Have to do a quick posting today

Goodmorning everybody!

It will have to be a short post this morning, I will have to leave soon to be at time at a doctor's appointment, don;t worry it is just the annual control for my COPD, so it will take more time to get at the hospital and wait to have the chat than the actual time I will spend with the doctor LOL.

Let's see, what did i do the last couple of days? Oh yes, Monday I the sheet chaning on the bed. Did a little bit of re planting in the garden. We have had some rain(it is raining now again), but we arestill a bit lucky, there are moments that the sun is coming through. Now we only need the temperatures go up again. Yesterday I did a bit of food shopping, and also did a laundry, etc.
On Monday I also shortened Jan;s other new pair of trousers, once started it is done rather quick, but I am not a great fanatic in sewing, glad that it's done LOL.

The mess at the street I talked about some time ago has started today. They started to remove the tiles of the sidewalk, so I gues the digging will start soon.
It's for replacement of the sewer pipes, sigh! First we had the gas pipes, now this one again.
But we will survive it, I guess.

If it will become a little bit drier later today, I want to go to the market. We could do with some fresh veggies and some fruit too. And there is a lot of difference in price between them buying them in the supermarket or at the market. It's a lot cheaper at the market!

Have to finish now, have to get ready to leave soon.
Today I have another Nutshell kit for you, named "Bella Notte" (beautiful night), all in blues.With a marvellous quickpage and also a clusters from Arlene.
Have a fantastic day!

Download    HERE

Download    HERE

Spring has left a bit.

Goodmorning everybody!

We were looking forward to a bit of sunny weekend, with some nice temperatures, so we could catch some sunbeams in the garden. Well, that wasn;t the case. Temperatures have dropped considerately, there is a too strong wind, and we have had some rainshowers, so not too bright all together.
still there are moments with a bit of sunshine and on Saturday there was such a moment, so we decided to take a bit of fresh air.
On flyers there was announced to be a Antique/Curiosa and bookmarket close to our street, so we thought that might be nice to look around  a bit, you never know what you can find.
But when we got at the street where all this should take place all we saw was just an empty street!!!
It was rather a disappointment, and we encountered more people who came to see this market and were disappointed too! Perhaps it was cancelled due to the weather, or perhaps they didn;t have enough stands, I don;t know, but it sure would have been nice to let the public know.
so we just made a little walk, bought our weekend edition of the newspaper and went home again.
This was about all activity that we had for the whole weekend LOL!

It was no garden weather, so I did a few little jobs in the house, and then I spent a lot of time at the computer. Jan had his new crossword and the newspaper, then some sports to watch on tv, so we had enough to do to pass the time.
Nevertheless I did make a quick round in the garden on a dry and bit of sunny moment, we have to keep an eye on all theseedlings and other plants that start to blossom or are developping buds.
Some seedlings really seem to start growing, and the climbin rose is making lots of buds, so in June I hope to have a lots of roses flourishing.

Today I have a fantasy kit for you. It's been a long time ago that I made one, and may be it's a nice one to make some layouts with little children? It has some gnomes, and fairies and such in it, and Arlene made some sweet clusters for you.
It's named "The Legend Lives On", and we should keep our fantasy alive, because at times we just are for a moment a child again. At least, I have those moments and I have no problem admitting that LOL.
Have a great day.

Download    HERE

Download    HERE

Unbelievable those wonders of nature

Goodmorning everybody!

we still have rather good weather hear, although temperature has dropped again a bit. The most annoying about it all is that the wind is a bit strong. The other day we had some rain, I could hear all the plants and seedlings sing from happiness LOL!
Yesterday we watched a couple of nature programs on tv, and you know, it doesn;t matter how often you see them, nature still keeps amazing us.
One program was about all different clouds that appear in the sky, and I must say, I never knew there were so much shapes and sorts of them.
I found you a link where you can see about 30 different kinds of clouds and with a short description of it. Really beautiful pictures!
http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/featured/33-creepiest-clouds-on-earth/1515

