Green Developments

Since our move, one year ago, we have dipped a first toe in having plants. I wouldn’t really call it gardening. And I love watching the new plants grow!

In my previous post, I showed a picture of our terrace in April. Snow and no plants. I will show you May, June and July next!

This is May. The mailorder pink gerberas were doing so poorly, we didn’t dare to transfer them from their plastic buckets to their designated homes. And putting the wisteria in that spot just left of the grid rack was a bit of long shot.

This is June. The gerberas have come around and the wisteria is climbing up nicely.

July. I took this picture with flash, because it was already getting a bit dark outside. We added a new grid rack for the wisteria. One week later, the wisteria is already much bigger!

And another green development: I went to replace the disposable plastic cups that I used in the bathroom for something more durable. I used and re-used disposable cups because I am clumsy, especially when I am sleepy and want a drink of water in the middle of the night. Dropping them is safe and noise free. But, sustainability and all…

So I thought I would go for melamine in a fun color. I couldn’t find what I wanted locally, but I discovered the brand I liked. So I checked their website (Rice in Denmark) for the full collection of cups. That may have been a mistake…

After discerningly browsing every single item in their catalog, a box was shipped all the way from Denmark to Rotterdam. In it a large pink salad bowl with red hearts on it, two rolls of colored aluminum foil (pink and jade), and four disco balls (I ordered five).

I had wanted a rotating disco ball with lights in our living room, but we didn’t really have a spot for one. When I saw the color striped disco balls, I knew they were perfect for my mint green office. No spinning and no lights, and smaller than what I would have liked, so a cluster of disco balls would have to make up for the missing features.

But, I didn’t really have a spot to hang disco balls in my office either. So…. I had a new coat rack (Japanese) shipped to Rotterdam just for the disco balls.

The quilt is by Rob Appell. The pile of mint and coral fabrics to the left is Spoonflower fabric that I plan to cover my boring depressing black office chair with. The black thing on the left, on top of the white table is my chocolate climate cabinet. Is this (going to be) a fun office or what?!

After unboxing and unwrapping it all, it dawned on me that somehow I had traded my last disposable plastic cup for a large pile of household and decorative items, cardboard, bubble wrap and styrofoam, with a huge carbon footprint.

Oops. I will probably go to a special place in hell. Somewhere below the spot where the incorrigible disposable plastic users are being roasted. :-(

But hey, disco balls!!

Plus, I ended up with three really nice cups that I can use and noisily drop for a long time to come! :-)

XXX Annika