I have come to realise that I am now one of those people who talks about the weather incessantly. I’m sorry. However when the good days seem few and far between, you tend to celebrate when it’s good! And the weather has been just spectacular! So we did like Netherlanders and got on our bikes and headed out to the local woods.
There we found a likely patch of grass next to a canal (of course!), and watched the passing traffic. Would you like to know more?
Who needs tea and cake when you can have espresso martinis and a good cheese platter?
We have a special treat for you today ladies and gentlemen of the audience, that’s right, it’s a post from your favourite and mine, Himself! Give him a round of applause! *claps* And remember, if you treat him very nicely we may be able to convince him to come back for future posts too! *continues clapping* Take it away Himself!!!
Something I’ve wanted for a long time now, is a zen garden of my very own. Something I’ve not yet had, however, are the resources for a full-sized one – and now that we live in an apartment in Amsterdam, it’s going to be a while before we have the real-estate on which to build one of those.
Chance favouring the prepared mind and all that, I’ve mulled over the idea of a desktop version, because this is feasible here and now, and it’s a nicely low-commitment way to try out the idea. The web is a great source of inspiring pictures, so the trap was all set to spring when we wandered around the Osdorp Tuincentrum. Among the Christmas decorations, trains and ski-gondola rides, they just happened to have a bin of wooden trays about the right size and texture. Previous visits had just happened to draw our attention to the various types and colours of ground-mica decorative fillings, so I seized upon both. No zen garden is complete without a major feature of some kind, and your esteemed blog-host was resourceful enough to direct me to the aquarium section. The result was this: my very own improvised starter-kit.
The next thing to do, obviously, is combine them and then reveal just how limited my creative streak really is! Would you like to know more?
Those of you following along from my last post will remember how I said that I wanted to complete a full circuit of the market before indulging in the gluhwein that was on offer. I’m sure all my highly intelligent readers can see the foreshadowing in this scenario.
Yes. By the time we got back to the wine truck, they were out of gluhwein, and would not have any more available for another half an hour! I think if I’d suggested that we wait for another half hour before imbibing something hot, Himself would have become violent (if he wasn’t too frozen to move).
Being that this is Amsterdam, we decided the best course of action was to find ourselves a traditional Dutch café in which to place ourselves for a while to defrost. We ended up at the Café Lusthof.
Dutch Brown Cafés are all over, and you can almost walk down any street and find one. Would you like to know more?
I am going to begin the end tale by ramping up slowly for you, as the day itself began quite slowly. Well, it did for me. Himself was off on his Conference and out the door early again. I woke up, and lolled for a while. Met the new boyfriend of the Hostess. Did some knitting … It’s me. I’m exciting.
But as the morning warmed up and the sun shone down upon us, we took action and headed for the Regents Park with some pieces of bread in a plastic bag. We were on a mission.
A thoroughly successful one if I do say so myself! Would you like to know more?
ghoti industries 