To elongate my legs when I have the hem of these trousers turned up (with the buttons), I have been looking for knee high cream boots. I failed at that but I did find cream ankle boots in the sale. The heel is just the right height when I want to leave the hem long. As I told you before, with wide legged trousers a quarter of an inch heel height can make or break the look. Also the length of the top on these trousers isn’t simple (see my previous posts with a brown jumper and with a bright pink jumper). I still like the summer version with the bright pink jumper best, but I also like wearing the trousers long. To me the dark green jumper and the cream trousers are a good combination.

Although I have tucked the jumper front behind a belt in this post, the belts didn’t stay put and sometimes it looked stupid (you don’t get to see those photos). I will try and see how the jumper (sweater) hangs with the trousers without a belt. This is the third consecutive post where I have not thought an outfit through to perfection.

Below: Let me start by showing you the beautiful premises Kitty and I chose as background. This is “Het Oude Slot Heemstede” (The Old Castle) in summertime with lots of lovely green. I pinched this photo from their website. You can rent the place for all sort of gatherings but as you can imagine, it is especially nice for weddings.

Below: It is early January, so there isn’t much green on the trees.

Below: As this place is photogenic even in winter, we decided to go there anyway. Here I am wearing a red with black coat by Kenzo which is 7 or 10 years old, I cannot remember. It is a coat I will never part with as it is timeless in my eyes.

As we walked towards the courtyard we noticed there were a lot of people about. All dressed in black…. We asked a man if there was a special event going on and sure enough there was a memorial service for a deceased. Aiii… of course we didn’t want to disturb these people with our frivolous outfit photography. So we stayed away from the main building.

Below: This little barn (??) provided a nice background as well. The difference in the outfits you are about to see, is in the details: different jewellery, different belt, different bag. The version below is with a modern white brooch (seen before with my purple jumper), a brown belt and little brown clutch.

Below: Close-up of the brown belt and little bag.

Below: The wind was fierce so redoing my hair was necessary. Using the windows of this house at the back of the premises, as a mirror. Little story: I saw a documentary with Joanna Lumley and Jennifer Saunders in the Champagne area of France. At a certain moment they were in a boat on a river, it was cold and the wind was blowing. Jennifer felt her hair and said: “Is it flat? Oh God I seem to be checking my hair to see whether is flat, my whole life!” I could sooooo relate to that.

Below: Changing the brooch for a bone necklace and changing the belt plus bag. As you can see there are no loops for the belt, which makes the belt sometimes hang in a way I really don’t want it to hang.

Below: The main house in the background.

Below: Here we are, different necklace, belt and bag. The bag and belt look far lighter green than they are in reality. And the dark green jumper looks almost teal but isn’t. (Brand of the trousers ME+EM.)

Below: Close-up of the little green bag which was heavily reduced in the big sale of department store Hudson’s Bay. They have left the Netherlands which I think is a shame. And what a blow it must have been for this company. They had only set up shop in several big cities in the Netherlands, what? 3 years ago? Not enough customers; they couldn’t survive. No idea what they did wrong. I was a fan.

Below: Close-up of the cream ankle boots (a sale find). They are so soft, it is like walking on clouds.

Below: I changed the necklace for this old one I found in Paris years ago. Wearing my old Ace and Tate sunglasses as I never thought about sunshine when we left home. The dark green jumper is cashmere by Bellamy Gallery, my favourite sustainable brand.

Below: Trying to assume another pose and proving to Kitty that I can stand on one leg for quite a while. Balance is key as you grow old(er).

Below: Time to go before I freeze to death. I lost my black silk scarf going home. Bummer.

Below: One last look at the estate.

No photos of Kitty or us drinking cappuccino afterwards. Sorry.

What happened in my life this week

Saturday was a lovely day with my Shopping Saturday friends Anke and Sabine. We cut the day short as Anke is 38 weeks pregnant and Sabine had to take her son to basketball in the afternoon. Nevertheless, we so enjoyed seeing each other again. You will see the photos next week.

Sunday: a less pleasant thing happened at 4 a.m.: I went to the bathroom and heard a hissing sound coming from the closet on the landing where the washing machine and dryer are hiding. When I checked I saw water spurting from a pipe and there was a lot of water in the zinc cistern we have underneath the washing machine. I had to wake up Ron who turned off the water. He also came up with a clever solution for when we needed to turn it back on for a short while: a funnel with a little hose going right into a drain pipe. Luckily we have a very good relationship with a plumber who came the next morning and fixed it. Apparently not only the pipe was leaking but the combi boiler as well. We decided that modernising all this pipe and hose stuff was long overdue, so when summer starts, he is going to make these shambles all beautiful and new.

Sunday was meant to take my mother to the cinema to see a movie of André Rieu’s 70th birthday. Ron had arranged a dog sitter, a young girl, for Watson. We decided we couldn’t leave her in a house with no water all day, so Ron stayed home and I went on my own. We invited a friend of my mum to come along as we had Ron’s ticket spare. The ladies enjoyed themselves and I have to say, although André Rieu isn’t really my cup of tea, I enjoyed it as well. He is a nice man, a bloody good entertainer and the musicians are brilliant.

Monday: work and a visit to the orthodontist for a check-up. Everything was fine. Physiotherapy in the early evening to soothe my muscles which get frustrated with the constant use of my smart phone. Trying to cut down on that which is hard. Fitness afterwards.

Tuesday: normal workday. I left a little bit earlier to go back to the shop where I had been Saturday to return a jumper. It was a medium while I always have a large (size large was sold out). At home I tried the jumper with my leather jogging trousers and compared it with my old jumper. I liked the old (larger) one better, so I had to return the new one.

Wednesday: lunch in Amsterdam with the managing director of a company I had contacted for a job. We had emailed and I already knew I wasn’t going to work there, but he invited me for lunch anyway. We go way back and we caught up so it was a nice lunch. In the afternoon I saw my friend Yvonne to get a food supplement (magnesium) which she sells. And I saw my friend Anja for half an hour. She is very busy clearing and cleaning the house as she is moving to Spain in May.

Thursday: workday and a lot of laughter with my colleagues. I am so going to miss the laughter. In the evening a beautician took care of my face. She removed 5 milia from my forehead and one from my eyelid. Oh gosh that last one was painful. Anyway, my face is smooth again.

Friday: worked from home. Nice and quiet. Ron was out training our dog Watson again. He is really putting in a lot of effort and it is paying off. He is getting a bit better at listening and obeying. He is still very playful as you can see in this short video.

That’s it for this week.

Greetje