the violet hill toolbox.

Published on by Quandie14 Comments

I’m pretty flush with toolboxes these days.  I have several friends who have been snatching them up for me, which is always appreciated.  Especially if those friends know how to discern a good vintage toolbox from a not so good one.

I’m drawn to unique shapes, good handles, and weight.  You can almost always judge age by weight.  The older toolboxes are heavier and constructed out of thicker steel (hmmm, I feel like this applies to me as well).  I’m not as big a fan of newer toolboxes (although that being said, you are going to see one of those newer varieties from me next week).

For today, I’m working with this one.

Not super exciting with its black plastic handle, but I do like its shape.  It’s heavy duty, and it has a good tray inside.  I like the trays that don’t have any dividers meant for a set of sockets.

I prep all of my toolboxes in the same way.  I wash them out in the yard with the garden hose and some Dawn dish soap (you need a good grease cutting cleanser).  Once dry I may sand them if they have chipping paint or a lot of lumpy spots.  Then I give them a coat of Dixie Belle’s B.O.S.S. to block any potential stains from bleeding through my paint.

Actually, the photo above shows this toolbox after all of that prep.  As you can sort of see, the B.O.S.S. does look a bit filmy.  This product is always meant to be painted over, never left as a final coat.

Next up I painted the tray and the interior of the box in Dixie Belle’s English Ivy, and the outside of the box in their Sawmill Gravy.

Then I went through my stash of transfers.  I’m really trying to work on using up transfers that I’ve had for too long.  As I’ve mentioned before, transfers lose their stickiness over time, so you really can’t hang onto them for years.

I ended up pulling out an old re.design with prima transfer called Violet Hill.

I have to confess, this is not one of my favorites.  I’m drawn to warmer shades of pink, and the florals in this one are in cooler shades leaning towards violet (hence the name).  I have used snippets of it in the past.  First on a cast off hankie drawer …

and then on a pair of ice skates.

But I had enough of this transfer left to use on a toolbox, so I decided to go for it.  Even though these aren’t my favorite colors, I know there are those of you who love them.

I thought these darker florals would be more appropriate for the season too, they aren’t quite as summery looking as others that I use.

I added some of the Violet Hill transfer to the tray as well.

I pulled out another of the old prima transfers that Monica sent to me to add some French wording to the top of the toolbox …

as well as to the side of the tray.

By the way, isn’t that vintage velvet ribbon gorgeous?

It was the perfect color to work with the colors in that Violet Hill transfer.

I purchased that ribbon years ago at a garage sale and although I pull it out occasionally to stage a photo …

I haven’t come up with a permanent use for it yet, but one of these days I will.  In the meantime, I’ll just keep using it as a photo prop.

As for the Violet Hill toolbox, it is for sale locally.  So if any of you locals love these colors, and could use a fab vintage toolbox, be sure to check out my ‘available for local sale‘ page for more details.

the netherlands in miniature.

Published on by Quandie14 Comments

When people ask me what my favorite thing that we did during our recent trip to Amsterdam was, they always look a little confused by my answer.  But in all honesty, I think my favorite was Madurodam.

Madurodam is a miniature park in The Hague that is full of 1:25 scale model replicas of famous Dutch landmarks.

Well, you know me.  I love me some miniature stuff!

From the moment we rounded the corner and took in a view of the whole place I knew I was in heaven.

But first, some logistics.  The Hague is about an hour away from Amsterdam by train.  We took a train to The Hague, then a tram from the train station to Madurodam itself.

For me the train travel was part of the experience too.  We got to see a bit of the Dutch countryside including quite a few flower farms and some smaller towns like Haarlem.  I also saw quite a number of community gardens.  I love seeing those in Europe!  If you aren’t familiar, these are spaces where people who live in apartments without any outdoor space can rent a small ‘allotment’ and plant a garden.  Many of them include a small greenhouse or a cute little shed of some kind.  So fun to see!

But back to Madurodam.

You guys, I had some pretty high expectations for this place and I was not disappointed.

