Surprised!

Very pleasantly surprised we were last night...
It was our wedding anniversary yesterday but we didn't have or make any big plans... mountains of snow and an upcoming holiday... enough to worry about :)
When it was dark (which of course is pretty early these days) we were ordered to put on our coats, our warm boots and get outside...
And it was beautiful there: Thom made a big heart out of snow and in the middle there was a cozy fire. In the snow heart he even created some seats!

The 'vin chaud' was served, together with some marshmellows for us to caramelize above the fire.
Now, wasn't that a lovely, sweet idea?

 Above pictures made by Thom

Our hero of the day!!

Wishing you all a lovely warm & cozy week!

Bisous,

Knuffelen/Hugging...

Als zij iets in haar hoofd heeft en een blogje schrijft over haar idee, dan is er maar één optie: meedoen!
Dus dat deed ik. Mijn knuffelenvelop is inmiddels onderweg en vandaag ontving ik mijn knuffel! Hij is afkomstig van Marjolein.

When she has something in her mind and writes a blogpost about her idea, then there's only one option left: join it! So that's what I did. My envelop with 'hug' is already on its way and today I received my hug! It's been sent to me by Marjolein.

Zo leuk, zo lief en ik heb er al een plekje voor gevonden. Hartelijk dank Marjolein!!

So nice, so sweet and I already found the perfect spot for it! Thanks so much Marjolein!!

En hier hangt 'ie nu:

And here it is at its final spot:

Ik wens jullie allen een knuffelig weekend!

I wish you all a weekend full of hugs!

Bisous,

Winter Wonderland!

It's a real Winter Wonderland & I just can't get enough of it!

Bassin de Neptune / Jardin du Chateau

  Blue sky & sun today, that made it even more beautiful!

School decided to make it a snowday today so we could even more enjoy it!! And so did Senna again... 

I can't promiss you that this will be my last snowy post...

Although the forecasts for the coming days are temperatures above 0°C, next week the real cold weather will be back, they say...

On Sunday we'll be having a 'happy holidays' lunch here (with a 'cozy winter' theme) and I'm really hoping for the same gorgeous weather as today so that we can have hot chocolate or vin chaud outside...

Will you keep your fingers crossed for us too?

Bisous,



MORE SNOW!

Wowh, what a snow we had today!

Ok, when we left this morning to do some shopping at IKEA (just 15 km away) there was some rain and it was 0°C, but we didn't really think that it would get so complicated later today!

It started snowing around noon and it didn't stop until 5pm... The world is wonderful outside, especially the garden. The situation is not beautiful at all if you look at the traffic!

It took us about 5 hours to get home (record: 15km in 5hours, that - luckily - never ever happened in crazy São Paulo traffic!).

Our car is still parked about 3 km away from home... we decided to walk the last part as it was getting really ugly! School buses were cancelled and all students stayed at campus until a parent arrived to pick them up. So glad we have a very nice neighbour who picked the kids up by train (we were still stuck in road traffic & at that time trains were still running!)... Thanks soooo much Jason!

At 9 pm everybody had left campus...

Airports are closed, flights are cancelled and many people just abandonned their cars at the highway, emergency centers are installed in Versailles for all those unlucky people who can't get home tonight...

Crazy situation!

No more snow is predicted for tomorrow but temperatures will stay below 0°C and roads will

become even more of an ice rink then they already are!

School has decided to call it a snowday tomorrow... and I'm more than happy with that!

So tomorrow calls for long walks in the park, lots of hot chocolate &

the famous Dutch 'erwtensoep' (a typical pea soup served at really winter days).

...let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

(I don't mind as long as I don't need to go anywhere by car!)

Wishing you all a wonderful snowday too!!

Bisous,

Slowly, Christmas is entering our home

Although it's only the beginning of December (and according to the Dutch traditions - St. Nicolas on December 6 - you're not supposed to even think about Christmas until after the 6th) I couldn't resist starting to decorate for Christmas. I added some touches of Noël and even bought a tree, a real tree. Why? Because it's been 8 (EIGHT!!) years since we had a real Christmas tree, that's why!!

A real Christmas tree doesn't exist in Brazil and the only little bush they sell there as a Christmas tree can't even handle one ball!

So, a real tree it is this year!

Sweet little Angels, made out of recycled cans and some made of dried corn leaves (bought in Brazil, they're pretty inventive & crafty there!) and some feathered balls and wooden birds, hearts & stars.

Some little balls with candlelight atmosphere...

And a glimpse of the tree, decorations in red & white this year!

 

Have a wonderful week & enjoy this sweet time of the year!!

Bisous,

SNOW!!!

The first snow of the season definitely deserves its own blogpost!

And after spending 6 years in subtropical Brazil, I really find it something special.

 Even after the huge amounts we had in the beginning of this year.

It really looks wonderfully magical in the garden!

 And after a grey start this morning, we're also having sunshine now.

Snow & sun, what more can we ask for?

Of course, Senna put her nose in the snow!

Although being Brazilian, she doesn't mind the cold at all!

Have a nice day & enjoy the arrival of the winter (at least on this side of the equator!).

Bisous,

Getting into the Christmas spirit!

The end of November already, hectic times here at the Abacaxi & Hortelã-house & change is on its way...

But the end of November also calls for getting into the Christmas spirit, don't you think?

So we headed one night to the Champs Elysées to see all the lights and visit the Christmas fair near the Place de la Concorde. Such a pity I couldn't capture it all in pictures, but I gave it a try:

Hotel de Invalides, such a remarkable building.

One of the restaurants went crazy...

The most beautiful Avenue of the world.

Also entertainment for the small ones.

Time to warm up: such a nice hot chocolate spoons in all kinds of flavors & preferrable combined with:

Don't they look good? And I can confirm: they taste good too!

This weekend will be dedicated to decorating the Christmas tree, hot chocolate and cookies ready? GO!

Have a wonderful, thankful weekend!

Bisous,