monday

“Love is always bestowed as a gift―

freely, willingly, and without expectation. 

We don’t love to be loved; 

we love to love.”
~ Leo F. Buscaglia

it's a beautiful monday morning here, and my head feels a bit heavy which is not a very good start. i do need some fresh air, definitely, so maybe i'll hop on my bicycle later to go to the library and return the books i borrowed three weeks ago { *gasp* has it been that long? }. or maybe not. maybe i'll take the bus instead and daydream by the window. we'll see.

last week Kj's aunt & uncle in the netherlands celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary.  yes Diamond, how awesome is that? the burgemeester even congratulated them in their home with flowers and such and they were featured in the local paper. we wrote them a card, well Kj did as my dutch is a total muck, and he said something like, we're hoping we'll have the same long happy years as them...which totally cracked me up. he would be almost a hundred years old by then and me not very far behind him!  but well, who knows?! ^-^

ohh by the way, i'm glad some of you liked my new no-poo regime from my previous post. i've read about it first at Life Candy, she has more tips on going natural with your hair care, and i know you'll enjoy her blog very much! i found her blog through Toni's Wifely Steps when she was guest-blogging there the same week that i was. if you have other natural health and beauty solutions, fire away in the comments box. i would love to hear them! 

and before i forget, i'd like to thank iHanna for the sweet mention of me on her blog {apparently, we were on the same page in the Craft Corps book}! she wrote a fantastic review of Vickie Howell's Craft Corps book, you must check it out for inspiration if you're a crafter who dreams of making a business out of your craft.


thanks for dropping by, hope your monday's as delicious as my vanilla ice cream! ♥

news bits

yes i was away for like, 3 weeks? my husband had a 2-week holiday from work so i had to take a leave from my "work" as well. had to close shops for a while and live for the moment (read: be lazy). last week i caught a bug, the allergy bug, that is - itchy eyes, runny nose and sneezing 387 times a day (or so, it felt like it). this is my 3rd summer in dublin and the first time ever that i didn't feel well, so i didn't quite know what to do with it. i was hoping it'd be over in a few days but by the end of the week, i was spent. drained. exhausted. only then did i bother to go to the drugstore and ask for an OTC med. the pharmacist didn't look surprised, apparently, i'm not the only poor victim of the season. i'm not a pill popper but thank God for Clarityn tabs and Opticrom eye drops for making me feel normal again!

i finished reading Elizabeth Berg's A Year of Pleasures this weekend. i love her beautiful, tender way of writing, and though the way things in the story seem to fall perfectly into place are too good to be believable, still, i'd love to read it again just to savor the poetry she makes of everyday ordinary things. it makes me want to cuddle with the husband and enjoy even the most ordinary of things as sharing a cuppa, or watching tv or just watch him from our bedroom window while he mows the lawn. reading a story about losing someone you love deeply makes you appreciate and love all the more.

on another note, everyone i know seem to be pregnant and having children. i think 2010 is a very fertile year, although not for us. by choice. cold feet? maybe. we keep pushing the deadline away, and for the meantime, the neighbor's cat revels in our love. yesterday morning she, the cat, was with Kj in the garden and in the afternoon she slept beside me on the couch while i finished knitting a scarf i started last year (i know!). did i say the husband is allergic to cat hair and dander and whatever? that's why we can't have a cat of our own. so far he's doing great by the way, no horrid allergy reactions whatsoever so we're happy campers! feline included. which reminds me, maybe we should give her a name. Poes (dutch for cat) just don't do it for me.

lastly, i have totally ditched my shampoo and conditioners and gone no-poo, hopefully, for...forever? fingers crossed. i now wash my hair with a tablespoon of baking soda in a cup of water and condition with the juice of half a lemon in a cup of water. this is my 4th week, and so far, so good. no more moanings for dry, lifeless hair, and definitely less hair to pick up on the shower drain. i'm saying goodbye to dandruff too, what a relief. i've read the no-poo movement from another blog, and while it's not for everybody, i'm happy it works for me!

have a lovely week!
happy father's day to all dads out there, especially to my daddy, mijn schoonvader (my late FIL), my BIL Folkert, and my big brother Jake! i {he♥rt} you guys so very much.

craft corps giveaway winner

hello! 

thank you everyone for joining! sorry that i wasn't able to post the winner immediately, the husband and i were on holiday last week to the island of Arainn Mhor, in the north west of Ireland. we said hello to the ferocious Atlantic ocean crashing wildly on the cliffs, hiked on steep terrain, saw the bog fields for the first time, and just totally, helplessly fell in love with the rustic appeal of the island. it was a fantastic experience - with the lovely weather and the warmth of the locals. it's definitely a place we're visiting again!

anyways, on to our winner. i used a random number generator because i'd like to be surprised myself who would be the lucky one. and it's :

and commenter # 17 is:

thank you Bina, and congratulations! please email me your postal address and i'll have the book shipped to you this week. { littlemsfirefly at gmail dot com }

and to everyone who left comments and congratulations for me, many, many thanks! it feels very nice to have you here in my blog!

here are some pictures from Arainn Mhor (Arranmore). have a great week!