Nothing sings Christmas as loud as the colours red and green. For snuggly times I bought this big red fluffy jumper (sweater for the USA readers) at Bellamy Gallery. As you know one of my favourite addresses for sustainable and great quality clothes at a very decent price.
Again it was very cold but dry so outdoor photos it was. Husband Ron told me there was a big Christmas fair at the Beeckestijn estate. You saw lovely pictures of this estate in last week’s post. I had seen the announcement, only to forget all about it. This fair is very popular which means crowds and a long queue to park your car far away from the fair in some muddy land (for which you have to pay!). Not my cup of tea. Ron came to the rescue by offering to take us there, then walk the dog and pick us up again. He is a treasure. As we thought that the Christmas fair would make a great background we were delighted with his offer.
When you see the photos Loes took, you would think it was a jolly good fair. Well, it wasn’t; it was one big disappointment. They had obviously tried to cram as many stands as they could possibly get and quality wasn’t a requirement. It was filled with stands selling garlic or sausages, cheap jewellery, cheap hats and scarves, jacuzzis (??) and a few stands with some nicer, Christmassy stuff. To give you a hint of the poor quality: I wasn’t even tempted to buy anything.
After uploading the photos it struck me that the fair actually looked pretty good. Loes only took photos of the things that were nice haha. Kudos for her.
Below: The first nice thing we saw were these two people playing Christmas songs on the saxophone. OK that was fun and they played really well.
Below: I got chatty with them and we exchanged cards.
Below: They offered to play while Loes took pictures of me. (The path leading up to the estate had ruined my black suede ankle boots in no time. No worry, the cobbler will fix it.)
Below: Loes was getting into the spirit of things. She is wearing a new coat but refused to take it off so I could photograph her dress. “Too cold and it is your blog”, she said.
Below: On our way to explore the rest. The trousers are Max Mara from the outlet in Turin and super quality. The necklace is my infamous Paris Necklace. The ankle boots are about 5 years old (at least). Never felt the need to get rid of them as they are classic. The bag is the Chloé Marcie mini crossbody bag (rather a mouthful).
Below: I presume you could buy this dog.
Below: I tried on several caps and hats but they never suit me. These didn’t even have sizes. The belt is Essentiel Antwerp (this years) and also comes in green, burgundy and camel.
Below: I had seen a few photos on the camera and was appalled by the look of the jumper with the trousers. It looked so stupid, so I tried wearing it without tucking it in. Hated that as well. The trousers and boots are classic enough, I don’t need to wear the sweater in a classic way as well. Here we are near the big pond.
Below: Nope… the jumper has to be tucked in.
Below: The stands around the pond were nicer than the others.
Below: The rest of the stands were long “streets” covered with canvas, very dull (you see a little bit of it left in the photo. The guy at the right in the photo below sold coco cookies. We each had one and they were delicious. I had quickly changed back to tucking the jumper in and arranged it better.
Below: Two photos of some nice Christmas stands.
Below: We had some trouble focusing the camera on these colourful bracelets but succeeded in the end.
Below: We got a lot of comments and laughs because of our photographing. Ron always hates that and I love it as I love laughing with people. Loes doesn’t mind either.
Below: These two people, selling things in their stand made a lovely effort to get into the spirit.
Below: This man could actually play this horn and he performed again so we could take the photo. People are generally very obliging on our photo shoots.
Below: There was a shanty choir singing My bonny is over the ocean. I don’t think it is very Christmassy but at least it is great for a sing-along. If you hit the play button you can hear 9 seconds of it.
Below: A little boy developing his photography skills at a very early age. He was pointing his camera at the shanty choir.
Below: At last we saw a Christmas tree. Poorly decorated but at least it was a tree.
What happened in my life this week
Friday last week turned out quite nice but I forgot to tell you. Ron and I went to the movies: Ma Vida, a Dutch movie. It was really nice. We ate chips (french fries) as a meal at a place where they make really good ones. Guilty pleasure.
Saturday morning started with a visit to the hairdresser. In the afternoon Loes and I had the photo shoot above. Loes came in for a drink at the end of the afternoon and Anja joined us as well. Anja also stayed for dinner.
Sunday: another photo shoot in the morning, this time with Kitty. My time is limited and so is the time of my two photographers. As I highly depend on both Loes and Kitty, I take every opportunity they offer. In the evening Ron and I went out for an excellent dinner with friends. That was a very pleasant evening.
Monday: just work. All my pension payments are in place, only 4 months to go. My successor has signed her contract and will start January 1st.
