The easiness of this blue and lime sweater sold me, plus the earrings that went with it. As I cannot wear those earrings yet, I chose my lime rubber necklace as accessory which is a present from Sylvia (40plusstyle). You have seen it before here and when Sylvia, Suzanne Carillo, Anja (Curly Traveller) and I cruised though Amsterdam here (oh happy days).
As I told you, I ordered quite a lot from Essentiel Antwerp with my last salary before retirement. I only needed the link to their website and went down the rabbit hole. The patent leather ankle boots are also from Essentiel but from last year (or the year before).
Ron was my photographer and we went to an old part of Haarlem, right in the centre, called De Vijfhoek (= 5 corners).
Below: Pretty streets, lots of green, people sitting in front of their house in the sun, church in the background and café De Vijfhoek on the corner. All is well.
Below: It is a really pretty part of Haarlem with a lot of green, although the streets are narrow. No cars allowed.
Below: Ron sat me down on this little bench in front of a house. Love the wisteria.
Below: My hair was getting really long.
Below: Now this is a fun Dutch sight. Orange tulips in the window.
Below: Of course we used it for an outfit photo. The orange tank top I am wearing was Ron’s idea. He said it would add interest. Combining it with my orange boots was a no-brainer. If I am not using this necklace but the earrings which you will see next, I will wear the tanktop back to front as it will be higher and give me a bit more orange in the V.
Below: The pretty earrings (also by Essentiel). They need pierced earlobes, so I will have to wait to wear these.
Below: The official photo on the site of Essentiel Antwerp.
Below: All the houses in De Vijfhoek are very old, this one is from 1670 and really small.
With the next two photos I will show you the difference in creativity between Ron and me.
Below: This is what I do when I see something nice, like this cat. I point the camera and press the button.
Below: This is how Ron shoots that cat, from a far more interesting angle. I may be good at blogging, but I will never be a good photographer, no matter how well I can operate the camera. I just do not have “the eye for it”.
Some more beautiful pictures by Ron.
Below: Wisteria, hanging over the street.
Below: Wisteria reflected in a front door window. You can also see the old-fashioned doorbell.
Below: The outdoor lamp.
Below: I cannot remember whether I photographed this street or Ron. Just another example of the area.
Below: Me and the blossom tree.
When I see my hair in the above photos I am so glad I was able to visit the hairdresser again. See the result below.
What happened in my life this week
Saturday. The man came to clean the sunscreens/awnings. Hurray. Oh gosh, they are like new. What a good investment and what a terrible job for this poor guy: very cold, very wet, working with your arms above your head and water running into your sleeves. He earned every penny. (If you are Dutch and have sunscreens that need cleaning, this is the guy to call or email: Direct Sun Schoonmaak. (This is not sponsored, I am just very happy with the result.) Wore nearly the same outfit as above but with white boots and jewellery. The photos are a bit dark (the awnings were down haha). At first I had the pretty flower necklace on, which Anja (Curly Traveller) gave me, but later I thought the outfit called for a more arty style and chose the white brooch.
Sunday. Just did the laundry, some blogging and reading. Peaceful day. Wore a dress for a change and walked to the plastic waste container. One needs an outing these days, right? Had to put on hold-ups (thigh-highs) and boots later on. It wasn’t warm enough. (Link to original post with this dress.)
Monday. Had another quiet day (apart from exercises) and had a Facetime conversation with Sara in New York State. Lovely. Wore this excellent combination which I so love. It was a bit warm for this though on Monday. Link to original post.
Tuesday. A full and fun day. I headed to The Hague to pick up my repaired watch and combined it with a visit to Marjolein. We were ever so careful and sat in the garden and had a really good time. Here are a few photos I made with my iPhone. First a peek-a-boo usie:
Then a remote usie. It looks as if I am close to Marjolein, but I am the required distance. Optical illusion. Very flattering pose (whahaha).
Marjolein took this photo of me (after I had dismissed 10 previous ones). She is so kind, just keeps on photographing me.
And this is the one I took in the bedroom to give you a head-to-toe shot. I am wearing my antique haori (= a short kimono). Link to original post. In the original post I am wearing it with high heels and jeans, but I think the styling below is better, although the white shirt underneath should have been black. Here is a link for further explanation on a haori.
