Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Wildlife friends

Enlarge this photo and see if you can spot what this is? It is very dark outside so you will have to look closely to see it.



Yes, we have a nightly visitor...Mrs. Tiggy~Winkle, if you please'm. And I did not even loose my pocket~handkins. Do you know this delightful tale from Beatrix Potter?


She visited us at Cranberry Cottage the weekend before also but had a baby with her. We have now realized that she is coming into the garden each night and chewing away at the bark of the tree branches we use to line the planted areas of our garden. They are looking rather worse for the wear now but it is fun to see her come into the garden. I am not too sure she enjoyed us snapping the photos though.


On Saturday, we went to the campsite where my friend and her husband were staying. This is their third year to spend their summer vacation up north near our cottage. They asked if we would like to go out to eat for dinner and we said fine. While Sonja and I went for a quick run to a shop we love, the men stayed behind to talk.
She asked me if I would rather go have Dutch pancakes as we first talked about or perhaps go to a place where Jos and I had talked about going many times before. They have now eaten there a number of times and really like it. I said to let the men decide. They both picked the restaurant instead of pancakes. So off we went.


In the north of Holland, there are a number of storks who stay for the spring and summer to nest. One of the nests is on top of this restaurant. Can you see it? There were three birds in the nest as we left and one sitting on a lamppost just outside the restaurant. It is great to sit on the terrace eating dinner and hear them outside. Have you ever heard the clicking noise a stork makes when it communicates with another stork? I wonder if they are thinking why don't we share our dinner?


At one point, Sonja told me a feather fell to the ground as one stork returned to the nest and she went out to the field and got it for me. She returned with two feathers to add to my collection. I gather them as I find them in our garden at the cottage and place them in a little glass vase. Here they are sitting in my tray on our table.


At the end of a wonderful evening spent together with our friends, they were wispering among each other. They had planned all along to treat us to dinner that night. Had we known that, we would have choosen pancakes as this was too much. Thank you so very much Mike and Sonja. We enjoyed our evening for the wonderful meal but especially for the warm company you both are!

15 comments:

Melissa said...

Heidi,

What a precious little creature that is. How cute!

The restaurant looked nice. I love eating out. Don't you?

I'm glad that you are feeling better about things.

Talk to you soon.

Melissa

Andylynne said...

Oh a Hedgehog, she is adorable. And the storks are so interesting. I have Harons at my house but they never sit on light posts :) I find Holland so interesting. So much history and such intersting places. The horses from a few posts back look like the beautiful Fresians sp???.
That I have coveted for a very long time. Thanks for sharing your world with us.

Rhondi said...

Hi Heidi
I've never sen a real hedgehog, but I love the Tale of Mrs. Tiggly Wiggly!
Hope you have a great week.
Hugs, Rhondi

Nancy said...

Mike and Sonja are such nice people and good friends to you and Jos. The Cafe looks nice but as you know, I would choose pancakes everytime. LOL. The stork watching over you was very nice.
Now, Mrs. Tiggy Winkle is just too cute for words. You better get the pinny out that I made you now.
If you please um.
Love you, Mom

Mary said...

I haven't seen a hedgehog in so long - we used to have a permanent one in the garden where I grew up. People in England are very protective of them - running into the roads to scoop them up so they wont get run over!

Glad you had such a nice dinner out with your good friends - the restaurant looks so inviting Heidi. It's always nice to be treated!
Hugs - Mary.

Carolien said...

Lovely entry, Heidi! How nice to have a Tiggy Winkle in your garden.
And what a nice dinner with Sonja, I hope their tent is sturdy in this windy weather!
(We don't have to use our fans now ... and yes, I did use mine in the warm conditions in France, in the car etc. Great invention when the cooler in your car doesn't work properly :)

Jason Wahl said...

Friends are so important. So gald you have good ones. I love seeing the Hedgehog! Heidi, it's so nice that your quilting friends ask about Charlie. Please make sure they know he's doing great and growing big! He started eating baby cereal and loves it. I have a feeling he's going to be a big boy like his daddy and Papa!

Anonymous said...

Hallo Heidi en Jos, we hebben allebei met plezier je blog gelezen! Het was inderdaad een gezellige dag.Ook Mike vind het leuk jouw verslag terug te lezen.Groetjes Sonja en Mike.

Anonymous said...

Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle is just adorable, Heidi! I love hedgehogs but have never seen one outside of a zoo. How wonderful to have one right in your backyard! Those storks are amazing too ... another sight I've never seen! Thanks for sharing these delights!
xo,
Lynda

Clare said...

One of the first lessons I remember learning at school was about the storks nesting on roofs in Holland (so many years ago its a wonder I still remember!)-thanks for reminding me. I can quite understand why Miss Potter was so taken with Hedgehogs - and we are still so keen on her stories. Glad you had an enjoyable visit with your friends.

Shari said...

hi Heidi,
I just found your blog, via Tanya's. I LOVE IT!!!!!!
I too love Anne of Green Gables & I love the pictures you show. I will be checking out your needlework blog as well!!!!

Melissa said...

Heidi,

Please tell me. How do you make eis chocolate?

Thank you.

Melissa

Mandie said...

Oh...I love hedgehogs! They are so cute :o) How neat that they come to visit your cottage! Don't forget tomorrw is Pickle #2's Birthday!!!! She is so excited! :o)

Love you!!!!

Anonymous said...

I love your little visitor - so cute!

Sounds as though you had a wonderful visit with your friends and a great dinner too.

Pamela Terry and Edward said...

Oh, she looks just like Mrs. Tiggywinkle, doesn't she? Lucky you to have her visit! Although I can only imagine dear Edward's reaction if he discovered her in his back garden one night!