JOYFUL GRATITUDE #27
When I saw these tiny succulents it totally made my day! Looks like they are having an awesome party, dancing away and throwing their hands up in the air, like they just don’t care!
plants
Such a perfect day
JOYFUL GRATITUDE #26
A couple of weeks ago, I went to Leiden to spend one of our ‘creative afternoons’ with my friend Eva (a.k.a. eating delicious lunch, talking about all sorts of things over coffee and cake, getting some creative inspiration and then enjoying more food for dinner and chatting further into the evening:)
We decided to go to the Hortus to observe plants and spark our imagination. It was so different from the last time we went in November! With the arrival of spring there were many lovely new plants, and we spent an amazing afternoon strolling through the sunlit gardens and then sweating profusely as we explored the tropical glasshouses.
The collection is so abundant, that there was an infinity of amazing shapes and incredible colour combinations to look at.
Soon we were completely in the flow, pointing out tiny details to each other and admiring the rich textures and striking shapes, orchids in retro-colours and wonderful bright purples and blues.
Nature just around the corner
JOYFUL GRATITUDE #25
I am deeply grateful for living in a part of the city that also has nature close by. It looks like I’m deep in a forest, but this picture was taken just five minutes from my flat.
After a day sitting at my desk, it feels so good to go for a walk and stretch my legs, and feel the sun on my skin.
Today I was accompanied by bird song from the trees, and when I listened carefully even the buzzing of some bees and other insects.
Just taking the time observe these plants and look at their details is like a meditation for me.
Hortus Botanicus Amsterdam
A few years back I took a photo course and the field trip consisted in spending an afternoon taking photos at the Hortus Botanicus in Amsterdam of plants and butterflies. My favorite section was of course the desert greenhouse with the cacti and succulents.
It was so much fun to look so close up at the plants and see their amazing details and patterns. I loved observing these gorgeous little flowers with such beautiful pastel colours.
The texture of these velvety purple leaves was amazing and a challenge to try and capture on camera.
I remember being so focussed on the details, I was totally in the flow and didn’t feel time pass by. I think I will schedule another excursion there soon.
Amsterdam Bee Park
While Paolo was living in the Far West (Geuzenveld) we discovered a few lovely places to escape from the rhythm of the city for a while. The Bee Park is one of them, a hidden haven of peace, where you can admire flowers and observe bees close up.
It’s lovely to walk along the tiny paths between the hedges of the allotments, catching glimpses of the carefully tended gardens and small sheds.
As you explore you may bump into a beekeeper, fully clothed in this protective gear like an astronaut, carefully taking care of his bees and hives. If you’re lucky there may even be some of this delicious local honey for sale to take home with you.
Bijenpark Amsterdam is open from April to October, I recommend to check the times and dates before going.
Glasgow Botanic Gardens
In 2014 during our trip to Glasgow, Eva and I explored the beautiful Botanic Gardens and enjoyed being surrounded by colourful tropical plants while it was grey outside.
We spent several hours discovering the glasshouses, in particular the Kibble Palace, a huge 19th century wrought iron glasshouse which is amazingly beautiful.
As we wandered around, taking our time and snapping lots of pictures of the gorgeous plants, a gardener came up to us. He indicated a plant and told us with his thick Scottish accent to take a closer… He was pointing to a tiny camouflaged stick-insect which we would never have spotted (not featured here;).
I’m off to Thailand!!
JOYFUL GRATITUDE #22
The count down has started and I’m down to my last days of work before leaving on a very well-deserved holiday (if I may say so myself;). This term has been extremely busy at work and I’m so excited to have some down time to relax, explore Bangkok, chill at the beach in Koh Samui, enjoy Thai food and especially catch up with wonderful friends who I haven’t seen for a long time.
I leave my lovely house plants in Paolo’s good hands while I’m gone. I’ve also dug through my archives and found some pictures of plants to entertain you in my absence so watch this space. In the meantime, I hope to discover many beautiful tropical plants on my travels and will report back when I return:)
Sunshine and fresh air
This weekend was the first really warm spring weekend in Amsterdam. It was perfect weather to go cycling through the Amsterdamse Bos and enjoy watcing nature wake up after the winter.
Though the trees are still very bare, the undergrowth is teeming with wild daffodils and other pretty plants which the bumblebees are eagerly collecting nectar from.
Being surrounded by nature always helps me to unwind and relax my mind after a busy week at work. My senses felt so alive, as I bathed in the warm sunlight, seeing the bringht colours , breathing in deeply the fresh air and getting a whiff of those spring smells (wild garlic!).
Plants all over the place
It all started out quite innocently. I fell in love with this wonderful flat in part for its great windowsills, which I proceeded to decorate with a few plants (and Barberine the photobomber, who I was cat sitting at the time ;).
Little by little the amount of plants increased as I decided to experiment with cultivating the baby plants and cuttings in second hand pots, and selling them online.
My appartment slowly became a greenhouse (or a jungle, as Paolo would say). There were plants covering all available surfaces, including the whole coffee table, placed awkwardly in the corner where they would get the most of the sunlight.
Radical action needed to be taken, as the plants were threatening to take over our small living space;) So with the money I made selling plants, I bought a simple shelf to store the plants vertically and as you can see they are now thriving in that sunny corner:)
I’d like to say a big thank you to everyone who supported Cultivating Joy by purchasing a plant for their home!
Lovely plants of Madeira
At home we regularly tease my foodie sister about how she is into foodporn and how the majority of her travel pictures consist of new dishes she discovered along her journeys. However recently it’s been dawning on me that I’m obsessed with something similar, which I guess can be called plantporn.
I love close up photos of gorgeous plants with their tiny leaves, colourful petals, uncanny shapes and intriguing textures…
What made Madeira so special to me in terms of plantporn, was that succulents grow in the wild all over the place and in general there were also many unfamiliar plant species I don’t get to see every day.
I spent a great deal of time in the holidays behind my camera attempting to take decent macros of the amazing plants that caught my eye. (Thanks to Paolo for the picture above and especially for his patience when I get mesmerised by yet another plant!)
I took these last two pictures in the natural park of the São Lourenco peninsula – though to me these plants look like they really belong in the landscapes of Arrakis (Dune;)
Cultivating joy 