I'm sad, angry, very frustrated. A disaster happened today. Actually, rationally, it is nothing, but so it feels. And I cannot simply order it in perspective and put it out of my head. Turns me into a neurotic.
What happened: I was on a really nice old-fashioned flea market. Many beautiful things, even more people.  
I found vintage fabrics, an old yellow watering can in the form of a swan (lovely!), a box filled with yarn, tablecloths from the sixties and seventies, a skyblue vase with flowers on it, California plates with cornflower and rose, a white lace apron embroidered with pink roses, retro cookware, vintage corsages ...  
And then it was there, she was there, a magnificent expressionistic portrait of a girl affected by the ravages of time but so beautiful, so eloquently. As if I knew her personally. 
I thought the price would probably be beyond my budget (oil on linnen, signature), but ventured a try anyway. "A dollar?" asked the friendly lady behind the table. I nodded as nonchalantly as possible to her that I did agree.  
One moment later, I triumphantly walked around (so very happy) with the cherry on the pie clamped under my arm. My day could not get any better .... Or so I thought then. 
A quick grabbing in a cardboard box filled with grannies shawls, wrapped my daughterdarling her booty in a bag, wrapped daughter in coat, packed daughter in coat, caught daughter in coat, grrr....then hop back home.
Home. All unpacked ... All? No ... OH NO, where is the painting? WHERE is the painting!  
Searched everywhere in the house and car. All rewinded in the confused head.  
Conclusion: lost between car and scarves. Too far, too late, too pointless to go back. She's gone. For good? Or will I find her someday, somewhere?
Man of Pip Ros did not get it. Understands that it is annoying but not a reason to be so upset. It took only a euro, you just had it so you cannot miss it. Did you think! Zoetelief understood it, tried to comfort me by giving me one of her treasures. Very sweet love but this treasure is yours. Mama puts it out of her head, I will stop thinking about it cause thoughts cannot change what has happened. A wise advice I always give her... 
It does, unfortunately, not everyone good......

Côte d'Or

 

Daffodils at home, 

how lovely they look today, 

coffee in the garden,  

sun caressing my pale winter skin.  

I inhale the smells  
and get lots of energy 

from what I see, feel, smell and hear. 

I exist from my senses,  
thoughts are pushed aside for a moment,  

just feel..... 

It's spring! 

Earth awakens.  

O.... what a delight!

Kruissteekjes

Vintage
crossstitches,
found
in a
very sweet
booklet.

Sad little girl...

Little girl
why do you look so sad?

Took her home to the nest
yesterday.

My daughter and I
are wondering
what causes her sorrow.

Cheap sentiment?

Need to do
some research
to understand it
better.

Pimped!

Pimped by my 5 year old girl. 

The whole day long she is carrying her new 

Dumpling Dynasty Pigtail Kit 

with her. 

Spying on innocent victims 

to undergo a make-over, on a voluntary basis or not. 

When she is done the little lady puts the result on the sensitive plate, 

records it on camera and 

all of those nice creations of her are given  

a special place in her collection of pretty pictures. 

By blogging this one I am probably breaching her copyrights.

Cute little vintage egg cups.

 

Cute little egg cups,  

sold on the Dutch eBay.  

Filled with spring fever  

and 

a touch of nostalgia, 

as the scent of freesias.

Yellow, let the sun shine!

I am in need of some sunshine! The days are so grey and down for the last week. For a while I have been fond of whites and greens and even a bit of pink but the nest is asking for yellow now, a burst of energy.
Yellow, the color of wild flowers and the emperors of China.

What shall I choose?

Early Bird - Pip Studio

Room Seven

Early Bird - Pip Studio

My hazy world.

