Mies

Mies (our sweet 12-year old lady dog) is now three weeks with us. Yes I know,  in the Netherlands Mies is supposed to be a cat's name.

Coming from "Aap-Noot-Mies". This was a methode to teach children reading. It was developed around 1900, but it was still used in the seventies at my primary school.



Very tired, in one of her favorite positions.



But for some reason Mies is good name for her, and comes very close to her original french name "Miesjoe".



Sandsculpture of Juliana van Stolberg, the original statue is standing 200 metres from our house.

We still haven't figured out if she know dog commands in french. I have think she doesn't know any commands ; ), so we try to teach her "sit" and "come". That's enough for the time being.

Last weekend we went for the first time to our summerhouse with her. She really enjoyed it, she has explored the whole garden, became friends with the neighbour dogs and went on a visit to the sand sculptures in Garderen. The theme this year is: Dutch Royal Family.

Last week

We had really beautiful sunny warm weather for five days. Now it's back rainy, grey and cloudy.

Because I was bitten by two ticks (teken) last weekend I had to take antibiotics, what meant I had to stay complete out of the sun.

It felt so funny, probably the only sunny warm week this summer and I had to avoid the sun. I'm so happy that I'm a quilter!

This week I really made progress on my Spakenburger quilt, the center part is finished. Dieuwke and I figured out what the best is to work with the triangle-paper. The next border will be a row of triangles.

New experiences for Mies

Today I (Mies) went for the first time to the beach. Well, well, well what an exciting adventure. All that sand, and so much to sniff. But  oh the waves, they were to big for me, so I decided to kept my paws dry.

And what's better then being back home, have a bone on my own pillow.

 

Mourning fabrics from Spakenburg

The problem is, when you go to a Quiltshow there are always fabrics you need. The quiltshow in Bunschoten-Spakenburg was very inspiring. So with some fabric I bought there, and fabrics that were already in my possesion I started a nine-patch quilt with muslin and the purple mourning fabrics. All the colours got their own meaning. Black: was for the widow and children. Very dark purple: brothers and sisters, or three months mourning. Light purple: not so close related, or after the first year etc.  The man in the museum told me once that when you was the youngest of the family (and 8-10 kids weren't an exception), you probably would wear most of your life mourning colours. Doesn't that sound depressing.

Friday .........

Somtimes it's a hard life for a senior dog like me. Although I'm here for a week now, I think going out at 08.30 a.m. in the morning is still pretty early. But  they (Rob and Caro) wanted to go out for a walk and breakfast. They say I'm not a "morning" dog, and they're probably right ; ).

Oke, oke, let's go. I really liked the lunchroom at the Theresiastraat. I behaved myself very well, got lot of attention from the employees, and I loved looking around. All those new expeiences ....

 On our way back home, we made a stop at my favorite shop:

Back home, I really like a good brush.

And now at 23.50 p.m. Caro is telling me that I do a lot of snoring. I can't imagine.

Expedition with Granny

Arrival in Amsterdam 10.50 a.m. picking up Granny, on our way to Bunschoten and Spakenburg. In the back of the car my Spakenburger Quilt for the Exhibition "Van Ootje's Goet".

11.35, arrival in Bunschoten,  we spend 1,5 hour on the exhibiton, which is really really worthwile visiting. It's amazing and unique to see so many quilts made of traditional costume fabrics from this region in one place.

Of course I had to buy some fabrics, and I really got some ideas how to use them in quilts. We weren't allowed to take pictures, except from my own quilt, but I made 1 or 2 secretly. Just to give you an impression.

Museum in Spakenburg

Museum Spakenburg

When you're are in Bunschoten don't forget to visit the Klederdracht en Visserij Museum behind the Noorderkerk in Spakenburg, (just two kilometers away), and you get a 50% discount.

You will find more quilts there, and a very interesting collection of furniture, bags, hats, pictures, doll in costume fabrics, and quiltfabrics. (Oh dear more to buy).

Back home at 15.30, time for a cup of tea at Granny's place in Amsterdam.

Mies

I has been quiet on my blog, almost two weeks no post. We weren't on holiday. So what where we doing that took so much time?  Well...... we have a new dog. It wasn't ment to.... but sometimes you just have to follow your heart and not be reasonable. Mies is 12 years old, we don't know anything about her history. We found her in a shelter for homeless dogs on the border of the Netherlands-Belgium. Last friday we took her home, gave her several baths, and now we just have to wait and see how things are going on. Just give it chance and some time. We really have to know each other.