Amsterdam, Day 6

Amsterdam! It is an amazing city: Canals, gates, bikes, prostitutes, people of every race and every nationality speaking every kind of language, cobblestones, one of the world's best concert halls, famous paintings, houseboats, the smell of pot, beautiful boutiques, flowers, funny souvenirs, a palace, and swans... That's a lot to experience in one day!

Harkstede, Day 5

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.

Friesland, Luttelgeest, Rouveen and Staphorst - Day 4

Today I had a free day and Lya took me sightseeing. We drove through the province of Friesland, which has many lovely farms decorated with this symbol of two swans:




This is the way willows are traditionally trimmed in the Netherlands:




The Friesland coal black horses:




We were very lucky to spot some storks! Lya says that they are rare, but making a comeback in the Netherlands. This stork was gathering sticks for its nest.




Here are two storks nesting:




These photos are in black and white because I am a total klutz. I was so busy looking at all the amazing things around me that I tripped and fell, and must have pushed a button that switched off the color! (And yes, I'm okay.)
Next, we drove to Luttelgeest to de Orchideeen Hoeve - een Tropisch Paradijs (the Orchid House - A Tropical Paradise). There were many enormous greenhouses in this area, growing many kinds of flowers.




















Lya snaps some photos of the orchids:




There was also a big area filled with hundreds of butterflies.












This is a fragment of a blue Morpho butterfly wing. There were lots flying around, but they were very elusive.
















The orchid greenhouses were lined with antique tools and farm implements, including this cookie mold:




And old wooden shoes:




In the afternoon, we visited two small towns known for their traditional farmhouses, Rouveen and Staphorst.




Houses here have shutters and doors painted green.








Here is a woman in traditional dress, on bicycle:




Workers re-thatching a roof:




As the roof gets older, it sometimes grows a lovely mossy coat:




Nearly all of the houses are impeccably neat, clean, and well cared for, but I found one house up for sale that had wonderful old paint and rust.












On the way home, we had to wait for a boat to pass the drawbridge over a canal:




More tomorrow!