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In dreams I dwell
among the trees
the Ancient Ones
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Let other Pathways lead you home…
Travel theme: Pathways
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Tag Archives: forest
Weekly Photo Challenge: Unique
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don’t try to blend in
show your colors, radiate
for you are unique!
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Look here for other entries in the WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Delicate
Share a picture that means DELICATE to you, Michelle said. Delicate could be the tracings of frost on a window, a child’s tiny fingers and toes, the intricate pattern of a tree’s canopy, or something yet-to-be-discovered. So much of this challenge depends on your interpretation of “delicate,” and we look forward to seeing the range of images you capture.
I chose these delicate spiderwebs, nestled in soft whiteness:
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Over at WordPress you will find more Delicate photos!
Travel theme: Foliage
Ailsa of Where’s my backpack? was so kind to invite me to participate in her Weekly Travel Theme. It is foliage she wants us to show. And I found plenty of that in a nearby forest. Woods. Eh…
Could someone please explain the difference between forest and woods to me? When do I use forest and when woods? Thank you.
The leaves stay the same though 
Pippin’s Mushrooms!
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A mushroom is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or on its food source. The standard for the name “mushroom” is the cultivated white button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus; hence the word “mushroom” is most often applied to those fungi that have a stem, a cap and gills or pores on the underside of the cap.
Today we headed into the forest to search for mushrooms. Not to gather and eat them, but to capture them on film. To our surprise, there were only a few. But I share what I have
Winter Photos
Dry snow and crispy air. This combination lured us from the house into the wild. Into the wildish My camera screamed, refusing to be left behind. Unfortunately the sun was hiding behind the clouds, I would have loved a bit of blue between the white and brown, but my camera, famished as it was, ate everything anyway.
- The road ahead was clear.
- Moss and leaves, playfully connected.
- Trees, lifting their arms in unison.
- This looked more like a cemetery than a forest.
- Dutch feet.
- Though temperatures are below -15 C, this brook was still not frozen over.
- Then a dog came running past.
- My Dad will drool upon seeing this: he’s not a wood eater but loves to fire up his hearth.
- The lumber, closer up.
- The absolute highlight of the walk. I wanted to jump up too but kept calm and asked them if I could shoot photos in stead.
- Now I’m drooling: not as a horse eater but as horse lover.
- Trees towering over Vman.
- Once inscribed in small letters, now grown into a bigger font.
- A Dryad
- My eyes saw the head of a giraffe in the bark of this tree… please tell me you see it too?
Photos Thanksgiving
As promised in my post Thanksgiving in Holland, finally the photos of our walk in the wild woods Thank you dearest brother Bert, for shooting and sharing them! 
at a brisk pace, my Mom and niece in the lead
a family portrait; my brother is invisible (making the photo)
ah there he is, on the right Vman holding the camera now
Dad, me, Mom and Vman. I love this picture!
the boys who didn't feel like going... having big fun!
one of the very few mushrooms we saw
my big brother makes very fine photos!
my sister Nancy (in law & heart) with her youngest son
my sweet sister Monique with her daughter
encounter with a man and his horse
time to go home again...
Thanksgiving in Holland
I bet you don’t know we have Thanksgiving in Holland huh? Noooo my dear Canadian and American friends, no, I’m sorry: you are not unique in that! The low lands, the Netherlands, Holland is also celebrating Thanksgiving! At least, in my family At least since last Saturday!
It was my heartfelt wish to start a family tradition based on nature, so I invited my dear family to our house to celebrate the Dutchess Thanksgiving on October 15th. And they gathered to my call!
Around three PM two cars arrived, soon followed by a third. And out they came: the Driessen family. First there were my parents, my father (79) totally ecstatic because he could finally drive again. He had his eye lenses renewed last month (cataract) and because of that his sight is now as it was forty years ago! The colours have come back into his world and he – and we with him – is so very grateful.
Then my sister, her two kids and her partner jumped out of the car, carrying a bouquet of tea. YES really. In it is black, herbal and green tea – of course – small sweets, a kind of tea egg and sugar candy. I love it! Mom brought yellow roses, ‘Limburgse vlaaien’ – a special kind of pie from our home province in the deep south of Holland – and chocolate! And my brother, his wife and two (of their four) kids brought up the rear, carrying a big bouquet of summer flowers and a bottle of champagne. Isn’t that sweet?!
The weather couldn’t have been better: a full sun in clear blue skies. So after drinking coffee and tea (sorry Bert, you had to wait ‘a bit’ ) and eating fresh apple muffins and the ‘vlaai’, we headed towards the forest. Luckily all brought sturdy shoes, because the ground was muddy from last week’s rain. The youngest boys really didn’t feel like going at first, but soon they could 
be seen cantering through the bushes, under dark trees, jumping ditches and carrying sticks, climbing wood stacks and grinning ear to ear. Meanwhile the elder folks strolled at an easy pace, talking about the things families talk about when they meet after being separated for several months. Like South-Africa. Like anniversaries. Or about food. Holidays. About silly TV programs. My brother shot pictures, which I hope to publish later this week.
After the walk we headed back home again for snacks, wine, juice and beer. My living room is kind of small but we created a circle and sat where ever was possible (lucky number thirteen in total). And then my second experiment was tested: pumpkin soup. It was a combination of shallot, olive oil, garlic, chicken broth, curry, cumin and sugar, plus of course pumpkin. At the last moment I added half a litre yoghurt, cream and more garlic, plus fresh coriander on top. Seems they liked it That was a real Thanksgiving dish right?
Because my oven is kind of small, I couldn’t make a whole roast turkey. In stead I made two sauerkraut oven dishes. Yes that’s right: sauerkraut! You just HAVE to serve that at a Dutch Thanksgiving. Again I’ll give the ingredients. If someone wants the entire recipe, just ask and I’ll translate it for you. Here we go: potatoes cooked in chicken bouillon, mashed with butter, milk, herb cream cheese and nutmeg. Then bacon, sauerkraut, apple, pineapple, cream and water. The meat section: minced meat, salt, pepper, paprika powder, onions, brown sugar, soy sauce, ground chilli, orange juice, ketchup. Layer of the sauerkraut mixture, layer of the meat mixture and a layer of mashed taters, with little pieces of dairy butter on top.
Alright, you can all relax again. Of course I made a turkey stew too. After all, what is a Thanksgiving without a turkey? I bought turkey fillet and roasted it very slowly, making sure it was still pinkish inside. Then I started on the sauce with the gravy, adding onions, garlic, mushrooms and cranberries, salt and pepper, plus mushroom sauce. The meat had rested in this sauce for a night and a day and was tender and sweet. We ate it with fresh bread rolls and a green salad Vman made, washed down with red wine.
Everyone went back to the kitchen for a refill. Even the boys liked the sauerkraut! Except my eldest of course. He calls these slivers of sauerkraut ‘meuk’. Let’s say he doesn’t like it But he did love the turkey. After dessert everyone was so full, they didn’t even want chocolate bonbons anymore. Well, at the second offering they did dig in.
Finally around nine PM everybody fired up their vehicles and went home again, while laughter, kisses and waves filled the air. After cleaning up, Vman and me crashed on the couch, exhausted but happy. Thanksgiving in Holland. A new tradition has been born.
Why does time fly when you’re having fun, and crawl while waiting for the next meeting? See you all next year for another episode sweethearts! But first at Christmas of course
BIG CARING HUGS, I LOVE YOU!
