Again, my friend Marjolein came up with a marvellous background possibility. She is such a great location scout. I was wearing a brown blouse with puffy sleeves and cream trousers as I like contrast. Those trousers were always a bit tight and that day even tighter as I had put on some extra weight. Not comfortable but one suffers to look good.

The area where we did the photo shoot is the old part of Scheveningen. Scheveningen is adjacent to The Hague and has the beach. Remember the magnificent Panorama Mesdag post with the huge circular painting of Scheveningen? The old part of Scheveningen brought me back to those days; it is the domain of fishermen.

Expect a lot of houses and residential areas. And many photos! It’s one of those posts again.

Below: One of the first houses we came across in the old quarter. It stands directly on the street. The rest of the houses are behind it, reachable through the alley. Apparently, the front house belonged to the skipper, while his fishermen (the crew) lived in the houses behind.

Below: The alley beside the skipper’s house. The houses behind it each have a tiny outdoor space. The next photo shows this house’s front door.

Below: The house’s front door. The fishermen’s cottages were tiny, measuring just 35 to 48 square metres, although some were larger at 55 m². Nowadays, people often buy two cottages and combine them into a single home.

Below: We met this woman while she was brushing her dog. She and her husband had bought two houses and combined them into one. She shared a lot of information about the neighbourhood. Very useful.

Below: A photo of me clearly showing that I am getting older and wrinklier. My husband Ron has had a cataract operation on his right eye and is now seeing me too clearly. He says things like: “Gosh, your face looked wrinkly yesterday”. That was after the remark of last time about my veins and blotches showing on my ankle. Last Thursday his other eye was done too. I already fear his improved sight.
As Catherine Deneuve, the famous French actress once said: “A 30-year-old woman must choose between her bottom and her face.” I can stay slim with a saggy face or eat more and get more voluptuous. The problem is not being voluptuous, the problem is that I won’t be able to wear all those clothes in my wardrobe.

Below: Another front house of a skipper.

Below: And another alley beside the front house. The houses were built around 1875 in a rather higgledy-piggledy way.

Below: We found a broom and Marjolein encouraged me to ride it like a witch.

Below: These three fishes (herrings) you will find everywhere in this area. It is the crest of Scheveningen.

Below: More towards the sea are wider streets with bigger houses. That’s where the captains used to live. Ranks and classes.
My blouse wasn’t very expensive and I love its shape. I can toss it in the washing machine, and it should come out almost ready to wear; at least, that’s what I expect.
The ‘tie’ is a small leather rope, to be used as a belt. Just like the silver belt Marjolein gave me (see this post). The shop owner who sold me the lime one, already gifted me the lime bracelet. Isn’t it amazing how such a simple piece can brighten up an outfit? The leopard bag is a gift by my friend Marianne some time ago. The suede booties are EIJK.

Below: I love all those plants in front of the houses. Makes a street so picturesque.

Below: I imagine this was a captain’s house as it has one more window at the front.

Below: Lovely brickwork.

Below: Marjolein, wearing her favourite colour purple. She is in for a treat as it is the fashion colour this season.

Below: Back to the fishermen’s cottages. People with smaller houses are usually very inventive with the space they do have. How about this ‘roof space’.

Below: Another roof space / garden. It won’t be easy, balancing the coffee while you go up that ladder.

Below: Do I look arrogant in this photo? Just trying to show off the puffy sleeves.

Below: As Marjolein noticed, doors were lower in the old days. People were of course, smaller. We tried to visualise it by putting Marjolein in front of an old door (on the left) and a newer door (on the right). I don’t know whether we succeeded.

Below: No shortage of greenery and animals in this peaceful area, like this jackdaw. It was very quiet. Only people who live here, come here. It must be a close community.

Below: We saw many front doors wide open, like you used to see in villages a century ago.

Below: If there is a cat, we will photograph it, being cat people.

Below: That was funny, a fake stable door and a horse head sculpture with a hay basket underneath.

Below: The mural of a bathing Scheveningen woman in the sea reminded me of Panorama Mesdag.

Below: I pretended to pick up the clogs in my own special elegant way. They were so lifelike.

Below: One more house before we left this area. Quaint…a door on the first floor. They used that door in the old days to load and store goods on the first floor. The pulley at the top of the building has been removed.

And we continued our journey to the area where the shipowners used to live… ‘Belgisch Park’ (Belgium Park).

Below: Four examples of houses on Belgisch Park. I don’t know the dates these houses were built, but you get the idea. This is where the money went to. To the shipowners. It’s an old story.

Marjolein and I had lunch at a small and lovely restaurant with normal prices and I laughed my head off with the stories she told. I cannot remember what they were and the post would really become too long if I told you everything, but I laughed very loud.

Great day.

What happened in my life this week

We finished the little book Ron created for his granddaughters. Not easy to spot all the typing errors and other little mistakes. You think you found them all and the next proofreading you see about 10 more. How? I bet that we will find some more after it has been printed.

I created some new outfits, a job I don’t like but this time I got it right. Probably because it involved two new pairs of jeans. You’ll see them in the near future. It is all because it is autumn fashion which I love and because I was walking through Haarlem in the sunshine, feeling all happy and content. That mood has proven to be expensive before.

Below: A part of Haarlem in the sunshine.

Below: An outfit I wore. (Link to original post.)

On Tuesday, my friend Susan from LA (Une femme x Susan Blakey) arrived in Haarlem. She kindly came to see me because I no longer travel, for several reasons. I was never much of a traveller; I didn’t even take holidays until I met Ron, and we kept returning to the same place for years. Hardly adventurous, but we laughed a lot every year we were there. Mind you, it was at the Côte d’Azur, not the worst place on earth.

Susan is a dear friend for 11 years and I am very grateful that she goes out of her way to visit me.
I was afraid it would rain again during her visit as it did the last two times she was in the Netherlands, but it was sunny. Only on her last day we experienced some rain, but not too bad.
Here is a photo dump of the three days we spent together.

Below: Susan, cheerful and colourful as always.

Below: There were many coffee, lunch and dinner moments.

Below: Showing Susan all the lovely sites and historical stuff in Haarlem.

Below: Historical stuff like this drawbridge. This was just before embarking on a boat tour through Haarlem.

Below: And we did quite a bit of shopping. Susan bought clip-on earrings at Marcella’s shop (Lara Design) and is ever so happy with them. I bought a jumper and tried on this teddy bear jacket. I loved the jacket but I have already spent so much money and this is not a practical jacket. It is still at the shop and on my mind haha.

Fabulous days.

Greetje