Christmas cactus (Botanical name: Schlumbergera)
Total height: 17 cm
Width pot: 11 cm
Care: very easy, a little water once a week
Grows for years. Blooms with beautiful pink flowers in winter.
For more info email me at simplycultivatingjoy [at] gmail.com
When I met my boyfriend’s aunt zia Pina during my first visit to Sicily, I quickly discovered we have a shared passion. She cultivates an amazing roof-top terrasse full of hundreds of cacti, succulents and other plants which are thriving under the hot Sicilian sun. That evening in the dwindling heat, she held onto my arm and walked me around, showing me all the different plants while I enjoyed discovering her little paradise on the roof.
This summer my boyfriend brought me a surprise back from zia Pina’s in his hand-luggage: a gorgeous round cactus to add to my plant collection:)
After a few weeks of acclimatising on my windowsill, a long shoot started to grow out of the cactus. Though we could tell a flower would soon bloom, we had no idea what it would look like.
Until finally one rainy summer morning I woke up to this beautiful flower with light pink petals rising high above the cactus like a firework. I enjoyed observing and smelling it. It seemed so incongruous that such a graceful flower would come out of this ball of spikes and needles.
Unfortunately, after just 2 short days the flower shriveled up and drooped. I don’t know how often the cactus will flower, but I hope I’ll have the joy of seeing more of these gorgeous flowering events.
Total height: 30 cm
Pot: 12cm
Care: very easy, a little water once a week
Grows for years.
For more info email me at simplycultivatingjoy [at] gmail.com
barter : (verb) To trade goods or services without the exchange of money
I remember first learning about barter trade in my social anthropology classes at university. When I think of the word barter, vivid images appear in my head of men in the Pacific Ocean taking flimsy-looking canoes to go on expeditions for months at a time, where they would trade beautiful seashells with tribes from other islands.
I recall that the rubbing and handling of the shells would give the outside of the shell a dark patina, increasing the shell’s value the more they were held and exchanged. I loved the idea of trading without money and the notion that the same object was increasingly getting more valuable as it was swapped from hand to hand.
As it turns out, barter trade doesn’t have to be such a far away concept. Yesterday, Eline came over to purchase some of my worms to start her own compost, after contacting me on Marktplaats (the Dutch eBay).
As we were talking, Eline explained that she is just back from Belgium where she learned to bake artisanal bread and she asked if it would be ok to pay half the price in cash and swap the other half for a loaf of bread.
I have to admit I was a little taken aback and I hesitated on accepting because I wasn’t expecting it at all. She explained that her bread is made with local stone-ground flour and French sea salt. But it was when Eline took the bread out of its paper bag to show me, that I was sold (I was bartered?!). As you can see on the pictures, the loaf was beautifully round and full, and had the most mouth-watering rich bready smell.
I’m so glad I accepted her offer, as we’ve been enjoying thick slices of this delicious sourdough bread with butter and jam all weekend.
Eline explained that she only bakes bread once a week at the moment because she is still looking for a place to set up her activity in Amsterdam. I hope she does so soon, so I can pick up some of this tasty bread regularly. I think I could get used to it:)
Update:
Eline’s delicious artisanal bread is now sold on Saturdays at Vinnie’s Deli (Haarlemmerstraat 46 HS, 1013 ES Amsterdam), or you can pick it up directly from her home near Westerpark (contact her at elineex@gmail.com for more details).
On my 3rd day of walking, between Irun and San Sebastian, I followed the sign at the bottom of a very steep hill that said: “Peregrinos alpinistas”. This alternative path had been recommended by the pilgrims who hosted me on my first night in Bayonne, who said it was a bit longer but really beautiful (I’m glad they insisted it was less difficult than it sounds because I’m not sure I would have spontaneously considered myself an “Alpinist pilgrim”…).
At the top, I was totally alone, since it is not the standard route. As I walked on the path that followed the crest of the hill, surrounded by mountain peaks on one side and the sparkling blue sea on the other I felt such incredible joy!
I walked through this field, just a few steps from the horses who ignored me completely and went on with their peaceful activities in this breathtakingly beautiful place on the top of the world. Totally worth making the detour!
On the Camino del Norte, the path mainly follows the coast and the sea is always just around the corner, making it one of the most beautiful Camino routes. However when you look at the route on the guide book, it’s difficult to imagine what the day’s walk will really look like.
The element of surprise was really helpful, because so often when I felt I couldn’t go any further, or I was wondering ‘what am I doing here??’, I would come across a view like one of these and then it would all make sense again. I’d stop thinking about my feet and remember how lucky I was to get to see such unspoiled nature.
