Enjoying

*

*

Never

give up on

something

that you can't go

a day 

without thinking

about it .

*

I have been thinking 

 about blogging

a lot 

and I came

to the conclusion

that blogging is unique.

I have let myself 

get carried away

in using facebook

and instagram

and a lot of blogfriends

are there too

but

for me 

blogging is like 

the small shops

where the owner has 

time and attention.

And

facebook and instagram

are more like THE MALL

It's more about looking 

and being seen ......

I am a huge fan

of old streets with little shops

( like the shop-around-the-corner

in the movie YOU'VE GOT MAIL )

and I choose to be true 

to that again .

Since I got a second chance

with my TWO new hips

my life turned around

because it 

coïncideer with

retiring from my job

as a kindergarten-teacher

and also 

my four children 

leaving the house 

to live their own lives .

A lot of changing 

and the new hips 

turned out to be 

the biggest gift of all.

It's the being-able-to-stand-on-my-own

TWO FEET again

To be independent .

A new start 

learning to live my life 

at home 

On my own 

My granddaugther got

4 in may 

and she now goes to 

Kindergarten.

The school where I worked

for so long .

To see how she has grown

and also took a new step

in life is so wonderful to experience.

We all have a place in life

and we all are sometimes 

wandering .....

The friendships I found

blogging

are very valuable to me .

My laptop going down

should not have been 

an excuse 

for not blogging .

Okay 

blogging on my IPad 

takes ME a lot of time

and patience ..............

but 

so is shopping in the small shops 

in the old streets 

and it's all about

choices .

I have time 

lots of time 

to do things my own way now .

How lucky I am 

❤️

* * by surprise * *

*

blog van Madelief

this beautiful picture

is made by madelief

Her blog is inspiring and she shares

her life with us

in pictures and words

bringing JOY to us all.

Madelief had a GIVE-away

and I participated

because it was a 

BEAUTIFUL BOOK 

about gardening and cooking and celebrating.

and

I WON !

such an amazing SURPRISE .....

It's exactly what I am 

exploring all over again

since I am FREE again

My new hips ( yes TWO )

are absolutely wonderful

and I can walk and 

stand on my own two feet again

and there is 

BALANCE

not only physically 

but also mentally .

I need no longer to go

to physical therapy

I am DONE there YEAH !

So

this SPRING 2015

is the very best .

I am so very happy 

to be able to do things 

in my garden all by myself 

Lots of seeding and potting

and living in and with my garden.

and than 

mister postman delivered

some mail from CANADA

Koralee

send me pumpkin-seeds

so I could plant those together with

my three-year-old granddaugther EVA

so we can have 

PUMPKINS in autumn .

TWO

wonderful SURPRISES

thanks to blogging-friends

Making this blogpost

costed me

over TWO hours

for I can only make new posts

on my laptop

and "she" is an old lady

and every action takes forever

and she stops

and closes by herself

when I am not done yet

and 

I decided to stay

patience

and to go on 

and not give up before

I was done .

now I am done

I like to thank Koralee and Madelief

for surprising me BIG TIME

and all of you for your patience

with me 

Happy springtime 

*

something old , something new ......

*

something old
something new
something borrowed
something blue

*
today
I found the beautiful blue incense box
It was a birthday present 
from my friend Astrid
years ago
I love the blue colors mixed with
some gold .
It also remembered me of 
the time I was a BLUE girl.
My bedroom was all blue .
The Laura Ashley curtains were blue.....

and somewhere on the way
I started to love RED .
My wall in my bedroom became RED 
and more and more 
the blue made place for RED .

sometimes 
I find things I was forgotten I had .
and by finding 
a magical thing happens
MEMORIES come along .....

That is a wonderful thing 
because I am still adjusting
to my new life
retired
kids all on their own
and my dear companions
MY TWO NEW HIPS

finding out who I am 
in this new life 
finding out where I stand
which is a whole new experience 
with my new hips.

being able to walk again 
leaving the past behind
with every new step I take .

Balancing 
the old and the new
the past and the future 
I feel new
and yet I am older.

It is 
as it is with SPRING 
coming after winter .
All was gone 
and still very much alive 
hiding in the deep and the dark 

and than
days are longer
more sunshine helps nature
to find her way back 
into the gardens .
and we all are longing to go outside
after a long cold winter.

well that is pretty much 
how I feel right now
and I feel like nature herself 
all that was gone 
wants to start allover 
with all the good from the past
collected in new beginnings

something old
something new
I still love blue 
and all of you 

*

* * T * H * A * N * K * S * *

*

beautiful image from 

Koralee

*

do not wait

for the perfect moment,

take the moment 

and make it perfect .

*

February is here !

I am a waiting-for-the-perfect-moment 

kind of girl.

that's not an easy way 

of living AT ALL !

and it is not an easy habit to change !

I am working on it however ..............

I am looking forward to SPRING .

I have not been able to garden for

several years now 

but I can move around 

in my house and garden now 

without using crutches

and that brings FREEDOM .

now I must let go 

the habbit of perfect and

enjoy gardening all over again .

Blogging and facebook

meant a lot to me 

in the years behind .

I am so THANKFUL to

all the amazing friends

I found overthere .

