Out-n-About Again

This week, Wednesday - Sunday, we have friends Bob and Peggy coming from Atlanta to stay as our very first houseguests. Astrid is working today but will take the rest of the week off so that we can give the big tour, packing as much in as possible to show where we live.

So, after our Apeldoorn trip 3 Saturdays ago, we've basically stayed put these last two weekends, except for backyard trips near home...like our favorite pannenkoeken restaurant out in the polder, 15km away...to see things through their eyes. It's been fun to plan each day.

Many of the canals right now have a carpet of kroos (= duckweed) growing on top.
Parents have to make sure small children/dogs don't accidently walk in!
But the ducks are in heaven because it's highly nutritious for them.
As Astrid says, they just open their mouths and vacuum it up!


If it's not kroos, it's wonderful sections of lily pads. This is that time of year!


Every once in awhile we see llamas...just like we do in America.
But look at the buck teeth on the right-hand fella! A face only Mama could love. HA.
I'm guessing they've learned not to walk into the kroos.


I love the polder. What is it about all that gorgeous space away from the city?!
Actually, some of the wealthiest homesteads are there....


...along with their weathervanes, of course.
This is the second windmill vane we've seen since I've been here.


Bob and Peggy will be intrigued by all the war bunkers around the area.
Some like this one are national heritage sites and cannot be torn down. They're Dutch reminders of both world wars and are called groepsschuilplaatsen (= group hiding/safe houses).
The steel hooks strengthen the concrete and held camouflage nets.


The Leerdam water tower from 1929 is down the street from the above war bunker.
I took its picture over a year ago but this time I was up close and personal.

All of that was two Saturdays ago...15km away from our back door.

This past week there was every bit as much to see within walking distance here within our city! You really do just have to get out and look, right?!

I wonder if this is the same fella from a couple posts back?
Can you imagine carrying your house on your back every time you go out-n-about?


I love the hollyhocks in bloom everywhere.
They grow wild here and are called stokrozen = stick roses.


I'm still trying to figure out my macro lens. Lots of experimentation!

It so happens this past week was the last week of summer vacation before the kids start school today here in the Netherlands (grandson Nicholas started 6th grade last week in Atlanta!). In many cities, the last week of summer vacation is day camp, as it was here in Gorinchem where we live. And that meant TIMMERDORP (= Hammer Village).

Ik hout van Holland on the above banner is a play on words.
Hout = wood. Houd = love. Both pronounced the same: "I love/wood Holland."

Besides all the water activities, the kids get to build houses out of wood supplied by lumberyards (like where Astrid worked last job). Every child brings their own hammer from home and helps build their fort,
often with a loft, supervised by adult leaders.
I didn't take pictures of the forts because I had the wrong lens (macro), but here's a video.


By Thursday, the kids were "over" their forts anyway, having too much fun with everything else.


All this took place at Buiten de Waterpoort (= outside the waterport) on the Merwede River.
It's where the war memorial stands...remembering those who never came back from the wars.


It's also where the water taxis come to ferry people from here to there.

Lots of nice benches to wait on till the right taxi comes!

Right there, over the shoulders of the family eating lunch, is the gate that enters the Lingehaven harbor into Gorinchem from the Merwede River (the same entrance for Sinterklaas on 5 December each year). Remember, this is a citadel city. Again, I watched through Bob and Peggy's eyes as a boat entered from the outside (top row of images below)....

...and then came through into the harbor (bottom row above).
There's a holding place big enough for 2-3 boats while one gate is closed and the other is opened.
And you can stand on top and watch the whole thing!


Talk about the life of Riley!
(click any image to enlarge, of course)

And then I came back home to almost as much excitement...a week of repairs to our sidewalks here inside our Lindeborg courtyard. See, sometimes you don't even need to leave home!

I told a British blogger the other day that all our brick/cobblestone walks/roads are "cemented" with sand.
It means they can always be pulled up very easily and repaired.
I love to see how things work here. Bob and Peggy will, too!

One last thing: did you notice that I tweaked my template a little bit? I decided to to give my Shutterfly photo book some shameless exposure on my sidebar. The only way I could get it to fit properly was to widen the sidebar.

So....there you have it. Enough out-n-about till another week!

More New Tricks

Did you just happen to notice that I didn't have a Vision and Verb post last week? If, so, you're very observant. It so happens we have expanded to not only a new site, thanks to administrator Marcie, but to enough new collaborators to make every third Monday my new posting schedule. This is that third Monday.

My V&V post today is on Lady Justice in today's world. She holds scales in her left hand, carries a double-edged sword, and is blindfolded. Why? And why is she a lady? If we had more of her in today's world, would there be a difference? I sure would like to think so.

Now, on a different note, Astrid and I took our first photo-hunt car trip on Saturday in over a month. Boy, did that ever feel good. We went to Apeldoorn, approximately 60 miles NE of us. That's what I'll be working on for next week's post.

Today, here's some more finagling with my macro lens from walks around the citadel last week. It's getting easier to figure things out but I still have much to learn. Those of you who can give me tips, please do!

My guess is the macro lens is used more for flowers and insects than any other thing.


In the case of this clover, I was especially happy to get that little red spider (?) bug in the bottom image.
He was running all around the floret and wouldn't stand still. At one point I just closed my eyes and shot.
HA! Gotcha, you bugger!


Thankfully, I do not have arachnophobia!
But do they really look like that up close and personal?


Truth be told, these slugs creep me out more!
I literally lay down on the walkway to take some of these images...and didn't care if I'd ever get back up.
The things we photographers are willing to do, right?
BTW, Astrid says these slugs are called naaktslakken = naked snails.
Snails without houses. Makes sense to me!


Speaking of which, I found another snail (with house) that's like the seashell from my last post but the garden variety, stuck to the side of a wall. It stared right back!
The upper-left squiggly ball is the casing of a chestnut-in-progress I'm not sure what.
Hmmm. I'll have to do some more research on that.
Addendum: it's from a platan or plane tree!
Dew drops in the images below are like diamonds in the rough.

And so it goes. My macro lens is light enough to carry on my citadel walks going forward, which I'll surely do...just in case something catches my eye. It's definitely a whole new way of seeing things and good for this 'old dog.'

Now, to the Apeldoorn pics for next week, but in the meantime, don't forget Lady Justice over at Vision and Verb. Thanks.