Happy birthday to myself and celebrating my best friend's new home

Today is my birthday and tonight I will go to my best friend who will cook for me, my parents and my friend.

But we are at that moment not only celebrating my birthday but will also be celebrating the fact that my best friend is living in a new house. Somewhat more than a year ago, she bought the house and did lots of changes on it, so by now it is representable (but not finished as that always is the case with renovations ;-)) My parents and friend have not seen the house yet in its new state, so I guess that they are pretty curious.

I made her this little card here under, a "welcome-in-your-new-home-card", that she will later on be able to use as a bookmark. Oh, and yes, good news, I finally changed the scanning program on my mother's computer, so now I can show you good pictures again ...

And of course here moving into a new house also asked for some presents. I made her this "painting" to hang on little cards and other notes. To be honoust, I was so happy with the result that I almost want to keep it for myself !!!

Here under you also see a close-up of the "painting". She has a country style in her new home so I think that this will fit well in her house.

The second present I made for her, was this doorstop, also in the same style ...

And also a close-up of this one ...

I hope that most of you also still are having some days off, so enjoy some nice holidays !!

Moelleux

Tonight I amused myself with some quick scrapbooking. I made another page in my cookery book, this time of one of my favorite desserts, being moelleux or a soft chocolate pudding !!! Mmmm, I adore it !!! Just a pity I don't have one right now ;-((

Ready next year ???

A long time again since I dropped in to write something !!! I'm now having holidays, and still as much to do as when I'm working !!! Where is that time going by !!!

A couple of times per week however, I try to spend some hours cross stitching in the evening, as this really relaxes me a lot. About 2 years ago, I started to work on this X-mas work and yesterday, I finished a big part.

I have now started the smaller part underneath the work and then still have to do a bigger part on top, before it will be ready. I'm always an optimist, so I hope to have it ready by next X-mas ;-))

And then I have 2 more of those X-mas cross stitching sceneries left !!!! Wish me luck !!

Mother's retirement and fathers day

So, right now at this moment, it was the last working day of my mother. Such a very strange feeling !! But she went into the city now with some colleagues, or should I say ex-colleagues to go and eat something and celebrate.

Friday afternoon, there will be a celebration at her work also, with all people from her division at work, and I'm also invited, although I will also be there as the photographer. I'm happy that I can hide behind my camera, because I think it will be difficult for me to keep my eyes "water-free" when they will start to speech ...

Friday evening, my mum and dad and I will then go and eat something together, and then we will hand over her card and present.

And on Saturday I have planned a surprise diner for some people at home without my mum knowing about it.

So you see, a lot of celebrating this weekend for us !!! Perhaps I post some pictures later on also ...

In the meantime, hereunder the fatherdays card that I made some months ago in June, when we celibrated fathersday. It cannot always be the mothers we are celebrating of course ;-))

Retirement card for my mum

My mum has to work 2 more days, this week, and then she will be retired !! So therefor of course, I needed to make a card for her.

Totally different colours from what I normally use and what I had in mind, but I thought the Duck picture fitted so well for a retirement card, that I based myself on those colours. And in the end, I'm quit happy from the result.

Inside I have made it simple, with just a tag with information for mum that she will receive money to buy a new television. And the money I will also put inside the card. I hope that she will be happy, both with the card, and the new television !!

Strange that my mum will retire now, time goes so fast !!

My mum surprised me !!!

It is now a year of 4-5 that I'm busy scrapbooking, and I know that my mum was always my biggest fan, when she watched me busy scrapbooking and looking very attentively when layouts were finished. I know she, just like me, likes all kind of handycrafts a lot.

And about a year ago, she surprised me with the 2 layouts here under. Without telling me, she also started to do some scrapbooking. In the meantime she has made many already, but these were the 2 first once coming from her hand.

She is now scrapbooking her old pictures, and I really like it, because on many of them, I see people that I don't know, or she has stories to tell that I have never heard before, and this way, I feel she is slowely making a real heritage for me. Thanks mum ;-))

Peppers pie

I have hundreds of cookbooks, and I'm always hunting for new recipes in magazines or whereever I can lay my hand on them.

