Worth it

~ Maggie ~ 3 Comments

So… the cute little ruin. I feel kind of guilty that I left you all hanging at that post in February (February? Really? Wow…), but I’ve been having a hard time to decide what I do and don’t want to post on the internet. But I decided to go ahead and see what feels comfortable.

We went back by the end of May and spent four weeks working on it. I spent a few days cleaning the kitchen first. Yes, days. That kitchen was so filthy!. It still doesn’t look like much, but it is at a level where I dare to use it.

And then the rest of my time was spent cleaning out closets, the pantry, the cellar and the attic. The previous owner inhereted it from an old friend, initially thought he would clean out and restore the house to rent it out, but gave up on it after 20 loads of trash. His way of cleaning stuff out was very random, though and I also think he had people “take whatever they wanted”. There was not much that could be salvaged. Most of what I found was trash. I did donate 60 canning jars (kept 20 for myself) and some small stuff, but I have been to the recycling station so often (12 times in 4 weeks) that the guys there started to recognize me.

I also (more or less) stripped the bedroom, so that we could sleep there. Driving 90 minutes to get there and 90 minutes back to the vacation cabin daily seemed doable at first, but it wasn’t. So we camped out in the house a few nights in a row and then went back to rest. The blue plastic is to keep the dust coming down from from the roof and attic away from the bed. Properly finished ceilings will have to wait until T. has rewired the house (since this way he can easily reach and add pipes).

Meanwhile, T. worked on the west wall. This side looked the worst and it gets the most rain and wind in autumn and winter. This is the before:

and this is the after:

I look at this picture to imagine how the whole house will look eventually. It’s a lot of work, but it will be worth it.

Then (by the end of June) we had to go back to Curaçao.

We returned in September, but we weren’t as productive then. I pulled something in my back the first week, so I spent most of my time sitting down and T. was very tired. We did put windows in that west wall though (where the blue tarp is in the picture above).

and we replaced the window in the back (where our bedroom is).

You can’t really see it in the picture, but the wood was so rotten, especially the lower part, that the glass actually had slided down an inch. It was so much warmer after we installed the new (HR+++ glass) window!

T. also build a simple veranda in the back (to keep that wall dry and to be able to have a dry space to saw and stain wood from now on), but I don’t have pictures of it. We finished it in a hurry, because our time in the Netherlands was up.

We are flying back to the Netherlands end of November, but we are not planning to work on the house. It will be too cold and wet (winter in the Netherlands is mostly rain). We do plan on spending the whole of next summer in the Netherlands and we hope to be able to finish the walls and windows then.

We have been feeling like we bit off more than we could chew more than once, but in the end it will all work out. It is going to be a beautiful and comfortable little house.

Knitting for baby

~ Maggie ~ 2 Comments

My knitting mojo (and thus my blogging mojo) were gone for quite a while. If you’ve been reading here a longer time, you probably know the drill. It’s all connected. But here we are.

I have been knitting.

I had to. One cannot gift the first grandbaby lots and lots of handknits, and then go ahead and ignore the second one.

Yes, that’s right. My youngest daughter is expecting a little one in December. Or maybe a little bit earlier, since both mother and baby are not the healthiest they can be. But we’re not talking about that right now. There will be a little babe that needs handknits and that’s great.

And of course that made me think about this sadly neglected little blog. Because knitting has been the core of it since the start of it, even though I do post about other things. So I should at least post a few pictures to keep my knitting history up to date, shouldn’t I? (there are a few projects missing, but most of them are in the archives somewhere)

And okay, I really, really want to blog again. I missed it so much, but I couldn’t work up the energy or headspace to actually sit down at the computer and write.

Anyway. We were in the Netherlands shortly after we got the news, so I found myself in the textile shop to buy yarn for this baby the day after we arrived. And it didn’t take me too much time to crank out a cute little hat and some booties. I didn’t use a pattern; just winged it and somehow the construction of the booties worked out right (this is the second time I knit them, first time was three years ago for the grandson).

(I’ve been trying to tweak the color of the picture to get it closer to the real color, but I can’t get it right. Also, my big screen and my laptopscreen have completely different colors, so I don’t even know which way to tweak it. The real color is a happy, sunny sky blue with a hint of green. At least that’s how I remember it)

I made a matching little sweater too, but I forgot to take pictures of it and we’re in Curaçao right now. I’ll try to remember to take one when we’re back in the Netherlands in a month or so (we’re traveling a lot this year).

I also knit a blanket and a baby surprise jacket, and those are here, but I’m going to spread things out a bit. Stay tuned for more baby knit posts (and maybe a little update about the cute little ruin? I’ll try…)

Anyway… How cute are those tiny booties?

