A bench..

..and a tree as well.

Animal drawings

Drawings on the wall surrounding a skateboard area next to De Kwinne youth center in Stadskanaal.

The artist obviously likes animals :)    I'm linking to Sami's Colourful World.

Sunday hike

Two photos from earlier today, and what a glorious day we had. A bit of a cold start with 0°C (32°F) though the bright sun made it a very pleasant hike.

Trees are rapidly losing their leaves now, like the beeches here on the left.

Fresh milk

During one of our hikes recently we passed a dairy farm along the Oranjekanaal in Zuidveld, near Orvelte. The sign saying 'melktap' ('milk pump') caught our attention..

.. so we had a closer look and discovered a 24/7 self-service organic milk device..

..and even a place to sit and rest. Isn't that nice? We went along without taking a bottle of milk in our rucksack, but I'm sure many passers-by do so.

Sugar beets harvest

Two weeks ago the sugar beets on the field behind our back garden were harvested. Being able to watch this from so close is one of the advantages of living in the country! :)

The sugar beets will be transported by truck to a commercial producer of sucrose (table sugar) in Hoogkerk, about 50 km from here. Last year 600 million kilos of sugar were produced in the Hoogkerk factory, though due to this year's dry Summer it is expected to be less this season.

An angel's wing..

..waving at us?

Westerwolde in Autumn

Both photos are from our hike last Sunday in the Westerwolde region. Here we are following a path along the Ruiten Aa Canal..

..and we were enjoying Autumn colours all the way :)   I'm linking to All Seasons.

Rusty bike

You might think this bicycle doesn't have a caring owner, though as it was parked in 'museum village' Orvelte it is likely that the bicycle isn't meant anymore for daily use.

Market Street

Driving though the village of Musselkanaal.

Schoonebeek Heath Sheep

We passed this flock of sheep in a field near the village of Orvelte. Their long and woolly tails are typical for the 'Schoonebeeker heideschaap' or 'Schoonebeek Heath Sheep', a Dutch domestic breed. They are strong though gentle, often mottled and with black spots on the head.

Howdy!

I'm linking to Saturday's Critters.

Aster

This type of Aster blooms in September/October and is called 'herfstaster' in Dutch. (lit: Autumn Aster). I took this photo about 2 weeks ago in our garden. Did you know that the name Aster comes from an ancient Greek word meaning "star"? (from Wikipedia)

I'm linking to Floral Friday Fotos.

Iron Age farm

Following up on yesterday's post about the village of Orvelte: This is a reconstruction of a farm as they could be found in the north east of the Netherlands during the Iron Age. It's a 'longhouse' in which both people and livestock lived. The lay-out of the building seems more or less similar to the farm I showed you yesterday: divided in 3 parts.

This particular farmhouse was built in 1978 using the model of a pre-historic farm that was discovered in archeological findings. Volunteers renovated the structure in 2003. All materials that were used to build it come from the region. There's an entrance on both sides, and inside it was empty and dark.

Orvelte farmhouse

A farm in the small village of Orvelte.

And the same farmhouse from the other side. Orvelte presents itself as a 'museum village', as there are several historical sights like a saw mill and a blacksmith. A number of farmhouses and other buildings are open to the public -which wasn't the case though with the farmhouse on the photo.

Barns

A farm house with 2 barns in Zuidveld near the village of Orvelte, photographed from the sand road that we walked on across the Oranjekanaal ('Orange Canal') yesterday afternoon. I'm linking to Tom's Barn Collective.

The Binoculars

View to the 'Rabotower', the Rabobank Executive Centre, in Utrecht. The 2 connected towers were built between 2007 and 2011 and are also known as 'The Binoculars'.

KreaDoe hobby fair

A few impressions from my visit yesterday at the Kreadoe, an annular 5-day hobby fair for creative inspiration and DIY, in Utrecht.

At many stands you could see how things were made and what to do with the many different items..

.. or you could take part in one of the workshops. These ladies were making fun cakes at a 'creative baking' workshop.

Autumn chores

The public works-department came by yesterday to clean the (dry) ditch across the street.