Easter's Gifts

It begins with death, of course, on this Good Friday:

"The path of those who preach love, and not hatred, is not easy.

They often have to wear a crown of thorns." --Nelson Mandela

(inside the Cathedral of Our Lady, Antwerp, Belgium, 2019)

Actually, all of Winter (the season still whimpering like a lion in some places) is also Nature's metaphor for death/hibernation, before Spring's resurrection.  I saw it in the hydrangeas I fell in love with.  Does Nature teach us not to fear death?

Because Easter really does happen.  Easter.  Spring.  Resurrection.

Spring here in Gorinchem jump-started at the end of January with warm rains.

And then a week later came the snow and ice, putting everything on pause!

A month later, at the beginning of March, things picked up again.

We knew it would!

Every Monday, walking home from grocery shopping, I saw the change.

It took my breath away...more than any other Spring ever.

(Was this one of the pandemic gifts?)

The Lion of Winter, of course, always gives way to the Lamb.

The Promise.

That's when Astrid started working her magic, thinking up how we could make this Easter extra special through the eyes of our wee lambsy-divey granddaughter, Hailey, age 2-1/2.

For several weeks in a row, Astrid blew out the yolks of eggs (Saturday breakfasts for us!),

and saved up the shells for the day she started painting them, March 26.

She painted these at home, practicing with different paints, 

making sure everything worked.

(She's one very clever, talented artist, if I may say so myself!)

Then, last Saturday, off we went to Hailey's house to see if she'd catch Oma's bug!

Even Papa caught it and was a good sport.

Both he AND Oma painted their own egg, with Hailey beside them.

(And in case you're wondering, NO, Oma Ginnie made herself the designated photographer.)

I think we found our new, budding artist!

Don't you just love her blobs/globs of paint?!  Why didn't WE think of that?!

"Sometimes the smallest things take up the most room in your heart."

--Winnie the Pooh

Oma Astrid knows all about cleanup, after which we ate lunch.

Easter.  Spring.  Resurrection.  Hailey.

I don't know about you but it's all different this year, taking on new meaning.

Gifts for the Soul midst the pandemic that's still not over, especially here in Europe.

(My two Pfizer jabs are scheduled for April 15 and May 20.

Hopefully Astrid's will come shortly thereafter!)

Spring in the Garden

Every once in awhile we drive the 5km to nearby Arkel to have koffie with our dear friends, Siem and Thelma.  If we can sit outside in nice weather, it's like heaven for me because they have such a huge yard, full of goodies.

Let's just say I have wandering eyes and can't sit still!

 But first, we had iets lekkers (something good) with our koffie.

And another friend, Wil, came by to visit a bit and drop off her tennis rackets with Astrid for stringing.
(surely you remember that multi-talented Astrid also strings rackets)

Then I was on my own personal mission to take pictures of every different flower I could find!

 Since this is Holland, let's start with the tulips...almost all of which were red.

I know daffodils and forsythia but after awhile I had no clue what I was looking at.

I just know that I enjoyed what I saw, even if it grows on trees!

Hmmmm.  Which images should I group together??

I just went for broke!

Don't you love how Mother Nature makes her color combinations!

And if it weren't for the butterflies and bees, where would we all be!

Speaking of "we," Thelma was putting on her own show for Astrid.

She's her own special flower!  What a fabulous addition to the garden. 

And since you surely remember Astrid's "garden" on our balcony...

...it, too, is growing up a storm.  Build it and they will come!

HAPPY SPRING!

Spring Has Sprung

Not that we ever had a real winter this time around, mind you, but that's another story.

However, speaking of winter, Astrid loves to bring Mother Nature inside the house when it's cold outside.  It's soulful to her...and to me, because I get to see, smell, and take pictures!

If it's not hyacinths, it's narcissus bulbs, as in this case, on our koffie table a month ago. 

The Dutch call daffofils narcissus!

They stand so tall without any support whatsoever.  How is that possible?

And even though these aren't the typical yellow daffodils, they are still...daffodils.

 And of course, Astrid's orchids grow all year 'round, no matter what the season.

We both feel like kids in the candy store when they bloom like this.

But now...to show what weird weather we've had this winter...

these hyacinth bulbs on the balcony, planted last fall, shouldn't be up till April.

But what can you do in temps from 40-55 F!  They're doing what they should do.

 There's nothing we can do but enjoy them now.

This pink one is blooming today; the other colors will come later....

 

All that without stepping outside!  Astrid's green thumb is such a joy for us both.

  ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Once we do step outside, which we did last weekend in earnest, oh me, oh my!  Spring really has sprung!

