Here is the second purchase from my Paris haul. Or should I say, here are two purchases, as in fact, this grey floral co-ord consists of trousers and a jacket. I styled the jacket with white trousers too and it looks good. Haven’t styled the trousers separately yet. That seems trickier.

I met my friend and former colleague Arian in Amersfoort and she was kind enough to take the photos.

Below: Beautiful old Amersfoort.

Below: We started in a haberdashery shop, looking for buttons. These old-fashioned haberdashery shops are hard to find nowadays.

Perhaps, as sewing seems to be ‘en vogue’ again, shops like this may survive and might even multiply.

Below: I chose a black and white checked tote as my bag for the day. It could hold the camera as well. This bag was a present from my friend Marianne and I used it in Paris too. It held my fancy bag plus a water flask.

Below: Roaming through Amersfoort.

Below: No idea what this was, but it was at the market square, so I suppose, in the old days, things were weighed here.

Below: Next to this ‘weighing spot’ was a terrace, sheltered from the wind and perfect for lunch.

Below: Arian with a fashionable leopard cardigan/jacket.

Below: A sunny spot on the square with yellow flowers, nicely matching my jumper and earrings.

Below: Amersfoort is an old town and well preserved.

Below: I’d say, even very well preserved.
The little triangle-shaped bit sticking out at the top, hides a hook with which you can hoist things up, rather than taking it up the stairs. Very handy when moving big furniture.

Below: Old houses, old stairs. I love this suit and have worn it many times already. Early spring is the ideal season for it. It feels like wearing PJ’s.

It was a fun day with a lot of chatting.

A little throw-back to when Marita and I were having coffee Saturday two weeks ago, as you saw in last week’s post. This photo below was taken by the waitress but I couldn’t post it last week as it would have given away part of today’s outfit. It also shows you the chunks of ‘boterkoek’ (butter cookies) I still had left after finishing two pieces.

What happened in my life this week

Saturday was a summer day. Bright, warm and full of sunshine. We bought some plants for the garden and Ron put them all in. Alas, the pond hose had another leak and Ron couldn’t repair it. For now, some of the plants won’t be short of water…
We prepared for our brothers and SIL’s to visit the next day; shopping for food and drinks and just enjoyed the lovely day.

Sunday they were all at our house and we had a delightful afternoon chatting away. At the end of the day Ron had to walk Watson in the woods and the rest of us walked to the centre of town to watch the Bloemencorso (annual flower parade). I wasn’t impressed. It might have been because we were a bit late (an hour before they were moving on), or perhaps because it had been really hot the day before or perhaps because I have seen it all many times before. Nevertheless, below are three of the many flower arrangement displays that I did like.

Monday I drove past the flower fields which is a pretty sight. So I stopped and took this photo below. There are many such fields within half an hour’s drive from my home. Behind the pastel-coloured flowers you can see red and yellow ones too. It isn’t often that you can park your car and take a photo as the growers don’t want a bunch of tourists treading all over their flowers because they want “a photo of themselves taken between all those gorgeous flowers”.
One entrepreneur saw the opportunity and opened a field of tulips for tourists to take a photo. Entrance fee €12 to €14. See this previous post in which I was still wearing my gorgeous high heeled silver slingbacks. I did find another accessible field in this post.

In the afternoon I visited Marianne who is in a right state. She fell and badly bruised her right hand, wrist and arm. And she needs her right arm and hand for all sorts of things. I won’t go into detail but let’s say she is in a lot of trouble. Thank goodness she has help but it is going to be a trying time for her. As you can imagine she wasn’t up for a photo, so I took an outfit selfie (below). Link to original post but with different boots.

Tuesday Janna (below) and I met in Amsterdam for lunch, chatting, coffee and photos.

Janna posts her outfits on Instagram (@timelessstyle.nl) and that is how we met a couple of years ago. Since then we met numerous times and have been on a course how to model together.

Below: Knowing that we would be taking photos, Janna was of course dressed for the occasion. Great skirt and top.

Below: I wore my green suit which was just right for the weather. (Link to original post.)

Below: After taking photos, we continued chatting on this bench outside a restaurant which was still closed. A friendly woman took a photo of us together.

Below: Then we spotted this striking lady, and we both went “Oooohh”. I ran and asked whether I could take her photo.

Below: Earlier on I had been going in and out of shops in the Leidsestraat in Amsterdam. One of the shops was COS where I tried on this summer dress. I was drawn to the pink one (hanging on the right) which is the same as the brown one I was trying on. Alas, the shape was totally wrong for me. Because of my ample bosom, the dress stuck out at the front, making me look matronly or pregnant (probably the first, given my age LOL).

Below: As I walked through Leidsestraat, I looked up and saw this building with the stained glass and the statues. In an old city it is best to always look up (with someone else guiding you as a blind person).

Below: Amsterdam canal with a boat and a terrace, cause you love this so much.

Thursday Anja and I facetimed. There are a lot of bad things to say about Facebook, Google, Apple, Amazon etc etc, but things like Facetime are great. It allows Anja and I to maintain our friendship like we did when she lived three doors down instead of in Spain.

In the afternoon neighbour Audrey and I visited a neighbour Tom who was hospitalised after a fall. He is 91, nearly toothless, can hear almost nothing and has a few screws loose. You can imagine that the hospital visit wasn’t easy so I was glad Audrey and I went together.

Friday we were babysitting.

Greetje