Some tropical days here.

Goodafternoon everybody!

We had some really warm days here. Temperatures were around 30-32C, further on in the country even toward 34C!
That was a little bit too much of the good. Today already temperatures are dropping to I think 27C, which is much better. during next week it will even drop more, we may only reach 21 to hopefully 23C. I think for me the best is around 25, witch not much wind and if possible from the south. But we never get the perfect, is it LOL????
Nevertheless we shouldn;t complain too much, we waited long enough to have good weather, so now it is here, we should be happy(well, if we could have some steadiness in it of around 23-25 C our body could better adapt itself, but we almost always seem to have a kind of rollercoaster weather).

I just hope summertime will last for really long if possible far into October, that will do us good and it will be good for the finance according to gasbill.
Already gas will be more expensive, due to new climat plans of the government. I know we all have to do something to keep the planet healthy but sometimes I think governments exagerate. And it should be a working together plan of all world and not just of a few countries. That just doesn;t work, I think.
No, don;t worry I will not ramble more about climat and all that should or could be done, because that is almost an endless discussion and very difficult too!

Oh, Jan and I watched some great football matches and guess what??? Our team reached the semi finals!!! They played their fist few matches not all too well, but yesterday they had to play against Italy, and the first half of the match it wasn;t yet great, but in the second half they played so much better and scored two goals. I am rather proud of our women team. Now we will have to see how they will do against Sweden. I think they make a good chance, but you never know for sure in football.
And if they should win against Sweden, they will have to play either against Great Britain(good team!) or...... the U.S.A. team(also good team)!
Match against Sweden will be on Tuesday, so we wil be watching, biting our nails, crossing our fingers etc. hahahha.

Last Friday I suddenly got a boost of energy, I don;t know from where it came, but it was there and I took advantage of it. I first did some shopping(just a few things, so I wasn;t tired from it), then I washed the curtains of the front and Jan washed the windows inside. Then Jan went for a little ride at his bike and I vacuum-cleaned the house, then mopped the wooden floor of the living room and also the kitchen floor, and then I though it was enough. Oh no, also did a little bit of work in the garden, some dead heading and even a tiny bit of pruning and then it was time to sit down!

Yesterday afternoon our girl team played their match, I pitied them and all players on the field, because it was so hot there in France, they had temperatures of around 35C, and that isn;t really pleasant when you have to perform a physical effort of that kind. So they did have some extra pauses during the match of a couple of minutes to have a drink and cool of a bit.

Coming week on Friday jan has to go to hospital for a research, it will be in another hospital then his usual, this one is on a 25minutes tram drive.
Not bad, only the nasty thing is that the appointment is very early in the morning, at 8.35, So he will have to wake up rather early poor thing.
He will have a CT scan of his coronary arteries. This they should have done before he had the appointment with the cardiologist, but okay, better now than never. I wonder when he will have an appointment to hear the result. Hopefully it will not take 2 or 3 months! It seems it all has to do with the reseach on the fluid he has from time to time in his legs and feet.
It all takes a lot of time, not that bad as long as there will be a result and solution, if it is all for nothing, it just takes time and such.
Still we should be happy that we have that medical care and they do their best.

Good, I didn;t do any designing of scrapkits, it may take some more time before I start again, although you never know with me, do you?
But I have a lovely download for you, some clusters Arlene made with the last kit and I just love the quickpage she made!
Oops, I looked outside and it seems the weather is changing already a bit. No sunshine at the moment and temperature is dropping slowly. Still it is not bad weather, it only is the sudden change we get.
Well, I think I will make myself a cup of tea, hope that the sun will come back and I can drink my tea in the garden, perhaps watching the parakeets eating their applepieces. I already hear them screaming from a large tree in a neighbours garden. They always let me know they are near, ROFL.

Have a wonderful week and stay safe!

Download    HERE

Beautiful ships in lovely weather.

Goodafternoonj everybody!

We have here some lovely weather and it will be even much better the next few days. Could be even very warm, but....... I will not complain.
It finally will feel like summer, and that was kind of we were waiting for.

We spent quite some time watching tv, more specific the football and it will get very exciting. Our team will play next Tuesday and if they manage to beat Japan they will be in the quarter finales. Who knows what can happen then????

