Recap

This weekend I went to my first ever horse show. I thought I would enjoy it, but I had no idea how much!! My friend goes to the Windsor Horse Show every year, this year she invited me. It was so good! We drank lots of tea, watched the most beautiful horses and skilled riders compete and even saw the Queen!! No photos of her though, I'm afraid, you'll just have to take my word for it. There were loads of posh people wearing tweed and jodphurs, there were loads of stalls... delicious food and drink, clothes, art and much much more. There was a shetland pony grand national (so fun!!) and even a little fairground, all overlooked by Windsor Castle.



I was so inspired by those riders that I was very excited about my hack on Sunday morning! But it was a wash out. Instead of cantering in the sunshine through fields and meadows my trusty steed Brian (isn't Brian a cool name for a horse?!) and I walked, bedraggled, through mud and bog. Rain dripped down my face. Brian slipped and hauled his hooves through the mud. He hated it. I didn't enjoy it too much either!

The rest of the weekend was spent at the optician (or at least it felt like it!) My mother acted as my eyes as I chose a new pair of glasses. My new glasses are fabulous and are being made especially for me! My optician and the specialist doctor agreed that I have GPC... giant papillary conjunctivitis. It's an allergic reaction to contact lenses or the lens solution. I have been given eye drops and am not to wear my contact lenses for a couple of months at least. I'm getting used to being bespectacled.

This coming weekend marks our first wedding anniversary! Mr B has planned something. I don't know anything about this "something" other than I have to look smart, really smart, and I have to take some more casual clothes with me to change into later. Do you have any idea what we might be getting up to?? I have absolutely no clue! I can't wait to see what he's got up his sleeve!!

Last night I walked over this bridge.

This bridge has been a most important and frequent backdrop in my life.

The bridge used to be called the Hungerford Bridge. As a tiny child my parents would hold my hand as we walked across it, though it didn't look like it does now. It was a Victorian, iron, mammoth railway bridge with two tiny footpaths either side. We would walk across it every December, as my parents took me to see The Nutcracker ballet in the Royal Festival Hall, just across the Thames. I felt so scared as we walked up the dark, dank steps on the side of the bridge. Trains would hurtle past. The bridge would tremble and shudder alarmingly as the screeching trains banged over the rails. There were, unbelievably, big holes in the walkway of the bridge, where the tarmac and foundation had crumbled into the river below. I absolutely hated walking over it. Apparently I wasn’t the only one. The footpaths on the bridge were well-known to be narrow, dilapidated and dangerous.

The bridge, thankfully, underwent a transformation. I absolutely love walking over it now.


photo credit kenchie

This is the bridge that Mr B and I walked over on our first date. We stopped and looked at the view and did not kiss even though, we later found out, we both wanted to. This is the bridge that, under an eclipse of the moon, saw Mr B go down on one knee and ask me to spend the rest of my life with him.

Last night I walked over this bridge to meet my man. We were in London to watch this. It was super. Have any of you seen it?

Eye. Is. Fed. Up.

I have been struggling over the last week or so. I’m fed up. I’m grumpy. I want to be able to blink without my eyelids feeling like sandpaper. I’ve been to the doctors four times. One of the doctors used google to diagnose me. No, I’m not joking. I’ve tried upping my normal antihistamine, I’ve tried two types of antibiotic eye drops, I’ve tried different types of allergy eye drops, I’ve tried a strong antibiotic eye gel and I’ve tried antibiotic tablets. I’ve not worn my contact lenses and I’m most certainly not wearing any eye makeup therefore I’m miserable. And my eyelids are as scratchy and swollen as ever. It has lasted 7 weeks. I’m fed up! And I’m getting desperate for my eyes to get better in time for our trip to Venice in 13 days. I’ve been whining. A lot. And I hate feeling down and grumbley. But I’ve just not been able to get past my negativity these last few days. This morning I was finally referred to a specialist eye consultant and I’m hoping that he’ll be able to fix me. It’s costing me £180 to see him! Please tell me why I pay national insurance again? Right, rant over.

My lovely mother knows just how to make me feel better. She is taking me out on Sunday afternoon for some brand-spanking-new glasses, as I think it may be quite a while before I can wear contacts again! I’m excited!

I hope to be back on-form and mended very soon. With photos of course!

AWOL

I've been busy this week.

Look what I've done!

Not this weekend but the one before

Mr B and I visited our family in Yorkshire. We

• Wandered round Saltaire
• Visited the David Hockney exhibition in Salts Mill
• Drank tea
• Drank prosecco
• Spent an evening outside round the fire
• Went bowling. Mr B and his competitive streak won.
• Walked to Marsden along the canal
• Chatted
• Stroked Tess the lurcher

It was wonderful.

q&a

I would like to give USCEmily a big thank you shout out!! She kindly gave me the lemonade award! I just loved what Emily wrote about where her gratitude came from. I received this award a while ago and posted it here. So instead of posting it again I thought I'd share this fun q&a tag from Summer...

