Welcome to Esther's Blog

Welcome to Esther's Blog

The World According to Esther

Holland- So Much to Love!

It’s been 15 years since I was in Holland and it was just as wonderful as I remember it!  I taught one of the most wonderful workshops, in a beautiful place! Also, we were so lucky to have enough time to enjoy Zierikzee- our host’s town in the South of Holland, as well as time to play and see the sights of Amsterdam!

Alet has an incredible farmhouse with more than 15 sheep and lambs, a chicken and rooster that are always together, 3 wonderful dogs and the cutest barn cat..among other animals and critters around.  She and her husband have a beautiful home with green as far as you can see.   Her studio is packed with color and texture and tools for exploration of both!!   And it’s SO beautiful!! The city has walled gates, canals that reach the sea.. and the countryside has windmills..  and you can bike and see cows and sheep and windmills.. did I mention it’s windy?

We moved the workshop inside so we wouldn’t lose fiber due to gusts. We did lots of carding and spinning. The group was totally wonderful, and incredibly creative.  We had so much fun mixing textures and colors!

Ayesta made a fantastic video highlighting the workshop!
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2lYC3faFxM&w=560&h=315]

The town is right on the sea, so we ate the most amazing seafood.. dover sole, mussles, sea bass, shrimp.. and the scenery.. boats, and windmills, towers and canals.  I could easily move there….

After the workshop we headed back to Amsterdam for a few more days of sightseeing. We went to the Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh museum, saw Anne Frank’s house and ate more amazing food!! Dutch pancakes with lemon and sugar, frites and mayo, tapas, Indonesian Rijstaffle, the best falafel since I lived in Israel..  We laid in the Vondlepark under the sun and we ate mango vanilla solero’s! (Dreamcicles). We walked through the Red Light District at night, playing silly games while people watching.  We celebrated our 4 year wedding anniversary with good food, good beer and amazing memories!!  Here’s a spattering of the photos from our trip…

[slideshow]

I am SO inspired I’m working on a series of Amsterdam yarns and batts and Van Gogh yarns and batts.  I will bring the first batch to Yarnival and will update the shop with the second batch mid July when I get back. Then onto Stitches Midwest in early Aug!

For more Amsterdam photos (including our brief layover in London) check out our Facebook Albums-
Amsterdam-Zeeland
London

Remember that the shop will be on “vacation” starting July 10, so get your Tour De Fleece stash before then! Use TDF2012 for 10% off your order!!

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