Ten things for which I give thanks this week…
1 – So we are currently on holiday in the Netherlands in which case, this is a TTOT travelogue…
https://youtu.be/ltd34wDpnTE sorry the embed is not working but click the link please to see the massive port of Rotterdam…
2 – Gouda is the nearest city and here is its impressive Town Hall…
3 –
3 – https://youtu.be/B3xx5dH8u0k sorry the embed is not working but click the link please to see a street organ playing the Rolling Stone’s “Satisfaction (I can’t get No…)”
4 – Barbara in handbag heaven! She had purchased a suede handmag some weeks ago and asked me to get some waterproofing spray. I duly sprayed it and thought that the darkening was the wetting effect of the spray – only to find thar, in very fine print, the spray was labelled “Black” – so I owed her a handbag…
5 – After a quick trip to the local supermarket to practise on her new “Boot-Scooter”, Gouda was her first experience of driving round a busy town and she passed with flying colours! Note all the bicycles outside the Library/Cafe… Bicycles often have a separate, parallel road and where they crossover the car roads, each a re traffic-lighted. Families drive bikes with large child pods and youngsters graduate to riding at an early age! This is a country where cycling is truly important…
6 – The Gouda LEGO shop…
7 – Just to prove I know how to take a selfie – still working on the smiling bit…
We drove to look at the flower growing area and these are fields of Hyacinths. Whilst buying some tulip bulbs nearby (its a bit too early to see the tulips) the shop owner told us a lot of interesting stuff including the fact that these hyacinths are being grown for the bulbs, not the flowers – so all the flowers in the bicture will be picked and thrown away in order for the bulbs to grow quickly – its still a three year plus project to grow them to a saleable size…
Note the windmill in the background – these windmills are for pumping water, not grinding corn and there is water everywhere, here – all in the process of draining the land (largely below sea-level) and raising the water to higher and higher channels before pumping it into the sea!
Even in the centre of town – nearby Leiden – there is a large windmill for pumping – they are kept working as a backup for the electric pumps – the Netherlands are very flat – we have yet to see a hill – and there is a lot of wind!
8 – Monday we drove to Amsterdam (under an hour away) to visit the Rijksmuseum. We had discovered that the Van Gogh Museum is booked up ten days ahead which was a disappointment, however we did see four Van Goghs in the Rijksmuseum…
9 – The A to Z Challenge 2026 started today (April Fool’s Day – perhaps because many participants are wondering why they have let themselves in for this – again!) – ! have got 16 0f the 26 posts in the bag though… https://how-would-you-know.com/all-you-need-to-know-about-weaving/
10 – And we visited Utrecht…
Needless to say, we did not attempt the 465 steps despite the promise of an unparralel view from the top…
Wishing all of you a very happy week ahead…