Of course, all those loose pieces of paper, I want to save somewhere, so that was the start of my scrapbooking cookbook.

Everytime I make a recipy that is worth eating again, I make a scrapbooking page of it, and so my scrapbooking cookbook gets thicker and thicker.

This is a peppers pie that I had been eating for lunch, and the recipy deserved to join in my cookbook ;-))

Cookouts

Everytime I'm in London and I have some time, I try to find some new vegetarian cookbooks, or preferably even vegan cookbooks, as they are very often difficult to find in Belgium.

Last week I had some time to walk around in Windsor, where I also have my favorit little bookshop. Normally they don't have so many vegetarian books on the shelves but it looked like they made a real investment now, and I could find 2 complete shelves of those books their this time.

And of course I could not leave the shop empty-handed. So this is what I bought this time : Cookouts, veggie style !!

In the many years being vegetarian, I have of course already gathered many vegetarian BBQ recipes, but this book really attracted for the many not so known and a bit different recipes.

I know, we are heading towards wintertime now, and probably the book will not be used so often the next coming months, but I'm sure he will come in handy when May is coming again ...

Breakfast at Tiffany's ... euhhhh ... London

I'm in London today, and I always find it a delight to eat a real English (vegetarian ;-)) breakfast.

Look what I had on my plate half an hour ago ... doesn't it look really good?

At least it will keep me going for a big part of the day ... Good that I don't eat this every day ;-))

Fotoshoot

Good evening all,

I hope you are all feeling well. Are you also still having so lovely weather for this period of time? I have been in Belgium, Germany and now in London, and everywhere it is springtime instead of temperatures under 0 degrees Celcius ;-))

Having worked a lot this week, I'm now having a lazy evening, and I'm just watching some tv in my hotel, and play a little with my laptop ... Last working day tomorrow, and then off on a nice weekend !

Here under a layout with pictures from my mum when she was just a young girl ... Really 60's pictures, aren't they so nice? Enjoy it, and in the meantime, I also want to wish you a nice weekend !

Gent

Long time no see again !! What can I say other than that time has been passing by very fast again. Busy working weeks always at work with lots of traveling, and never enough time to do some scrapbooking, unfortunately.

But this week, I'm looking forward to the scrapbooking fair in Utrecht, Holland this week. I have especially taken a day of holidays on Friday, so my mum and I will go over there, and look at all the lovely paper and other stuff. I'm sure it will not only be looking in the end, but also a lot of nice stuff that we will buy ;-))

We will then sleep over there, and on Saturdaymorning, I will take my mother for a long walk in the area above Utrecht, at the river Vecht, which I really adore. I was there a couple of months ago for work, and noticed that the area and nature over there are just beautiful. I had to stay there a day longer, to enjoy it again !!

And on Saturday afternoon, I will show my mum a really big scrapbooking shop which is not so far from there either, as if we will not have seen enough scrapbooking supplies already the day before at the fair ;-))

So you understand that I'm really looking forward to the end of the week !!!

For now, I wanted to show you a simple layout about Gent, my hometown with pictures taken a year before I was born. Just a simple layout, but I wanted to let the layout speak with colours ...

Kasteel van Laarne *** Castle of Laarne

Hi there !!! Don't you also like the autumn just like me? I'm spoiling myself with an early night in bed. I already went in at 8 o'clock, putting on a nice music, laptop switched on, and just doing all and nothing, really relaxed. I love it !!! This is really a thing to do right now, this cocooning, when it's getting cold outside, and it's so nice to curl up in a warm bed !!

In the scrapbooking page from today, some pictures from a castle close to my hometown. The city of Laarne is know for its witches, so this period of time, they are preparing for a fun time, with Halloween coming along soon.

These pictures have already been taken by my mother in 1969, but if you go there today, I'm sure that you can take exactly the same pictures as more than 40 years ago ;-))

Kapperswedstrijd - Hair dressers contest

Good evening everybody,

I hope you are all doing well !! Tonight it has been more than four weeks since I was home in my house last time, so I'm enjoying a quit night. Really great !!