Tuesday: took the day off to take mum to the otorhinolaryngologist (that is a very difficult word in the English language). The surgeon fixed her hearing which was done in half an hour. Back at mum’s house we had lunch and chatted until I went home again. Went out to dinner with my friend Helga and forgot to take a photo. I am going out to lunch and dinner A LOT these days. Very hard to maintain my new weight.
Wednesday: went out for lunch with my friend Ineke who was kind enough to take photos for yet another blogpost in the near future. After lunch I visited the dentist as I was having trouble with cold water. I think he fixed it.
Thursday: Saint Nicolaas day in the Netherlands. This is different but also similar to Santa Claus at Christmas. I won’t say too much about it, but it is for small children and we don’t have small children. I went home from work early as traffic is crazy in the afternoon. Worked from home in the afternoon.
Friday: worked from home. As I finish early on a Friday there was time to bring out the (artificial) Christmas tree and the rest of the stuff. I broke two ornaments which is a pity. We decided we could do with a few more lights (next year) and some more ornaments. As we still had a gift voucher (present from Anja) we went to the beautiful store of Jasmijn Bloembinders (florist). They have a gift shop next door to the flower store and at Christmas it is soooo beautiful. We bought these:
Ron had the luminous idea to remove the almost-dead plant and put the Christmas tree in the plant pot. This way neither Watson, nor his tail can damage the delicate (glass blown) ornaments.
In the spirit of things I gave Ron this little girl because he liked it so much:
I also made this “cake” as I call it. Nothing fancy haha.
The candles are out as well so our house is ready for this month. And there is peace in our home:
Greetje
Your tree is beautiful! Too bad about the Christmas Fair – any that we have here are pretty good about only have artists that make quality stuff but that means that they are also pretty small. I like the jumper when you have the front part tucked in. As Sheila mentioned, it’s hard to wear fluffy sweaters when you have a larger chest. Shelley
The tree is even better in reality but I can never get it right on camera.
That chest is often a bit of a “thing”.
Greetje
Aw, I like the picture of Ron and Watson, and I approve of your ornament purchases – and your tree is lovely!
I agree, the sweater looks better tucked in. I have issues with fluffy jumpers like that due to big boobs (ha ha!). I was thinking of you this weekend, as I wore the socks that say “I’m a delicate f**king flower” – hee hee!
The Christmas fair looks fun, but as you say, sometimes they’ll just take anyone, just to fill a space. Happy week, Greetje!
I never wear socks otherwise I would ask you to purchase a pair for me 😂. Glad you thought of me. I often think back to those days in Vancouver. They were filled with glee.
Greetje
I agree that the sweater looks better tucked. This is often why I don’t wear oversized sweaters. I find that tucking into the waistband makes it look bulky there and I already have more than enough bulk at my waist.
I must ask about those lovely cakes with the birds on them…what kind were they? I adore how they have decorated them.
Suzanne
http://www.suzannecarillo.com
The sweater was looking bulky and made my tummy look bulky too. After I adjusted the way I arranged it, it was better. But it is a tricky sweater.
I have no idea about the cakes with the birds. Don’t even know whether you can eat them. But I suppose any bundt cake will do. Just like the little bowls with “bird seed”: just sprinkle some crushed nuts on top of a pudding. I am sure that with your creative and cooking skills, you can come up with your own version.
Greetje
The otorhinolaryngologist is known in North America as an “ENT’ – Ear/Nose/Throat. Much easier!
We have a three letter abbreviation for ENT as well, but obviously in Dutch haha.It is KNO (keel, neus en oor, which is throat/nose/ear; exactly the other way around).
Thanks for letting me know.
Greetje
I love Loes’s coat and scarf — what a great colour! Thanks for showing those photos of the sweater tucked and not tucked — when it is tucked in, your waist looks tiny and your legs look a mile long. I must try this myself! Love the photo of Ron and Watson 🙂
I agree with you about Loes’ coat. Such a cheerful colour for winter. I am all for bright coloured coats in winter.
The trend of tucking in tops and sweaters is sooo good for my figure. The “sloping” sides hide hips and the longer part at the back hides the bum. I hope it never goes out of style.
Greetje
Ooh, I like the sweater. And it looks great with the Paris necklace. It’s too bad the Christmas fair wasn’t good, but you and Loes managed to get some great shots! Love that picture of Ron with Watson in his lap too. Enjoyed chatting and “shopping” with you yesterday! 😉
Saturday I visited another Christmas fair with another friend, in Haarlem. That was much better but sooo crowded that you could hardly reach the stands. The atmosphere was lovely though. At least to me. My friend Anja had been as well and nearly freaked out.
I enjoyed chatting and shopping with you tremendously. I was grinning the whole time. So nice that this is possible. In three days we are going to book our train tickets for Paris in April.
Greetje