bubble portraits by julianne swartz, view the full bubble portrait portfolio on mixed greens. Found via i’m revolting.

drawings in the sand, jim denevan, found via field & sea.

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This week I’m going to further explore quiet spaces. Are you up for that?  Each day I will post something quiet -be it a space, a place, a moment, whatever: just things that inspire reflection and tranquility. There will be minimal words, no ramblings – just visuals. Enjoy. x

At the beginning of the week I went to the plant market to get some potted herbs, strawberries and a chili plant. I’ve decided to make a little garden in the corner of my kitchen because it gets lots of sunlight, it’s kinda like a greenhouse…

Upon purchase of the chili plant the seller kept saying (in Dutch) “outside in the sun! outside in the sun!” I did my usual “ja ja” (yes yes) but inside I was saying to this man “you don’t fool me, there is NO sun outside in this country! If I plant this little guy outside, he will die within days!” And I’m so glad I didn’t listen to him because if I had planted it outside, it would have drowned since we’ve had 4 days of non-stop rain and very, very little sunshine.  Today, the chili plant is standing tall and strong on my window sill. I’m not sure how well it will grow but you know, this gardening thing is all about observing and learning, and even more so when in different climates with different soil.

Anyway, what are growing gangbusters are my orchids! Look at all those beautiful flowers, and there are still plenty more to come. It’s all with thanks to Zoë  & her fab instructions, remember this post?

So what do you think of my kitchen garden so far? I’m rather fond of it, myself.  If you’re interested, I’ll let you know how my garden grows over the coming months.

xx

This past month, I’ve been glued to BBC 2 every Wednesday night, blissfully absorbed in Alys Fowler’s world as shown in The Edible Garden. Each episode, Alys demonstrates through polyculture how she grows various fruit, vegetables and edible flowers in her small city back garden, with the aim to not only avoid shop-bought fruit and vegetables so she and her husband can live off their home-grown produce but also create a beautiful, inspiring garden. The misfortunes and mistakes are not edited, and her style is perfectly imperfect. In tonight’s episode, she planted strawberries, raspberries and blueberries; picked apples to make delicious apple rings; concocted a lip-smacking fruit infused vodka with friends; made gorgeous hapa-zome fabric lid covers for jam pots; and introduced a friend who lives in Bristol and forages for plums and berries in her local environment. Last week she focused on root vegetables, the week before, salads – each episode packed with extras.

While I have no soil patches on-shore or on-deck of my little boat home, I’m completely re-inspired to pot up some edibles again. I love walking passed the on-shore gardens belonging to the houseboats (also love spotting the adorable newcomers) along the Amstel, they never cease to inspire me as most of them are filled with wild flowers, tulips and untamed bushes. There is one that even has chickens.

Also, I’ve been reading up a lot lately on suburban foraging (a couple of episodes ago, Alys made dandelion fritters from foraged dandelions and I’d love to try it!) but really don’t know enough about northern hemisphere wild foods, nor the protocol for foraging here in The Netherlands. Plus, I have no idea where to go. I would love to have the courage to forage but I think it would take a series of workshops and guided tours before I got out there myself.

Anyway, Alys Fowler– wonderfully inspiring, just as much as Ray. Even though you can’t replay the episodes on bbc iplayer unless you’re in the UK, it’s worth reading the episode details and even better, buy Alys’ book. I haven’t got it myself but I’m sure it’s awesome.

xx

PS I just remembered this photo of me in the garden in vancouver island, rather fitting for this post…

…Mes amis, I have been having so much fun with the book. I still have lots to do so I will not be back here in the (blog)house full time just yet, but I wanted to let you know I’m thinking of you! And that all is well.

I must confess, taking this blog break has been wonderful. For the first week or so I fretted, then I found a certain clarity, then all my ideas, words and vision came flooding forth – what a fabulous feeling! For the first time in a long while I don’t feel like time is running too quickly.

Anyway, I won’t chat for too long as I have photos to edit, just this little message for now. Oh, and I have still been checking out blogs every now and then when on my tea + chocolate breaks, and I found this gorgeous illustration by Krista Nyberg above from post carden – check out what it is exactly (hint: think portable garden gift), I love it! I found it via the beautiful read baron.

xx

PS French Boy has just made crêpes for dinner – the smell is wafting through the boat. He is making crêpes au jambon and then we will have the rest for dessert with nutella. I’m quite sure I am in heaven.