What happened to spring?

We are back from a longer stay at Cranberry Cottage. There were two Dutch holidays last week giving Jos some days off. We left for the cottage on Tuesday evening and stayed through Sunday morning. Our rhododendron greeted us when we arrived and is in full bloom now. This bush was becoming unsightly and overgrown. I have been reading online about caring for them and when to prune as well as how. We noticed a marked improvement on it this season.


It has been a total surprise to see what Mother Nature has had in store. We had a glorious but chilly weekend the week before last. There was a good strong wind which made it feel cold. Then it went back to rain. We then were surprised with summer weather. Our forecast is to become warmer each day this week which could not have come at a better time. My online friends will be arriving tomorrow morning. I will attempt to post about our sightseeing as this week progresses.


The weekend before last, we took my mother for a drive in the Betuwe which is an area between two rivers in Holland. It is known for its fruit orchards and we had hoped to see many in bloom but were a little too early. To get to this area, we used one of the car ferry crossings and enjoyed seeing the dandelion covered fields while waiting for ferry to come across to our side of the river.


We drove to a village called Amerongen on the way home for lunch. This is a really pretty place which was very busy that day due to the sunny weather. I was sure to take photos without people in them so you would never know how busy it was from my photos.


The Andries Church in the middle of the village has the Wilhelmina Tree planted in the church yard.


This tree was planted here in 1898 when Wilhelmina became the queen.


There is an iron fence protecting the tree base with pretty iron plates of the image of the princess who ascended to the throne.


We walked the path around Castle Amerongen. This is a beautiful castle that I visited years ago after just moving to Holland. It has been closed for some years due to major restoration work being completed. You will notice on some of the photos that portions of the castle are still in scaffolding.


There is a blog about the restoration which is in Dutch. I thought I would share the link with you as even the photos would be interesting.


Thank you all for the many comments on my last post. I really do love reading all your comments. I have had many new people visit my blog lately and will go back and visit many of your own blogs when I am able to. It is always wonderful to meet new friends.