Monday, April 07, 2008

Zutphen: the other Zed

In my last post from a week ago (what have I been doing with my life?!?!), I told you about the first Z/Zed/Zet: Zaanse Schans. What a fabulous place in Holland! Well, here's another one, when Astrid (my partner in crime) went with me on another photo hunt east of Amsterdam, not only to see the historic old town but to meet up with our etcher friend, Wim, and his darling wife.


This is the street where Wim lives and that building facing you is his neck of the woods!


That same building up close and personal!




Maybe you remember by now that this is a classic stepped gable front. When you see it on both sides of a building, it's usually on a corner, which I love to see. Two for the price of one.




This church above is the same one below from a different part of town, of course.








By now I have found out this is a water tower and every city has it's own unique design. Look at this one from Utrecht!


The Saint Walpurga church is one of the oldest and largest churches of Holland from the 12th century. It's hard to miss it wherever you are in this lovely city.


We left at sunset after a glorious day. You can see why I'm so in love with this country. I want to explore every square inch of it, can you tell?!

**********

To catch you up a bit, we spent the entire weekend at Mom's, cleaning and sorting and selling and disbursing the household goods. We had help from family members both days but we are plum tuckered out. Daughter Amy fed us a gourmet dinner last evening on our way home and I told her this is when I feel my age. Seriously!

Next weekend we plan to have a yard/garage sale to get rid of as much as we can. Slowly but surely, things will be ready for the house to be sold, if possible, or readied for rental (terrible market right now!). We need wisdom as we make these decisions, because, as you know, we aren't around most of the time...and the mortgage still needs to be paid.

Miles to go before we sleep.....

15 comments:

  1. Your fabulous pictures tell and show, that you love this country, I have said this before, looking at pictures you make of Holland, shows how it really is, we had those dark clouds, we had some rain and we had some sun...all in one day. Meeting Wim and Irmgard was very special, two dear people who showed us around.
    I am your partner in crime, quilty as I speak, we share our love for the photography, our picture hunts, our talks, our humor, you teach me some English and I teach you some Dutch...
    I don't make the promise we will see every square inch of Holland, I will try to show you as much as possible.
    I do hope for next week your garage sale will be succesful and that the solution will come for the house-to-be-sold.

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  2. I hope you will get a shot of new energy for the new week. These things can really sap your energy, so much to get done.

    The photos of Holland are just gorgeous, it's a delight to see it with you. And you SHOULD see every square inch.

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  3. Beautiful, beautiful... You are really inspiring me to want to start with a few pics... But taxes you know, taxes...

    And I just knew what you were doing this weekend... The housing market will get worse, so deciding if you want to sell now really depends on how good of shape the house is in..

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  4. Astrid: You are such a good partner in crime and I will love whatever you can continue to show me of your country. We are very lucky to have the time (while our spouses work!) to play. :)

    Ruth: Thank you! We need the new shot of energy, especially Donica. Maybe one of these days you and Don can see some of the "square inches" with us. Wouldn't that be nice!

    ET: Get your taxes done and then play, Jen. There is a time for everything under the sun! :) And yes, the housing market is terrible. We do pray for wisdom...

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  5. Ginnie I love the shot's you show when you and Astrid go out and explore. You two really make my day when I see what you have been upto!!!
    The house market is not that good in the UK either, but I know you and Donica will make the right choice in the end, with what to do with mom's house.
    You need to slow down and take a breath now and again mijn vriend,as I know you never stay still for more than a second:-)
    Hope all goes well with the garage sale.

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  6. Beautiful pics, as always! Just last evening Garland and I watched Rick Steves' Europe tour of Holland, and we talked of you and Donica throughout!

    I feel empathetic with your plight...I have two big projects to go through yet with Dad's things, but the urgent is completed. These things can wait a bit. Life goes on (people in town this weekend and choir state in less than two weeks!). Then there's the emotional pull of memories connected with objects, but yet everything can't be kept, can it?!

    Wisdom and peace to you both,
    Shari

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  7. I so much understand your love for that country! It's really beautiful.

    And don't worry, things will work out with the house. Just take some time for yourselves as well. It's at times difficullt, but we all need it. Take care, my friends.

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  8. You have some really beautiful archtitectural photos here. I also like the photo with the lake in the foreground with a part of town in the background. Beautiful!

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  9. I love how fragile some of the Dutch buildings look, but since they have been standing there for hundreds of years, I guess they are not so fragile! I am ready to hang out with you two in Amsterdam.

    I have an idea for the egg sign you sent me for my B'day. Thank you again for your thoughtfulness.

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  10. OH my goodness Ginnie, these photos are fabulous, i wish i was able to go to these place and see for myself. But I don't fly. LOL. so will enjoy it thru your photos and description of the places you go.
    And good luck in the sale, the market is very bad, we are not doing well in selling our place either.But then ours is only commercial land.

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  11. I've been away so long, and I have missed so much. I am so pleased to see that you are back to reporting the news on your end of the world:D

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  12. Ahh, THERE you are! :-) My goodness, you certainly have been busy. I'm sure it was both an emotional and a cleansing time getting things all packed up to go.

    Let's hope that the universe will be smiling down on you when you make the rent/sell decision. You just never know what the housing market will do. Pretty awful everywhere these days, I think.

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  13. I sure hope your darkest evening of the year is over. But yes, I do imagine that there are many miles to go before you sleep.

    Jimmy might do a little business w/ someone in Amsterdam but no traveling involved. Boo! It was the first thing I asked when he started talking about it. I've been dreaming though!

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  14. this looks like a lovely part of the world...nice photos.

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  15. you photographs do such justice to a beautiful country ...:)good luck with the yard sale etc. hope it all settles down soon for you and Donica.

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