Oooops, I did it again...

I had been so good for at least a month, and really thought that I had conquered my addiction... However, look what happened over the last two days:

Not only did I buy those, but as I was at it anyway, I thought I might as well get these
in for a penny, in for a pound. I have never been a girl that did things by halves.
As I was feeling slightly under the weather, I decided that it was time to treat myself to these. I used to buy almost every magazine around, because there always is the idea that there is something in each edition that you do not know about or that you need. And... I am always right about that. They are a real source of inspiration to me ( well, that is how I justify spending oodles of money on them) and I will stick to that story. Anyway, I had loads of fun flicking through them yesterday and will read them properly over the next week or so. See, lots of value for money.
I was particularly excited about the Romantic home magazine as I had not seen that before. It reminded me of the Victoria magazine that I can very occasionally get here, I adore that one. The last issue I got my hands on is September/October 2008. It is really hard to come by here, the ABC store in Amsterdam used to stock it, but I can not find it anymore there, which is a real shame.

I am brimming with new ideas about things I want to make. At the moment I am very into cross stitching, which I love doing, but which takes a lot of time. I really have to start some sewing projects again as well, I want to build some stock for a craft fair.
For the moment I have abandoned my Christmas stitching for a spring one:
I am making this for a dear old friend of my mother's. They were at school together at Southern Seminar in Virginia, many moons ago. She lives in Little Rock, Arkansas, and came to stay with us for a fortnight last year. We all had a lot of fun! She loves tulips, and as it is her birthday in April, I thought I would stitch her this. (Look: I have finally figured out how to post bigger photographs than I did before, can you tell I am pleased?) I also came across this idea:I will adapt this and make it into a Spring garland instead of Noel. There is a complete alphabet included in the chart, so you can adapt it anyway you like. I thought I would make the hearts into scented sachets and add that to the care package I will send Nancy for her birthday.

This morning I got a little boost as I opened my e-mail account. An old friend who I worked with in Oxford contacted me again through Facebook. This really lifted my spirits, as I had lost touch with her, sadly, but had been thinking of her from time to time. Through her friend list I came across another old colleague as well who responded straightaway. This gave me the same feeling as reading the comments people place on this blog, it is just really fun to feel connected to people. Even if you do not really know one another.
I hope your day will be as much fun and as rewarding as mine was.

I intended to...

I was all set up yesterday to write another post with pictures, but I made a mistake in uploading the pictures. As it already was quite late I could not be bothered to try again, so here is my Friday the 13th post then. Does anyone actually know why a Friday 13 is so particularly bad?
To add some cheer to a particulary wet and miserable (well, weatherwise anyway) day, I wanted to show you the flowers I got from my colleagues for my birthday. Aren't they gorgeous. They are pink, and pink is for girls. My colleagues thought that this was a particular " Caroline" arrangement and I must say... I agree.
And look at these brave things that are popping their heads up in the garden, it may well be that we are in for another 4 weeks of winter, but spring is definitely on its way!

As I had to so some food shopping this afternoon, I popped into the junktique (great word) shop around the corner from where I live and bought another 2 Christmas brooches, I just think they are very pretty. The lady in the shop told me that the other day there were people from a completely other part of the country that came into her shop particularly for these pins. She sells them at a good price (at least it is the price I am prepared to pay for them) and they always make me smile, they are very twinkly. I reckon they will make a great collectors item.


Aaaah, forgot to put the picture the right way round, but maybe you will get the idea of them. The heart is something my mother gave to me, I intend to make a few more of these and will try to sell them, as they are actually really fun to display a collection of brooches or pins on.

In my next post I will try and show you some of the things I am working on, for the moment a lot of things are just in the planning stage.
Doing this post has really cheered me up, I started it after I had written two more job applications which somehow always depresses me. Thank you all for bearing with me so far and for inspiring me with all your wonderful blogs and friendly comments. This could actually really get addictive.
To finish this post I have added some photos of the food I cooked yesterday, cooking always makes me happy as I feel I can be quite creative with it. The soup was some spruced up left-over Brussels sprouts soup I made last week. I put the left-overs in the freezer, where would I be without it? The stock I used was turkey stock, which I made from the carcass of the Christmas turkey. I got about 8 litres of that ( again, long live the freezer), I really get a buzz about doing stuff like that.
The salad was a recipe out of Good food's February issue. However, as I have been practically incapable to follow instructions since... oh, probably since birth, I spruced it up. I did not have spinach as was required in the recipe. As the carrots had to be roasted in the oven, I though therefore I could as well roast a few different kinds of vegetable with them, so I added some celery stalks ( they actually roast really nicely) and some onions. I also added some chilli flakes to the mix to liven it all up. The dressing was very nice and I must say it all added up to a lovely meal. Sometimes you really do not need much.

Trying to post a few pictures...

I was talking to a friend in Switzerland yesterday, and she said that they were knee deep in snow again. It was all very pretty for sure, but she was so longing for spring again. And I know how she feels!!! Nobody adores winter and snow more than I do, but I long for snowdrops and daffodils and the like. So... I decided to bring some indoors.

They really cheer me up. I am not usually a girl who likes the colour green a lot, but I really fell for the pot with the paperwhites, it really was calling out to me. I have a very talented florists just round the corner from me, I can almost never pass her shop without getting something. The basket with the muscari in it, I got after a museum trip to Hoorn, somehow the text on it seemed appropriate at the moment. How happy little things like this can make you.

I was so thrilled to actually get some lovely comments on my first post, it felt really welcoming and encouraging. I am looking forward to read a lot more blogs and keep adding to mine. This seems such a great community.

This is a first...

My first tentative steps into blogging country...
Over the past 2-3 weeks I have read a lot of blogs and have found some truly inspiring. So I have decided to take the plunge and start one myself. If you can bear with me I will ramble about anything that interests me and will use this as an update on my business plans as well.

I like a lot of things, but am at my happiest when I am crafting. As in four weeks time I will lose my job, as so many others seem to do at the moment, that has galvanised my into some thinking. Instead of dreaming about it for a lot more years, this seems to be the moment to spring into action and seriously try to set up a small business. I will try to sell things over the internet first, and am currently learning how to do that.

I had a good weekend this weekend. It was my birthday last Friday and I went to Rotterdam with my mother to an art show. We had a lovely lunch in the museum restaurant, it was a toasted sandwich, but very nicely presented, these little trips can be really inspiring. That is something that you will learn about me in due course... I love to cook and eat.
I also discovered a gorgeous little antique shop just up the road from where I live, it sells all sorts of small things, a lot of glass and some really nice Chrismas pins as well. I could not resist, as it was my birthday and bought two and a really lovely glass cruet set. I will post some pictures as soon as I have figured out how.

Thanks for bearing with me so far, I hope that over time my blog might be as inspiring to you as some of yours are to me.