Delft lanterns

As you may know, the city of Delft is famous for its Delftware or Delft pottery, also known as Delft Blue. This blue and white pottery was made in and around Delft from the 16th century.
At the St Agatha Square, in front of the Prinsenhof Museum, are 3 porcelain covered streetlights. They were placed here as part of the cultural exchange program between the cities of Delft and Jingdezhen, that started in 2008. The porcelain was painted by the artists Wendy Steenks from Delft and Ling Yun from China.

Summer heat

Both images are from our hike last Sunday morning in the rural area of the Westerwolde region. We were happy to walk in the shade with the tropical conditions that we had during the weekend :)

The heat made most people stay home I think, as we saw almost no cyclists or other hikers.

I'm linking to All Seasons.

Bench

This nice wooden bench belonged to one of the stalls of the antique market (I think) across the street that day in Delft.

Reed plaiting

This traditional barn in the country village of Gees has a thatched roof combined with reed plaiting. Though it has mainly a decorative function now, it was once done to save money; wood was very expensive and this way less wood was needed. The use of straw, plaited and put just underneath the roof where rain water didn't do much damage, seemed a good solution. And it didn't just look nice, it also ventilated the barn.
Nowadays reed is used, which is much stronger.

I'm linking to Tom's Barn Collective.

Dwingelderveld sheep

This is one of two flock of sheep that graze the grounds of the Dwingelderveld National Park, a 4,000 hectares big area with mainly mosses, grasses and wet heathland.

The Drenthe Heath Sheep (Drents Heideschaap in Dutch) is a domesticated breed of sheep originating in the Netherlands. It is raised primarily for vegetation management, and is said to be the oldest surviving breed of sheep in Europe.

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

Gees village

Gees is a small and idyllic country village in the province of Drenthe, and it is where we began our hike yesterday. Along the quiet roads are many farm houses with thatched roofs, like the one on the photo. Because part of Gees is a protection area, new buildings are scarce and so the village managed to maintain its original character...

...where apparently time stood still. Look at this rusty bicycle! Even though the tires and basket seem in rather good shape, I wonder if it is still in use..

Delft central square

The photo was taken last Saturday.

Coffee, cake, lunch

Want coffee, cake, lunch? Follow the cupcake :)

Photo taken in the city centre of Delft.

I'm linking to signs, signs.

Génestet church

The nice thing about a historical town is that there are small alleys to find and hidden inner yards to discover if you look well. In Delft we found this gate with a medallion portrait picturing the clergyman and poet P.A. de Génestet, who worked in the Remonstrant church that was named after him and that we found behind the gate.

The Génestet church is a neo-renaissance building from 1896, designed by L. Couvée and built on the site of a so-called 'secret church' from 1639. A secret -or clandestine- church ("schuilkerk" in Dutch) was a house of worship used by religious minorities, and was tolerated on condition that it was discreet and not conducted in public spaces. Clandestine churches were commonly built inside houses or other buildings, and do not show a public facade to the street.

Terrace on the water

Yesterday's photo had a boat restaurant in Delft, this photo shows another one. With a canal in front, and no room for tables and chairs on the pavement, a boat seems a perfect alternative for a terrace during the Spring and Summer season!

View from a bridge

With its canals, historical buildings and narrow streets, Delft has pretty views. A boat trip on the canals is very popular among tourists.

Delft railway station

We visited the beautiful historical city of Delft today; Delft is located between the cities of The Hague and Rotterdam. It has a new railway station that opened in 2015 and which was designed by Mecanoo, an international architecture firm that originated in Delft. On the photo is the main hall, the stairs lead to the underground platforms.

Allium in bloom

Following up on a blogpost from last weekend showing an allium bulb about to open (see here), we were treated on these beauties a few days later.

I'm linking to Floral Friday Fotos.

The light bulb in a tree

This light bulb has a tiny solar cell on top, and lights up like this in the evening hanging in our magnolia tree. With yesterday´s high temperatures I sat in the garden until 10:30 pm, very relaxing! :)
As you may have noticed there is moisture inside the bulb, and after a rain shower last week the lower half of the bulb was filled with water so I'm not sure it will make through the Summer, but we'll see :))

Road signs for cyclists

These are the kind of signs that we see here at intersections of bicycle paths: the red/white ones point the direction and distance to nearby villages, the white/green ones are marked cycling routes, the round blue/white is a traffic sign saying that this road is mandatory for bicycles and mopeds, and the yellow/black sign indicates that there is currently a detour.

I´m linking to signs, signs.

