French Kande necklacesThere is a story to tell about these French Kande necklaces and it’s a long one, so get a cup of coffee or tea and make yourself comfortable.

It all began with my bloggy friend Susan of Une femme d’un certain âge. She loves the jewellery French Kande make and they have a studio not too far from where she lives. Susan bought quite a few things from them online and showed them on her blog and every time I thought “Oooohhh NICE…!”.

I looked at French Kande’s site and decided they weren’t cheap (which I could overlook, heh heh). However, it was too difficult to choose a necklace online; I want to try it on and see how it looks on me. It ships from the USA, which means fierce shipping costs and a custom fee to pay. Suppose I wouldn’t like what I had picked and had to send it back… no, I was not going to do that.

When I saw Susan in Paris in 2017, she wore her necklaces and I was drooling all over her (not nice for her, as you can imagine haha). Back in autumn 2019, we agreed to meet again in Paris for April 2020. Shortly after this decision I got a Whatsapp message from Susan: “There is a sample sale at the French Kande studio. Would I be interested in a necklace if she sent me photos?” Of course I was interested. We had a great time on Whatsapp, sending photos and messages: “Yes, I like that green one in the right corner of this overview photo”. “No, no, the one next to it.” “Right, that one; could you try it on for me and send me a photo how it looks on you?” “Oh that is perfect, but it could do with a second necklace, don’t you think? You always layer them as well”  etc etc. Susan was very sweet and we agreed on two necklaces. She paid for them, I sent her the money and in April she would bring them in her suitcase to Paris. She even bought me a bracelet as a present to go with the necklaces. Isn’t that kind?

Below: The French Kande necklaces plus bracelet.

French Kande necklaces

Well… Paris never happened of course. Instead, somewhere around the 20th of March, Susan sent me the necklaces by track and trace mail. Because, who knows when we will meet again.
And the waiting began…
I knew it could take 10 days, so I wasn’t too worried for the first 14 days. To cut this long story a little shorter: they arrived on the 9th of June. Poor Susan had made long telephone inquiries as where this jewellery had disappeared to. Two and a half months I waited for them, but the sweeter it is now they have finally arrived. I love them.

Ron took the photos in Haarlem, near the Frans Hals Museum.

Below: In the street of the museum you’ll find these lovely houses and trees. They were built as part of a hospital area, purely for investment. Old people who had been able to save some money could buy themselves a place in one of these houses and be assured of a roof over their head and being taken care of for the rest of their life. The hospital moved outside the city and only the fronts of these house remained, still forming a pretty picture.

French Kande necklaces

Below: Ron had me smell the hydrangea…. no scent at all.

French Kande necklaces

Below: Me and the hydrangea…

French Kande necklaces

Below: It is such a pretty place.

French Kande necklaces

Across the (very small) street is the Frans Hals Museum. The building of the museum consists of similar houses like the above ones. They were once used as a home for old men. They shared dormitories and had no kitchen as men weren’t expected to be able to cook. Very different from the almshouses for women I have told you about in previous posts. Later it became an orphanage and now it is a museum.

Below: First photo shows the left side of the building, then the beautiful old entrance and the third photo is the right side.

Haarlem Frans Hals Museum

Haarlem Frans Hals Museum

Haarlem Frans Hals Museum

Below: One last picture to tell you a few outfit details. The belt is old and has a dark golden buckle, perfectly matching the necklaces. I added some gold with the mini bag. The white slingbacks are braided leather and pretty darned comfortable. This heel height is a flat shoe to me. I bought them a size bigger because my feet always swell up in summer. The white trousers you have seen with the silver and blue blouse and the green jumper you saw with the pink trousers.

French Kande necklaces

Below: Close-up of the white braided shoes.

White braided shoes

Below: After the photo shoot, Ron got his ‘reward’: a cappuccino on a terrace. The restaurant we chose had signs clued to the table with a QR code. With your smartphone you could scan it, order what you want and pay. I do like these technical solutions. Very practical for Covid but also very handy for the entrepreneur as it requires less staff. Ron took photos from the terrace, among which this mother with her child in the child basket attached to the bike. That’s how Dutch mothers get about.

Woman with kid on a bike

What happened in my life this week

Saturday. As it was still hot, I wore the breeziest shirt I could find with summer trousers and sandals. As the sandals are new, you will see them in a future blog post.

My mother hadn’t seen many people all week so I paid her another visit. Luckily we gave her a portable air conditioning a couple of years ago for such hot days. (Ron’s idea.) Her house gets very hot.
Fun in the evening as our friends and neighbours invited us for dinner. Lovely evening with great food and a cake for dessert. I got a bit of a fright as my mum had texted me at 5 p.m. she ran a fever and was trying to get a ride to the hospital. I only discovered the message at 7 p.m. and phoned home. She had just arrived back and had medicines. Nothing major like Covid. Phew.

