Ten things for which I give thanks this week…
1 – My apologies for not visiting all your TToT’s last week but I am in the midst of the A to Z 2026 Challenge as are some others of you and I have had 66 comments to respond to as well as visiting back and continuing to write new ones – 2 more done this weekend – just 8 to go (for which I am thankful!) If you want to look in its at https://how-would-you-know.com/a-to-z-challenge-2026-h-is-for-historical-fabrics/
2 – I thought I would share a few more pictures and thoughts from our holiday in the Netherlands. One of the things that defines the landscape, certainly in “The Green Heart” where we were, is that every tree has been pollarded and in some cases, espalliered and the branches then pollarded. I asked a lady in a posh clothes shop we visited why they were so keen on pollarding and after aa moment’s thought she replied ” Because it makes them all look the same…”
3 – In the picture above, you can see a cyclist and from the advancing car you can see that this is a single-track road (with passing places) but cyclists, of which there are plenty, are given a wide bert. In the cities, rather than graduate to a car when you have children, you buy an “Urban Arrow”…
4 – We made a visit to The Hague – not the most successful day out, partly because we didn’t have a clear plan of where exactly to go and partly because finding a parking space was difficult and once found, expensive. Parking for 3 hours costs about 33 Euros ($38.70) which is clearly designed to encourage people to use bicycles or public transport…
Eventually we parked in a disabled bay, unloaded Barbara’s boot scooter and set out to explore what turned out to be an African quarter. We decided to have a meal at an Eritrean cafe – chicken and eggs in a spicy sauce served on asoft, sourdough crepe cooked only on one side. Whils sitting outside, we were able to people watch but also to admire the architecture which I judge to be late Art Deco…
5 – One day I would like to write abook on Signwriting (something I used to do in a previous life) heavy on pictures, so I never miss the chance to photograph signs – especially abroad and the signs below have a different style, and age to those I am familiar with…
6 – In Bodegraven, there is a working windmill (well, on certain days) and although I didn’t manage to get the tour, I took these pictures. I was told that this windmill can be used both for grinding corn and for pumping water.
7 – and from one old windmill, to a modern one in the Port of Rotterdam as we sailed out into the North Sea at sunset…
8 – And back home, some new solar lights that Barbara ordered grace the garden by night…
