Mensinghe House in Roden

This is the manor house we visited last weekend in the village of Roden. It was lived in as a private home until 1985 after which the city hall took over the house to be restored and turned into a museum. The entrance is through these beautiful iron gates. You are able to take an online virtual tour here.

The former porter's house is now a restaurant. They have done a wonderful job of making it a really welcoming place to come for a meal.


Can you imagine having these original tiles at the entrance to your front door. They are just beautiful and I am always glad to see things like this have been well preserved.

A little side window of the former porter's house which is so ornate.

The manor house itself seen from across the water surrounding it.

There is a bridge which you cross to get to the house. Isn't the white gate on the bridge so adorable?

The house has been completely restored and the furniture was for the most part left in the house giving the illusion that the family still resides there.

I had to think of an online friend, Margaret, when I saw this door knocker in the form of a mermaid.

I am unable to share photos of inside the house as we were not allowed to take any. Here are two from in the scullery.

Notice the old pump and the water filter. It is a cream colored ceramic water filter that came from England.

This was the cutest idea! Wood was cut in triangles and covered with moss and branches for daffodil bulbs to be stuck into. They are mounted on a tree branch giving the look of small trees. Don't forget to enlarge any photos you would like to see in more detail.

The former coach house is now an exhibition center. Can you imagine drawing your carriage up to it and driving in through the large center stable doors?

I just love old trees. This one was so majestic with all its knots and gnarls.

If you go out in the woods today......

I wanted to give you an update of my mother's visit. We spent a long weekend up at Cranberry Cottage. We drove to a village to visit a beautiful manor house which I will share with you on my next blog entry. I was able to take some pretty photos to share. This is a windmill we pass on the way to the manor house which dates back to 1857. It is in the village of Norg and thankfully has been well preserved.


It is finally getting to the point where things are slowly starting to bloom here in Holland. We had a warm winter but the last month or so have seen many cold nights which have kept the plants from budding quickly. Just a view of how the woods are starting to come to life with these pretty little flowers.


And if you were out in the north woods of Holland today.....look at the gnome you would have run into! I actually made my mother go out and take a walk in the woods today. It was not such a punishment as she did enjoy herself.

Among the hyacinths.....

My mother and step father have arrived safely and on time early Tuesday morning. We spent Tuesday here just catching up at the house. I baked this Norwegian Apple Cake for a treat that day. It is a recipe from a blogger named Mia who has such a beautiful home. It was because of this recipe, which I decided to give a try, that I have developed a blogging friendship with her. I had to let her know what a yummy cake it was and we started commenting on each other's blogs. I serve mine with vanilla custard and a little whipped cream.


Thursday, we drove over to see the flower fields near the west coast of Holland. It is still a little early so we got to see mostly hyacinths. There were some daffodils still blooming but not many.


It turned out to be a really beautiful day and it was extremely busy which made driving more difficult as we had to sit in traffic.


Every once in a while you come across some early tulips and they really do pop out at you! It is a beautiful site!


We drove to Katwijk Aan Zee so they could glimpse the North Sea and have some lunch.


We ate at this charming restaurant right beside the dunes called 'The Swan' and I can tell you that it was absolutely delicious. Three of us had salmon steaks and one 'kibbling' which is a batter fried white fish.


It was then back to the car to battle the traffic home again. It took us almost three hours to drive a 1 1/2 hour trip. We were glad to come home and relax.

I am missing your blogs at the moment. When I do get time, I will try to catch up with some of you but just wanted to say that I am thinking of you all.

New colors...

What is it about spring sunshine that makes you want to bring some color into your life?


On Friday, a friend stopped by my house hoping I had time to chat and pick up her newsletter. She is a member of my quilt group and had to miss the last evening. It was enjoyable to sit and have a cup of coffee and talk. She mentioned needing a certain kind of fabric and did I know if that existed. It did but is no longer in any collections but I have some. I told her she could buy a piece of mine and she also bought a couple fat quarters of other fabrics. My fabric stash is like a little shop. She was thrilled I had the exact fabric she needed and told me she would be back in a little while with money to pay me. She arrived back on her bicycle not only with the money but a bouquet of flowers saying just because I was always such a nice person.


Needless to say, I think SHE is the nice person and looks at the pretty tulips and hyacinths. My living room smells very sweet today as they are opening. Fingers crossed Jos is okay with them but so far, so good...