It was absolutely charming.

It was fun to spot places that we recognized from wandering around Amsterdam, like the National Maritime Museum …

the Magere Bridge …

and of course the Rijksmuseum.

By the way, that I amsterdam sign is no longer in front of the Rijksmuseum.  Apparently it drew too big of a crowd with everyone wanting the perfect selfie (read more about that here), so they opted to move it.

Madurodam even had a miniature de Wallen, or red light district, complete with ladies in the windows.

Not only were the miniature buildings fantastic, but so were the miniature gardens.

They had informal landscapes …

Their use of miniature trees in that little town just blew me away.  Isn’t it something?

They also had formal gardens.

That, by the way, is the back of Paleis Het Loo.  Here it is from the front.

Remember when I said I wish we’d had more time in Amsterdam?  This is one place that I would have loved to visit, but didn’t have the time.

Of course they also had some miniature windmills in Madurodam.

And some miniature tulip fields.

I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I was kind of delighted by some of the interactive elements, like the wooden shoe factory.

If you put a 1€ coin into the machine, a pair of Dutch shoes would fall down the shoot into the waiting truck, then the truck drove to you and you could take the shoes.

How frickin’ adorable is that?

And look how cute the little shoes are.

Not a bad souvenir for 1 € (or about $1.06), and this little pair of shoes will always remind me of the delightful day we spent at Madurodam.

If you ever find yourself in Amsterdam (or Rotterdam, or The Hague, or anywhere else nearby), and if you’re as enchanted by miniatures as I am, you absolutely should make the time to visit Madurodam!

peachy keen.

Published on by Quandie62 Comments

I thought I’d take this opportunity to compare the three shades of pinkish/coral from Dixie Belle that I use the most.

Here they are side by side; Flamingo, Cottage Door and Apricot.

Let’s start with the brightest, Flamingo.

You wouldn’t have thought I’d use this vibrant color on a piece of furniture, would you?

But I did.

Wowza!  It was very pretty though.

That being said, I typically use Flamingo to provide a pop of color on the inside, like I did with this toolbox.

If you prefer to keep your colors a little more subdued, you’ll prefer Dixie Belle’s Apricot.

I’ve used this one a bit more often than the Flamingo.

It was gorgeous on the inside of this armoire.

It was also pretty on the inside of this hankie drawer.

And I’ve used it on the insides of a couple of toolboxes now.

Including the one I shared most recently.

And that brings me to one of Dixie Belle’s newest colors, Cottage Door.

This might be the Goldilocks of the these three shades because if you think the Flamingo is a tad too bright, and the Apricot is a little bit too pale, the Cottage Door might be just right.

I first used this color on the inside of the ‘bee box’.

And then I used it again inside another toolbox.

I think it just might be the perfect shade of coral, not too bright, not too orange and not too pink.

Which one is your favorite?  I really love all three of these shades of coral, they each have their place.

And on that note, I’m going to give one of you the chance to fall in love with all three of them as well because I’m giving them away to one lucky reader.

This giveaway includes a 16 oz. Flamingo, a 16 oz. Cottage Door and a 4 oz. Apricot (because that was the only size I could get, unfortunately), plus one of Dixie Belle’s 1.5″ synthetic brushes.

The rules for today’s giveaway:  Simply leave a comment on this blog post (and please forgive me if I don’t respond to every one, but know that I read and appreciate all of them).

Your comment must be left on this blog post, not on Facebook or Instagram.  You are not required to follow my blog, or follow my Facebook or Instagram accounts, although it would be awesome if you did!

I will randomly draw the name of a winner for today’s prize from all of the comments left on this post by Sunday, October 15, 2023 at the stroke of midnight (U.S. Central time).

The fine print: no purchase necessary, you must be 18 years of age or older to win, void where prohibited by law, the number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning, approximate retail value of prize is $85, if the prize is not claimed by Friday, October 27, 2023 another name will be drawn at random to win, blah, blah, blah.

rain, rain, go away.

