zondag 30 november 2014

My crochet flower patch








Two weeks ago I told you a bit about a new crochet project I have started. I hoped to show you the result today, but it is more work than I anticipated. My flower patch needs a bit more time :-)

I enjoy working with the colourful cotton yarn I chose. To me it's the perfect way to bridge the gap between autumn and spring. Not missing the flowers in my garden too much. I chose pinks, oranges, red and yellow, which combine beautifully. It's kind of addictive working on tiny rosebuds, daisies and even some zinnia's and ranunculus.

What I should be doing is to empty the cupboards and drawers in my kitchen, but my crochet work is much more fun! On Wednesday my old kitchen will be removed, to make room for a new one which will be installed the week before Christmas. Hope all goes well. If not I will have to fetch a Chinese or Italian take away for my guests on Christmas day :-) Once the kitchen is finished, I will show you how it looks like. That will probably be somewhere at the beginning of February. Please wish me luck. It will be terribly messy in my house the coming weeks.

Next week I start decorating from Christmas. I hope I can show you some photo's next week.

Happy new week!

Love,

Madelief x

* The flower patterns all come from the internet and the book by  Claire Crompton - 200 crochet flowers and embellishments















































zondag 23 november 2014

The garden on top of the hill























































It was at the beginning of June when I visited Kiftsgate court gardens in Chipping Campden (England) with my friends. I have wanted to visit Kiftsgate for a long time, but somehow it never happened before. I thought Kiftsgate would perhaps be a disappointment, having seen Hidcote which is close by (and absolutely beautiful) two days earlier, but not so. Kiftsgate is different and less grand, but it has lots of charm of it's own. 

The country house and gardens lie on top of a hill, with far reaching views of the surrounding countryside. The garden is part woodland, has some beautiful borders and terraces and even a modern water garden, which I think was out of tune with the rest of the garden and therefore not on my blog :-). You may like it though!

At the time of our visit, the late spring/ early summer borders just started to bloom. I can imagine that later on in the month it would have been quite a spectacle. I was sorry to have missed the famous Kiftsgate rose in all it's floral splendour. The bush was full of tiny buds, bot no flowers yet. 

Just before leaving, my friends and I met a lovely couple. They gave me their email address, but unfortunately I lost it. If you recognise them, will you please let me know? I would love to send them their photo! They both looked absolutely radiant

There is so much more I can tell you, but if I do, this will be a very loooong post. If you are interested, please have a look at the website of Kiftsgate court. You can find all the information that you need there.

Have a lovely week!

Madelief x













 

zondag 16 november 2014

A new crochet project












































In my last post I told you I was working on a new crochet project. The colours of the Zinnia's and Dahlia's in my garden and an old painting I found in the thrift store, inspired me to pick up my crochet needle once again. I hope my little project turns out the way I imagine. If not, I am not going to show you ;-)

The little fluted domes you can see on some of the photo's are called 'Cannelés Bordelais'. They are delicious French fancies, made of a sort of pancake like batter. They are crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside and totally addictive. I am still working on the perfect shape, so forgive me if they look a bit wobbly.

I received some happy mail this week: the Christmas edition of Victorian Homes magazine with twelve pages of my photo's inside. I am so proud. I added a photo of one of the pages below, so you get an idea how it looks like. The Victorian Homes magazine is available at Barns and Noble and select book stores in the USA. I am not sure if you can buy it in other parts of the world. Sorry!

Thank you once again for leaving comments on my blog. I read them all and appreciate them very much.  I am not always able to visit your blog, but I do try. Sorry, if I haven't popped over lately.

Wishing you a lovely week!



Madelief x 

* I added two photo's of my home town, Rotterdam. The most beautiful and inspiring town there is.