The First Snow of the Year...

From Coisas Minhas II

Yesterday, I woke up in the middle of the night to drink a glass of water. When I looked at the window, I thought I had left the garden lights on because of the luminosity outside. But no. We just had our first snow of the year. I just smiled ;-) After a while, I went to sleep much happier. :-)
Finally, a real Winter! ;-) Not grey, but white ;-)

From Almere 2012

From Almere 2012

t's, oh, so quiet it's, oh, so still you're all alone and so peaceful until...

A Walk in the Woods

In the last couple of weeks, for the first time since I'm living here, I've been feeling a bit of Winter Blues. One of the best ways to fight this and feel stronger and cheerful is a walk in the nature. And in our case, the woods are just around the corner...

The weather was perfect for a long stroll last Saturday afternoon. No wind, no rain, not so cold, a bit of sun. Just perfect. :-)  Two hours later, I arrived home feeling much better :-)

Do you like my home surroundings? :-)

From Almere 2012

From Almere 2012

From Almere 2012

From Almere 2012

From Almere 2012

From Almere 2012

My A-Z of The Netherlands

Sami, the author of the blog Sami's-Colourfulworld, is participating in the "A-Z" challenge that started in Portugal a couple of weeks ago. I accepted her invitation to join this challenge too and here I am with " My A-Z of  The Netherlands". Do you want to join us and share interesting information about the country where you are living now? It will be fun!

From Blog

Each Friday I will share something about The Netherlands according to the letters of the alphabet.

Below, the blogs that joined this challenge so far:

http://juliedawnfox.com

http://algarveblog.net

http://restlessjo.wordpress.com

http://pigletinportugal.wordpress.com/

http://handsinportugal.wordpress.com/

http://passionateaboutpets.wordpress.com/

http://expatlogue.wordpress.com/

http://yoursaucepans.blogspot.com/

http://liannouwen.nl/

http://estirador.wordpress.com/

http://wordangell.wordpress.com/

http://seashellbytheseashore.wordpress.com/

All the contributions for this challenge are now in this new blog:

http://mycountryatoz.wordpress.com/

Have fun!

Zwolle by night

After visiting the Beelden Festival, we went for a walk in the city. Zwolle is one of my favourites in the Netherlands. The city is situated in the province of the Overijssel in the central eastern part of the country. We took about one hour to arrive there.

First we went to the Christmas market ...

From Zwolle - 2012

then we stopped at St Michaels medieval church...

From Zwolle - 2012

Zwolle has many historical buildings. A very interesting one is the Roman Catholic Onze Lieve Vrouwe ten Hemelopneming-basilica (Our Lady Ascension church). Its tower, known as Peperbus (pepperbox), is one of the tallest and most famous church towers in the Netherlands.

From Zwolle - 2012

The Sassenpoort, one of the old city gates, and the Mosterdmakerstoren, mustard makers' tower, are also very pretty spots as well as some Art Nouveau buildings.

From Zwolle - 2012

Walking in Zwolle in the evening at this time of the year is quite magical with the Christmas lights still on.

From Zwolle - 2012

In the photo below, the Zwolse Balletjeshuis. Remember this post about it? :-)

From Zwolle - 2012

Zwolle became a member of the Hanseatic league in 1294, an economic alliance of trading cities. Their merchant guilds dominated trade along the coast of Northern Europe during the late Middle Ages and early modern period (c. 13th–17th centuries).
In the photo below, the Gildehuis (guildhouse). This one dates from 1571.

From Zwolle - 2012

Look at the windows of this building! Aren't they gorgeous?
De Slegte is one of my favourite bookstores in The Netherlands, where we can buy second-hand books and find out real treasures. If you come to the Netherlands, please, pay a visit to De Slegte.

From Zwolle - 2012

In Amsterdam we can take easily the train to Zwolle. The trip is about 1h18m.
If you want, on your way, you can stop in Amersfoort and visiting this also enchanting medieval city.
I hope you have enjoyed this evening in Zwolle with me! :-)
Stay well! :-)

Beelden Festival Zwolle 2011

Welkom in de Wondere Wereld van Sneeuw en Ijs!

Welcome to the Wonderful World of Snow and Ice!

