Having fun with ......

 .... AH-hamsters. The whole country colours orange. Our dutch soccer team is doing so much better then expected at the World Championship in Brasil. Every match we have a poule. Who got the right score. Against the aussies, the dutch won with 3-2, and Willem had the hamster. Lucky boy. Against Chili our dog Mies was the winner. Lucky girl. And last sunday Rob won the hamster, he got the right score 2-1 NL-Mexic. Lucky man. I can tell you he was overwhelmed by emotions winning the hamster. Who will be the lucky one ... in the next match against Costa Rica. How much fun can you have ...... ..... ..... ...... .......  

Enjoying the roses in the Theresiastraat ..

.... and I'm not the only one. I was just walking through the Theresiastraat on a regular friday afternoon. Doing a little bit this and that.

Enjoying the sunshine and beautiful flowers. I wasn't the only one, a photographer was busy with his camera. Thanks Paul for sending the pictures.

Hallo mevrouw X,

Hierbij vindt je de foto gisteren gemaakt in de Theresiastraat.

Je staat er goed op. Omdat de bloemen niet in detail te zien zijn, heb ik nog een close-up van de rozen bijgesloten. Leuk om een mede-genieter van de stokrozen beauty te ontmoeten.

Groeten,

Paul van Bemmelen  

Sorry, but it's Spakenburg again

girl / toddler

I know I wrote several times about this cute little museum in Spakenburg. It's one my favorite museums.

Boy toddler

Of course I needed some fabrics, because my Spakenburger Mills quilt is getting bigger and bigger. Purple is not the problem, I have enough in stock, but the light flowerish fabric. So a trip to Spakenburg became more and more urgent.

Girl age 6 - 14

Dieuwke, Willemijn and Joke (Dieuwke's aunt) joined me. So we took the full tour through the museum. So a very enthousiastic lady told us all about the costumes in the different periods. For example they boys and girls both wear skirts. The boys till about the age of 4. You can see the difference in the hat. The girls wear a black hat. From the age of 6 till the age of 14, during primary school, the girls wear black hats, they also had to wear them in the school. Oh must be very warm in summer. After that they could wear the traditional costume, and wear a little crochet white hat, their hair into a big roll. I think that took them some time to get ready.  

grown-up

 

Inspiration, this quilt is on my list.

And what about the boys? Well they had an adventurous day in the woods.

All orange

Like I said before we are not massive football fans. But wednesday eve we made an exception. We invited some friends and watched the game.

We even made bets for the winning score.  Int he afternoon Willem and I made a tour through the house to find orange things. We found a box with "welpies" and "wuppies". We made a walk with Mies through Theresiastreet, she got lots of attention in her orange shirt. One dog was barking to hear but he was a fan of the aussies.

It was really excited. I thought it would be 1-1, so I had the hamster for some time. Then it became 2-1 for the Aussies, so Rob was in the race for the hamster. Nobody with 2-2, and then 3-2 for the dutch team. Well done Willem, you won the hamster.

Willem won the hamster!!!

Spoiled myself ...

... today .... with a big green "quilt" bag.

I think it needs a little patchwork strawberry from Atelier Bep. The fabrics are waiting. A nice little project  to work on during the first game of the Dutch Soccer Team in Brasil.








You understand I'm not the biggest fan in the Netherlands.

Busy thursday

We had a busy day. Enjoying every moment of our holiday and the lovely weather. Thursday morning we started with a cyclingtour of 50 km through the Royal Forest close to Apeldoorn. Dinner in Elburg.

Elburg

Even that we have our little summerhouse on the Veluwe for several years there are still a lot of things to discover. Like the pumping machine on wednesday,

yesterday we were in Elburg. A little fishing town along the Veluwelake, in the old days the Zuidersea. Because they closed this sea with a dike, and it became the IJssellake, there is not much fishing going on anymore. The eldest houses are dated from 1233, when they got their city rights. A very cute little village, it's build in a square.

Cycling to the Putter Steam Pumping Station

Wednesday: a very interesting visit at the Putter Steam Pumping Station.  Every wednesday morning the volunteers give you a free tour. 

 
History
The Putter Steam Pumping Station was responsible for keeping the Zuiderzee-Arkemheen polder dry for almost one hundred years. 

After thorough restoration by a group of volunteers, the steam pumping station has been returned to its former glory. 

Black smoke coming out of the chimney means that the pumping station is running at full steam, and open to visitors.

Flood gates
The Zuiderzee-Arkemheen polder is one of the oldest polders in the Netherlands. For centuries, the water level in the polder was controlled by flood gates that closed when the water in the Zuiderzee was high. Excess water drained off through a sluice.

The pumping station was built in 1886 with a house next door for the engine operator. The original steam pumping engine was driven by a coal-fired boiler manufactured by Bakker & Rueb from Breda. When the dike flooded in 1916, salt water got into the machine which had to be replaced by a more powerful engine. The new steam engine could turn a scoop wheel with 20 paddles that had a capacity for pumping an impressive 75m³ of water per minute.The pumping station was operational until 1971 after which, an electric pumping station further along the dike, took over. (Source http://excitinghistory.com/industrieel-erfgoed/putten-putter-stoomgemaal)

Doubts...

........ still having doubts about this quilt. Not about the pattern, I thinks that's very intriguing. Not about the colours, I love the traditional costume fabrics of Spakenburg.

But about the size. It's now 7x9, I have been thinking about 7x10 rows, but I'm not sure. Maybe a square goes better along this pattern. So you know what?

I'm just going to make another 18 blocks, there is still fabric left in my Spakenburger bag. This will be a very challenging quilt.

More ....

.... cycling and sewing. Today we cycled north, direction Harderwijk, with 28C we made an early start. In the afternoon I started a new project with my charmpack batiks. I think this will be a very cheerful quilt.

I think the Veluwe is one of the most beautiful parts of the Netherlands, beside The Hague of course ; )

Atelier Bep

Nobody around, only some squirrels, wild pigs and  a deer.

Sunday morning, at 8.30 am I was already riding my bike. Diretion? To Hall (Atelier Bep). She had her open day and the weather was so lovely. First to the woods direction Apeldoorn, then along the channel, and there is Atelier Bep after 43 km. Spending some time in her garden quilting, a little little bit of shopping. And around 1 pm Rob was there to pick me up to go to his mum birthday. More time to work at my Spakenburger quilt.

By numbering almost every cyclepath, and information panels on the numbers, you can easily find your way. Just follow the numbers.

Still another 10 km to go along the channel.

Juultje, one of Bep her dogs. Finding a nice place to to sleeping.

To put in the big pins from the washing line.