BlisssBlisssBliss is a gardening journal about a vegetable garden and other gardens and with lots of useful info, pictures, humor and interesting reads. It's also about 9 cats and their adventures. Articles
I'm Dreaming of a White
2008-03-24 09:08:00 Easter!!! Well, not really but it happened anyway.This is the sight that greeted me this morning when I woke up. Snow on Second Easter Day, not something that happens very often around here. So I got out of bed, put on my wellies and went into the garden to snap some pics. We had not had any snow this winter but we're having some now. Not a very thick layer as you can see here, but snow nevertheless. Nowadays it's very rare that we have snow in the Netherlands, so for me this is a very special treat.But it was not only snow that had fallen during the night, there had been some hail as well.And some light frost too.But when I was out and about in the garden earlier this morning I could hear the drip drip drip of melting snow and hail already. The sun was outand the temperature had risen to plus 3.2 C, which is well above the freezing point of water at 0 C. So if I wanted to take some pics of my garden covered in snow I had to be quick about it as it was fast melting away.The birdb... More About: White , Dreaming
Happy Easter!
2008-03-21 09:40:00 According to the calender it is Spring now, but the weather tells me differently. It's been quite cold and wet these last few days so I'm happy that I did a lot of work in my potager earlier this week.This is the colour of the sky lately and it's been raining all day long yesterday and it's stormy, wet and cold again today. My poor daffodils are slightly the worse for wear, so I decided to rescue the ones that had been flattened by the wind and rain and put them somewhere nice and cosy.I swear I could hear them breathe a big sigh of relief! ;-)With weather like this, what is a poor gardener to do? So I decided to decorate my home for Easter .And who was following me around while I decorated the house?Well, Mummy's little helper of course. :-)Kadootje (Small Present) is always willing to help her Mum and she really liked those new Easter eggs I bought for decorating.At least, I thought they were meant for decoration but Kadootje obviously had different thoughts about that.So whil... More About: Happy
It's a Beautiful Day!
2008-03-18 19:35:00 Daffodil ThaliaIt's almost Spring and some days it feels like it is Spring already. This morning the sun was out and the air was crisp and clear.Looking out from my bedroom window this view was beckoning me to come outside and work in the garden. Who could refuse an invitation like that? Certainly not me!It was still a bit nippy outside, only 5 C / 41 F, but the temperature inside my Victorian greenhouse was a different matter altogether; 39,5 C / 104 F which felt like a very, very hot Summer's day.With temperatures getting as high as that the automatic window openers had to be re-installed. They are removed every October as they get frost damaged if you leave them in during the cold season.It's small wonder that the water cress I've sown last week in my Victorian greenhouse is coming up a treat.Last February I'd sown some lettuce and some radishes too in my cold frames and they are doing great as well. It won't be long now before I can harvest the first radishes from my potag... More About: Beautiful
March Blooms at Bliss
2008-03-14 07:31:00 Once again it's time to show what is in bloom at Bliss. Last year Carol had this idea to show what is in bloom every month in your garden around the 15th, and many bloggers from all over the world have joined in the fun that is Garden Bloggers Blooms Day. Here is my contribution for March 2008:Violets in white, pink, burgundy, blue, purple and yellow. Yes, I love violets.Daffodils and lots of them. They are such cheerful flowers that I just got to have them in droves in my garden.I have quite a collection of daffodils as shown in the pic above. That's not all of them as some are not in flower yet.My Thalia dafs (white) are about to burst into flower, can't wait for that to happen as they are so gorgeous and scented too.And we have daisies in flower as well, the common one and the very rare variety Dolly Daisy.The first forget-me-nots are starting to flower,and the Arabis is showing its first blooms as well.The yellow wallflowers are already in bloom, for some reason the purple on...