Published on by Quandie10 Comments

Good morning from the garden!

Today I thought I’d share some of the prettiest garden pics I took on our recent trip to Norway and the Netherlands.

First off though, I have to say that I didn’t take nearly as many photos on this trip as I usually do.  Why?  Well, I had this notion that rather than trying to get photos of everything I would just focus on being ‘in the moment’.

But you know what?  In hindsight, I think that was a mistake.  It turns out that photos are my way of remembering the experience.  Now that we’re home, I’m finding myself wishing I had taken more time to get good photos.  It’s certainly something I’ll keep in mind for the next trip!

But in the meantime, I still have a few pretty garden pics to share with you guys.

By the way, have I mentioned that it rained nearly every day of our two week trip?  As you saw last Sunday, it rained while we were touring de Hortus in Amsterdam.

And the rain continued to follow us throughout our trip.  That may have been part of the reason I didn’t get so many photos as well.  It’s tricky to wrangle both an umbrella and a camera, especially when your camera really requires two hands to operate properly.

We did get some sunny weather in Amsterdam, and the sun peeked out from the clouds eventually during our visit to Kristiansand.

But the rest of our Norwegian ports of call were full on rainy.

But no matter, things look pretty in the rain too.

And we were prepared with rain jackets, hats and umbrellas.

That being said, we did give up on walking around Oslo earlier than we might have on a sunny day when it really started coming down.

Aren’t those nasturtiums pretty?  I used to plant those in my early gardening days.  Mainly because you can fill in a big chunk of space for the cost of one packet of seeds.  I may have to consider planting them again next year.

Autumn is probably not the best time of year to be touring gardens.

It certainly wasn’t the right time if one wanted to see tulips in Holland.

But it was an awesome time to see the hydrangeas.

Apparently even gardeners in Norway can grow magnificent macrophylla hydrangeas.

I’m so jealous!

Holland had their fair share of hydrangeas too.

For the most part, other than those macrophylla’s, the plants in Northern European gardens were very similar to what we can grow in Minnesota.

Including lots of cosmos, zinnias, dahlias, salvias, and my new favorite, verbena bonariensis.

I saw tons of verbena bonariensis everywhere we went.

It looks like butterflies like it as much as I do.

I even found it deep in the valleys of Norway.

You may remember that I searched high and low for that plant this summer and eventually found it at Abrahamson’s Nursery in St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin.

Another plant that I’ve been hearing about lately, and one that I want to find to add to my garden next year is Persicaria.

At least I’m fairly sure that is Persicaria (if any of you know differently, please leave a comment).

Despite all of the rain, I thoroughly enjoyed seeing pretty plants everywhere we visited during our trip.  One of these days I’d love to take a garden themed tour of Great Britain.  How about you?  Are there any garden destinations on your bucket list?  Leave a comment and let me know.

 

amsterdam.

Published on by Quandie6 Comments

First up, congrats to Netti whose name I drew at random to win my Amsterdam giveaway from last week.  Netti, I sent you an email so check your in box if you haven’t seen it yet!

The first six days of our recent trip to Europe were spent in Amsterdam.

At first it might seem like six days is a lot for one smaller-ish city, but we (my husband, sister and niece) all wish we’d had even more time there.  There is so much to see in Amsterdam, not to mention the surrounding areas that are easy to reach by train.

First of all, some online sources say Amsterdam has over 100 museums!  Can you imagine?

  Now, granted, some of them are quite small, like the Tulip Museum (I’ll share more about that one in a Sunday morning garden post).

And some of them are quite … well … let’s just call them quirky.  Like the Cat Cabinet Museum, or the Museum of Bags and Purses.  Then there are the marijuana museums, and sex museums that people seem to expect from Amsterdam (sorry, we didn’t check out any of those).

And of course, some of their museums are world renowned, like the Van Gogh Museum, the National Maritime Museum and the Rijksmuseum.

I’ll share more on that one later too.

We also visited the Rembrandthuis Museum.

