Yeah, yippee, we have spring/summer time!

Goodafternoon everybody!

Yes. we finally have some real spring and summer time here. More summer than other, and I don;t mind it at all. Of course we will have to get used to the rather high temperatures, but oh, I will gladly do so LOL!
Temperatures wriggle between 21-30C! And I really love the days when it is around 25-27C, with just a little breeze. We will see for how long it will last, but it seems that next week we still will have lovely weather.

Last Monday  had to go to an appointment of social security benefit department.  I had the letter with invitation already twoo weeks ahead.
It said it was a "group-meeting" for people that get social benefits payment and had to do some volunteerwork. Had to fill in a large form and bring it with me.
Well, you know me, I started to worry already, before I knew what it was really about. If the city council decided I wasn;t doing my bit, they could pay less benefit as sort of punishment. And as it is already minimum, we couldn;t afford it to happen. So do you understand my concern?Of course I could explain why I didn;t do volunteerwork at the moment. With all the health issues I had in rather short time  just couldn't.
To cut it a bit short, I went there early in the morning, I was one of the first to arrive, so one of the ladies that would do the meeting called me to her. She asked my named, ticked it of the list she had, then asked me my age(she thought i was 63, so I corrected her saying I was already 64 ). And now the laughing bit comes!
She said I wasn't supposed to receive the invitation at all! Imagine my amazement!!!! Then I still explained her a bit about the health issues, also said my husband did do every week volunteerwork, still gave her the form I filled in.
So then I asked, that if i wasn;t supposed to be there, the whole thing wouldn;t effect the benefit. She said: "no, not at all".
I asked it again, to be sure(hahahah),and then asked her if  could leave then, because i wasn't supposed to be there at all. And yes, no problem.
So after 15 minutes I was outside again, and also feeling very relieved!
Now just crossing fingers that after all this, I will not get another letter after some weeks about this. You never now with government and city council departements!!

Good, that was out of the way.
Now I could really enjoy the good weather and be at times in the garden and see eveything grow and starting to blossom.
Bought myself for a really low price another Clematis. I just wanted another one for already such a long time, and now there was the opportunity to buy one for only € 3,00. I don;t know if it will blossom already this year, it's oncwe that should flower in about May-June-July.
But if not, it could settle itself well and do the trick next year. I planted it with the other Clematis I have at the climbing bow. That one is lilac of colour, but flowering in about July-August, and the new one should have large deep purple flowers.
My rose at the other side of the bow is flowering extremely well.
I should take a ohoto of it, okay, I will try to do so and post it next time I make a post.
We also have our frogs back in the tiny little pond and we also have regular visits again of some of the parakeets. So wildlife is doing allright in the garden too.
 also had to repot my tomatoes, they became too big for the pot they were in.
Now I have 4 bit pots with tomatoe plants. Hopefully they will give me some tomatoes later this year!

We slowly get to used to the new remote control and modem for the tv, ROFL!. When you first get it, it all seems so difficult and complicated and once you take it slow and try to understand it one thing at a time it suddenly is sooo much easier. So here it proves, you can get used to things very quickly. Must be honest, we didn'yet try out all the possibilities yet, but the most common ones are in control, I guess.
Is it all better than the old one? In general I guess the answer has to be  a"yes", almost all channels are send out in HD(high-definition), and according to Jan the screenpicture is sharper and better.
What is nice is that we can record 4 programs at same time if we want to. But we cannot burn it to a disc anymore, as far as we know. Perhaps we can put it on an USB stick first and then burn it to a disc via the computer?  No idea, but for now it isn't all that important. and to be honest, how often do you rewatch a  film or serie on dvd?
Not very often, at least we don;t, there isn;t just enough time for it LOL.

Well, as you can imagine I didn;t do much of designing this week, again. But I have a little kit for you, named it There's a Little Smile.
Next week I will have the clusters for you from Arlene.
The sun is calling out to me, so I think I will sit a moment in the garden, take in some vitamins by sitting in the sun( not too long otherwise it will be too hot, just perhaps 15 minutes and then the shade of the parasol will feel good.
Have a wonderful day and week.

