Hopfaldera

Plans for travel

We are off to China in a couple of days! It is the first time I've had to prepare like a tourist because the previous times we went, we only went to visit our family in Shanghai. But not this time: This time we are also going to Beijing and to Xian. We can, because we think Damaris and Emil are big enough now to enjoy some sight-seeing, but of course we have made sure that at least one of the hotels has a pool.

These are the plans:
In Shanghai we'll have to find out how high the new tallest building has become since our last visit, and of course how tall our cousins Constantine and Amanda have become.
In Beijing we want to see the Forbidden City and the Great Wall.
In Xian we want to see the Terracotta Army, and it'll be very exciting because we will be without our family there, so we will have no help with the language...

Not too many specific plans because one of the important things is to try to soak up some of everyday life in the places we visit. In Shanghai we will try to take Constantine to school (this year our May vacation is longer than his) and see what his school is like. And we'll take Amanda to the playground and try to teach her some new Dutch words. When you live so far from your family it's really nice to experience some of what they do everyday. Have dinner with them, take their daily trips with them, play together. So that is still a big part of our plans, even if we are going to be tourists this time!

A Dutch song

This is for my kids. It is an acoustic version of Nick en Simon's Rosanne, and it is quite bearable. No whining! And it even has a very sympathetic mistake. Nick and Simon are very popular singers. The version of this song that we know from the radio has all kinds of things added that make it "not so nice". I think they should have kept the song like this. Damaris can play this on her guitar as well!

Fabric printing

Last week I received the new book by Lotta Jansdotter, Lotta prints.
It's a nice book and we were inspired to do some fabric printing. It turned out I actually have a large collection of paint and materials for this craft. Printing is an old love, that's one of the reasons why I was drawn to the book. Also because Lotta's Simple sewing book was the first craft book I found through the craft blogging world.


Emil needed a new schoolbag so he decorated a blank one that I had lying around. Damaris decorated a piece of linen she will use for some still mysterious fashion project.

This time it was mainly Emil and Damaris that did the printing. And it was me that did the setting up and the cleaning up. I hope I can do some more printing for myself next time. Because it is a lot of fun!

Getting better?

Bleh, I have a bad cold and a fever.
Right now I'm trying this medicine (and some Ibuprofen):

It is hot water with ginger, a clove and cardamom pods. I hope it will soften my throat.
Damaris is also looking pretty bad, but that is because she is in a school play today. She is the Wolwa in a play about the Edda, the old Norse mythology.

Of course I will go to the play tonight. Never mind that cold.

Happy Easter

We wish everybody :

Happy Easter
(this little card was made by Damaris especially for the blog)

Easter ideas

Okay, easter is coming... Time to decorate the house with flowers and color!

Damaris and Emil have already worked on colorful decorations.

Some easter ideas for myself (and you, lovely reader):

Egg cozies from a pattern on Yvestown
Stuffed fabric eggs on Olive Juice and co
Easter bread (I usually make a bread with raisins and cardamom, but this WHO bread on Soulemama might also be a good idea)

Last year I embroidered napkins with easter drawing by the kids More on Flickr

Looking at that photo of last year's Easter Breakfast Table (with capitals) makes me happy. It gives me the feeling that we will be able to cheer up in time before easter if we surround ourselves with color and flowers.
We have felt very sad this week because the little daughter of friends died after only 17 weeks of life. This weekend we'll say goodbye to her.

Spring!

Today spring came...

A peacock in De Leidse Hout was ruffling his feathers trying to impress a female. She appeared not that impressed; all the humans out and about in the wood were all the more...

Mister Peacock gave up for now. On the calendar it is not even spring yet; plenty of time left to impress that bird.

We enjoyed lunch in the tea pavilion at De Leidse Hout.

A previous visitor left a newspaper at the table.

Brave Damaris and Emil even took off their jackets. Actually it was still a bit cold (it's February after all), but the sun gave everybody a smile on their face and a little spring in their step.

Tosti's (Grilled cheese sandwiches), Vitello Tonato and Tomato soup. All with added sunshine, the best!!
Springtime is slowly coming to the wood. So great we could enjoy it with the four of us today!

Life on the farm

In the Netherlands the television show Boer zoekt Vrouw (Farmer want a Wife) is extremely popular. Last Sunday more people watched that show than there were football viewers. Some suggest, it is because people are longing for a simple life on the farm. One commenter on tv described it like this: "In the show they sit at breakfast with a packet of margarine on the table; hardly anybody lives like that anymore".
Well, most people I know live like that, but never mind...

I like the life portrayed in the video below. Without the hardship please.

Our own Emil doesn't get in this much trouble, I assure you. He was just named after this boy.

Epiphany

Yesterday, when my kids were a little bored I asked them: ‘It’s the 6^th of January, right?’. ‘Yeah’, they said. ‘Then it is Driekoningen (Epiphany or Three Kings’ Day) today’, I told them.

This inspired a lot of activity: Damaris made a cake by crushing Lange Vinger cookies, mixing the crumbs with melted butter and shaping a cake out of the mixture on a gold paper plate. Before we ate the cake (I only did some digging to be honest), she put on whipped cream. Before thinking up the recipe for this desert Damaris said she wanted to make something that grown-ups would think was ridiculous but that children would love. I think she succeeded very well and the effect was great!

Of course she hid some beans for us to find in the cake to determine who would be the Kings, except we didn’t have any beans. Emil came up with the solution: 3 Lego blocks in the same colors as the paper crowns he was making for the lucky Kings. I made a drawing of the three kings in the traditional colors as well. At school Damaris and Emil learned that the first king (Melchior) is red, the second one (Balthazar) is blue and the last one (Caspar) is green (and also black). When they see the three kings portrayed somewhere with different colors, they say it is completely wrong and crazy. They are funny that way!

O yeah, who got the beans? Frederik found the red one, Emil blue, and Damaris got the green Lego block. I got a yellow king that Emil made to comfort the one person that wouldn’t find anything. And I didn’t have to finish my plate said Damaris. They are sweet that way too!