On the Dutch Backroads

You probably already know this about me but it's still one of my happiest, most favorite things to do:  to drive the backroads of this country I have grown to love.  It never grows old.

Did I mention that last Wednesday, February 5, was our 10th wedding anniversary?  And of all the places to choose from for a wee day's outing, we drove to Gouda, NL, 33+ km from home.

Don't you just love maps!  It always helps me to get the lay of the land.

If you squint, you can see we had a river to ferry across around mid-point (thin blue line).

It's the Lek River and is crossed in Schoonhoven for this trip to Gouda.

I snapped the pics from the car while we waited for the ferry to arrive and unload.

This is again from the car while it's our turn to load and cross over.

I was tickled to see that Garmin captured the speed of the ferry while we were crossing on it.

Now we're on our way again, paying attention to every little thing.

See why we love the backroads so much?!

[Why did the swan cross the road?????]

It so happens that this is the one area of the Netherlands that still has old-timey telephone poles.

Astrid still reminds me that this is very unusual...and yes, I do forget.

Almost everywhere else wires are hidden underground.

Do you like road signs from other countries?

I still sometimes have to ask Astrid what a shape or color means.

Surely you can tell here where the bikes are allowed to travel and where not.

Bike paths are so very important to a country that claims more bikes than people!

Surely you know what this is, right?

In the growing seasons, such a stand will be loaded with produce,

an honesty box/jar nearby for your purchase.  

Sometimes Astrid buys goodies for us at similar stands on her bike rides.

I don't care what season it is, however, when it comes to the passing scenery.

With no leaves on the trees now, you certainly see more.

I especially love the weeping willows and the pollard willows, of which I never tire.

The same for the windmills.  They never grow old for me.

After this photo we arrived in Gouda and started our day there with a latte macchiato, followed by an inside tour of the Sint Janskerk, the longest church in the Netherlands, which was our main goal for this trip.  And THEN a celebratory meal for our anniversary.  But that's all for another post.

So, now we're back in the car on our way home.

Here's a postal worker on her bike, getting ready to cross the white bridge shown earlier.

You never see PostNL post being delivered by car!  Either by bike or by foot with a cart.

Speaking of bikes, the backroads are often where we see the race bikes, like Astrid's.

They slow things down of course, but...isn't that the point?

You get to see the things that make this country "more Dutch you cannot get,"

like the 3-poled silo (top-left) loaded with hay.  The roof slides up or down on the poles,

depending on the amount of hay stored.  Usually we see 4 poles, in the corners...

...like in this image Astrid took that same day (because she likes a "men at work" theme).

You can see the 4 poles with the silo roof lowered down behind the house.

By the time we get to the ferry, the afternoon is waning.

We watch the ferry arrive, unload, and then follow the first car on.

Notice that even heavy trucks (bottom-right) are ferried across!

As an FYI, Schoonhoven means we're leaving the city. Don't you love it!

Passage is cheap each way:  €2.20 for the car and driver (Astrid).  €.70 for the passenger (moi).

What's left to be seen is priceless.

And yes, I still pinch myself, after 10 years here.

A Dutch Polder Joyride in July

If I told you I had gotten so hungry for weathervanes and asked Astrid for another joyride out in the boonies, you'd believe me, wouldn't you!  Yes, of course.

So, what happens is that Astrid first researches exactly where we might find a good route out in the polder that might serve up some vanes for us.  One never knows for sure, of course, but the likelihood is there.  Her route took us from Drimmelen to Moerdijk.

 Of course, Astrid always picks a good place for lunch...which happened to be Drimmelen.

Drimmelen happens to be a harbor town in the Biesbosch National Park, 27 km from home.

That's where we ate lunch, on the Amer river...and saw the Dutch version of "beached" boats above. 

From lunch we wandered off the main roads into the polder.

What is the polder, you ask!

The polder is the low-lying land reclaimed from the sea or river, protected by dikes.

It's usually below sea level, which is why there are windmills to pump out the water.

I love the polder.  I love how the Dutch USE it for their health and pleasure...

