Friday, June 13, 2008

The beauty of Dutch 'veen'


How can anything so beautiful be referred to as common? And yet this plant is called Common cotton grass. Each year one of the things I enjoy seeing on our drive to Cranberry Cottage is this little plant that sticks up above other grasses to show off its cotton top in a peat bog near the cottage.

Click on the photos to enlarge them and have a really good look at our counrtyside.


We took a drive to buy some potatoes at a farm and drove through a very large protected peat bog which I thought might be great photos to share with you. The north of Holland is known for its bog land or 'veen' which contains very unique wildlife. The cotton grass is just magical to see waving around in the wind between all the water reed.


This particular bog has one road that leads through it for access for nature tourist to experience it. It is a tiny road but we were able to stop and get out to snap a few pictures.


It is so quiet and peaceful here that the sound of bullfrogs croaking out their love calls to their mates is actually loud. It is a comical thing to hear. There were also ducks everywhere and huge dragonflies dancing around each other like they were part of a ballet company.


This just shows another reason why Jos and I love being up north with all its amazing beauty of the countryside. I wish you all a wonderful weekend and maybe you can take time to venture out and see some of the beautiful countryside where you live. The seasons do pass so quickly that it would be a shame to miss any of it!

16 comments:

Elizabethd said...

What an unusual landscape Heidi. There are similar places in France, in an area called The Marais, lots of canals green with weed, and marshy places.

Anonymous said...

Hello Heidi, I just visited your beautiful photos of the "veen.'
Clicking on each one was fun and really showed the beauty of the area. The cotton grass so much looks like cotton. We live where cotton is grown in our southern states. When we drive by I always want to pick some. I never have.

Thank you for your sweet comment about my laundry post. I had so much fun doing that post, and I'm glad you liked it.

Lets visit again soon.

Jeanne

Anonymous said...

Heidi, I just read your comment. Yes, I do decorate with my vintage books. I love everything vintage. There is so much charm in old things.

My best to you today, Jeanne, again!

Ragged Roses said...

Lovely photos Heidi. I don't think I've ever seen that plant before, it must be a wonderful sight, blowing in the breeze like that. Thank you for showing us some glimpses of your landscape what a wonderful part of the country to live in. Hope you have a lovely weekend
Kimx

Nancy said...

Hi Heidi:
I have missed talking to you these past two days and yet again tomorrow.
Your pictures are really pretty, and now you need to print them and add them to the scrapbook I made for you and left some pages empty for just this sort of thing.
Love you, Mom

Dena said...

Just beautiful Heidi! I am wishing I had a bog now :)

Hugs,
Dena

Susan in SC said...

Beautiful pictures Heidi - no wonder you love the drive so much. Susan

Mary said...

I enjoyed celebrating another season with you showing this 'veen' landscape - so peaceful looking. We often stop and pick up cotton bolls along the roadside in parts of NC when the trucks have hauled away the cotton crop - did it for the children and now grandchildren - we like to make sure they touch and feel Nature firsthand - city kids sometimes miss the wonders of the countryside, which is sad.

Hope your weekend at the cottage has been wonderful Heidi - bet the freshly dug potatoes were delicious.

Wonders never cease - we had our first rain in two weeks last night, thank goodness. Everything was looking so droopy and sad - hopefully we'll get more rain and less heat soon.
Hugs - Mary.

angelasweby said...

What lovely atmospheric photos Heidi. It does look peaceful and it's good to see the peat bog is protected.
Hugs, Angela

hazel c UK said...

I have enjoyed looking at all your wonderful photos and those blackbirds are so cute.

I love the dress on the hanger and I know my daughter liked her hanger that we brought in your friends shop,what a fun time that was.
Warm hugs and thanks for the memories, Hazel

Anonymous said...

Hi Heidie,
Hele bijzondere foto's heb je gemaakt van het veenlandschap! Zo'n gebied heeft echt een eigen planten en dierenwereld. Leuk dat je zo laat zien dat in het noorden het landschap echt niet saai is :)
Wens je een fijne week... groetjes, Janneke.

Rhondi said...

Hi Heidi
I love the pictures of the landscape, so different from anything we have here. That little plant is adorable and looke so much like cotton.
Hope you had a good weekend.
Hugs, Rhondi

BittersweetPunkin said...

Such pretty photos Heidi!I enjoy seeing oictures from your side of the World...LOL!
Hugs,
Robin

Mia said...

Lovely photos of beautiful countryside. And I do love that Common cotton grass, nothing common about it, though... it is so pretty. It is so lovely to see the countryside in the north of Holland, so very different from here. But I do love the countryside here too, and my favourite thing in the summer is to go into the woods to check on our sheep (they are crazing in the woods now, not on the pasture, which is cut and dried for winter feed).

Thank you (again) for your lovely comment in my blog. The studio is indeed the sewing room, where I spend a lot of time, especially during the autumn and winter. I have shown inside photos several times in my blog; it is where the sewing machine, the white cupboard with my quilts and fabric boxes, the wrought iron day bed and the little white armchair are (my very favourite place to be during the winter months).

Anonymous said...

Hello Heidi, I love cotton grass too. We have lots of it in the Moorlands. It reminds me of when my dad used to take us a run out when we were children and we always wanted to pick some.
Margaret and Noreen

Heidi said...

Hi Heidi, Sorry I haven't written in a while!...I just have to say this particular post of yours is one of my favorites!...The photos are so lovely & the text & your descriptions are just so beautifully thought out!...As I read it, I truly felt I was there!...Thank you so much!...Your friend, Heidi XO