The sitting tree

Do even trees need to sit down for a rest?.... Guess so ;)

Linking to All Seasons.

Beer Museum murals

During our city trip to Bruges last November we also visited the Beer Museum. Inside they tell about the history of beer, from it´s beginnings until the present day, beer in Bruges, Trappist beers, beer types and brewing processes. Even though I don´t like to drink beer, the museum was very much worth a visit! On the inside walls were several murals that showed different types of beers.

The Bruges Beer Museum is located in the centre, in a historical building at the market square. If you like to read more click here.

I´m linking to Monday Mural.

Molenveld

View across the 'Molenveld' heather fields near the village of Exloo. Whenever it's really cold or a bit rainy, and the idea of going out isn't all that attractive but we still want some fresh air, we like to walk the path surrounding this open area, which takes about an hour in total.

Great spotted woodpecker #2

Following up on yesterday's blogpost with a few more photos of the great spotted woodpecker (grote bonte specht in Dutch), in the light of the setting sun, a few days ago in our back garden. Look at the crumbs on it's beak.

A power nap in between bites.
And...

..gone.

I'm linking to Eileen's Saturday's Critters.

Great spotted woodpecker #1

So I (lucky girl! :)) caught a great spotted woodpecker on camera while it was feeding itself from a jar filled with suet and mixed seeds, a few meters from our living room window.

What?

Oh, okay.. 

The bird sat there for about 15 minutes, and I literally took loads of pictures so the chance of ending up with some good ones would be bigger haha :).  A few more tomorrow!

A country road

A sunny view on a deserted country road called 'Groene Zoom'. Photo taken earlier this month on a Sunday.

The ever smiling sun

This photo was made last week, when this sun hanging on our garden shed caught my eye.. White frozen spiderwebs and bird poo, but still winking and smiling! 😅

Quiet

A quiet country road not far from our home. Not accessible for motorised vehicles it's a pleasure to walk here.
I took this photo earlier this month on a cold and sunny Sunday.

I'm linking to All Seasons.

Monday mural

I still have some murals to show you from the outside walls of the former sugar factory in Groningen, photographed last December. This one has plugs, pipes, dripping taps, several faces, and is that a black cat in the bottom right corner?..

I´m linking to Monday Mural.

Pink sky

A colourful sky just before sunset on a cold day last week.

In the country

A quiet country road near Stadskanaal, part of our walking route last Sunday.

And along the road we saw a couple of horses walking outside, as well as a flock of sheep in the background.

Network

Looking up to the complex network of snowy oak tree branches in the back of our garden.

Soft rime

I am still amazed about the needle-shaped white frost that we've been seeing here the past few days. There was an item about it on yesterday's tv news, it is a phenomenon that we call "ruige rijp" in Dutch, and in English "soft rime".

Soft rime is a white ice deposition that forms when the water droplets in light freezing fog or mist freeze to the outer surfaces of objects, with calm or light wind. The fog freezes usually to the windward side of tree branches, or any other solid objects. (from Wikipedia)
Both photos were taken yesterday in our garden.

Winter wonderland

This is a photo from yesterday with blue skies. Then yesterday evening the fog returned..

 .. making the white frost on the branches grow even thicker. In Dutch we call this 'rijp'. I took these 2 photos earlier today in our garden. It is still -5°C/23°F but no wind so really OK.

Isn´t this amazing?

Living in a painting

Snow, freezing conditions and yesterday's thick fog made today's world look like a painting. I took this photo at sunrise this morning, when it was still -7°C (19.4°F).

I'm linking to All Seasons. Happy Tuesday!

Tracks

Once there is snow it becomes clear that you're not the first one on a small country road that day..

Searching for a treasure

People searching with a metal detector is not an unusual sight in our region; the man on the left apparently found something that deserved a better look.. We have a television show called 'Tussen Kunst en Kitsch', the Dutch version of the British 'Antiques Roadshow', in which we sometimes see the very lucky ones who searched like the men on the photo.

So we're having a beautiful sunny Sunday, I took this photo earlier today. The snow on the fields is from last evening.

Cow reflection

Looking through my photos I found this one from Spring last year. Isn't it funny that photos can bring back vivid memories of things that you otherwise would have forgotten because they are totally unimportant? This is such a thing: whenever we pass a herd of cows during a hike I stop to see if I can make a nice photo. Cows come out so well in photographs. And as curiosity is part of their characters, they often come and see who is photographing them :)) 

So this is the original photo, taken near the village of Haren. I remember that several cows came hurrying towards us here, and I took a photo of this one when it's reflection was visible. 

