Changing colors and places.....

Here is the new color of our front door. The old color can be seen in the archives ~ September 26th. We went to a paint shop that has a British line of historical colors. This is 'slate' (a greyish green color) which was part of the Edwardian colors and the trim is 'Cornish clay'. I never liked the colors used here in this new neighborhood when we moved here. They was a pastel aqua for the front with a pastel and vague looking yellow for the shed door. The back of the house is all in a rather bright and odd blue color. We had changed the aqua to a teal and the vague and sickly yellow to a warmer shade of yellow. We still did not like it and decided that it was time for a real change. You are not allowed to change the colors even of a purchased home for a certain amount of time after the buildings are purchased. We are grateful that we can now change the colors to something we both feel more reflects us.

This color works well with our garden. The shed door is just to the right of the rack holding the gourds. When you come to the front of our house, you see our drive and the entire garden. As you saw in the last entry, there is no back garden as our house is built in the water. We always felt as though the paint colors stood out far too much and took your eye away from the garden. In the future, I will share the look from the street as we will be adding a beautiful wrought iron gate which we have had made at the entrance to our garden.

Before Jos had to leave for England on a business trip, he did a list of odd jobs needing done. One thing was to hang my fox hunt prints in a new corner of my living room. I know these prints are no longer politically correct but we really love them. We have seen a few fox hunts by chance in England and I love the tradition and history involved. (It is not my intention to offend anyone.)

I had been 'borrowing' again and moved an antique embroidery table along with a pretty chair up to my quilt studio. This meant the corner you see was empty. I moved two other antiques I have to that corner ~ a plant stand where I display my flower arrangments I enjoy making and an antique candle holder. I love this piece with its pretty wood carvings. Enlarge the photos for more details. It has turned out to be a really nice corner and looks very inviting when the candle is lit in the evenings.

A few responses ~
Julie ~ Jos is not a hunter either but I think our butchers here must be. During the autumn season through Christmas, there is much game for sale.

Becky and Julie ~ I had to smile at your both saying it looks like Venice here. Not at all. It is a small canal or creek of water and we unfortunately look right up into the gardens and houses of the people living behind us. I must have lace in my windows not only because I love lace but also for privacy. For a long while, we had the vertical blinds from the previous owners but I found them dark and depressing. They had to be either turned up or down too far to give us privacy. The lace gave it a light and airy feeling. I also love how lace gives you the chance to look out but others cannot see in.

Nan ~ It is literally a building style where they drain the water and build the foundations right where the water is. When the building is complete, they allow the water to flow back in once again. It is 'normal' thing here in Holland. There is no leakage and the house is perfectly dry.

Kristy and Becky ~ You asked for my port sauce recipe. I will explain how I made it but must admit that I did not measure anything. I played it by ear as I went. After your meat is finished to your taste, wrap it in foil to let it rest and keep warm. Add enough port to coat the bottom of the pan with the meat fat and juices. Now add fresh orange juice. I put in about a half of a very small juice glass in the sauce. Add salt, pepper and ground cloves to taste. We like cloves so I added enough for our own taste. Finally while this mixture is boiling you may want to add a bit more port and then thicken with flour mixed with some of the liquid. We have a special thickener here in Holland which allows me to put it right into the sauce while it is cooking with no clumping. I hope this explains it clearly enough.

Oh yes ~ one more thing Becky, by all means nip the port as you make the sauce. :)