A Weekend Here with Philine

You know the drill.  Put on your seatbelt and fly through this with me.  Many of you are starting to recognize these places...that you, too, will see if you ever come to visit us....

Which dear Philine did this past weekend!  She's one of our Shutterchance bloggers with whom we have contact almost every day.  That's saying something!

I picked her up at our train station last Friday at noon, just a 10-minute walk away.

Astrid was still at work but was home by 4p for her spinach tart supper!

We even watched "Mamma Mia!" that evening...one of our favorite movies.

We woke up to fog on Saturday morning and decided we didn't care.

We did our citadel walk regardless and saw everything with new eyes.

Philine is such a trooper!

And so adorable!

In spite of the fog, we weren't the only ones out-n-about.

Remember that water surrounds our citadel, so we get to see these delights while walking.

It really was foggy!

A photographer's paradise.

Since Philine is our Shutterchance Wiki brainiac, it's appropriate that she knew the artist,
Jan van Munster, who created the Brainwave sculpture in the canal below (not pictured). 

It so happend that Sinterklaas entered Gorinchem that morning before we got to the inside harbor.

Seeing the little Black Petes took on new meaning with all the controversy this year.

(sigh!  we won't even go there!)

The festivities were over by the time we got there....but that was okay by us.

Everything was calm at the harbor.

And still foggy!

De Hoop windmill is still a symbol of...well...of Hope, no matter what.

 The stillness was a balm to the soul.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Once the citadel walk was done, we went to eat lunch at one of our favorite cafés, the Metropole, and then got in the car for a short drive across the Merwede river....

 ...to our sister city, Woudrichem.

I am such a glutton for any city with harbors, especially on a foggy day!

Here, too, were Black Petes, ready to help Sinterklaas arrive in their harbor at 5p.
(center image by Astrid)

Because it was getting late and the fog had not lifted...

we decided to high-tail it to Loevestein Castle before it closed at 5.

We could barely see it!  Seriously.

But we did get to put Philine in the stocks before leaving.

What a good sport!

That evening we ate ertwensoep for a light supper and then watched "Calendar Girls." 

We sure know how to pick the movies, right?!  :)

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

The next day, Sunday, was our day to drive out into the polder....

We told Philine she could stop the car on a dime any time she wished.

Besides the sheep, she LOVED the willows.

I was the one who wanted to stop for the doves and the chickens...

...and the white herons that are so rare here in the Netherlands!

These images are not good images but they're from 1200mm out!!!  Each time Astrid stopped the car,
they flew away and then landed where they felt "safe" far away from me.  HA!

We stopped in Nieuwpoort long enough for a short walk around the center.

I even "eavesdropped" on two neighborhhood ladies.
(click any collage to enlarge)

And then, yes, of course, we ended up at our favorite pannenkoeken restaurant for lunch!
(image of Philine by Astrid!)

...looking out the window on this!

What a way to end a delightful visit with a dear friend...

...before walking her to the train for her trip back to Germany.

And until the next time!

A Sunday Joy Ride

When we found out IKEA was open last Sunday, a week ago (the first Sunday of the month), we decided to drive the 35km to go buy a new lamp.  The one Astrid had brought to the aprtment was from 30 years ago.  Kaput!

So, off we went to do our business...knowing we would then take a round-about joy ride on our way home!

At the IKEA entrance was this lovely group of tennis ladies having a party.

Who knows why they were at IKEA but they are students at the University of Utrecht.  

Girls just wanna have fun, you know!

From IKEA Astrid drove off the main roads along the Lekdijk...(the Lek river on the left with us up on the dijk)....to start our joy ride.

We weren't the only ones, as you'll soon see.

This alone made my day!  How's that for a joy ride!

Everyone was out-n-about...and the sun wasn't even shining.

One thing I've learned about the Dutch:  they have to be outside whenever possible.

And the farmhouses we passed were older than dirt!

It was about this time that Astrid mentioned we were near Schoonhoven.  We were here before, she said, back when I first arrived in the Netherlands.  Really?  I had no recollection of anything!  The name didn't ring a bell.

So, once home I opened my Schoonhoven-Oudewater-Nieuwpoort file from May 2010 and...no wonder I didn't remember.  I hadn't processed most of the images I took that day!  That was back before I was doing collages.  So guess what I decided to do this past week....

1.  SCHOONHOVEN, pop. 12,000:

Actually, this isn't Schoonhoven per se but out in the polder before getting there.

THIS is Schoonhoven and reminds me of a smaller-scale Gorinchem where we live.

This, too, is Schoonhoven, in May 2010, remember....

