Hello, I'm back!

 

Well, hello again! Welcome to 2013. Welcome to Abacaxi & Hortelã!

It's been a while!

 

Enjoyed a short break during the holiday season.

 

Of course I prepared a nice diner for my parents and some friends for Christmas Day.

I chose for a bit of an unusual combination of colours to decorate the table: aubergine (eggplant colour) and turquoise.

As I was the cook, I, unfortunately, didn't have time to take pictures of the food I prepared...

 

 

But this was on the menu:

 

Trio d'amuses: goat cheese/apricot bite, mascarpone/macadamia nut crème brulée & quick roasted scallop with sesame seeds and soy sauce

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Beetroot soup with wodka, sour cream and mint

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Filet of duck breast with roasted figs and a red wine - forest fruit syrup

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Monk fish with mango salsa, mashed parsnip/potato, grilled green vegetables

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Lemon cheesecake with speculoos and blue berries

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Coffee/tea & some sweet little indulgences

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Yes, it was pretty good if I may say so myself ;)

 

 

 

And between Christmas and new years Eve we visited Berlin...

But that story will have to wait till next time :)

 

Have a great new week in this New Year where everything is still possible!

 

 

 

 

Happy Easter!

Wishing you all a

HAPPY EASTER!



Enjoy the (chocolate) eggs,

the spring feeling &

the time with family & friends!

Colour

Spring is in the air they say...(really? when walking the dog this morning I really needed winter coat, scarf & gloves...)

Well, looking at our living room, it could be true: I shifted around with some furniture, bought candles and flowers in all kinds of spring colours as you can see:

The way it was:

The new 'position':

Candles & flowers:

I'm ready, so let the Spring begin... please!!

What's next?

We had a good time...

Christmas Eve: with friends in Amsterdam

Christmas Day: relaxed, quiet, some preparations for diner on Boxing Day (2nd Christmas Day it's called in the Netherlands)

Boxing Day: more diner preparations & a very nice & calm diner with my parents

This is what the table looked like:

Forgot to take pictures of the actual diner... too busy ;)

And now it's time to prepare for the New Year...

What are your plans?

For New years Eve?

For 2012?

Any resolutions??

Wishing you a nice last week of 2011!!

THE tree...

It took me some time...

Our living room is not that small, but still...

I couldn't find THE spot for THE tree!

I moved chairs, sofas & tables, but put them back in the old position again

(positive about this is the fact that I finally cleaned the floor under the furniture!!)

Still not totally happy with the location of the tree, but I'm afraid there's no moving anymore,

it's completely decorated now, too dangerous!!

Red & white it is this year...

Have a nice week!!

Bulbs...

I bought them weeks ago (or maybe even months ago) and finally found the time today to plant them: tulip bulbs! A little late, but I think it should do... It's not that cold yet.

And my garden definitely needs tulips, because, what is a  Dutch garden without tulips in springtime?

I planted different varieties and mainly pink, fuchsia & purple colours,

and could absolutely not resist the 'black hero' and the 'queen of the night'...

Aren't they just beautiful? Let's hope they will all appear in Spring!

So fingers crossed till April/May please :)

Now that this is finally done, I'll go on to the next 'assignment':

Christmas decorations :)

Playing Christmas songs in the background and 

drinking hot chocolate with melted marshmellows

or some mulled wine (depending on the time of the day).

So, what are your plans for the weekend?

Wishing you all a nice & sunny one
& have fun decorating!!

Mess...

What do you think of our new interior decoration?

Luckily it's just temporary ;-)

Enjoy you weekend!!

Bisous, 

More spring in the air!

What a nice weather we are having at the moment... chilly nights (still a little bit of frost) & cool, sunny days.

If you can find a spot in the sun & out of the wind... you don't wanna leave anymore! 

 And this kind of weather asks for some action. So I bought a lot of colourful plants & vases &

spring arrived at our terrace too!!

 And now fingers crossed that it will stay like this for a while... I sure wouldn't mind (& will go shopping for even more colour on the terrace!!).

Have a sunny week!

Bisous,

Merci!

An interesting shop in Paris: Merci!

You'll find many different styled corners you can have in your home.
Lots of inspiration!

 They havea wide range of product for sale: furniture, tableware, bed and bath linen, clothes, paperware
 and they have 3 different restaurants as well.

A 'natural' wooden chair

The decoration in front of the entrance :-)

Merci
111, Boulevard Beaumarchais
75003 Paris
To visit their website, click here

Have a lovely week!
Bisous,

Les Puces de Saint Ouen

After two episodes of our Patagonia holiday, something completely different today (but don't worry, the last part of the holiday (El Calafate) is coming soon too!).

It's been on my to-do-list for over a year and finally, last Monday, a very sunny day, we visited the 'Puces de Saint Ouen', THE flea market under the Parisian flea markets, only open on Saturday, Sunday & Monday.
We chose to go on Monday as we expected the crowds during the weekend. Well, Monday turnt out to be a good day: few people & lots of sunshine, the only disadvantage is the fact that quite some shops were closed, but as there's so much to visit & see, that didn't really matter!

Les Puces de Saint Ouen are located at the Porte de Clignancourt in the north of Paris, right under the famous (& most of the time congested) Boulevard Périphérique!

They consist of 12 different markets: Antica, Biron, Cambo, Dauphine, Jules Vallès, Malassis, Malik, Michelet, Paul Bert, Rosiers, Serpette and Vernaison. If you'd like to know more about the flea markets in France, then I can advice you the book The Flea markets of France, there's a lot of information available in this little book, easy to take with you on a trip & covers the major touristic regions in France and the most interesting flea markets to visit.

 Marché Paul Bert

Marché Vernaison

As you can see, there's a huge diversity available. We only visited marché Paul Bert (absolutely my favorite!), marché Serpette (indoor), marché Vernaison (this is probably what most corresponds to what visitors imagine when they thinkof French flea markets) and marché Biron. And even on this quiet Monday, there was not enough time to see everything, you can easily spend a whole weekend here.

 Marché Vernaison

For the record: no, I didn't buy anything... although we did consider this SUPER sofa:

A beautiful facade, covered in ivy

Vintage Vespa?

We definitely enjoyed the visit & for sure I'll be back here to see the markets I've missed this time!
Bisous,