Jewels from Jan: A Little Trip to the Motherland!

05/12/2012

Bonjour mes amis!

My sister is anxious to see what kind of "Elfwork" I'm up to here for...

Our French Christmas...

Okay well, I paused this morning to take a picture of a little hanging I made for our front door of our apartment. (You don't find a lot of wreaths here, so I'm improvising with something different). Then, I also took a picture of a little flower hanging I have on my balcony door, and lo and behold, I noticed precipitation out the door, but it wasn't just raining...there was a little snow mixed in with it! SNOW! Wow! Seems to have ended already now, but still...WOW"!

"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!"

Okay...well, let me show you what I have hanging on my front door...sweet and simple...and French!

Back in September, the Hydrangeas were bursting here in France, and Dr. J made a trip to Tours, and came back with two flowers for me to dry. I've enjoyed them sitting on a shelf, but thought they'd look prettier hanging on the wall, so I crocheted a little jute pouch to put them in, and added a dainty handkerchief I got at a Lace Sale here, and a crocheted flower. Maybe I need to add some pine greenery to the ensemble now!?!

Today, I wanted to tell you a little bit about our trip to the Motherland...The Netherlands/Holland! Both of my parents families come from the same city in The Netherlands... AND they each have distant cousins that they are in contact with. It's so amazing!

So, first we went to visit a relative on my Mom's side. She lives in...Hoedekenskerke!


See! We even took a picture of the sign so we could spell the city name right!

First stop was at this pretty little house. I just loved the front Garden!

My Mom's distant cousin, Nel, lives here!

This is Nel!

This picture of Nel was taken outside, but the lace curtains behind Nel were made by her Mother. Aren't they amazing? I can't imagine how you'd begin to make those.

Nel welcomed us into her home, served us a traditional treat from the Region, and shared with us all about the family. She has published a Geneology book, so she was anxious to hear about more of the family that lives in the United States.

My Mom, Jewelius, and I poured through the names in her book. It was fun!

We had to take a picture of all of us together, so Dr. J obliged!

While my Mom and Dad and I visited with Nel, Dr. J and Jewelius went for a walk to explore the town, the dike, etc. I'll share a few of those pictures below. Very pretty area...don't you love the streets?