Introspection

Haha, a challenge to do some self-reflection! I tell myself (big smile)

 - Verbeter de wereld, begin bij jezelf -

 An old Dutch saying, something like:

Improve the world, start with yourself  /  Changing the world starts with you

- All ehr ghy een ander wilt schandael up welven,

Keert den spiegel eens umb, end besiet u selven -

by graphic artist Nicolaas Braeu 1608-1666

link: Rijksmuseum collectie

- Be the change you want to see in the world -

Arleen Lorrance in 1974

- All the tendencies present in the outer world are found in the world of our body.

If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change.

As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him -

Mahatma Ghandi / Mohandas Kramchand Ghandi in 1913

Bird Pot

In the early days ceramic bird pots were used to harvest young birds to eat them.

We are only trying to provide some extra nesting opportunities.

There are terracotta bird pots with different sized openings.

Our first ceramic pot is for great tit, blue tit, sparrow

or whatever bird decides to come and live with us...

Details

 There are a lot of beautiful details to spot.

I love the stone sculptures by the canal, especially the man with the lamb.

Barn

A couple of years ago we built a new barn.

Originally there was this concrete shed with an asbestos roof.

Our new wooden barn is so much better!!!

It's no longer in the middle of the backgarden and it fits right in with the surroundings.

Especially now the colour of the wood (still only on the outside) is changing from brown into grey.

We have a loam wall.........

a fireplace (built with bricks from the Antwerp Zoo :-)

and recycled handmade tiles on the roof.

You could easily be mistaken and think our (new) barn has already been here for a long time :-)