Ascension Day was Thursday, so as is our tradition, Ingrid came over. We went to the annual market in my old town and played board games. The weather was real nice so we headed to the market on bike. Excellent opportunity for a few quick pics.
The good weather continued so Sunday I headed over to Nienke for lunch. Nom!
Saturday Nienke, Kim and I exchanged winter gifts. I got Kim a colouring book about owls, pretty shower stuff and a dvd of A Knight’s Tale. It’s Kim’s favourite movie but it broke so it wouldn’t play anymore. She got me a bag of chocolate drops mixed with marshmallows to make your own hot cocoa with, a glorious bar of chocolate and a book called The Book of Ivy. I hadn’t heard of it before, but it sounds like a really good book. I’m looking forward to reading it. Captain spent the evening helping us unpack.
Sunday I took town the trees and Monkey needed to make sure I put the tree parts in the bag just right.
I have this week off work so while Milo looks disapprovingly at the weather outside, I cuddle up on the sofa with Captain “lazy bones” Blackbeard.
My buds 🙂
I run this place, make no mistake
My rug, pretty please?
My piece of paper went away 🙁
June 11: breakfast outside
June 12: baby birds
June 15: Captain Blackbeard is judging you
June 14: shaved and left a tiny mohawk, not bad with just a regular mirror and a tiny hand mirror to check the back 😀
Sunday proved to be a day of moderate adventure and great fun 😀 Eva’s little boy had his birthday earlier this week, and Sunday they were celebrating.
So early in the afternoon I traveled to Groningen. I met up with Mellien on the train, which helped ease the half hour wait for the next train. We then boarded for Grijpskerk where Ingrid picked us up to drive to the farm.
We chatted, drank tea, ate tasty cake and gave presents. I’d bought a couple children’s books in Frisian and Gronings for him. Two for him directly, and one and a audio book first to Eva as he’s not old enough yet. Both parents and boy seemed to like it, so I call it a success 😀
They had bought a pair of young rabbits the day before, and on Sunday Eva’s brother in law was bringing two more young rabbits as a birthday present. They are very handsome, but turned out to be a weeee bit larger than expected.
Hop Hop Hynke, Frisian rhymes and songs
Instead of about the same size as the others, they’re about double that. Which made the cage that was supposed to be their home for a day or two rather on the small side.
Sikko kleedt zich aan/trekt zuk aan, about a goat who wants clothes
We left at the end of the afternoon as Ingrid, who had come from Leeuwarden, had to go back there as well. However, as saying goodbye is wont to do, it took a while before we set out. We then had the bad luck of finding the bridge open, which resulted in Mellien and I missing the train.
In Nije Stjer, a Frisian tale of the Three Wise Men
After comparing options, we decided to ride with Ingrid to Buitenpost to grab the train there. This was more fun, because more time with Ingrid, and left us a half hour wait in Buitenpost as opposed to waiting an hour in Grijpskerk.
De Bruorren Liuwehert, and audio book version of the Astrid Lindgren book by theater company Tryater
Fortunately the weather was fairly nice so the wait was easy. And once back in Groningen, I treated myself to a milkshake to pass the half hour wait there for the train home. So, quite a trip, but it was worth it!
I went to the zoo in Emmen today with Nienke and Kim. I hadn’t been there since I was about three, when this picture was taken. That’s my aunt with her children, my other aunt, little me, and my Mom. I don’t really remember anything from when I was that young, thus I have zero recollection of the zoo. So everything was new, and I had a great time.There was some rain early in the afternoon and again near the end, but on the whole it was nice. There were not that many people so we had good access to everything. And most animals were present and willing to show themselves 😀
I’d brought my camera and am very pleased with the results I got. I ended up, after culling it, with 169 pictures. I’ll show highlights here, if you’re friends with me on Facebook, you can see the rest there. So, without further ado, let there be pictures! I’ll also be featuring a few in bigger sizes over the next few days.
Butterflies
Lemon Shark
Red Lionfish
Ball Python
Kim & Nienke with a goat
Crested Porcupine
Jaguar
Lioness
White rhinos
Giraffe