Photo on Sunday 2021-06

 

The creatures I meet

On Saturday I did another walk. I knew I had to follow the purple (or red) signs for the 9 km route. So, I did and was back within 2 km. I should have followed the green route. So, I did and it was only 7 km. But, in total it was just over 9 so I was happy.

On my walk I saw many different birds and other assorted animals. One of them you met yesterday: the pig. He was in a pen with a mate, but the mate didn't want to turn around to get his or her photo taken. Gone is being known throughout the world!

I finally managed to get some of those smaller birds that continually elude me. I got a lovely sparrow and a great tit. I also managed to capture a very odd bird indeed. Mind you, that one did stay still at least!

But, I think my greatest ones were of the birds of prey. I managed to capture several different ones, although I am only showing you one of them now. The first one where he is sitting on a fence post and the second one in flight.

Another reason to keep walking with my camera in hand.

Photo on Sunday 2021-05

 

Just to make sure

My Dad said to write a follow-up on the alarm clock situation.

He fixed it. We don't know how or why it's fixed, but it is working again. Yes, he put in new batteries, but it should have worked without as well.

So, there is no need for the town waker to come past our house to wake me up early in the morning.

Job done.

Spring

A very cold walk along the River IJssel (pronounce Icel).
The floodplains were... flooded.

Originally the frosty period was to last at least two weeks. The country was up in arms about a skating race (200 km on ponds, rivers, canals and lakes; starting in the middle of the night), but it was not to be. It was not to be anyway due to Corona, but the weather gods decided one week of cold was plenty.

Ice skating on a pond in the "English Works".

So, on Sunday, plenty of people managed to get in trouble on or in the ice and by Monday the snow was starting to disappear and the ice was no more.

Like pearl-shaped diamonds, waiting to be collected

You may know I love snow and to see it so sad and dirty and melting is not nice. Mind you, I did manage to get plenty of walks in and even saw some ice skaters. I didn't join them, my skates have long since made their way to a family member who did like to skate and getting out on slippery ice was asking for trouble in my opinion.

The difference in temperature is great though. Last week we had nights with -14 degrees Celsius. This week on some days we are going up to +15, locally even +18 degrees! Those are proper spring/early summer temperatures. 

Find the cat.

I do still wish the snow and cold could have stayed a week or so longer...

All photos were taken during a really cold walk along the River IJssel last Saturday. 

Electric

You know how the company I work for went electric? Well, lately everything has gone electric. Sparks are literally flying.

The low temperatures combined with very dry and sunny weather have meant that there are sparks flying all over the house. Stroking Miss O? Tick tick tick. Putting on or taking off a sweater? Trrrrk. Getting out of bed? You guessed it! Sparks fly!

I asked my Mum whether those sparks could actually light a fire and according to her it was not. However, I am not so sure. There is a spark and that is all that's needed. 

Even if it may not be able to cause a fire, those sparks can cause other things. Like your hair to stand on end (as it's Corona long right now, I think gravity will win that battle). Or what happened the other night.

I woke up at 3.40 am and had to visit a certain place. As I got out of bed, there was a fairly large spark as body, wool blankets, and metal bed combined with dry air. After I had gotten back into bed and looked at the alarm clock, there was no time anymore. Yes, you read that right: the time was gone and instead there was what you can see in the first alarm clock photo. 

Once I was fully functioning again in the morning, I tried to reset it. Take out the plug and remove the back-up batteries. Then everything was plugged and put back in. Immediately the alarm came on and there was no way of stopping it. Plus the display didn't show properly either (see last photo). Out came the batteries, out came the plug. Everything back in and it was first photo time again. Not working.

Electric...

Walking with my Dad

Oh yes, I have been walking through the snow during the past week and on one day I even managed to get my Dad to come along as well. He found his old walking boots and off we went. 

For some reason though, we both knew early on, it wasn't going to be the long walk we were both ready for. Mainly because his shoes were falling apart. Literally. The sole was coming loose from one shoe and after about 1,5 km, it was off completely. Leaving my Dad to walk on one proper shoe and one without the sole. 

Well, I say one proper shoe, but that one as well was starting to come apart. It turns out, the last time my Dad had used those shoes was about five years ago... Not the best treatment, so once home, the laces were removed and the shoes thrown out.

The area we walked in, was an area in which I have walked a lot during this past week. What with driving conditions as they are/were and me not wanting to get stuck somewhere strange, this area was perfect. You can follow set routes, which I did partly, or you can just follow your own fancy, which I mostly did.

Walking with my Dad however was nice. Definitely something to repeat. As long as his shoes are in good working order!

Photo on Sunday 2021-04

Miss O definitely wasn't sure about this stuff and stayed in my footsteps all the way. She is not a winter kitty!

