Some deco .....

Yesterday i re-decorated some little corners of our home. Here you see the mantel-piece above the woodstove.... it is rather small so i cannot put so many (big) things overthere but this is ok, i think.

Especially natural things and natural materials i like to use.

While the wood-stove is burning the pine-cones can dry untill they are ready to be used. I would like to make a big wreath out of them ....

As you can see, i love pine-cones; these are from our own garden.
Some corners in the livingroom...
On our old desk i placed a wreath made of heather...
More cones in the hallway :)
And in a vase in front of the window together with chest-nuts.
Also rosehips are favourite in this time of year... very simple but beautiful.

Till next time,

Janneke.

Happy weekend .....

Last week my brother's wife gave birth to a beautiful little baby-girl !! We were soooo happy; everything went well and the baby is in good health...they gave her the name Jie-lin which in taiwanees means she is the second child in their family.

Ofcourse we visited them again this weekend ..... it is such a joy to have a little baby in the family !!!

And ofcourse everyone wants to hold her .......she's so easy ; just sleeping and drinking :)

After we came back from our visit, the weather became really autumnal .... rain and storm... so we made it warm and cosy at home !

Really enjoyed it, sitting by the fire doing some crocheting and watching the skating on tv.

I am planning to make a shawl ....

Mara also has a nice warm spot on her blanket on the windowsill.

And Rosa slept all afternoon in my knitting-basket :)

Hope you also had a lovely weekend and wishing you all a great new week.

Till next time,

Janneke.

Autumn-welcome ......

For me, autumn is a favourite time of year ! I like the changing colours in nature and the special smell in the air.
A warm welcome at the backdoor.... i used one my of handmade blackboards and some rosehips and in the evening we light the candle.

This autum holiday my niece stayed with us and she always likes to give us a hand with al kind of little jobs ..... so together we planted bulbs in our side-garden. A real autumn-job.

She and my daughter planted tulips, daffodils and white grape hyacinths.

Looking for pine-cones is also fun.....

Filling my little garden vases with autumn bouquets makes one happy ....

Searching for beautiful toadstool in the orchard and taking pictures is fun ......

Picking apples (Bramley Seedling) especially for making apple-sauce ..... yummie.

An autumn wreath hanging at the back door .... made of oaktree leaves and hydrangea.

Yes i really enjoy AUTUMN!!
Hope you do as well ....

Till next time,

Janneke.

An autumn-sunday .....

Yesterday i had my autumn-sale at home. The day before i had turned the hallway, the kitchen and the livingroom into a little shop :) I used all corners to put my handmade decorations for display. I love autumn because you have so many things you can use for decorating; rosehips, dried fruits, chestnuts etc.

I also made nice soapboxes and blackboard-labels.

The diningtable full with deco....we also sold picture-postcards with autumnal pictures.

Even my "autumn-tea-set" was used to make a nice decorative table.

Oaktree branches and berries from the garden made a nice bouquet.

First time i did make some bunting. I hang it there for display but i will keep it because i like the look of it :)

On an autumn-day the stove had to burn ofcourse.......

For lighting a fireplace or stove i made these pine-cone firelighters. I packed them in selfmade brown bags which looked really nice. They really work well, but are also nice for decorating.

I like things made of natural materials......

Wreaths are also very nice to make; i made about 5 different types and this is the one with dried fruit and herbs.

Visitors were welcomed with autumn-tea and home-made cookies with nuts,cinnamon and honey and so it all came together very well.

Lots of the things have found a new home :) but if you spotted something you really liked, let me know ..... maybe there is still one left !

Till next time,

Janneke.

Autumn-sale and Vlieland .....

Last month i have been working on a stock of autumn-decorations for my "at-home-sale" on the 11th of october. Coming sunday i will turn my house into a little shop :) and all the guests will be welcomed with autumn-tea or hot chocolate and home baked autumn-cookies.

I am really looking forward to it !!

Despite being busy we also went away for a weekend with a couple of friends. This time we went to the isle of Vlieland, situated in the Waddensea north of the Netherlands.

This is the harbour of Harlingen from where the ferry left for Vlieland.

These buildings are also in Harlingen.

The isle of Vlieland is a very "green" island; you find a lot of woods there.

As you can see Vlieland is a beautiful island; perfect for walking, cycling, drinking coffee in cosy restaurants, a little shopping and going out for a meal !!

Well i am off now, preparing more things for next weekend :))

I will take a lot of pictures when everything is ready so you can see what i have been up to !

Till next time,

Janneke.

Haarlem and the sea.....

Beginning of the month we ( my husband, our daughter and i) went away for the weekend to visit our friend M. in Haarlem. A fantastic beautiful city with lots of historical buildings. M. had organised something special for us: a tour by boat through the canals of Haarlem...so that is not only possible in Amsterdam :) We had a great time with a captain who told us lot of interesting stories and he did it in a very funny way !

After the boat-tour we went for a walk through the city-center, stroll through these narrow streets, did a little shopping: we always go to my favourite shop: Dille & Kamille.

Haarlem has so much history ....

This cat was really enjoying the september-sun in his box on the window-sil.

On sunday we went to Zandvoort on the coast with the North-sea.... had a fantastic walk along the beach in lovely weather.... and later on a nice coffee on a terrace on the beach.

And ofcourse always looking for nice shells and other things .....

We always come home with a treasure .... and i found a nice place for this one. I must say we often come home with treasures (at least for us they are) found in nature. So i made a little display in the hallway, taking all our finds out of the cupboard and show them on an old dish.

Till next time,
Janneke.

Little in- and outside jobs .....

Now the holiday is over and everything is getting back to "normal" i started doing little jobs in the house that i had not been doing for a while !!! I cleared out and cleaned my kitchen-cupboard which is also filled with my "collection" of silver-ware and my collection of favourite china.

Well, polishing the silver was really worth doing ...... everything lookes so much better :)

I also washed all the cups, plates etc. Look how shiny they are :))

And i thought i could use some items from the cupboard for some decoration in the livingroom.

Using an embroidered table-cloth ( my father bought it once when he was in India) in the right colours ....

Looks pretty, i think.

Also outside, there are all kind of little jobs to do......picking hydrangea and hanging them in the shed to let them dry.

It's still august but it feels a bit like harvest-time already .... getting the onions from the vegetable-garden en hanging them outside to dry.

Still making jam... last strawberries were used and i made black-berrie jam.

Collecting apples from under the trees in the orchard.

And still picking flowers from the garden... these sweet-peas go on and on flowering all the time... This little bouquet is for you all; wish you could also smell the fragrance :))

Till next time,

Janneke.