Ron offered to do a photo shoot at Haarlem Culinair which is a yearly summer event at the market square of Haarlem. As the name indicates, it is about food. Being another hot day, I wore my cream dress with brown accessories this time. You saw the dress for the first time in this post with blue accessories. Today’s look started with the dress and the sandals by Vic Matié. I bought the sandals at LAB, Women’s Clothing, one of my favourite places in Haarlem for clothes and shoes.

The sandals don’t give me blisters (yay) and the Roman style diverts the eye away from my rather flat feet. The necklace, echoing the round adornment on the sandal, is ancient and the bracelet I bought in Rome when I was there with my friend Lia in 2012. I do like to hang on to good accessories.

Below: The brown earrings (also round) are by Lara Design. I had to push the plant aside a bit, otherwise the camera would have focussed on the plant and not on me.

Ron and I walked to the centre of town, saying hello to Karlijn at kpa.haarlem, another one of my favourite clothes shops.

Below: Karlijn recommended this square, Prinsenhof, to start our photo shoot. I have been here before (where have I not been?) in October 2018 when the light was better. It was now around 4 pm which means harsh light and the square was vibrating in the sun.

Below: Beautiful sign for the Prinsenhof.

Below: We walked on through the little alleys. See the narrow house at the end of the alley with the numbers 1834 at the top?

Below: The building marked 1834 is very small. Its ground floor has a gateway to a courtyard, though there may be an apartment behind the windows above. The house on the left is more ornate but its ground floor is occupied by unremarkable modern shops.

Below: In one of the most historical and beautiful streets in Haarlem, the Warmoesstraat.

Below: As I walked up to Ron he said: “Now show me your briefs” and I pretended I was going to (NOT of course). It made a girl who was watching us, nearly choke on her food with laughter haha.

Below: We were near the big church and Marcella of Lara Design, had just opened her little shop the day before. The shop is small and so cute, built against the church.
She is still putting up shelves and working out how to use the space to display her jewellery attractively and clearly.

Below: I think she is doing a pretty good job already.

Below: Some more for you to see? Never too many photos, right?

Below: I managed not to buy another pair but I know I am going to. It is like being a child in a sweetshop.

Below: Although Marcella is still busy arranging everything in the shop, there is no shortage of clients.

Below: One happy, happy Marcella. She made her hobby her work and she is a terrific sales woman. Always honest (she goes for a long-term relationship with her clients, not a quick sale) and she sees what is best for the client.

Below: On to the market square, discovering a sitting-down opportunity.

Below: The big market square is to the left. The square is surrounded by historical buildings, the town hall, the church and numerous terraces.

Below: We turned left and arrived at Haarlem Culinair. The lampshade-looking contraption is to shield the performing artists from rain or sunshine.

Below: Here you see a band performing (underneath the word BAR). We felt a bit sorry for them. Everybody was more interested in talking to each other.

Below: I was very interested in the ‘scroppino’, which is a cocktail made with lemon sorbet ice, a bit of cream, vodka and/or limoncello and a bit of prosecco. Normally I don’t drink alcohol much, I don’t even like wine or beer or spirits. However, I do love any coffee flavoured liqueur and many cocktails. I have a sweet tooth.

Below: Ron asked me “What was so funny?” when he saw this photo. As usual I could not remember. It might have been the sign language from a couple a few metres away. The ring is one of many Bakelite rings I once got as a gift from a fellow Instagram woman. So kind.

Below: Many local restaurants serve small portions of their best dishes. Well, that is how it started the first year. We really liked it then. Other years, it was overpriced, you couldn’t get a table or a seat and we didn’t bother going back. No idea what it is like now as we didn’t eat anything.

Below: It was crowded but not overly crowded, like it was in previous years. The atmosphere was relaxed. Mind you, we were there between 4 and 5 pm. It might have been busier around dinner time.

Below: Just before we walked home, Ron took photos of my accessories. The watch is antique and the ring was the subject of all the jeweller’s shenanigans when I had it enlarged.

Below: One last artistic photo by Ron to end this section of the post.

What happened in my life this week

Not an awful lot. Sunday was the photo shoot with Ron (above). I didn’t move much (which is bad for your body and health).

I sat in the garden in the morning (below), picking up the many, many leaves that the big tree sheds during the summer.

Even though I really liked the garden, some plants were getting too big or pushing others out and there were many weeds in between the plants. So I called the gardener to trim the lot, now that the plants are still visible. In February when he usually comes, everything is below ground.
Ron saw the need for the gardener but was afraid it would leave the garden awkward with empty spots. Luckily, our gardener is skilled and made sure we can still enjoy the garden for a couple of months.

Below: This is the garden after the gardener did his work. And I cleaned the shed’s gutter. Another thing that needs to be done once in a while.

Ron had this idea for an experiment. He grew sunflowers and bought a large, old clock-face. The idea was to put the sunflower in a pot on the dial and let the flower tell the time, instead of the shadow of a gnomon (shadow caster). “After all”, he said, “A sunflower is called ‘tournesol’ in French”, which means turn with the sun.

He gave our friend Froukje one for their garden too. Ron and Froukje are always busy with garden things and allotment progress.
Below: Then Froukje sent him an email saying:
“First, something very important; in future, I’d rather not have a hanging clock anymore…”
Whahahaha.

I was puzzled anyway, as the sunflowers did not seem to turn with the sun. Well, that is because only the young flower buds rotate with the sun. Once the flower is in full bloom the rotating stops and the flower is permanently pointing to the east. Another lesson learned.

On Friday my friend Jeanne (from secondary school) and I visited the royal palace in Amsterdam. More about that in a future post.

Greetje