Montreal City

Montreal has been fantastic to us a few weeks ago. we had amazing weather, sunny but not too hot for a city trip, just perfect. with some great tips for coffee, food and strolling from my instagram friend Iveth ~  this is her beautiful jewelry shop ~ we enjoyed ourselves so much. 

basically we stayed out of the tourist areas as much as we could. above you see buildings that are part of Old Montreal. a beautiful area down by the river, surrounded by majestic warehouses that show pretty and warn marks of earlier times. 

below you see shots of the areas Le Plateau and Mile End. the shops on Mt Royal Avenue, delicious coffee and small bakery shops, bagels from St-Viateur Bagels, it was the perfect mix between European and Canadian city life. the side streets reminded us a little of Amsterdam, we felt right at home.

coffee at cafe Myriade, vintage clothing shops perfectly arranged by colour. all a feast for the eyes. and even more a feast for our yarn and fabric loving eyes was a visit to the local yarn and fabric shop. more about that tomorrow...

Canada and Europe

some color playing last week and preparations for what turned out to be a lovely weekend in Montréal. a little city trip to celebrate Canada Day and our second wedding anniversary. we left in pouring rain but thankfully had a perfect and dry stay in the city. with many thanks to Iveth who lives in Montréal and whom I've 'met' through Instagram, we stayed pretty much out of the tourist area and enjoyed the city like the locals do. a little more information and pictures of my visit to a beautiful yarn and fabric shop will follow soon.

there was one more reason why we went to Montréal this weekend. and that is we are trying to see and do as much as we can here in Canada for the next few weeks, since we recently learned we are moving back to The Netherlands by the end of this Summer. after exactly two years in Canada the husband's company is sending us back. quite a few years earlier than we anticipated, but alas. we will start a new adventure and chapter in our lives in the South part of the country, the province of Noord-Brabant. 

my blogging time here has suffered from all that comes with the upcoming move and I fear it will continue to be like that for a little longer. looking back on our move two years ago, I remember being busy with a whole lot and nothing at the same time, for weeks before and after the actual move. 

I hope you will bear with me and follow me back to Europe!

Beautiful Long Weekend

we did a good job on making wonderful memories with our friends last weekend. on the beautiful sunny Sunday we went up the CN Tower in Toronto and enjoyed the view. we went to the harbor festival and came home to barbecue in our backyard. the children made the flower arrangements for their kids table, while we enjoyed our homemade caesar salad and other foods and drinks. it was one of those days that seemed to last forever...

Easter Fun

Easter egg hunt in our backyard was a big success, I enjoyed my fist five minutes of crochet outside in 2013 ~ more about that in the Grande update tomorrow, and I love how the husband keeps on bringing tulips home. 

I hope this trend will never go out of fashion haha.

Cushions and The Blanket

now for real: a peak into our new home. I actually finished these wood-cushions just before we moved. I had a feeling they would look good here, and it is always nice to see the images you have in mind become reality. it's very heavy cotton Ikea fabric, closed with large faux leather buttons. 

the polka dot cushion is a ready made one from Ikea as well.

also on the couch, the baby boy blanket in progress. I am nearly there. to be honest, I love this blanket so much that it will be hard for me to part with it. luckily I know it is going to a very good and loving home. the simpleness of this blanket, it's colors, the heavy and soft feel... I can highly recommend starting a similar project.