After leaving the Flowers Forever exhibition (featured in my blog post two weeks ago), we were guided through the museum shop – can you blame them? The exhibition was colourful, and so was the Iris Nijenhuis necklace I bought there. I’d had my eye on this type of necklace for years. The very helpful shop assistant put it around my neck. Sold.

Below: Close-up of the necklace to show you how intricate this design is. If you want to see it in more detail and know how it is created, click this link to Iris Nijenhuis’ website (in English). As you know, I don’t get paid for this link, nor did I get the necklaces for free or with discount. I have just been a fan for a long time but never bought one until now.

The outfit part of this post will be a bit shorter than usual as I didn’t do a tour through Haarlem. Instead, I met my friend Anja, who lives in Spain now and who was in the Netherlands for a visit.

Below: Anja.

We arranged to meet at 4 PM for a drink and then have dinner together. So nice of her to come to Haarlem. It took me 10 minutes or less on my bike to get to the centre of town and she had to go all the way back by train to the middle of the country.

We started with taking blog photos as it was still light.

Below: There was a fierce wind blowing, billowing my shirt.

Below: The wind died down a bit but not much. Although the silver belt, bag and shoes are rather matchy matchy, it felt good. That way this outfit is cohesive with focus on the necklace and the necklace deserves that.

Below: The sitting down pose. Not much variation in this post. My darling husband remarked last week that all those blue veins and blotches on my ankles weren’t very nice, should I not cover them up? I told him that this was the result of getting older and the only way to get rid of them, is to ask a dermatologist to remove all that. Which is very expensive and a big area needs to be done. It is not just the legs, it is the face and arms as well. Actually, as we say in the Netherlands: “It is like mopping with the tap open and the water running”. It is a literal translation but doesn’t need explanation, does it?

Below: Anja at the restaurant, a photo you saw last week as well. She is drinking Aperol spritz, her guilty pleasure.

Below: Me with a porn star martini. I actually don’t drink much alcohol but it seems I have a cocktail in my hand in many blog posts. I look like the cat who has got the cream.

Below: Checking the photos Anja took. Very elegant pose…NOT.

Anyway, fun afternoon, fun evening and lovely to see Anja again.

What happened in my life this week

Last weekend I toured through Haarlem with the mum of my American neighbour Mandy. Mandy and her husband were away for a few days and Mandy’s mum was looking after her grandchildren and the dog. To give grandma a bit of a break, an au pair girl from another family came that weekend from 11 to 4 and looked after the kids and took them to places. Mandy had asked whether I would like to go and have a coffee with her mum (called Sheryl). Of course I didn’t mind. I even loved the idea. It turned out we got on like a house on fire and spent both Saturday and Sunday together.

Below: Sheryl at Marcella’s shop, Lara Design. Sheryl couldn’t resist the earrings either haha.

Below: Sunday started with drizzle and a bit of rain. We decided to ‘do’ Teylers Museum. As it was ‘Open Monument Days’ you could visit many historical buildings that were usually not open to the public. Teylers Museum is of course, but this time we could also visit the upper floor, where I had never been before.

(Links to two previous posts at Teylers Museum, one post featuring a fuchsia maxi skirt and another post with these barrel jeans and a green jumper. These posts show you more of what is to see at the museum.)

Below: From above I could take a photo of one of the main halls. So good. The doors you see on the first floor are covered with green fabric to protect all the books behind the glass. Teylers Museum has a multifaceted (natural) sciences collection. Between 1778 and 1950, the museum was above all a dynamic research institute. You can find minerals, fossils, instruments (I love the largest Electrostatic Generator in the world) and books.

Below: This visit I got to see the books on the first floor, hidden behind the green doors. IMPRESSIVE.

We walked out of the museum and the sun had decided to come out again. Lunch on a terrace and a short visit to an almshouse courtyard.

Below: Sheryl at the restaurant.

Below: Me and Sheryl at the almshouse courtyard. I have been here before with my friend Loes, in April 2022 when the trees were still bare. Nice to see it green and with flowers. If you scroll down in this post, you can see more of the courtyard.

Monday was another photo shoot day with Marjolein and we laughed so hard.

Tuesday, we took dog Watson to the beach as it was still gorgeous weather.

Below: Watson chasing seagulls (he never catches them).

Unfortunately, the poor dog is still sick, he still has chronically inflamed nostrils. We stopped the prednisone (gradually) as it didn’t seem to work but in the following weeks after stopping, he got worse and worse so now he is back on prednisone. We have the most skilled ENT doctor for dogs who has lots of work experience with the most prestigious university clinics, even lectures at the university.

WARNING: GROSS STORY

We checked whether the dog suffers with all this sneezing and snot spreading. Well, the dog doesn’t. However, we do. If you do not clear the snot away immediately, it becomes like glue and you have to scrape it off the parquet floor. As you can imagine, we cannot let him stay at someone else’s house in this condition.
I spoke to my friend Helena (see further down) and she told me that the same happened to their dog a few years ago. In the end they had to put him to sleep. I cried and slept so badly with that prospect. Let’s hope that a new treatment course clears things up. Keep your fingers crossed.

Below: I amused myself at the beach by taking photos of sparrows on the beach terrace, keen to eat a bit of apple pie.

Below: Had such a lovely day with my friend Helena (apart from the dog story). I hadn’t seen her for quite a while but that never bothers us. We just pick up where we left off. Here she is at our lunch restaurant.

Below: I was wearing my wide white jeans with great trainers (sneakers) for long walks. I grabbed the denim jacket on my way out.

Below: Goofing photo.

Below: Helena from head to toe, stylish yet comfortable. She was wearing Studio Anneloes clothes (only relevant for Dutch readers).

Below: And a proper nice photo of me.

Below: On our way to the nine streets, we saw these straw or cane headpieces in the window of a hairdresser.

Below: I enlarged the accompanying announcement for you:

On Thursday, we saw our granddaughters again after three weeks apart. That evening, we had cheese fondue with Froukje and Petro, who live a few doors down, always fun and cosy.

Friday I returned the clothes I bought together with Helena on Wednesday. My car was in the garage for maintenance and the dealer called me to say that the breakages (or parts of them) needed replacing. That increased the bill to €1,500 and took my breath away. I had only saved half this amount, so the clothes had to go back.

Greetje