Usually, I am a bit of a snob when it comes to clothes. I like them expensive. Not overly expensive, but to my experience I pay more than the average woman on an item. These brown vegan leather trousers are inexpensive to me and they might become my new go-to trousers. The brand is Yaya and I think they are Dutch. Their clothes are also available in Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland and Poland. Sorry my dear readers anywhere else in the world.

The yellow striped shirt you have seen before when I was in Antwerp with the Shopping Saturday girlfriends.

Ron agreed to do a photo shoot when it was dry for a few hours. We did the shoot at a mill, only 5 kilometres from our home. Kitty and I started a shoot here once with my bright blue blazer.

Below: The octagonal tower mill was built in 1779 and titled ‘De Santhaes’. The mill is still working. ‘Santhaes’ is the old Dutch spelling for ‘zandhaas’, literally translated ‘sand hare’.

Below: A tiny video of 5 seconds to see the sails turning.

Below: As the sun shone brightly (bad for photography unless you are skilled), we started across the road at an old barn where there was more shade.

Below: Ron spotted this hare decoration.

Below: Picturesque surroundings.

Below: Behind the barn is a wooden house, looking so cute.

Below: A bit further down we were trespassing really, as this bench is in front of a house. By the way…the vegan leather trousers are BROWN, not grey, not black but brown. Sometimes the colour shows up differently in photos.

Below: The outfit from the back. My suede booties by EIJK proved to be perfect again.

Below: We moved over to the mill and waited for a cloud to hide the sun. Impressive mill stone beside me.

Below: Looking inside the rain barrel, carefully avoiding spider webs.

Below: This photo shows you how impressive the mill is, compared to me.

Below: The inside of the mill (pinched from the internet).

Below: Inside the mill at the ground floor is a shop with (what I think are) locally produced wholesome products.

Below: I started taking photos with my iPhone. Apparently, my phone knows which settings to use when you are in a dark place. At the end you see Ron who is trying to take photos with the camera. Alas, there isn’t enough light for the camera.

Below: Of course, they sell flour.

Below: Their assortment is quite impressive. I love the clogs on the top shelf, covered with flour.

Below: We bought eggs and juice.

Below: I love these trousers because they are baggy. And they don’t show my belly because you can pull them down, which means the waist is now on a thinner part of my body and it makes my short upper body longer.
I had just washed both my hair and my hairpiece. Looks terrific.

Below: Time to pay. Couldn’t resist those oatmeal cookies next to the scale. Delicious.

Below: An old coffee bean grinder.

Below: When I see an old telephone like this, it always makes me smile. Because it reminds me of a test with two 18-year-old guys, who were asked to make a call with such a phone. They had no idea how it worked haha.

Below: Before leaving the mill shop Ron photographed the door hinges and the keyhole. It is covered with flour.

All in all, a surprise photo shoot.

What happened in my life this week

Saturday was a really odd day. It started with the cremation service for my friend Rolf which was so moving. So many people attended and he was clearly loved. No surprise there. His abundant love for his wife and children was heartwarming and made me cry the whole time. It was a great send-off.

Then in the afternoon, I met Marita for coffee, something we had agreed weeks ago. Weird how life goes on. It doesn’t mean I don’t think about Rolf or his wife anymore. Far from it. Especially with a strange brain like mine, these things can exist next to each other.

I can switch very fast and always look ahead. I’ll give you an example of my strange brain/character.

Once, when I was 21 (1975) I worked at an employment agency which paid the temporary employees in cash. Oh yes, we did that in those days.
A man came up to my desk, stuck a gun in my face and demanded money. It felt as if I was in another dimension. Of course, I gave him the money (but didn’t tell him about the rest in my other drawer) and he left. The whole time this took place (2 minutes) I was on the phone with a colleague of another location. I thought it was best not to speak to her during the robbery for obvious reasons, but when he was gone I told her. It took some convincing before she believed me and she phoned the police.

I felt a severe quiver going down my spine and that was it. I went to the bank with the money from my other drawer and changed it for smaller currency to pay our employees. The colleague who was with me during the robbery had gone to pieces, in tears and shivering, which is far more normal. I am weird.

Anyway, back to my coffee with Marita. Lovely as always.

Below: Marita. Her cardigan is by Twinset and bought in Italy.

Then there was the exposition of Misja’s photos in an adorable little church, together with three colleague photographers. Below: Misja in front of a few of her photos. She takes photos of mostly older people who are well dressed and publishes them on her blog MisjaB.

Below: A couple of Misja’s photos. The first one of the model with red boots were taken outside the Dries van Noten fashion show in Paris. I love her different angle.

Below: The top photo is also taken outside the fashion show of Dries van Noten and the others are people she finds in the streets, mostly in the Netherlands.

Below: Marjolein sent me this photo below of the Passage in The Hague. Hats hanging from the ceiling because of ‘Prinsjesdag’ (Prince’s day).

In the Netherlands, Budget Day is known as Prinsjesdag or ‘Prince’s Day’, and is held on the third Tuesday in September. On this day, the King delivers the Speech from the Throne, officially opening the parliamentary year. The King’s speech contains the government’s key plans for the year ahead. However, most people in the country are more interested in what the women in politics are wearing and especially their hats. It’s about the only occasion a hat is worn.

I am rambling I’m afraid. Moving from one topic to another without any cohesion.

Below: This is a joke by Ron. The old-fashioned enamel box is for matches and on the kitchen counter. The bottle next to it contains chilli oil which Ron loves to throw on most foods. I keep putting the bottle to the far right of the counter to protect it from the afternoon sun. Ron can never find it “because I keep moving that bottle”. Which made him do this: tying the box to the bottle. I burst out laughing when I spotted it.

Below: Couldn’t resist showing this photo of me and Evy, even though I said I wouldn’t post such photos any longer. She is hovering through the room and is able to sit. It will be a matter of weeks and she’ll crawl.

Photo Assignment of this week is Series

Images that tell a story, images that capture a mood, photos that together show a collection or a theme.

Below: Let’s continue and start with my series ‘Babies’ in a collage.

Below: The next collage is called Cats.

Below: And the last collage for this week’s Series is called Statues.

The annoying advertising line ‘Pic collage’ will only disappear if I start paying money for the app. And the blog is costing me enough so I don’t want to do that. The stupid thing is, I had an app for free and deleted it from my phone. When I tried to put it back on again it was no longer for free.

Onwards and upwards.

Greetje