...and sustenance.
It's out in the polder where we always see the farm machinery.

Don't you wonder what THAT one does!

We often also see something unusual, like a windmill without its sails.

There are ca. 991 windmills left in the Netherlands right now, down from 10,000 in its heyday.

This one, I suspect, doesn't count...because it can't be registered if it doesn't work.

Right about now, between Drimmelen and Moerdijk...a distance of 26 km...

we finally began finding weathervanes, our goal for the day.

Some of them, like the fishes and ram horoscope, were clearly custom-made.

In fact, the lady of that house was out in her garden and she is the Pisces part of the duo.

How fun is that!

 We stopped for a total of 13 vanes.  

Was I happy or what!

By the time we got to Moerdijk, we passed the Moerdijkbrug war monument from 1978.

The relief is from Frits van Hall, a Dutch sculptor, who made it for the first bridge in 1936.

The relief consists "of a triumphant figure of women for the north and south of the Netherlands.

She is standing on the waves, in the waves some fish are pictured, in the sky two angels, the sun and a cloud of rain.
The whole is surrounded by the twelve weapons of the respective places..."

Last but not least, we stopped at the cloister of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus,

that is now apparently a primary school (still trying to find a link).
ADDENDUM:  Astrid found this link in Dutch.  
It essentially was destroyed during WWII and rebuilt in 1948.

All in the course of a Saturday's joyride...and just before it started to rain on our way home!

End-of-Year Gifts

Christmas had already come and gone, leaving one week before the New Year celebration.  Things were slowing down, I thought, getting us ready for 2017.

But 2016 still had something left in her to give.  And did she ever!

First, Astrid called me from work last Friday to tell me there was a rare occurrence in the weather pattern that created an incredible display of frosty art.  When the temps are below freezing and there is fog, BINGO.  She then made me promise to take a walk for her to capture it in photos.  In fact, she was that close to telling them at work she was "sick" so she could come home to join me.

I promised, of course, and this is what I saw:

You may recall that we can access the citadel walk just meters outside our backdoor.

This was around 8:45 a.m., just as it was getting light.

Already, dogs were out walking their "masters."

It was another world.  Magical.

Those who have taken this walk can almost guess what comes next.

You climb the hill, round the corner, and there she is:  the outer harbor.

That was when I saw the sun starting to rise.

Leaving the outer harbor, you see the church, the toll house, the Brainwave.  

And then buiten de waterpoort:  outside the water port.

After crossing the inner harbor and climbing back onto the wall,

the water port is viewed from a different perspective.

And then, De Hoop windmill...my favorite place on the entire walk.

You round the next corner and get the salmon fisher and the Dalem Gate.

 Looking back on De Hoop and looking ahead to the last part of the citadel wall,

even the birds were in heaven.

If you can't have snow, what better gift than to have FROST.

Thank you, Astrid, for making me promise.

I was back home by 10 a.m.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

That was Friday and Saturday, the last day of the year, promised to be foggy, but without frost.  Astrid and I had already decided to drive out into the polder as long as there was fog.  So off we went, once again around 8:45 a.m.

The fog was so thick you could cut it.

At first, we couldn't find the sheep and cows we were looking for.

Astrid said they were probably still in the barn because of how cold it was and still early.

But a few minutes later, we found them...the sheep, that is...far off in the polder.

Did you know that swans pair up and mate for life?

Almost every farmer's plot has a pair...coexisting with the sheep and cows.

This time, however much Astrid whistled, the sheep did not run to us.

Fine.  We just cuddled them from afar.

We had one last goal before driving back home:  capture the polder gates.

When I finished with my captures, I then concentrated on Astrid!
She is, after all, the Lady of the Polder from our Shutterchance photoblog.
I am often reminded that that's where we met, on the Internet, via our photography.

And believe it or not, the only weathervane that spoke to us that day

was one I didn't already have.

How timely for the end of the year, don't you think!

So, see what I mean by GIFTS!