I'm linking to Eileen's Saturday's Critters and James' Weekend Reflections.

Have a great weekend!

Winter weather

As was expected we had snowfall overnight. Not that much, but I like the look of it. And more winter weather is predicted for next week.

Both photos were taken this morning.

Happy Friday!

PINK

 

Awaiting demolition within several months, this building at the corner Grote Markt/Poelestraat in Groningen was painted pink last November. And not just a little bit pink but REALLY pink. For the new building that is going to arise a choice will have to be made from 3 designs, in which the inhabitants of the city also have a vote.

Why pink? I don't know. In fact a lot of people don't know and many of them are "not amused" by it. But according to the city council, the fact that the paint job "suddenly" happened without being announced in front should make clear that Groningen is a continuously changing city. The text in Dutch says:

Do you ever stop to realise?  

The city never stops 

And neither do I

Rainbow crosswalk

Like a number of other cities around the world, with this 'regenboogzebrapad' or 'rainbow crosswalk' the city of Groningen expresses its tolerance towards the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities. It was painted last October on the occasion of 'National Coming Out Day' on October 11.
The crosswalk is located at the Ubbo Emmiussingel near the Groninger Museum, on the route from the Central Station to the city centre.

Hiking

Another image from the Exloo forest last Sunday morning.

I'm linking this post to All Seasons.

Exloo forest

A photo taken yesterday morning during our hike in the forest near the village of Exloo. It was 1°C (34°F), a bit foggy, with a tiny little bit of snow left. Perfect day for a hike, it felt good!

The Thinker by Rodin

This plaster model of ´The Thinker´ by Auguste Rodin (1840-1917) is a huge and powerful sculpture. It shows a nude male figure sitting on a rock with his chin resting on one hand as though deep in thought. It was initially a figure for a doorway surround called ´The Gates of Hell´, based on the epic poem ´The Divine Comedy´ by Dante.
The plaster sculpture is part of the exhibition 'Rodin - Genius at Work', currently at the Groninger Museum until April 30.

Rodin exhibition

Last Thursday I went to Groningen to visit the exhibition 'Rodin - Genius at Work' at the Groninger Museum. Auguste Rodin (1840-1917) is the greatest and most influential sculptor of the modern era. His works do not simply represent idealised forms of the human body, but also bear traces of the creative process. (from the museum site)

With this female torso sitting in an earthenware pot beautifully placed in a glass bell, and with the sculptures on the photo above all put in glass displays, there were nice shadows and reflections so I am contributing this post to James´ Weekend Reflections.

Another post about Rodin tomorrow. Happy Saturday!

Sensible

I saw this group of children arrive at the central square in Groningen, the location of the ice-rink that I showed you yesterday. Kids with sensible parents as they were all wearing safety-vests.

Groningen ice-rink

School holidays are until the end of this week so busy times at the ice-rink on the central square in Groningen city.

You don't have to bring your own ice-skates, they can be rent (the blue ones). And no worries if you don't know how to skate, there are chairs available to hold on to..
Well, chair or no chair, in my eyes they are all very brave! :)

Self-portrait

From one of the smaller temporary exhibitions that I viewed in the Drents Museum last year is this self-portrait by Dutch painter Henny van der Vegt. It's called "Self-portrait with Anna Karenina", which is a truly beautiful name for a rabbit I think :)
The portrait is an oil painting from 1996 on a camembert cheese box.

At the German border

Taking this photo I am standing at one of the smaller border crossings just outside the village of Coevorden; behind the watch tower is Germany. The border follows the water of the Schoonebeekerdiep to the left. I don't think the watch-tower has had any other function than a bird-watch, or maybe a deer-watch.
Maybe you remember seeing the sculpture on the left of the photo, it's the 'Waterzwaard' or 'Water Sword' I told you about before, see my post HERE.

Face mural

Another mural from the wall of the former sugar factory in Groningen. On the right is the shark mural that I showed you earlier.

This green/blue/purple flower face is also a beauty!

I'm linking to Monday Mural.

Happy New Year!

Happy 2017!! 

I wish you much love, health, happiness, and inspiration in the coming year.

Following up on yesterday's post these are two more shots of the robin from last Friday. I wonder if the little bird was aware that he or she was the subject of a real photo shoot! Mmmm, guess not haha.. :)