Rembrandt lived in this house in the 1600’s for about 19 years.  At the age of 52 he had amassed so much debt that he had to sell off the house and its contents to pay his creditors.  That actually ended up being fortuitous for the future curators of his museum because there was an inventory made of all of his belongings for the sale.  Thus it was possible to recreate the interiors of the home with amazing detail.

But in addition to museums, Amsterdam is just a very charming place to wander around in with all of its canals, bridges, and narrow gabled canal houses.

Although nothing is more than about an hour away on foot max, the public transportation system is super easy to use as well.  All you need is a credit card with a chip.  You tap as you get on a tram, and then you have to be sure to also tap on your way out (that’s how they know how long of a trip to charge you for).  Most of our tram journeys cost around $3.

On our first day in Amsterdam, we ended up stumbling into one of the traditional Dutch pubs, known as a bruin café or a brown bar.

Please forgive Kris and Debbie if they look a bit worn out.  We’d been on an overnight flight and none of us got much sleep.  Plus it was over 80° in Amsterdam that day (which is totally unusual for them in September), so we were both hot and tired.

This was clearly a spot normally favored by locals and it was the one instance during our entire trip where people tried to speak to us in Dutch.  We later found out that brown bars tend to be local watering holes, sort of the Dutch version of an English pub.

While in a brown bar, you have to order some of the brown food to get the full experience.  We tried the bitterballen, which are basically a meat and gravy sort of mixture that is rolled into balls, then battered and deep fried.

I thought they were delicious.

We also tried the ham and cheese kroketten, which was also good.

Speaking of stumbling across something unintentionally, that’s also how we ended up in the red light district.  We were trying to make our way across town on foot and the route took us down this alleyway.

I didn’t quite notice the red lanterns at first and it was a little startling to realize there were scantily clad ladies about 2′ away from me behind all of those windows.  Awkward.

Over the coming weeks I’ll share more about some of the side trips we took outside of Amsterdam itself, as well as the 2nd half of our trip which was spent on a cruise around Norway.  So be sure to stay tuned for that.

If any of you are looking for a city to visit in Europe that is super easy to navigate, where nearly everyone speaks English, and you can use your credit card for pretty much everything (in fact I saw more places that didn’t accept cash, rather than the other way around), Amsterdam just might be the perfect spot for your next getaway!

Have any of you been to Amsterdam?  And if so, what was your favorite thing to do there?  And if not, what are you waiting for?

the merry fairy box.

Published on by Quandie10 Comments

OK, I know it’s too early for Christmas.  But for those of us who make things to sell, we have to get going on that now.  I find that November is the best month for selling holiday decor, and guess what?  That’s next month already.  Yikes!

Anyway, remember my holiday themed toolboxes from last year?

My favorite was this one.

I actually ended up keeping it.  I love the subtle nod to Christmas with the poinsettias and the red typography.  It doesn’t scream Christmas with candy canes and Santa Claus, and that’s what I like about it.

This is another one from last year …

I used some of that same Christmas floral transfer, Evergreen and Holly, from Dixie Belle.

Unfortunately, that transfer was a limited time only sort of deal.  They don’t have it anymore, and as far as I can tell they aren’t coming out with a new one for this year.

So I have been searching high and low for something similar to use on some toolboxes that I have waiting in the wings for this year.  But everything I’m finding is coming up short.

I did order the Holly Jolly Xmas transfer from redesign with prima, but those designs are a bit too big to fit on a typical toolbox.

When the new I.O.D. holiday release came out, I was super excited about a couple of their new holiday transfers; Candy Cane Cottage and Fairy Merry Christmas.  So I ordered those too.

I noticed that the sheets they came on were a bit smaller than usual, but I figured they’d still be perfect for toolboxes.  But I was wrong.  Or at least sort of wrong.  A few of the elements are a good size for toolboxes, but many of them are just way too small.  Plus, I’m mainly interested in the florals, which are absolutely gorgeous, but again, quite small.

All in all, I’m pretty disappointed.

