Hello!
This week, we’re having an autumn break and I’m greeting you from our holiday cottage. Well, it’s our own home, actually. But we’re acting as if, saying things to each other like, ‘It’s a lovely holiday cottage, isn’t it?’ ‘Yes, it is. Not as tidy as I would have liked it, but it’s reasonably clean and the bed is very comfortable.’
Other holidays usually involve a Konditorei or a Patisserie, but as we’re staying home and don’t have any of those around, I also play acted at being a pâtissier and baked an apple and blueberry crumble pie on our first day off.
I’m sending you a virtual slice. Can you smell that sweet, warm, comforting apple and cinnamon aroma?
We’ve been working all through the summer, and the main aim of this week is to rest, relax and recharge. For us, some of the best ways of doing that (apart from eating apple pie) are going for walks, reading,
knitting (that’s just me),
and generally loafing around. My knitting is all purple this week – my umpteenth pair of socks and a scarf. More about those soon. Now I really want to share some of our walks with you. They are in some of my favourite places. But I don’t want to spend too much time at the computer, so I’ll mainly let the pictures speak for themselves.
Our first walk takes us to Vollenhove, the lovely little town where I sometimes come to buy a pair of good, old-fashioned, sensible shoes. Vollenhove is a former seaside town now surrounded by land. There is still a small harbour for pleasure boats.
It has a rich history, with some old houses beautifully maintained…
… and others a little less well kept.
Vollenhove also has a really, really beautiful walled garden. Maybe we can come back and visit that in spring or summer next year.
Our second walk is a walk down memory lane, outside the dyke on the Frisian coast.
It’s cold, wet and windy and I’m so glad I’m wearing my warm winter coat.
There is nobody around but us…
… and birds, many, many birds.
Ahhh, all that space, fresh air, invigorating wind. We’re outside the dyke here, a part of the country that gets flooded from time to time.
Looking back, you can see a church spire behind the dyke. That’s the village were we lived for 15 years when we were just married and where our daughter was born.
Somebody has painted words on the dyke.
In Frisian:
It lân fan moarn
Freget
De moed van hjoed
Translated:
Tomorrow’s country
Needs
Today’s courage
Hmmm, something to ponder.
Now, on to our last walk. This is just outside the village with the Tiny yarn shop I wrote about a while ago. There is some news about that and I’ll come back to that soon. For now, here is an impression of the area.
Don’t you just love that golden autumn light?
Well, that’s all for today. I hope you’ve enjoyed this virtual autumn break. I’m going back to my knitting now and hope to see you here again next week for a yarn-filled post. Bye!
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Thank you for your company!
Enjoyed every minute of it – especially that bit of Frisian advice. Thanks!
I don’t know what the writer of the piece of advice had in mind, but I can think of all kinds of things right now it could apply to.
Exactly. That’s why I’m so glad you posted it.
Thank you!
I’m glad you’re here. It feels good to be connected to people all over the world in this way.
This was just what I needed today! Thank you! Will you share your recipe? The illustrations on the graphic novel/comic book remind me on TinTin.
TinTin is called Kuifje here – there are several of his comics on our book shelves too. This comic is one in a looooong series about Belgian brother and sister Suske and Wiske. I’ll try to remember writing down what I do next time I bake this pie and share it with you.
Thank you for a lovely time. So relaxing and I could almost feel and smell the fresh air in the country. Also longing for a slice of your delicious looking pie. Maybe a recipe included in another post?
So enjoy your weekly blogs.
Thank you
Hi Tory. Thank you for your company here, and your lovely comment. You’re the second person asking for the recipe. It’s a good idea for another blog post – I’ll keep it in mind!