Download    HERE

tv channel problems.

Goodafternoon everybody!

It was kind of strange week, LOL. The week before this past one, suddenly several tv channels disappeared. From some of them we still had only sound, from others nothing at all, just black.
So after a day I called the company we have cable and modem from, explained. They told me it probably was due to our modem, that was a very old one . So I had to have a new modem(I already planned to order one a long time, but it never came to it, also could cost me some money). But now I could receive on free of charge and then I could receive the whole package of channels we had a contract for.
Okay, fine, send it. The guy on the telephone was really nice, ordered all and such and I had the receiver / modem within two days. Quick!
Jan tried to connect it and install it, but had no luck(you know, there is an instruction booklet, but you always miss some instructions, it seems). So I called again explained and the lady on the phone was also very helpful, I could order an installer, free of charge, only could take a few days for an appointment. Never mind, we could do for another few days without our extra channels. At the same time she checked our contract and it seemed the first guy changed ours into one less extended. Oh boy. But..... the lady changed it back to the good one, only it could take a few days before it was connected.
Never mind that, I already was glad all was brought back to how it was,and she even gave us a reduction on the contract price for that month bcause of their fault. Nice.
Last Tuesday the installer came in the afternoon, did his job, all worked, even he put on a new connection plug somewhere and we had the new modem. But now to learn how to operate it, LOL. It has all kind of possibilities, we can record up to 4 programs at the time per day, we have replay(you can look back at programs already broadcasted, to 15 days back) and lots more things. In short, we are, till now, quite happy with it. Still learning how to use all possibilities(I believe we even have in our contract a program we can watch a lot of movies/series for free, but we didn;t try it out yet).
I made a booklet of our own, with explenation of several things how to do that, so to say our own instruction booklet.
Still adding to it, hahahaha.
But  really have to say, that I was helped very nice and frinedly at the customersservice on the phone.
lets hope now, that we can watch our tv and channels for a long time again without problems, or having to change again a modem.
So our week was pretty much occupied by this(all that calling and such and I hate to make a lot of phonecalls, really.)


We had a few really nice days with high temperatures, then a drop down from about 8-10 degrees again and now the temperatures are creeping up again, next week around 20-25C, mat be even more!. Nice. That's how  like it.

I see that at the moment the sun is shining again, so perhaps it is wise to go into the garden for a moment, look around, make a little stroll and then I will prepare dinner for this evening already. I like to do it the days an is going to his volunteer work. I usually take mine around 17.30, and Jan takes his later(he usually comes home around 19.00-19.15 and then first takes a nap till around 20.30 and then takes his dinner).
Sometimes  have the same dinner as Jan, but often I take something else(like spaghetti or other pasta, which isn;t a favourite of Jan)and make something different for Jan.
But today we will eat the same, hahaha. I've cooked some special rice, which I can frie, it is cooling down now. Has to be cool before you frie it.And  make some kind of minced meat kebabs to go with it.
That ready I only have to put it in the oven later for a moment to warm it up.
I promised you last week, if I have good memory, the clusters for the minikit April. Not a big download this time, but next week I think I have a kit for you again. And I almost finished another one, so I am not in grand speed of designing, but at least I am producing again(okay, not a lot, but as long as it goes steady and forward I am already happy).

You have a wonderful day and week, thanks for visiting, stay safe and happy and healthy!

Download   HERE

Why do I get winded up so easily ???

Goodafternoon everybody!