An Early Spring Garden
2008-03-11 08:30:00 This is the garden that belongs to my friends Anja and Machiel. Their garden is dominated by a lot of trees which make it a very shady garden. Because of all that shade and the stiff competition their plants would get from the trees for water and nutrients Anja and Machiel decided to create a garden where everything is in harmony with each other, instead of fighting to the death.So they created a woodland garden where many plants and bulbs flower in late winter/early spring before the trees get their leaves.And it all looks wonderful. I took these pics from early til the end of February and as you can see there is so much to enjoy already.Hellebores and oodles of snowdrops in flower.Witch hazel.CrocusPrimrosesHelleboreBeautiful Hellebores and snowdropsMahoniaSome more snowdropsIn this garden there are snowdrops in flower from October till end of April as Anja and Machiel are both suffering from a severe case of Galanthofilitis. It's not an illness that is bad for your health altho... More About: Garden , Spring , Early
Danger Kitty!
2008-03-07 15:54:00 You've probably heard of people in high places before, but how about this?Danger Kitty on top of the shower/steam cubicle.Danger Kitty on top of a bathroom cupboard.Danger Kitty on the conservatory roof.Danger Kitty on the roof of our house.Danger Kitty, a cat with a mission, on the pergola!Danger Kitty on the fence, but not really sitting!Danger Kitty on the roof of the Victorian greenhouse. Hey, I just cleaned those windows!Danger Kitty wiping away her paw prints, she is such a darling!Danger Kitty, coming soon on a roof/pergola/cupboard/shower cubicle/fence near YOU! (not really)Danger Kitty was played by the very talented Surprise of Bliss who did her own stunts.No animals were harmed in making this blog!copyright 2008 Y.E.W. HeuzenMarch winds and April showers,Bring forth the May flowers.Have a great weekend!
My Garden Hero
2008-03-03 10:35:00 One of my garden heroes is the late Geoff Hamilton who taught me most of what I know about gardening. Geoff presented Garden er's World on the BBC for many years and was one of the first gardeners who promoted organic gardening.He made you feel that organic gardening was really the only option if you loved your planet and wanted what was best for it and all its inhabitants and he made it sound very logical and fun too. I'll never forget his remarkable enthusiasm and passion for all things garden related; even when he was explaining how to sow seeds or take cuttings for the umpteenth time he would still be enthusiastic. No minor feat that.Through the years I bought many of his books, which are all very practical, filled to the brim with good advice and down to earth. Geoff had great ideas about how to make things for your garden that wouldn't cost the earth.Here he explains how to make 2 compost bins and this is what I'm using in my kitchen garden today.They do their job very nice... More About: Hero
We Are Here
2008-02-29 11:22:00 On the 7th of February Jodi from Bloomingwriter challenged us garden bloggers to write a post (or two) about where in the gardening world you are. Well, that question is very easy to answer so here goes:The Netherlands can be found in Europe, in between the cream coloured Germany and the yellow coloured Great Britain on this map. The Netherlands is that small beige coloured blob. I'd better show you a bigger pic of my country as it is a bit hard to find, one blink and you missed it. ;-)Here we are, that's much better. The Bliss garden is situated in Dinteloord, a small over 400 years old village, half an hours' drive from Rotterdam in the southward direction. It's not on this map as it is so small; less than 5000 inhabitants, which makes for a very peaceful village life in the Dutch countryside.Jodi also asked us to write about something that really tells us where you are in the world. What's really special about your community.But do I really have too, because I'm thinking yo...
Working In the Potager
2008-02-27 09:22:00 As it was such a lovely day last Monday I decided to work in the potager. There was a lot to do. For the next day they predicted rain (90 % chance) so I got my big bag of organic fertilizer out and started spreading the joy around. I use dried cow dung pellets and they are a slow release fertilizer that I use for everything; my veggies, my roses, the borders and hedges, all do wonderfully well with a helping of dried organic cow dung.The rain tomorrow will make sure that the fertilizer sinks into the soil.We had frost lately so I couldn't do the outdoor sowing I normally do around the 15th of February. But last Monday was nice and sunny so I got cracking with my outdoor sowing. The 2 beds I had prepared earlier in January when the weather was so very mild so there was hardly any weed showing in the beds. I just had to rake the soil over a bit and that was pretty much that.In the first bed I've sown broad beans as they are one of my favourite vegs and they are so easy to grow.Here... More About: Working
Hellebores (and Something Else) Galore!