2016 wasn't all that bad, you know, no matter what anyone else says.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

A Saturday's Weathervane Bonanza

Sometimes Astrid and I go for a joyride out in the polder just to find weathervanes.  Seriously.  It so happens she has been riding her bike recently for long (45 km) trips, and when she comes home will say, "I want to drive you on my bike route so you can see all the weathervanes!"

So, we did just that this past Saturday and had a blast:  48 weathervanes in less than 2 hours.   THAT'S a bonanza!

The first thing I did was divvy them up into manageable groups/themes.

First, the arrows.  Did you know there could be so many different styles?

Then all the birds.  Okay, there's also an animal,

but that's my first parrot, I think.

Sometimes I even get a real bird, freeloading (middle-left).

I suppose these are birds, right?

But usually you don't see such a good variety on the cock theme.

More freeloaders on a couple of these animals.

And then, everything else!

I can't always get a good angle on a vane and have to take what I get.

I decide it's better than nothing, of course.

I should mention that I DO take pics of anything else that grabs my eye,

like these sheep who just yakkity-yakked 100 mph when we stopped to visit them.

And then there are still impressions, wherever we go.

I was almost too late in grabbing the two ladies (bottom-right)

who seemed to be having their own sweet yakkity-yak, side by side.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

On another note, Nicholas received the photo book on Tuesday of his visit here.  This is what he wrote me:  

Hey Grandma, the book finally arrived today! I waited for mom to get home to open it. The book looked really good on the outside. We read and looked at every single page and it was very fun to see everything again. I loved the book and I can't wait to show everyone else! By the way I loved the last page of the book it made me laugh! Haha  

Love Nicholas

How does it get any better than that!

Bits-n-Pieces

Or, bits-n-bobs, as our English friends would say!  A little bit of this-n-that before they arrive on Friday (tomorrow evening) and spend a few days with us (another post).

Let's first start with Saturday's walk around Gorinchem's citadel.  I'm making a concerted effort to do it at least once a week.  It's good for my heart and soul...and my body.  That new knee says "thank you" every time, I'm sure.

 But this walk was something special because while I was minding my own business,

I noticed a lady photographing flowers just like I was.  In fact, we kept passing each other.

Finally, we introduced ourselves and continued walking together for the next hour.

When we got to the locks at the inside harbor, she showed me her photo hanging on the wall.

Yup.  Mariëlle de Valk.  There she is...a new friend who shares the love of photography.

And when we got to De Hoop (The Hope) windmill,

she showed me the lion's mouth flower in the brick wall nearby.

It's also called Common/Yellow Toadflax or Butter-and-Eggs, native to Europe and Northern Asia.

 Look what happens when you meet a new friend!

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

The next day, Sunday, we had an errand to run in nearby Utrecht at 11 a.m. and decided to drive on the back roads coming back, making it a fun day.

Most of the time I'm staring at the Dutch sheep.  But there are also plenty of Dutch cows!

I really am loving everything free-range about this country.

 How can you resist these lovelies!

It makes Mother's Day extra special at this time of the year, doesn't it.

See what I mean about bits-n-pieces-n-bobs!
Throw in some wabi-sabi (bottom-right) and I couldn't be happier.

And then, what should suddenly appear but....
It wasn't till it passed that I saw it was big enough for a group of tourists.
Out in the Dutch boonies!

I'm happy to "collect" one or two good weathervanes while we're out-n-about.
But E I G H T E E N (count them)?  It was weathervane heaven.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

When Monday came around, I had my own errands to run and made a good walk of it.
I never know what I might see so I always carry my camera, just in case.

Lucky for me, the Grote Brug was being raised for a barge just after I crossed over it.
This is a common occurrence for me by now but maybe not for you?
Everyone going to work/school always has to calculate in the time for these possibilities
(a real groaner for many, which is why I decided to show the whole thing!).

 And because I had my camera...and it's still spring...YES!

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Now we're getting ready for Lisl and Chris from England to arrive tomorrow evening.
You'll remember them once I get to those posts.
Lisl is my Big Sis; Chris is Astrid's Big Brother.
That's all you need to know for now.

In the meantime,
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!