Weather is a bit unsteady yet, some good days with good temperatures of around 19-20C, then down again to 15-16C again and so on. Had some rain too, like yesterdays and today there will be a few showers too. That is good for all the gardens, they like a bit of rain and is necessary.
I had some "lower"days this week, had some stomach trouble and that isn;t a nice feeling. Probably part of it my own fault. I get winded up soo easily the last year or so by things that aren;t always so important or urgent. put to that some things that are more important and voilà, Kyra is all nervous and so.
I have the feeling I am walking tip-toe and as soon as something happens I have to deal with, well, okay, one thing I can handle, but if there are two or three issues, whatever they are(but specially with council, social security and that sort of thing) .....BANG..... my nerves seem to get into knots or so and it is not a good thing for me. It plays on my stomach at first and also can be no good for my epilepsie.
Together with the fact I already didn;t feel well the last few months, not depressive, but without energy and kid of low at times, hmmm, that isn;t a good thing for someone's health.
I will not get into specifics about all things, but I so long for long periods of rest and "boring life", and then I already will feel lots better, it all plays on the body(and mind too)
But  I will still have to learn to relativize (is that a good word?)things a lot more, I guess.

Good, better get on to some nicer things, what do you think?
yesterday we watched the Eurovision Songcontest. There were a few good songs, The ones from The Netherlands was more than just good, but they didn;t come further then the 11th place. song was "Light and Shadows"by O'gene, three sisters with very good voices!
But the winner was the song from Portugal and it was such a beautiful song. By far the best one. Very small song, very intimate, just beautiful. You even don;t have to understand the texte(he sung in Portugese) to imagine what it is about.
First time  heard the song  watched the singer too, second time I closed my eyes and just listened. And it seemed even more beautiful.
Here a link for the song, there is more to know about him, you just have to google a little bit.(link I posted wan;t good, I changed today, hope it is a better one)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymFVfzu-2mw

 I feel I have to take something to eat now, just a little sandwich and I will have a good-filled bowl of soup this evening.
There is just a little download for you today, a minikit for April, I will give you the clusters next time(have to make previes and upload them and so). Hope you don't mind too much.
Have a wonderful day and also week ahead and take care of yourself(and I will try to do the same, hahaha).

Download   HERE

Part two of the Steampunk kit

Goodafternoon everybody!

It is looking grey outside, perhaps later there might be a glimpse of the sun but not for sure.
Temperatures are still low for the time of year, only yesterday we had a nice day, with suddenly temps of about 17-18C. Pity it only lasted one day. But there is light at the end of the tunnel LOL.
This week still will be on the low side but by Thursday or so temperatures should go up and in the next weekend we could have around 20C!!!! WOW. If then that could last for a longer time and even creep up slowly a few degress here would be sitting a happy camper!

It was a rather qiet week, apart from a letter from social security asking some information about the tiny little pension I am receiving. I will not go into detail, but it was rather exhausting and got awefully crabby(for one letter was dated 1st of May and I should return information before 1st of May, hey!!!). But after some phonecalls also to the pensionpayer and back to social security all should be solved, and I have time till somewhere in June. Still those things aren't good for your health, those kind of letters first wind you up, give you almost a heart attack, then you have to spend lots of time on phonecalls and this all for what?
Better not talk about it anymore, I feel I get crabby again LOL!

Although the weather wasn't all too good, I did go one day to the market one day, we could do with some fruit and a bit of veggies too.
What did  I came back with?  A little pumpkin, some paprika's, grapes(they are tasting so sweet)oh, a little bit of cheese, yes, turnip cabbage (I often make them as little dice, cooked, then put in some sour cream and little dots of fried bacon).
I think I will make tomorrow a dish of diced pumpkin, sliced paprika, some mushrooms, diced potatoes and chorizo all together in the oven. Should taste good and will fill the stomach.

Then I had to make a year-control appointment with my neurologists(it's 5 minutes being there but she wants to see me once a year, okay). Bit difficult this year, they couldn;t find my neurologist on the list. To cut it short, she is doing something else so  will have a new one, who takes over her patients. Not a big deal for me, hope the new one will have my file and will not spend a long time on asking all kind of questions again and such. It is going good at the moment with my epilepsia, almost no trouble, so no need of tests or whatever I should think.