Then we saw some program about spiders, how they are so differnet, and how they make such diffenerent kind of spiderwebs, to catch some food.
Oh my, it were real micro clos ups, amazing!
I believe this last one was in the BBC, with comment from Sir David Attenborough, the best of all!
He now has already 87 years of age, and it is amazing how he comments all the different documentairies with a ever going on enthousiasm and knowledge, I like the tone of his voice and he will be missed extremely, once he will pass away.
Found you one of the many documentairies on line, and if you can spare some time during this weekend, take the trouble to watch it. You will see and hear extra-ordinairy things, and then you realize that we should be more careful and also thankful for all that nature still has to offer and how important all the different species of life are. One cannot do without another.
http://documentaryheaven.com/david-attenboroughs-madagascar/

So, this was the "educational part" of the blog post LOL!
Not too much happened the last couple of days here,we took the days on "low-profile"LOL, meaning we didn;t do too much, most of it was a bit of garnening, what else??
Some weed pulling was done, and a few plants got a different spot, and some of our seedlings seem to start growing, they are still very small, but there is a start.

You might have noticed I changed my blog layout again. All with spring/summer in mind, I thought a bright looking one would be appropreate. It's made with a Nutshell kit, not posted yet, because it is nr.12 I think, in the serie. Wow, you will have to wait a bit on that to be posted.
But do not fear I have another one for you today, also  Nutshell, named "Eleganza". I really like how this one turned out. And Arlene has done some marvels with it, one fantastic page border and a quickpage for you!

So ladies, that's all for today.
I will have to do a bit of house stuff today, may be the sun will come out later today, and then it might be nice to be around in the garden, despite of the wind that blows to hard.
Have a marvellous weekend!

Download    HERE

Download     HERE

We cannot complain about the weather!

Goodmorning everybody!

Oh yes, we definately had some great days. All day long we hd the garden doors opened, we even had to put up the parasol because it was too warm in the sun!
Had to buy another bag of soil yesterday, some plants needed a re-potting and oh yes, I think they are all happy again with a bigger pot and fresh soil LOL!
You know, it is hard to sit quiet in the chair when in the garden? I managed to do so for a while, as long as I am reading some garden magazines, but when not, the eyes go over and over again through the garden and you ALWAYS see something that needs attention.
Perhaps some dead flowers need to be removed, or a little re-arrangement is necessary, or you see some weeds that have to be pulled out, etc.etc.! A gardeners life isn;t always easy hahahaha!

Nothing much happened actually, we just treid to enjoy the weather, and try to hypnotise the seedlings to grow faster ROFL.
Soon we will have an explosion of color when the azalea will open it's butts. When it does, I should take a picture of it.
I do spent a bit less time at the computer these days, due to the weather, so there is a bit less procductivity when talking about designing. But no, I am not complaining, there still are coming news kits out of my hands, and that's enough for the moment.
We did wait already a looong time to have better weather, and now it is there to enjoy.

I will have to do somes ewing today, at the new trousers of Jan. And it should be done quikcly, so he will be able to wear them and feel more comfortable again, with trousers that don't slip down slowly!
We both are a little bit concerned about his weight loss lately. At first he did have to loose some, mostly because of the water-retaining, but that works real well again, only thing is, he is loosing a bit too much weight. And I cannot say he eats less than before, so from where that comes we don;t know.
From the last tests he had no strange things came out of it, blood was okay, echo of his belly was okay, so also his doctor has no idea at the moment. Well, in one or two weeks he will have new tests done, let's see if his doctor comes up with a solution. At the moment he stays steady more or less on the weight, but he should have some more kilo's on his bones!
Also in a couple of weeks he will have to phone the health security doctor again, to infrom him if he will be able to go to work again I fear, that won;t yet be the case, but he has to do the call and probably a visit too in due time, to secure we will still receive the health security insurance money every month. And it might be they will do reseach on him too, to see if he will be able to work for a certain percentage, if so we will be put in another kind of insurance, and he probably will have to look for another kind of work, or may be the same but for less hours. And then government will pay the diffenrence between his salary and the minimum income level, if he earns less. But the problem will mostly be, fidnging another job. He certainly isn;t able to do any work yet at the moment, he also is still having trouble with his back, it differes a bit from day to day, but not well yet.
We will see what happens when the time comes, although I must say the health insruance doctor is very accommodating towards Jan, I think he is convinced Jan isnlt taking it lightly, and he knows that he is under treatment and control in the hospital too.

