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Do you have a cup of tea, coffee or Hot Chocolate?!

Hello! Great to see you here! Another beautiful Autumn day ! Did you get out and enjoy the sun shining on the falling leaves? Were you able to go for a walk through a thick carpet of leaves? Feel the warmth of the sun on your face?  Spend time with friends? It's quite a year for acorns and beech nuts!  Does this mean a colder winter? We'll have to see! Time to get the house cozier!

If you would like to read something while enjoying your cup of tea, coffee or hot chocolate this evening check out "an adventure to Delft" and see what Gemma and the crew at The Leidener are up to! It's a great blog! Also, tonight we're turning our clocks back an hour! Autumn nights! Enjoy them!

 That's what we'll be doing!

But local is not here but there!

Big News in Blogland!

Have you heard the news? Did you hear what Martha Stewart said about Bloggers? Thanks Juggling Act Mama and Jenna for spreading the news via other Blogs! Just in time for the holidays!  You remember what happened to Oprah when she talked about meat in Texas, don't you? LOL!

Autumn Days!

 A beautiful Autumn day to be outside! 16C!

 Time for a lunch break! Here's a nice place!

 There are still a lot of leaves on the trees!

Time for a bit of a walk before heading back to work!

Hope your day was just as sunny!

Houston! Here we come!

 Yes, that's right! Saskia and I, we're taking a trip to Houston, Texas to visit the International Quilt Festival! And! As you know,  with 2 very creative women in a city filled with shops such as Walmart, Hobby Lobby, Crate and Barrel, Target,  fabric stores    (one is called Joanne's) , the - things - that - you - have - seen - in - recipes - but - couldn't - get - a - hold - of - here - stores, baking stores and many many more just - have - to - check - out stores there won't be much sitting around! Shops do stay open late in America, don't they? Oh, and don't forget all those foodie places we have to check out! I've heard that we have to stop by the Cheese Cake Factory! But really....

 Just wait until you see the photo's when we're back!

 Great news! The sewing machine is fixed!

 Getting back to nature! 

We've had a few beautiful Fall days!

 22C yesterday!

And 19C today! 

Hope you could enjoy it!

The Great British Bake Off!

 Finals! ! This is the cake that won!
They had 6 hours for this show stopper challenge!

Well done Frances! Love the cake stand!

It's finished!

Yippie! WooHoo! Happy Dance! Well, almost!

I'll do the top stitching when my machine's back!

Don't you just love a deadline!

 A vest with many pockets!

 I'll be a walking hand bag!

 Iron on transfer printer paper!

Use a mirror image and the correct paper!

 This is what I'll be wearing.....

...at the International Quilt Show !

What? Where? More about that later!

Now it's time to go rake leaves!

It worked!

It worked! And it only took 2 tries!

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Hope your Saturday was a creative one ! 

Indoors or out!

It works!

 Time to get out the Kayser!

 I haven't used it since I sewed the quilt together!

It sounds great!

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"May your bobbin always be full!"

Update( Thursday afternoon)! After a very blustery day outside, I thought I'd get sewing! Then within minutes the Ikea sewing machine is all ready back in the box, ready to go back to Ikea! There's just something not in line by the bobbin casing. It sews ok, but its very irritating if you have to re thread the thing within a few minutes, every few minutes. Too bad you can't test it in the store!

So there I was then, without a sewing machine. Mine is number 14 on the list at the sewing machine shop! It has been a busy week for them! I'm glad to see that they're still popular! No temporary machimes available! What does one do when there is a project that has to be finished? Ikea of course! They have a choice out of 1 sewing machine! And at Ikea you have a 90 day return policy! Let's give it a try! Very simple, very basic! It comes with a zipper foot! Only 6 kg and compact enough to fit in my bike bag! If this works maybe I should start a mobile sewing service! I wouldn't want to do jeans or curtains with this though!  

"Never underestimate the power

 of a woman with a sewing machine!"

 In the garden these two Hostas are still looking great! What a year they have had! Maybe that's why Hosta June has been voted the " Peoples Choice " Hosta of the year for a few years!  

 These small Hostas are still looking good too!

 If this plant gets too wet, that's easy to fix!

 Back inside, all was going well until it made a strange noise!

 Then this started to happen! You missed what the thread on the back looked like! What a mess! That's it! The electric sewing machine has to go to the repair shop! Right in the middle of a project!

So, there's time to get creative with other things! A logo for the Hartjes Handwerk Weekend! And! Did you watch the semifinal of the Great British bake Off last night? An Opera Cake in 2.5 hours! It's the Final next week! Hope you can enjoy a bit of baking this week!

Up for a challenge?

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It's the 15th of the month! Are you looking for something creative to do? It's not too late to start Love Entwined! A quilt with history! I enjoy seeing how it develops every month when a new block comes out! There are thousands of quilters all over the world taking part in this Block of the month quilt that Esther has interpreted and designed based on a photo! I'll pass on this quilt! It's too big of a challenge for me! But Esther has other things in the making! I'll just have to wait and see!  

Rain!

 KNMI, the weather website, says were expecting up to 80mm of rain! We're up to 55mm! But that didn't stop us going out for a walk in the woods!

 With such a great dog as Rover and an umbrella, it's not so bad!

 No, we didn't cross over to the picnic table!

 Nor, did we walk through these floating oak leaves!

 We did finish this mornings walk inside to dry off!

And warm up with the greatest cappuccino!

French Onion Soup Time!

 Good morning! Remember all those dry days of Summer? Well, according to the rain gauge, we're making up for it very quickly! The weather has changed! Wind! Rain! And the leaves are starting to turn and fall! You know what that means! Leaves, leaves and more leaves to rake up the coming weeks in the gardens! It really is Autumn now! And it's time to start planting all those Spring bulbs such as Tulips and Daffodils!

 The Hostas, they've done well this year! Have to record which ones are up for splitting next year!

 Inside,out from the cold, I'll get creative with this and other fabrics! If you're looking for creative inspiration drop by Saskia's blog! She also has a lot of great links! I came across Carin's blog ! She's busy making lovely cakes that would be perfect for any High Tea! Once you start you'll be busy in blogland for a while! A fine thing to do if you're making soup! 

 French Onion Soup!  If you could smell this! It's the perfect weather for soup! I've been waiting for chilly day to make a big pan of Onion soup! Lentil Cilantro, Tuscaan Tomato, Cheesy Potato, Mustard, Leek, Split pea, .....Hope you can enjoy a warm bowl of soup this Autumnal Sunday!  

Ro-tel!

 Have you heard about Ro-tel ? A blogland recipe looked great and asked for Ro-tel. Over to Google to check it out! Yeah, looks like something that might taste good! All the possibilities!

 Don't you just love a Dutch sky on a stormy day!

 Autumn colours!

 Autumn decor!

 No, no Garden Fairies here!

Homework! What is the name of this plant?

And over at Buitenzorg, something strange is going on!

A leak? Sabotage? It was fine Saturday!

Photo taken on Wednesday. It's too cold for a swim!