Astrid's Bird Feeder

This project actually starts with the workbench Astrid made last year for our wee 6' x 6' balcony here where we live in our senior complex.  Everything she used was salvaged from the junk room in our complex where people can leave stuff they no longer want (i.e, someone's trash is another person's treasure)!

At 46 sq. meters (495 sq. ft.), our apartment is small.

But we both love the challenge of making every sq. inch count, including the balcony.

The workbench Astrid made, outside our kitchen window and backdoor,
 encloses and protects her Workmate and then opens up to become her workbench/table
 for whatever she wants to do.  Don't you love it?!

Now segue to the beginning of April this year when Astrid found a tiny bird feeder (in the junk room)

in which she put a suet ball and seeds for the Great Tits around here.  Problem was, 

it was way too small and not a good design for keeping the suet/seeds inside.

It was a mess on the balcony.

So, out comes the Workmate and pieces of wood she has collected over the years.

Who knew her salvaged bamboo would be used for the roof of a bird feeder!

She even waterproofed the roof so that rain couldn't leak through.

Voila!

What precious little birds, flying from the tree across the street to the feeder!

It was heavenly to watch them.

But suddenly, the Magpies, 10-20 times bigger than the tits, found the feeder.

They'd carry off a ball of suet in one blow.  UGH.  

So, it was back to the drawing board, moving the feeder from the railing to inside the balcony,

sitting on top of that magnificent cupboard that Astrid's mom painted eons ago.

For some reason, the Magpies will NOT come inside but the Great Tits will.

A win-win for us all!

Did I mention that we live on the second floor?
So, yes, we get to watch them as they come and go from the nearby tree, even if very briefly.
By now they're feeling safer than when I took this video a couple weeks ago.

Speaking of safe, are you still sheltering in place these days?
We are, until the end of May right now, with only a few restrictions lifted.
God have mercy on us all.

A Springtime Citadel Walk: Part II

To be honest, I didn't know my next post, after the previous post from April 10, would be a Part II.  But after another walk on our citadel wall the other day, I can't resist.  Besides, it's the other half of the citadel wall, which I didn't cover then.

Instead of turning left at the entry point from our backdoor, I turned right.

Actually, the bottom-right image is looking left, where I didn't go this time.

Turning right takes you to our Nooit Volmaakt (Never Forget) windmill a block away.

It's where Astrid buys her flours for bread-making.

After passing it and going down to the canal, I looked back on it.

Did I ever mention how soulful windmills are to me!

With the windmill to my back, I turned right, passing all the barge houseboats.

The rapeseed at this time of the year frames almost everything we see.

After crossing a couple streets, I'm back on the citadel wall.

See?  It really is a citadel wall, surrounded by water.

Autumn has always been my favorite time of the year,

but because of COVID-19, this year SPRING feels more important than ever.

The pollarded trees in particular always intrigue me.

The branches are cut back every or every other year, all the way down to the trunk.

from which they magically grow back more strongly than ever.

He's man's best friend for a reason, of course,

but once he saw me watching him and calling him a beautiful dog, 

he wanted to play with ME.  We all had to contain ourselves.  HA!
Social distancing, you know.

De Hoop (The Hope) windmill, from 1764, is the other windmill within our citadel wall.

As long as a windmill follows the regulations to keep it registered in the Dutch database,

it receives government subsidies to keep up its maintenance.

Spring cleaning!

On our Shutterchance photoblog today I said this is an Astrid image:  "Man at Work."
Since she wasn't with me that day, I took it for her.

All the land around it is great for dog-walking and...relaxing.

The garden allotments (center-right) are actually from just before the windmill.

Right after the windmill is the Dalem Poort through which you access the bridge,

taking you out into the meadows alongside the Merwede river.

It's time now to cross the locks, behind me, of the inner harbor,

allowing boats to come in from the Merwede river...

...before heading into town, halfway around the citadel.  I see that we are still meeting each other,

but trying to keep distance.  You always know who the couples/families are.

(Btw, that's our ice cream shop (bottom-right) still open.)

However, just so you know it's not THAT perfect, there are almost daily stories of the police fining

 those who are congregating without any distance between them, at €390 per person per pop.
I hate to say it but they're mostly teenagers or young adults.

