More photos of the cottage's garden

We worked on planting up more of the extended flower bed this past week up at our weekend cottage. The weather was more like summer than spring with temperatures reaching up to 80F. We had a glorious weekend as few people were at their cottages and it was a symphony of birds. We noticed one of the blackbirds pairs was busily gathering moss from our grass for their nest. Soon we will be seeing all the birds bringing their young to the feeders.

We have made progress on the planting but now want to concentrate on the last section and then move the row of conifers on the back edge which are well over a meter from the border of the garden. This too will give us some precious planting space. It is hard to believe that two years ago this garden consisted of a large field of grass totally invaded with moss on all sides of the tiny house. We graveled the drive and have slowly taken up parts of the grass to create planting beds.

Outdoor reading pleasure and working in the garden

The weekend before Easter, we decided while we were indoors having a cup of morning coffee that we wanted to plant more winter heather. It has such pretty color and last quite a long while in the winter months as it blooms up into April. This meant making space as we want to be able to see the heather well from inside. We are increasing the flower beds bringing them out farther into the grass as seen above. We took them out as far as our crocusses are that are planted in the grass. Now we are talking about changing the back side of the garden that is currently planted up with conifers that are well over a meter inside the actual border of the garden.

With this warm weather everything is really starting to bud and grow! I look forward to each weekend when I can see what is changing in the garden at the weekend cottage. Our grass was so cheerful this spring with all the various daffodils in bloom. I expect they will pretty much be gone now when we arrive. We were not at the cottage over the Easter weekend and I feel I really missed enjoying these pretty flowers that weekend. I don't like missing a single weekend there.

I had bought some magazines and sat in the garden to enjoy them. Both are full of spring splendor and great recipes ~ the British 'Country Living' and German 'Wohnen & Garten' (Home and Garden). Notice the little washtub filled with miniature Tete~A~Tete daffodils? I found this at the garden center when we went to buy the winter heather for a great bargain. And it is here at the house in the city for a cheerful Easter display so another photo to show you the pretty blooms.

St. Servatius Basilica

This is the basilica of Saint Servatius in the city of Maastricht. The photos are taken from in the cloisters. This amazing church is also a museum. I wanted to share some impressions of the building and its history with you.

Rather than going through the history of this Saint and his church, I will direct you to a website which is really enjoyable to search. It has many great pages of history and photos. It has a fun page of games for children too. Enjoy: http://www.sintservaas.nl/indexf.html .

This is the actual cyrpt of Saint Servatius who died in 384AD where the basilica was built over.

I love this floor as it looks like a patchwork quilt.

Painted ceilings and stained glass windows of the basilica are works of art in themselves.

I've been tagged

A dear friend of mine over at http://hedgerowhollow.blogspot.com/ has nominated me for the Thinking Blogger Award! Thanks Lynda.

Now it is my turn pass this award on to 5 blogs that I enjoy! This is not easy to do with all the wonderful blogs I read. I tried to list only 5 but I admit I cannot. I think there are so many great blogs and my day is that much brighter for visiting with these people online each day.

Impressions of Maastricht

My husband and I celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary last Wednesday. We spent a few days in the city of Maastricht which is in the south of Holland. I thought I would share a few photos to give you an impression of this city.

Firstly, a remaining piece of the ancient city walls.

This adorable statue was perched on a wall of a side street near the river Maas.

Isn't this such a pretty location for a florist?

The parish church of St. Jan ~ a protestant church right beside the basilica.

The convent under the archway of the basilica.

A beautiful ancient statue still remains in tact in the archway.

The basilica of Saint Servatius which I will show you in more detail from both indoors and out tomorrow.

Easter time is a time of renewal and I am wishing all of my blogging friends a wonderful Easter Sunday as well as a beautiful and bright spring season. Take this day to reflect on this season and all it brings and celebrate!

Old Dutch village

Welcome to Orvelte in the province of Drenthe. It is a living monumental village where various old trades and crafts are still practiced in season. It is a chance to walk back in time as you wonder the beautiful cobbled and bricked lanes between the preserved farms, houses, cafes and old businesses.

This little lady greeted us with her charming smile at one of the old farms. She has an adorable set of overgrown teeth, don't you think? Click on the photo to enlarge and see her in full detail.

