"Every house where love abides
And friendship is a guest,
Is surely home, and home sweet home
For there the heart can rest."
~ Henry Van Dyke

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Advent and Sinterklaas merge...

Advent begins. It is Sunday evening and the first candle is lit.
Advent is begonnen. Het is Zondag avond en de eerste kaars is aangestoken.

Each year, I try to add a new tint to my advent plate of candles. I decorated my iron garden plate with creamy white candles this year and added berries and pinecones. This week is the candle of hope.
Elk jaar bedenk ik iets nieuws voor mijn advent kaarsen. Ik heb een ijzeren bord gebruikt met roomwitte kaarsen, bessen en denneappels. Eenvoud is mooi! De eerste advent kaars is een symbool van hoop.

A few decorations are now adorning my sitting area of the living room for the feast of Sinterklaas which is on December 5th. This little quilt is one I made last December of scraps of fabric around little motifs I cross stitched. It was a fun little project and my quilt group created them too this year for our Christmas in July project.
Samen met mijn advent kaarsen heb ik ook een paar dingen voor de Sinterklaas sfeer in huis. Ik heb dit quiltje vorig jaar december gemaakt. Mijn quiltgroep vond het zo leuk dat het meteen ons "Christmas in July" project voor 2010 was geworden.

These are reproduction vintage postcards of Sinterklaas which sit by our woodstove with a pair of old and worn children's wooden shoes.
Oude ingelijste ansichtkaarten van De Sint samen met een paar zeer oude verweerde kinder klompen bij de houtkachel geef een leuke sfeer.

Saturday, we ran into a couple of Zwarte Piets (Black Peter's) while shopping in the village of Putten. They kindly posed for a photo with my mother.
Bij een bezoek in Putten ging mijn moeder op de foto met twee Zwarte Pieten. Zij is vaker in het land geweest rond deze tijd en vind het een leuke traditie.

And Sinterklaas would not be complete without Mandarin oranges so we stopped for some at the supermarket. They are a healthy and sweet treat at this time of year.
Deze tijd is niet compleet zonder mandarijntjes. Een gezonde en zoete traktatie.

Have a very happy Sunday!
Een fijne zondag toegewenst!

9 comments:

Carolien said...

Hi Heidi,

I love that picture of 'our mom' with de zwarte Pieten, it's great!

Big hugs for all of you,
Carolien

hazel c UK said...

Such a lovely post Heidi and love the photos and childrens clogs. Your little quilt is beautiful, also nice photo of your Mum she looks as thou she is enjoying herself.
Love Hazel

onlymehere said...

I'm fascinated with your celebration of the holidays. What's the significance of the Black Peters? Your mom looks great by the way. I bet mandarin oranges are great fresh like that. I've only seen them in a can and my family loves them. Also enlighten me on the candles please. I love the idea of lighting one each day and it signifying something. What a beautiful way to celebrate. The wooden shoes sound like a wonderful tradition. I'm loving the fact that there really are wooden shoes in Holland! I'm such a novice about your culture and am really soaking it up this holiday season!

DonnaTN said...

Your Advent plate is lovely. Your Advent tradition is a good one. It is always fun to see your decorations come out for the season!

Simple Home said...

I love your photos Heidi. I'm not familiar with Sinterklaas though, I'll have to look it up through the translator.
Blessings,
Marcia

Elizabethd said...

Heidi, how nice to see you today, and with such a lovely photo of your candles and quilt too.

You have your mother over for a visit, you must be thrilled to see her. I'm sure she loves the new house.

Please dont worry about sending on the win....I know just how very busy you have been.
B XX

Anneke said...

What a lovely pictures. I loved the quilt before, but with the candles ánd the framed postcards it looks very special.
You were very nearby last Saturday, we could have bumped into each other... I heard the zwarte pieten were everywhere.

Rhonda said...

Hello Heidi
your new home is lovely, and I am so sorry about all the stresses and problems.
I also apologize for not visiting your blog or by email for so long - we have not moved but life is just very busy for me right now.
I've thought of you often and will be reading your back posts to catch up.

Sonja said...

Wat goed dat je dit keer ook in het Nederlands vertaalt! I know that it isn't easy to write in a 'vreemde' language. There are always words in my head, but it can be difficult to find to matching word in the other language and oh my, how do you spel? don't know the word for 'spellen') and put it into a sentence?
You did a great job!