Back to “normal”

Back to looking at the calendar and seeing what needs to be done. 

Thursday evening April 30 Caleb had a band concert at his Middle School. We could not miss that, of course. He was playing on his Aunt Helen's clarinet.

A day later we were so antsy because the weather was nice and it felt like we should plant some annuals. We went to several shops (mainly hardware stores who always in spring) but ended up in a garden center. And, they ended up in the dirt very fast.

The first days of May were very busy. Our church ECW ladies had committed themselves to host the Diocese of VA ECW Spring Meeting on Tuesday May 5th. We had agreed to meet on the day before at noon to set up. The room looked really nice and ready.

I had agreed to arrange the altar flowers for that service. James and I went to Trader Joe's who always has a good selection to small bunches of flowers and greens. We had peonies and roses blooming in our garden and additions like "Star of Bethlehem" would make them look really pretty.

One on each side.

I also did a lot of baking for the breakfast we were supposed to offer. Some of the nearly 50 expected participants had quite a long car ride to do.

I made 4 lots (3 different recipes) of "egg bites" (a form of individual quiches). These were vegetarian.

On the day we were supposed to be there and have the doors open at 8:30 am but of course all those helping were there earlier. 

It started with the registration and breakfast. After that was a short meeting of board members telling us about different Diocese groups and events. 

After that the speaker Dr. Mark Biddle talked about "De-mystifying the Bible".

Sorry, this picture looks as if the church was empty but it wasn't and it was a very uplifting Eucharistic service. 

As President of our local chapter I had been in charge of making the service bulletin. I like doing things like that but of course I had never done it before. 

And then followed a lunch which luckily was suggested as box lunch.

Betty's refreshing water. I should have taken a photo when it was full.

Needless to say we were all happy when it was done and we felt it had gone well.

May 8 brought a real surprise. When I looked out from the sunroom onto the patio I got a bit of a shock. Too close for comfort was a copperhead snake. This is a poisenous kind. Thank goodness for our neighbor Bill who came with a shovel and took care of it. I don't like killing animals but copperheads are getting too numerous and are not staying in the forest behind our house. 

Our Priest Lee really had liked the flower arrangements and since there had nobody signed up to sponsor next Sunday's altar flowers he asked whether they could stay. Of course. We made sure for the rest of the week that they had enough water but soon it was clear that the peonies would not survive that long. Unfortunately no more pink ones in our garden and our dark red ones were not open enough yet.

Ha-ha, I think the Lord took care of my problem. On Friday James and I had a very good walk in our community and when we were almost back at our house but just around the corner we past an open garage door. A lady sat there and chatted with another neighbor across the drive way. Of course we exchanged greetings and she told us to come closer because she wanted us to see her sign hanging behind her. Her daughter had made it "Come into the garage of Max and chat" (something like that). She called it her outdoor living room with comfortable chairs and even a table with table cloth and flowers. I commented on the pink peonies and she immediately jumped up, graped her clippers and went a few steps to the site to cut so many of hers that I had trouble carrying them home. 

On Saturday I replenished the arrangements. It was so much fun.

Besides that we planned our next trip. Yeah! We went to see the twins playing baseball. And getting ready to drive to Nashville to see Helen and William. But that is all for now. 

Trip in Holland / Day 20 - Returning home

Saturday April 25

We had ordered a taxi for 7:15 am and I think the alarm was set for 6:30 or so because we had decided that we didn't need to shower or breakfast. The taxi driver came early which is better than the opposite. But it hurried our saying good-by to Ute, Corry and Werner. Since saying good-by is never fun it might be a good thing.

The taxi driver was a chatty person. And very eager to do a good job. He had been worried that the traffic would be bad because it was Saturday and the weedend of "king's day", the dutch holiday were people supposedly celebrate a lot. But there was no problem. Check-in was very easy. So was security. We were near the gate in no time and we found some breakfast. This photo was taken at 9:15 am. 

Ha-ha, later James is proofreading my blog about Day 18. 

A bus brings us from the gate to the plane. 

Everything is on time. Unfortunately at check-in we forgot to ask whether they had better seats. When we had booked we could not get a window seat. Oh well....

