This month’s Urban Jungle Bloggers edition is all about the cohabitation between our jungle plants and our jungle animals. A funny coincidence, because our cat already made his appearance in last month’s Urban Jungle bloggers post. I love plants, I love our cat and our cat loves plants also, so this seemed like the perfect (some people might say purrfect…) blog post topic for me.
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Best flowers for Valentine’s Day besides roses
Valentine’s day is this weekend and it is a special day for me. Not because it’s Valentine’s day, we don’t make a big deal out of it, but because it’s a year since I started this blog! My Linzertorte recipe was the first post I wrote. One of the things I love most about blogging is reading your comments on a post. Some of you actually baked the cake and loved it. It was so nice to hear!
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Flower arranging step-by-step with hyacinths and ranunculus
Hi there!
Is it February already? I have been so busy, I have neglected my blog a little. I would like to write a blog post every week, and I do have enough blog post ideas, but I never seem to have enough time. I don’t want this blog to become a task, it should be fun. But when you don’t write regularly, it doesn’t become a habit and you can easily forget about it altogether. The more you write, the easier it gets. So, here is another try.
This week, I want to show you how to make a simple flower arrangement of hyacinths and ranunculus inspired by the Flower Recipe Book.
Continue reading Flower arranging step-by-step with hyacinths and ranunculus
Urban Jungle Bloggers: Kitchen Greens
Happy New Year! It’s not too late to wish you a happy New Year, is it? I hope you enjoyed the holidays and made a good start into the new year. Did you make any New Year’s resolutions? How are you holding up? I always make many, nothing to do with quitting smoking or losing weight, though. My New Year’s resolutions are all about learning and finding inspiration. I am old, at least according to my kids, but I truly believe you are never too old to learn something new.
Christmas wreath workshop by Tuin van Judith
When floral artist Judith de Vries announced a Christmas wreath workshop in Amsterdam, I immediately signed up. Those of you who know the work of Judith de Vries know her wreaths are not your ordinary Christmas wreaths. Judith encouraged us to get creative with dried flowers, hips and berries. Read on to learn more about Judith’s art, the Christmas wreath tradition and the workshop.
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Christmas birds DIY: nature-inspired Christmas decoration
It’s time to bring Christmas into your home! This Christmas birds DIY is a fun and simple holiday project. You can easily make these ornaments yourself, out of wrapping paper and ribbon.
A traditional, green tree decorated with lights, garlands and baubles is a must-have for me, but I also like a simple tree branch with a few ornaments. I love nature-inspired Christmas decorations. Wintry branches are beautiful on their own and easy to arrange in a tall, glass vase. They are even more festive when you decorate them. These Christmas birds are easy to make, a fun holiday project you can do with, or without, your kids.
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Dahlia garden review
The meteorological winter has begun and in the Netherlands, everyone is excited about Saint Nicholas, or Sinterklaas, coming to town this weekend. He brings his gifts on the evening of December 5th, riding the roofs on a white horse, delivering presents by the chimney. The Dutch took this tradition to America and Sinterklaas evolved into Santa Claus. Gift-bringing at Christmas is gaining popularity each year, but Sinterklaas is still more popular. Because my husband’s family is German we both exchange gifts at Sinterklaas and on Christmas Eve. Our children must be the happiest kids in the world.
The arboretum: where every leaf is a flower
Autumn is coming to an end and the holiday season, starting with Saint Nicholas’ Day, is just around the corner. November has been really warm until this week. We had our first frost at the beginning of the week and all of a sudden it feels like winter. I visited the Von Gimborn Arboretum weeks ago when leaves were still on the trees. I am a big fan of photographing interesting trees and the arboretum is just the right place to do that. As we say goodbye to autumn, take a last look at these beautiful autumn colours.
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A quote to start the week: Autumn is a second spring
Almost all the leaves have fallen from the trees and the flowers are disappearing fast. It is really cold this morning, with a light frost. I have left the dahlia tubers in the ground until now. It’s better to leave them in the ground as long as possible, they need to feel the cold so the tubers will prepare for winter. I wanted to wait until the plants have completely died back, but being a first-year grower, I don’t want to dig them up too late.
Continue reading A quote to start the week: Autumn is a second spring
A quote to start the week: I like boring things
I know the start of a new week can be hard, especially if you have to get up when it’s still dark outside. I’m not a morning person, but after years of waking up early in the morning because the children were ready to start their day, I never set an alarm anymore. Now it’s me, waking them up.
After the terrible events of last weekend, I think we can all use a boring week. A little bit of rain, a little bit of wind, a delayed train, I hope your week is as uneventfull as that. Have a good start of the new week!
