Streets and roads with green

The signs of the new Season are getting stronger and the green fingers of the springtime are being busy. Some local street gardeners are transporting new plants to their pots with a "bakfiets", a bike with a big box in front: handy with some small kids or transporting things in the City. 

The light green leaves are getting visible and growing with the support of the Sun and rain. The long Easter weekend is behind and my personal spring goal is to prepare the balcony and the terrace for the outdoor life. 

The dutch people like their gardens. At the countryside or in some small villages the gardens look sometimes a bit surreal to me. Everything is very strictly planted, planned and organized. Many smaller gardens look like showrooms where you can enjoy your coffee, but not necessarily play any sporty games with your friends. It is nice to see these pretty outdoor spaces and there is a lot of work to keep them so clean and blossoming. In Amsterdam the common gardening style is more diverse. The perfect garden can have a messy neighbour on the other side of the fence. The creative green solutions are parked on the pedestrian zone too. It is nice to walk on the streets and admire the creativity of the people and how they mark their own little space on front of their house with something personal.

The Magnolias are blossoming now and reaching up to the blue sky.

Finally the spurt of the green growth at the park! Soon there will be some good hiding places for the birds including the green parrots who are living in Amsterdam all year long since 1976. The first individuals were released pets and the countings from 2004 and 2006 released that there is over 2000 of these birds living in Amsterdam, mainly in Vondelpark area.

On the first Easter day we had a nice drive by car at the Countryside in the East of Netherlands. An older relative wanted to see her childhood neighbourhood and admire the landscape. It was better sit inside the car, because it was raining regularly. The grass was so fresh everywhere and we saw a rainbow. The children were asking some questions from the old times and from their roots.

Somewhere in the end of the rainbow or near it...we stopped and looked inside to this old house and it's empty rooms. There used to be a someone that we knew living there and after her death the "farm" is for sale. It was a bit sad and a beautiful moment. I am happy that I took some pictures from there.

Back in Amsterdam and ready for the spring! The secret garden of the spring and summer 2016 will be open soon for all of us.

A mission "Clean air"

The quality of the air that we breath is an important issue. We spent a lot of time indoors and the air quality is often worse in our house than outside. This can make us feel more tired, dizzy or we might have more headaches, a sore throat, eye irritations and other health issues. NASA has made a Study to find out which plants are more effective filtering and "cleaning" the pollutants and toxic chemicals from the air.

The best air-cleaning plants according to NASA study can help us to improve the air quality remarkably. And those plants are just normal house plants, which many of us have even without knowing their secret capacity of cleaning the air. In the link above you can have a look which plants are the best for this job!

I have now three new plants in my bedroom to fresh up the air. The newest one had a walk at the park with me before landing on the table in my house. A crazy woman walking at the park and taking photo's of the green plant! A little bit fresh air for both of us and a nice journey for this beauty from the shop to my home.

I forgot to ask of the name of my new friend.

This subject is very actual now. I see a lot of plants in the flower shops advertised as "healthy air plants" or "green cleaning machines". There is so much power, old wisdom and green healing effect out there in our gardens, parks, forests and even in our living room. This capacity of Nature has to be protected, because it's also protecting us.

My two other cleaners: Rumohra adiantiformis on the left and Philodendron on the right.

We were this weekend at the beach of Castricum having a walk and a lunch. It felt so good to breathe the see air and feel the wind. It is still cool in the Netherlands, but the beach is always beautiful. 

Have a nice start for this week!

Surrounded by class - City in progress

Unfortunately nothing very green to share today! Instead of that I will show you some architectural pictures from Amsterdam Zuid (Amsterdam South, Zuidas), which is a growing business and science area just beside the motorway A10 and the metro station Zuid. There are some banks, legal offices and big companies located. A lot of power and some great architecture to admire. Maybe they have to pay some more attention to green design and making the surroundings a bit more friendly for the workers and the visitors. A lot of reflecting class and stone. There are many cafes and places to have lunch for working people and some pop-up visitors like me! The only way is up, it seems to be the idea. If you like modern architecture, this area is the place to visit! Amsterdam is well known of it's old City Centre with the canals and old patchwork of houses, but the dutch architects are still working hard and creating a lot of interesting contrasts and the vision of future is looking strong.

Typically dutch: cycling to work!

There was two funny surprises that I noticed when walking around the  area. Beside a big building project and near the motorway was a quite big fenced area dedicated for a family of pigs: Family Bofkont. These pigs were bought free from the meat Bio-industry and they can live here free until they die. What a contrast again to this modern environment. I did not see the pigs, they were hiding in the woods.

