(Staatsbosbeheer is the Dutch forestry commission)  For the Flow Let’s go outside book (in shops since April 2^nd) we joined forces with Staatsbosbeheer. Which is why this month the guest bloggers are the foresters and the nature managers who work for Staatsbosbeheer. Today: Karel Leeftink, forrester at Staatsbosbeheer Midden-Zeeland: apart from birds and walkies in nature he also enjoys literature, travel and Westmalle Tripel. (a Belgian trappist beer) http://boswachtersaanzee.wordpress.com/

It took quite some time and effort, but great things come in small packages. Very small packages even, about 15 grams worth of skin and bones, wrapped in a frugal gray-green package that keeps calling ‘chiff-chaff, chiff-chaff’. It’s obviously a Chiffchaff, one of the first birds to come up from the warm South looking for spring. A little bundle of spring. Nothing special, perhaps even a bit dull at first glance, but a sign of springtime to come. Nothing to be sneezed at. Well chuffed actually. A little ray of sunshine during these gloomy days. Why not go outside and enjoy it. Besides, in these days of austerity, it’s completely free: ‘chiff-chaff, chiff-chaff’!

Posted by our guest blogger: Karel

L’ Auberge du Notaire in the Belgian Ardennes

 What’s so great about this place?

L’Auberge du Notaire is a small hotel in a stunning old notary’s house in the middle of a village called Vielsalm. Dutch owners Mart and Monique are there to welcome you personally. Monique is a great chef and at night she cooks up a storm. The house is filled with history, the dining room, for instance, is the old notary’s study.

How do you sleep?

There are nine charming rooms, each with their own theme such as ‘The Notary’s room’ or ‘The Archive’. A lot of the rooms tell a story. Either the beautiful little poem printed on your pillow or a text on the wall wishing you ‘bonne nuit’.

Mart fries some delicious eggs in the morning, and Monique serves freshly baked bread and charcuterie from the butcher ‘next door’.

Our Tip

As Mart and Monique are both foodies, they’ve got the most amazing tips for the surrounding area. ‘Half an hour’s drive away is the artisan chocolate maker Defroidmont. Or visit the pharmacist turned brewer in Bellevaux’, says Monique.

A culinary weekend in the Ardennes (2 nights, dinner and breakfast) starts at € 197,50 per person.

http://www.aubergedunotaire.com/

Embroidery… No longer the cross-stitch it used to be… It’s so much more! As you can see from the embroidery patterns by Nicole Vos van Avezathe.

Can you tell us about yourself? Is your webshop a hobby or a career?

“I just turned 42 and I live in Rotterdam with my husband, a cat and two kids. While the kids are at school and at night I work on my little company. Apart from selling patterns I also contribute to books on needlework. It’s more than a hobby, but definitely not a full income. It’s fine for now.”

Your patterns look a lot different from the patterns you find when you do a Google search.

“I just did a Google search myself and it’s just awful, the things you come across. Evil little bears and such, cross-stitch patterns that seem to come straight from the 80s… These days, there is so much that is more fun, hipper and more interesting. Anyway: a pattern that involves counting is a cross-stitch pattern, that’s not what I do. I practice a more freestyle kind of embroidery. Not just crosses, there are hundreds of different kinds of stitches. For beginners I have an easy (but great!) pattern called the ‘Walking the Globe’ Polar bear. If you get yourself a good embroidery book (or borrow one from the library) and/or look for embroidery stitches on youtube, you should be fine.”

How did you get hooked on embroidery?

“We lived in Norway for a long time and I got started there. Through the Internet and books I taught myself how to do it. Embroidery is a very soothing pastime I think, you can make it as easy or as complicated as you like and you don’t need a lot of stuff to get started.  I also like the idea of taking this age-old skill, which was rather neglected for the past fifty years, into the 21^st century.”

http://shop.followthewhitebunny.com/

Not too tidy and chock-full. Or like this:

So you can actually walk underneath it. There’s even a site where junkies like me can go to get their fix, which is where I got these pictures as well: www.bookshelfporn.com Including this one, the cherry on the cake:

Posted by: Astrid

In our In the air category…. Sipping your tea from a cup and saucer. Proper china. Granny’s cups. Or as so many instagrammers put it: bone china. Like Bettymagazine who posted: We are drinking out of bone china all weekend, it’s the little things… Bone china, how great is that! Posted by: Astrid (photo: Bettymagazine)

(Staatsbosbeheer is the Dutch forestry commission) As of this week, the Flow Let’s go outside book is in the shops (it’s in Dutch). A book about the frogs in the pond and the fox in the dunes, with lots and lots of wonderful paper extras. We joined forces with Staatsbosbeheer to put this book together. Which is why this month the guest bloggers are the foresters and the nature managers who work for Staatsbosbeheer. Today: Marcel van Ool. Marcel graduated as an art historian and currently works as a consultant for landscape and cultural heritage. http://buitenplaatsen.wordpress.com

As part of the Dutch forestry commission you are a bit privileged. I mean, even though practically all our lands are accessible to everyone, getting to do that as part of your job….

It’s always a treat to head out with one of our own foresters. Usually they notice more and they teach you how to see more as well. And once I’ve been out in the field, I also get to blog about it. It’s a privilege, I am well aware of that. Still, I think the prettiest bits of nature are right in my back yard. Not because it’s been exceptionally well designed or laid out – it’s a sweet jumble of bog standard plants like cow parsley and poppies – but it’s as if a piece of all the great outdoors I get to see as part of my job is back there as well. During ‘office hours’ I sometimes go to the great Speulderbos (one of the oldest forests in the Netherlands). But it’s only when I get home that I truly marvel at the sheer vitality that this one tiny beechnut puts into sprouting.

The English poet and mystic William Blake coined the phrase ‘To see a world in a grain of sand’. I’m not sure about that. But all of nature in my back yard, yes I can definitely see that!

Posted by our guest blogger: Marcel.

We proudly present: our second edition of Flow international. A magazine for paper lovers. In issue 2 you’ll find articles about the surreal life of Mexican artist Leonora Carrington, an ode to typewriters, ways to simplify your life and, of course, lots of illustrations from artists all over the world.  Over 140 pages of insights and inspiration, plus two window stickers and a garland. On our website you can find a list with shops worldwide who’ll be selling our International issue. Or you can order it here. We hope you’ll like it!