The peace~filled countryside

Here is our little place up in the woods. It is more a chalet than a cottage really. It is small but very much home to us. We love being up north in the countryside. When we bought this cottage almost three years ago now, it was pretty much untouched since it was built back in 1975. We have been slowly working to fix it up. The entire garden was one plot of grass that was over grown with moss. We have graveled the drive as you see making it much dryer now to go into the cottage. We have also been digging up the grass in the garden to create flower borders throughout.

Our Buddleia or butterfly bush is blooming and attracting so many pretty butterflies. I love sitting out on the patio and watching them come and go. This 'Inachis io' or 'The Peacock' is common in Holland's woodlands. At the moment, this is our most frequent visitor with many of them drinking from the bush at once.

The Brimstone butterfly or 'Gonepteryx rhamni' are also still plentiful in the garden.

This summer the common hemp~nettle (Galeopsis tetrahit) is growing along our fence by the woods along with the rosebay willow herb. Last year this pretty wildflower was not there among the wild blackberries and willow herb. Since Jos decided to try to keep the wild blackberries a bit more under control, this pretty orchid type flower has come in its place. It is standing tall at a meter high and is a pretty backdrop for our flower bed.

I found a white foxglove growing in the shadow of an oak tree just beside our garden shed.

I wanted to share this fun read with you all. It was recommended to me by someone back in the US who remembered reading it herself. The book is called 'The Wheel on the School' by Meindert de Jong and is a sweet story about a tiny fishing village in Friesland that no longer is visited by storks. The children at the village school puzzel about why the storks fly over their village and figure out a way to bring them back to Shora to nest. Since we are seeing the storks all over up north, this is especially fun to read now. This is a great book tip for children young and old!