As soon as the sun comes out, the Dutch are raring to go.

You can get an entire family of 4 or 5 on two bikes.  Seriously.

You know it's spring when the stork is in its nest.

It still tickles me to see the nests atop so many churches...as a wee sermonette?

This is the Dutch Reformed church in Ottoland 7 miles from our apartment.

It even has a postage stamp made of it.

Those fastidious storks really do bring children into the world!

Speaking of children, how's this for a spring fling!

We waved to the little girl when she drove past us, to which the man said,

"She's not allowed to wave because she has to hang on!"

(They went from one driveway to another...and not in horrendous traffic, of course.)

See what I mean about the Dutch going outside when the sun shines!

We LOVE driving the back roads...and stopping for ice cream whenever the farmers have it.

Did you know that ice cream on a Dutch farm is some of the best-inspected anywhere in the world.

We never say NO to that.

Now pay attention...and get your education with me!

While I was processing these pics, I suddenly noticed how NOT REAL these swans are.

You can see how far away they were, picked up by my new camera.

They're totally fake because they're giving the message to real swans that 

THIS PLACE IS ALREADY TAKEN.

The neighborhood probably has children who are two young for angry daddy swans 

who can get real aggressive if mama swan is trying to protect her babies.

 Another sign of spring is the renewal of thatched roofs.

Another education for me!

Weathervanes, water towers, windmills...all year 'round.  Old hat, right?

But the spring flowers do tug at the heartstrings, don't they.

 This is one of my Vision and Verb greeting cards coming up for our summer gallery.

Happiness really IS an inside job, isn't it, sometimes helped along by SPRING.

A Spring Break

Yesterday I posted Day 4 of our Viking River Cruise (Koblenz and the Middle Rhine), in case you missed it.  But today is my current post at Vision and Verb...

 ...on how Together We're Strong.

After all we've been through last week with the Boston bombings, it seemed appropriate.

This image is from Passau, Germany, which was Day 10 of our cruise.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Have you noticed how life just goes on.  No matter what!

Spring is springing.  The lambs are skipping around out in the polder.  And you'd think there was nothing at all wrong in our world today!

This was my first time to see so many black lambs.  They were everywhere.

 And all of them stuck together.  It must be instinct?

Together we're all strong[er]!

Springtime in Gorinchem

Even though our temps here in mid-Holland continue to hover between 40-50 F, it really is spring and we are full of it.

You've heard of spring cleaning, of course....

Surely you've also heard of DUTCH cleaning!
There's a reason!!!!!!!!!
It's in their collective psyche, seriously.
And when she's on a roll, I leave her to her own devices.
Sometimes she's on a mission and wants to do it alone...and I let her.

In the meantime, my walks during the week fill up my lungs.

All the sights so familiar take on renewed life after winter's hibernation.


The harbors are starting to perk up.


And while the construction work never stopped,
it, too, is alive with music...radios not-quite blaring.

But it's the flowers, of course, that are screaming SPRING SPRING SPRING.

Astrid's orchids bloom all year 'round on our windowsill...
as elsewhere all over the Netherlands.
I have seen more orchids in 2 years than the rest of my life put together!

But now it's tulip time and the window of opportunity is small.
Tulips or whatever you can find. It's the Dutch way.

HAPPY SPRING to us all in whatever way we celebrate it. Maybe you've had a lot of it already and feel summer is here. For us, we're still in sweatshirts and jackets....but the smell and feeling of change is in the air.

It's HERE!

After several consecutive days of rain and very cold weather, SPRING has finally hit us here in Atlanta!

So I have started to take walks again around the neighborhood and am seeing things again as though for the first time. For some reason, this past winter was a lot harder than usual...maybe for everyone around the country?

With camera in hand, I am enthralled by what happens at this time of the year. It's a sermon unfolding before our very eyes...that as surely as the night comes, it will pass and daylight will arrive. As surely as Winter's breath clutches us, Spring's freshness will release us and set us free.

Let's go fly a kite! This kite has been in this tree for years, weathered by everything that comes its way. I can't help but think it'd much rather be flying!!! I know I would...right this very minute!

On a house-selling note, activity has been very slim, but I've actually been glad because I'm working hard every day to get stuff listed and sold on eBay, Amazon.com, and Craigslist. So far so good, especially on eBay. Who knew that all those duplicate sheets of stamps I bought years ago would be sold now! Once everything is listed, and relisted (you get two times for the price of one, you know), I'll breathe easier and then will start paying attention to the house selling. Ultimately I am confident the timing will be perfect for all concerned!

In the meantime, I will NOT forget that SPRING IS HERE!