Tag: personal change

Hummm

Hummm… where did August go?

The Cedar Journal September 4, 2022

It is really September on the calendar? I guess I have been so busy with my new straw garden that time slipped by quickly.

The Hummm… file has been growing and now is on overload in my digital file cabinet. So where to start?

Hummm… let’s start with this!

Hummm… have small aliens landed in my garden? No! Just some slug control experiment. Everyone who has read this blog knows I hate plastic, so I have been working on a non-plastic solution for the Dutch slug problem.

This next Hummm… comes from our wonderful municipal government, a solution for traffic control. Recently, after giving out several tickets in this location, the solution was to place these wonderful traffic encourages. Now, they are suppose to work like this… green means you are driving under the speed limit ( usually accompanied with a nice smiley face also green), Red is flashing and very very bad! Must slow down.

Hummmm… we aren’t sure what green with a sad smile means… but 23 is very very slow for this street!

This next Hummm… comes from the Dutch farming community.

This old tractor was broken for sure! The conversation I had with the man who popped up from behind the tractor was so interesting I had to include it with this Hummmm…

He was practicing for … a plowing contest? No kidding! He had broken down and was now not going to be able to participate. Being a former farm kid, I just had to ask all about the contest (if there was such a thing and he wasn’t making up an excuse that the tractor was broken just to impress me). Plus, I did make a joke that the reason it broke down was it was a Ferguson!

My dad had many tractors and types while I grew up and it seemed (to me) that the Ferguson was always a bit allergic to work, it would break down just when needed most.

Anyway, there are things in the world such as plowing competitions, historic tractors and farmers who find creative ways to “Jerry rig” solutions.

Blocks of wood holding the battery in place. Hummm… looks like something my Dad would do, yup, confirmed via email, looks like something my dad would find as an appropriate solution.

Hummm… is that a level on the plow? What is that for? To make sure the row is exactly level the entire length of the field! Really? Who knew! Although I was informed that they are not allowed the level use in competition. Wow! That sounds hard!

Enough about tractors let’s move to an indoor Hummm…

Hummm… what ? A replacement of a facet (simple 10 min job… right?). This project lead to a tear down of the kitchen and thus several trips to the hardware store for an exchange of the exact facet we had purchased but had a backwards off/on on the hot water side! A Friday afternoon manufacturers issue? This must be wrong! … But, no! Come to find out all new facets are made so that off/on is opposite on the hot side!!!! This is chaos! No more right is open left is closed? Who dreams up this stuff?

Hummm… what is the rumor about that gardener who is growing veggies on the straw bales? Is it an American thing?

Seriously, I am the talk of the gardening community (although most are afraid to come and ask me directly). One person admitted to me today that she called her Dutch/American aunt in Arkansas to ask if this was an actual thing in the US!
LMAO!
Really?
The person could have walked less than 50 meters and asked me instead of confirming (actually her aunt from Arkansas had no idea) with her aunt.

Hummm… what happened to our world during COVID? Did everyone lose their communication skills? The nerve to ask questions at the source?

Hummm…

I know that Straw bales provide a nice place for frogs! This guy was hopping out of the straw when I went to move things around.

I will leave all of you with some peaceful reflection of a straw bale garden. Enjoy all the Hummm… in life!

The entrance of the garden

The walk to the back of the garden

Canoe Netherlands

Canoe Fest – The Netherlands ( 9 – 11 September 2022)

The Cedar Journal August 29, 2022

For those of you that follow our blog for the canoe and kayak news out of The Netherlands, I must say we have been a bit on the slim side of those posts recently.

Never fear! We are less than two weeks away from the once per year event of the Open Canoe Festival located at the Weerribben National Park area.

You can follow the link here http://www.openkanofestival.nl.

I will be staying for a few days prior and a few days after to get a closer look into some blog ideas that have been banging against the inside of my head since my last visit in early January.

One of the cabins at Weerribben National Park

I will be testing out some new equipment and will have those blogs also available, always nice to know what to get those canoe/camping people for the upcoming holiday.

In other news… straw garden is going great! Four weeks and we already have radishes, spinach, alfalfa and rye grass. If that all sounds like a power lifter diet to you, you are right! I have to be able to lift those straw bales somehow and my old guns (arm muscles) need the extra energy.

I will leave you with this video (nope not a canoe video) but cute bunnies I was looking after for a few days. Mork & Mindy! Have fun and stay safe blog friends!

Hummm

Hummm… Hot and Dry -Part 2 🤨

The Cedar Journal August 18, 2022

I know… it could be worse. I heard from blogger friend “B” in GB that it was even hotter than here in the Low Lands. I wish I could send him some cooler weather so he can get out and photograph more beautiful butterflies!

Yes, it is the hottest, driest summer I have ever experienced in The Netherlands. We were off to pick up some bargain fencing for our garden when I realized on our drive how bad things really are here with the drought.

Starting to drive over the Waal (it is called the Rijn River in Germany)

The river normally is at the level of where all the sand is to the left of the photo. Hummmm….the river was very low! I read this morning near the border with Germany it is only 50cm in places making it nearly impossible for cargo ship traffic.

The dry grass along the roadway and railways are so brown in places you can see where small fires had started and burned along the way.

The Lek was the other river we crossed over yesterday, it also was so low that the locks that lead from a smaller river into the Lek were open completely as the water levels were the same. Not something that we normally see here.

Hard to see that this river is very low but normally it is a lock where boats wait until the water level is lowered or raised to get from the Lek into this river.

Hummmm… when are we getting rain for my garden?

Hot and dry! Hauling water every day from a canal water holding tank on the other side of the garden is not what I would call fun. Luckily my Minnesota farming roots provided me with tons of water bucket experience.