We did more decluttering and sorting this weekend. I wanted to gather some "garden junk" to take up to Cranberry Cottage for a new project which I will tell you more about later in the late spring. We finally can cross off another project that has been on my list for some time. This end table is a butler tray that we received one year in a Christmas packet from my husband's company. It is lightweight and handy for a quick extra table which I used often even in the garden. But I wanted a new end table and could not find anything I liked. So out came the butler tray temporarily. We did like it but it was very cheap looking. The wood did not have a nice finish. It was rough and had a reddish~orange color to it.


I really thought it could be made to look much better by sanding it and putting a palissander wood stain on it. Three coats later and we are very happy with the results. What a difference it has made from the first photo to this one. I took a photo similar the one before we stained it for you to see the difference. I really think it looks much smarter now standing beside the chair.


I am off to the airport tomorrow morning in rush hour traffic to pick up my mother and step father. I have my fingers crossed that it won't be too bad a drive. Thankfully, Jos has decided to take me first and then go to work.

A thing of beauty.....

Cloche ~ definition according to Webster's dictionary...


Pronunciation: \ˈklōsh\
Function: noun
Etymology: French, literally, bell, from Medieval Latin clocca
Date: 1882
1 : a transparent plant cover used outdoors especially for protection against cold
2 : a woman's close-fitting hat usually with deep rounded crown and narrow brim


Cloche ~ definition according to my dictionary...

A thing of beauty!


I am continually switching around my cloches and what I have under them. It is becoming a bit of an addiction to think of new vignettes to use for them. Yesterday, I placed on a pewter plate, given to us as a wedding gift 21 years ago by a cousin, a little piece of my bobbin lace, a silver grapefruit spoon which was my grandmother's, my silver baby spoon, an old photograph of my grandmother and a friend and a little baby's breath. Sometimes, simplicity is the best way to express beauty.

This month my grandmother was born in 1902. She was a really special lady to me and I wanted to do something in remembrance of her. For this month, this will be my vignette on one of our end tables.

Note: Thank you all for the sweet responses to my guest room. Jos does not want us to use a garden gate of fence as we have done this now with two other beds. In Holland, buying any old item like shutters, doors or windows would cost us a fortune. We are still in the thinking stages and I have loved reading all of your ideas. I prefer to go with a picket fence but will have to come up with something else. As soon as I do decide, I will share photos. Nancy had it right to say it is Dagi's room actually! He is there sleeping even as I write this.

The photo of the pansies is taken in my garden back in 2004. I love violets and pansies.

The guest room...

...is just about ready! It was a funny day yesterday. You know, one of those days when one thing leads to another? Well, we bought a large chest of drawers to replace two of our clothes closets that we sold. One of these closets was not even being used much and they really took up what is a tiny space. We live in a typical small Dutch row house. Space is lacking and storage is not a word in the dictionary here.

I try to add some warmth to the house which is a modern home. We had replaced our doors with these panel doors back when we had the bathroom done. This really made a difference in how it looks up stairs. I added this set of frames with toile inserts to the guest room door.


We decided on door knobs with a 1930s feel to them. Come on in and see the guest room...


I have had this idea in my mind's eye for some time. Last night, my husband helped me figure out how to make it work. You take a gilded mirror and add a picture to the front of it. I love it but am still unsure it works in this guest room. This is a wall as you first come into the room. This is actually the master bedroom but we don't use it opting for a bedroom at the back of the house. I am not sure now that I actually like these hanging here. I feel like they belong somewhere more like my living room and I don't have room for them there. They may end up being sold on Marktplaats (a Dutch thing similar to eBay).


As you can see from this overall photo, the rooms here are small. I cannot place a chair or anything in the room. We now have two little nightstands which I put together yesterday. I went to put the lamps on them and thought, oh no, this does not work. So I put on my thinking cap and went off to take the lamps from my bedroom nightstands. Great...that works. So now I did not like the William Morris quilt on the bed...thinking cap again...okay take the roses quilt I made for our bed. It is a full size bed with a queen size quilt but it works.

Now I need to concentrate on a headboard. I have a great idea but we started to look at what we needed and are not sure we are going to make it afterall. Ideas anyone?


I love to sit in bed and read and I know my mother does too. I really wanted to be sure I had good lighting and a place to lay a book when she gets here.


Then I had to take the pillows and put them on this bed too. So as you see, one thing leads to another. This room has been very different for me as my house has all wood throughout. I decided to go with white furniture in here.


Now it is simply time to wait for my guest to arrive as I gaze out the window...

Spring's garden.....

