Days in the Netherlands

          Great to be with the family in V M and the days, though cloudy, are quite warm but not exactly summer weather.
         We had a family outing to a wonderful fairy tale theme park called Efteling and the girls had great fun though I think they thought some of the very extra large giants a bit over the top.


Musical toadstools



Looking for the music

 Estelle liked Mr Long Neck best but they both wanted to know where the music came from when they saw one of the many toadstools/mushrooms seats.
The following pictures tell some of the story.
Mr Long Neck doesn't stay like that - after a moment or two, his long neck goes back to normal.
                                             

                                        The talking tree                              

We have also been to the (by me) much anticipated Floriade 2012 at Venlo and although, inspite of the showers of rain, it was a very pleasant day, it was not at all what I expected and it was hard not to be disappointed. The word Floriade was slightly misleading as it is really a World Horticultural Expo.

There were some glorious displays of meadow type flowers, some I had trouble identifying. Lots of blues and yellows and plants that self seeded.

There were a number of grasses mixed with the perennials and they added to the wild, natural theme.

Floriade 2012 at Venlo

Now that I am in the Netherlands the Google blog has got 'clever' and has turned all my 'prompts' into Dutch and so my apologies but I have had a lot of trouble with this addition!

Also I fly home, leaving from Amsterdam, next Tuesday afternoon and so I am going to make this the last one. It has not worked out as well as I had hoped, much the same as the journey itself I suppose and as I've had only a little feed back I am still not sure if I've entertained anyone beyond the immediate family.

To all my 'Family in England' (you know who you are!) Many, many thanks to you  for all the help, the wonderful generous hospitality, the fun and the laughter.

Some of you have expressed an interest in visiting us Down Under and I can assure you all of a great welcome if and when you do.

I WILL BE KEEPING IN TOUCH WITH ALL OF YOU ONE WAY OR ANOTHER!!

More days in Yorkshire

It has been sometime since I added a note or two, but it has been a very happy few weeks among various family members in Yorkshire and further south.

For the May 26th  'Family Reunion' at the home of my half brother and his partner, with cousins from Lincolnshire, a son and daughter in law, with their two gorgeous girls from The Netherlands we had beautiful warm sunny weather!
The days there were spent antique hunting (quite successful!), open garden viewing, (beautiful) and generally enjoying the countryside. With lots of fun and laughter.  Many thanks J and F!!

Mollis azaleas at Wentworth Castle

More Azaleas

    















I celebrated the Jubilee Weekend as best as I could with a very heavy cold!

Now it was time to make my way down south, to a number of friends and family to say my goodbyes and my thanks for all their help and very generous hospitality.

This journey began in a typically Aussie fashion and flustered at least three English households!
Leaving Yorkshire at around 9.30am, (having been warned about the difficulties of driving on busy Fridays), I travelled easily to Lincolnshire in an hour and a half intending to stay there for only an hour or two before continuing on to Hertfordshire. Only, as soon as I arrived, I received a text message to say I had left a backpack behind. 
Volunteering to send this to Herts by courier was a nice thought, but the luggage not only contained my laptop, but two passports, some extra cash, and all my Australian credt and visa cards! I didn't think this a good idea so I decided, since there was plenty of day left, to return to Yorks, pick up the bag and re set the sat nav for Herts.

That's when the plan started to go haywire.

For some reason the A1 was blocked in two places and instead of taking the one and a half hours I expected, the return journey took three and a half! By the time I picked up the backpack and turned the car round it was after 4pm!
Nothing daunted, with the sat nav re set, I headed off down the M1 only to discover everyone else in England doing just the same! The journey was slow and tedious and I eventually arrived at my destination at very nearly 8pm! By this time I had been in the driving seat for approx seven and a half hours not counting the original one and a half in the early morning.

I have discovered a whole new way of life....How to amuse myself stuck in three lanes of traffic for hours on end, and how to send numerous text messages while crawling at speeds no more than 5 - 10 miles per hour!









Female pheasant on her nest - 'well hidden'


Next news update will be from the Netherlands......