We finally got (only in the very West of the country) rain yesterday. About 2 cm or just under a inch. Not enough to not have to haul more water to fill the barrels this morning but enough that I don’t have to water plants today.

Hummm… I have finally insects in the garden.

This bee was found on my marigold on the hottest day of the year. I am happy I was able to provide a nice stopping place.

Hummm… all I could think of when I saw this was one of Queen’s song, Fat Bottom Girls. But, I guess wishing everyone a nice vacation when they had to work was nice.

Hummm… I was worried that the Hubby was going to run off the road! There was a theme yesterday! Then I wondered silently why there were only women representing…hummm…a bit unfair! Then we passed a truck with a man in a shower! Sorry, no picture on that but I did laugh!

With all the things we have on our plate recently from the drought, heat, water shortages, high gas prices, higher food prices, Ukraine/Russian war, possible nuclear holocaust if either side gets really stupid, we were hit with a totally new one yesterday…wait for it… solar flares! Yup, we were given 12 hours notice that solar flares could disrupt our electric grid, cell phone service, gps navigation systems! But, not to worry, don’t panic, the government has it all under control!!!

Which both the Hubby and I looked at each other and started laughing so hard I started to cry! Really?!

It is enough to make all the therapists in this country rich from all the new patients they will have streaming in their doors.

So if you don’t hear from us for awhile…maybe we got zapped with gamma rays from the solar flares…

Stay safe friends!🤨

cedar strip canoe

Memorial Day – The Netherlands

The Cedar Journal May 4, 2022

Tonight at 8 pm Dutch standard time the entire country will pause for two minutes of silence. This tradition each year is to honor, remember and respect all war dead. That it includes, not only military, but civilian casualties from those conflicts.

On March 10th this year, the Hubby and I visited the largest American Cemetery in The Netherlands from World War II, Margraten.

One of the thousands of graves of American military who died liberating The Netherlands in 1945.

Not our first visit, but I needed time to reflect on what was happening on the World stage. I needed counsel from the silence to make sense to what was happening in the Ukraine.

War is never cheap! It costs lives, some so young, they never got to live the life I have lived. Marriage, children, jobs that would give them joy. They never experienced Europe free from Nazi rule. Yet, each and everyone one of those souls helped to change the course of history. Leaders of the time after these soldiers had fought and died, said NEVER AGAIN!

Yet, here I was in 2022 trying to understand why? How?

Silence of those American’s who died for the freedom of Europe.

As we walked through the silence of the peacefully resting souls who now are forever part of the Dutch landscape, I cried. To know that so many were lost, that so many helped to make Europe what it is today without ever seeing the war at the ending…sad…yet sadder to see a repeat of something so similar in the Ukraine.

Some of the gravesites have been adopted by local Dutch families who continue to place flowers on the grave. This one just happened to be from my home state of Minnesota.

So, wherever you are in the World as you read this blog today, please stop and send your thoughts towards peace. War is never the answer but we must remember the ultimate cost for everyone.

Keukenhof & Dutch Flower Fields Spring 2022

The Cedar Journal March 27, 2022

The Keukenhof Bulb Garden opened for the first time in two years on Thursday 24 March, and for the first time since I stopped working at the gardens in 2015 I visited with my friend Kathy from Minnesota.

The William Alexander Pavilion inside the Keukenhof Bulb Gardens. Opening Day 2022.

Winter still has a grip on Northern Minnesota, it was more like summer here in The Netherlands. Tulips here are popping out of the ground fast! The Daffodils and Hyacinths are in full bloom! It was perfect weather to tour the gardens.

Taking a selfie from inside the Keukenhof. This view of the bulb fields located outside the garden has been expanded and enhanced since 2015.

We arrived early (my advice to anyone coming to visit the Keukenhof is to get there before 10 am). The park was instantly an eye full of color as we walked in the gate. Since I worked at the garden for five years I was happy to see the new changes made since 2015. A new entrance gate, new wide pathways in some areas of the park that previously were under used by the masses of tourists. It was also good to see some things hadn’t changed within the park and I enjoyed showing my long time friend (we concluded that we have been friends for near 40 years!) all the cool places within the park. Some of my old co-workers at the William Alexander Pavilion are still working at the coffee cafe booth, hugs and smiles were exchanged. Something that just a few months ago would have been unheard of due to COVID rules.

One of the many walkways with the garden that is lined with blooming bulbs. Here the daffodils follow the contours of the walking path.

The best way to see the park is to take a nice leisurely walk, peek into the different pavilions and see the surprises the garden designers have created. No trip is complete without trying one of the many “Dutch” treats. On our visit we ate poffertjes, small pancakes with a dab of butter and topped with a generous helping of powered sugar.

These poffertjes are like our Minnesota tiny weenie donuts that we enjoy at our county fair each summer.

On Thursday we spent about three hours at the park. Noting that it was getting busier and busier by the minute.

A floral fashion display inside the Beatrix Pavilion.

Today, Sunday, I hopped on my bike and rode to Hillegom and then on through the fields towards Lisse. Once again, I passed the Keukenhof and noted that the warm weather brought out the tourists. Although not the numbers that have blessed the park in the pre-COVID years but still better than in the last two years when the park was closed.

The Hyacinths in full bloom this morning in Hillegom.

If any of my readers will be visiting in the coming weeks, my advice again is to arrive early at the Keukenhof, take a bike ride in the local community, eat at our restaurants, and enjoy an European pace.

Keukenhof Bulb Gardens today 27 March 2022. Just outside the front gates.

I am enjoying the freedom of Democracy! Please continue remember and support those in the Ukraine who are still fighting to protect their countrymen and the democracy. Our thoughts for peace are with the Ukraine people! 💙💛☮️🌷