A cute little ruin indeed

~ Maggie ~ 6 Comments

When I first wrote about our new house in The Netherlands, I called it a cute little ruin. We’ve now seen it with our own eyes and well, I wasn’t wrong about that. We are convinced we can save it though. It just needs some work, and since we’re on a budget, it needs a lot of work from us.

Before the next winter starts, we need to replace all the single pane windows and the rotting frames. We have to repair, insulate and plaster the outside walls. The roof is old and wonky, but the seller assured us he repaired the leaking that was visible in one of the bedrooms, so that can wait. We are focusing on the outside for now, partly because we need to, but also partly because we want to please the neighbors. It is a bit of an eyesore in that street right now.
But if we have time, we also want to install central heating as soon as possible, to avoid high gas bills and to dry the house.

The first picture is the back. The other picture is part of the front. They covered the crumbling wall with wood, but the wood isn’t in the best condition either. We’re going to remove the wood and repair, insulate, and plaster the walls. We’re not sure yet if we’re going to be able to bring it back to the original design – they removed two small windows that were above the ones in the picture and altered the roofline. It used to have a half-hipped roof (like this), but now it’s a triangle, like the back. I would like to restore the original, but we have to be mindful of the budget.

The westside wall is cracked. I didn’t take a good picture, but here’s the one the realtor took last summer.

The man who lives across the street told us that they filled up a waterbasin that used to be next to the house, but didn’t press it down well enough. The wall sank because of that, but it has been stable for decades. That explains why the eastside is perfectly more or less straight. We think we can make it look much better if we make sure the new windows are straight, plaster the whole wall (after repairing and insulating) and maybe do a bit of tinkering to straighten the roofline.

T. wants to replace the roof completely (those old rooftiles are cute, but new ones are better for insulation), make it stronger and install (lots of) solar panels. But before we can do that, he needs to rewire the whole house (luckily he can do that himself).

So yeah, we’ve got our work cut out for us, but we don’t care. We’ve done it before and we are both in love with that little house. We were kind of sad to leave it behind, but we had to get back to the island (T. had some business things to take care of and our daughter will be visiting in a few weeks). We hope to be back in May to start working on it.

What about the inside, you’re asking? Oh my… Let’s talk about that in another post 😉

Good news and other stuff

~ Maggie ~ 3 Comments

Oh my, I’m so sorry to leave you all hanging for a week…
The good news is: we’ve got the house!

It took a whole lot of stress, headaches, emails and phonecalls, but things are finally falling into place.

We’re flighing to The Netherlands this weekend and we’ll stay there for two weeks. Closing day will be a few days before we go back to Curaçao, so we won’t be able to do much on the house, but we will be able to finally tour it, and make detailed plans for renovations and innovations (T.) or fantasize about painting the kitchen green and planting rosemary and lavender in the garden (me). So that’s great.

Meanwhile, I need to slow down for a while, which is going to prove difficult with an extra house to renovate. Prioritizing is always hard for me, but right now it’s more important than ever.

So my resolution to keep the blog going … yeah… well, not happening. Regular posting will resume someday, I’m sure, but not right now. Blogging should be fun, not another task on the list.

So my new plan is to step back from the internet for the coming weeks (because I really need to rest and we will be very busy anyway) and after that period to pop in (both here and on your blogs) whenever I feel like it, because I really like to “talk” to you all and share bits of my life.

Wishing you all the best and see you soon(ish)!

All over the place

~ Maggie ~ 3 Comments

This post is going to be a bit all over the place. I have been trying to find a topic to write about, but I’m just not capable of focusing on just one thing right now. Oh wait… I guess that’s the kind of post this is going to be…

Right now I am…

… feeling really tired. I’ve been trying to get myself moving, so this weekend I worked in the garden and yesterday I did some deep cleaning. Much needed and still not finished, but today I need to rest a bit, so I decided to spent a day at my desk. I have a lot of computer work to catch up on anyway.

… trying to hold on to the blogging. It’s slipping away again. Skipping one post, then another one and before I know it, months have past. I just don’t want that to happen.

… giving myself some slack. I was already trying to work through some mental issues, when my daughter told me she is on sick leave with burnout. At times like these the distance between us and our children is so hard and I was really upset about it. But if we’d fly back whenever I feel that way, we might as well move back. So we talked on the phone and I will call her again this week. I’m so grateful that we have that technology these days.

… looking out of my window and seeing a blue sky (so nice, after a rainy morning). And a tree that needs to be cut back. Oh well, tomorrow is another day.