I loved the fact that the nature looked different every day and I never knew what to expect. Stumbling on an amazing beach after a few minutes or a few hours of walking was always magical for me. Depending on the weather the colour of the water, the sky and the clouds would vary incredibly.
Usually I was up on the top of the cliff which meant a beautiful perspective over the sea. Sometimes the path would go up and down all day with tiny coves at the bottom of the hill before going back up the hillside.
Coming across a spectacular view point was always an excuse to take a break to eat an apple or simply sit to rest and watch the water. The snacks I ate overlooking the sea were usually really simple, but enjoying them in front of these magical views made them taste like a real feast 😉
I love how you can actually see that the earth is round on this picture!!
On my very first day of walking, heading out of Bayonne, I stopped to see the Sand Cemetery in Anglet, which was recommended by my pilgrim hosts the night before. The cemetery was original, but what really caught my eye were 2 long buildings on either side of the entrance of the cemetery which were full of succulents!!
The plants were really well tended to and there were all sorts of different species. I tried to get in to take a closer look but unfortunately the doors were locked… so I could only sneak a few pictures through the bars of the windows. These pictures don’t really do justice to what a beautiful sight it was:)
‘Having a green house to grow my succulents’ is on my dream list (as ‘walking the Camino’ was for many years), so I took stumbling upon my dream greenhouse on my first day as a good omen for my trip;)
Total height: 35 cm
Diameter pot: 21 cm
Care: very easy, a little water once a week
Grows for years.
For more info email me at simplycultivatingjoy [at] gmail.com
I’ve been back from the Camino for nearly 2 months and still working through my thoughts about the experience. I can’t believe how fast the trip flew by. Once again I am back home and sucked into the routine of work and daily life…
People keep asking me how it was to walk the Camino and I find it really hard to give an answer, as there are so many things to tell, so many aspects. Though the walking was sometimes tough, even when I was tired from walking and my body ached I felt extremely free, excited and grateful to be there.
The best way I can find to explain it is: ‘Vivir es increible‘ (Being alive is incredible!). These 3 words, hand-painted on the red step in the staircase full of wise words, jumped out at me. They express so simply what I felt intensely throughout my trip.
Sometimes I feel like that amazing sensation gets drowned out in the daily rush, the noise of emails, things to do and other busy-ness. I want to look out for it more. I’m doing my best these days to use ‘Vivir es increible’ as a mantra in day-to-day life in Amsterdam too, when I feel the routine weighing down on me or when I’m cycling to work in the rain for example.
In an attempt to process my experience, I want to share some snapshots and thoughts about walking the Camino, even if they are just a tiny piece of the whole experience. I’ll be posting them in the next days:)
Three years ago I went to a wormshop to learn how to compost with worms. The introductory email warned that we would be “handling worms and powertools”, 2 things that sounded like lots of fun to me:)
What you need to start your worm bin:
-2 stackable plastic boxes about 60x30cm
-cardboard and egg-cartons
-cocopeat (not mandatory)
-egg shells
-a handful of Red Wriggler worms
-a banana or a few veggie scraps
First we drilled 12 holes in one plastic box that will serve as the cover (approx. 7mm diameter). Then we filled the other box which will serve as their home with soaked egg cartons to make the initial bottom bedding.
The next step was to put a layer of coco peat, and wet that too. Then we crushed some egg shells finely in order to make some grit, necessary for the worms to eat. These broken shells were sprinkled onto the coco peat. (I let my egg shells dry, then put them in a paper bag and crush them through the bag by hand or with a rolling pin).
The next step was to put in the worms. We each got a handful of thin red compost worms, otherwise known as Red Wrigglers. They don’t like light so we quickly covered them with another layer of bedding (wet cardboard) after having put in a piece of banana peel for them to start snacking on. Then we put the other bin (the one with the holes) on top.
It’s important not to put too much food for them in the beginning as it takes a little while for them to acclimatize to their new setting. Also, the food bits should be relatively small (peels are great, if you have big parts I recommend to chop them into smaller pieces).
The key for a healthy worm bin is balance, it needs to be moist, but not too wet. If it does get too wet add cardboard. If it is too dry you can sprinkle a bit of water in it. It shouldn’t smell, but if it does stir the contents to add air and put more cardboard.
After the workshop, I rode through the city with the worm bin on the back of my bike and since then they’ve been in a cupboard on my balcony. I keep them there nearly all year round, except on some extremely cold winter days when I brought them in the flat to make sure they didn’t freeze.
The worms have been doing a wonderful job for the last 3 years processing my vegetable craps and cardboard. I love the thought of how much less I throw out with my rubbish, and I have the added bonus of being able to use the resulting compost for my plants.
Cultivating joy 