But that being said, I am going to try to find ways to use them … maybe just not on toolboxes.

That brings me to today’s project.  I have a stash of various recipe or card catalogue type of wooden boxes.  So I decided to paint one up that was just the right size for one of the images from the Fairy Merry Christmas set.

I painted the box in Dixie Belle’s Cactus, and once dry I added a merry fairy to the top.

Sweet, right?  But maybe not 100% my cup of tea.  I love the delicate look of the holly, and boy oh boy do I wish they had some transfers that were just sprigs of that holly!

The closest thing to that in this transfer set are the three wreaths that are included.

Two of which are a mere 6″ wide and tall.

I really wanted to use more of those pretty holly elements on this box though, so I ended up cutting up one of the wreaths and re-arranging it around the front of the box.

I think I did a pretty good job of disguising the fact that it was originally wreath shaped.

I chose to add another of the merry fairies inside the lid of the box.

Now, don’t get me wrong.  I do think these transfers are very pretty.  I love the subdued color palette, and the artwork is beautiful.  I just wish they were more suited to my needs.  Selfish of me, I know.

I think this transfer would be perfect for making gift tags, or maybe small wooden Christmas tree ornaments or something.  And who knows, maybe I will end up doing something like that with some of them.

Certainly, this little box turned out nicely.

But I sure do wish I could find another Christmas floral that I like as much as I liked that Dixie Belle Evergreen and Holly!

How about you?  Do you have a favorite Christmas transfer?  Any suggestions for one that might work on my toolboxes?  Leave me a comment and let me know!

de hortus.

Published on by Quandie8 Comments

Good morning from the garden!

I’m finding that my garden needs a bit of work this morning after being neglected for nearly three weeks spent first traveling, and then recovering from covid (we did recover pretty quickly, thanks for all of your well wishes).

Since my own garden is not nearly in ‘blog-worthy’ condition at the moment, I thought I’d share my recent visit to Hortus Botanicus Amsterdam (or as the locals call it, de Hortus) this morning instead.

Like any good gardener, I always try to check out any local botanical gardens when I travel.  While researching for this trip, I was excited to learn that de Hortus was only about a 20 minute walk from our hotel in Amsterdam.

We had set aside some time on our first full day to check it out.  I’m lucky that all of my traveling companions were willing to humor me and visit a botanical garden for a couple of hours.

Rain had been holding off for most of the earlier part of the day, but sure enough, nearly as soon as we got to the entrance the skies opened up.

So it maybe wasn’t the best time to be viewing the gardens.  Then again, sometimes I think gardens are prettiest in the rain.

It also was not exactly the best time of the year if one is hoping to see lots of flowers.  But then, that sort of mirrors my own garden.  I focus much more on plants grown for their foliage, rather than for flowers.

But that being said, there were a few things blooming, like this … hydrangea??

All of the plant signage was in Dutch, so it took some creative translating (sometimes with the help of google) to figure out what the plants were.

I was surprised to read that this plant is in the hydrangea family, since the flowers look nothing like any hydrangea that I grow.  Apparently in the U.S. we typically call this Yellow Wax Bells and it is good for zones 4 to 8, so I could put this in my own garden.  The University of Wisconsin-Madison says that it’s a good addition “to the back of larger shaded beds or borders or in woodland gardens,” and I just so happen to need a plant for those exact conditions in front of my new section of fence in the fern bed.  Hmmmm.  I wonder if I can find it anywhere?

The Hortus isn’t really about flowering plants though.  It was founded in 1638 and is steeped in history.  It was originally developed during the time of the plague to grow plants for medicinal purposes.  These days they have specimen plants from all over the world, many originally brought back by members of the Dutch East India Company.

I had to laugh when I walked into their three-climate greenhouse though.

Surely I didn’t go all the way to Amsterdam to see the plants that grow in my mom’s backyard, lol.

They also have a sub-tropical and a tropical section of that greenhouse, and there is a really cool catwalk that you can go up to and walk around in the tree tops.