Wednesday. Exercises (sigh), a few grocery shopping (also for my mum), a bit of sunbathing (half an hour), some reading and blogging. Wore this checked shirt with pink sequins on the collar for about an hour. The trousers are baby blue. Link to original post, worn with jeans and sequinned sneakers.
Thursday. Ron and I visited mum again in the garden for coffee and apple cake (bad for the weight). It was very “gezellig” as we say. Gezellig is: warm, cosy, friendly, good atmosphere etc. There is no translation for this multi-purpose word in any other language. Picked up grand strawberries from a farmer along the road and took some for mum too.
After we came back I cycled into town as my lovely shop owner Karlijn of kpa.haarlem had posted a great outfit on Instagram and I was sold. Counted my money as I do have to watch my pennies more carefully as a retired person and decided the purchase was possible.
In the afternoon we visited our friends Georg and Marla for the first time in two months. Well, apart from the occasional drop-off of fish or groceries. We took them some strawberries as well. It was such a delight to talk to each other again. They had rotated the garden table 1/4 turn to ensure the appropriate distance between us. We had agreed on bringing our own food, glasses and drinks. Nevertheless, as they are excellent hosts, they couldn’t resist offering us that as well. Holding a bottle with a piece of paper and feeding us fishpie with a cake-server. Especially the freshly baked cheese cookies made me jump for joy. Here we are in their lovely garden, sitting under the sun screen. The outfit is the same as Wednesday’s as I had barely worn it.
Friday. A bit of a blah day. But what really cheered me up was the doorbell ringing and there were friends and neighbours Froukje and Petro. They came to deliver a little bag filled with lovely home-made nonsense accompanied by funny texts. It was such fun to unpack it but I bet it was fun creating it as well. Froukje came in for a short while to admire the garden.
In the afternoon as Ron had returned from his allotment garden, we unpacked the surprise bag and killed ourselves laughing. They had put things in like a napkin with hearts and a card attached saying: “For romance”. A bottle of the rosé beer which I like and on the note: “For Ron to get Greetje a little drunk because she is really funny then”. Or a jar of vegetables with the note: “For when Greetje has bought another blouse which she didn’t have yet and accidently spent some housekeeping money as well”. (Which I never do, honestly, never). It was so funny. Isn’t that wonderful? Friends that go out of their way to make you laugh like this?
Wore this on Friday as I decided it was a lounge day. Link to original post when we visited the brocante market near Paris.
Kitty came round to our house at the end of the afternoon to fix Ron’s iPhone in our garden. She works part-time as a tech girl at Apple. The Apple store hasn’t opened yet, but she could fix it. Really… that woman is such a jack-of-all-trades. She is a photographer and teaches photography, desktop publishing, graphic design; she is a storyteller, paints everything in the house etc etc etc. Really resourceful.
And to end this post, here is another shot of our garden shed with the flowers nicely blooming. (Ron is going to paint the green shed doors as well. All in good time.)
Greetje
So many stylish outfits in this post – you make me feel so sloppy in my work-from-home outfits. Mind you, I’m not going anywhere while wearing them so no one sees me but my cat. Ron definitely has an artist’s eye when it comes to photography (nice cat photo Ron!). The streets that have been closed to cars make lovely backgrounds and places to stroll.
What a fun bag of treats your friends gave you! I’ve been able to have a few brief distanced visits with friends but only with me on my porch and them on the sidewalk. Your visits look much more entertaining.
Oh you are quick to comment on my latest blog post. Yes, I dress up nearly every day but I will say that I usually go somewhere or see people (neighbours in the street). And then of course, there is Ron who appreciates my dressing efforts. If I were to be on my own with nobody to see me….hmmm I doubt very much whether I would do it. My mother dresses stylishly with different jewellery every day and often she doesn’t see anyone. But there is always the chance of people stopping by to get groceries for her. I am her daughter (wink).
Seeing friends is more dangerous of course than staying indoors, but I am as careful as I can be, washing hands all the time, keeping my distance etc.
Hope you will get through this in good health too.
So many wonderful outfits here, Greetje! You know I love seeing the Essentiel Antwerp pieces – a good thing they don’t have stores in Canada! I’ve only ever seen a few things in consignment stores, very rare.
I think Ron was right about the pop of orange in the first outfit – I love the orange and neon green with it. The fancy earrings do match, but they feel too fussy with the clean look of that outfit.