1. What is your current obsession? Dreaming about when I can wear my contact lenses again and put on eyeshadow, eyeliner & mascara. I’ve had a grotty eye infection for weeks now and I’m heartily fed up of my glasses.
2. What do you think your name says about you? That I’m different and have some Dutch influence in my life.
3. Who was the last person you hugged? Mr B.
4. What’s your favorite dinner? Mr B’s homemade Spätzle.
5. What was the last thing you bought? Some antibiotic eye cream from the chemist. Glamourous, no?
6. What are you listening to right now? My colleagues gossiping and weasel colleague typing LOUDLY.
7. What is your favorite weather? Sunny, dry and as hot as possible.
8. What is your least favorite season? Winter
9. What's in your shower? Miranda soap from Lush, Redken shampoo, Balinese body wash from our honeymoon hotel, body brush, Rituals hair conditioner.
10. What is your favorite tea flavor? Bog standard British. Strong with lots of milk, like builders drink. I don’t think it does the whiteness of my teeth any favours.
11. What did you want to become as a child? Princess, ballet dancer, artist, bank clerk.
12. What do you miss? Holland.
13. What's your favorite brand of jeans? Diesel
14. What designer piece of clothing would you most like to own (new or vintage)? A gorgeous gown by Elie Saab.
15. If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go? Home to bed
16. Who do you want to meet in person? Eddie Izzard… we’re seeing him in December and I’m already excited!
17. What is your most challenging goal right now? Being patient in my job hunt.
18. What’s your 5 year plan? In 5 years I’d like to be a mum -living in Yorkshire –working as a photographer.


Slaithwaite, Yorkshire 2009

19. Why is today special? It’s the weekend!! Need I say more?
20. What is my favourite sport to watch? Football (soccer).
21. To play? I don’t do team sports… I enjoy yoga, horseriding, swimming, bowling, tennis.
22. What is your favorite piece/pieces of jewelry that you own? My wedding ring means the most to me. Style-wise I love my engagement ring the most – it’s a beautiful ascher cut diamond set in platinum and tiny diamonds… the guy did good.
23. One thing nice about the person who sent this to me? Summer is beautiful, talented and stylish – go and check out her blog!

I hope you're all having lovely weekends. It's a long bank holiday weekend here and I'm enjoying every long minute of it!

Did I tell you my mother is a teacher?

Hoofdstuk 2


Sonsbeek Park 2008

Leaving school today and seeing two little boys run to the car park, without holding their daddy's hand, (very dangerous) gave me visions of the safe environment I grew up in. We lived on the edge of a little town, with fields and small forests close by, as well as a mixed arable and dairy farm just 10 minutes down the lane. As there were hardly any cars at all we could play in and beside the road, which was a beautiful avenue lined with huge beech trees. Those trees were used for playing hide and seek, they functioned as goal posts when the boys wanted to play football and they were a good cover for when your mother called you in and you did not want to go home. I do not remember a great deal until I was around five years old, but then I did not have the help of photos which could have helped me imprint all those many important occasions. My parents did not possess a camera, so I have very few photos of my early childhood years. Two christening photos, with my parents and my sister. I am just a little white shape in my mother's arms, my sister standing very close and my father looking proud and protective. It was July 1944, still summer, my father looked drawn and thin; they still had to endure eight months of occupation. The second photo shows me, a few months later, smiling and looking very contented, in my pram, a bonny baby, without a care in the world. The third photo was taken shortly after the liberation, I could walk and was wearing little clogs, made by a kind neighbour who took pity on me, as I had no shoes, so he cut me some tiny clogs. Next to me stands my little friend, he wears shoes, and my father looks down down on the two of us. His tobacco plant is also in the picture. I even remember the place where it grew. That is the total of my baby pictures.

The next picture of me was taken at nursery school when I was five years old. You can see a rather shy blond girl, playing with some building bricks. I loved my nursery school. It was a Fröbel school whose doctrine was foremost singing, dancing and playing (especially with wooden bricks). Story listening was a daily occurence as was drawing and paper folding. Today they call it Orrigami. The garden was made into a huge sandpit and we all had small spades and rakes and did we dig and dig! Before going back into scholl we had to stamp our feet for many minutes before we were allowed back in, or did we take our shoes off? I cannot remember. I do remember the large oval play room where we sang and danced all those wonderul traditional nursery rhymes and songs. This was the room where the Saint Nicholas toys were displayed. I can still see them standing on the shelves, unwrapped in groups. Small boxes with building bricks, toy tools, toy drums, boxes with dolls house furniture and my favourite - little dolls in white dresses with tiny white socks. Oh I dreamed of getting one of those and I remember how disappointed I was when I was given a box with building bricks instead. I walked home (a twenty minute walk) on my own and showed my St. Nicholas gift, still disappointed that the little dolls had gone to other girls. I had to be content with my cloth dollies, made lovingly by a much older cousin.

Many Sunday afternoons I spent playing and building pretend houses and streets (they were very little dream houses as the box of bricks was not very large), which made a lovely change from playing with my little cooker, which had burners and if I had been a good girl my mother allowed me to cook potatoes cut into tiny pieces and apple sauce - my favourite food. The little cooking stove is still in my possession and Saskia has also played with it. Alas the burners have rusted and it is no longer safe to fill them with methylated spirit. The nursery school building is still there, but it has been changed into three small flats. I sometimes dream I will live there one day as my one year at the nursery school gave me my lifelong love..... school! I loved it then and I still do. Kind regards to all you readers mama.