You may think I am on holiday in a Mediterranean country but it is only a wall painting behind me. My friend Jacqueline took the photos of this teal and cream outfit and did very well. Only…I had forgotten to change one camera setting back to automatic (ISO for the ones who know these things). I am taking a photography course and we are experimenting with all sorts of settings and I thought I had changed everything back to what I want for blog photos. I did not. The ISO was set at 12,800 and it should have been 100. Even if you don’t know what that means, you know that this much difference is bad. It meant the photos weren’t sharp. Tough, but I am using them anyway.
Below: Jacqueline and me in the restaurant where we had lunch and where we took photos in their courtyard. She is a darned good coach and I am not saying that because she is my friend. She gets raving reviews and works for universities as well. Aside from that she is a darling.
Below: My orange bag is the third colour in this outfit. Two colours are usually boring, although not always.
Below: Wearing my gold-plated paperclip earrings by Lara Design. She also sells similar clip earrings. The jumper is from kpa.haarlem. Great shop.
Below: This is how I could also wear it. It is a bit less interesting but still.
(My apologies for the mess in the room. Usually I clear everything away before I take a photo haha. This one was just for my memory, not be used on the blog.)
Below: This custom-made coat is perfect for autumn when you aren’t wearing bulky clothes yet but do need warmth when you go out. See how well the pattern matches at the seams? (Link to the original post with this coat.)
Below: The coat is fully lined and my friend Katrien (the designer of this coat) made me a matching scarf from the lining fabric.
Below: A couple of days later I wore the same outfit but switched the jumper for my houndstooth blazer. Pattern mixing! Something I rarely do, but these colours were so similar.
Below: I was meeting Marita for a coffee in town and I saw one of my neighbours passing the restaurant. As this neighbour is a professional photographer, I asked him to take a few photos with my camera. He was kind enough to do so while grumbling I needed to buy a decent camera haha. No thank you, this one was expensive enough. (My hair was as flat as a pancake.)
Below: I adore these Toral boots with the lower heel. I have them in burgundy as well. My high heels may be gone, but on these heels I can walk easily.
Below: No idea why these people are strangely dressed. Halloween perhaps? They were in front of the restaurant and I couldn’t resist taking a photo.
Below: My friend Marita. She bought the trousers at kpa.haarlem as she is a fan of that shop as well. One day we might turn up wearing the same thing LOL. Her men’s blazer is from a second-hand store called Paragons. I think she looks cool.
What happened in my life this week
On Saturday I had coffee with Marita (photos above) whom I hadn’t seen for quite a while. It was raining cats and dogs that day, so we cut our get-together short to profit from a few dry minutes and go home without getting soaked.
In the evening Ron and I were invited for dinner by our friends and neighbours Froukje and Petro. I was sitting in this beautiful design chair which turned out to be a bad idea. When I got up, my knee hurt like hell and I let out a cry. Sitting on a straight chair is better for me. Another thing learned. (Dinner was delicious by the way.)
Photography course
On Sunday the photography course which I am attending, took place at Avifauna, a park with special birds and mammals. A lot of them are behind fences, but there is one area, the Madagascar area, where you can see African birds very close, for example the cranes and guinea fowl. I loved the fluffy ring-tailed lemurs, red-bellied lemurs and red ruffed lemurs. I took three photos of ring-tailed lemurs and when I saw them, I could hear them talk and gossip. So I created a little cartoon with the 3 photos. See below.
I am not a good photographer. I don’t have the eye nor the passion. But I still like the course very much and was proud of the photos I took. But that is a hereditary thing. My father was always very proud of work he had done (for instance putting in a new ceiling or painting a wall) and everybody had to hear about it. My brother and I are exactly the same haha. Very proud of our accomplishments. Not the finest trait.
I won’t bore you with the 32 photos I thought were brilliant (…) but I will show you a few.
Below: Another lemur, taken while he was jumping from one branch to another. Animals on the move are hard to capture.
Below: Two other lemurs. Aren’t they cute?
There were a lot of birds too and I did take a few nice photos, but they are not as good as the lemur ones.
Below: Two typically Dutch landscapes. I took those on my way home, stopping at a lay-by, mainly because the clouds were so good.
Below: Marcella stopped by and she was wearing new earrings.
Below: On Tuesday Marjolein and I did a photoshoot at a mall as it was raining again! It has been such a wet week. Here she is, dressed in her favourite colour, purple, looking splendid.
Below: It is autumn in the garden as well. Ron put a net over the pond, mainly to stop leaves falling in the water, but we hope it will also stop herons eating the fish in winter. Sophie, our cat (at the edge of the pond) always drinks from the pond, so she isn’t pleased with the net.
On Thursday I went to the film with Monique: Past lives. It is a ‘quiet’ film about human emotions and they were portrayed very well.
Friday I had coffee and lunch with Kitty (below).
After lunch I rushed to my mum in the nursing home. She is doing well, although she is still tired. It was a relief for her to have her hair done. That was really necessary. I bet it helps to make her feel better.
Greetje
Little things that feel “normal” like having your hair done – I’m glad your mum had that, and I hope she is feeling better.
I like that you’re playing with your proportions with the shirt and jumper’s hems – this is a great leggy look (I am forever envious of your long legs), and I adore the boots. And you have them in burgundy? I love the orange bag with the outfit, a lovely pop of colour.
The party people look like they’re wizards – the yellow/burgundy striped scarf is a Harry Potter thing. Your friends are all so stylish and chic – the all-black outfit is so badass.
Love the lemur pictures!
Mum is feeling better I think. She is much perkier on the phone.
As for the boots, I wouldn’t mind having them in all colours of the rainbow.
