November's Thanksgiving

 

It all started on November 2nd, the day before America's presidential election, when, while walking home from the grocery store, I saw this on the sidewalk:

It seemed so much like a good omen to me, that I went back the next day to take a photo of it,

wanting to believe all things for "out with the old and in with the new."

[But talk about a stressful time, which continues until January 20th!]

On that walk, I finally captured and then researched this fruit:  quince.

It is totally new to me, in the apple and pear family.

Even some of these are new to me but I just love November's color.

Mother Nature hangs on as long as she can, doesn't she.

Did I ever mention how much I love autumn!

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Four days later, on November 7th, we drove back to the Mastbos forest in Breda, NL (see last post), 

hoping to see something different, because it's huge (1409 acres).

We were not disappointed.

For one thing, the mushrooms were still flourishing...

...though different from the first time.

You know I'm a Hart, right!  :)

But the joy of the day was this!

I had just said to Astrid that it'd be a thrill to actually see a horse, since we were on a horse trail.

I turned around to look back and VOILA.  There it was.

We literally stopped dead in our tracks to watch them come and pass right next to us.

We couldn't have picked a better day to see autumn at its peak.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

The very next day, Sunday, November 8th, son Jeroen came over

 for a spontaneous walk with Hailey (now 2) around our citadel wall.

Just what the doctor ordered!

The rest of the month we've been been "processing" the presidential election and the pandemic,

roller-coasting between the myriad emotions they separately evoke.

What a crazy year!

But today, we stop to give thanks and rejoice.  We're alive and well.  Safe and sound.

To my American family and friends, please stay the same!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Open Monument Day: Hoeven Abbey/Bovendonk

Remember how I mentioned (last post) that every September there is an Open Monument Day in the Netherlands when over 4,000 historic buildings and sites are open to the public free of charge?  Actually, that day, Saturday, has now become the weekend.  And because of that, we got to go somewhere on Sunday.

The village of Hoeven (pop. 6,500) is only 60 km from where we live here in Gorinchem, so even when we drive the backroads, you're talking about less than an hour's drive.  And you know us, we like to stop to see whatever is of interest along the way.

Like this city hall in Klundert, built in 1621, for instance.

Astrid LOVES doing the research to find these gems for our cameras!

It doesn't take long to walk around such a specimen and ooh and aah.

And since Dutch weddings are done at city hall, can you imagine getting married there?

While I'm at it, we saw other stuff, coming and going,

including that colossal basilica in the middle of nowhere in Oudenbosch (remember?),
just 15 km from Klundert.

But the weathervanes still take the cake for me.  I c a n n o t  resist them.

(To be honest, I don't think Astrid can either!)

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

But now, the Hoeven Abbey, which was our goal for the day!  Here's an overhead view which I found on the internet:

You enter at the bottom.

 The ground was purchased in 1282 by the abbey of Cistercienser of St. Bernard.

From then till now, it lost its Roman Catholic church function, became Protestant,

and now is the Bovendonk conference, hotel, exhibition and event center.  

 Because it's used as a conference center, it's not open to the general public,

which is why we jumped at visiting it on Open Monument Day.

Step inside and be amazed.

It was hard to know where to start, even at the very entrance.

We knew we wanted to see the chapel, of course, and eat lunch,

but the chapel wasn't open yet (recent service) and we weren't ready for lunch, so we walked around.

When we entered the courtyard, it all took my breath away.

Smack dab in front of us was the chapel...and the lunch tables...

and the chapel weathervanes....

And the cloisters clock, by architect Pierre Cuypers!
Gebruik den Tijd eer hij Ontvlied (old Dutch): 
"Use the time before it flies away."

Yup.

The cloisters.  The cloisters.

Okay, so they're modern now but couldn't you be a nun/monk there?

You'd at least want to go to a seminar, right?!

By then it was time for LUNCH.

As you know, many abbeys make their own beer, but because this is no longer an abbey per se,

this Magister beer is made for it by the Scheldebrouwerij in Belgium.

We are loving trying out new beers, can you tell?

On that wonderful note, totally satisfied, the chapel was ready for viewing!

Have you noticed how ornate the floors are throughout the entire abbey,

including the chapel!

I could imagine sitting at a service here.

As we left the complex, the same way we entered, the statue out front had new meaning for me.

I made up my own story for it:  Praise and Hallelujah.

A few yards further, near the gate, Mother Nature, too, was singing her praise.

It was that kind of day.

 ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

As an FYI, Astrid and I fly to Atlanta on Wednesday for our annual 3-week trip to see my family and friends.  We're down to counting hours....!  :)  

The North Georgia Mountain Cabin

So, Ladies and Gentlemen, we're back from our annual trip to America!  Did it really come and go so quickly?

And since we packed a wallop into that 2+ weeks, I'll start with the last first...our time with the kids in the North Georgia mountains. 

It's my 4th year as a family (Astrid's 3rd) to rent a cabin 2 hours north of Atlanta, but this time in a different one altogether...just as nice and with another spectacular view:

We're so lucky that owners rent out these homes away from home.

It's not hard to settle in immediately.

This was our first year to add an extra night, making it Thursday - Monday.

We kept saying it made all the difference in the world!

As you'd guess, our time was often centered around food.

Daughter Amy and Dennis were the cooks....

...along with son Mark's bran muffins (and carrot cake!)...

...and s'mores, of course, at least twice in between games of Spades.

Astrid and I were the chief bottle washers.  A nice exchange!

There was also ping pong, pool, football, jigsaw-puzzle making, laptop time...

Square Up (a new game for us)...

...and the hot tub for Uncle Mark and Nicholas, the boys.

I even had time to make the lining for Amy's last (of 5) cross-stitch Xmas stocking.

And then Astrid and I were off on our own, taking walks in the beauty of Mother Nature all around us.

Do you notice something????  A new Canon PowerShot camera for me, yes!

It replaces my 28-300 mm bazooka lens that was aggravating my sciatic issues.

I sold that lens to a fellow blogger and used that money to buy the new camera and an iPad4.

The new camera is 24-1200 mm, for you camera buffs...my new travel camera that also shoots in RAW.

 This was October 17-21, just about peak time for the autumn leaves.

My favorite time of the year!

That time of the year, too.

Trick or treat?

Impressions, impressions, impressions...even in the North Georgia mountains!

How can you say NO to that!  

We were there during the full moon on October 18th...and the sunrise on the 21st, the day we left.

All my images here are with my new camera, barely tweaked.

I'm a happy camper!