Chapels, Windvanes and Cows, Oh My!

HA!  I guess you had to be there...but sometimes it really is like a fairytale. Another joyride on Sunday, this time in the area of Arkel, Hoornaar and Schelluinen, all nearby....

  Arkel is where Astrid used to live, just 3 km north of us in Gorinchem.

I've seen this wee Koepelkerk a thousand times, it seems, but had never been inside.

It has a long history, beginning in 641, but the present chapel was built in 1855.

This past Sunday they had an open-house viewing from 2-4 p.m.

Lucky for me that Astrid notices these things in the paper!

And yes, they have a small congregation with services every Sunday.

I think my dad would have loved being pastor of this cozy chapel.

He was such a lover of books and hymnals.

So am I.

But instead of sheep to shepherd that day, all we got were cows!

Cows and more cows.  

It was a heyday for cows, most of which are grown here for their dairy products.

We did find some sheep, however.  HA!

And two gable stones on the same house.

And TWENTY-ONE weathervanes, of which these are the NON-birds/animals...

...and these are.

Milkweed covers many of the canals right now (bottom-left).

And Spring is still showing off her beauty everywhere.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

On an entirely different note, close to home...

Look what we saw Saturday morning right after breakfast.

Astrid says it's a koolmees (Great Tit), common to Europe.

Apparently this little fella was too young to be frightened, while eating his own breakfast.

After several minutes, he flew off to mind his own business.

Did he know he made my day, I wonder?

That was about the same time I was connecting many dots to fulfill a life-long dream:

P A I N T I N G.

There are so many embellishment and/or manipulation tools these days,

to transform photo images into paintings...without all the mess, I might add.

So as I start my new decade (in two weeks), my dream is becoming real.

This is an oil painting of one of the collage images above.

Here's a watercolor of the same bird but different pose.

And how about a watercolor of the cows!

It may not be everyone's cuppa tea, but for me, I'm in heaven.

You have no idea how soulful this is for me!

(so might as well get used to it)

LAREN, Netherlands, and the Singer Museum

This happens to be the third post of a one-day trip Astrid and I took back on May 31st to her old stomping grounds, 55 km away from where we live here in Gorinchem.  When I look back on it, I'm amazed by all that we saw that day!

First we went to Lage Vuursche, where Astrid's mom's summer cabin was, then to Hilversum, where Astrid was born and raised, and now to Laren, right next door.

Right next door means about 5 km or less.  Astrid has memories of walking or riding her bike 

with the family on Sundays from Hilversum to Laren because they didn't have a car.

It's the oldest town (c. 11K pop.) in 't Gooi region of North Holland and one of the most affluent.

In this statue you can see the old costumes of the region

(with Astrid standing in to show scale).

The Basilica of St. John is a major landmark of Laren, from 1924.

That seems almost brand-new, doesn't it!

There was a service in progress when we arrived that Saturday late afternoon...

...so we didn't enter the nave but only looked from afar.

We still saw a lot.

Earlier we had eaten lunch at Café t'Bonte Paard (The Spotted Horse).

See how we love trying out new beers, especially abbey/trappist beers from 1062! 

  ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Remember that we have our annual museum cards which we're trying to use!  So, in between the café lunch and the basilica, we visited the Singer Laren Museum (which also happens to be a concert hall).

Guess what!
"The museum is devoted to presenting and preserving the collection of the American artist
William Henry Singer (1868–1943) and his wife Anna."  

 While some sculptures and artifacts are present...

...it''s mostly a museum of paintings.

Remember, it's a collection from an American artist and his wife.

How about a sampling?

Hmmm....

How's that for eclectic!

Something for everyone, I think.

Add to all that the outside courtyard, full of more artifacts...

...saying good-bye to us as the late afternoon came to a close.

It had been a long day, from Lage Vuursche to Hilversum to Laren.  

We were short of eyes...and ready to go home to reflect on everything stored up inside us.