer to stay in and about my comfortable and cozy home. We have all the shops we need around the corner, as well as bars, restaurants and a museum. So why bother with traveling around and getting stuck someplace in the cold?
lately we've been extremely busy. we're doing some very serious househunting. and we're diving deeper and deeper into the history of our beloved hometown, more specifically the neighbourhood we live in, called scheveningen. scheveningen has an intriguing history, from nothing but a small fishers village to a grand and mondaine place to be to ... a place which has been elected one of the ugliest places in NL now. (I fully agree that the gevers deynootplein is the ugliest place, but do think the sea, the beach and the dunes are always beautiful - when you're standing with your back to the city) so sad that the beautiful buildings had to disappear. even sadder when you think that the buildings lasted until about the 1970s, when they were demolished. the palace hotel, the grand hotel, hotel l'orange... only the kurhaus survived and only by a fraction. I remember going to scheveningen as a child, on a special day out with my mother. playing in the sand, collecting shells in light blue and pink, jumping on the trampolines, and best of all: riding a donkey! still, living so close to a place with so much interesting history, makes my mind wonder to the early days, innocent, glamorous. look at the great posters I found by Louis Kalff from that time!