Oh, I am so happy I finally made an appointment for the hairdresser! There was no model what so ever in the hair, and I have now really short cut! But for summertime it is easy and practical and not so warm.
Then Jan had an appointment with the cardiologist. Hmmmmm, he wonders( and I do to) why in fact he had to come. The fluid in his legs doesnt; seem to be caused by his heart, that seems to work fine enough. May be there is something like too much tissue around the heart, she wants to make an echo to see if that's so. I wonder now why she hadn;t let done the echo before the appointment, then she would have known perhaps more. This appointment seems a bit useless to me, but who am I????
Now he has to wait again for that appointment, could take some time, seems to be very busy.
Now Monday he has check up appointment with the internis, his usual doctor.
I think, it will be quite allright.

Yes, Monday afternoon I went to my friend Heidi and daughter Séverine to bring the little present for the graduation. I bought her a voucher of a certain amount to spend on a book. I am very glad to say Séverine is still rather old fashioned when it comes to reading, She likes to have a real paper book in her hands. great girl LOL!

And yesterday we went to Scheveningen to see some of the tallships that arrived there from the race from France to Scheveningen.(That is only part of the race, they will make another one next week. Read all about it on the next link if you are interested)
https://sailtraininginternational.org/blog/ltr-2019-hague-arrival/
On the site are several links I believe to all the ships that participate and more.


 We had fine weather, so we went with the tram to the harbour and walked along the ships. We also visited one( we only could visit the deck, the quarters below deck were closed), but it still was very interesting and I got even to talk for a few minutes with some of the crew.
The ship we visited was an American one(Hey Edna, you should be pleased, LOL), named the Eagle, I have several photos of it and a link to read more about the ship because it has quite a history.
https://www.uscga.edu/eagle/

First 3 are of the masts, difficult to get it on a picture, masts are about 50 mtr. high!

 Here above is the steering wheel whey use all the time, has to be oprated with 6 crew memebers. And below you see the original, historic steering wheel, and a nice member of the crew.

And I have made some other pictures of some other ships.

Above small overview of some of the ships.

Replica of Spanish ship El Galeon
https://www.armada.org/en/ships/el-galeon/

Last three are of one of the Russian ships, it's a replica too from a very old frigate, The Shtandart

We did see a couple more, but I think you have a nice collection here.
It all takes some time to take a good look at and read some of the history so we even didn't manage to go along all ships harboured!
And we could have gone today again, but the walking was a litle bit too much for Jan, so we better have a nice quiet day home, in the garden, under the parasol(otherwise it is too hot in the sun).

No, I haven't a download for you today, and I don;t knw when there will be another one I don't like to make promises that I cannot keep, so just let's see what happens this week. I am not in the very creative mood at the moment, perhaps it has to do with some nice weather, I like to take advantage from it as much as I can, being outside in the garden or somewhere else. it is nice, to be able to go out, without having to put on a thick coat, and doing shopping or whatever in the rain!
So I wish you all a lovely week ahead, with also some nice weather and some moments that bring a smile to your face.
Till next week.

Rain, sunshine and football LOL

Goodafternoon everybody!

I am terrible late today, but I first had to some things and already had a later start because i slept a bit longer.
This week the weather hasnlt been very bad, but could have been better, of course.
There was quite some rain, in fact on Wednesday it kind of poured out of the sky, then the day after there were some small showers and from already Friday on there was better weather. Not very warm yet, but dry and more sunshine and already today it is nice weather and it will be much better next week, with temperatures that will reach 25C, yuppeeeeeeee!!!

It was a week fillled with things I cannot remember very well, so it wasn;t too important, hahaha. We did see a lot of football, and I am happy to say that our team is into the next round, although they will have to play one more match.
To be honest I must say that they didn;t play all too well, they will have to do better in the next round if they want to srvive and go to the quater finales.
Well, we will see that next week, So far, so good.

Oh, Heidi's daughter Séverine graduated from school and will now go to a study for logopedist. Naturally Heidi was very proud of her and she should, because Séverine had a very good list, average around 7,5 even 8( I think in other countries that would be kind of B and some C).
I will try to go to Heidi tomorrow(if she feels well enough) and give a little present to her daughter. Cannot say what it is, in case somebody reads the blog, you never know, hahha.

I've made some photos of the garden, which is getting rather full with blooms.

 Here it is near the place we sit, you can see a million bell Petunia(red with a bit yellow) and in the middle of the pot comes a Dahlia.) And the clmbing rose is blooming with great enthusiasm.