2008-02-24 08:35:00 Maroon with freckles, doubleA week ago, on a Sunday, my garden club and I went abroad to visit a nursery. We went to St. Nicolaas in Belgium ;-) to visit a Hellebores nursery. If you have been paying any attention at all, then you know that Hellebores are one of my favourite plants and it's not difficult to figure out why, is it?Double greenWhat's not to like? The plant has beautiful leaves and is more or less evergreen. It flowers for a long period of time (months) in Winter and early Spring when not a lot else is in flower. And speaking of flowers, Hellebores come in so many colours, single or double and with or without spots. Just have a look!Double yellowSingle white with a crimson eyeApricotPure whiteBlack!!!Double pinkDouble cream with maroon spotsPinkSingle yellow with maroon eyeAt the nursery there was also a show garden where we could look at all the gorgeous Hellebores and how well they do outside in the wild, so to speak, and to what size they grow. We got a guided tou... More About: Galore
Decidedly Droopy
2008-02-21 14:53:00 A very short blog today as I'm not feeling all that good. My neck and shoulders are much better (rest works) but I have an infection in my lower jaw, an infection in my right ear and I've got a fever, am feeling rather dizzy plus I am in a lot of pain. I am on antibiotics and painkillers although the last ones never work all that well for me. :-(Thanks for all the kind words you all send me and the concern so many showed for my well being, I appreciate it.Hopefully, I'll soon feel as cheerful again as those pretty winter aconites!copyright 2008 Y.E.W. Heuzen
Uh Oh!
2008-02-18 11:37:00 This is what my garden looked like early this morning. We had night frost of about - 6 C (21 F) last night and this is the result.Gaaaaaaaa, just look at my poor greenpointed snowdrops, they looked like this (below), before the frost and how sad they look now, prostrate on the earth.The fennel in my potager is feeling decidedly very sorry for itself too,and so is the Bergenia.The Periwinkle has folded up its flower leaves,and my poor daisies are not feeling like happy bunnies right now! BrrrrrrrMy poor Hellebore is doing the droopy thing too.This is always a worry when you get such mild temperatures in January and early February and the garden wakes up. Many a bloom or bud is tender and visits from the Ice Queen during the day and/or night are still very common in the early months of the year and can do a lot of damage in the garden. It is usually around half May that the danger of (light) night frost is gone in my part of the Netherlands.Fortunately, a lot of the bulbs can stand a ...