Okay, we will take it how it comes, deal with everything that is needed day by day. No use in worrying before it might be needed, isn;t it?
I have a nice kit for you today, at least, I think it is LOL!
It's named "Always Near To Me", should be a very versatile one. And oh my, look at the add-on from Arlene!!! She has made you two pretty quickpages with it and a luster. Enough material to make some memories.
Going to enjoy aother nice day, I hope, it's still a bit cloudy and fresh at the moment, but it should clear up later today. Oh I can see some sunshine already. so time for my daily walk through the garden, it's only about just 90 m2, but you can take your time for the control walk, yes every little things has to be inspected closely ROFL!
Have a wonderful day!

Download    HERE

Download     HERE

Lovely weekend

Goodmorning everybody!

It finally is looking and feeling like spring here. We had some great days, and spent some time of it just in the garden.
But not on Saturday. Jan needed a couple of new trouwers, as he had lost weight the older ones are slipping of his bottom LOL. So Saturday we went to city centre to look for some new ones. And we found it, in the first shop we went into. How marvellous.
He bought two of them, and they were even for a real nice price too!
After we had those, we just went into a couple of other shops, something perhaps like |Wallmart, and oh good heavens, they had some nice seed packets, just for € 0,79 a piece.
Couldn;t let them go, so we bought one with six flower species and one with six herb species.
And yesterday we put them into pots, now we will have to be patient and see if anythinggrows from it.
Also re-arranged some of the pots, cause several plants needed fresh soil or more rom.
It was beautiful weather for it, so we really enjoyed being outside. And we weren;t busy all the time, no, also did spent some time sitting in the sun, reading a paper or garden magazine.

That was about all we did this weekend. Yesterday evening we watched, among other things, a special concert, attended by the new king and queen, because it was our Liberation day we celebrate each year(Livbration of the WW II), and there were some great performances.
On the 4th of May we have the Remembrance Day for all the victims f that war, but in the last couple of years included too all the victims, being soldiers or civilians of all the wars after WW II.
I think it is a good thing to remember what happened, ( in fact in a lot of parts in the world it still is), and honor the ones who fought for freedom, freedom we do have, but lots of others still don;t/

I think I will go to the market, just for a short time, we do need some cheese and perhaps some veggies or fruit. On the way to it I also can drop off a bill at the bank that has to be payed. But I will have to be strong when I walk at the market, cause they have a couple of stands there with so many nice garden plants!!!! Yet, I might see one for a real nice price, that just will fit in one pot we have, or just will fit in a little open space we still have LOL!

Before posting the freebie, I just have to give you the link to Linda's blog, she recently posted some beautiful quickpages again.
And wat better kit is there, than a Nutshell kit, named Primavera (Spring) ???
All in a green color scheme, and with two clusters from Arlene.
Now I will take a coffee and then hop under the shower and then go to the market, not too late, so I can do some "sun catching"in the garden later today.
Have a wonderful day.

Download    HERE

Download     HERE

First pics of the garden

Goodmorning everybody!

I had to change the shoutbox, because I notice it didn;t show new postings. I did several ones, but nope, nothing!
So I found another one, hopefully this one will work.