We went last Saturday to the Beelden Festival 2011 (Ice Sculptures Festival 2011) in Zwolle. A great tip from Aledys! :-) Thank you, my dear! We loved it!

An exhibition of sea related historical and mythical figures sculpted on ice...
I didn't photograph all the sculptures (numbers 4, 18, 20). Once in a while I had to keep my hands in the pockets. It was really cold (-8℃)!!

1. Onderwaterscene / Underwater scene

From Zwolle - 2012

2. 20.000 mijlen onder de zee

From Zwolle - 2012

3. Atlantis

From Zwolle - 2012

From Zwolle - 2012

5. Odysseus

From Zwolle - 2012

6. Andromeda

From Zwolle - 2012

7. Sinbad de Zeeman

From Zwolle - 2012

8. Gulliver

From Zwolle - 2012

From Zwolle - 2012

9. Leif Ericson

From Zwolle - 2012

10. Columbus

From Zwolle - 2012

11. Het behuyden huys

From Zwolle - 2012

12. Walvisvaart / Moby-Dick

From Zwolle - 2012

13. Michiel de Ruyter

From Zwolle - 2012

14. Piet Hein

From Zwolle - 2012

15. Scheepswiel

From Zwolle - 2012

16. Piraten

From Zwolle - 2012

17. De Glijbaan / Playground slide

From Zwolle - 2012

19. Zeemonsters / Hydra

From Zwolle - 2012

We enjoyed this exhibition very much! 

You can visit it until January, 29.  You'll find all the information here. Have fun!

Anita's drawings

As I said in the previous post, blogland gave me the opportunity to meet very talented ladies. This time let me share with you these pretty dessins from Anita Rivera, author of the blog Castles, Crowns and Cottages.

From Coisas Minhas II

I have a special plan for these drawings. They will be placed in our (almost finished) dressing room. We have been doing here some improvements. We replaced the floor and placed a Pax System wardrobe (Ikea). I think, after painting the walls, the dressing room will look great with these drawings. ;-)

From Coisas Minhas II

From Coisas Minhas II

You find more of Anita's works in her Etsy Shop. Enjoy!

Isabel's embroidery pin cushion

One of the most interesting and beautiful things about blogging is the opportunity to meet very creative and talented people. Isabel Tiago is one of those skilled women I had the luck to meet in blogland.

Two years ago, when we had just moved to Tussen de Vaarten, I had this pretty and lovely handmade embroidery pin cushion from Isabel waiting for me in the post office. Just loved it! Last week, I found  the perfect place for my beautiful pin cushion: a purple bamboo box! :-)

From Coisas Minhas II

Agulha Dourada is Isabel's blog where we can find more pretty embroidery works like this one. Here are some examples. :-)
http://agulhadourada.blogspot.com/2010/11/dia-de-sao-martinho-saco-das-castanhas.html
http://agulhadourada.blogspot.com/2010/08/toalha-bebe-ponto-cruz-hora-do-banho.html
http://agulhadourada.blogspot.com/2010/04/fralda-ponto-cruzsofia-alexandra.html

Isabel has other interesting blogs.

Partilhar Diferenças
A blog about Portuguese hidden cultural treasures, not so well known, I think, by foreign tourists. Take a look at these entries, I think you'll like it ;-) Festa dos Tabuleiros em Tomar, Fajão, Aldeia do Xisto, Pampilhosa da Serra and Cerdeira, Aldeia do Xisto, Lousã, Coimbra.

Memórias de Sacavém
A blog about the popular portuguese porcelain of Sacavém. Aren't they beautiful, this tureen and this plate with children decorations? ;-)

Enjoy Isabel's blogs!
Have fun and stay well! :-)

ABC AWARD

Presépio has been awarded with the ABC award by Sami, author of the blog Sami-Colourfulworld.
Thank you, Sami! That was very nice of you! :-)

By this award, I must share with my blogger readers and friends something about myself using the alphabet. I can pass on this award to as many or as few as I wish. So, feel free to accept it and join the fun! You are all very welcome! :-) :-)