Hopefully, as the word gets out, those stories will become non-existent. 

In the meantime, yes, we are thankful we can still take our walks.

Our citadel has never looked more beautiful to me in all my 10+ years here!

A Springtime Citadel Walk

You would never know, by what you are about to see, that a worldwide pandemic holds us in its clutches.  The birds are singing, the sun is shining, the blossoms and flowers are blooming.

All of Nature is singing HALLELUJAH this Easter weekend.

And YES, we're still allowed to go outside for exercise, for which we're thankful.  But we're still being warned...

 ...to keep our distance.

Gorinchem's 5-km citadel wall, on which we walk, surrounds our inner city, where we live.

It's always a heaven on earth for us, no matter the time of year.

But now it's paradise, especially while the rapeseed blooms.

Even the dogs are keeping distance.

All the trees, of course, are starting to bloom.

But even in the Netherlands, yes, some of our beautiful trees have pests.

Birdhouses along the path protect the birds that eat the tree bugs.

Too bad the wild garlic can't keep them all away, right?!

I had never heard of this ground cover till in England one year, where it garnishes salads.

It now flourishes along our citadel walk.

Our most famous canon, from Napoleonic times, if not before,

keeps the peace, all day long, year after year.

The windmill a block from our home continues to turn, grinding grains for Astrid's breads.

And many a bench waits to welcome back our companionship.

It's that time of the year when we remember Death and Resurrection.

Winter (which some of you are experiencing again this week!) turns into Spring.

The Lion will finally lie down with the Lamb once again, without distancing.
It's what we all hope for.  Spring.  Life.  Love.

HALLELUJAH

and a 

HAPPY EASTER WEEKEND! 

Astrid's Sourdough Concoctions

It all starts with...the starter,

 ...which she brought back with her from Maine and now continues to feed.

(Remember that Astrid and BIL Don made several breads while Astrid was with them in February.)

This was the first bread she made after she came back, beginning to end (as shown on Facebook),

using the wholewheat, rye, corn, spelt mixture she had on hand for the bread machine.

Step by step, she first added the flour to the starter and then mixed it together.

Once mixed, this bread required resting, kneading, rising, resting, kneading, resting, etc.

It's a long process that Astrid actually loves.  She finds it therapeutic.

She first had to find a basket-type form on the internet, mailed to her,

which was used to mold the bread as it rose, giving it the ridges.

This was new to us both...the pastry paper, baking it in our dutch oven...

which was too big for our magnetron until she turned it upside down.

OMG! It was to die for, along with the pumpkin, smoked-salmon, broccoli soup that's a favorite!

That was the beginning, from which the bug bit hard and hasn't let up,

lucky for me!

Next, it was sourdough, wholewheat, banana-nut bread, which she has now made twice.

We eat half a slice each evening as a "dessert" with our evening chamomile tea.

(I put "dessert" in quotes because she does NOT add sugar to it.)

Then it was a sourdough, wholewheat, oatmeal, beer bread.

This was not a kneaded bread but fit into a loaf pan.

I like this bread toasted, while Astrid doesn't, which makes it flexible/personal.

Besides with soup, it's great for breakfast....

...and for a Dutch favorite:  uitsmijters!

And then, sourdough, wholewheat, oatmeal, raisin-nut muffins!

The recipe only makes 12, so we were stingy to make them last for 6 breakfasts.

Our freezer is small, otherwise we'd double the batch.
However, it's a winner and will be made over and over again, we both agree.

Lastly, just yesterday Astrid made this sourdough, wholewheat, buttermilk, cornbread,

the perfect complement to the spaghetti dish I made.

Hands down, it's the best cornbread I've ever eaten!  It, too, will be made again.

Please note that whenever a recipe calls for sugar, Astrid adds none (something we both agree to).

Also, if the recipe ever calls for all-purpose/white flour, she always uses wholewheat.

If you ask Astrid, she'll gladly admit she's addicted to finding new recipes and trying things out.

She'll also blame it all on Don and Ruth, for when she spent those two weeks with them in February.

She got the bug then and was bitten hard.  And I'm the lucky one!
(Am I repeating myself??!!)