Author: The Cedar Journal

Timeless Tuesday

October 20, 2020

I am sitting here on this Tuesday and wondering where did the time go this year. When will 2020 end?

Halloween is approaching at break neck speed but it doesn’t feel the same as in years past. I didn’t even carve a cool scary pumpkin this year as the year seemed scary enough.

Witches boots
Night view

The days go by slowly and it seems even the canal dredging is inching along.

The canal is getting deeper with this machine. A huge pile of bikes and a moped ended up being fished out during this work.

The things that keep me going are the things that will get us all through the winter.

A nice remote walk in the forest.

A friend who thought of me recently by having her flight attendant friend purchase Libby’s Canned Pumpkin on an overnight in Los Angeles last week. You are just awesome!

A zoom chat with friends and family.

My gardening.

The text message photo I received from my friend who is a KLM flight attendant.
A forest close to where I live. The one place I have never seen other people hiking.
A creative display I made on one of my recent visits to the community garden.

There are hobbies that need my attention this winter too. Mittens and socks to knit, a blanket to finish.

That pile of books I will now have time to read. A book about Tree Rings is at the top of my list, a special gift from the Hubby to his tree hugging partner.

Top of my reading list.

Time will tic tock along and even if the world seems scarier than normal we will find a way together to get into the New Year.

Scary bug that landed on me the other day. Remain calm and it all goes away.😊

Stay healthy, happy and safe in the coming weeks and months.

© The Cedar Journal, 2020, all rights reserved.

Camping at Kuinderbos, NL

September 29, 2020

When we attended the Dutch Open Canoe Festival a few weeks ago we decided to accept a suggestion of staying at a less busy camping location not far from the Weerribben.

The area map showed all the places to explore

The Hubby and I had visited another area of this forest earlier this Spring and knew it had features we wanted to explore including a lake.

Panorama of the lake

As we pushed the canoe cart towards the lake we were stopped by the Park Ranger who was clearly a wooden canoe enthusiast. He asked us all the normal questions we get about the canoe. Did we build it? How it was made? How does it paddle?

Then he informed us that the beautiful lake was not available to paddle but that he would allow us if we respected the wildlife. We quickly thanked him and continued to the lake and had a very nice paddle on a lake that reminded us both of areas in Northern Minnesota.

A man made natural shoreline of the park lake.
The sky reflected on the lake was just beautiful.
Some of the wildlife that the Park Ranger is trying to make sure is undisturbed with loud boats on the lake. We were respectful that we shared the lake and maintained our distance.

The campsite was spacious and the campground had done a great job of making it as COVID 19 social distancing proof as possible. This was comforting as we camped through the busy weekend we never once felt we were at risk of catching the virus from any of the other campers.

Direction signs clearly posted to the common shower/toilet facilities
Bricks placed at the 1.5meter distance taking the guesswork out of “how close is that person?”.
Handy indicators on what was available inside the facility.
Sinks were taped off and the taps removed so that it was very clear what could be used and which ones were not available.

There are a number of hiking trails located within walking distance of the campground. With hidden treasures of nature or man made features waiting to be discovered.

One of the trails close to the campground with a wise wooden caretaker.
A closer look at the wise woodsman.
This area of pine trees just off the trail could easily be from Minnesota, but it is The Netherlands!
This forest is known for the European Oriole. We thought we heard them but in the end we only were able to get a picture of the beautiful tree canopy.
Across a pasture we noticed a tipi!

The park has several tipis for rent but this one seemed to be used for nature programs that the Park Rangers provided.

The program tipi
This trail was guarded by a gnome. What other surprises did it hold?
Possible hummm? A gnome house just off the trail.

Not that a small gnome house would be surprising to see on this trail. It was a children trail and what better way to inspire children in nature than to feature gnomes and a small house.

I would recommend this beautiful forest location for anyone who would like to get out of the house and into nature.

© The Cedar Journal, 2019, all rights reserved