This is opposite of the wall on the above photo, and you see at the back most of the tomatoe plants. They have little flowers now so I hope it will be tomatoes later.

Here you see a little rose bush, flowering well, but I am rather proud of it because it is a cutting I made from an older one and it did well.

This i took from about the middle of the garden direction our patio and you see the rose bow with our rose and in between you see some Lillies(I belive they call them Inca lillies), I got them from Heidi's garden and they do amazing this year. Made a close up of one of them beneath.

Here the close up(hey Edna, you should like them because they are orange LOL)

 From middle of the garden to back, in front a very pretty rose, more to the back the pruple flowers are Pelargoniums(or often called Geranium), left over from last year, probably because we had a very mild winter. In the back you see our white Hortensia)

This also is a cutting from a real Geranium, I even didn;t remember I had it, but this is the first year it flowers and aren't they pretty flowers?

Good news for you. I had to work on it still this early afternoon but I finished it and have a new kit for you. May be you will have to do with it also next week, because I don;t think I will have enough time to get another one done.
That a bit due to watching the football, but also there are sometimes things that need attention first, before we can play around. (Boring things mostly, like household things or making phonecalls to find out something etc).
And if all goes well Jan and I want to go to Scheveningen next weekend (probably Saturday), to see some lovely ships that come here next week only.
I have two links for you so that you can see for yourself what is is all about.
and of course I will take my little camera with me, to try to take some great pictures. May be, if it isn't too crowded we even might visit a ship.
https://sailopscheveningen.nl/?lang=en
https://sailtraininginternational.org/event/liberty-tall-ships-regatta-2019/

Good, I think I deserved now a little moment for me, in the garden with a cup of tea and in about hald an hour I will start preparing for dinner( like to prepare things in advance, at an easy pace).
Here is the new kit, named it Touch of a Memory. Hope you like it.
Have a wonderful week, stay safe!

Download   HERE

A day to cherrish a memory

Goodafternoon everybody!

We had quite some different weather this week, some days rather nice, with some clouds, also sunshine and patches of rain, Friday night to Saturday we had stormy weather which lasted all Saturday through, although a bit less fierce than at night. But no harm was done to trees or flowers in our garden(in other parts of the country there was lot of damage by fallen trees).
Today the wind went away, only a little breeze is left and we have lots of sushine and temperatures between 18-21C, not bad.
All the rain that we had was enjoyed by all growing in our garden, all the plants were dancing of joy LOL.
Coming week we will have temperatures between 18-23C, some rainy moments too, but all together not really bad.

Today is a day that I think back of my mother, because it is her birthday. Gosh, it already is 27 years ago that she passed away! But at times I still miss her, and  looking at her photo at the moment I have a little tear in my eye. Goodness, I am getting soggy, sorry for that. But I had wonderful parents, of course they had their faults, they were only human, but they gave me a wonderful youth, full of love and a good start for life and we had fantastic times together. I'll never forget them and always will miss them.

Okay, on to every day life again. Jan had good news of the urologist, no stones were found anymore in his uteris  or kidney, so no need to come back.
Now he still has to go to an appointment with the heart specialist, probably to make an echo or something like it, to do with the fluid he is still retaining a bit in his feet and underleg. It isn't that bad, but may be there is a solution to let it diminish a bit.
Then he will have is usual half year check up appointment with the internist.
And hopefully then he will be ready with doctor visits for about half a year. Pfffff.

My friend Heidi is back home again from her operation. They kept her one night, just to check and keep an eye on her. But next day she could go home. I had her on the telephone and in general all was quite well with her, she only had quite some pain of her wound, but I hope that has gone now after some days of rest.
She still will have to take it easy for a week or two( at the least), let's hope the healing will go as it should, with no complications.
She also had her birthday last week, and she is just 20 years younger as I am, so therefore Jan(who has the same age as me LOL) and I call her at times our adoptive daughter, hahahaha.

Oh, I hear at the moments some parakeets making a lot of noise in the garden!
Yes they still come every day for several visits. We don't see the blackbirds anymore. I wonder where they went?
Instead we have now some sparrow coming to feed with the birdseed. I even saw a parent with a youngster that already can fly, but still needs to be fed. So sweet.

