Sunday walk

We made a wonderful walk this morning in the conservation area Het Dal van de Ruiten Aa (The Valley of the Ruiten Aa), located between the villages Smeerling and Vlagtwedde in the south of the province of Groningen.

Lots of water everywhere due to the rains of the past days.

Leeuwarden city-canal

This is the Stadsgracht ('City-Canal') with the Willemskade ('William's Quay') at both sides, located in the heart of Leeuwarden. On the right is the pancake-ship restaurant that I showed you earlier this month.

I'm linking to Weekend Reflections.

Enjoy your weekend!

Huis De Beurs

Huis De Beurs located at the Akerkhof is a café/restaurant in the city centre of Groningen. The building dates partly from the 19th century. In the early years the café was popular with traders on the Korenbeurs, located near the café. The Korenbeurs (or: Grain Exchange) was originally used as an exchange for food grain trade.

Bicycle parking

Maybe it is a bit hard to see with the reflection in the window, but inside this building at the St Jansstraat in Groningen is a bicycle parking. And even though I´m not sure it is a public parking, with the images on the glass it can't be missed by those who want to leave their bike here.

I'm linking to signs, signs.

3D printed steel

Two more photos taken at Joris Laarman Lab, the exhibition showing works created by Dutch designer, inventor and artist Joris Laarman (1979). Several days ago I posted the puzzle chairs of the Makerchair project, assembled from bits and pieces made by a 3D printer. This round and twisting "thing" of steel was also the product of a 3D printer.

A unique project where Laarman is currently working on is a 3D printed steel bridge, that will be placed over an Amsterdam canal when it is finished. On the wall you can see an image of the bridge.
Imagine crossing a 'printed' bridge! For more information click HERE.

TURV

When we passed this newly renovated farm with its thatched roof in the small village of Exloo last December, my eye caught the word 'TURV'. Turv?? I made a few photos and later searched on the web what it meant. First I learned that this farm was built in 1722! And since very recently it's the location for the Turv Exloo Distillery, hence the word on the roof. The Smakman family will produce their own local whisky, gin, and wodka here.

Oh and before I forget, 'Turv' is an old spelling of the Dutch word 'turf', in English 'turf' or 'peat'. I like how they made the word come out of the roof.

From white to green again

After a cold week (for our standards anyway) with -11°C (12°F) early morning last Thursday, someone somewhere thought it was enough and temperatures went up to +8°C (46°F) yesterday. Bye bye snow!

Happy Sunday :)

Makerchairs

Dutch designer, inventor and artist Joris Laarman (1979) currently exhibits in the Groninger Museum with a selection of his furniture that combines art, science and technology. These chairs for instance are from the Makerchair series and were created using 3D printers. The Puzzle Chair consists of about 100 parts that have been assembled into a functional and eye-catching piece of furniture. I think they look absolutely great!

'Joris Laarman Lab', as the exhibition is called, is Laarman's first major solo survey exhibition. From here the items will go on an international tour that will include Paris and New York.
Check out his official website HERE.

"DAVID BOWIE is"

I had a great time visiting "David Bowie is" in the Groninger Museum today. It's an extraordinary exhibition with lots of music, original costumes, photos, set designs, album covers, handwritten lyrics and much more. It wasn't allowed to take photographs inside, but I took this one at the entrance.

The news that David Bowie passed away on the 10th of January came as a shock, also for the Groninger Museum obviously as their exhibition had been running since December 11. They immediately responded to the increasing run for tickets by organising extra opening hours.
The two ladies on the photo are signing a condolences book in the museum lobby.

Ugly sweater-day

Driving home from work at the end of the afternoon there was an item on the radio that today, January 21, was officially declared as "ugly sweater-day". I'm not sure if it's just a thing here in the Netherlands or are there more countries that are familiar with this?

Personally I am really okay with any kind of sweater that someone likes to wear, but then I remembered this photo from the 'Knitting!' exhibition in the Fries Museum in Leeuwarden. How about the sweater on the right? ;) Or the "suit" on the left, haha..

Winter garden

A photo taken earlier this week, in our back garden.

Church windows

One of our favourite hikes through the region of Westerwolde passes this Reformed Church of Sellingen. Though the church was built in the 14th century, the windows that you see on the photo were placed during the 17th century. Traces of older windows can still be seen, as well as former entrance doors in the west and south church walls.

I have posted several photos from this church before, if you would like to see them please click HERE and HERE.

Railway

Another photo taken yesterday (sunny!) afternoon near Stadskanaal. The railway belongs to the tourist steamtrain route Veendam - Musselkanaal.

Juliana Park

We had some snowfall yesterday; not all that much but enough to make everything outside look fabulous! This photo was taken earlier today in the Juliana Park in Stadskanaal.

Around the King's tree

When crown-prince Willem-Alexander became King of the Netherlands in April 2013, 408 Dutch towns planted a lime-tree. To plant a 'koningslinde' or 'King's lime-tree' on the occasion of an abdication is a national tradition since Princess Wilhelmina became Queen in 1898. These trees get a special place and often have a small fence or benches around them.
The leaf-shaped benches around the 'King's-tree' in Leeuwarden, here on this photo, are at the Wirdumerdijk in front of the library.

