A Fireplace in a Farmhouse

From December 14th to 16th, hubby and I made a weekend trip with friends to Wapserveen in Drenthe. As with last year, this is the same place where we spent time socializing and reuniting with friends, some of which we only meet once a year at this annual gathering called the "Pingjum"; its name derived from the name of the place of the first gathering of the same group of friends some twenty years ago.

Over the years, the list of friends changed, but the core group who initiated this gathering remained the same. This I feel is remarkable indeed and has withstood the test of time. At every gathering, the official flag of friendship is placed on a pole outside the house where the gathering is held.

This year, what caught my attention the most was the fireplace, in which hubby had taken time to tend to. It takes patience to start a fire, and even more to get it fiery and volatile. The farmhouse lacks heating downstairs, so this old-fashioned fireplace comes in handy.

Here I enclose photos of the different stages of the fireplace. Hubby and one of his friends tended to the fire; both speaking only occasionally; eyes gazing at the fire. They found it a soothing activity which required patience and skill.

I too felt relaxed looking at the fire. I never thought before that fireplace gazing could have a therapeutic effect.

O Christmas Tree

On Saturday, the sun had started shining again, but my mini snowman stood firm in the icy snow.

On the same day, we bought a Noordman Christmas tree at the Ranzijn Garden Center for 16,95 Euros, along with a battery lit snowman and penguin. I like to say that hubby is the snowman as he is always warm while I am the penguin with the flushed cheeks. We only put minimal decorations on Friday as we were quite tired by the time we reached home due to our walk in the dunes through heavy snow.

Today, I got out our mini Christmas town and started decorating the house with it.

As with last year, our Gingerbread man and woman hangs on the Christmas tree. Today (Sunday), hubby and I did the decorating proper.

Christmas tree lighted up.

Christmas flower - one of my favourite lights.

The tree in full light.

Ceiling lights which were a present from hubby's parents. Hubby did creative work by decorating the lights with a garland and Christmas balls.

All in all, we had fun decorating the house with Christmas stuff and of course, the Christmas tree :)

Pre-Christmas dish

Hubby and I had a romantic pre-Christmas meal together. We had baked pork casserole with potatoes and  Greek salad. The meal was all oven-baked and we bought the food pre-packed. All we had to do was put the food in the oven and wait for an hour. And presto, ready to serve and dine!

The potatoes.

A meal for two people - just right portions. Or...if otherwise, maybe we are eating too much!

 The pork slices after being cut.

The Greek salad.

Post-Christmas dish

In the comfort of our penthouse, hubby improvised and made a tasty dish out of frozen spinach cubes and chicken fillet. 

The end result was creamy spinach with lemon chicken. We enjoyed it a lot. I for one, always wondered what to do with frozen spinach but now I know!

Christmas Collage

Christmas was a time of merry-making and coziness for us. I shall make a photo collage as the photos speak better than my own descriptions of it. 

 On the second day of Christmas, after lunch, we went out for a stroll in the neighbourhood of Heerhugowaard. We walked past channels and a man-made lake as seen below. It was along this stroll that I attempted to race my 13 year old nephew without success. I've learnt something two days later after getting sore thighs from running my maximum speed - Never race a 13 year old teenager with long legs! If you do want to run, warm up first. You are no spring chicken compared to a teenager.

 Moss-like coated chocolate - at first sight, they did not seem appetizing. Yet after a mouthful, I found that they were really tasty despite the greenish colour.

 On the first day of Christmas, after dinner we had this tasty cake for dessert. The cake is a butter cake surrounded by cherries.

 Our family played the Wii-Fit video game. As you can see on the screen, most of our Mii characters appear to be sleeping away. This is because it has been some time since we played it, and the Wii-Fit is supposed to be an exercise programme motivating you to exercise.

 The family cat - Tigertje is an old dame of 19 years old. In cat years, she is seven times older. She is a cat to be reckoned with; full of character. If you get off your seat, she will immediately prance at the seat, taking your place.

 For the second day dinner, we had fish salad and normal salad with bread.

 Christmas decoration hung on the Christmas tree which also can be eaten! It's delicious milk chocolate.

 Preparations for the starter for the first day of Christmas. My sister-in-law meticulously prepared this exquisite starter.

 She cut the smoked chicken into pieces.

 The end result - smoked chicken in orange peel garnished with herbs.

 About to start our Christmas dinner with the smoked chicken in orange peel.

 The gourmetten in progress.

 Christmas village decoration done by my husband's family.

 The cozy fireplace.

