Karlijn, the owner of the clothes shop kpa.haarlem always shows videos on Instagram of her wearing the newly arrived garments. That is both good and bad for me. Good because I can never imagine how something would look on a person when I only see it hanging on a rack. And bad because I get so easily tempted to buy.

I bought these items separately at her shop and they are such a good match, this soft pink jumper with black leather trousers. When I tried the leather trousers, I mumbled something like “that is a useful item”, which elicited a rather shocked response from Karlijn; “I would have thought you’d be a bit more enthusiastic. Those trousers fit you perfectly and look amazing”. 😂 She was right, as she always is. For a clothes lover like me, it is so good to have shops and shop owners like Karlijn. Daphne of LAB Women’s Clothing is another favourite of mine. I am an old school shopper. Brick and mortar.

Husband Ron was my photographer and the photo shoot took place at the ruins of Castle Brederode.

Below: We were welcomed by the flag of the archers of the ruin of Castle Brederode.

Below: The ruin. What is left of it, is being restored which meant scaffoldings everywhere. Most of the scaffoldings I managed to photoshop out of the photos.

Below: The main gate and bridge across the moat. A castle needs a moat, right? But this wasn’t always a castle: it began as a tower in the 13th century, became a castle in the 14th and was later demolished twice. You can read more on the Wikipedia page.

Below: Immediately when you pass the entrance, there is a picnic area. In the middle you can see Ron walking towards a tree.

Below: The trees and leaves were a lovely background and are the ones the camera focussed on…

Below: It was difficult to get sharp photos inside the castle ruin. Not enough light means crappy photos.

Below: Still, I thought you would like to see them even when they are a bit blurry. The castle ruin was decorated for Halloween.

Below: Let’s talk a bit about the little bag. Here is the back and front of it. Bella’s bag I call it because it was hand painted by a bloggy friend of mine, Bella of The Citizen Rosebud. She is a quirky babe and has a gentle soul. I love this little bag. It holds an iPhone and a key. The rest was in my camera tote.

Below: We ventured inside and Jan, an elderly volunteer, told us the story about the castle. We felt a bit sorry for him as it is so cold in that room. This room was the private quarter of Lady Yolande van Lalaing, widow of Reinoud II van Brederode, from 1478 until her death in 1497. She was the last resident of the castle. 

Below: Ron decided to take a photo near the fireplace, although there was not enough light.

Below: Two maquettes of the Castle Brederode.

Below: Portraits of Willem I van Brederode and his wife Hillegonda van Voorne, the first residents of the castle. Their graves were discovered in 1967 and in 2010 these lifelike reconstructions of their faces were created by Maja d’Hollosy based on their skulls.

Below: Inside the castle. Was this the kitchen or the chapel?

Below: Let’s hurry back to better light conditions.

Below: I thought this would be a good place to sit down and then I hit my head hard on the low arch.

Below: The arch really is low. My Lara Design earrings are slightly different from each other, which is part of their charm. Ron thought the brooch was oddly placed; Karlijn and I beg to differ. The pink rope-style leather belt is similar to my lime and silver ones. If you love something…

Below: That isn’t a modern window you see in the middle, it is a steel construction to keep things together.

Below: You do have a gorgeous view from the castle. This is the Netherlands for you, flat and with cows.

Below: Before we left we had coffee and apple pie in the cute little restaurant near the entrance/exit.

Below: Love a photo with a mirror image.

Below: Ron titled this photo ‘Still life during make-up restoration’ because I had gone to the bathroom to fix my hair and touch up my lipstick.

Below: This close-up shows how soft the jumper is. Mind you, those sleeves prevent you from doing any household chores. If I am at the kitchen counter I pull them way up.
As you can clearly see, I do not photoshop my wrinkles.

What happened in my life this week

We had a lovely dinner with Georg and Marla at an Indonesian restaurant. There are many Indonesian restaurants in the Netherlands. The reason is not the nicest, it is because we colonised Indonesia in the old days. Like Great Britain colonised India and now there are many Indian restaurants in England.

On Sunday, I had to cancel plans to attend my brother’s birthday party in the east of the country because of a severe migraine. Such a shame, as we don’t see each other often. Luckily, these attacks are rare and don’t usually make me sick, but ignoring them is another story. By late afternoon, the migraine had passed after I’d spent the day doing absolutely nothing.

Monday was just a boring day and so was Wednesday. Tuesday was nice as I did a photo shoot with Marjolein in Leiden. Great day.

Below: A little preview of our day in Leiden. Gorgeous weather, gorgeous building.

I’m ashamed to admit I couldn’t resist buying another jumper: so soft, so warm and such a bargain. I could style it nicely with a scarf, wouldn’t you know.

Below: We sent a video to our youngest granddaughter in which we sang happy birthday for her. Here is a still from the video…hip hip hurrah.

New section: Failed styling

As you know, I don’t enjoy creating new outfits from clothes I already own. Odd for an outfit blogger, but true. I hate the mess on the bed, stuffing paper back into shoes and boots, and putting everything away again. And it’s especially frustrating when the outfit doesn’t work.

So I thought I would share those styling mishaps with you. Here is the first.

Below: This outfit feels too masculine for my taste. The straight-cut jeans and chunky cowboy boots are the main culprits, and the rugged belt adds to the effect.

I bought the jeans to wear with a long jacket or a dress worn as a jacket, something that wouldn’t work with baggy or wide-leg jeans. And the blouse was meant for wider jeans, but I do like the colour on me. My farmer-like stance (Marjolein’s words) doesn’t help either 🤣.

Below: A much better balanced outfit which I wore this week. (Link to original post.)

Have a lovely week.

Greetje