Thursday, May 21, 2015

Some Fun In Geertruidenberg, NL


Our past Sunday started out when we went to see Astrid's son Jeroen play tennis in Raamsdonkveer, 22 km south of us.

The resident heron at the canal by our parking garage paid no attention to us as we left.

But Jeroen did once we arrived.  
He's been playing tennis since age 4 and is on a club team that plays national competitions.
I love the guy and always tell him I like his form (he turns 27 in August).

Because Geertruidenberg is just around the corner from Raamsdonkveer,
we had already decided to visit it after watching Jeroen play.

Geertruidenberg is the oldest city, in what used to be Holland county, to receive city rights, in 1213.
It's not the oldest city in Holland/the Netherlands, which is sometimes confusing.

Regardless, at 802 years, that's old.
You know how much I love the architecture and doo-dads of these old city centers.
You, too, could have your photo taken in the stocks claiming 802 jaar stadsrecht.

There's usually a big church in every Dutch city center.
This one is the Oude Sint Geertruidskerk, or Gertrude's Church.
The city itself is named after Gertrude of Nivelles (top-right above)

We were only there for half an hour or so, walking around city center.

Lucky for me, I found my gable-stone treasures.
Look how old some of them are.

We even found this make-shift stone that is a combination of 5 stones.
The mother (center) and her 4 kids (corners) made this for her husband's 50th birthday.
How fun is that!

Speaking of fun, if you can't take a joke, right?!
The owner was bringing stuff back from his weekend flea market.

And I got my fix of weathervanes, coming and going!

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Now, switch gears to my last post about our Open Harbor Day and the goodies we bought.

What I didn't mention was that Astrid found an antique koffie grinder at our flea market.
Neither one of us had ever told each other that we'd love to have one in our home one day.

Well, she found a beauty and completely took it apart, cleaned years of kitchen grease off its internal parts, stripped the paint and then repainted it.  I hate that I wasn't fast enough on my feet to take a photo of what it looked like before.  But at least this is during the clean-up...

...and after, now hanging on our living room wall.  We love the Delft green...and the windmill!
She even put koffie beans in it to grind up, showing its authenticity.  :)
(And did you notice the handy "tool" she used to catch the drilling powder?!)

In case you need a finale, how's this from Tuesday when we had a rare thunderstorm here.
I stood at our front door, looking across the courtyard of our senior complex at 8:45 p.m.
You have no idea how much I miss good thunderstorms (growing up in Michigan)! 

And so it is, another week in the life of a Gemini (May 21-June 21).
I'm officially in celebration mode of my soon-to-come BIG 7-0.

14 comments:

  1. Wow!

    1. Jeroen is handsome and reminds me of Nicholas!
    2. I love that patchwork mosaci "sofa"!
    3. Astrid is HANDY and clever, and that's a gorgeous grinder. <3
    4. Thunderstorm!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 1. We can hardly wait for Nicholas to meet Jeroen (and Eva) in July. He will look up to them both.
      2. Those clever art objects all over the country totally make my day. :)
      3. I don't think there's anything Astrid can't do!!!
      4. I know. I know. Nothing like a good thunderstorm to make my day!

      Thank you, sister, for sharing this with me/us!

      Delete
  2. I love the tiled mosaic benches. Reminds me of Barcelona. Astrid is so crafty. What can she not do?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love those benches, too, Maria. It's true...there's hardly anything Astrid can't do, if she puts her mind to it. :)

      Delete
  3. Great sets of pictures as always Ginnie. I love the coffee grinder

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, kind sir. You would have loved watching Astrid spruce that thing up!

      Delete
  4. Watching Jeroen playing tennis never bores me. It is always a delight to see him play and believe me I spend MANY hours next to the court in those 22+ years.....
    That coffee grinder was an unexpected treasure to find and cheap... to get it all apart and fix it, is fun, I cannot wait till the day I have unlimited time on my hands (I am NOT complaining right now)
    These days out are wonderful, things to see, even on an afternoon. Great pictures and meeting the lady explaining the gablestone was special.
    Thunder and lightning, if I could order it, it would come once a week HA.....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Our adventures never end! You have no idea how much I look forward to whatever is next!!! :) Thank you for being my Partner in Crime. And if you could order it, I'd love one thunderstorm/week!!!

      Delete
  5. This posting is just filled with so many goodies!! How adorable is Jeroen!! Love your new coffee grinder too! Well everything! And a rainbow to top it off! xo

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So many goodies. I like that, Robin, because that's exactly how I feel about my life here: so many goodies! Jeroen IS adorable...and the coffee grinder and the rainbow top everything off. I feel so very lucky. :)

      Delete
  6. Ahhhh! Not even a mention of the knee - just travels. The latest report is that acouple of cups of coffee a day is good for you, so indulge your restored grinder fully.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are so right about not mentioning the knee, Ted. I never even thought of it...and that surely tells you everything!

      And yes, I have heard about that latest report. I love the taste of coffee, especially in ice cream and other desserts, as well as the smell of it and the real-deal itself. I don't drink much caffeine, however, so my coffee drinking is limited to decaf mixtures (I found a good cappuccino here) or to latte macchiatos.

      Delete
  7. You ladies must be proud of Jeroen...and I love that old city center....and yow is that old....cool doo-dads you found....and I love that grinder.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sometimes you just have to admit that Life is a bowl full of cherries, Donna! :D

      Delete

Texel Island, NL, 2024: Renovations

  To be honest, I thought I had already posted about our January trip to start some renovations in Jaap's bungalow, as a gift from Astri...