Happy february to all of you 

*

labyrinth

*

*

labyrinths

offer

the opportunity

to walk

in meditation

to that place

within us 

where

the rational

merges

with the intuitive

and the spiritual 

is reborn 

*

colors

*

*

what ?

lights your fire ?

what inspires you ?

with me it's often 

colors .

the bright colors .

life is about 

using the whole box of crayons

sometimes 

you have to see

people

as a crayon

they may not be your favorite color

but you need them 

to complete the picture

life

isn't about finding yourself

life

is about creating yourself

be happy

be bright

be you

be your own color

no matter what the rest 

of the world looks like

I found I could say

things with color and shapes

that I couldn't say any

other way 

things I had no words for 

georgia o'keeffe

listen

to the colour

of your dreams

the beatles

broken crayons

still color

people show

their true colors

unintentionaly

pay attention

*

WISHING YOU

*

*

WISHING YOU

SPARKLE

WISHING YOU CHEER

FOR A BRIGHT

MERRY CHRISTMAS

&

HAPPY NEW YEAR

*

* resplendent*

*

*

my new word is

R E S P L E N D E N T

in my dictionary it is translated as :

schitterend 

glansrijk

and those are beautiful words in dutch .

and I love beautiful words.

I wonder why I have never seen this word ?

My dream is to 

have beautiful books next to my bed

with poems in english

so I can learn

so much more from the language

than I do now.

when I translate 

SCHITTEREND to english

my book says : SHINING

when I translate

GLANSRIJK to english

my book says :RADIANCE

Well now you know 

it is not so easy at all to choose 

the right words

for what I realy wish to write / say.

In a  blog writing is one thing

but when there is friendship

and there is MAIL ( BY POST )

I mean writing letters ......

well that is a whole other challenge .

How I love it when mister postman

brings me letters or postcards 

from far far away

with beautiful stamps 

and handwritings 

my heart always 

JUMPS OF JOY

when I find such surprises .

and always and always

I learn

I learn from the words 

by the person behind the words 

and

I get to know

the person behind the choosen words

I just love that 

*

* scrumptious *

*

*

SCRUMPTIOUS

coming from and living in THE NETHERLANDS 

english is not my own language

but I do love it very much .

When I started blogging

I choose english because I wanted to learn

and practice and meet people around the world.

Lately I found a list on pinterest with 

WORDS TO USE MORE OFTEN

so that will be my mission ......

I am still on my way back

from A LOT 

but I am getting there .

for long I supposed I was to be my old self again.

But NO NO I was supposed to become 

my old self transformed to a whole new level .

It felt like 

moving to a whole new country

and I did not speak the language

and did not know the habbits

and I knew no-one overthere.

It felt like surviving , hanging-on

not knowing what to do , who to trust .

I never imagened the future , my future 

DID YOU ?

I am making lots and lots of 

felt-heart-garlands to be busy 

and because it gives me GREAT JOY 

to look at them 

working on the colours of my heart 

wishing you lots of SCRUMPTIOUSNESS

*

Birthday surprises

*

Surprise surprise 
You know how I love mail ....
In the week before my birthday 
I received a lot of mail.
I wanted to wait till my birthday
to open it all 
so I put the mail on a place 
where I could see it 
and looked forward to the birthday.
And than 
on november 2 
I opened the first one 
from my sister 
beautiful card and a sheet of stamps .
Special stamps because there was 
a photo from me on the stamps
my very personal stamps.
My sister knows how I love te send mail .
And than I opened the SECOND ONE and
I could not believe my eyes 
also a sheet of stamps included.
I still believed it was 
accidentally.
And than I opened THE THIRD ONE
and again a sheet of stamps 
And all the other ones TOO.

My daugther was behind this plan .
It was a very big surprise .
I am very happy with all this JOY and love 
And my new year 
started very very happy 

*

* * by surprise * *

*

*

and in the end

It's not the years 

In your life that count,

It's the life in your years .

Abraham Lincoln

*

One week from today

november 2 

will be my birthday.

One year ago I was very nervous 

at the end of october 

because I was about to receive a new hip

and 

What I did not even knew at that time

three months later a SECOND new hip .

My children surprised me

with an amazing present last birthday

An IPad .

How I love all those digital divices.

It's amazing what I can do with them.

It has been a great support for me in the last year .

I will be so grateful next Sunday

to have a new birthday 

with my wonderful children and granddaugther

and my new hips of course .

*

A great and complicated adventure ........

*

*

Just when I accepted

for now

I could not do what I intended 

make a blogpost about 

my son's wedding

because I could not get pictures

from my IPad 

in the blog-post 

I somehow managed

to get one picture overhere

I have NO idea how I managed that........

I have to study more first.

I envie all you for making the most beautiful blogs

With lots of pictures 

But I hope to be able to do that too

Soon

Wedding joy

*

Sorry 

I am having difficulties 

with blogging

on my IPad 

Cannot get the pictures overhere

Be back soon 

*

Where to start

*

*

It's been a while .

I had some work to do 

on myself 

I had to work on myself .....

and suddenly

I lost the feeling 

of blogging .

I guess all the changes in my life

needed a new way of living ........

first of all 

I always loved blogging 

and making connections

all over the world

but

like in friendship

there has to be

RECIPROCITY

( I looked this word up in my dictionary so I hope .......)

I now wish 

I could have find the words 

by than 

to tell about it ,

Or just pronounce 

I wont be here for a while 

but I couldn't

and I had NO idea it would take me this long .

But 

I am here and I am back 

And 

next post i'll tell you all

about a wedding 

my son's wedding 

🌺