A	Amsterdam Almere Aachen Agatha Christie Ary dos Santos (Portuguese poet)	B	Boat Blof (Dutch music band)
C	Cat Canja de galinha caseira (Chicken soup)  Cristina Branco and Carlos do Carmo (Portuguese Fado singers)	D	Dedicated Delta cafés  Douro province
E	Enthusiastic Ennio Morricone Eça de Queirós (Portuguese writer) Eugénio de Andrade (Portuguese poet)  Efteling	F	Fofinho (my cat)  Flevoland Friendly Fado Florence France
G	German Christmas Markets Ginginha (cherry liquor)	H	Happy History
I	Ice cream	J	Juice (orange) Jane Austen
K	Kibbeling Kate Bush Kant	L	Laughter Lisbon London Loire Les Misérables
M	Mariola (ice cream)  Monaco Migas (a traditional Portuguese side dish)  Meryl Streep	N	Netherlands
O	Optimistic Once upon a time in America (film)	P	Portugal Poetry Paris Presépio Poirot
Q	Queijo fresco (fresh cottage cheese) Queen	R	Romantic Red wine
S	Sun Santini ice cream Sintra Sting Sherlock Holmes	T	Travel Tea Tom Jobim (Brazilian musician) Travesseiros de Sintra (a typical pastry from Sintra)
U	Utrecht Utopolis Cinema Urk U2 Upstairs, Downstairs Umberto Eco	V	Vacation Vicentinas tea room Vinicius de Moraes (Brazilian poet)
W	Water Waterboys	X	marks the spot ;-)
Y	York Yes, (Prime) Minister	Z	Zuiderzee Museum Zeeland

The Whole of the Moon

This evening in my backyard... the whole of the moon...

From Almere 2012

From Almere 2012

From Almere 2012

From Almere 2012

After these stormy nights, after the flu, this gift from heaven ;-)

Life is good! :-)

"In every man's heart there is a secret nerve that answers to the vibrations of beauty."

Christopher Morley

Best of Presépio 2011 (2)

June

Presépio's favourite tips for children and families
Interesting and beautiful places to go with your kids and wonderful experiences to enjoy with them in the Netherlands.

From Efteling

Historisch Festival Almere

Enjoy a steamboat trip and a fun exibithion of old trains and cars.

From Historisch Festival Almere 2011

Disneyland Paris
The pictures of a magical place. Meet Mickey and all your childhood friends.

Brabant's Orchestra demonstration in Den Hague
A very different way to show disagreement with government measures .

From Almere (III)

Public Art in Almere Train Station
Paintings of Margriet Maduro. Enjoy the colours of Aruba from where she is from.

July

Dutch Front Yards
Look how pretty they are in our neighbourhood.

From Coisas Minhas

Fofinho at the Dierenkliniek
My cat went to the vet in the Netherlands for the first time. Read here all the story.

Batavia Stad
An open air outlet shopping mall in Flevoland.

My Oostvaarders Photo wins the Tourism Flevoland Contest

October

Where are you Fofinho?
What we should do in the Netherlands if our pet is missing. My personal experience.

Oorchideeen Hoeve
A gift from Flevoland Tourism for my Oostvaarders photo.

From Orchidarium

November

London
Enjoying this amazing city on my birthday.

From Londres 2011

December

Greece
The photos of our Summer holidays.

From Ítaca

Kabouters
According to Dutch Mythology, a kabouter (gnome) is a tiny folkloric man who traditionally wears a pointy red hat, lives in harmony with nature and resides in mushrooms.

From Coisas Minhas - Jardim

Between Festivities
Saint Martin's Day, Sinterklaas arrival, Pakjesavond and Christmas.

From Coisas Minhas II

Fantastic Creatures in Amsterdam
My friend Raquel invited me to watch this amazing show in Amsterdam.

From Amsterdam

Dutch Christmas Postcards
They are different and very pretty. Take a look.

From Natal 2011

Christmas

A Sweet Christmas Eve and now, this photo, as a special plus: my husband's Bolo-Rainha (Queen's cake).

From Natal 2011

Happy New Year!!!
At home. In Almere. Oliebollen, Fireworks and Marco Borsato.

From New Year 2011-2012

And now, a special 2011 moment, wishing you a great 2012!
This moonlight when I was arriving home on December, 9 ...
My special gift for you. After all, today is Dia de Reis. :-)

From Natal 2011