It is indeed a good look to show off my long legs. Emphasize what you’ve got, right?
My friends all make an effort to dress nicely when they know I am around with my camera haha. Bless them.
I love all the outfits you put together, lemur photos and your friends too, I think you could compile your best photos in a coffee table book about your fashionista travels. The architecture, flowers, sites and animals along the way are delightful!
Wouldn’t that be something! My very own book. Unfortunately I don’t think it would sell well. I’d better stick to my blog. But thank you for the faith in me.
I like the main outfit very much. Such stylish boots too. You are looking great. And the animal photos are interesting. Yes, I agree. The lemurs are very cute. We are rainy too and expecting our first freeze tonight. Take care of the knee.
I checked the boots over the trousers with the owner of a clothes shop I know (shop is LAB Clothes for women). I’ll send her a photo through Whatapp and she’ll tell me whether the outfit is OK or what could be changed. I don’t do that too often as I don’t want to be a nuisance. I think it is very kind of her to advise me like this.
Great outfit with the teal, love the boots too. Like Marjolein, I’m also a big fan of purple and have quite a few pieces in my wardrobe! Marita’s androgynous outfit is cool too. My husband often photographs clouds; we’re lucky to have amazing light here (about 50km from Bordeaux) and they change all the time. Hope your mum feels better soon!
Like Marguerite, I never tire of seeing who you’ll have a playdate with- where you’ll go and what you’ll wear and the little honest anecdotes along the way. Never boring !
Thanks for this feed-back Cathy. It is nice to know I am not boring my readers, assuming you are the voice of my readers haha.
Sounds like you enjoyed the post.
Next Sunday Marjolein will be dressed in purple as well, so you’re in for a treat haha.
Mum is feeling better I think.
I loved your outfit! The colors and that jacket are prefect with your zebra print shirt! Your boots are so very pretty; I know you will enjoy them! Your taste in boots is really good!
So very nice to see all of your friends, they all look beautiful.
Your pictures are all very good as well. I enjoyed them a lot. Animals are so interesting.
I’m glad you lovely mother is doing well. Having your hair done makes me feel good too!
How do you have such a wonderful figure and have lunch out so often? I’m assuming you eat dinner that evening.
You know I never noticed that the print on the shirt was zebra?
I do enjoy my boots very much. So lucky to find them with this low heel.
Usually I do not have an elaborate lunch and I check the scale regularly. When I hit the highest weight I ever want to weigh, I stop having lunchen, sweets, French cheese etc. until I have some margin again. And yes, I eat dinner every evening, but if I have to watch my weight, it usually is only vegetables and a piece of biological or artificial meat.
Greetings from Southern California. I am sorry that your knees bothered you rising from the chair at your neighbor’s home, but did you notice how perfectly the stool on the right and the planter on the left complemented your lovely outfit. Thanks again for a wonderful “visit”.
I hadn’t noticed the plants yet haha. Sometimes you just get lucky.
Love it all, the standout for me was Marjolein’s purple outfit! 😍
Marjolein’s purple outfit is fantastic. I love how her styling contributes to the blog. That is definitely a bonus. She is as crazy about clothes (and the rest) as I am. We used to swap a lot when we lived one street away from each other in our early twenties.
Great blog as always. I noticed the perfectly matched seams even before reading your comment. I used to sew a lot of my own clothes and seams not matching drives me crazy, not to mention it screams: “poor quality”.
My mother taught me that as well. Seams need to match, otherwise, as you say, “poor quality”. My mother sewed a lot for me, so I know a bit about sewing and fabric. Once you learned this about the matching seams, you cannot buy a garment that has seams not matching.
I like the cream outfit with the pop of orange purse. Also, wanted to tell you that we were in Amsterdam last week for two days. Our canal cruise was in the rain : ( but the next day was dry and a bit of sun for most of our touring time. I loved the city and the architecture is beautiful. Two days of course was not enough and I look forward to returning another time.
Oh that is fun. Visiting any city should be done in nice weather. Such a bummer when it rains. Unfortunately, the weather in my country is unpredictable. There isn’t so much greenery for nothing.
Great teal and cream outfit – you look great! And I love your cartoon – very funny.
Have a good week.
Although it took me one and a half hour to create that cartoon, I had so much fun with it. And the sense of accomplishment was also a good feeling.
I enjoy your blog so much! Thank you for sharing your life, your beautiful country and your friends. I enjoy all the coffee dates vicariously. Marguerite
I sometimes wonder whether my readers don’t get bored with yet another photo of a friend and me, having coffee. So thank you for this reassuring comment.
I’m a big fan of the orange handbag — love!
I never knew I could use that orange handbag so much. You can use it as a wide shopper or as a normal bag. This is the link to the brand:
https://www.giannichiarini.com/en/bags/
Those are fab boots Greetje, and I love the lemurs.
Thanks Lise. The lemurs are really cuddly, aren’t they? The boots were heaven sent, elegant with a low heel.
I love the big orange bag! and also Marjolein’s purple trousers. Might you be able to tell me where to find either of them, or similar? As I’m in London we won’t be duplicating each other!
I wouldn’t mind if we were duplicating. This is the website of the bag:
https://www.giannichiarini.com/en/bags/
I will ask Marjolein about her trousers.
I think you will have a hard time finding Marjolein’s purple trousers. She took the label out but in the seam she found a name. Maglificio Y.Y., Via Torricelli 24A, Prato. But they don’t have a webshop, they are probably a wholesaler.
I love your landscape photos!!
As I said in my post, I am very proud of my photos haha. You’d think I would take up photography as a hobby, but I just don’t know what to do with the photos. It seams rather pointless.