When I saw this checked lime blazer in the shop window, I said to myself: “If that fits, it will be mine”. Head over heels. It is so me; loud and colourful haha. A real summer item, lightweight and it goes perfectly with my new white trousers. Excellent for the day with my friend Ineke. It is by MSGM, an Italian brand I thought didn’t exist anymore, but I found the website. The blazer was sold in the outlet of a nice store in Amsterdam and highly reduced.

Ineke and I go way back to the time I first started living and working in Amsterdam. I must have been 28 and she was my colleague. Ineke is typically Dutch, says it how it is, no sugar coating her words and I love that. You never have to second guess with her and she is fun and totally trustworthy.

As I walked up to the station to pick her up, I took photos of beautiful sites and buildings. I am however, convinced that I have featured most of them before.

Below: Lovely little canal.

Below: I deleted two cars out of the photo which is still a bit visible. They were ruining the building.

Below: I love the habit of city people to plant flowers on their doorstep. Makes everything so nice and it is good for the bees. Also, the city of Haarlem has put flower beds all through the centre for the bees.

Below: Three more great buildings/houses, all in the same street and in the lovely light of a sunny morning.

Below: Let me introduce Ineke. In the British tea shop I took 4 photos of her, all with different glasses. I think she is very good looking. Love her top and her necklace.

Below: After the energising coffee, we headed out and passed this shop. Did you see it before? I bet you did. The word “Kloffie” above the window is Dutch slang for “outfit”.

Below: The shoot. I wasn’t paying attention. Still fiddling with the outfit.

Below: OK, ready!!

It was Ineke’s idea to photograph me against the yellow wall (top photo) which I thought wouldn’t work. It worked like a charm.

Below: We went for the roses as backdrop. And I complained there was another bicycle ruining the view. Ineke, however, saw this as an asset. “It is green”, she said. Hence, I borrowed the bicycle to pose with.

Below: Then we got to a church, which gets the most attention in this photo. (I sat on a plastic bag which I brought with me; don’t worry.)

Below: I immediately reclaimed the centre of attention. Such an attention seeker.
I learned a new sitting pose from a photographer on Instagram. Which is why you see me leaning forward with my hand lightly touching my face. I shouldn’t really tell you this, as you will notice it every time from now on haha.

Below: Ineke insisted on taking a photo of me with my reading glasses on. The wind caught my hair, which I don’t mind when I am wearing my hairpiece.

Below: It is getting boring, but here is a close-up for the earrings by Lara Design. I wear these yellow ones often.

Below: Ineke works out and has very strong leg muscles. She could hold this position quite long.

Below: We were near a red light area and Ineke posed with the international sign for money, money, money.

Below: We had lunch in the most picturesque street of Haarlem, the Warmoesstraat. Ineke noticed that this house is built with a kink. The brickwork and the window. How quirky. I have been in this street a million times and never saw it.

Below: I did notice this large face brick in the same street. After some investigation, I found out that it was only put there in 2003 by the family who owns the house since 1867 and their surname is Van den Broek (broek = trousers).

Another great day with a friend, with laughter and chatting. My favourite pastime.

What happened in my life this week

Saturday Anke (of the Shopping Saturday) celebrated her birthday at the beach. She had turned 50 and wanted to celebrate that. We were lucky with the weather, especially because there were a lot of small children at the party. Always nice if they can play in the sand.

One of Anke’s many friends organised a tribute magazine for her. We all had to hand in 1 page with photo and text and she gathered everything, made it print-ready and had it printed. Such a nice idea. Of course, Sabine and I created 2 pages together which was great fun. Loyal readers know that the three of us have had many Shopping Saturdays together; there was no shortage of photos. See the pages below with Dutch text, of course.

Below: Anke was so pleased with her magazine. Doesn’t she look great in her vintage Max Mara dress? Queen of the ball.

One of my Dutch readers (there aren’t many) suggested a course for my posture improvement. I enrolled immediately and am doing exercises since Monday evening. Weird exercises which are difficult for me as there are many instructions like “do this with your left hand and at the same time turn to your right and also turn your face to the right but keep your mouth down” (just a silly example). Something like that.

I get why I have to do it, but I have great difficulty with doing multiple things with my limbs at the same time, and I also need to think hard what is left and what is right. If I give directions in the car, I always say: “Follow my hand indications and don’t listen to my voice”, as I can indicate “left” with my hand and say “right” with my mouth.

There is a lesson every day and sometimes a Zoom presentation. It will keep me busy for a while. Fingers crossed it works.

Below: Loes is back from her holiday in France and we caught up over a cup of coffee.

Rest of the week was chores, grandchildren and…getting rid of all my high heels.

Below: I hardly ever part with my shoes, which means that some of them are ancient. But a pump is a pump, not much has changed in that area. Now that I cannot walk on them anymore, they had to go and make room for my new shoes. There might be a few lingering in the back of my wardrobe but I don’t think so. I found a welcoming home for all of them.

Greetje