...with one of the most ornate water towers I've ever seen, from 1901.
(click any collage to enlarge)

2.  OUDEWATER, pop. 10,000.

Just as charming as can possibly be!  

St. Michael's church is on the right (above), from the mid-13th century...

...and here's St. Franciscus church from 1882.

 Oudewater is famous for its Heksenwaag (witches weigh house--bottom right above).

So it didn't surprise us when we saw this parade of witches with school children that day.  HA!

 Every town has its icons, of course.  Some are unique.

As we left Oudewater on our way to Nieuwpoort, we passed hundreds of sheep tending their wee ones:

I can never get my fill of sheep!  So adorable, especially in the spring...which is coming soon.

And out in the same middle of nowhere, we had to stop...

first for the water tower near Polsbroekerdam and Lopik, and then the free-range chickens.

3.  NIEUWPOORT, pop. ca. 1500.

 You may recognize this small town by now because it's where we go for spareribs 2-3 times a year.

We were there back in November when the Christmas lights were over the canal.

That's when we went to see Adrie, the wood turner, at his exhibit, remember?

Gotta love all that charm!

And speaking of Adrie, that drive home from Nieuwpoort always takes us by the windmill and church in Goudriaan where he lives and has his shop:

 

This, Folks, is Holland as I know and love it!

I stop for every weathervane I possibly can.

...and every gevelsteen.  You know me:  I want to see it all!

All in a Sunday's joy ride...and an added trip down Memory Lane from almost 3 years ago!  Now I need to go to my other files and see what images I never processed!  Stay tuned....

Bits-n-Pieces

Believe it or not, I just finished an easy week by my standards...not working all day long every day on getting images processed for a new post.

Just bits-n-pieces of this, that, and the other...as you'll soon see!

Promise not to laugh...but this past summer during the Olympics, our nearby Aldi grocery store brought in pallets of goodies from England, to celebrate the festivities.  One of the goodies I latched onto was Ginger Bier (= beer).

The 6-packs started out at €3.49.  "I can afford that," I said.

We're not beer drinkers, to be honest, but there's something about ginger, right?

And when Astrid said she liked it, I took her inch and ran it for a mile.

After a couple months, the price was reduced to €2 per 6-pack.

When it was then reduced to €1 per 6-pack, I bought the remaining 13 packs!

Thankfully the expiration date is next April because we drink only 4 bottles total/weekend.  HA!

So, speaking of ginger, which is gember in Dutch....

I really am a glutton for it!

I love the lemongrass & ginger oil I use for our Sunday-night homemade popcorn.

And when I saw it as a jam (extra jam!), I jumped for joy!

It doesn't take much to make me happy.  But you know that by now.

Backtrack now to Adrie Bezemer, the wood turner.  When we were at his shop 2 weeks ago, he told us about the exhibition where he would be this past weekend...in nearby Nieuwpoort.

It so happens that Nieuwpoort is a tiny town we like to visit

twice a year or so for their spareribs.  Another small pleasure.

And see, it's even ready for the season.

Within a one-block area, we went to the exposition and afterwards ate our spareribs.

It was fun to see Adrie again doing his thing, which he does so well.

We feel like we have a new friend!

And, as luck would have it, we found a new friend...Jan Scheffe.

Making bronzes is just one of his hobbies!  He also paints.

We had fun getting to know him better as he explained the art of making a bronze.

Aren't we lucky?!?!?!
(Maybe we can talk him into making a website?!)

Now, to fill in some more bits...

 Did I ever mention that Astrid and I have a chess game going all the time...

...and all year 'round!

This is the chess set Donica and I bought in Barcelona years ago, with the Gaudí flavor. 

And lest I forget (which I did!), we always have a jigsaw puzzel going!

These are ones we've finished since the last time I mentioned it...all from Jan van Haasteren: 

(in no particular order)

 

At the Gym (In de Fitness)--1000 pcs.

 

Castle Conflict (De Middeleeuwen)--1000 pcs.

 

Christmas (Kerstmis)--1000 pcs.

 

Departure Hall (Vertrekhal)--1000 pcs.

The Golf Course (De Golfbaan)--1500 pcs.

 

 

In the Car Respraying Shop (In de Autospuiterij)--1000 pcs.

 

Some like it Hot--1000 pcs.

 

The Playground (De Speeltuin)--1000 pcs.

 

United Europe--750 pcs.

The Kitchen (De Keuken)--1000 pcs.

Dat was it!  That's it.  Just a whole bunch of this, that, and the other.  Bit's-n-pieces.

For all my American friends, HAPPY THANKSGIVING this week!  It's the one American holiday I miss more than all the others put together.  (sigh)  I'm at least thankful for all the memories....