February Blooms for GBBD
2008-02-15 09:21:00 When I announced that the GBBD post (an idea of Carol of May Dreams Gardens) of last January would be my last one, it seemed to disappoint so many garden bloggers, that I've decided to do a few more. Yes, I'm a great big softy but you knew that, right? But I won't do another whole year, as the GBBD posts from May til October take me about 4 hours to make. And 4 hours per post is a bit much, don't you think?It takes me that long because I have so many blooms during those months that all have to be photographed, their names written down on long lists, then I have to look up their common name in English as I'm Dutch and therefore I am more familiar with the common names for plants in Dutch, not English. Because I've watched the British gardening programme Gardener's World, I am familiar with quite a few common plant names in English, but that is British English, not American or Canadian or Australian English. During last year I've found that the common names for plants are no... More About: February
A Winter Walk That Felt Like Spring
2008-02-11 09:10:00 Last January has been, with an average temperature of 6,5 C (42,8 F), the warmest but one since we, the Dutch, started recording these things in 1706. The warmest ever was January 2007, with a record breaking average temperature of 7,1 C (44,8 F). I wonder what February has in store for us.The weather has been very good since last Thursday with lots of sunshine and hardly any wind at all, which makes a nice change from all the rain and winterstorms we had before. Last weekend was particularly good with maximum temperatures around 15 C (59 F). The average maximum temperature for February is 5,6 C (42 F), to give you some idea. But we have had days of 20 C (68 F) in February before, so 15 C (59 F) is not all that much out of the ordinary. But ordinary or not, I'm enjoying the lovely weather and am, just like all the members of the Bliss team, basking in the sun. There's no better warmth than that of our friend the sun.Yesterday my garden club and I went to the Arboretum Trompenburg ... More About: Winter , Spring , Felt , Walk
Lucky Seven
2008-02-08 10:04:00 Yesterday, the 7th of February, was a very special and blissful day for me. For starters it was my darling boy Merlin's birthday. He's my youngest Russian Blue and I thought he would be the last addition to our family for many years to come. But I had not reckoned with the fact that I would get a Small Present and a Surprise as well.And here's a pic of the birthday boy, 5 years old today. Merlin, wake up!Ah, that's better!Happy birthday darling boy!And here he is in the kitchen headrubbing and headbutting away with Willow. This is something that they do every morning and it is such an adorable sight to see, although very difficult to take a pic of.After kissing and hugging and petting Merlin and telling him he's the bestest Russian Blue kittycat ever, I had to go to the dentist. Just a check up and it went well, no problems with my teeth. Phew, what a relief. Shortly after I had arrived home again the doorbell rang. It was a delivery man with a parcel for me. I thought it was ... More About: Lucky
The Potager in Early February
2008-02-06 10:43:00 Summer 2007The challenge, when you have a potager or ornamental kitchen garden, is to make the garden look attractive all year round.April 2006Many gardeners think, just because you grow mainly veggies and fruit, your kitchen garden looks horribly dull for most of the year, especially in winter. But that is not the case at all.February 2008Here's one of my beds, right next to the Victorian greenhouse and as you can see there's a lot going on there, even though it is still only early february. In the background you see the gorgeous leaves of the artichoke on the right and in front there's box on each corner, adding a bit of all year round interest. Smack in the middle of the bed is a gooseberry bush on a standard.Here's another bed that I have just cleared the weeds from. There are some primula's in flower here and it won't be long before the daffodils begin to flower too. See?My strawberry bed is more or less green all year round. I have to clear this bed up soon; it looks a ... More About: Early
A Good Deal
2008-02-04 10:00:00 I found this in the mailbox the other day. This is from a shop that sells stuff for the garden and pets, so that's a double whammy as far as I'm concerned. I started leafing through it, to see what they got on offer as they sometimes have very good deals on plants and other stuff for the garden. And they got some nice stuff for pets too which is of the utmost interest to the Bliss team.Ohhhhh look, a pretty kitty relaxing in a radiator 'hanging basket'. The Bliss team got several of those and they love them, especially in winter, no surprise there. If you have a kittycat or two, these 'hanging baskets' come highly recommended by the entire Bliss team!Lookee here, another pretty kitty with a very nice climbing tree. The Bliss team got two indoor climbing trees already so we don't need another one. But if you have an indoor kitty then this is a very good thing to buy. Your cat will love it and will use it as a scratching post too which is good news for your furniture. Now, let... More About: Deal , Good
Happy Birthday to ........
