What I thought was a bit of an average outfit, turned out to be really good (IMHO). Credits for Misja who advised me not to turn up the hems but to leave them long. Made a world of difference. The creation of this outfit started with the pink and orange brooch. I still love this brooch which is highly unusual as it is created from (or with) paint. The artist (Xenia Walschikow) won an award with it, but it has some drawbacks.
There are 5 pins sticking out at the back which go through the fabric of your garment. Then you have to secure these pins on the inside with pin holders. It is murder to get it on, even if you lay your top on the bed and try it there. Another drawback is the weight. If I wear it underneath my shoulder instead of on top of it, it pulls the top down as you can see in this post of 2018. It was pulling less when I wore it on a jumper in this post. Nevertheless I still love it and it always gets many compliments.
My darling husband Ron took me to Zaanse Schans which is a residential area in which the 18th and 19th centuries are brought to life. There are even people still living there.
Below: As you can see, there are windmills as well.
Below: A strong wind made me totter a bit. Wind makes those mills work of course, only not for the mill behind me, as it had no canvas covering the blades. Had the wind become really fierce, the blades would have turned without need of canvas covers.
The position of the resting blades give a message. There is a position for something cheerful like a wedding or a newborn and one for mourning. One for when the miller is off for a few days. One for a longer period of no milling as during the summer. And on special occasions like a coronation, the blades will be adorned with flags.
Below: We started with the sitting down pose (my favourite). The sandals are years old and are very comfortable although they don’t look it. The company who made them (Bellamy Gallery) discontinued them.
Below: The many wooden houses are all painted green or black.
Below: We nearly turned back because the place was swamped with tourists. I am glad we persevered as I think Ron took many great photos.
The people who were standing behind me in this photo, I have turned into grass.
Below: The Zaanse Schans have shops which are in character with the age they were built. For instance the one below was a bakery and a sweet shop.
Below: We went inside and had a waffle (delicious) and a coffee in the front room, decorated in the old style (1734). We think that the blue bit at the back was a cupboard bed.
Below: Tiles and stove. Gosh, my parents had such a coal bucket when I was a child.
Below: With this machine they used to make speculoos. You put the dough in at the top, turn the wheel and the dough would be pressed into the moulds, ready to bake.
Below: We saw this above the door, which is why we knew the date so well. I had trouble reading it, but Ron was sure it is 1734.
Below: Isn’t this a perfect picture? Four windmills and an old wooden house, a cow and meadows.
I have a confession to make. The photo above is highly photoshopped. Because it is such a nice area, tourists were crawling all over the place. Like I did with another photo above, I turned them all into grass. Apparently around six p.m. is the best time to visit when you want to avoid the crowds.
Below: This photo demonstrates the crowd. So many people! It was hard to take a photo without other people in it.
Below: It is a bit of a shame it was cloudy weather as this photo looks a bit sombre, but it was great weather for taking outfit photos.
Below: THIS IS NOT at Zaanse Schans, it is a photo that was used by Google as screen saver. It is in the Netherlands, at Kinderdijk where you will find about 19 windmills (on the world heritage list of UNESCO). It struck me how different a photo can be when the light is right. The photographer also chose a good position to take the photo, with the reflection of the mills in the water.
Below: As I said, good light for outfit photos. A really good shot by darling Ron. The bracelets are by Lara Design, one orange and one green for an extra pop of colour. I kept the earrings demure as the brooch was the focus point.
Below: Isn’t it a beauty?
Below: Across the river were more old houses although these are not part of the Zaanse Schans, just normal, but old houses.
Below: The water and those houses are such a good background for an outfit.
Below: Some mills had canvas on their blades and some didn’t.
Below: This green mill is probably a sawmill (lumber mill). The people of this area in the 18th and 19th century developed various industrial mills through all kinds of handy inventions, from which all sorts of things rolled out like machine-sawn wood, paper, ground spices, oil for food and paint, dyes, all kinds of fibres, flour, cocoa powder, and much more. You can read more about Zaanse Schans here.
Below: Leaving Zaanse Schans with one last photo.
Below: This building is a hotel in the nearby town Zaandam. They made it look like a piling stack of old Zaanse houses. I think it is quaint and love it.
Below: Ron, the man, took me to a restaurant which held romantic memories. He is such a romantic. The colours of the photo are a bit weird. He was wearing a pale pink polo shirt which doesn’t show.
Below: And here am I, adoring him.
A terrific day.
What happened in my life this week
Well…Errol is going on holiday with Jilske. That bird is finally going to see something of the world.
Ron tried to persuade me a couple of times to go to town and have a drink but I declined. I said “Then it isn’t special anymore, it will lose its shine. Like when you eat cakes every day, you don’t enjoy it as much.” He now comes up with lines all the time that say “the shine is gone”.
Had appointments with my dental hygienist and my dentist. I got praised by both so I asked for a sticker, the way I used to get rewarded in first grade of primary school. LOL
Below: While visiting Marianne, I took this horrible selfie, although Marianne looks pretty good. She had her hair done, but I got the impression, she wasn’t too thrilled about it. She is wearing her “summer glasses”.
Below: The outfit I was wearing, exactly as in the original post here, I only changed the earrings.
Below: This is a ‘very-hot-day’ outfit. You don’t even feel the dress as it is so lightweight and the shoes don’t give me blisters or anything. I bought the dress in Spain and wore it when I visited my friend Anja there (see this post). When I took this photo in the morning, the indoor light didn’t help to bring out the right colour.
Below: I met Sara again, who is over from the USA. (Sara is British by the way). (You saw her in last week’s post.)
It was a hot, hot day. She and her husband rented an Airbnb with quite a substantial garden, so we sat there, in the shade, all afternoon. Her husband Herman took the photo. Well, he took several photos of us, which gave us the giggles. We were either pulling faces, looking grumpy, looking funny or there was sunshine on Sara’s face creating a mustache of light. The photo below is the best one, although I have my eyes closed, Sara is looking seriously and we are sitting rather prim and proper haha. The colour of my dress is more accurate in this photo.
I went to the beach with Ron on a day when it wasn’t particularly warm but it was still pleasant. Quality time together.
Below: Coming back from the beach I looked like a tramp, so I showered, did my hair and put on something nice. My palazzo trousers which I also wore on holiday in France. I changed the necklace for the fox brooch from the Noordermarkt in Amsterdam. I like the juxtaposition of being dressed elegantly and then adding a totally kitsch brooch.
Below: Close-up of the fox brooch. It is quite heavy, so I attach it to my bra strap.
Greetje
Leave a reply