Bird boxes

We hope some great or blue tits will use our bird

 boxes to make their nests this year.

That would make me so happy!

The book that made her start reading

My daughter loved to listen to stories (Audible),

 but didn't like to read real paper books (except manga).

 Part of the problem is that kids in Luxembourg

 start reading in German, which is close to

 Luxembourgish, but still a foreign language. 

And listening is so much easier than reading

 (because they are used to watching German

 TV most of the time). 

And then she brought home the book they

 started reading together in school: 

Black Blade part one by Jennifer Estep. 

She LOVED it and asked me to buy part two

 and three because she wanted to know

 how the series ended. 

From that day on she hasn't stopped reading ...

... which made me a very happy mother.

Birthday Yankee Candles

My two new birthday Yankee Candles: 

Blueberry Scone and Beach Plum.

Can't wait to burn them!

Me and my candles - Yankee Candle Scenterpiece

My daughter loves my candles, 

but I don't allow her to burn them in her bedroom,

 it's just too dangerous (although she's already 14).

So I gave her a YC Scenterpiece for Christmas

 (Black Friday deal 30% off) and she totally loves it.

And then I kind of fell in love with it too

 and had to buy one for myself :).

I love the way it looks, that it's so easy

 to use and that it has a timer.

Every now and then I google 

my great-grandfather's name, just to see

 if I can find any new information

 (or even better: paintings).

Last week I found a short newspaper

 article, actually just a few lines.

It's in (old) Dutch and it announces

 the 50th wedding anniversary of my

 great-great-grandparents and the name of

 the café where the reception is taking place.

^ This was the happy couple 

(the painter's parents).

It is so fascinating! I mean, who scanned this

 article from more than 100 years ago

 and thought it was important enough to

put it on the internet?

The first tulips of the season

Finally...

My husband and I usually buy ourselves a

 Christmas gift to put under the tree. 

I bought two candles I really loved on Ebay

 on 8th December (in the UK).

And guess what? 

They didn't arrive on time 

(they came last Friday). 

Hah! 

I so love these labels (I think I just started a

 Yankee Candle bird's collection).

If only I knew the name of the birds (the first two).

The tree is up ...

... and we're almost ready for Christmas!

Me and my candles - Bath & Body Works

End of November I placed an Ebay order in the US for

 five Bath & Body Works Christmas candles.

 These candles are very hard to find here in Europe. 

Of course shipping cost are high from the

 US to Luxembourg (although the candles

 are a lot cheaper), but what really makes

 it expensive are the Customs duties and taxes.

 However, sometimes you're lucky and they

 don't pick out your parcel and I was lucky this time!!! 

The candles are so beautiful with their wintery

 labels and their special lids and I love how they smell

 (all five of them).

I'll give one of them to my friend for Christmas

 (Snowed in) and I already started burning

 two of the other ones myself.

Tea lights by the dozen.