End of year shopping

The Kleine Kerkstraat in Leeuwarden.

Roof tops

View from the top floor of The Princessehof National Museum of Ceramics in Leeuwarden.

KLM houses

For a long time, KLM has been giving every passenger flying business class a miniature earthenware Delft Blue house filled with gin. Each house is the likeness of an existing Dutch house. Every year, KLM releases a new miniature around 7 October, on the occasion of its founding date in 1919. Meanwhile, the Delftware houses have become true collectors' items. There are 93 different types, if you'd like to read more click HERE.
The collection above belongs to The Princessehof National Museum of Ceramics in Leeuwarden, that I visited today. I have never travelled business class so I haven't got any myself :)

Chihuly Icicle Tower

'Chandeliers (like the one on the photo in a previous post) and Towers are perhaps the best example of Chihuly's desire to mass and control color on a grand scale. Unlike traditional chandeliers, they reflect light instead of emitting it.' (Museum info)

Go see the exhibition in the Groninger Museum if you have the chance. Happy Friday! :)

Foggy countryside

Two more photos from yesterday. Here we are on foot on our way to Bronneger, a hamlet near Borger.

The weather still allows cattle to be outside.

Foggy day

Fine conditions for a hike or (as for the gentleman coming towards us) a bicycle ride and get some fresh air! Photo taken earlier today on a quiet country road just outside the village of Borger.

Merry Christmas

Fijne kerstdagen

Merry Christmas

Chihuly Icicle Chandelier

The current major exhibition in the Groninger Museum exists of 16 installations of sensational glass creations by Americal artist Dale Chihuly (1941). His series of Chandeliers and Towers are assembled with multiple hand-blown glass forms mounted to a steel armature.

More to follow in the coming days. Check the link to the museum's website HERE.

Piano

Next to the Christmas tree in the hall of Groningen Central Station -see yesterday's photo- was a piano. This girl played for about 15 minutes, while her friend encouraged her and sang along. It was very sweet.

Lights

At Groningen Central Station.

Zuiderdiep

Bicycle path along the Zuiderdiep in Nieuw Buinen, the final photo from last Sunday.

Noorderdiep

On foot, following the bicycle path along the Noorderdiep in Nieuw Buinen.

Westerdiep view

The homes at the Westerdiep (see yesterday's post) in Nieuw Buinen have a wide view.
PS. Yesterday's snow is gone already.

FIrst snow of the season

The Westerdiep at the edge of the village of Nieuw Buinen, earlier today.

Vulcanic grill

Lanzarote restaurant 'El Diablo' was built next to a vulcano and is located in the heart of Timanfaya National Park. With a large grill put over a vulcanic opening, they use heat coming directly from the earth. When we were there, potatoes and chicken were being prepared.
The most recent vulcanic eruption on the island took place in 1824.

Self portrait

In 1970 César Manrique created this 'Autorretrato'. It is now on the walls inside the Fundación César Manrique in the village of Tahiche, Lanzarote.

Wind sculptures by César Manrique

Driving around on Lanzarote you can't miss the art works made by local artist and architect César Manrique (1919-1992). Several roundabouts have spectacular wind sculptures that make you want to stop and look, and study them to find out how clever they are. The one above gently moves forwards and backwards in the breeze..

..and here everything just turns around in both directions; so not just in the direction the winds blows but actually in opposite directions.

It's the season

Coming from the Netherlands we are not used to the combination of Summer temperatures and the Christmas spirit, but yes it was really that time of year :)

Lago Verde

Lago Verde ('The Green Lake') near the fishing village of El Golfo. The remarkable green colour is caused by algae that live in the water.

This photo was taken from the same spot as the first one, only a little more to the left.

Flying

Obviously the conditions for paragliding and hang gliding were very good on (or should I say 'above') the island of Lanzarote, as we spotted them frequently. This photo was taken from the viewpoint at Mirador del Rio.. 

..and here we witnessed a landing at Famara Beach.

Lanzarote cactus garden

Photo taken at the far edge of the 'Jardin de Cactus' or Cactus Garden, on the island of Lanzarote -one of the Spanish Canary Islands- where we enjoyed a sunny and warm holiday.

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.