Most my blog followers know that I volunteer at the Historical Garden in Aalsmeer, that I also worked at the largest bulb garden in the World, the Keukenhof in Lisse. I have something in my core relationship with nature that gives me strength, provides me with energy and heals me in difficult times.
In Aalsmeer
This week was finally warm enough and sunny enough to make the bulb flowers pop into full bloom.
The bulbs in some fields are in full bloom near Lisse.
From my volunteer day at the Historical Garden (where I got plenty of exercise hauling wheel barrows of worm compost), to working in my straw bale garden, to hopping on the bike for a long ride through the bulb fields, the following pictures capture it all.
Worm compost that was delivered to the Historical Garden Aalsmeer has to be hand hauled over the canals into the gardens via wheel barrows by staff and volunteers.
Writing this, I am flat on my back! Yup…it was a bit too much for my old back injury so I will be enjoying (not really) some pain killers and doing nothing for a couple of days.
This year is the year of the Lilacs at the Historical Gardens. The garden forces some of the Lilacs to bloom early by placing them in the warm greenhouses.More show of color inside the greenhouse at Aalsmeer.A view of the lilacs that are in the garden from the inside of the garden shed. Shhhh…don’t tell the boss I was resting after hauling the wheel barrows.🤫😊
Then there is my garden… weeds, slugs, new shoots, new community, just trying to find my place. So I tried an American thing, pumpkin bread (for free) stop by my garden for a chat. First time…no one came, second time…two people came…
Trying to be Minnesota Nice in my own garden.I took joy in this lady bug instead.My tulips nearly blooming.The straw bales are now starting to fill up with what will be a summer harvest. Planted spinach, carrots, onions, basil this week. Pulled weeds and tilled dirt. It is a constant work in progress.
Then it was on my electric bike and out for a ride in the sun around the bulb fields of Lisse.
This display I stop at every year in Lisse was popping with color. More color on display in this small front garden.A stop for coffee, I noted how many tourist bikes were sitting outside. This restaurant is in the old Lisse train station and is a favorite for tourist snd locals alike who are out viewing the fields by bike.My bike ride finished with a stop at my long time favorite places.
I placed my two bouquets of tulips into my bicycle bag and headed for home. My back was in pain as I entered the house but my heart was full of the joy that Spring brings, blooms of nature.
I had to check my calendar today to make sure there wasn’t a full moon as some strange things have surrounded me the last few days.
I mentioned in my last post I saw a gal with devil horns on and satin cape drapedon a bench.
Today, it must be because it is St Patrick’s Day and the universe always wants those of us with some Irish blood running through our bodies to have fun. This was what made me laugh today.
Check out the boat name. Hummm… wonder what services they provide?
Irish are all about what is green and little sprouts are green.
Hummm… little green sprouts on these rose bushes.
Hummm… me and my shadow…
Fertilizing the roses at my volunteer job at the Historic Garden Aalsmeer.
As June is coming to a close it is time to update my Hummm… most of these come from the last part of our Minnesota vacation but we had a couple that snuck into file since our return. We never know when those things that make us go Hummm… will appear! Enjoy!
Hummm…Is that a sleeping bag bottle cozy? Yup! It made me smile at the General Store in Marine on St Croix and then followed us on vacation.The problem with some Hummm… is that once you see one, you see them everywhere, this one multiplied into crazy cute cozy’s everywhere!!! One last chance to purchase? Nope. Resistance to the cute cozy!Hummm… smile face! This greets anyone on Walsh Road, Eagle Nest Lake 3. What a great way to brighten any day.This Hummm…comes from the Front Porch Coffee & Tea Coffee in Ely. I guess the local campaign is going to the dogs also a limited focus group as this was found in the rest room.Hummm… if things in Ely get really bad they still have one of these… a fall out shelter at the Post Office. Take note “B” in IL! 😂Hummm… just in case you needed another life jacket. Cute cozy.This Hummm… was provided as a solution to mosquitoes! No kidding. A dab behind your ear will keep them away. Hummmm… maybe next time….The following are clean Hummm… Hummm… I really didn’t think that the Navy was using clean diplomacy.Hummm… seems like this is either very manly or very old soap.This Hummm… was found while paddling in Aalsmeer. This bus sign is located on an island surrounded by water… not sure how the bus will stop here. Maybe a canoe stop?Hummmm… a canoe? That is a wrap for June!