It is spring isn't it? We finally saw proof as we drove home from Cranberry Cottage. This is one of the heather fields near the cottage and the sheep which are used by the forest service to control the heather growth happened to be walking past the fence along the road. They had quite a few lambs with them. It has been rather cold here in Holland and very few lambs have been able to be out in the fields as a result. It just did not feel like spring without seeing them frolic and play.


This is not the best photo (below) but I needed to show little brother that black sheep do have brown fleece. See! This one has a black head but when the fleece is full grown, it is brown. Once it is shorn, the sheep will once again look black. Humm...what about the little guy standing near? I think he will have a complex, don't you?

Actually, we had a bad winter weekend forecasted here but instead had a beautiful weekend. We did not do the work we planned at the cottage as it was nice out and decided to buy a few more plants and do some work in the garden. We even sat outside in the sunshine for a little while on Saturday afternoon. It was chilly but nothing a fleece and the sunshine did not help. The birds were singing in full chorus too!


I should be working away at some handmade gifts that desperately need to be finished but was in the mood to do some more decorating in the guest room. I went to IKEA this morning knowing it would be very quite right when they opened as I needed to run over and pick up two nightstands for the room. One is put together so now a blogging break before I start on the second. I love being able to put these together myself. The smaller items are easy to do.

I have been going through my mind as to how I want to approach this room. I have this English clock in the room which I just love. So I am thinking of going with a bit of a garden theme. We discussed headboards last night but Jos has had his fill of me using garden gates as headboards. Can't think why since I only have two of them. *grins* I did find some mirrored scones at absolute bargain basement prices at IKEA and bought three. I am thinking of ideas for them so who knows what will come out in the end.


I am going through things I have and came across these once again. I bought them years ago and never used them. They were just so pretty that I could not resist. I am unsure yet what I will do so I am going to go through more things I have to see if something strikes my fancy. Stay tuned.


Just a note to thank those of you who stopped by my blog over the weekend to wish Jos and I a happy annivesary. We had a nice meal out at a favorite restaurant. It is hard to believe that we have been married for 21 years. Time goes much faster than we realize...

From a spark to a flame.....

Do you get things into your head and don't let them go even if it takes a long time before you carry them out? My husband says I do. Sometimes, I just don't get to them and other times, I am waiting for all the perfect parts to come together.

Today I finally created a pretty idea for decorating out that I came up with many moons ago. About 18 years ago, my brother came to Holland to visit us for the first time. We took him to visit a castle in the south of the country called Kasteel Hoensbroek. I bought a guidebook at the time and there were two lovely portraits printed in the book which I thought would look so nice framed. All these years later, while working on Christmas gifts in the autumn of last year, I found this book once again and thought again how I needed to frame these two lovely portraits.

Back in December, while shopping in my favorite shop in Brugge, Belgium, I found two perfect frames to use for them. I knew they would be just right as they looked so opulent. Again time passed and the frames sat in their boxes waiting to be used.

I was spring cleaning in my quilt studio again yesterday and what did I stumble upon? The guidebook with the portraits. Today, I got out the frames and here are the results (don't forget to enlarge the photo to see in detail)...

May I introduce you to:
Gravin (Grand Duchess)van Hoensbroek, Sophia Charlotte Maria Catharina Walburgis van den Leyen en tot Hohengerdoldsegg

and her husband

Graaf (Grand Duke)Lotharius Franciscus Wilhelmus Henricus Hyacinthus Victor van Hoensbroek.

I could not resist sharing their full names with you. What a mouth full! This couple were the last of the line of the family to live in the castle. The family line continues but they now reside in Germany. The castle was lived in up to 1787 and is now a beautiful museum.

Welcome April!

A new month already. I am amazed at how time really does fly. It is the first day of April and I thought I would share some pages from "The Nature Notes of an Edwardian Lady". This is the earlier diary written by Edith Holden which is lesser known than "The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady". It is not as prettily published as the "Country Diary" but does once again contain some of Edith's beautiful drawings.


Some of the folk~lore she used are:

"April weather, rain and sunshine both together."

"When April blows his horn;
Tish good for both hay and corn."


This poem I dedicate to my mother. We always say the beginning of this to each other since England is our favorite place...

"O, to be in England
Now that April's there,
And whoever wakes in England
Sees, some morning, unaware,
That the lowest boughs and the brushwood sheaf
Round the elm~tree bole are in tiny leaf
While the chaffinch sings on the orchard bough
In England ~ now!"


I hope April will bring you growth and sunny moments. I know my mother and I will now be wishing we were in England today.