And the second nice surprise was near the VUMC-hospital. There was a green area beside the football field and it is called "Boeletuin" where you can have lunch in the green garden. Have to go and look that in the summertime. Some creative and soft ideas living between these big houses. This is what inspires me a lot: many different ideas living side by side. You never know what you see behind the next corner. 

The Sun was shining today and the spring is here! I saw more smiles and relaxed people today than in the whole winter. We need this kick again. Next post will be totally green, I promise!

Soon some green leaves...

Looking at the sky tonight

I was waiting for the bus and I saw this sky with the beautiful shades of sunset. It made me stop, even the bus was too late. I had a moment to wonder and see the moon far away. This gave my mind some space and I realised I needed to slow down again.

My mental motor has been burning too fast last days. I have been too focused on taking Photos and watching them. Sometimes you have to stop for a while and do something totally different, even for a couple of hours. I am happy that I have been following my passion and listening myself lately. There was a time that I pushed my real "me" aside, because I was afraid of something. After trying all the wrong directions I am back at that clear point...the point that I always knew was there. I am not afraid anymore to do the things that I love. I feel so free and happy when I look around and notice things: beautiful, interesting, big scale, small, combinations of textures and colours...many ways to express myself with my vision of reality and creating my reality of the moments that I see and feel! My eyes are my strongest instrument and I want to take care of myself. 

Lately it was difficult for me to write about the Nature and make a story of my daily walks. This is just because I have been so busy making many black& white photos. It doesn't mean that my thoughts are very black at the moment, but it is just a period of doing something else. I have always had these periods of studying  different things or even liking the totally different palette of colours for a while. Now it is more dark! Luckily the green grass, spring flowers and some nice outdoor rounds have helped me to find my balance and giving me the break that I need. 

"Turn off the machine before you open the door" it says on the yellow sticker on the picture above. Super-silent machine is not disturbing, but if you open the door it might get dangerous. There must be some hidden pressure behind the calm surface. 

Sometimes the mind is working so hard that the reality might get blurry. Then slowing down and letting go for a moment is needed for clearing the thought and finding the priorities again. My wake-up call was the super-silent bus stop today. It just reminded me again to spread my interests in a little bit more balanced way. I give you the moment of silence by showing a few peaceful pictures from the last few days. I am slowing down my motors, going to sleep soon and opening my door for some sweet dreams! 

Monday, Tuesday, WEDNESDAY

Monday: 

After a little bit of snow, the Sun came and there were nice reflections in the paddles at the park and on the Streets.I always make sure that I have time to have my daily walk or a jog...otherwise I will get moody. It is the feeling of space and freedom that I need. It is some sort of ventilation of mind and letting the whole 360 degrees of outside world surround you. Going in the middle of the park, no walls and no sharp acoustic noises. Soft and gentle surroundings or some days a heavy wind or rain to fight with. I feel like I am measured again, just as a creature of Nature myself. Being part of the big system, a very small part.. but also an important, unique me. It is a healthy feeling sometimes, to be alone surrounded by Nature and forget all the different roles, responsibilities and the routines. Accepting the quiet, accepting everything like it is and not waiting anything more. It is a mental break that you need and later back to normal life again. The source of creativity, the signs and the details out there are helping us to find a right direction. 

Maybe the next big political meeting should be kept in the middle of the woods where the personal Ego's would hopefully get smaller...a one month camp to find a better perspective and focus on important things, like the long term future of this Planet!  

Tuesday:

A sunny morning, but later more cloudy and a little bit of rain drops. Short ecotherapy at the park again. This is a new word to me "ecotherapy", but the philosophy behind it sounds familiar. Ecotherapy is based on the idea that people are connected to and impacted by the natural environment. A walk in the nature increases positive emotions, lowers the blood pressure, can reduce aggression and the symptoms of depression. It is also a common sense that the nature has a big influence on us, but sometimes we just seem to forget it. A healthy relationship between people and the Nature is also important for the development of the children: Playing outdoors, having picnics at the park and climbing to the trees.

WEDNESDAY: What a nice sunrise. I decided to keep the Camera ready upstairs every morning, because the view is often so breath taking. Looking forward to see the sky again tomorrow. Even the beautiful pictures are like a medication for the beauty seeking soul, Eco-photo-therapy in this case. 

This was my mail this time, greetings from A'dam!