Sidebar note; Mr. Q and I watch a BBC show called Van Der Valk, which takes place in Amsterdam.  While recovering from our covid last week, we got caught up on the most recent episodes available from Masterpiece Theatre.  We were having fun trying to spot locations that we recognized, and there were a few!  But I was especially tickled when the victim in one episode was pushed off the catwalk in de Hortus!

Fortunately, no one fell to their death during our visit.

The Hortus Botanicus is a bit on the small side at right around 3 acres, especially when compared to the ginormous Minnesota Landscape Arboretum (1,200 acres) that I’m used to, but it was the perfect size for the limited time we had.  It was a peaceful respite from the otherwise quite crowded city surrounding it.  It’s in the Jewish Quarter of the city centre, only a five minute walk from the Rembrandthuis Museum, and quite near the Holocaust Memorial.

I have to admit, I think my favorite spot in the whole place was the plant area of the gift shop.

It was just so darn charming.

If only I could have brought some plants home with me!

But no, I’ll make do with bringing home some pretty pictures and some wonderful memories instead.

And now I’d better get back out into my own garden and start tackling three weeks worth of weeds!  But before I go, tell me, have you been to de Hortus?  Or any other fabulously foreign botanical gardens?  Leave a comment and let me know.

sprinkles for breakfast.

Published on by Quandie39 Comments

And I’m back from my European vacation!  Phew!

Our return trip from Europe was a doozy.  Out of the 7 of us who traveled together, 5 of us came home with covid.  Mr. Q and I started to feel a little worn out as we left for the airport for our return flight home, but we chalked that up to spending two weeks going full speed.  We then had an 8 hour wait at the airport (due to a delayed flight), then a 9 hour flight home.  By the time we got home we were feeling pretty miserable.  By the next day we realized it could be covid, so my neighbor, nnK, dropped off some tests for us.

Sure enough, we were both positive.

I have to say, this is yet another of those times when it’s really nice to be retired.  Neither of us had to worry about now calling in sick to a job that we were already away from for two weeks for the trip.

I also have to say how lucky we are to have such a fabulous neighbor.  Not only did nnK pick us up from the airport, but she also stocked our fridge and left a meatloaf and mashed potatoes that I could just pop in the oven.  She also made homemade chicken noodle soup for us, and continued to deliver groceries while we isolated for five days.  It’s awesome to have good neighbors!

One more thing I’m grateful for is that we didn’t get sick during the trip.  So we didn’t miss out on any fun!

We most likely contracted covid on the Norway cruise portion of our trip, which was the final week.  We were careful with frequent hand washing, but we did not wear masks on the ship.  My advice to any of you considering a cruise is to be aware that chances are good that you will get covid.  If that’s a deal breaker for you, I would avoid cruising for the foreseeable future.

Over the coming weeks I plan to share some of the highlights of our trip, in no particular order.  But for now, I just wanted to check in and let you all know that I’m getting back in the groove a little more slowly than usual.  I’m hoping to get my paintbrushes back out soon though!

Now, if you’ve bothered to read this far I am going to reward you.  Well, one of you anyway.

If you’ve followed me for long, you know that when I travel I like to bring back some goodies to give away to a lucky reader.  So here’s what I’ve got this time.

First up, a couple of European decorating magazines.

I always hit up the newsstand at the airport for good magazines.  I only found one in Dutch …

At least I’m pretty sure that is Dutch (do any of you speak Dutch?).

Although you may not be able to read it, it’s still fun to look at the pictures.

I see the same sort of trends we’re seeing here, lots of raw wood paired with dark, moody colors.  The Nordic countries always include lots of furry throws in their decor too.

They seem to be calling this sober-chic, which seems fitting.

I googled sober chic out of curiosity and found lots of articles on living alcohol free, but I’m sure that’s not what they mean here.  I think they are referring to another definition of sober, which is austere or serious.

What do you think?  Is sober-chic for you?

I also grabbed the British edition of Country Living.

This issue includes a fun article on potting sheds, and another on the rise of the new boot room.