I started working again after holidays on Monday, and have been in the company of a very nice bunch of French people, so I had a good time with them.

I'm still entertaining them tomorrow morning and then I will be off to Sevilla, from 9 degrees over here in Sweden, to 34 degrees in Spain !! Quit a change ;-))

Unfortunately connections are not so good, so it will take me 10 hours and 3 flights before I will be at my hotel tomorrow. Wish me luck !!

Here under I wanted to show you a scrapbooking page that I made some time ago, where you can again see my father in a hair dressers contest. Enjoy it !

Fier - Proud

Today is the last day of my 3 weeks holiday, and it's raining cats and dogs. But I don't mind ... it has been a rather hectic holiday with a travel to Rome followed by a travel to London, and also lots of day trips in between. So it's nice today, to have a relaxing day at home to just wander around and do the stuff I like to do.

And since it's raining so much outside, it's just the perfect excuse to make pancakes this afternoon, don't you think? ;-))

Tomorrow, I will start working again, and it starts again with 4 days of traveling. Tomorrow afternoon, I will leave for Sweden but I will not go home. Instead I will spend my time with about 12 frenchmen that I will show around in 4 of our factories, all in the south of Sweden.

Then on Thursday afternoon, I will travel to Sevilla. Not such a pleasant travel, because connections from Gothenburg are not that good, so it will take me 3 airplanes, before I will arrive. Pfffff !!!

Friday morning then meeting in Sevilla, and then back to Brussels for another weekend over there.

In the meantime, I have for you a scrapbooking page which I made last year but didn't show yet. It's pictures of my pride father, having his first own hairdressers saloon at the age of 22. Next year he will retire, still as a hair dresser and still at the same place where he started 42 years ago !!

Back in town

Long time no see !! It has been very busy for me !! I have worked really hard, almost day and night, during August and September. And so I deserved some holidays, I found !!

So the last 2 weeks, I have enjoyed some free time, but even there, it has been quit busy. I have been 5 days in Rome with a friend, and then last week 3 days in London for my mother's 65 years birthday.

Today I'm allowing myself a lazy day, and I took some time to do some scrapbooking. Oh, what a long time ago since I scrapbooked last time !!!

I'm busy making a "scrapbooking cookery book" so today I made a new page with the recipy for "eierpannenkoeken", in English you could discribe it as egg pancakes, a quicker version of a normal pancake, you could say.

I'm working at my mother's place with a not so good scanning program so unfortunately the picture doesn't give a too good image of what I have been scrapbooking, but I hope it gives you at least an idea.

I hope you can also enjoy some free time and have some fun with your projects !!

4th birthday

And so, the weekend is almost over again !! Time flies !!

Yesterday, we had a lovely day, although when I got up around 8 o'clock, I was surprised to see that the thermometer only showed 2 degrees Celsius !!! Incredible in August. But then during the morning, the sun came 'round and in the afternoon we had a very nice 25 degrees. I had a friend over for dinner and we could eat outside until 10 o'clock in the evening.

Today was a more sad day with kind of grey weather, so I have done a lot of preparing for a trip I will make in September to London.

Here under I want to show you a layout with a picture from the day I became 4 years ols. Boy oh boy, that was a long time ago ;-))

Zandbak

Hello guys, doing fine over there?

It has been busy again over here. Last weekend I was 3 days in the "Ardennen", the nature part of Belgium with 25 people to enjoy lots of different activities. We had a real good time.

And then back to Sweden where I worked at the office the whole time, no travelling for the moment, so nothing exciting or special to tell you.

But instead I have another layout for you which I made earlier and where you can see me as a little toddler in the sandbox at my grandmother's. I have spend hours and hours over there, playing and creating the most fantastic fantasies in my head. What a lovely carefree time.

Still today I find the combination of the red and the blue a bit strange and hard, but I wanted to go after the colours on the pictures. And I gave myself a hard time by making a crochet frame around it. I'm not good at all at crochet so it took me a while and some sour fingers ;-))

My sweet home

As you know, my mother is also the creative type (so now you know where I got it from ;-)) and she is sometimes contributing with something that I then afterwards can use for my scrapbooking.