How beautiful Haarlem is! Wow, I just want to wander the streets, drinking coffee. Your wide-legged white trousers are my favourites, and I love Marjolein’s pajama-pants too. Your haori is amazing – it would look great with a wide belt over it.
That gift basket is the sweetest present. Even little jokes? So thoughtful! I’m glad you were able to socialize distantly with all of your friends. That’s the best, and the thing I missed the most during lock-down. It feels like things are starting to return to semi-normal here. I hope you and Ron are doing well!
The earrings with the sweater could be too fussy, but I regard them as a nice contrast to the clean look of the sweater; a juxtaposition.
Haarlem is indeed pretty…. when the sun shines. Who knows, I might welcome you one day in the future?
I wanted to put a wide belt over the haori, inspired by you, but Ron decided against it and I agreed. You wore yours with wide legged trousers, I wear mine with 7/8 tight trousers. I think that is what makes the difference.
Ron and I are doing well, but we are the careful ones. Now that we are swiftly going back to semi-normal, times get more worrying really. People think we are totally back to normal and a lot of people (often young but not necessarily) think it isn’t that dangerous or “it won’t affect me that much” (I always add in my mind: “you probably think too: “and I don’t care if you die from it”).
Super gorgeous combo, Greetje, the blue+yellow. I think it’s a phase I’m going through right now but anything with those two colours just sings to my heart like a siren song 🙂
Hi Sheela, long time no see, nice to hear from you again.
his neon lime colour isn’t that easy to find, right? I love it that my husband came up with the addition of an orange tank top. Thank you darling, I will take it from there haha.
Heerlijke blog, leuke outfit’s vooral die met spijkerbroek. En die jurk, geel, wit zwart, super. De foto’s van Haarlem maken me blij om te zien, zo’n leuke stad, zeker in het voorjaar.
Wat een heerlijk bericht; daar maak je me zo blij mee. Tenslotte zit ik als blogster eenzaam achter mijn computertje die posts te maken. Altijd zo fijn als ik positieve feedback krijg. Spijkerbroeken zijn zo’n beetje mijn signature style, maar ik probeer toch ook jurken en rokken te doen want die vind ik ook leuk.
Hi Greetje, always loving your news, photos (especially flowers, neighbourhoods, & architecture) and fashion. It’s like taking a mini holiday. Those homemade cheese cookies sound pretty delicious. Would you have a recipe that would make us all fat? 🙂
Actually a food post that tells us about your favourites (in your part of the world) would be a treat too.
Hah Linda, I am afraid I have to disappoint you this time. Cooking is something I hate, baking too. So, no I don’t have the recipe for cheese cookies and if I had, I wouldn’t know how to translate that into measurements other than the Dutch ones. And a food post…??? Never hahaha. I like eating things like strawberries with sugar and whipped cream. Or Confit de Canard (from tins) or Eton Mess. I am a dessert fan.
Love the blue and lime jumper; the matching necklace is just amazing! So lovely to see sunny happy cheerful photos right now. Haarlem is incredible in the sunshine, isn’t it? I’m glad you’re staying busy and stylish in your retirement! xx
No idea how long I can keep it up, staying stylish in retirement. I think I need some structure, some place to go to, to do that.
Happy cheerful photos and stories are my way to let people forget about what is going on right now. Some light entertainment.
Haarlem is indeed incredible in the sunshine and so is Amsterdam. But so is England as well.
Loved loved loved the orange, lime green, and navy blue color combo- am going to HAVE to steal that one!
Hah… that is funny. I thought (in hindsight) that perhaps the sweater was a bit boring. I really want to wear it with the earrings. And here you are wanting to steal it. Wouldn’t you rather order it yourself haha?
Your blog is one of my favorites; I’ve been following it for years. You may not have an eye for photography, but you sure do have an eye for outfits!
I am another who has trouble loading your pictures. Like others have mentioned, it sometimes takes several hours. Don’t stop posting them, though! And certainly don’t reduce the number of photos. I enjoy getting a glimpse into your city and your closet.
So far my tech lady hasn’t found the reason why you have such trouble loading my pictures. Several hours is ridiculous. They aren’t that heavy. And I can get them on my iPhone in seconds. Could you perhaps ask somebody you know whether it has got something to do with your computer? Or am I the only blog you are experiencing this trouble? I wonder whether it is a US problem haha.