Pancake ship

'Pancake ships´, floating pancake restaurants, can be found in various cities with canals all over the Netherlands. We eat our pancakes, known as pannenkoeken in Dutch, mostly at lunch and dinner. The ones served in a restaurant are quite large: 30 cm (12 inch) or so. Toppings and fillings can be sweet or savoury, like sliced apples, cheese, ham, pineapple, bacon, alone or a combination. Popular on top is sugar, or 'stroop': a thick suger beet-based syrup.

The photos show 't Pannekoekschip at the Willemskade in Leeuwarden. My personal favourite is a pancake with sliced apples and powdered sugar on top. How do you like your pancake?

Synagogue inside and out

Earlier this week I showed a few pictures from inside the synagogue in Groningen. My third and last post (for now) about this building shows the interior as seen from the hallway on the first floor. Nowadays the synagogue is used for all kinds of events, like concerts, exhibitions, lectures etc.

And this is the view from outside in the Folkingestraat. If you would like to read more about the synagogue please click HERE.

The first ice cream recipe

A sign on the grounds of Mount Rushmore National Memorial (South Dakota). photo taken last year September. Maybe it's not that important for the world to know, but a nice fact to read about I think.

Linking to signs, signs.

1989

A late afternoon view to the chimney and weather vane on one of the houses in our street; a photo I took last week. 1989 is most likely the year in which the house was built.

Synagogue windows

I'm following up on yesterday's post with 2 more photos taken inside the synagogue at the Folkingestraat in the city of Groningen.

How about these windows, don't they take you back in time immediately?

Synagogue Groningen

The synagogue at the Folkingestraat in Groningen was built in 1906 and is known to have oriental features in its windows and arcades. This photo shows the space on the first floor where the women took their seat behind a balustrade, after entering the synagogue through a side entrance.

During WWII the Germans used the synagogue as a storage for confiscated radios; the metal that the radios contained was then used in the German war industry. After the war the synagogue fell into decay, however in the late 1970s it was decided to restore the building.
After walking by the synagogue so many times without stopping, I spontaneously decided to go in one afternoon last month. It was worth it!

Blue tit

One of the most common birds seen in our garden is the blue tit, and they are a joy to watch. Both pictures were taken last week, at my unexpected day off from work due to heavy icy rains. (I'm glad that's over by the way!)

Taking part in Saturday´s Critters.

Enjoy your weekend :)

Apartment building windows

This apartment building at the Willemskade in Leeuwarden caught my attention because of the many windows which seem all identical in shape and size.

Bye bye winter... for now

Another icy day, however it will be the last one. For now. We have been promised WARM rain tonight which will end the icy and dangerous conditions in the north of our country. Yay! So let´s hope things will get normal again soon! :)
This photo was made late this afternoon when daylight was already fading; it shows the pattern that the snow made on our garage roof. 

Parking spots for women

Apart from the big parking place behind me on the photo, and next to a parking spot for disabled people, this supermarket in Coevorden also has three parking spots especially for women!  ;))

Linking to signs, signs.

Frosted glass

View through the ice on the outside of our bedroom window facing east.

Icy!

It's the third day in a row with icy rains in the northern part of the Netherlands. Since last night there is a 'code red' indicating that weather conditions are severe and the general advice is not to go out unless you really must. I decided to stay home from work today. This photo is from our driveway earlier this morning.

I'm linking to Our World Tuesday.

More Harrekrammele

Two more items from the exibition 'Harrekrammele' by Machiel Braaksma, currently in the Fries Museum in Leeuwarden. As I mentioned yesterday, Braaksma takes all kinds of household objects to create new things. Isn't it amazing that a thermos, a spoon and spatula make a locomotive...

...and that a battery and safety-pins become a grashopper!

There's more about Machiel Braaksma HERE.

Harrekrammele

Another fun exhibition currently in the Leeuwarden Fries Museum is 'Harrekrammele', with works from Frisian artist Machiel Braaksma. He uses existing objects for his new creations and assemblages. Harrekrammele is an illustrated storybook in Frisian and Chinese for adults and children. The exhibition displays the book and some of the models he made for this project.
Note that the locomotive is created from an iron!

The train station 'Harrekrammele' is made from cardboard, with crackers as folding-doors...

.. and on the station platform a family is waiting in line..

More about the exhibition and the meaning of the word Harrekrammele HERE.

Coevorden water tower

The water tower in Coevorden dates from 1914 and was designed by architect J.P. Hazeu. The 32,2 meter high tower is located near the Van Heutszpark, the town's park. The structure was thoroughly renovated in 2004 and was given the status national heritage site. In 2014 the outside was taken on which made it look brand-new again.

Since I grew up in the town of Coevorden and lived there for 35 years I must have rode this road (Dr Picardtlaan) a zillion times by bicycle. Lots of memories!

Have a wonderful weekend :)

Gelukkig Nieuwjaar!

Happy New Year!

Wishing you good health and happiness.

And I would like to thank each and everyone of you for visiting my blog so frequently in the past year and all your kind comments. Let´s keep photographing! :)

The picture shows a view through a round window made of ice, to a panda ice sculpture in the background. Taken at the Zwolle "Journey Through a Frozen World" exhibition last month.