Thing #1 that I love about living in the Netherlands

The husband has a thing against flowers. Not the flowers themselves, I should note, but the ultimate waste that they embody. Nevermind that they brighten up a room, your day, your soul... The fact that they take up a large area of arable land, a lot of water and die so quickly means that they are environmentally flora non grata in our household.

There's a loophole, though. It's absolutely the height of poor manners to go visiting in the Netherlands without a gift. This usually takes the form of wine, or cheese, or, if I'm lucky, flowers. Yesterday, I was lucky enough have a visitor who brought a bit of environmentally wasteful joy into my house and I thought I would share a picture...



(Apologies for the poor quality, it was taken with my Mac photo library since the husband was away and had the camera.) (Also, apologies for the abacus. Toys are unavoidable in my house.)