change of scenery

Change of scenery in our kitchen.

A tulip dining table and houseplant wall. We 'replaced' our long table and bench with Moroccan bread baskets.

Since the children both moved to their own homes, we sometimes felt a bit lost at our super long canteen table, which can accommodate 10 people. After three days breakfast and dinner at the round table in our apartment at Baixa House in Lisbon, we agreed we should have a round table in our kitchen.

I've always enjoyed dining at a cozy round table, but I did not want to say goodbye to the vintage Belgian canteen table and because of it's size (2.40 X 0.80m), it was not an option to store it elsewhere in the house. The xxl table has found a good destination at my colleague, who is now very happy with it.

I found a splendid round tulip table with a diameter of 1.20 meter, which also still fits 6 chairs if necessary.

We exchanged the white wooden chairs for two vintage garden chairs from the front garden, an old steel patio chair, we once found at a Spanish flea market and our Bertoia chair.

The new table brings a completely different atmosphere and the kitchen is much more spacious this way.

The plates on the serving cart are re-organized and the Moroccan (bread)basket collection is now displayed on another table in the kitchen.

And we found a second-hand Dutch design cross light lamp by Melis & Oostrom above the dining table.

On the table a Bordallo Pinheiro fish vase from our Portugal road trip 2017 with garden flowers.

Because there is still space for another plant on the plant bench, we adopted a chain cactus.

Usually the interior at some points have to become completely different after our vacation, because we always get so much inspiration abroad.

All in all a huge difference with minimal resources.

Change of scenery brings new energy.

flax field

Wednesdag evening walk just 10 minutes from home.

Summer evening light and the beautiful glow of the flax field.

Flax (Linum usitatissimum), also known as common flax or linseed, is a member of the genus Linum in the family Linaceae. It is a food and fiber crop cultivated in cooler regions of the world. Textiles made from flax are known in Western countries as linen, and are traditionally used for bed sheets, underclothes, and table linen. Its oil is known as linseed oil.

The flowers are pure pale blue, 15–25 mm in diameter, with five petals. The fruit is a round, dry capsule 5–9 mm in diameter, containing several glossy brown seeds shaped like an apple pip, 4–7 mm long.

The tiny blue flowers on my top actually look like flax flowers. And the graceful cropped flower top was a gift from my lovely daughter Pippa.

summer flowers

Summer flowers from the Villa Augustus garden.

Eversince I started working here 13 years ago, I have been picking so many flowers in this gorgeous garden, to arrange flower bouquets for the restaurant, hotel and limonaia.

Look at this flower field! Whenever I have a 'flowerday', i still get my jollies from picking abundant, colorful garden flowers.

saudade

Lisboa - Thursday 2nd of July - day 14 of our roadtrip 2020

The very last day of an unforgettable holiday, this roadtrip has been unique in many ways!

We look back gratefully on our Portuguese adventure. Viva a vida portuguesa!

S A U D A D E [noun] - a nostalgic longing to be near to something or someone again

rodada de lisboa

Lisboa - Wednesday 1st of July - day 13 of our roadtrip 2020

On the second last day in Lisbon we walked nearly 20000 steps and wandered through the neighborhoods of Chiado, Sacramento, Santa Catarina, São Bento, Madragoa and São Paulo. We ended the tour at Cais do Sodre on a lounger with Somersby and Sagres with view on the Rio Tejo.

On our way we visited the amazingly beautiful Retrosaria wool shop of Rosa Pomar and had lunch in Jardim da Estrela and stayed for a few more hours in the park, because it was so relaxed in the shade of the trees.

When we arrived home exhausted in the evening, all we wanted was a relaxing evening at home in our Baixa House apartment. Henk cooked a delicious light dinner with the leftovers from the fridge.