Sunday was the day of my visit to the hairdresser; always nice. You won’t see an outfit photo of this day as I wore a new combination. I have a lot of combinations in store for you. Not shockingly new as in newly bought but new as in combined with each other. Nothing extra special to tell about that day, apart from the fact I had hair extensions put in. More about that next week. I still have to get used to them. My worry is that you can spot the extensions. If so, I will have them removed.

Some light entertainment

A friend of mine sent me a link revealing the name and story of an Amsterdam street artist I admire. The man was inspired by Banksy and creates little funny pieces of art in the city. Depending whether somebody removes them or not, they live a short or long life. Here is an example. He put water taps on these little steel stairs into the water to get into a boat.

Street art

Monday. A trip to the garage to have my car checked for the annually required general car inspection. That turned out to be a bit more than the € 25 for the check-up as something was broken. These things happen. My outfit for that day (original at the end of this post with different pink shoes):

In the afternoon I scheduled an eyebrow appointment to apply permanent make-up. As I have very blonde eyebrows I colour them with eyebrow powder. Nothing special but if I must put sun protection on my face a couple of times a day, powder is very unhandy. The treatment wasn’t too bad and I look rather silly now. This will settle down over the coming weeks and in six weeks’ time there will be a little follow-up. Below two photos which look like a horror show:

Eyebrows close up

eyebrows with fringe

Tuesday. Made an appointment with the notary for an update of our will. We want one for when we die and one for when one of us (or both) end up mentally incapacitated. Few people know this but suppose one of us gets into a coma or becomes demented, the partner cannot just spend money, not even from a joint account. You must have a court order for any amount over € 250, which is ridiculous. We are taking measures to prevent such an unpleasant situation. Lots of things to talk through with one another of course. We already have deposited euthanasia declarations as well. Better to be safe than sorry.

In the afternoon I got my second earlobe piercing check-up. Everything is fine and it will take another 3 to 4 weeks before I can put my own earrings in. I would have liked to know in advance that it would take 3/4 of a year from having the earlobes repaired to new holes pierced and healed. I thought it was a process of three months. Had I known I would still have gone ahead with it but I would have been more patient. Managing expectations this is called. Wore this, which is a combination of my flared jeans, the above jumper and necklaces and the white ankle boots. Comfortable but too hot as the day progressed. Changed clothes four times that day…. Pffff.

Wednesday. Lunch with Loes. I missed our chats and lunches and so did she. Why not arrange a lunch without taking photos? But we did talk about how we could resume our photo sessions. We might have a solution. My outfit was again a new combination to be shown at a later date, but here is Loes:

Loes

Mum was still not feeling very well. Had some telephone calls with my mother’s GP and with her help. She seems OK but we will keep monitoring mum.
Anja came round in the afternoon and she is the ideal playmate for Watson. I have to show you these two photos of her and a wildly enthusiastic Watson. His head is to the back as he is trying to lick her face.

Anja wrestling with Watson

Anja wrestling with Watson

Thursday. My new eyebrows were not allowed to get wet and those extensions were so new to me, that I booked an appointment with the hairdresser for wash and blow-dry. That was wise. The girl who helped me, explained how I could best blow dry my hair myself. Money well spent.
Met a woman I knew at the salon and we had a coffee and a chat across the road.
Below: Wore this (link to original post with this green and yellow blouse). The shoes are my silver summer slingbacks.

Outfit 2nd of July 2020

Changed the shoes for sneakers in the afternoon as I visited my friend Marianne and took her to the doctor (nothing serious). As we were out and about anyway, Marianne and I went to a nearby restaurant. We had every intention of sitting on the terrace but the wind was too fierce and cold. Inside it was much better and there weren’t many people.

Below: Marianne, looking glamourous as always.

Marianne

Ron didn’t feel like cooking Thursday evening and wanted to go to our favourite steak restaurant. Alas, no chance as it was fully booked, including the huge terrace. We found a fish restaurant though and the food was very good.

Friday. Not much to tell about this day. Exercises in the morning, Anja came over for a coffee, I did some work in the garden, sewed a sequinned jumper, read a bit and worked on my blog. Life of a pensionada. Wore a new outfit combination so no photo. I am getting rather good at creating new combinations. (Finally !)
Mum was worrisome as she still felt really bad. Fortunately she got hold of the doctor late Friday afternoon (which, to me, is a miracle). The doctor even visited her (another miracle) and diagnosed. Some new medicines and nothing to worry about.

Greetje

No Fear of Fashion

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