Happy Easter!

Rabbits soft and cuddly
Baby chickens, too.
Easter eggs for baskets
White and pink and blue.
Easter cards of greeting,
Music in the air,
Lilies just to tell us
It's Easter everywhere.

/Easter Everywhere by JS Bach/

Easter Eggs

The tradition of Easter eggs comes from an old Slavic custom dating back to pagan times. The best known example of them is the Ukrainian pysanka decorated using a wax-resist technique. I wanted to try something different this year, so I created a bunch of decoupaged eggs, applying tiny cutouts from pretty paper napkins to the undyded, white eggs.

Thoughts of a Cuppa

I used to be a coffee drinker, but I am more of a tea lover now. I feel more vigorous and placid since I stopped drinking coffee. Well, not only has tea been shown to have natural stress relieving properties, according to scientists, the act of preparing and brewing also makes us feel better. I like Frisian-style tea the most, i.e. a blend of strong Assam flavored with rock candy and cream, never stirred. The Samowar Tea & Records store in Lüneburg has a great selection of tea, and there is also a little tearoom in the store where one can have a cuppa in a nostalgic, shabby chic ambiance.

Laboe

The Laboe Naval Memorial in Laboe commemorates the sailors of all nations who lost their lives during both World Wars. It is a 85-metre high tower overlooking the Baltic Sea. On a good day (and we had one), you can enjoy a scenic view from the top. There is also a museum about the history of the German navy exhibiting ship models and naval paintings.
At the site, there is also a former German war submarine U-995 that houses a technical museum. The submarine was captured by the allies in 1945 and then it served in the Norwegian navy. Later it was sold for a symbolic price to Germany and became a museum ship in 1971. Inside the submarine, you can see how complex the inner workings are and get an idea what it was like to be a sailor locked in the belly of such a machine. They must have been on edge. Big time.

Wall Art

There are so many options to choose from to dress your walls so selecting the right wall décor can be a tough decision to make. As for me, I went for something self-made. Collages are relatively easy to make and they may just seem a simple form of art craft, their appeal, however, is anything but. Not only do they exude a whimsical quality, they can also be strikingly odd and funny. They offer more flexibility for transforming the original meaning of images and fragments than any other medium. Anybody can do them, making the art of collage the perfect option to show off your creativity and artistic flair.

Stamp Collection

To tell you the truth, I am more of a stamp keeper than a collector. I do not actively seek out limited edition or commemorative stamps to pad out my collection, but I always save the ones being received in our mailbox. I may just use them for a creative project one day.

Here are my favourite crafting ideas to make with postage stamps:
Stamp Bowl by Bombus
Stamped Eggs by Martha Stewart
Gift Tags
Jewellery by Foxglove Accessories

Shrove Tuesday

Today is Shrove Tuesday or Faschingsdienstag as they call it in Germany. I am not going to attend any fancy dress parties, but it's always nice to think back how much I used to enjoy these events as a kid. I even won a prize for best costume as Isaura and a gypsy girl.

Pillow Covers

We just bought a patio storage bench, but still need new cushions. I might do them myself based on the design I made with the computer. The patterns (apart from the flowers) are taken from the book 'The Magic Chalk' by Zinken Hopp.

Flea Market Finds No. 3

This is an old kitchen scale from the 1950's made by the Swiss firm, Lyssex. It's still in a perfect condition, unlike some of those being sold on the internet. It weighs up to 2 kg and is accurate to the last gram. It definitely adds some vintage charm to our kitchen decor and gives me a nice warm feeling that something precious has been saved again.

Grave-hill field in Boltersen

Buckelgräberfeld in Boltersen is a protohistoric graveyard with around 300 graves, some of which are dating back to the 3rd-5th century AD. The Lombards buried their dead in urns under or between tumuli, but tombs from the Neolithic, the Bronze and Iron Age, as well as the Roman times have also been found here. This is a one-of-a-kind historical site, still I have to admit that I enjoyed the scenery more than the history lying below the ground.

Valentine's Day

I bring you with reverent hands
The books of my numberless dreams;
White woman that passion has worn
As the tide wears the dove-gray sands,
And with heart more old than the horn
That is brimmed from the pale fire of time:
White woman with numberless dreams
I bring you my passionate rhyme.

/William Butler Yeats: A Poet to His Beloved/

Snowdrop

They say that one should not mistake snowdrops for the first sign of spring, but it's safe to say that they kind of herald the end of winter. It's great to see some life in the garden, it gives one hope that nature has begun to wipe sleep out of its eyes.

Beatlemania

Most of the people think of the Beatles as being a quintessentially British band. However, they got their start in Hamburg, performing in clubs along the Reeperbahn back in the early 1960s. Their famous mop-top haircut was also inspired by the hairstyle of a guy they saw in Hamburg. Beatlemania, a museum dedicated to those early years of the band, opened its doors on 29 May, 2009. On its five floors, rare memorabilia along with original objects from the era are displayed, featuring several interactive stations that take visitors back to the Beatles' heyday to re-live the unique atmosphere of the sixties.

Shore Meal

Fish and chips began as a cheap, working-class take-away food. Just think of that episode of 'You Rang, M'Lord?', in which Lord Meldrum invites his factory workers to a dinner of fish 'n' chips, in an attempt to please them and make them feel comfortable. It has come a long way since then. Today, no seaside walk is complete without having some fish and chips, not even in the Netherlands. The fish on the menu of Vispaleis in Hoek van Holland is very local, they use lemon sole instead of the staple fish of British chippies, cod.

Save the Bears

I have never really wanted to collect teddy bears. I just could not resist saving them when spotting a cute one at flea markets or thrift stores. Over the years, I have built up quite a collection of them. They come from budget brands (e.g. The Bear Factory, Keel Toys, Cuddle Crew, Bukowski, Sun Kid) and none of them cost more than EUR 3.5.


If you are after quality teddy bears with jointed arms and legs and a growler, here are the best brands to choose from:

Steiff - classic German bears
Dean's - Britain's oldest teddy bear company
Boyds - collectible resin and stuffed teddy bears
Hermann Teddy - the second oldest teddy bear manufacturer in Germany
Clemens - a fantastic collection of limited edition bears
The Cotswold Bear Co. - collectors bears
Charlie Bears - collectable teddy bears from Cornwall
Canterbury Bears - a fine creation of collectable teddy bears

Herr Max

For a delicious, "good-for-you" cake in Hamburg, Herr Max is a great place to go. It is a quirky, laid-back cafe with great, organic cakes and drinks. I adore how they have created their signature look with mix-and-match vintage chinaware and found objects. On the flip side, some of the interior solutions look a bit more shabby than chic and considering the reviews read, I have expected a larger selection of cakes.

The Big Bird Count in Germany

The Stunde der Wintervögel 2011 (Hour of the Winter Birds) takes place Thursday, January 6, through Sunday, January 9 all across Germany. It is a bird count initiative that engages bird watchers in counting birds - for just one hour on each day of the event - to capture a snapshot of the status and distribution of winter bird populations nationwide. The counts can be reported through an online checklist at the NABU (Naturschutzbund Deutschland) website. The initiative has been inspired by the Big Garden Birdwatch organized by Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), UK.