Finding joy in the everyday

Tulips The tulips name comes from the Turkish tulbend , "turban", which the flower is said to resemble. In the 16th century tulips reached the Austrian court and were much admired and propagated, becoming so popular in Holland by the early 17th century that an extravagant bulb trade developed. At the peak of tulip-mania in March 1637, a single tulip bulb sold for more than 10 times the annual income of a skilled craftsman. The buying and selling of tulips in the 17th century occurred on the stock-exchange just as we do today, they even had a futures market!  By 1636 the tulip bulb became the 4th leading export product of the Netherlands. It was big business. But like all good things, the economic bubble went pop and the market collapsed.   Today the Dutch export 1.2 billion bulbs annually.  In Persia, the tulip was an emblem of perfect love or a declaration of love.  These photos were all taken at a local flower exhibition where 1000's of tul...

Turmeric, chilli, cumin and basil   by Joluise Dear blogging friends, Its hard to believe it is October already, where has the year gone!  Less than three months to the end of the year.  This is the month that my youngest turns 21, I can remember him as a babe-in-arms and now he is all grown up, living away from home and working 3 jobs!  He is trying to be independent and doing quite well but from time to time he still needs our help. I can't help but feel sad that my baby is all grown up and I will never get back those precious years when he was young. October also means we are mid way through spring and I have really been enjoying all the flowers around at the moment such as this very pretty poppy. If you check out my blog on Monday you will see some more glorious flower photos I took recently ( that's a bit of self-promotion!!!) - tulips for those who love these flowers. Yellow poppy  by Joluise I do hope you are all having a lovely Octobe...

Painting by William Hemsley Cooking is LOVE made visible!  Todays art is all about cooking and preparing meals. Cooking waffles Baking bread Thanksgiving Vermeer's Milkmaid pouring milk Young housewife In the kitchen by Vladimir Makovsky Carl Larsson's "In the kitchen" J am making by by Vladimir Makovsky

USA ($341.00US) If you have time, check out this link - its a fascinating look at a weekly family grocery purchase from around the world (with the cost in US $$). The one above is from the USA, lots of packaged foods - very little healthy nutritious food in that pile, no wonder life expectancy is declining and obesity is rising in the USA.  I can't get over the amount of "junk" food in many of the western purchases, including the amount of bottled fizzy drinks for a week.  The Turkish one was my favourite as it contains mostly fresh food (excluding the coco cola which I avoid)!!    http://world.time.com/2013/09/20/hungry-planet-what-the-world-eats/photo/jap01-0001-xxf1s-2/ Which one did you relate to the best? Turkey ($145 US) - even in Australia it is way cheaper to buy fresh and make from scratch than buy ready made packaged food. Australia ($376 US) Whilst we in the west over eat and have huge amount of wastage, the people of Chad only ha...

“It is said that the effect of eating too much lettuce is 'soporific'.”  ―  Beatrix Potter ,  The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies I thought I would give you an garden update now that spring is in full swing. Dear hubby and I have starting our preparations for the summer vegetable growing and one project is well underway - another raised garden bed  (see below). It is now in position and ready for soil. This one is 1.2 metres x 1.2 metres, plenty of room for tomatoes, zucchini and cucumber.  In the late winter (after the frosts) I plan to grow potatoes - something I haven't done before but it looks easy!!  I don't have a garden big enough to have a large vegetable patch but I do have smaller spaces that can be used for vegetables. I find I do best with these raised beds and its amazing where I can find places to put them. I am sure next year I will have found a space for another one! Our veg garden is not huge, but plenty big enough for two people...

Make the  most of your day. Every good gift  and  every perfect gift  is from ABOVE. James 1:17

Artist: Mark Keathey I know these are a bit sweet and chocolate box type art, but I love them.  There is something innocent about these paintings which really appeals to me. Plus the light and colour is fabulous.  Link to website:  http://markkeathley.com/welcome