A Dutch Garden Center (with a French Allure)

A couple of days ago I decided to visit one of the local garden centers in my village, in order to be in contact witth the beauty of the new plants that arrive on Monday afternoons. I also wanted to check the new pots, vases, arrangements, statues and other articles. Maybe I would even buy something to cheer me up - although my house is already full !

There are a lot of French words and expressions on the furniture and pots this year. I remember years ago you would see rather Spanish and Italian. So instead of "Côte D'Azur"on a chair, you would spot "Costa Brava", "Las Canarias", or in Italian "La Bella Olanda", "La Vita è Bella", "Dolce Far Niente" writen - or things like that.

Sometimes it is difficult to find the border between "sweet" (above) and "tacky" (below).

Above the most expensive item in this garden center: the statue above. I am not sure about the material it is made of, probably zinc ? I'd rather prefer very heavy concrete and another theme. Surely not a figure holdin a weapon...

OMG, what nonsense is that ? Hahaha !  

Above, an idea that pleases me a lot: the support is from an original Singer sewing machine - with a marble top. It looks like one million ! If this was on sale, I would make an offer.

Well, I entered in this garden center in or der to sniff around for something special. I was not very sure about what I was looking for, I like concrete vases and images, for instance. There were some plants, like an olive tree, that I like A LOT - but it doe'sn't survive to an intense frost in Holland. (It was advised on a label that you should keep the little olive tree in a big concrete pot and remove the plant into your garage during the winter months. Oh, such an impractical plant to be kept in a cold country).  Finally, I have found something sweet and different that I ended up purchasing for my little girl. Have a look:

I think I can do a better mix that these above - I plan to use some leaves, herbs and a couple of mini roses.

Wall decoration

When in Amsterdam: look left and right for unexpected trams and bikes, watch your back for pick pockets, look down into the canals...  

And above all, look up for unexpected surprises. 

(Somewhere in de Elandsgracht, Jordaan area, Amsterdam)

Sand Sculptures in Garderen / Esculturas de Areia

(Bilingual post, Port./English)

Last Friday afternoon I traveled with my extended family to celebrate my parents in-law's 45 years of marriage in Garderen - a village in the central area of Holland, known as "the Veluwe". This area is very tranquil, covered by woods and has many parks. It is situated one hour away from Amsterdam - by car. On the way to our hotel we noticed these elephants markig the entrance to an exposition of sand sculptures.

Sexta-feira passada viajei com toda a família para Garderen a fim de celebrar os 45 anos de casamento dos sogrinhos. A vila de Garderen fica bem no meio do coração verde da Holanda, numa área tranqüila e com muitas atrações chamada de "Veluwe". Levamos uma hora e algo para chegar lá. No caminho para o hotel avistamos esse chamariz para esculturas de areia, que visitamos no sábado.

The parking (open, uncovered) is for free. The exposition has two parts: indoors and outdoors. Let's check it inside first, shall we ?

There was a route with some scenes of life in a (old) Dutch farm, with human figures and animals. The lights were dimmed, so it was very difficult to photograph indoors... I give you here a limited idea.

A parte coberta da exposição, com cenas antigas de fazenda, figuras humanas e animais. As luzes estavam bem baixas, foi difícil fotografar algo que valesse a pena. O meu melhor vocês veem a seguir.

Now, outside. The sculptures you see here represent the 11 Dutch provinces. I photographed most of them but not everything. Rain... and many other visitors around eager to take pics just like me. I had to manage: umbrellas, kids, camera, tourists.  It was the last day of the exposition, but the figures were still in good shape. Very sharp edges, many details.

Nas próximas fotos, a parte ao ar livre da exposição. Estava chovendo fininho, foi muito difícil fazer foto que prestasse. Toda hora eu tinha que secar a lente da câmera, posicionar-me com firmeza em baixo do guarda-chuva, me desviar de turistas. Mas apesar da chuva tudo estava em boa conservação - tirando um elefante que perdeu as presas e a tromba, hahaha !

Above: The province of Friesland pays an hommage to Frisian model Doutzen Kroes.
Acima: a província da Frieslândia presta homenagem em areia a modelo Doutzen Kroes, uma frísia autentica.

Can you believe the one above (two cows and three windmills) won the first prize ? Not my favourite !

Above: Palace Het Loo and surroundig gardens.
Acima: Palácio Het Loo e os jardins circundantes.

There were these cars for kids (see below), an imitation of a castle and lots of sand for the kids to play with and form their own works of art.
Dois carrinhos para crianças nesse trilho suspenso, movido a pedal. O pátio de exibições era cercado por muralhas e torres imitando um castelinho - algo bem falso e cafona, mas que agradou bastante os pequenos.

Acima: um detalhe da lojinha dentro do café/bar com vista para as esculturas. Diversos suvenires comestíveis: chutneys, molhos, geléias, marmeladas, balas, xaropes concentrados, mostardas. Ah, e brinquedinhos de plástico para as crianças para serem utilizados com areia, ajudando a formar esculturas.

Above, some detials from a souvenir shop where you could purchase jams, mustard, sauces, marmelades and all sorts of old fashioned candies.Nearby the exit there is a huge shop with very beautiful furniture and decoration articles from top brands such as Riviera Maison, TPMD and others. Country-chic or New England meets Cote D'Azur style.

Ooooh, I definitely need to have my roots dyed !

Nossa, preciso retocar as raízes já ! E abaixar o tom de laranja das melenas... estou parecendo um mico leão dourado em extinção, gente ! Alias, micos, macacos e primatas serão o assunto para daqui a  duas postagens, me aguardem.

E com essa foto chegamos ao final do post. Esculturas de areia não duram muito e dia 30 de outubro foi o encerramento da exposição. Mas no outono do ano que vem tem mais. Vejo vocês no próximo post, tot ziens !   

Unfortunately, sculptures of sand do not last long. If you wish to visit the sand sculptures in the village of Garderen then wait up the next autumn 2011.  There are more attractions in the surroundings of Garderen and that is the subject of my next two posts.  Tot ziens ! = See you soon !

Call me kitsch (Me chama de cafona)

Autumn in the Northern Europe for me means: mushrooms and pumpkins. Especially the mushies, they are everywhere in my village - gardens, trees, grass... even on the outer walls of the gym I go to (it is a brand new building).

At an impulse, I have bought today the mushies you see on the photos. They are made of wood and very pretty.
O outono no norte europeu e' anunciado por cogumelos.  Num impulso, comprei hoje esses que vi numa floricultura. Sao feitos de madeira e encantadores.

I have inserted them in vases around my living room. The result you can see on the next photos.
Distribui todos pelos vasinhos da sala de jantar. O resultado voces veem nas fotos a seguir.

And this mushie came with a bonus ! A tiny escargot (equally fake, of course) on it.   Esse cogumelo ai de cima veio com um brinde: um caracolzinho (de mentira, claro !).  

Kitsch... or kitsch ? Well, I have a good excuse to play around with tacky mushies. I just say "Actually I do not care much about them - but the kids find them cool and begged me to buy some". Hahahaha !

Qual a desculpa que eu dou pra essa cafonice ? Ah, que eu tenho criancas e que eles acham lindinho, hahaha!