I am amazed that you like my blog so much that you are prepared to wait for such a long time to load. Really… I would have given up.
The earrings will work with so many “outfits”. Instead of going through the process of piercing your ears, take the earings to a store where they can clip the stud and glue a clip to the back of the earring. This should work successfully and you can wear them immediately.
I always enjoy “the tour” of the old city streets with the beautiful architecture.
But I so want my ears pierced again!! I have so many beautiful earrings from the time before the operation. I find clips pretty painful.
Glad you enjoyed my “tour” through the little streets.
Hello Greetje – always look forward to your blog but like Susan I find the the pictures can take literally hours to fully load. I click on your blog first thing in the morning and don’t have all the lovely pictures until almost lunch time!
Anne…. pictures loading for hours… this is terrible news. That really should not happen. I am investigating it. I always make the quality of the photos pretty small so they don’t take too much effort to load, so that cannot be it. Thanks for letting me know.
Your posts are always lovely with the scenery, flowers, and your friends — not to mention the gorgeous outfits! Those earrings are stunning — I can see why you wanted them along with the navy and lime sweater.
Yes, I thought the earrings really made a difference with the sweater, giving it a more feminine look. Now I will have to wait until my earlobes are pierced and healed again.
Yes I also love the sweater with lime green inserts, really suits you! Lovely to see your week, more interesting than ours in the UK where we cant meet friends (yet!). Love your photos. You make me feel a little more cheerful when I read your blog!
And that, Linda, is the main goal of my blog. To make you a little (or a lot) more cheerful. So I am glad I reached my goal with you. It is indeed nice to meet friends. The government doesn’t cheer you on to do this, but as long as it is with just two people and at the required distance, it is allowed. Mind you, meeting in a garden of your own with more than two people is advisable. The police fines you with € 400 each if they catch you sitting together with more than 2 people, even if you obey the distance.
I love how you take us with you on your week Greetje!!
And that sweater is fabulous! I can see why you had to have it.
XOXO
Jodie
http://www.jtouchofstyle.com
I am afraid there are hundreds of reasons why I have to have a certain item Jodie. It is terrible. I have a lot of discipline in a lot of areas but not in shopping for things to adorne me haha.
Taking you with me on my week, is my way to have something to say on my blog in these lock-down times.
Nice sweater with the lime green accents, very “Greetje!” Ron is really a good photographer; can we hire him out as an instructor?? 😉 What a charming old town area, too.
How nice that you’re able to visit friends in person and keep distance! It shows how much you and your friends value each other, as does the fun “grab bag” gift. (I’m envious as most of my good friends live further away now.)
(BTW, sometimes all of your images don’t load at once. If I refresh the page, it will load a few more at a time. I don’t want to miss a thing!)
Ron doesn’t know how to operate the camera unfortunately, but he does have “the eye (for it)”. As you know, my country is very small so everybody lives near.
I am glad you told me about the images not loading at once. I had the same thing today on my computer with this post. Then I opened it on my iPhone and all the photos came at once. I will contact my tech lady.
Ron’s idea of the orange for that outfit was great! Sounds like a full week with friends, family and fun.
My husband is quite a good stylist (lucky me). He is very creative. Of course we don’t always agree, but I do seek his opinion very often.
Hi Greetje, looking good! I particularly like the shirt with the pink sequined collar, so pretty and unique!
Oh yes, that shirt with the sequined collar… I fell in love as soon as I saw it. Which happens to me a lot when I see stuff by Essentiel Antwerp. I am always raving about them. They should sponsor me haha. Alas, my blog is non commercial so that is never going to happen. Besides, they aim at a much younger target group.
Loved, loved all the pictures of your beautiful city!
Also like the sweater with the lime green. I like your style! Quirky and so European!
Keep up the good work, the city pictures bring back many great memories for me!
Renate
I will gladly keep up the good work Renate; I am glad you like my blog, which is my hobby. I was so pleased when I finally found this hobby 7 1/2 years ago. I never had one.
It is not always possible to show backgrounds from cities I go to. Sometimes a simple background has to do because we don’t have time. And now in Corona-times we don’t go anywhere different anyway.The outfits will vary though.