First of all my apologies for neglecting my blog for such a long time.

 In the meantime I've had the necessary eye surgery, 
with -besides some side effects which will hopefully be temporary- good results.

 Although I'm still in the middle of my recovery,  

I really felt the need to put a small post on here before another year is over.

The last few months I mainly spent at home and in my garden.

This past period has taught me even more how important my home is

 and how it contributes to my well being.

It has been a safe haven and embraced me when I couldn't go out that much.

Due to my eye problems, our plans (and renovations) for a holiday let in our annexe were postponed, 
but hopefully will be continued next year. 

Instead my husband full filled a longstanding wish of mine, restoring the -en suite- doors in our living room.

But also built an alcove around the new stove in our kitchen.  

Our living room as it was before ...

and how it is now ...

  

You can find the Butterfly Print here

With the separation we're now having a cosy snug and a kitchen diner ...

I'm so very happy with the end result and so very proud of my husband.
I was used to have a dad who could make and repair almost everything. 
This must have put a strain on my husband 😜 but not any more! 
I'm sure my dad would have approved 💓

I guess it doesn't need much explanation why I couldn't wait to
 put those fairy lights up there ...

You can find the Fairy lights, Angel and Tea Towel Robin here 

And from there, much more was creeping in ...

You can find the Christmas Car and Christmas Guest Towel here

And also in my 'new' kitchen diner ...

You can find the Angel here

You can find the Hanging Photo Frame here

and in my living room aka snug ...

You can find the Candle Holder here

You can find the Christmas Bauble Reindeer here

You can find the Glass Dome Display here

You can find the Christmas Bell Reindeer here

You can find the Paper Winter Scene here

You can find the Wooden Trug here

I also did some test baking for my Christmas Cake.

Because my sister-in-law recently developed a lactose intolerance, 
I had to try a new version of the Frangipane Cake with Pears I baked before,
 but now with a lactose free crust. 

Here's the recipe: 

Ingredients:

Filling:

• 150 gram almond flour
• 150 gram powdered sugar
• 120 gram lactose-free baking butter at room temperature
• 100 gram apricot jam 
• 50 gram flour
• 3 eggs
• 3 pears (conference)

Crust:

• 260 gram LU Bastogne Cookies
• 90 gram lactose-free baking butter

You will need a metal cake/quiche base with
with a loose bottom (28cm)



Mix the almond flour, eggs, powdered sugar and the flour.
Leave the batter (the frangipane) rest for at least 3 hours in a cool place.

Start crumbling the cookies by putting them in a plastic bag and
using a rolling pin or other tool. But maybe even better, use a food processor.

Put them in a bowl and mix them with the melted butter.
When both have been mixed, put them aside for a moment.

Grease the edge of the quiche base and use baking paper for the bottom.
Divide the cookie crumbs on the bottom and edge of the base,
using a wet spoon to press the crumble a little.
Put it in the fridge for an hour before continuing the cake.

Divide the apricot jam on the crumble base and then add the frangipane.

Peel and cut the pears in halve. Remove the core and cut the pears in slices
with leaving the top together.

Divide the pears over the frangipane and bake the cake
in about 35 minutes in a preheated oven at 160 degrees.




Doesn't she (Bambino) look fab as a showstopper on my Christmas cake!

To end this year with a positive note, I decided to have a
little giveaway on my Instagram account
where you can have a chance to win Bambino.
So hop over here and have a go!
If you don't want to take any chances of having this beauty also on
your Christmas Cake, you can also find her here on our website.

Wishing you a merry Christmas and a very happy New Year!


Anita
~xo~

Goodbye 2018 ... hello 2019!

It's a cliche I know, but another year has almost flown by.

One of the privileges of having an Instagram account is that it isn't hard to look back.

This is a collage of my Best Nine of 2018 on my Instagram 

Although it's nice when so many people like your photos, 

they not always represent that precious personal memories, 

or those little moments to treasure. 

So I picked my personal favourites of each month.

January

One of my good intentions for this past year was to get more out and about and enjoying nature.

Sadly I haven't made so many walks as I intend to, but I started well in January.

  

 February

But luckily there was enough to enjoy in my garden, 

like this still life when we had a dust of Snow in February.

And of course my favourite bird.

March

In this month we had a little trip to the province Zeeland where we 

also visited the lovely town Domburg and its wonderful beach. 

April

A month of which I'd rather forget the first weeks.

Our middle son came back very ill from Guatemala which ultimately 

required hospital admission.

I took this photo when he made his first walk outdoors (feeling a bit better already) 

visiting the Cherry Blossom not far from our village.

May

The month of our annual escape to the English country, where we spent the first week

 in the beautiful Shropshire Hills

A real gem was this spot .... Lyth Hill 

The second week we celebrated (with almost all our loved ones) my
 husband's 60th Birthday in West Sussex.

It was so lovely to show them the places that feels like a second

 home to me, wonderful memories were made.

June

Was a month where ideas for the future started to take on more serious forms.

Now all our boys have flown the nest, the house feels a bit empty.

The next photo shows our annexe where we hope to receive our guests,

 somewhere in the second half of 2019  

A new business will arise next to the Webshop, our holiday let ... 'Stay at the Reed Warbler'! 

July

This year I finally got round to saw my own cutting flowers.

I felt so inspired by Emma Connolly and still picking flowers now, 

can you believe it in December!