Next up, I’m including this paper folding kit for a tulip vase from the Tulip Museum in Amsterdam.

They claim that it will actually hold water, but I have my doubts.  Still, it might be a fun little project for the lucky winner.

Speaking of projects, I’m also including this paint that I picked up in Zaanse Schans.

De Kat is the only remaining working windmill in the world that makes paint.

I mean seriously, how could I resist some powdered paint?  I bought some for myself to experiment with as well.  There are several ‘recipes’ included for turning this powder into paint, with the simplest one being the ‘egg tempera’ which involves mixing it with an egg yolk and some water.  There is also a recipe for ‘children’s paint’ where you mix the powder with ‘fat milk’ (would that be our whole milk?) and claims that the paint will ‘not go sour after it has dried’.

Finally, no travel gift would be complete without some chocolate.

Including some chocolate sprinkles!

Wait, what?  Did I say sprinkles?

Apparently a very popular Dutch breakfast choice is chocolate sprinkles, or hagelslag, on bread.

It’s a simple enough recipe, take a slice of bread (non-toasted!), butter it, and add sprinkles.

When we read about this practice before our trip, I really thought it was one of those sort of things that people don’t really actually do.  You know, like Norwegians eating lutefisk.

But sure enough, these sprinkles were available at the breakfast buffet every morning at our hotel in Amsterdam.  So I grabbed some extras to share!  If you win today’s giveaway, you’ll have to give it a try and let us know what you think.

The rules for today’s giveaway:  Simply leave a comment on this blog post (and please forgive me if I don’t respond to every one, but know that I read and appreciate all of them).

Your comment must be left on this blog post, not on Facebook or Instagram.  You are not required to follow my blog, or follow my Facebook or Instagram accounts, although it would be awesome if you did!

I will randomly draw the name of a winner for today’s prize from all of the comments left on this post by Sunday, October 1, 2023 at the stroke of midnight (U.S. Central time).

The fine print: no purchase necessary, you must be 18 years of age or older to win, void where prohibited by law, the number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning, approximate retail value of prize is $50, if the prize is not claimed by Friday, October 6, 2023 another name will be drawn at random to win, blah, blah, blah.

our European vacation.

Published on by Quandie8 Comments

This post is for all of my fellow travelers out there.  I kept it a bit on the downlow for security reasons, but today we are returning from our European vacation!

I wrote this post before we left, but scheduled it to appear today.  I’m sure that you will all pardon my subterfuge, but the last two weeks of blog posts were all scheduled in advance before we left.

Later in the week I’ll share more about how things actually went, but for now I’m just sharing what we had planned.

Mr. Q, my sister, my niece and I had booked a European capitals cruise way, way back before Covid.  You can all guess how that ended up … canceled in 2020 and re-booked for 2021, then canceled again in 2021, at which point we just opted to take a refund of our deposit and try again some time in the future.

So here we are 4 years later, finally taking our European vacation!

We are heading to Amsterdam first.  I’ve been to their airport many times, but I’ve never stopped and stayed a while.

Once again we hired a private guide for a walking tour on our first full day.  We have done this in a number of European cities including Budapest, Prague, Valletta (Malta), Invergordon (Scotland) and Venice.  It can be a little pricey when it’s just Mr. Q and I, but with my sister and niece sharing the expense, it’s quite reasonable.

That being said, it has been worth the cost every single time, even when it’s just the two of us paying for it.

I exchanged a handful of emails with our guide before we left and she gave us valuable advice up front, letting us know that Amsterdam is very walkable and we probably won’t need the tourist card that covers the cost of public transportation and museum entrance fees.  We probably wouldn’t use it much for transportation, and if we do decide to take a bus or tram, we can pay easily with a credit card.  Adding up the entrance fees to the museums we want to visit, it turns out that the Iamsterdam card for 5 days is more expensive than just paying the entrance fees.

In addition to our walking tour, we also planned to take a canal boat tour and visit an outdoor market where we can try all of the local food specialties like stroopwafel.