2008-02-01 10:46:00 Me, is it me? No Delia, your birthday is in July. Oh but I want it to be my birthday so I can be hugged and kissed. It doesn't have to be your birthday Delia for you to be hugged and kissed. Merlin is having a 24/7 job of it allready. See?Errrrr, Merlin, wake up!Oh, is it hugging and petting time again? Oh goody, I love it!We don't need no birthday, we have something much better and we have it every day of the year!Is it my birthday Mum? No Pippa, yours is in June. Oh, does that mean that I won't get anything extra specially nice to eat? Like a saucer of cream or something? Pippa, you're on a diet! Bummer!I know who it is, it's me!!! No Vita, your birthday is in November. Oh but that was ages ago, please let me have it again today. Aren't I cute, come on, let it be me? Yes, you are very cute but today it is somebody elses birthday. But whose is it then?Is it Mac's? No, I haven't got a clue when Macavity's birthday is, as he is a stray cat.Surprise's? No she is a foundling ... More About: Happy , Birthday , Happy Birthday
The Hedge, the Table and the Redhead
2008-01-30 08:46:00 My garden has conifer hedges on 2 sides, one on the side of the conservatory (see pic above) and the other one alongside the kitchen garden.A conifer hedge is not the most exiting thing to have in a garden, but as it affords me lots of privacy I'm not complaining, well, not much anyway. Let's take a closer look at the kitchen garden hedge, in fact let's take it a step further and look inside that hedge. Come on, I'll hold your hand so nothing bad can happen. You know it's no more scary than stepping inside a wardrobe, right? Even though you'll never know what you may find or where you'd end up.Watch out, there's some barbed wire. Be careful, I don't want you to hurt yourself.And look what I found here, it's the under-gardener! What on earth is he doing inside that hedge (never mind that we are there too) and why is he moving about so, that way I'll never be able to take a decent pic of him.Hmmm, let's get out of that hedge, shall we, as it's getting rather crowded in ... More About: Table , Redhead , Hedge
The Awakening
2008-01-27 10:36:00 Slowly but surely my garden is waking up. The snowdrops are chiming their little white bells: wake up, wake up, Spring is coming! And many of my plants and bulbs have woken up, there was even one early bird who got up before the snowdrops did.The winter aconite.But other sleepy heads are rubbing their eyes and are waking up too, such as Hellebores, roses,tulips,Verbena bonariensis,Grape hyacinths,my daffodowndillies,Bergenia, that caught the sunshine in its leaves,the fennel in the kitchen garden,but also Geranium,Crocuses,Clematis andLady's mantle and many, many more. I find it a bit scary that so many of my plants have already woken up as it is only January and there is still plenty of opportunity for the Ice Queen to wreak havoc in my garden with her icy fingers and cold, cold breath. If you want to hear what destruction the Ice Queen is capable of, scroll up to the pic of the Verbena bonariensis, look to the right and click on the second ( the best version) or the third pictur... More About: Awakening
Indoor Gardening for the Climatically Challenged
2008-01-23 08:58:00 If your garden is covered in several feet of snow right now, you can still do some gardening, but indoors instead of out. How about a spot of Internet gardening? Surf on the net and see what's there to thaw your frozen gardener's heart. Go visit the blogs of the garden bloggers in Austin who are able to garden all year round, or visit Green Thumb in India or Nicole in Trinidad for some (semi-) tropical delight or even her from Bliss who has been outdoor gardening several times already this month. Annoying, isn't it, when you're still cooped up inside? But never fear, if you want to get your hands, or paws, dirty - and who wouldn't - you can!Here's Kadootje helping me out with a spot of indoor sowing. Get your paws out of that seed tray Kadootje, I want to get cracking with sowing some lovely blue trailing Lobelia.You can never have enough Lobelia, it's such a wonderful plant for pots and hanging baskets. Prices for bedding plants have gone up rather steeply these last few yea... More About: Gardening
The Kitchen Garden in January