This is one of the lovely bunches I picked at the end of July.

August

In August we went for a family holiday to the Provence and 

I had the most wonderful time with this lot.

September

Still picking flowers ....

October

And yes, these were also still from my garden, I'm planning to sow more varieties next year.

November

The month we celebrated our second anniversary of the Reed Warbler Shop 

 and so very grateful for the support for our small business.

We celebrated it with a giveaway of our best-selling brand Hogben Pottery 

December

It has been a good year and I consider myself very privileged with a lovely family
 and running a small business that I love.

This year's Christmas card was again a bit of a project,
which got a bit out of hand in terms of time 🙈

But in the end I delivered the last ones just in time at our neighbours yesterday evening
and now the only thing that's left is to share my good wishes with you ....

So from me to you ...

Wishing you sparkle,

wishing you cheer.

For a bright merry Christmas

and happy New Year!

Anita

~xo~

Living the Cotswolds dream at home ....

For those who follow me for some time now there's no need to explain my love for England.
Although I've visited a lot of - all beautiful - areas, one of them made an indelible impression on me, the Cotswolds

I already dedicated a blog post to this wonderful part of the country you can read here 
How much as I would love a second home in England, sadly this will remain a daydream in present circumstances.
Therefore - and because my visits to England are every time such an inspiration - it makes me want to create a bit of that typical English atmosphere at home.

During our stay in the Cotswolds not only I fell in love with the gorgeous landscape and nature, also with the beautiful cottages and in particularly the paint colour of most of the woodwork.
For example, this (one of many) door I saw in the fairytale village Bibury ....

This was definitely the view I wanted for our home entrance, but had really no idea what kind of colour paint (or brand) it was.
That question, which I shared on my Instagram account was quickly answered by one of my lovely followers (thanks Loraine) which shows again what a lovely community this is.

So the next step was browsing on the Farrow & Ball website in search for the colour Bone, which gives such a calming and neutral tone.
Luckily my husband needed not much convincing (even suggested we should also paint the garage doors!) and not long ago we've said goodbye to our plain white door ....

And I'm so very pleased with the outcome ....

To complete my dream I planted the gorgeous white (David Austin) rose named Glamis Castle of which I can't wait until it climbs around my entrance next year ....

And therefore, for the moment I'm .....

Whatever you do, never stop dreaming.
                                       Darren L. Johnson


Have a lovely weekend all!

Anita
~xo~

My wonderful September ....

Can't believe it's October already, maybe because September was such a busy month. Ever since we came back from our holiday in France, we went from one activity to the other.
Mainly pleasant ones, so I'm not complaining!

One of them was a wedding. The invitation already was a feast for the eye and an indication of what to expect on the wedding day.
Love how the bride-to-be also shared it on her beautiful Instagram account blondhout , especially the way she has displayed her love for flowers so beautifully ....

And then there was the dress code, 'tenue de ville' in pastel shades.
Something that kept us busy, even on our holiday. One of our sons even bought a suit in Nimes and finding myself "desperately" in search for something to complete a purchase I did earlier to wear on the wedding.
 
When I read pastel shades it was the ultimate reason to buy the skirt I was drooling over for months. The gorgeous Pink Polka Dot Francesca which to my great excitement was included by their sale on the Cabbages & Roses website.
Already in love with the, now so fashionable brogues, I was so very pleased finding a matching pare by these white brogues from H&M ....

I was really hoping to find anything suitable to wear on the skirt during our holiday, but instead I fell in love with the beautiful fall fashion at Zara in Nimes. This happens to me every year at the end of the summer and I just can't wait to put on a warm sweater and boots, longing for Autumn again.

So instead of what I was looking for, I bought this blue sweater together with this skirt and my favourite at the moment, these blue flat shoes which now also appears to combine very well with my skirt. Even when the trees drop their leaves by now ....

Back home the "problem" was easily solved by another look at the always inciting Cabbages & Roses website and the buy of this Pink Polka Dot Clara Top .

So after all the men were foresee with a pastel shirt, we were more than ready to attend the wedding we looked forward to for weeks.

It was such a magical day in a most wonderful setting where flowers had the leading role, besides of course the beautiful couple ....

And as I already mentioned, gorgeous flowers in almost every detail .... 

But also in my garden flowers were still very present, because this was where I came home to after our holiday.Three simple Cafe au Lait flower bulbs has given me so much pleasure and they still do as I'm picking them still ....

Isn't this a stunning peace of art ....

Everything I've sown (my first time ever) this year has done so very well, also  -so it seemed- my unstoppable sweet peas ....

But September was also about having dinner with friends and not only putting food but also flowers on the table ....

And other kind of beautiful garden details like this dragonfly between my laundry ....

I've really missed this one, clearly in search for food and feeling a bit guilty I wasn't really prepared for this yet ....

Another highlight certainly was celebrating my 30th wedding Anniversary with this lovely man, it sure is true that time flies when you're having fun ....

There were lovely gifts including this -I think very unique one- beautiful hand drawn card in a gorgeous frame made by a dear friend who knows me so very well ....

Thirty years ago we gave a great party but nowadays I prefer to keep things small and to celebrate this milestone in the company of our family.
So we had a lovely meal at Loetje aan 't IJ with this heavenly view, all in all the perfect surroundings to me ....

September has been really good to me .... I want to wish you just the same for this month, have a wonderful October!

Anita

~xo~