I sometimes wander into a hazy world. Looking back on something that actually never was. Recognize this? A feeling, a sort of flashback to a moment in the '60s while I was born 10 years later in the '70s. Or there is a flashback to the feeling of being a teenager in the early seventies. Yes I know it must sound ridiculous but it is true. It feels like a déjà vu moment but it is different. Like the feeling you have when a delirious fever is playing tricks with your mind and you are aware of it. It's like the reality, the world around me just stopped and the clock is turned back. Thoughtfully, reading, musing, daydreaming or dormant it happens and it's always just a flash. The feeling stays longer. There should be a word for that.

Thrifting.... I love to hunt.

 

"Een weekje sneupen".  

Three  peeks taken in the charityshop and 

mmm.. what a perfectly fine booty!

 The roses.... oh yes, definitely the roses!

Pied de Poule Liqueur Set from the seventies.

Verrerie Cristallerie D'arques.

A bird, a vintage deer lamp, a vintage wallpaper, a love, a thought, a dream, a wish......

Little vintage Dolly

 

I found this beauty over a year ago in a thrift store.

My then 3 years old daughter was completely fond of her and really cherished her (so much better than barbies and still she doesn't like them very much :-D!!).

But the love is dead,  not mutually anymore. 

Dolly was abandoned, dumped as trash in a drawer. 

Silently weeping, her old fashioned tears streaming through the cracks of the box.

I saved her yesterday and finally she is mine!

Klavertje vier......good luck!

 

Hope, faith, love and luck...........

 

They say when Adam and Eve left the Garden of Eden, 

Eve carried a four leaf clover.

Must be true.

Chocolats à Paris

A new édition PAUMES book.

Cannot wait to have a look inside!

Mmmm................. 

In search of the ultimate guide to chocolate in capital of culinary indulgence, édition Paumes visited Paris' top artisan chocolatiers... A tasting menu of the most delicious and the most elegant chocolates, the perfect 'pain au chocolat' from traditional Parisian bakeries, and sumptuous hot chocolates and tasty chocolate desserts from quaint little bistros. 'Chocolats à Paris' by édition Paumes is the must-have guidebook for chocolate lovers everywhere !

Hansel & Gretel alias Hans & Grietje

I received this vintage postcard yesterday, together with some other beauties.
I have always been fond of fairytales and I love the old vintage fairytale pictures on postcards and books.
The colours, the images, so soft, so gentle and charming.
Nothing like the current mass production pictures with their screaming colours and moldy, rigid images.

Blue Monday

Do Not Be Fooled.

Make yourself a nice cup of coffee.

Read a book or do some blogging.

Be creative.

Listen to some good music or

hum an nice tune.

Start colouring.

Cut paper puppets.

Hug a loved one.

Enjoy the small things!

(Do not look outside today

truly the weather makes you feel blue)

Make your own sun shine!

Bird Love

I love birds. 

They are beautiful, their shape, their colours, the singing, whistle, twitter.

Birds move me, they make me feel free.

Little Red Riding Hood

My grandmother past away when I was six years old. I always remembered the Little Red Riding Hood alias Roodkapje standing on the mantelpiece in her little cottage. Have been looking for a similar one for a very long time and now I finally found it on the Dutch eBay. So very happy with it!!!

The appearance, the cult.

Old Silence

            ergens moet het zijn

            een soort verwilderde tuin

            van oude stilte

            de boom voor het huis

            zacht wazelt hij zijn verhaal

            niemand begrijpt het

            het heeft geregend

            de tuin dampt goede geuren

            aarde die verlangt

            J.C. van Schagen (1891-1985)

Is it possible to let such a grand poem undergo a Google translation?
I have tried it, changed some words and this is the result.

            it must be somewhere
            a sort of overgrown garden
            of old silence
 
            the tree in front of the house
            softly rambles his story
            nobody understands it

            it has been raining
            the garden evaporates good smells
            earth that yearns

However, to really capture the sense of a poem in a translation is a true art.

You need thorough knowledge of the original language.

But I cannot imagine that it can be done without the heart and soul of the poet, the spirit.

Must be a monks work.