2008-01-21 09:25:00 This is what my ornamental kitchen garden looks like this month. I took this pic yesterday as I was working in the kitchen garden. Last December we had some frost and even some frozen fog and the kitchen garden looked like this:The windows on my Victorian greenhouse were all covered with frost flowers but not anymore. Last week was very mild, temperatures ranging from 8 to 13 C while the average temperature for January is only 5 C. I took advantage of the mild weather and got some work done in the gardens and my kitchen garden. I didn't have to wear a winter coat, just a thick cardigan to keep me nice and warm. (Thanks to my dear friend Kylee of Our Little Acre I now know that I garden in zone 8, thanks for the link Kylee!) But before I went to work I went on a little tour to see what was happening in the veggie garden.I found the Christmas tree there, newly planted in its pot, so that it won't grow too fast, and I hope to use it again this year for Christmas too. And then, to m... More About: Garden , Kitchen
Very Unusual Birds
2008-01-18 09:36:00 these are not. They are my friends the turtle doves that wait for me to feed them every morning. They're quite cheeky; when I'm late they come and get me by landing on the windowsill outside my living room window and peering inside: where on earth is she, she's late and we're hungry!This is a more unusual bird but NIMG (not in my garden).But, not to worry, I do have some very extraordinary birds in my garden and here they are.What's so unusual about them? Have a look for yourself.They turn from white into blue at the flick of a switch. ;-) They give enough light to read a book by, so they're very handy as well. And they don't make a mess on the decking., also a bonus!I have quite a few indoor birds too and fortunately they are not in any danger from the Bliss team. Here are some of them:But what I'd really like to show you is a very special bird indeed; it's called the Warning Bird and here he is.Handsome fellow, don't you think? What's so special about him, you ask? Well... More About: Birds
January Blooms at Bliss
2008-01-15 09:51:00 It's the 15th of the month and once again time for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day. I joined GBBD in February of last year when Carol of May Dreams Gardens started it, so we have come full circle. One of the reasons for GBBD was to answer the burning question : is it possible to have outdoor blooms all year round? For the Bliss garden the answer is YES. This will be my last entry for GBBD, after this post I'll have shown you all the blooms in my garden and home all year round. I don't want to repeat myself (boring!) so this is it. Enjoy!Outdoor blooms:Rosa Moonlight, this little trooper has been flowering non stop from April of last year. So all in all she has presented me with blooms for 10 months of the year so far. Isn't that just simply marvellous?My runner up for longest flowering rose is rosa Guirlande d'Amour that has been flowering from last May until now. But I think that this is it for this rose. Moonlight still has a few buds but Guirlande d'Amour is down to its last flo... More About: January
OUR Winter Garden
2008-01-10 15:41:00 If you've read the previous post then you know that somebody was hissing down the wrong tree. What did YE mean by "my" winter garden. It's not hers, it's ours. We mean, really, our PA should know her place by now, we call the shots around here, not her. Pshaw and humph!As we find this typing malarkey a far too boring and humble a task for cats like us, we let the pics do the talking. As we all know, one pic says more than a thousand miaows! See the irrefutable evidence below of why the conservatory is OURS!It's where we have lunchand hang out.Where we train to become Olympic couch potato champions,have a tummy rubor a wash.It's where we nibble grass,watch the world go byand chat up pretty girls.It's the best place for being naughtya bit of a handful, in fact.It's where we explore thingsand discover big hairy, scary monsters.See what we mean? ;-)It's our favourite place to eatand say (cottage) cheese!It's the place to be for a spot of social climbing!It's our favourite wat... More About: Garden , Winter
My Winter Garden
2008-01-08 09:58:00 or conservatory is a nice place to be for most of the year. It's the lightest room of the house and even on a dull and gloomy day as today, it's light and airy. I love being in my conservatory and so do all the members of the Bliss team. Not forgetting all the plants that grow in the winter garden of course, they love it there too.Some plants love it so much that they are slowly taken over the conservatory. Here's my passionflower climbing up the chandelier.My conservatory is L-shaped and it is double glazed and has 8 top to bottom windows, two sets of glass sliding doors, central heating and hardly any stone walls.So I have to make good use of what little wall space there is. My orchids love this shelve as they do very well there. I also have a few climbers on this shelve, a Jasmin and a blue Plumbago. It's simply wonderful when the Jasmin is in flower and its fragrance fills the conservatory.As I said it's a great place to be for most of the year, but not all of it, unfortuna... More About: Garden , Winter