Snowdays

I cannot remember ever having a snowday. And now I have had two in a row. On the Sunday the weather was quite bad: fine snow but hard winds made for very tricky driving conditions. Not that I tried, as work was cancelled before I had gotten in the car. 

I decided that instead I would go for a walk. It was heaving with people who all had had the same idea as me. It was good to be out though and I saw several small birds (robins, tits, sparrows) trying to find some food under the snow. I also saw a hare as it was being chased by a dog. Its owner was calling it back in vain (the dog, not the hare). From what I saw the hare was winning, but then they were out of sight.

On Monday the wind had abated somewhat, but it was still snowing and the company I work for didn't think it a good idea to get out on the road in those conditions. Not for us drivers, not for the passengers. This time I had made it to work though and knew that the main roads were open, but there was still a lot of snow drift happening.

I went back via the storage facility where all my things are most of my things are and dug out my snow boots and several other good things to have in winter. Then I went home, changed out of my uniform and went for another walk. 

This time there were not that many people. Most were working (from home) or in school and I had the place more or less to myself. No hare to be seen this time, but I did see some birds again. Every time I got close to take a photo though, they flew off!

On Tuesday I again made my way to work and this time I was actually asked to do something as well. However, after a short break there wasn't a bus for me to use on a route, so they sent me home with a bus that was nearing empty. 

Today I was off and I did a short walk through the neighbourhood. Tomorrow I am back at work. Perhaps by then services will be back to normal. Most bigger roads are now clear and the bus routes usually get some extra attention.

I haven't built a snowman yet and I have seen very few anyway. The snow was so fine it doesn't really stick nicely. And even though it is below zero during the day, it is already starting to melt once the sun comes out. I did put out some sunflower seeds for the birds though, they just haven't seen them yet I think.

All photos and short video from my walk on Monday

Photo on Sunday 2021-03

 

As work was cancelled due to the weather, I thought I would go out for a walk...

Did you miss me?

Home is where I hang my hat...

You may have noticed I haven't been around for a while. As I told you in my last post, I was about to go on a short holiday in the Highlands of the Netherlands. Even though they prefer you to stay home, they do allow you to travel to another destination to have a short break there.

And this was that home. The open window was my room.

I took a laptop with me, but when I hooked it up, I couldn't get connected, so I hooked it down again and put it out of the way. I didn't really miss it either. But you want to know about what happened to me and the sights I saw. Well...

We were ready for this holiday!

Not much happened. A h-attack had started on the Thursday before my trip and apart from the Sunday and to a degree the Thursday during my trip, I had to deal with that. There was also quite large amounts of rain coming down on occasion, not making it that attractive to go out and walk.

Find the squirrel

On the Sunday I did though and I did a walk around the holiday home park. Through mud and fields, sloshing my way back to the cottage. It wasn't a long walk by any stretch of the imagination, but I had gone out. 

I knew the headache was coming back (it always does, 2-3 days on the left, 1-2 days off, 2-3 days on the right), so had to change my plans accordingly. So, instead of a walk a day, I would take it easy, hope the h wouldn't get too bad and go on my big walk abroad on Thursday. 

I could have made a fire as well, but thought it was too much work.

It didn't happen that way. On Monday the weather was crappy, the h was manageable, on Tuesday the h was there with a vengeance and stayed until Wednesday. Thursday did see me get out to walk, but I wasn't going to drive somewhere first, I was staying close to home.

Limburg is the province we were in.

Fortunately the weather was nice, so Brom and I decided to see whether we could find the castle that was supposed to be close by. Again I sloshed through wet and muddy fields, found a path I could follow and came to a standstill when I saw I had to walk through a big puddle. 

Carnaval would not be celebrated this year,
but there were plenty of signs this was Carnaval Country!

There was some grass on the verge, right next to the barb wire fence, but even so, after only a few steps, the grass went down and so did my foot. Right into the water. Well, in for a penny, in for a pound as they say, so I sloshed on and by the end, my shoe was nice and clean (ahem).

Aerwinkel Castle

After that the path was fine and I ended up in a small village. From there it was only a short distance to the castle and Brom and I weren't disappointed. Mind you, I say castle, but it was more of an elaborate manor or mansion really. A place that in the right light would look really spooky as well. We were both happy though and made our way back to the cottage.

This used to be a typical house for the area and it was my favourite.

The week was therefore mainly spent watching my DVD's of Eureka (a sci-fi show I loved), crocheting,
eating chocolate (I fulfilled that promise) and enjoying the me-time in a lovely and especially quiet part of the world. I also enjoyed the birds and the squirrels in the garden. 

So, even though I had a headache throughout, I did enjoy my time and it was nice to be able to relax on my own. Definitely something to be done again in the future. Perhaps even in the same place as I really enjoyed it there. 

View from the living area