The flight was pretty on-time and uneventful. Thank the Lord. And it felt very long because it was a day flight. I watched 2 movies. In both I had to hold my tears back. One was "Ghost". 

We had quite a long lay-over in Chicago but since I got it wrong which one was our next gate we did a lot of walking. 

Finally we continued. Look at those straight street like drawn with a ruler.

The skyline of Chicago peeking through clouds.

We landed in Richmond about 9:30 pm and our Uber/Lift friend from church was there to pick us up. He had brought us to the airport at the start of the trip and we had given him the details for the return. So dependable.

Yeah, home! The next day we took "inventory". Our rhododendron was in full bloom. We saw it first from the inside through the dining room window. Such a delight.

And back from church in the afternoon we had to pick up walking again. 

Almost three wonderful weeks. We are so grateful. Everything had worked out wonderfully. For Europe in spring we could not have asked for better weather. Even with our older bones we could do and enjoy all planned things. The people we met were so nice and fun. And the week with our dear family and friends made our hearts so full of joy. We are so lucky. 

The END of this adventure!

Trip in Holland Airbnb / Day 19

Friday April 24

Well, well, well, our last day this time because we all would like to do it again. Family and friends! Spending time together! Having fun!

Corry is making a shopping list what they need for breakfast or their journey. Corry and Werner drive with Ute to her house. It is almost on their way home for them. Ute could have taken a train but spending the night at her house and not having to drive all the way to Singen on one day is a win win for all. 

We were wondering whether we wanted to walk into town (dorp? = as in Julianadorp) and I wanted to see whether we could get onto a street from behind the house instead of having to walk where we drive a large loop into the community. 

I walked all the way to the left but where the bridge is, is also a fence.

And I walked all the way to the right where I saw cars turning into a street BUT the canal was also turning to the right at the end. Nowhere getting across the water. Now, that is what I call a gated community, ha-ha.

I did enjoy all the wildflowers on the way though I must say. Tremendously!  My photo identifier said: little daisies (Gänseblümchen in German), common bluebells, indian hyacinth, Virginia bluebells, hesperis ...

Waterlilies, jumping fish or frogs and lots of different ducks and water birds.

After 2pm we decided to drive to Callantsoog where they were dropping off the key of the airbnb the next day. But they also wanted to buy a few more things. Those card holders make good gifts.

This day finding a parking spot was more difficult than the day when we visited before. We must have been very lucky with 2 cars then. But we found a good place one street over from the main place. Almost next door to this church. The date over the door said 1580 !!!

Of course we were nosy so I tried the door and it was not locked. But just on the other side of the door was a young man handling a ladder. I asked whether we were allowed to have a look and he said in a minute after he had put some things away. He had repaired something.

He also told us, yes, the church was built 1580 but also for a second time. The area had all been an island. We didn't quite understand all and would have loved to know more. But we didn't want to intrude more. And there was a bit of a language barrier.

I don't know why I didn't take better photos. The church was so interesting. The young man explained it is usually locked except for when there are services and afterwards every Sunday there is an elaborate coffee time to which we would be invited. We regretted that we had to leave the next day.

We did decide to also take care of our evening snack. The large word Pannenkoeken over the door made us interested. After all, it is a very Netherland meal. They come sweet or savory.

I had to try one with mushrooms and cheese (kaas) on it.

James had Bitterbollen but in longer form as the round balls.

Ute had waffles with cherries, lemon ice-cream and whipped cream. Everything very Netherlands.

I wanted to go over the dijk and see the sea. We had not done that at the previous visit. What a view.

We walked to the end of this way but not onto the sand. As soon as you were away from the dijk you were almost blown away from the cold wind.

And yes, we had to have a last card game and a left-center-right game too. Or even two of them. 

Cleaning up leftovers etc we also found some nuts we didn't like and wondered whether the animals would. Oh yes, the magpie must have thought she had hit the jackpot.

Corry was interested to see where she was taken it. A nest? We never found out.

And there is nothing else to report. James and I had to pack our suitcases as far as we could. The taxi to Shiphol Airport was ordered for 7:15 the next morning. It is about 50 miles or so. 

We set the alarm clock and did go to bed a little earlier as we did on other days. It was all bittersweet.

Step count: 7,813