… feeling overwhelmed. Not only by the things I have to do, but also by the things I’d like to do. There are not enough hours in a day, but it’s hard to prioritize. And things may even get busier soon (see below), so I really do need to make choices.

… feeling restless and anxious, but also very hopeful. Remember the cute little ruin? Well… the realtor contacted us last week. I thought the other buyer lost their chain condition, but that was not the case. When we made the offer, they had just found a buyer for their current house. Or so they thought. That deal fell through and our offer was accepted. We signed the contract last week. Then we had to wait three days (our legal period to change our minds), before the other buyers are informed (today!) and then they have 48 hours to get the money and close on the house. So we still may lose it, if they can raise money that fast (after all, they knew already there was another buyer), but there is a big chance we have it. Please pray, cross your fingers, send good vibes, whatever you can do to help this happening. Or to help me accept that it wasn’t meant to be if it doesn’t…

It shows

~ Maggie ~ 4 Comments

I don’t have a clue where the week went, but obviously I haven’t spent it knitting.

And the messy threads?
Yeah well… I wanted to take a picture, but I was halfway a row. So I finished that row only to discover I started the yarnovers at the wrong side of the knitting. Or actually, I started at the right side, but you’re supposed to start a the wrong side.
So I had to frog two rows and I didn’t feel like redoing them before taking a picture.

I guess (as usual) the state of my knitting shows where I am mentally. A bit of a mess.
Oh well. I’m going to try to have something better to show to you next week.

Wishing you all a great weekend!

The beauty of where I am right now

~ Maggie ~ 7 Comments

Last week we put in an offer on a house in The Netherlands. I know… I didn’t see that coming either. T. found this cute little ruin in the far North East of the country and when he hesitantly showed it to me (I’ve declared many times that I’m done buying fixer uppers) I instantly fell in love with it.

Sadly, they were already talking with other buyers, who lost their chain condition (thanks to our offer – sorry, guys!), but still want to buy it. So I have to let go of the dreams I already spun around it.

I try so hard to see Curaçao as my home. I am very careful not to call the Netherlands home or even my home country, because I am living here, by my own choice. And I used to love it. And yes, the island will always have a special place in my heart. I will never regret the years we spent here.

But something changed. I feel lost. I feel uprooted. And I want to move back. Back home to the Netherlands.

There. I said it. Not that it will change anything.

Moving back isn’t even a real option, unless we find another cute little ruin in the middle of nowhere within our very low budget. House prices in The Netherlands are insane (as they are in many parts of the world, but not on Curaçao). Average prices went from 287.000 in 2018 to 483.000 in 2024. We had some “what if” scenarios calculated and taken care of before we left, but we never expected prices to grow exponentially. We don’t have the money to buy a normal priced house there.

T. really doesn’t want to move back either, and it would be very bad for his health to live there permanently again. He just wanted to use that house the way we use the cabin (for visits), and to have the option to move back if it turns out it’s necessary (in case the “what ifs” happen). In his vision we would still live on Curaçao as much as possible, even if we made the official move back.

But me? I started thinking things like “I’m going home!” Not good. Not good at all.

So I have another resolution for this year. I’m going to make an active effort to figure this out and reconnect to this island, my home and the land.

The best way to do that? I don’t know. But I do know gardening always makes me feel better. So since today is a cold day (it’s only 25 degrees Celsius – 75 F), I decided to get some work done in the garden. My body needs to start moving again (after being sick for a while) and the garden needs some (ahem) attention.

Although moving my body and doing a bit of work in the garden did help lift my mood a bit (no afters yet, it’s still a mess, but I’m exhausted now), I think I also need to focus on the beauty. Because one of my problems (I realized this while working) is that lately the garden has been just another big task that will never get completed. It should be something that makes me happy. So here are some close ups of flowers. Because there is so much beauty where I am right now.

It doubled

~ Maggie ~ 4 Comments

I almost didn’t post today, but then I realized that it doesn’t take too long to take a picture of my knitting and write something about it. You know, to keep he blog momentum going.

So here’s my cowl. I was going to say that this project isn’t going too fast. I haven’t been knitting much this week. But, looking back at last week’s post, I noticed that it almost doubled in size. So let’s call that progress, even thought it has to double in size a few times more before it’s finished.

Wishing you all a great weekend!

Thrifting treasures

~ Maggie ~ 4 Comments

I needed a little break from my thoughts, my grocery shopping and my todo list, so on my way from one supermarket to the other, I decided to stop at the thrift store. You know, just to look around and maybe pick up a book or something small.

