zaterdag 31 maart 2012

Tulips


Today I went to the weekly market to buy myself some tulips.
It's a variety with small bordeaux coloured flowers.
They colour my weekend.

Cabinet

 This is our old cabinet with some beach findings.
Originally it is an old shop counter display cabinet.
It was placed horizontally so that's why the glass has been scratched.
Now and then the content changes.
Right now you can see.........

Some dogfish (shark) eggs.

Some egg capsules from rays.
I remember finding these on the beach, being a lot bigger (almost twice as big) when they were still wet.
 They are regularly found on the beach. Almost all ray species in the Noth Sea lay eggs, attaching them to stones, wrecks or seaweed. One can identify which ray species they belong to by the color and shape of the pouch and the length of the spines.

 This incredible construction is a solitary wasp nest.
It was build in a bird's nestbox.

And some of my lovely houses ;-)

donderdag 29 maart 2012

Flowering bulbs

 The first Fritillaries are in full bloom!

 Others are just starting........

Narcissus Snipe or Mitzy. I'm still not sure.

woensdag 28 maart 2012

Blossoming pears




The flowers of the pear trees have just started opening.

Pukkelpop 2012

Our shoes after Pukkelpop 2011

We went to Pukkelpop festival in Hasselt in 2011 to see the Foo Fighters.
What started as a beautiful day ended in a real disaster. The weather changed rapidly.
One minute we were dancing in the rain (which was nice after lots of sunshine) during the performance of Skunk Anansie.
The next minute we started running to find some cover for this storm.
We were okay but the festival ended on it's first day at 18.30h.
Not everybody was so lucky. Lots of people got hurt and 5 people died that day.
We first heard about this awful news after we got home at 3.30h.

Today I received some news about the line-up for Pukkelpop 2012.
Guess what......the Foo Fighters are coming again!
Pukkelpop is still our favourite festival and we're still hoping to see the Foo Fighters live.
We will be there on august 18th :-)

dinsdag 27 maart 2012

Death


Last saturday we found a greenfinch (Carduelis chloris) on our driveway.
We feed the birds sunflower seeds and normally we see only fat and healthy birds.
This is the first dead bird. It could be a virus, it might be attacked by a strange cat
(not ours, because ours is too old and only outside when we are) or perhaps it hit a window.
We can only guess what happened..........

maandag 26 maart 2012

Portemanteau




I bought this for our visitors to hang their coats.
We have a built-in wardrobe for our own coats, bags, shoes and scarves.
This portemanteau (coat rack) is designed by Marina Bautier in 2006.
Made of solid oak and you can order it online.
Check out my skôn blog for this.

zondag 25 maart 2012

Garden

Anemone nemorosa (wood anemone)

Fritillaria meleagris
We have lots of those in our very wet field.
Just wait and see the flower opening........


Narcissus Snipe?
The first little star.
Just 10 cm in height.
The trumpet is still very yellow but it will fade into lemon, finally into white.
I'll keep you posted.

Corylus maxima 'Purpurea'
Purple Haze Hazel
This is the reason why the red squirrel visits us in autumn.
The beautiful buds and leaves in spring are as much a delight as the squirel in autumn!

Breakfast outside

Blueberry-eldery juice, coffee, tea and some sourdough.

Sil(ly)


Sometimes his body language tells me he doesn't want to be photographed.

Even you can tell. It's really obvious here!

zaterdag 24 maart 2012

Gardening

Helleborus orientalis
21-3

23-3
After two days of sunshine you can see the flowerbud is opening.

24-3


Thalictrum Elin
It is just starting to grow but it will go up to 200 cm.

Angelica archangelica

It looks like the Angelica is going to be a great succes this year.
We had it for years but it was strugling and it never flowered before.
Last autumn we gave it a new spot in a really wet part of our garden.
We added lots of compost and now it looks like its flipping!

Angelica is native to Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Greenland, the Faerous and Finland.
In Norway it was such a valued plant that according to Gulathing's law (11th century) a tenant farmer was allowed to take this plant with him.

It's a beautiful plant (loved by insects) but look out, especially with childeren.
The plant has a photosensitive juice wich will cause burning to the skin and mouth if exposed to light.


vrijdag 23 maart 2012

IHS

We were never able to read what was on this stone until today.
This morning the sun was still standing very low when I took this photo.
Importing the photo's into my laptop, I suddenly discovered "IHS"!
Searching the internet I found it's a Christogram.
A medieval-style IHS monogram meaning Iesus Hominum Salvator ("Jesus, Savior of men" in Latin).
Funny joke because we are both atheists.
But then again according to the internet IHS might also stand for the International Headache Society :-)

Bricks

One of the reasons we bought this house is the brickwork.
The house itself is only 12 years old but because of these bricks it looks much older.
The reclaimed bricks and also the colour and the width of the grouting, works for us.

You can still see some pieces of straw left in the loam.......

Some layers of lime plaster.......

Some stones have traces of a fire.......


Sometimes you can even see some fingersprints left in the brick  :-)

donderdag 22 maart 2012

Insect tea towel


This insect tea towel was designed by Studio Job and produced in Textile Museum in Tilburg.
Available in black, grey, beige, bue, red, yellow and pink.
I've had some black ones for quite some time now but last week I discovered the grey one.

woensdag 21 maart 2012

Spring!

March 11th


March 21st

Yesterday spring has (officially) begun.
Today the yellow flowers of this willow look stunning!
 It's Salix caprea (Goat Willow also known as Pussy Wilow, Great Sallow).
The flowers are soft silky catkins, produced in early spring before the leaves appear.

Wall+

On my wall there is this poem of Frank Eerhart.
My effort to translate the poem:

like an animal
looking for you
just for the scent
touching you softly
without something
wanting
just to be there

dinsdag 20 maart 2012

My walls

This photo was made by me and it was printed on linen.
This photo is made by Steven Greaves.
It's called "Fallen Angel".
A legionnaire from the French Foreign Legion's 2REP sits in an armored personnel
carrier en route to an operation near Badpash Kusa Kala, Afghanistan.

This is a print from the Mauermuseum in Berlin.
The original photo was made by Peter Leibing.
 The soldier is Hans Conrad Schumann.
He was one of the first defectors, just before the Berlin wall was build.

Perhaps you think it's strange to have photo's of soldiers on your wall.
Besides the fact I love those photos it helps me to remember........
Freedom doesn't come naturally!

A limited-edition letterpress print by Emprint.
It's a Robert Frost poem and I bought this in her Etsy shop.
Next to it you can see a photo of my grandfather.