Wissant

I do love the sea and beach.

With good friends and sun it's even better ★

Doggerland

Perhaps you've heard about Doggerland...

Thanks to some beach finds we got really interested.

In January we started the hunt and visited Monster.

It was windy, rainy and very cold but we found lots of fossil bits and pieces...

In May I found an artefact at Maasvlakte 2, our first visit to this area...

I knew it was something special, a so called "spits".

Measuring 6 cm probably a bow and arrow tip.

The idea someone held this piece way back... was mind-blowing.

The expert opinion : a harpoon tip approximately 10.000 years old.

If it had been up to me, we would have started visiting every weekend (smile)

In August, our second visit, the kenderman found this tooth on the same beach.

Due to the expert is a molar from a red or giant deer...

We were both eager to visit the Doggerland exhibition at RMO in Leiden.

a reconstruction of neanderthaler Krijn

I must admit I'm really obsessed by "spitsen" or "tips" now (big smile).

We dis see some other objects in the museum but we'll go back...

Magic from the bronze age... two swords from Ommerschans and Jutphaas.

Dating 1350-1500 BC

Two giant blades, too heavy, no handle, not even sharpened.

No functional weapons, only objects of beauty?

Naturalis

 At last... our first visit to Naturalis Biodiversity Center.

One of the world's top five natural history collections

I noticed the impressive architecture...

but I was dying and focused to get a good glimpse of the vast collection.

Taxidermy is an art form by itself.  Have a look at this Caracal...

Dinosaur Era gallery 

Life gallery 

The aardvark is one of my many favourites...

My favourite place to be is Live Science :

a fraction of the huge ladybug collection by Oskar and Cécile Vogt...

Lot of drawers with specimen...

A giant deer molar just like the one the kenderman recently found at the beach...

Closing time... two of the last ones to leave... but we'll be back!

Exhibition Dirk Baksteen

Last Wednesday I went to Jacob Smits Museum.

I have been waiting a long time for one of my favourite artists : Dirk Baksteen.

Being over the moon I forgot to take some photo's of his work ☺

But I will visit the exhibition again so to be continued....

You can see my earlier Dirk Baksteen posts here and here.

 

Beautiful painting by Jacob Smits 

Geboortehuis van de moeder van Frans Van Leemputten by Corneel Van Leemputten 1865

Sunday Morning Beauty

Not as early as I hoped... my Sunday morning walk... I could smell autumn 

lots of beautiful cobwebs

I'm Back

It has been almost a year since my previous post.

What can I say... 

It has been a turbulent year for all of us.

Some of you had to face the loss of someone dear. My deepest sympathies ♥

Many people still have to deal with 'long Covid' related health problems.

Only a few days after I visited my dad in spring

he and the kenderman (my husband) got infected by Covid.

 My dad, at the age of 79, was quite sick for a week but then

he recovered really quickly and is doing fine since. Thankfully!

I felt quite sick too but tested negative 3 times in a row.

The kenderman didn't feel sick at all.

We are so lucky to live in wealthy Europe with good healthcare and access to vaccines!