greenterior

A new green family member in da house.

I spotted the chestnut vine - TETRASTIGMA VOINIERIANUM - at Klavertje Vijf with my friend Marieke in Haarlem a few weeks ago. A vigorous evergreen climber.

I noted down the name in my phone and have been looking for this plant ever since.

And today when I went to the nearby garden center to buy potting soil for the garden, I suddenly came across this rampant climber.
There was only one, also an amiable one, so I had to take the plant home with me (and luckily just fitted in the car).

We have found a good spot, not too light, not too dark and it can climb for a while until the ceiling will be reached. `

plant cuttings

You can make more plants from your existing house plants, by taking cuttings. Many plants, such as papyrus, zigzag plant (I name it Matisse plant), readily root in a glass of water and can then be transferred to pots.

It may sound challenging , but it's not complicated at all.

Making plants from cuttings is a way to clone the original mother plant and a gratifying process, to increase your stock of plants. Furthermore it is a pleasurable way to surprise someone among your green friends. Any another plant lover will be overjoyed with an 'offspring' of your green plant kids.

I've been taking cuttings from the papyrus and fishbone cactus. Two parts of zigzag plant were snapped anyway, so I decided to use them as cuttings. When you cut a papyrus stem, just trim the 'umbrella' a bit and put it upside down in the water. Roots and new shoots will show up soon. Change the water every now and then.

After a few weeks in the windowsill-nursery, I have potted up the rooted cuttings yesterday.

Mother plants below:

attic bedroom

Wednesday morning, 10:30 AM

Curtains blowing in the breeze...

I just L O V E the look of the waving curtains and shadow play.

To capture the atmosphere, I made a video and posted it on Instagram this morning. P L A Y video

(and watch how the left white curtain closes itself in the wind)

easter monday

Easter Monday - 22nd of April

Second day at the beach this year and sunniest and warmest Easter ever.

Like two days ago on Good Friday, we went to the Noordzee coast to spend a few hours on the beach.

Exactly long enough to enjoy a day at the beach without suffering from sunburn afterwards. And to avoid the traffic jam and arrive home on time, to spend the rest of the day in the backyard, to end this splendid Easter weekend with a lovely outdoor dinner.

first day at the beach

Saturday - 20th of April

First day at the beach this year.

Near the dunes it was warm enough to count today as a perfect beach day.

good friday

It’s almost Easter weekend and the sun is out!

Today I've been busy at Villa Augustus, working on final preparations for Easter. Arranging colorful bouquets, in large and small vases, decorating the huge chandelier in the restaurant. In the meantime it was super busy in the market shop, but in between I had a relaxed picnic lunch break in the orchard.

Enjoy your Easter weekend, everyone!

crochet bikini trend continues

You can download the crochet BIKINI TOP PATTERN in my Etsy shop and start right away with the "step by step" crochet pattern, provided lots of detailed photos (18 pages) of this crochet bikini top.

All you need is 50 grams of yarn to make your summer bikini top! Choose your favorite colour and get started. It's not difficult at all and it takes just a few hours to make it.

The golden bikini top I made last year with the some golden bling bling yarn from Marrakech. It's a very simple straightforward variation on the bikini top.

The crochet bikini trend continues for the upcoming summer season

sneaker storage

I've 'built up' an elegant and functional storage for my sneakers with colorful crates. The Ay-Kasa crates are foldable & stackable and come in awesome colors.

I figured by folding only the frontside of the crate, it would make an original storage for my sneakers.

It was quite an investment to collect enough crates for my sneakers and one on top for my socks. Let's say, you can buy a cool pair of sneakers instead of 9 crates. I started collecting them a few months ago and purchased the first pile in Antwerp. Some weeks ago I bought some new colors at Evernow in Rotterdam.

The stacking is finished for now and it's a good thing no more crate fit, because the cupboard has reached the sloping attic roof. I'm really happy with the result.

golden sample

New project.

A golden sample to make a filet crochet curtain, opposite to the previous harlequin project.

To prevent ending up again with the wrong size, I made a crochet sample this time. I rarely do this, but it seems to be a good 'investment'.

just smashing, wouldn’t you say?

Yay! Finished another crochet project this week!

It took me almost two months to start weaving in the loose ends of the harlequin blanket. I don't know why, but sometimes it works that way. It only took me an hour to fix it. Today I planned a 'baby blanket shoot' because I'm going to lend the vintage bamboo baby bed to a friend soon.

Making the babyblanket was so much fun! The harlequins are simple small projects, making one or a few a day, is manageable until you have enough harlequins to make a unique baby blanket.

Love the neon harlequins with the pop that it adds. Just smashing, wouldn’t you say?

You can make the harlequin blanket with all types of yarn and in any size you want, from baby blanket to huge kingsize blanket (and everything in between).

The harlequin p a t t e r n is available in my ETSY SHOP.

You can also download the DUTCH version now.

striped curtain

Spicy stripes for the curtain in the dormer window on our sloping attic room.

A good crochet project to use the colored wool from marrakech, in very easy filet-crochet harlequin pattern. I started it some weeks ago, not knowing what it would be.

Well, in the end it's a 'crocheted curtain anno 2019' and obviously it was not exactly fitting the window size. Do you see the subtle line? I subsequently made it a little bit longer. That's what I like about handmade; never perfect...

The colorful crochet fabric is made horizontal, but I preferred to hang it vertically.

In our (almost) all-white attic bedroom it's okay to use some colour.
I am thrilled with how serene this space turned out with the filtered light. Great atmosphere!

hello april!

A bunch of ranunculus from the market and a new 'old' vase from Lammie's shop.

vienna - aslergrund & architecture

Vienna - 28th of March - 24924 steps

Breakfast at 25hours hotel.

Morning walk in Aslergrund.
Coffee at Jonas Reindl at the Sigmund Freund park.

During our walk in the neighborhood, we passed one street after another with big beautiful pastel-colored houses.

Vintage shopping at Catrinette, the display windows are already promising and once inside we were surprised by the interior and all vintage objects.

Lunch on the patio garden of Kunsthaus Wien. And after lunch we walked along the Donau to the Hundertwasserhaus a few block further.

In the afternoon we visited Foto Wien in Otto Wagner's Postsparkasse building, his most modern and important work. A peek inside the iconic building itself was imposing, such a cool photo festival location.

Drinks at Kleines Café, as the name suggests it is tiny inside and has a bohemian atmosphere reminiscent of Vienna’s Jugendstil days, overlooking the baroque Franziskanerkirche in the Innere Stadt.

Last dinner in Wien at Burgring 1, where we started our first morning with an Austrian breakfast.

Farewell drink at Dachboden, with a spectacular panoramic view in twilight.

Servus Wien!