** What has made you stop in your tracks this month and made you ask Hummm…?
Aalsmeer. This morning the water was like glass when we pushed off from the beach at Aalsmeer and paddled to the Historic Garden to volunteer.
Getting ready to push off this morning.We have rarely paddled water so calm.
We were the only watercraft on the water as we headed into the harbor area of Aalsmeer.
This type of weather is rarely seen in March.
Once at the garden we were put to work fertilizing the garden. Each plant got some boost of fertilizer that will help it get a good start of nutrition for the season.
The pop of cherry tree blossoms.Magnolia tree in full bloom.
Once done with our task we headed back out onto the water. Now pushing against a headwind my muscles told me that this short paddle was longer than I wanted it be. The first paddle of the season always shows me that I was a bit lazy during the winter.
Cedar waiting on the beach in Aalsmeer after her first outing of the season.
Warning from the local Great Blue Heron should have been my first clue that we were heading towards another limited lockdown.
This Blue Heron was going on like this for a good while before I pulled out my phone and captured his alert.
After my return from the United States I was finally starting to feel like we were returning to some pre-COVID normal here in The Netherlands.
I was off to my volunteer job at the Historic Gardens at Aalsmeer every Friday. Taking the bus from my house each time and pushing down some anxiety the bus was full of wall to wall people riding to and from their daily jobs. Masks were still mandatory in the public transport, and the Dutch (who don’t normally chat on public transport) seemed liberated after so long of being sequestered at home, passengers chatted with everyone. On once such bus ride I chatted with a lady who works at the airport who was going back to her sales job for the first time in a year and half. She told me she was nervous but happy that she still had a job. I felt the same way about my volunteer job!
Fall at the Historic Garden in Aalsmeer.
Never a lack of work at the Historic Garden, I was put to work weeding, planting and separating plants for the next season. I always doubt my abilities of my work as I am surrounded by giants of the plant industry. Mostly men who owned and worked the soil of the Aalsmeer plant industry for years before retirement. Now volunteering their skill sets to the preservation of old horticultural skills. I look forward to learning so much each day I volunteer.
One of the fall plantings I was in trusted to plant.Notice the difference in the piles… the inexperienced volunteer pile I created, is on the left.
The thing I realize each time I volunteer is that work, hard manual work is how humans existed for centuries before the modern age. That those skills are being lost with each passing day when those skills are not learned by generations who have only grown up in the modern age, in front of a computer or TV.
Then COVID hit here once again knocking us all back into a limited lockdown. We are all strongly encouraged to work from home, limit our social contacts, wear a mask everywhere again.
I know that COVID has been hard for most people. The mental anguish for most people of not being able to gather with family and friends at any given moment is difficult.
But, maybe it was a message from Mother Earth that we all needed. That our 24/7/365 world is not sustainable.
What to do with all this time now that we have been given? Here it is three weeks. 3 December, if anyone is keeping exact track of the timeline for this current outbreak.
I am thankful in many ways of my agricultural roots I grew up with. In times of distress on a farm, you just pick up and keep going. Life and death is part of the farm cycle. The change of seasons and the hard work that continues. I never remember having much time to sit and worry about what was next. Heaven forbid if we as children uttered the “I am bored…” words as we instantly found ourselves not bored doing some really crappy task.
One of my Dutch friends thinks I grew up like Laura Ingalls Wilder, she isn’t far from the truth. No running indoor water or toilet with only wood heat for the house. The one thing Laura Ingalls didn’t have was over 100 head of sheep to care for during the year. The year long work even in the -40 temps of Northern Minnesota! Plus, I don’t ever remember Laura Ingalls being told to go clean the crap in the barn due to the fact that she was bored.
When the government announced our lockdown again due to the explosion of COVID cases I pulled out one of my old skill sets I learned as a young person, spinning. Filling my days with making wool yarn with the ancient drop spindle.
The drop spindle
The result was something I can feel and see with my own hands. A sense of accomplishment in the world of COVID chaos.
A small skein of hand spun natural wool yarn.
Not a huge accomplishment. It won’t replace the joy I get in volunteering at the Historic Garden, but it is a good filler for the time I now have to stay at home.
I hope that each of my readers are also finding ways to move forward in all this chaos.
The Cedar Journal 