Today, on the way back to Lya's house, we stopped at a farm in Harkstede so I could take photos of new spring lambs. As I was standing near the enclosure by the road, the farmer came out and Lya explained that I was visiting from America, and thought his lambs were beautiful. He said that these lambs -- born about 14 days ago -- were not the youngest ones, and offered to take us around back to see the four-day-old lambs.
So we hiked back a bit and found twin lambs with a ewe. The mother was quite skittish to have us so close to her newborns, and the lambs, sensing her nervousness, started jumping about in such a joyful way that it brought tears to my eyes!
So that I could get a better photo, the farmer picked up the lambs and held them for me. He was obviously -- and rightfully -- very proud of them.
He was so kind to take the time to show me his lambs. He said that they were special breed of sheep -- Tesselaar -- that come from a Dutch island called Texel. They produce an excellent wool.
This afternoon before dinner, I took a walk to the old church in Harkstede. It dates from the mid 1600s. It is very tall, and made of the red brick native to this area. The windows are clear glass, and it has a lovely frieze on the front, with a painted frieze below.
The graveyard had beautiful stones with ornate script, many carved with willow trees.
Tomorrow, we are headed for Amsterdam for a few days. If I have a WiFi connection, I will post from there.
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The lambs are so cute, what a wonderful farm and opportunity. I always love to look for old churches on trips, great photos shoots for future projects.
ReplyDeleteDebbie
Don't forget to visit De Zaanse Schans.
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to the coming weekend workshops.
Bea Visser
Those lambs are adorable! I loveit when they start leaping around, it is so cute! I have often seen willow trees on old tombstones here in New England. There are several other "motifs" that are common too. I wonder what they mean? Anyone know?
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