Firbit

 A small branch of a fir tree found on the lawn after a spring gale, back in 2020.
The pharmacist's flask is a souvenir from the Lake District.

Repair Café

This morning I took photographs at the local Repair Café.
And also helped fix a strimmer.

Turnout was good - Around 50 items of various plumage were handled
and a good percentage got fixed.

Electric and mechanical malfunctions got fixed,
textile got mended and knives sharpened.

We also had a good number of volunteers, including Dutch, British, German, French, Turkish and Belgian.

Morning Colour Shift

From cool misty blue to bright colourful sunshine in just an hour or two.

Duck with Exploding Tulips

This philosophical looking duck is from Denmark I think. I believe it came from a design shop in the Denneweg in The Hague where my late Mum liked to shop. The tulips have completely opened up and are shedding leaves which the duck seems to ignore.

View from the Couch

Goldfish

Our single goldfish survived another winter. There used to be four fish, but the other goldfish died and the two koi carps disappeared one after the other, caught by who knows what.

First Crocus Flowers

Spring is making headway despite recent cold flurries. Crocus flowers are appearing, like these in the middle of the four birch trees. My late Mum planted some and so did the missus as well.

Our youngest has a fancy folding phone that takes good detail shots like the
perfect portrait above.

birch - bouleau - berk

Snow again and gone

Now you see it, now you don't.

(taken at 10 AM and 2 PM today.)

Valentine

An appropriate gift for this day was ready when the missus came in for her lunch break from work. With all the advertising on radio and TV it's hardly a surprise, but it worked all the same. The trick is to make a nice presentation. The balloons in 2007 below were particularly good. :)

Got some choccies in return. Yum!

Robin on Ice

Working at home allows spotting birds while the neighbourhood is quiet. This little robin had just skated over the frozen water basin to investigate the flower pots on the right. It was contemplating the ice by the time I got the camera. Without the ice it would have had a drink.

 

 This bluetit came in a few times to feed.

Another robin had a look round a rose bush before continuing on its way down the garden.

robin - rouge-gorge - roodborstje
bluetit - mésange bleue - pimpelmees

Spring is in the Air

At least that's what the hazelnut bush seems to feel. Looking out of the bathroom window before a shower this morning, its catkins jumped into view.

 

 

Snow was in the air as well, though. We had a slight powdering, but a few miles north it was an inch or two (causing collisions on the ring road which it was better to avoid).

Snowdrops haven't appeared yet this year. The photos below are from this day eleven years ago, when there was also a touch of frost.

hazelnut - noisette - hazelnoot
snowdrop - perce-neige - sneeuwklokje

Nice Chore

This poor thing had an accident in its past somewhere. One deflector had been glued on and came off again. Soldering is not a strong point but the deflector's now sitting solid again. Still needs a lot of retouching but the tricky bit's done.

Onion

This onion was found in the cupboard when looking for one to make an omelette. It had started to sprout so instead of throwing it away it was put on the sill to sprout even more. Maybe it will even flower, who knows. The other plants were rescued from a skip at the office and are awaiting better pots. The onion too.

Tajine

 

 

The missus got this tajine from a woman who was about to hand it in to the local recycle shop. A very decorative thing and getting it for free was even more satisfying. A first try resulted in this tasty dish of very tender chicken thighs with aubergines, carrots, peppers, potatoes and dried apricots.

Weird

Proof that Belgium is a surreal country - this has off and on been parked in a nearby back road. Saw it again today on the way home.

Another lazy Saturday morning

View from the bed.

Open the curtains and it's a bright sunny day.

A quick refill and back under the wool!

Bright but cold

It's a cloudless shiny bright Sunday morning. The sunlight comes in almost horizontally.

But it's icy cold. There's frost on the grass and on any such leaves still on the plants. The bush in a pot near the kitchen door has no leaves left, but its blossoms have gone white and dry and very much complement the icy day.