We still have nice weather here, and it looks as if today will be really nice, then tomorrow it's said to rain a little bit(good for the gardens!) and then beginning next week temps are creeping up again. Oh, I can;t wait LOL!
I have some a bit miserable photos of the garden. But I wanted to show you how "clean"it looks at the moment, rather empty too, but we are working on that aspect.



On this 1st one You can see the left part of it and look at left. Last year we had there a little rock garden, with the tiny little pond for the frogs and toads. Jan cleaned that area and the kind of rock garden moved a couple of meters to the back, placed just behind the Buddha statue and pond you might see.

Here a view on the back of the garden. Jan did a LOT of pruning and digging there, and it gives a lot of space. Good for the bushes we have there, they have some "air" to grow a bit, but we will keep a good eye on them and prune them down when necessary.

And here a close up from a couple of the new plants we planted last week, standing at the left. It surely gives some happy color in it. Now we are waiting for some seedlings to grow and hopefully after several weeks I can  show you a picture of them. If only half of them will do their best and flower, we will be happy. Jan is "watching them out of the soil", he makes a little tour every day in the garden, and if he has spotted a seedling coming up he tells the big news to me LOL!

If today it is staying nice weather I think we will spend some time in the garden, nice and quiet in the sun, probably Jan with his crosswords and me looking through a couple of garden magazines.

But first I should do some vacuum cleaning at the least, there has to be created some space for new dust binnies, grin grin!

Not much more to tell, so let's go to the freebie for today. A soft colored kit, named It's a Dream.
And look at the things that Arlene made you. two clusters, and a beautiful quickpage as well!
Time to get another coffee, then get dressed, do something in the house and then hopefully some quiet time in the garden.
Have a wonderful weekend!

Download     HERE

Download    HERE

Long live the King!!!!

Goodmorning everybody!

It was a wonderful day yesterday, we did spent time at the television, but also went out for a moment.
It was impressive to watch the inauguration of our King. Some moments were kind of emotional, I dare say.
And what to say about our queen Maxima? Wasn;t she looking fantastic?????

 

And here you have the first official photo of the new royal couple:

I gathered a few linkgs for you if you might want to see some pictures and or video's of the day.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22353398

http://globalnews.ca/news/522074/gallery-inauguration-of-dutch-king-willem-alexander/

http://royalcorrespondent.com/2013/04/30/highlights-from-the-inauguration-of-his-majesty-king-willem-alexander-of-the-netherlands-videos/

Specially the last link has lots and lots of photos of the whole day.
I think the royal couple and their family too, were exhausted at the end of this looong day.

Although our king has no real governmental power, they represent our country all over the world and can do a lot of good for the business relations and such and the monarchie is a kind of steady factor in our country and I am proud of them.

Do you belive I had sometimes tears in my eyes, e.g. at the signing of the abdication of our former queen Beatrix, and the inauguration of our new king, when he had his speech with some wonderful passages specially for his mother? Sounds perhaps a bit funny, but that are very emotional moments for the family. Perhaps I have too much empathy, well, that's me LOL.

We took some of the broadcasting on dvd, so we could watch it in peace later, and we went out to visit a couple of fairs and free markets in the town centre. We even came home with a couple of plants for the garden. It's about time I take a few photos of it, to let you see what barren garden we have at the moment, but also of some of the new plants we planted to bring already some color into it.
May be today will be a good day to do so, weather is still improving(not to mention how lucky the royal couple was yesterday, because at least it stayed dry and they even had sunshine, although temperature was rather low), as they say it could reach around 60 F. Pity we still have a cold wind, blowing from the NE, I hope that will change soon towards another direction, because that will bring us more agreable temperatures.

Okay, enough rambling done for today, time to share some scrapbooking stuff. I have a photoalbum of 8 pages for you, with a front and back cover, made this one from scratch, not with an already made kit. And from Arlene I have two fantastic quickpages for you, she made with a combination of several kits. I hope you will be able to use all of this, on Friday there will be another kit for you.
Have a great day.

Download     HERE

Download    HERE