Of course we planned to check out the Rijksmuseum, and in fact already had our tickets purchased in advance.  We’d also downloaded their free app for navigating the museum.  Although I was looking forward to seeing paintings by Rembrandt and Vermeer, in all honesty I was most excited to see some dollhouses that they have.

Seriously, is that right up my alley or what?

Speaking of miniature things, we also purchased advance tickets for Madurodam.

Madurodam is a miniature park with 1:25 scale model replicas of famous Dutch landmarks and historical buildings.  I’m sure it’s entirely full of camera toting tourists (but then, what are we?), and how in the world could I possibly pass up the chance to go there?

Madurodam is not in Amsterdam, but rather is in The Hague.  It’s about a 45 minute train ride away, so it would give us a chance to see a little of the area beyond Amsterdam too.

I’d planned a couple of things in Amsterdam that will make good ‘Sunday morning in the garden’ posts too including a visit to Hortus Botanicus …

the tulip museum …

and the garden at The Willet-Holthuysen House …

After our first few days in Amsterdam my neighbor nnK’s brother and another couple joined us for two more days in the city, after which we boarded a Holland America cruise around Norway.

When we initially started planning this trip, we were going to spend time in Amsterdam and then head to Bruges.  But my sister has always wanted to go to Norway, so I started looking at cruise options from Amsterdam just to see what I could find.  And I found a great deal on this 7 day Norway cruise.  It didn’t take much to convince Debbie that we should do this instead of Bruges.

Bruges has always been on my bucket list, and one of these days I’m sure I’ll get there, but I’m really looking forward to seeing my sister and niece experience Norway.

Mr. Q and I have already been to all of the ports of call on this particular cruise, but we don’t mind going back again.  We have stops in Oslo …

Kristiansand …

Stavanger …

and Flåm.

Be sure to check back in next week when I report back on how it all went!

a fairy garden update.

Published on by Quandie10 Comments

Good morning from the garden!

Today I thought I’d share how my new fairy garden held up over the summer.

You may remember that earlier in the season I moved my fairy garden from a cracked cement birdbath into an old wheelbarrow.  I needed more space to expand!

Here’s how it looked when it was newly planted in May.

And here is how it looks now!

Um, yeah.  It definitely filled in a bit.

The creeping thyme really went to town, filling in that entire front corner …

and nearly smothering the buddha.

The Golddust Mecardonia from Proven Winners also grew like crazy.

I’ve cut that one back several times as it wanted to take over the entire space.

I knew that the wire vine that I trained on the arbor would need some regular maintenance.

I grew this one in my old fairy garden too.  It has to be woven in and out of the arbor, and then cut back when it starts getting shaggy.

The various sedum that I planted were a little less rambunctious.  They filled in, but they didn’t need cutting back at all.

The dark green plant on the upper right side of that photo above is a dwarf betony, or stachys minima.  Unfortunately, it never bloomed for me.  But it is a perennial and I’m hoping that if I protect it over the winter it will come back next year and bloom.

In addition to the Feather Boa hosta that I saved from my previous fairy garden, I also planted a new miniature hosta after I’d already shared the fairy garden back in May.

That is a Mighty Mouse hosta and I tucked it in just next to the fairy’s mailbox.

So far both of the mini hostas look great!

In the past I have had mixed results overwintering these mini’s in my fairy gardens.  Sometimes they make it, sometimes they don’t.  I used to take the top of my cement bird bath fairy garden and place it on the ground up against the house where I would bury it in leaves for the winter.  This year I plan to move the entire wheelbarrow into the carriage house for the winter.  I’ll likely also cover it with leaves and maybe wrap it somehow.

I’m hoping to keep the Alberta spruce and the Golden Ruby barberry alive over winter as well.

So I’ll just cross my fingers on that.

Overall, I’d say the fairy garden was a huge success this year.

So the next time you see a crumbling old metal wheelbarrow in the free pile at a garage sale (I did see one this summer!), be sure to snatch it up and plant your own fairy garden!