Ahem. Six books? Yeah… Couldn’t help myself. I already picked up Gulliver’s Travels at the supermarket (they have a free library), but I couldn’t resist a novel by Nora Roberts that I haven’t read yet (Sanctuary in English). And I discovered Corina Bomann last year. I love all her books and I’ve been binge reading every one included in my ebook subscription, so finding two I haven’t read yet was a treat. The other three books are non-fiction, about hunger, food and changing habits. Because that is what I need to work on. If I could only get myself to actually read books like that… I have a few more in my TBR piles.

Anyway, here’s the rest of the stuff I found. Those wooden leaves… I don’t know. They look like the broke off something, but I just like them very much. I’m sure I will find somewhere to put them. The orange/red bowl is from Pyrex and it’s dirty (still soaking at this point), but in good condition. I usually don’t pick up colors like that, but… I don’t know… I just wanted it.

The little basket had a broken handle, so I took the other one off too. Which was harder than I thought it would be, but I got it done. This will be perfect for drying herbs, or just for decoration. Isn’t that spiral lovely?

When we moved here, I discovered baskets are hard to find here, especially thrifted. I never expected that, given the mountains of baskets I was used to see in thriftstores in The Netherlands, but I tried to accept it as part of living in the tropics. But the past year, I’ve gotten lucky and I have a nice collection now. They are all meant to be used, but they also look great as decoration, I think.

Out of all the linens they had I picked up this cotton tea towel. I don’t know what I’ll use this for, but I really like the sunflowers.

My favorite find is this little glass pitcher (the right one is the one I bought this time)… I try to stay away from collecting things, but I have to be careful with these. I know, two isn’t a collection yet, but I looked at another one in the shop and I would have bought it if it hadn’t been chipped…
To be honest, I don’t know what I could use them for, but gosh, they’re so cute. I do wonder what they are meant to be used for though. Oil and vinegar (which means the corks are missing)? Sauce? Milk?

Oh well, I like them. And since I paid 13 guilders (about 7 dollar) for the whole lot, I’ll just consider it cheap therapy.

Keeping notes

~ Maggie ~ 5 Comments

One of the recurring items on my list of resolutions or goals is to start journaling or at least keeping notes more. But I never really do. I started often, but the perfectionist in me was always dissatisfied with how things looked and then I stopped writing and destroyed it all. I’ve done that as long as I can remember, even as a child. And that makes me sad. Not that I would have kept boxes and boxes of notebooks and diaries over the past 50 years (or would I?) but getting rid of (some of) them because it’s time to let go, is a whole different story than doing it out of self criticism.

A few days ago, I was cleaning out my knitting basket. I still had the leftovers of the grandson sweater in it, and wanted to make space for new projects. As I was laying out the contents of the basket, I realized I had to write a note about that sweater in my knitting notebook (the red notebook in the picture above). I found I hadn’t written anything in it in 2024, but that was a quick issue to resolve. Apart from two simple headbands (just some ribbing in the round), it was only that little sweater…

Oh well. That’s not what I wanted to talk about today. What I realized when I leaved through the notebook, was that I started writing in it in 2015 and scribbled notes about my knitting projects in it ever since. That’s almost ten years!
I have to admit, I don’t like the way it looks on the inside. It’s anything but consistent (ink colors, layout) and most of the pages look very messy. It’s nothin like the beautiful layouts I see on the internet. But I haven’t stopped using it and I didn’t destroy it. That’s a first for me.

I don’t really know why this little book was different than all the ones before, but I think it has something to do with already accepting that it would be messy when I started writing in it. It’s such a beautiful book that everything I would do with it would be wrong in my perfectionist mind. But the girls gave it to me for Christmas and I wanted to show appreciation by actually using it. So I popped it into my knitting basket, carefully wrote down the pattern for the Honey Cowl, messed up writing the last rows and stopped caring about perfection after that, because it would have been such a waste to destroy that book.

At first I thought: well, I guess buying expensive notebooks will be the cure to my problem. And I may use that as an excuse someday 😉

But I think the real reason is just accepting that it will be messy and ugly. So I dug up a notebook from my notebook drawer (yes, I have one and yes, they’re al empty) and popped it in my knitting basket too, to use as a reading notebook. (I usually have a book and/or my ereader in my knitting basket too, so that makes sense to me. )

It’s not going to be a reading journal, a commonplace book or something artsy. I’m just going to list the books I read, maybe write down some notes about it, or some quotes from it, but only if I feel like it. Much like the knitting notes. It’s going to be messy. It already is. I messed up the very first page. But the notebook is messy too (yellowed from the humid, salty air here), so that’s good.

Now my mind is racing with other notebooks and journals I’d like to have (herbal notes, garden notes, a nature journal, a grimoire…), but I think I’m sticking with these two for now. Start slowly…