Thursday 25 June 2015

My little (outdoors) sanctuary ....

I have expressed my love for Instagram and Pinterest once before with you and the way they are a constant inspiration.
In this case particularly the lovely (most English) ladies I follow on Instagram.

Last summer I saw many pictures passing of vases filled with sown flowers from their own garden. Especially there were the sweet peas where, in some cases, there seemed no end to its heyday.
And not forget to mention the home-grown vegetables on the even more inspiring allotments.
Through all this grew gradually the desire for my own (little) greenhouse in the garden.

I started my research for a little greenhouse and that turned out not such an easy task. After many hours browsing on the net I finally found one with the measurements that would fit perfectly on the spot I had in mind. With the "small" detail we had to collect it on the other side of the country.

Although gardening isn't really his thing I'm so fortunate with my husband, without complaining we drove to the east of the country to collect the kit and once home the even bigger job started.
It turned out to be a real DIY project because there were quite a few adjustments required before it became a solid greenhouse.

Our youngest son felt sorry for his dad so decided to help him and there was , except a few curses, also much laughter.
Love watching these two together, not only father and son but also so best buddies ....




And here the end result of their hard work, so very pleased with it ....








Almost starting to believe that soon I will be able to harvest my first tomatoes ....




And just replanted them as my "tutor" and "date" every Friday night in the person of dear Monty of Gardeners' World told me to do ....




Hopefully flowers from the sweet peas in the making ....




But also a place I love to spend time with everything I need around me ....







Even outside the greenhouse work in progress - hope to get these strawberries in time before the birds do ....




A lovely gift from my husband, a little greenhouse with more sweet peas ....




Sharing almost everything with my sisters I also told them of this new adventure and they followed the whole thing with big interest.
After I had compared ourselves with (you may know) the lovely and at the same time hilarious couple Tom and Barbara from the old seventies television series The Good Life  my sisters couldn't resist to call us by that name. And started to ask when they could have their first home grown meal.
Besides having a sense of humor they are also so thoughtful when it comes to gifts because isn't this cute, this small shovel (also very handy to plant out seedlings) with the inscription dear sis ....




After I had hardened off the sweet peas and planted them in the large flower bed also build by my husband I just couldn't believe my eyes.
Because this is one of the many flower buds I just discovered ....




And ta-da ... my first pick from the garden ....




When you read this I'll be on my way to my beloved England. And I'd better warn you in advance because I'm afraid my next post will be with a whole lot of that beautiful country (and hopefully a garden full of sweet peas!)

Anita
~xo~ 

Saturday 13 June 2015

Mother nature at its best ....


You'll probably already know I live in a little village near Amsterdam. A city where I also have my daytime job meaning at least three times a week a drive over there.
On my way to work I always pass the village Sloten and the associated piece of unspoiled nature called Vrije Geer .

On that little piece of land is a unique situation for Amsterdam standards. This year they have placed four poles with woven nests about six or seven meters high to attract storks, with the expectation the storks itself will fill the nest with nesting material.

Until recently there was only one pole in this area what made that each Spring there was a fight between the storks to get a place to breed. 
This caused a lot of stress for the storks with the result there was hardly any breeding at all.


As you can see on the next photo this wonderful new initiative wasn't without success.
Because this is what I saw mid-April .... 




At least once a week I took my camera with me when I went to work and on my way home I made a stroll on this special place where city life meets country living ....




This was around the beginning of May where I suspected the eggs had already hatched and mum was waiting patiently until dad came back from his hunting to feed his family ....




And here he is, one very proud dad .....




And clearly on a mission ....




To make this picture of the two together on the nest I had to spend a lot of time in the high and most of the time very wet grass. Quite an achievement for someone known for little patience. But somehow when it comes to bird watch I don't mind the waiting at all ....




And finally the four little ones ....




So very pleased I managed to capture them (from quite a distance in order not to disturb them) before they leave the nest ....




Aren't they cute ....




I'm going to miss this sight on my way to work, that's for sure .... happy weekend everyone!

Anita
~xo~

P.s. There's a little update on the following link : Mother nature at its best part 2