One of the many charming brick houses with a beautiful window.

The farm's old hay barn.

This old toll house was built in 1870 and is in wonderful condition.

It still retains its original list of tolls commanded by all who passed by.

Old Dutch postbox which looks very much like the loved British versions.

This village is open to the public from Good Friday and you are able to go in many buildings and view the craftsmen. It is open to walk around the village all year round of course. We were there the week before opening and it is very pretty to simply walk among these buildings. It is not simpy a museum. People actually live and work here. That makes it even more special knowing this is not set up as a tourist attraction but has been preserved throughout the generations.

Some new friends...

Everywhere you go in the northern Dutch provinces of Friesland and Drenthe, you see fields full of sheep. It is always a pretty sight but at this time of year, even better. What is more fun that to see the lambs either running and jumping as they play together or sleeping peacefully against their mother. These two little ones were huddled together while Mother was close at hand.

She kept a watchful eye but still let me photograph her little beauties!

Thirsty growing lambs show that spring has truely arrived.

Sunrise!

Yesterday we had the most incredible sunrise! Jos tried to get a nice photo but it just would not come out on picture what we could see with the naked eye. The sun was like a perfect round fireball hanging low in the morning sky. It was an amazing color of red which is only hinted at here with the pink haze you can see around it.

Questions about daffodils

Nan had asked me a number of questions in the comments of one of my entries a few days ago. I wanted to take a moment to answer her.

Once the flowers are dying back, I dead~head them. At this point, you have to leave the leaves and stems for a further six weeks to allow the 'goodness' to go back into the bulb.

Yes, we do mow the lawns. If you have to mow within six weeks of the bulbs no longer being in flower, then you must mow around them and leaving the green leaves in tact. Once the time has passed you simply mow the leaves away and they rest until the next spring season.

Holland is a beautiful place at this time of year. City areas are all planted up with various bulbs from crocus to daffodils to tulips. We try to make it to the west (coastal) area to view the tulip fields which are a site to see although it has been a couple of years again since we have taken this drive. Maybe this year.....

My favorite poem of this season

There is no sweeter poem for the spring season that Wordworth's 'Daffodils'! This photo is of Dora's field near Rydal Mount in the Lake District. After Wordsworth's daughter died in 1847, he, along with his sister Dorothy and his wife, planted up a field he had purchased to build a house. He planted daffodils there as a memorial to his daughter. I hope this poem brings you some sunshine today as you read it...

I WANDER'D lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the Milky Way,

They stretch'd in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:

I gazed -- and gazed -- but little thought

What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils.

~~ William Wordsworth ~~

Welcome spring.....

And Spring arose on the garden fair,

Like the Spirit of Love felt everywhere;

And each flower and herb on Earth's dark breast

rose from the dreams of its wintry rest.

Percy Bysshe Shelley

These tulips come from a tulip farm near our weekend cottage. I bought some bouquets as I wanted to start the first day of spring with the colorful flowers around me. This bouquet is purple tulips and I also have one of lilac double tulips and a bouquet of pink and cream tulips. I wish you all a colorful start to spring. Even if the weather where you are is not spring~like, celebrate the start of the season in your heart.

The waiting is over

This is such a wonderful time to live in Holland! Our daffodils are out in the grass. Remember the last photo of them waiting to burst forth? It is like little spiritual rays of sunshine to look out at their bright color in the early spring.

Nan asked me how tall the miniature daffodils are? They are about half the height of a normal daffodil ~ about 6 inches high. The flower heads are also about half the size of the normal daffodil but look like their larger counterparts. These are Tete-A-Tetes and very popular here.

As you can see, our cottage's garden borders right on the woods. We can walk out into this part of the woods from our driveway. There is however, a road going through it leading to the dirt road that comes to the weekend cottage. We have to cross that road yet to walk a bit deeper into the woods.

We were surprised to see the newer area we planted right by our second bird feeder was also ready to open. This weekend these full~sized flowers will be in full bloom. It is fun to see the new ones open each weekend. There is yet another patch which should be opening within the next two weeks. Each year, we enjoy them so much and thought we planted so many more but now I have decided that I want to plant as many again this coming fall. We have just put in some some dahlias, ranunculas and sparaxis bulbs. It will be fun to watch these come up later in the spring.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I wish all my friends who read this blog a very happy St. Patrick's Day with all the luck of the Irish.

