Thriftier than the Thrifty

When you live in the land of bakeries, you don't bake. (My MIL's oven was a storage place for pots and pans.)

When you live in the land of flower shops/stalls, you grow your own in your garden or you visit the shop.

While living here for these five weeks, I bake in our oven and "sample" from the overgrown weeds on the old demolished hospital lot across the street.

Photos of cookies I do not have to show, but here are my "free" flower arrangements:

I have no idea what these plants are called. But I love the fish bowl display, fuzzy seeds and all.

Another shot after I opened the windowshades.

The old cobwebby buffet looks royal with fresh cuttings.

Can't even tell this is a plastic vase!

Something to complement my ASCP table and tray. And, yes, I know that is English ivy and holly!

In the dark foyer, a small stainless creamer does a nice job as vase.

That is a "Boel"

For the last week I had seen an ad in the local newspaper for a special "Boeldag" at a local horse riding stable. A Dutch "boeldag" is almost always interesting, since there is surely a "heleboel boel" ( lots of junk/someone else's treasures ). 

Yesterday the "boeldag" was to begin at 10:00 a.m. and culminate with an auction at 1:00 p.m. Knowing my hub likes to sleep late, I suggested we go there around 12 noon. We could shop the stalls (I pictured neat little covered stands) and then take a peek at the auction. 

We arrived around 11:30 and to our utter amazement a neighboring mowed cornfield was packed with hundreds of automobiles. We luckily found a parking place near the entrance. 

Many ( and I mean MANY/a "boel") people had finished their shopping and were heading home with paintings, shelves, lampshades, chairs, and plastic bags crammed full of "boel."  First, we walked through a huge indoor arena, and then there it was. More junk and stuff than you could ever imagine!!! And the shoppers were packed in so closely that you could have walked on top of them.

All I could do was laugh. Laugh at myself for even thinking that there would be only a few people here and that there would be neat little stalls.

This wire "caged" in the electronics. Not sure why, since it all looked worthless.

And the furniture left a lot to be desired. But we did buy two white plastic lawn chairs that looked brand new (or at least they were clean!).

Looking back on the junk as I wait for my hub to drive our car around to the back door to pick up his $10 Gazelle bike, our $1 chairs, my 50 cent British Pyrex casserole dish, and my $7.50 vintage Kohler handcrank sewing machine. 

More about the sewing machine later.

What Doesn't Fit in this Profile?

Yesterday I showed two versions of our street on the Beltway. A Before and an After. Hope you were able to see the differences ;)

This morning while browsing a few blogs, I ran across an interesting profile of a blogger who shares her needlework with the World Wide Web. These are some of her favorite things:"scent of lavender, ladybugs, bumblebees, handguns, cats, Border collies, birds, traditional Scottish music."  

Can you find what doesn't fit here?

On Solid Ground

You know that game where you have to find the differences in two almost identical photos? Well, try this one:

Situation 1

Situation 2

Actually this is what is happening down on the Beltway below our apartment. Notice the changes in the 2nd photo? By the time we leave here in mid-November, our street should look like this.

Now for the clincher: When reconstruction of the street began this summer, it was discovered that the sewage system needed replacing. That was to have been expected (we watch too many Mike Holmes's Homes and This Old House shows!!). 

But today we received an update flyer that stated that before they could asphalt our side of the street, there would be an inspection for possible WWII explosives. And to top that, archeologists would dig trenches to examine what might be in the ground. The different layers of earth always provide information about a city's history. 

Don't think they expect to find "pots and pans" from the past from this Dutch city that has been in existence since the 9th century!

Room With a View

Remember. This is the apartment we had on the market for three years with only 6 viewers.

Most said they did not like it, since there was no view.

I beg to differ. We have great cloud formations in southwest Louisiana, but this blanket cloud here in The Netherlands is amazing.

And the workmen are still busy on the street down below. Hasn't disturbed me at all.

Are Your Windows Clean, Madam?

Clean windows are a sign of good housekeeping in this "kleine kikkerland" (small frog land). As a born and bred American, that cleaning didn't keep me awake until I moved to The Netherlands in 1979. Since then I can say that on the average I have kept our windows cleaner than most Americans. 

Well, today the window washer guys were due to do their cleaning wonders here at the Beltway Apartment. As we are situated on the extreme top floor of this 1912 Dutch high school building (over three stories), I made sure to awake early enough to witness the "cherry picker washer" action.

And I saw the handsome dude, but by the time I picked up my camera, he was gone!

Spray, swish, and on to the next apartment.

Maybe not the best wash job!

Maybe not the safest wash job!

But better than the dude a couple of years ago who did a "highwire" act walk in the gutter from one window to the next. (Without a safety cord!!!)

The outside is cleaner!

Now who is doing the inside? 

Glad we rescued our tall ladder from the "sticky fingers" painters!!

Shelfie #11

5,000 miles away from HOME we have another home. 

This shelfie is on the vintage (1990's) coffee table in that other home. 

Friends dropped by yesterday and brought this autumn beauty for us to enjoy. 

Doesn't it make you want to go out into your "fallish" garden and decorate your old fish bowl?