another day in the life of...

vandaag vrijdag, vroeg naar huis want het was rustig op het werk. een paar uurtjes verlof opgenomen en lekker naar huis. boodschappen doen in de Elandap (AHXL Elandstraat), altijd vreselijk druk maar oordopjes en de scanner helpen! thuis boodschappen opgeruimd en lekker aan t niksen. kaarsjes en wierook aan, muziekje op (Clannad want het is weer herfst) en tuin en woonbladen erbij. de nieuwste home and garden vol mooie herfstkleuren. ik heb een pompoen gekocht (biologisch). lekker om klaar te maken (alhoewel mijn lief daar niet van houdt maar ik voel toch de onbedwingbare neiging om in dit seizoen in ieder geval 1 pompoen klaar te maken). ik ga hem zo opensnijden dat we hem voor halloween kunnen gebruiken. de laatste keer dat we dat deden was in Brussel. wat hebben we enorm gelachen toen de kids daar inderdaad aanbelden en om snoep vroegen. nou ja, vroegen: "des bonbons, des bonbons!" ik ben benieuwd of en hoe het zeeheldenkwartier halloween viert. onze jack zal in ieder geval branden.

ik ben zo dol op de herfst. misschien omdat ik in de herfst ben geboren. veel mensen raken down als de blaadjes vallen. ik niet. ik vind de herfst gezellig. mooie warme kleuren: oranje (mijn favoriet), rood, goudgeel, rood, paars, roze. de zon heeft een prachtige warme gloed. de bladeren aan de bomen zijn werkelijk schitterend en veel struiken krijgen bessen. een van mijn favorieten is het lampionplantje, of het toverlantaarntje. zo beeldschoon. toevallig ook oranje. elk najaar val ik er weer voor en koop ik er een. in brussel heb ik er een in de tuin achtergelaten. wetend dat de lampionplant zich razendsnel zal verspreiden door de tuin. ik ben heel benieuwd hoe de tuin aan de rue americaine er twee jaar na dato uitziet! oranje waarschijnlijk! vorig jaar ook weer een plantje gekocht, dat het bij gebrek aan een tuin toch niet langer dan een paar maanden uithield. en ook dit jaar weer riep het allerlaatste plantje bij de bloemist in de stad "neem me mee" . dus hij staat braaf in de tuin. nog in een potje, want ik ben er nog niet uit of ik hem wel echt onze tuin moet planten. net als overigens het munt-dilemma. maar in het potje gaat hij dood, dus ik zal op korte termijn er iets mee moeten. wellicht in de hele grote plastic bak die de vorige bewoners hebben achter gelaten. ik heb gelezen dat jij ook potten in de grond kunt ingraven om te voorkomen dat de woekeraars zich verspreiden. maar dat vind ik eigenlijk geen optie. ik hou van een wilde tuin. iemand nog tips?

it's life jim

but not as we know it... we zijn verhuisd! we have moved to our new place. and we love it! although moving has been the most stressful event in our lives the past 5 years, moving about 5 times in those 5 years. now we plan on staying in our little-big-house for many happy years to come. we are so happy with our little garden and it's plants and trees (although not with the snails, or the woodworms we discovered in the lod floor). and with our house with its beautiful high ornamental ceilings. it's an old house (1881) which means lots of stuff has to be done, like double glazing, the wooden floor needs to be isolated etc etc. would love to have a new kitchen too, but everything in due time. for the moments we thoroughly enjoy our new place and the neighbourhood. zeeheldenkwartier is definitely the best!

the little-big-house

on a achete une petite maison... c'est une petite maison, une rez-de-chaussee... again!  yep, finally we found a lovely house, our soon to be home... the little-big-house, our little big house. it's the most charming little house. with a lovely garden! it needs some work and we won't be able to do everything at once, but what a lovely house it is.

it is situated in one of the nicest neighbourhoods of our city, het Zeeheldenkwartier. we wanted to live there very much. we really like the easy going, multi culti atmosphere there. it reminds us a little bit of St Gilles and Chatelain in BXL. the little house is situated in a quiet street, the first time in years we will not live in a busy street with lots of traffic! :-), but around the corner are some main roads with public transport and smaller streets with lots of shops, restos, supermarkets, etc.

this are some pics of the Prins Hendrikstraat which is right around the corner of our new place. very convenient with little restaurants, lunch rooms and take aways, Turkish, Indian, Greek, Portuguese etc. one of our favourite hang-outs in the city of Den Haag is het Prins Hendrikplein, with its fountains with the turtles, the beautiful trees and the doves, which is close to our new home. in summer we love to have a drink in the sun at the terrace of Savanna and in winter to throw snowballs at each other...

nostalgie

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! 

happy new year!!!

some more xmas feeling

Since it continues to snow, I decided to put some more pictures online of our walks these past days, as well as our cozy home and our efforts to set up the xmas tree.

Our balcony: always making sure the birds get enough food!

Freezing, but having fun!

Serious business, this xmas thing..

Still having fun!

One of the parks near our home

weekend

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?