Pruning Apple Trees
2008-01-04 11:06:00 Many people think that in winter the gardener has nothing else to do but sit and snore by the fire. Well, there's not as much to do now as during the rest of the year, but there are a still a few jobs that need to be done. Here is a job I did during the holiday season, but it can also be done this month, so don't despair. ;-)Pruning the apple tree. In my back garden I have a nice little apple tree ( only three years old) that needed to be pruned. See all that crisscross of branches? That won't do at all. A healthy apple tree needs light and lots of air circulating around its branches.So I removed many branches and shortened quite a few others as well, and here is the end result. This is most of what I cut offand this is what remained on the tree.A big difference, don't you think? This time of year is a good time to prune your apple trees and you can prune them even when it's freezing. Apple trees, like roses, need lots of light and air so the rule of thumb is: prune enough bran... More About: Trees
Old and New
2008-01-01 19:01:00 The old year has gone,been chased away with fireworks.The new year has arrived,been welcomed with champagne,and appelflappen (a Dutch delicacy only eaten on New Year's Eve).It's 2008 now and I wish all my visitors a very Happy New Year!!!After eating all those appelflappen, oliebollen and other stuff on New Year's Eve, I needed to work it all off a bit, so we went for a nice stroll on the beach near Zierikzee in Zeeland (Sea land).Here we are on top of a dune, looking over the sea. It's rather choppy as there is a stiff breeze today.The sea is foaming at the mouth err along the water's edge.But even though it's not all that warm, we're not the only ones on the beach.There are even two black labs playing in the water, brrrrrr better them than me.I think it's time we call it a day, let's go somewhere else where it isn't so windy. So up those steep stairs again.Ahhhh, that's better. Look at that gorgeous view, very Dutch those red tiled roofs.Let's go a bit further and have...
A Blissful Christmas!
2007-12-25 10:16:00 A very blissful Christmas to all the visitors of this blog. I hope that all of you who celebrate Christmas will have a wonderful time in the company of those who are near and dear to you. It's been great fun to receive you all and to read all the wonderful and kind comments you left behind on my blog. I've made quite a few new friends from all over the world, for which I'm grateful. Garden (and occasionally cat) blogging has been a very positive experience for me I started blogging last February and have had over 25,000 visitors so far, which is quite amazing.This year it's not a white Christmas in the Netherlands; we very seldom have them. The last white Christmas I had was in 2001 when it snowed on the Second Christmas day (Boxing day). The sparkling white wonderland we had last weekend is gone alas and nature is wearing her grey frock again.But I'm glad I enjoyed the winter wonderland while it lasted as it was so beautiful to see the whole world turned into a sparkling white...
Walking in a Winter Wonderland
More articles from this author:2007-12-23 11:08:00 Come, it's time for a walk. It's been awhile and we're getting lazy. Wrap up nice and warm though, it's minus 5 degrees C. It's still freezing, but fortunately that cold north-easterly wind has gone and the sun is shining.But before we go for a walk, let's go into the garden first, shall we? See what happens when you don't winter clean the garden?Beautiful isn't it? No, it hasn't snowed, what you're seeing is the wonderful result of 3 consecutive foggy evenings followed by 3 nights of frost. Yes, that's right, it's frozen mist that has turned the dull and grey outside into this sparkling, magical faeryland. Let's look a bit closer, shall we?It really is magical, don't you think? Don't you just love the "ferns" of ice on one of the windows of the Victorian greenhouse? It's truly breath taking what a bit of ice and frozen mist can do.Come, let's go. Have you got everything? Don't forget your gloves, it really is cold.This is the house of one of my neighbours, just t... More About: Winter , Walking 1, 2, 3 |
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