Jan is also back to his volunteerwork. He still has trouble with his back, but he insisted on going there again after being home for several weeks. Well, he just has to take it very easy there and has to be careful in his moves too. But although he is kind of tired when he comes home, he also is happy to be there again. And I think the people and staff too, because he runs the department well during dinner time(people get sandwiches in the evening, sometimes accompanied by some soup), but he knows almost by heart what everybody eats and how much and he eeven manages to let some people eat a bit more(and they often need some extra). n this work he is quite an organizer, I think.

Although I have to be still careful, I couldn;t resist doing a bit of work in the garden yesterday while it was such nice weather. As there normally isn't expected anymore nightfrost here at the coast, I planted my dahliabulbs. Some didn't live through winter, perhaps they were too old or something, but some already had some sprouts coming out, so  hope to see some lovely flowers later this year.
Oh and at the front of our house at the edge of the sidewalk, every few meters we have a tree standing. Around the base there is just some soil and sand. So I planted yesterday a few cutlings  made last year from some plants. We will see if they thrive and if they will have a long life or not. But it will be funny to follow and hopefully by next year there will be some lovely small plants flowering at the base of the small tree!

I think I rambled long enough now so it is time for the second part of the Steampunk kit and also the clusters made by Arlene.
May be next week or just a week later I will have a next minikit for you, for the month of April. And I am busy on making the one for May. Yes, slowly I am back into designing, although not fanaticly yet, hahaha. But it is a start again.
All that is left now for me to do is wishing you all a wonderful day and week ahead and thanks for coming by!

Download part 2 HERE

Download HERE

Had a bit of "misfortune"last week.

Goodafternoon everybody!

I actually planned to post yesterday already, but after reading some blogs and answering mails, I just had to quite because my back hurt.
Last week Wednesday afternoon  was all happy and sound till i had to change a bag of the bin in the kitchen. Probably made a wrong move or so and in a second a muscle said "PING" and it wasn;t pleasant.
Sometimes is goes away after some minutes but this one wanted to stay. So trouble moving and sitting, oh boy, I wasn;t happy.
And it just happened before our Kingsday (on Thursday) and we wanted to go to one or two fairs. No way with that back. D........d!
I still have trouble but every day it is going somewhat better, so i guess i just have to kind of sit it out. You should see Jan and me at the moment. Jan is recovering also from some real bad back trouble, not yet over, but already better and now I have it too. Jan has it on the left at the moment and mine is on the right, so together we have still two halves that work rather well.

Kingsday this year was a bit special, because our king became 50 years old.
He still looks fine and his wife our queen Maxima is still a beautiful women. And their 3 daughters are getting older too, of course. If you want to read a bit more of it here is a link, where you could also sea/hear an interview with our King, very openharted.
 http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2017/04/kings-day-festivities-pass-off-without-problems-kings-interview-praised/

Weather here is still a bit on and off. Igt is getting somewhat warmer, but not to be jumping of joy about it LOL.
So sometimes when there is some sun and not too much wind, it is nice to be in the garden for a moment, but that's all.
I made a few photos, there's isn;t yet all too much to take pictures of. But I have one of the little azalea I have, I just LOVE that color!
And  have a photo of the potting table Heidi gave us when she moved to her new house(she has no room for it on her balcony). And on it you can see a part of our seedlings. ou can almost see them grow now every day a bit. still for some there's still a long way to go to come to the point of blooming, as e.g. our tomatoe plants. We will see if we will have tomatoes this year, I am in some doubt, but nature always surprises you. So we'll see and wait.

Okay, it is about time I quite, because I must give my back a bit of rest and sit in another position.
I have a first part of a kit for you, it becamse a bit "heavy"so  split it in two. Next post, I hope it will be coming weekend again, you will have the rest of it.
This time it is a steampunk kit. I give you a preview of the papers and of the whole kit. Have fun with it.
You have a fantastic week, take care of yourself and your loved ones!

Download part 1 Here