Holy Madonna

Virgin Mary, Madonna, beautiful for her simplicity and austerity.
There is always something moving about her.
I am not Catholic but I always had something with devotionalia.
Aesthetically, but devotionalia often have a certain emotional charge.
Perhaps from the maker but I think it derives from the person who has ever worshiped it....

Oh noble deer..

A little tableau, created by my 4 year old daughter. She has this thing with deer at the moment, herself being Bambi most of the day. I also love deer, their elegance and their beauty. They look so fragile and vulnerable but are very agile and tough. Deer are undeniably the most beautiful animals of the forest, the princes and princesses.

Rose Broken

A little girl praying, 

red-hooded, 

she was a chandelier 

once. 

She touched me 

when I saw her in a charity shop, 

had to take her home 

to the nest. 

The next day she broke 

when I cleaned her. 

I gave her a little teacup 

and named her 

Rose.

Vintage wallpaper

 

Yes! Finally the new (old) vintage wallpaper has arrived. It is even better looking than I had hoped! Still haven't decided yet what part of the nest will be decorated with it (looking more pulchritudinous than ever....) or if I will just use it for some items in the nest.

Chinese Kitsch

Designer: Wei Yingzhou (魏瀛洲)
1986, June
I strive to bring glory to the mother country
Wo wei zuguo zheng guangrong (我为祖国争光荣)

I love those Chinese posters, 

the colours, 

the art, 

the prosperous children, 

the flowers, 

the overkill of kitsch.

Souvenir of Holland

Vintage tins

Everytime I see a nice tin 

I have to take it home 

to the nest, 

it is filled with it.

Especially love 

the "Lutti" one 

but the butterflies are also 

very pleasant 

to look at.

The Alps

Detail of a painting of the Alps. I found this painting in a charity shop. For some reason I have never been so fond of the Alps. I have never been there but to me the Alps are surrounded by a dark and depressing atmosphere. Just like coniferae, they arouse the same feelings in me, I will never have them in my garden. This painting is from the fifties/sixties. I bought it because of its vintage value and for its nice framing. It is standing on the floor in my living room for a few weeks now and I am beginning to like it! The colours, the composition and yes, also the atmosphere. It might even get a nice place in the nest!

Gezelligheid

Gezelligheid is a Dutch abstract noun (adjective form gezellig) which, depending on context, can be translated as convivial, cosy, fun, quaint, or nice atmosphere, but can also connote belonging, time spent with loved ones, the fact of seeing a friend after a long absence, or general togetherness. The word is considered to be an example of untranslatability, and is one of the hardest words to translate to English. Some consider the word to encompass the heart of Dutch culture.

I think there was more gezelligheid when I was younger. I will not say that things were better in "The Good Old Days" because that is a myth (and will always be) but in fact some things were better. Technological developments such as mass media did bring us a lot of good things but has its drawback, it does harm to gezelligheid.

Of course you have to do some effort creating gezelligheid, it comes from the inside for the biggest part.

In my childhood it was easier, we were not so pampered and were satisfied sooner with so much less than nowadays.

I found this photograph in my baby-album. I must have been 3 years old, enchanted by the Christmastree.
To me this is the true Spirit of Christmas.

Mata Hari

Mata Hari, meaning "Eye of the Day" (the sun).

She is born as Margaretha Geertruida "Grietje" Zelle on on August 7, 1876 in Leeuwarden.

I have always been fascinated by this woman.

Her life as an exotic dancer in private salons in Paris, dancing fully naked, a sensation in those days, making her a celebrity.

To the press she tells stories about sacred temples in India, about her study of oriental dancing, her mother, who was a Javanese princess and her father, a Scottish nobleman who would ... The press loves it.

In World War 1 Mata Hari becomes a spy, codename H21, for the German intelligence service.

Later on she is also working for the French intelligence.

Without realizing she becomes entangled in a web of intrigue. 

Her naivety and imagination make it very unsuitable for the role of double agent and soon she is distrusted by all parties. On February 13, 1917 she is arrested in Paris. After a dubious process then as a pro-German spy sentenced to death. On October 15, 1917, she is shot.

But her legend lives on. The fact that almost immediately after her death questions arose about the justification of her execution, on top of rumours about the way she acted during her execution, set the story. The idea of an exotic dancer working as a lethal double agent, using her powers of seduction to extract military secrets from her many lovers fired the popular imagination, set the legend and made Mata Hari an enduring archetype of the femme fatale.

On the web you can find much more detailed information about this extraordinary and fascinating woman.

I especially love the pictures of her, the atmosphere, the colours... watch them!

A busy morning.

I had a busy morning. Out of bed 6.30 AM. After bringing my 4 year old to school I went into the kitchen to make that special wintercake from my grandmother. (The whole nest is smelling so sweet and cosy, mmmm...)
While the cake was baking in the old Aga cooker I laid a hand on one of my new paintings, a portrait of my beloved ones. After that I sewed a new pillowcase from old vintage fabrics I bought in the charity shop yesterday. It looks so good now on my new old sofa! Still one hour remaing before I had to take my girl out of school, just enough time to cover a small wall in the nest with some beautiful vintage wallpaper, green with flowers in gold, pink and babyblue. The result is stunning! I am ending on the sofa, with a cup of coffee, feeling so very satisfied....

NOT
This is how I could imagine this morning to be. The problem with me is that my head is allways full of ideas and thoughts but so little of it really becomes true. In fact I spent most of this morning on the sofa, with some nice cups of coffee. Very busy with my new blog, finding out how I can make a good lay-out and how everything works. Not very satisfying. But I have this goal. Thoughts and ideas have to get out of the head.
There is more then just thinking and collecting, collecting, collecting...There is brewing something...

In an hour my little girl is back from school. She is real and the best!