She likes to stitch those smaller cross stitchings where I'm more a fan of the larger work like the HEAD patterns, that I'm making. But these smaller pieces come in handy on a scrapbooking page, so this one with a lovely little house she made last year, and I will use it at the right occassion when I'm scrapbooking one or another picture about my house.

St. John's Wort

In my free time, I'm not only creative but I'm also a bit of a witch ...

So yesterday, I went for a long walk with my parents, and we collected flowers of the St. John's Wort. I then put all flowers in a jar, put some olive oil over them, and now they can stand in the window for about 3 weeks, enjoying the sunbeams. Afterwards I then sieve everything and then the oil, that has become totally red in the meantime, is perfect when having burning marks, which I sometimes managed to get when cooking ...

A little bit of that oil on the wound and you don't feel the burning mark anymore and it also heals much nicer. So when you are having these flowers also just growing for free in your roadsides, why not pick them and do something nice with them? Sometimes herbs and flowers are so much better for us than all those medicinal products ...

Slurp

Although the last year, I have not been scrapbooking anymore in such a high speed as before, due to lack of time, but I still made some stuff of course which I can show you. So let's start with "Slurp" ... with a picture from me when I was a bit under 2 years old.

As you might remember, I'm scrapbooking "my whole life" and starting from baby until now, and as you understand, I still have lots to do !!! But it's also a pleasure to see all these old pictures, and to be able to write "my story", so I'm really enjoying it. I hope you do to when I show them to you.

Raspberry muffins with white chocolate

They always say that being a food photographer is a difficult job, and by the look on my photo I'm sure you will agree with me ;-))

On top of that, my picture is standing on its head and I don't have a clue to get it right. I send it from my Iphone to my mail, where is came upside down. I turned it, saved it and then put into this blog text where it turned upside down again, and in this blog program I don't have a clue how I need to put it in the right direction again !! If you have any ideas or experience with that, please let me know.

Anyway, the reason why I wanted to share this was, because I have just eaten the most wonderful muffins ever ...

Yesterday, my mother found this recipe in a small advertising paper somewhere in a lost corner, and she decided to surprise me and make them for me. And boy, oh boy, they were splendid !! So therefor I would like to share the recipe with you and please, try them at home, you will not be disappointed ...

This recipe make 12 to 15 muffins.

Put the oven on at 225 degrees Celcius.

Melt 100 gr of butter and let it cool down again.

Wisk 2 eggs with 1 and 1/2 dl of sugar, and a teapoon of vanilla sugar. Put in the butter and 2 dl of milk.

Mix 4 dl of flour with 2 teaspoons of baking powder and then put this into the batter.

Take out a muffin tray, put some butter or oil in them, and then put in the batter. Take 225 gr of rasperries and 100 gr of roughly cut white chocolate, and carefully push that into the batter.

Let it bake between 10 and 15 minutes until golden brown. Then, make a cup of peppermint tea, lean back and enjoy the best muffins ever. What a joy on your tongue if you taste this !! I bet you want to start a second muffin right after the first one ;-))

Restart of my blog

Do you see all those little men being angry ??? They're not so happy with me because I have not been around the last year !!!


Perhaps I should give them their way, and start to work on my blog again, what do you think?


The last couple of weeks, I felt like I wanted to "speak to the world" again, and tell you some of my stories again ...


This morning I had a look at my blog again, and actually it felt nice to have a place where I gather all my hobby stuff that I have made, or see pictures of places that I have visited.

The last year, I have been very busy with work and I'm traveling all over Europe several days a week, and that's what made that my blog went at the side, lack of time. Also the scrapbooking and other handwork has been progressing at a lower pase, but still I have quit enough stuff that I could show you.

To save a bit on time, I think I will only write in english as from now. If anybody has a problem with that, just give a yell and we'll see what we can do about it.

I think I will make it official for now ... let's re-open my blog ...


Tatadadaaaaaaaa ... I hereby officially declear that this blog has opened again ...

I hope you will take the time again to visit me and leave me a little word ... !!