Odoorn ice-skating rink

On foot from the Schapenpark nature area back to the village of Odoorn we passed the skating rink and canteen belonging to the local ice-skating club 'Schoonmeer'. During the Winter when it is cold enough this area will be flooded so a shallow field of ice will appear. Surrounded by forest it must look nice when everything is frozen.

An ice-skater made from tubes looks out over the field. According to the text underneath the sculpture was most likely put here in 2001 at the 75th anniversary of the ice-skating club. It says:  "1926-2001 IJsvereniging Schoonmeer".

Decorative tractor

A tractor as decorative item in our local garden center.

Allium

Yesterday the allium bulbs -also called 'capsules'- were still completely closed. Today they look like this... I will keep a close eye on them! :)

Happy Sunday.

Country lane

An old and quiet lane leading to the village of Odoorn, with a cobblestone road and bicycle path.

Potatoes

Neat rows from which potatoes will start to grow soon.

In the country

One of the few houses along the Boswachter Meelkerlaan, near the Schapenpark nature area and the village of Odoorn. It must be wonderful to live there with all the nature around.

Neighbourhood watch

This sign when you enter the village of Odoorn tells that they have a WhatsApp Neighbourhood Watch. Villagers who see a suspicious situation or person, call the emergency number 112 first and then send a message to the whatsapp group members.

I'm linking to signs, signs.

Update: the round sign means that the bicycle path ends here and cyclists should continue on the road 😀

Phew!

This bench along the Hunebedweg, an unpaved road near Odoorn, repeats what it probably hears most when people go sit on it: "hè hè", meaning: "phew"!

Pink!

We drove past some fields with flowering tulips yesterday and of course stopped for a few photos. Behind the treeline on the horizon is the village of Nieuw Buinen.

Isn't the pink colour beautiful?

I'm linking to All Seasons.

Road bicycle race

We started our hike in the village of Odoorn today and happened to be there at the right time to witness the cycling event ´Dorpenomloop Drenthe´, a road bicycle race through the villages of the province of Drenthe. They started in the city of Assen, and still had about an hour to go from where we saw them in Odoorn. These five men were the leaders.

Balloohoeve

This dog was curled up at the entrance of the farmer´s shop belonging to the Balloohoeve, a care farm in the village of Balloo. The goods that are for sale -like meat, vegetables and eggs- are all 'home-made' so very fresh. From April they also sell coffee, tea and, what we enjoyed very much: ice-cream.

A cat was watching the people who showed interest in these boxes filled with lettuce and other vegetable plants. At the moment I took the photo he or she was getting ready to jump off so I was just in time :)

I'm linking to Saturday's Critters. Happy weekend!

Liberation Day

Following Remembrance Day on 4 May, today is Liberation Day ('Bevrijdingsdag' in Dutch) on which we celebrate the end of the occupation by Nazi Germany during World War II.

The photo was made last month and shows one of many flowerbeds in Spring Garden Keukenhof. I'm linking to Floral Friday Fotos.

Remembrance Day

As it is May 4 today I have one more post from the Westerbork Memorial Centre and former camp grounds (see also my previous posts here and here). This is The National Westerbork Memorial, a permanent reminder of its sad history and one of the blackest pages in the history of our country. It is situated at the spot where, during WWII, the railroad from the town of Hooghalen to the camp terminated. After having cut through the entire camp, the train came to a standstill here. (read more on their website)

The memorial signifies the dismay that results from realising what has happened to the Jewish people. The curled up rails express this despair. The memorial was designed in 1970 by Ralph Prins, himself a former prisoner in this camp.

May 4 is 'dodenherdenking' or 'Remembrance of the Dead' in the Netherlands. Every year, people dedicate 2 minutes of silence at 8pm to pay their respects to soldiers and civilians who died during World War II, as well as other military conflicts and peace-keeping missions.

Balloërveld

Our hike from last Sunday went through the Balloërveld, a nature area in the province of Drenthe with heather fields and shifting-sand.

It's a popular area for hiking and also for cyclists who ride an ATB. I read on Wikipedia that in the 20th century the Dutch Defense Ministry managed the area for a period of time and used it for army trainings.

Waiting

Most farm lands here look like this at the moment: neat rows from which potatoes, corn, beets, .. , will be growing soon. This photo was taken last Sunday near the village of Rolde.

I'm linking to All Seasons.

Tulip fields

We don't have many 'bulb fields' in our part (the north east) of the Netherlands, so when we see one it´s a real treat and even more so when it happens unexpectedly, like yesterday during our hike. Aren't the bright red tulips beautiful?

This is just north of the village of Rolde, near Assen. If you look well you can see the Rolde church tower appearing above the trees on the right half of the photo.