This week started the Worldchampionship Football for Women and yes, we will watch a lot of matches. Coming Tuesday will be extra exciting, because then our women team will play their first match in the tournament, opponent will be New Zealand. I hope our Dutch Lionesses will do well!

Here the selection of the team(with subsitutes etc.)

Today, just like yesterday we will have an `easy`dinner, just sadnwiches, but a kind of special ones. Yesterday I´ve made some with creamed cheese spread, on it a slice of smoked salmon and some thin slices of cucumber on it. Other one with slices of roast beef on some lettuce with slices of boiled egg, and other ones with some self made egg salad. They tasted really yummie!
But i have still so much left over that it would be a shame to throw it away)after two days some of it perhaps wouldn´t be fresh or good enough to eat), so today it is sandwiches again LOL.
And to be honest, I don;t mind because they all tasted fantastic.
We also have some strawberries with cream as dessert, so it almost like a featy meal.


I did a tiny bit of designing this week, but I do have a download for you! My wonderful creative team, named Arlene, came up with some lovely clusters made with the Springtime Summerkit. Now I think I will take a cup of tea and sit for a moment in the sun, before later this afternoon we will watch another match of football, and early evening too and at about 21.00 in the evening too! Yeah it is a bit much, but we like it, so why not?
The one in the evening by the way is something different of football, that is the fonal of the Nations League and guess who is playing it? Yeah, our manteam against Portugal. Hopefully it will be a good match, with good football and with the victory by The Netherlands, whooo!

Now I wish you all a good day and a lovely week to come, with lots of little moments of happiness.

Download  HERE

Energy low, despite the much better weather.

Goodafternoon everybody!

yes, the weather changed for the better, although it is changing again today LOL!
But... not to complain, we have had some lovely days, much sunshine , now this weekend we had high temperatures, atround 25-28C, but that will go down next week, to around 20-23C, which isn;t bad either. Perhaps we will have here and there a rainshower(which is nice, because we don;t have to water the garden ourselves).

This has been a week without any hospital visit, quite remarkable if you look at the past time. Sstill Jan has an appointment next week at the urologist, more for result of the crushing(he still feels good) so I don;t expect a lot of stressing news.
At the same day my friend Heidi has to go to hospital to have an operation to get a new infusion needle in a vain in her chest. She had a couple already, but the last one isn;t holding good. If all goes well, she can come home the same day already, but has to take lots of rest for about 3 weeks, to let the things heal and set at place.
Well, it will not be the last one, I suppose.
Nevertheless, it always is a kind of tricky thing, but let's hope for the best again.

I had a rather quiet week, I did some things in/around the house, all the usual stuff, and that was about it. I have just about the energy to do that, and then I am happy to do not all too much after it. I also have very little inspiration for designing at the moment. Perhaps I need to address more to my willpower and just start something, but most of the time that won;t work too well, I know by experience. So I am afraid I will have to disappoint you today with no download.
I did start making something but that isn't ready yet. I do hope to have that small thing ready next week.
I feel very guilty towards all of you, believe me. But it's no use to put something together as a kit just because of it and leave you with something I am not happy with looking at it.

Next week we will start watching again some football, you know Jan and I like that sport. Now at the 7th of June starts the Word Championship of Women football. We have a team playing too, I don;t know if they will come far, of course we hope for the best, but there are a few countries that have very strong teams, like France, England, Germany, Japan. So it will be a hard battle.

Our birdies are still at times around(the youngsters, I mean). One evening last week I saw both of them takking a bath in the tiny little pool we have, LOL.
Good to see, the cats in the neighbourhood didn;t managed to catch them!

Okay, this is about all I can tell you for now. Please forgive me for not having something to download. In the evenings I don;t spend time at the computer and daytimes are filled with other things and with the nice weather I think it is good to be a bit more outside(in the garden). Hmmmm, still I should continue on the designing, it is nice to do, so I must find some more energy and inspiration for it soon.

Soon we will have to start thinking about Jan;s dental, and then also about the new oven and that stuff in the kitchen. Thinking about it already makes me feel a bit exhausted, LOL! No, it has to be done and i will be happy when it will be done.

So this was about the last thing that came into my mind for now.
I wish you all a lovely week, hopefully with good weather, I heard and saw about some of the flooding in the US, not nice if it happens to you, it is a disaster and takes a long time to recover from it!

Take care and try to be happy about little nice things that sometimes also happen, okay?