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Symbols of St. Patrick's Day

Shamrocks
St. Patrick used the three-leafed clover to illustrate the doctrine of the Trinity to his pagan audience in Ireland according to Christian legend
The Celtic people revered the shamrock as a sacred plant because it symbolized the rebirth of spring.

Leprechauns
Leprechauns were known in ancient Irish as "lobaircin," meaning "small-bodied fellow." Belief in leprechauns probably stems from Celtic belief in fairies, tiny creatures who could use their magical powers for good or evil. In Celtic folklore, the lobaircin were cranky fairies who mended the shoes of the other fairies. They were also mischievous and delighted in trickery, which they used to guard their fabled treasure.

Traditional fare of the day

Corned Beef and Cabbage
Corned beef and cabbage is the traditional meal enjoyed by many Americans on St. Patrick's Day. Cabbage served with bacon, not corned beef, is the traditional Irish fare. Corned beef was substituted for bacon by poor Irish immigrants to the Americas around the turn of the century.

Another arrival.....

This surprise will be waiting for us next weekend on arrival. The miniature daffodils are starting to pop their heads our to greet the spring. We have three kinds of daffodils in three areas of the grass. This section should be in full bloom when we get there this coming weekend. I will, of course, take photos to share with you...


...isn't anticipation fun?

The beauty of spring color

Today is the day when bold kites fly,

When cumulus clouds roar across the sky.

When robins return, when children cheer,

When light rain beckons spring to appear.

Today is the day when daffodils bloom,

Which children pick to fill the room,

Today is the day when grasses green,

When leaves burst forth for spring to be seen.

by Robert McCracken, "Spring"

My crocus bulbs have really done me proud. I planted them in a patch of grass at our weekend cottage. They are in their full glory now. I watched the bees drinking happily from them. There were even three very active large and fuzzy bumble bees already in the garden. We also saw a bright yellow male brimstone butterfly darting about the hedges.

Our feeders are attracting not only the normal host of birds but also the Great Spotted Woodpecker, bullfinches, and for the first time we saw two long-tailed tits. Normally we have many types of tits at the feeders but never this sort although they are very common in Holland.

Decorating for spring

I am now decorating for spring. It is nice to change things around again in my home. I like bringing out 'new' things which I have not used for a year. It does make all things seem new again.

This tablerunner was made for a crazy quilt class I gave . It is embellished with pieces of bobbin lace. I used creams, yellows and green to give a fresh spring idea. This year, I have grouped it together with a candle, small, child's book which was a gift from a good friend and a tall vase filled with violets. It brings the light feeling outdoors now as things come into bud indoors.

Getting ready for St. Patrick's Day

I set out a few things for St. Patrick's Day. These items are on the sideboard as you come in the front door. I just made the pinkeep. The wooden eggs and nest are something I bought over 20 years ago while the shamrock tray cloth was a gift from my mother when she visited Ireland. She bought it as it matched my shamrock dishes. You can see the little milk jug in the photo. I love this set but the factory closed down and I was never able to complete it. I do however have the bowls and sandwich plates along with a complete coffee set (coffee serving pot, sugar bowl and milk jug, coffee cups and saucers) and tea cups and saucers. It is a cheerful set to use for lunches.

March is here!

March is the month of expectation,

The things we do not know,

The Persons of Prognostication

Are coming now.

We try to sham becoming firmness,

But pompous joy

Betrays us, as his first betrothal

Betrays a boy.

~~ Emily Dickinson ~~

Today is the meteorological start of spring. In Holland, the records were once again broken with the winter season being the hottest since the start of recording weather here. Normally we average 3,3C and the temperatures averaged 6,5C making this the warmest winter. They are predicting a very warm spring now. At any rate, with our garden showing signs of wakening from a short winter sleep, we only hope there won't be a harsh period to come and damage young buds.

I have bought winter pansies and ranonkels (Persian Buttercups)to fill my flower boxes at the French doors. I feel like seeing some spring color already and winter pansies are so pretty and yet thrive in the chill that is still in the air.