 Two paintings which I like a lot in the house. Has a Zen-feel to it.

 Dessert on the second day of Christmas.

Christmas brunch.

Merry Christmas to Everyone!

Hubby and I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone whom we hold dear to a very Merry Christmas of 2011. 

Both of us are happy and blessed. We hope that you would be too. May this Christmas be one of receiving, loving and forgiving. Peace at heart; and one for all, and all for one!


PS : Thanks to my friend Karin for the second Gingerbread woman Christmas present. It complements the lone Gingerbread man on our Christmas tree. 

Christmas Artwork

On the same day we bought our Christmas tree, I chanced upon a metal heart frame. Within it were smaller hearts. It had the colour of rusty metal and it was not something I would normally choose to take home even if it were free. I would say "Send it to the scrap metal dealer."

 Yet something compelled me to this heart frame. Maybe they were the hearts within the heart, I'm not sure. Maybe in a more creative burst lately, I felt that love grows from the core. Love, represented by the heart, grows into something beautiful. I vowed to make this heart beautiful inside out. 

I walked past the aisle and then I turned back, after asking hubby if it was ok to buy it. Hubby, as he always is nice and sweet to me, said it is ok. He hardly ever says it is not ok for me to buy something. 

 When we reached home, we were already tired and did not do any decorating. Then on Wednesday afternoon, after a Japanese takeaway lunch from the Wok to Go, we were energised and started decorating our Christmas tree. The same evening, I decorated the heart with a few knick-knacks, acorns and slingers which I had bought separately.

I recalled with fond memories of Michelle and her hubby's stay with us here in Alkmaar. The acorns were collected from the Zuid-Kennemerland National Park. We went cycling in the dunes together with them. Michelle and Kaie also took two acorns for keepsake. Had they not collected the acorns, we would not had done so too. So here is thanks to the both of them for contributing to this craft of mine.

 This is the end result after one hour of standing up (yes, I did not sit down on the chair while doing this) trying this and that. Everything I did on the heart was by trial and error. If it didn't look nice enough to me, I would take out the pieces and start over again. Quite a perfectionist you could say, until I was late on dinner. Hubby was on the sofa and I asked him what time it was. He said it was already ten minutes past seven.  I was surprised that I was lost in time. I immediately rushed to cook him a nice dinner.

My Christmas craft now hangs on a nail on the side window. Here is a motto I want to put with it.

"Love grows into a Garden." Quoting from a painting in my house in Malaysia where there was a garden of flowers and the same words below it. I remember my mother re-painted the flowers when it faded. I liked the fact that she restored the painting.

Now I do not know where that painting went too, but this Metal Heart reminds me of it. So here is also a thanks to my mother for this artwork inspiration. All the people who are close to me at heart contributed to this artwork. A big thank you to all!

Christmas Decorations at Night

 Our Christmas tree close up. The white flowers are part of our light slingers which go all around the tree.

Believe it or not...this painting comes from a butter cookie container. I was attracted to the painting more than I was attracted to the cookies inside. The painting looks so surreal, and it kind of reminds me of Alkmaar on a rainy day like it always is now this autumn.

 This is the cookie container with the same painting of the town. The cookies by the way are quite tasty.

Our Santa Claus on the sleigh lights by our front window. Hubby and I bought it together last year at the shop just below our penthouse. I like to light it up at night. When we go out especially I leave this Santa light switched on because when you walk on the streets, you can see it from below. It really stands out in the darkness. Just like Santa in the sky on his sleigh!

 Our Christmas tree at night. It gives out a warm hue of colours. That said, I'm glad with our colour choice of red and gold balls. This year, I'm all into traditional Christmas settings. I'm into shades of maple brown, crisp autumny colours and wintry landscapes. Last year I was all about freshness of summer incorporated into Christmas but now I'm just going on with the flow. It's much more relaxing and you appreciate the beauty of the season even more.

Our star lights in the dark. You could see that the hallway is lighted up. You could also see the streets below from the window reflection. And me too. I'm also reflected by the window while taking this photo. Where is hubby? He is playing Wii video games in the dark because I switched off the lights to take photos. Sorry, hubby.

Round lights from the slingers; part of our Christmas tree enlarged.

It rained hail again today, and the temperature went down to 1'C a few hours ago. It is close to freezing, and I hope it will stay that way; not for the cold but for the snow. According to hubby, it must stay below zero for at least two days before it will snow. Keeping our fingers crossed for a Witte Kerstmis - A White Christmas for 2011.