Orchids...just beautiful

Still working in the garden and trying to make it look colourful and cosy but hopefully easy to maintain. Bought some plants and tried to get the lawn green again...


There's already some splash of colour in the garden as the orchids finally (oh no, I'm not impatient at all!) started to bloom. The pink is so intense, I can just sit there and admire the flower.

Next week, I will have the painters starting on the ceiling of the veranda. It is really nice to have a big veranda, in very sunny times it's a cool(er) place to sit and in times of heat with tropical rain showers it is still nice to sit outside, but not getting wet. Our veranda is quite large which hardly enables the light to get into the house, so it's rather dark in the living room.

So I decided to have the ceiling of the veranda painted white... hope that solves the darkness problem.


This is how it looks now... just wait and see the result!

Garden inspiration

Garden

* a place to sit *

* a place to enjoy *

* a place to relax *

* a place to play *

* a place to zip a glass of champagne *

* a place for a BBQ *

* a place of numerous scents *

* a place to forget everything *

* a place to...*

Well, to do about anything and nothing!

In this (sub) tropical country you live outside most of the time.

So the garden needs to be seen as your living room.

But in our situation, it's a little bit complicated. We know we won't be here forever.

(Actually we should have to leave in December this year, but could postpone it until December 2009).

So a complete new garden plan is out of the question.

Our garden at this moment... well, let me put it this way: I don't even dare to show.

7 weeks away nearly destroyed the whole plot.

So I'm thinking about (not too expensive) ways to make this garden my garden.

I've been surfing the net and found so many nice ideas, but still haven't decided (read: still nothing done!). I would just like to show you some pictures I found and in all of them there are some nice elements I might add in our garden (although I know that many of them won't be possible... time wise or money wise)...

Ideas are always welcome!!!!

Have a great weekend!

Love, C.

Sun? Here!!!

YES!

The weather gods are reading my blog as well!

The sun is back and I love it!

How much nicer is it to look outside and see this brightness?

The view from behind my computer, sun and blue!!

I'm really a summer person, love the sun, the heat, the blue sky, etc. hate the cold, the rain, the darkness! So I'm very lucky to live here, in this part of the world where even in the winter the temperature can raise to 30 degrees (Celsius).

Let's heat up the BBQ, continue working in the garden and celebrate the sun!

Have a lovely, sunny day too!!

How much longer...

... does it take for these orchids to start their bloom?

I remember that they were in full bloom when we moved into this house last year September. Need to be patient... And when they are in full bloom, they are just gorgeous!

This one grows on the trunk of the tree, only gets some rain water, don't even have to take care of it.

I promise I will show you the blooming picture in the near future!

Sun? Where??

Some roses for a little bit of sunshine at home!

Oh I was sooooooo happy when the sun came back!

And what do you think? Yep, raining again! Grrrr!!

No chance to work in the garden, have to keep myself busy at home (no problem either, enough to do and I like that too!).

But rainy days lead to another 'problem':

Tea, coffee and ... chocolate!

Somehow I need to pamper myself with these 3 things to keep me happy during dark, rainy days. Do you recognize that?? Ok, and I admit: there's #4: magazines!!

Have a wonderful & (fingers crossed!) sunny weekend!

Love, C.

Inspiration for garden and terrace

Time to change the garden and the terrace (as already mentioned before :-0). So I needed some inspiration.
The magazine '100 idées jardins' (french) is a great source of inspiration. When you see all those lovely pictures, you only want one thing: spend some days in the garden and work until you've created your own picture-perfect garden!
I was so happy to find this magazine here in São Paulo, you can't imagine (even the price wasn't that ridiculous for a change).
Althought I shouldn't complain about magazines: I bought almost a suitcase full of magazines in the Netherlands and the United States (boy, are they heavy!). But what's better than cuddling up on the sofa with a nice cup of tea, a warm blanket ánd some interior and garden magazines?

It sure gave me a lot of inspiration, time for some action now!

Sunny days are back!

When we arrived back in SP, the winter here really looked like summer. Unfortunately, last Thursday afternoon, it all changed: rain and cold for 3 days in a row. And with cold I really mean COLD. Can you imagine, during the night it's around 8 degrees (yes, yes, I admit, not thát cold). But 8 degrees means: 8 degrees outside ánd inside! The Brazilian houses do not have central heating. Yes, we do have a fire place that helps a little bit (only when you nearly live in the fire place!). But all the little holes and bad construction lead to a terrible draught. The houses are perfect for summer, built to keep the heat and the sun out. That's what they do... that also happens in winter time...

Thanks to the weather gods, it has changed since yesterday: the sun is back and so is the warmth (although it can still be very chilly during the evenings and nights).

The sun brings back the need to do something in the garden and on the terrace (they both need an extreme make over!).

So I'll be busy the coming days and weeks to do that. But promise to keep you updated here!!

Pictures from the Museum of the American Indian - Washington D.C.

40... at last!

The day had come... last Saturday there was no more hiding...

Everywhere in the house I found little notes, remembering me about my new age...

And still, 2 days later, I still find little notes everywhere (the most unexpected places).

To be short: it was my birthday last Saturday and I turned 40! Let the fun begin!! Cheers!!

Promise = promise

I promised you some pictures yesterday, but somehow blogger and I had a little problem.
After loading 4 pictures, t stopped working...
Anyway, here are some more:

The White House

Yes we drove the Blue Ridge parkway (parts of it): beautiful!

A luxurious golf course in Savannah: carts with GPS and air conditioning!

Oh yes, we have arrived!

A wonderful show at Sea World

YES! I'm back in São Paulo ánd in blogland!

After 7 (!!) weeks of holidays in both the Netherlands and the United States, we're finally back home!


We had a great time in the Netherlands, visiting family and friends and enjoying the typical Dutch goodies (and gaining weight of course...:-( ) and our 'real' holidays in the United States were just perfect: New york, Washington D.C., Asheville (North Carolina), Savannah (I really fell in love with this gorgeous city) and finally Orlando (Disney!!). We enjoyed our time together while exploring these beautiful cities.

But I must admit: it's good to be back home! Being surrounded again by our own house, our own furniture, our own plates, etc. is just great after all these weeks. It feels even wonderful to cook a meal (which I really didn't do for all those 7 weeks). And yesterday our little monster came back from her dog hotel. I missed her so much. So the family is re-united again and that's the way it has to be!



Not that much news yet, have been busy unpacking all the suitcases and trying to find a place for all the purchases, checking my e-mail and trying to get organized (not really succeeding so far...).


So for now I'll leave you with some pictures of the last weeks and the promise that I'll be back soon(er)!