Music Monday #61

At the moment this is my favorite song. I can listen to it endlessly and whenever I hear it it brings a smile to my face.

Dotan - Let the river in

Visiting Teyler's museum

During Christmas break I visited Teylers museum in Haarlem. It is the oldest museum in the Netherlands and was founded in the 18th century. I went there many years ago but I was very young and didn't remember too much about it.  When I was very excited after visiting the Ethnographical museum in Stockholm my mom suggested that I might like to visit Teylers again.
At Teylers museum they have some paintings, old coins and a temporary exhibition, but what I like most about it is their collection of natural history items and old science equipment.

Keeping track of the year

Many times throughout my life have I started a diary with the intention to write in it pretty much every day for at least a year. Every time I failed after at about a month and didn't feel like picking it up again until the next year. I have found that I am just no a diary-keeping person. I do like to be able to look back at my year and see wat happened, but I don't always feel like writing about an event. When I've had a long and amazing day and I go to bed I just want to sleep and I do not want to have to write about it. I usually convince myself I will do it later, but it never happens.
What works way better for me is having a memory jar. I did this for the first time in 2012 and I am doing it again this year. Basically I have this jar standing on my nightstand and every time something worth remembering, whether good or bad, takes place, I write it on a slip of paper and put it in the jar. The pieces of paper just have the date on it and a very brief description of what happened. Writing these short notes takes very little time and makes me do it right away, rather than wait till a later moment. At the end of the year it will be easy to see all the things that happened throughout the year.

'1-1 celebrated the new year with Sophie'
'2-1 Visited Teyler's museum'

Music Monday #60

There are very few musicians whose new music I recognize right away, but you only need to hear a few notes of Agnes Obel's songs to know they are hers. Her voice, but even more so her musical accompaniment have something very distinct.

Agnes Obel - The Curse

Sugar syrup cake

Now that I am on Christmas break from university I have time to bake again. I decided to make an easy, but tasy cake. Because of the use of sugar syrup this cake stays moist a bit longer than if you would only use sugar.

Ingrediënts

200 g self raising flour
150 g butter
100 g cane sugar
100 g sugar syrup
2 tsp koekkruiden (mixed spice is similar)
2 tsp cointreau
2 eggs + 1 yolk

Preparation method

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Sift the flour in a bowl and add the sugar and the koekkruiden (or mixed spice). Melt the butter a little but so you can mix it through the ingredients in the bowl easier. Add the eggs, and mix well. Than add the sugar syrup and the cointreau and mix untill the batter has a smooth consistensy. Put the the batter in a baking tin that is lined with baking paper or make sure it is well buttered. Bake the cake for about 30 minutes in the middle of the oven. 

Enjoy!

Christmas decorations

Saturday I went out in our garden and gathered twigs, holly, pine cones and more and made a Christmas piece and wreath to decorate our house. Making the wreath took forever, but I liked how it turned out.

I wish you a merry Christmas!

Music Monday #59

For some song I must be in a certain mood to listen to them, but I can listen to acousic guitar music any time. My dad send me this song, thinking I would like it, and it's actually by a band that I really love but haven't listened to in a while. Bear's Den always cheers me up!

Bear's Den - Magdalene