The Dutch have such charming customs! I saw a book bag hanging from a flagpole and thought to myself, that was a cruel practical joke! But then I kept seeing them - so I had to find out why so many back packs were on flag poles! Turns out it is a custom when a youth graduates from High School to hang their backpack from a flagpole!
Sorry for the long absence! My sister and her husband were visiting for 2 1/2 weeks and we were traveling much of the time. I also ended up with a cold that turned into a sinus infection so I was not feeling the best. It was wonderful to see my sister Laraine and her husband Gregg. We had a great time, got to see allot and catch up with each other since we saw each other last year. 
We spent 5 days in Germany traveling all the Martin Luther sites, Wartburg Castle, Erfurt and Wittenberg. I must say I was quite surprised by how "depressed" the former East Germany still is. I guess it will take some time to restore the old buildings. Regardless, it was amazing to see the places where Martin Luther walked. The museum in Wittenberg was particularly interesting. To see actual items that Martin Luther used and his pulpit that he preached from for 30 years was a highlight. We spent 1 1/2 days in Berlin, not nearly enough time since there is so much to see. We also spent 1/2 day at Buchenwald concentration camp. We hadn't planned on stopping there, but I'm glad we did. It was hard for me to ignore the contrast of such a beautiful spring day with beautiful views and the horrors that happened there 60 years ago. 
Later in the week we headed to the tulip fields, Kinderdijk, Delft (and drooled over all the beautiful blue and white dishes!) We then headed up north of Amsterdam to stay the night in a small village. The next day we went to the Zuiderzee Museum and Marken, an old fishing village. It is a little more touristy than I remember it from 12 years ago, but it is still quite charming.
I hope Laraine and Gregg had a wonderful time. I told them they had to go home, because I was exhausted!
Monday morning, (2nd Easter here in the Netherlands) we headed to the flea market in Weerselo. It was very crowded so it was difficult to look at things. There were not many antiques, nothing that really excited me too much, so we didn't stay long. We stopped at this little place in Weerselo that we always say we are going to stop at and never do. I'm so glad we did! Turns out it was a very old convent from the year 1100! Most of the remaining buildings are from the 16th and 17th century due to fires in the 1500's. We ended up having lunch in a converted barn and I had my very favorite Dutch treat, Appelpannekoeken! YUMM! Here is the website, if you are interested - Het Stift.
Easter evening we went over to our friends house and they had wonderful Dutch Easter goodies for us to eat! We then went to a Paasvuur (Easter Fire!) I had never heard of one of them before. But it is an old custom of long ago of celebrating new life, ridding the area of demons and ensuring fertility. Well, I could go along with the first two, but not the fertility one, maybe I can pass it along to my daughter Kristen ;) I'm teasing, NO I am not ready to be a grandmother!
Anyway, back to the Paasvuur. It was amazing. People had piled trees and brush and lumber at least 3 stories high. At dusk it was lit and we had a huge fire. From what I understand the Paasvuur is especially still held in the eastern part of the Netherlands. With my American mind, all I could think about were lawsuits and how we could never have something like that in the States! It was wonderful. This is the first year in my entire life I don't think I have a chocolate bunny hangover after Easter!!! If interested, here is more information on the Paasvuur.
Ed sent me this picture along with this text from a local TV station:
" FC Twente… (local soccer team) could have sheep on the team and still beat Almelo (another cities soccer team) this weekend"…. These sheep are along Hwy 1 along with a banner saying the same thing!
I know Europeans are crazy for soccer, but leave the poor sheep alone!!! :)
Ed and I went for a drive Saturday to the farming village of Staphorst. It is a little town about 1 1/2 hours west of Enschede. We saw this little fella - isn't he adorable! There is nothing cuter than baby animals! There were lambs, kids? (baby goats), calves and baby horses every few feet along the roads! I'm sure Ed got sick of hearing me say - "OH, MY GOSH! HOW CUTE IS THAT!" I've never eaten a baby animal in my life and I know I will definitely not eat one now! You wouldn't eat lamb chops anymore too Brad, if you had seen the little sweeties!
Staphorst was very quaint. I felt like we were transported back in time!!! Almost every house had a thatched roof and beautiful lace curtains at the windows. The barns were actually attached to the houses so they looked like one huge building. I love animals, but I think that might be a little too close for me. The woman (mostly older woman) still wear the traditional clothing and wooden shoes! Here is a picture of a woman mowing with her John Deere Lawn Mower (the residents are smart too!)
I saw this bike outside of a shop (a quilt shop of course!) and thought what a cool idea! They had crocheted a decorative piece for the wheel, (I have no idea what to call it!) Ed said that the lady had too much time on her hands.
I realized the other day that I haven't posted much about the city we live in. Enschede is a good sized city - about 160,000 people live here. Their are several colleges and universities in the area so there are allot of young people here which always is nice - it gives an area energy I think. Enschede is just a few kilometers from the German border so it is in a nice location for traveling.
Enschede has a great market on Tuesday's and Saturdays in the downtown center shopping district. European markets are wonderful. Wonderful flower stands, fruits and vegetables and cheese stands. I don't care much for all of the fish stands though. I like my fish without heads and tails on them. 
Enschede was once a large textile center in the Netherlands, and there are many remaining beautiful villas in town of the wealthy textile owners. We have two old villas in our front yard. Today, most of these gorgeous homes have been converted into businesses.
We are in walking distance of downtown which is nice. I know my husband is laughing at this comment, because I usually take the car - (it's usually raining!!!)
This is my latest flea market treasure. It is an old graniteware bread box from the 1940's. I'm guessing that was when it was made. It does have some wear on one of the corners - (I call them character marks) but I only paid 8 euros for it and I've seen ones in perfect condition going for 50 euros and up. It will come in handy when the weather gets nicer and the little flying bugs start to invade our kitchen to eat our bread (we don't have window screens.)
I also picked up a toy barn that a gentlemen had made. I have a collection of German toy farm animals and they needed a place to stay! Ed gave me a horrible time about buying it - but I saw its potential!!! I'm going to paint it and try to turn it into a miniature version of a beautiful Dutch barn that you see in the country here. I'll post pictures when I'm done.
Ed gave me these flowers 8 days ago for our anniversary. I can't believe how pretty they still are! I use to not like getting flowers when I was younger. I thought they were so expensive and they just died anyway! That all changed when we moved to Germany and I saw how beautiful and reasonably priced the flowers were. I think the flowers are even more beautiful in The Netherlands. The florists arrange them so pretty and use such unique combinations of flowers. I'm still amazed at how inexpensive it is to buy flowers here. They have big bouquets of tulips in the grocery stores for 3 Euros! Note to my sweetie, you can bring me flowers anytime ;)
It's so pretty! I haven't seen this much snow since we lived in Colorado, and people are still riding their bicycles!
Well the second day of my "quilt winkel" adventure has given me a headache. I started off about noon today amongst pea soup visability. I got the good old Tom Tom out and headed west. I drove about 45 minutes and reached my first stop. The first quilt shop was in someone's house. I tend to be on the shy side, so I am not one to just go up to someone's door and ask - can I look at your quilt stuff?! There were no cars out front, just a teeny little sign - so I kept on driving.
I then drove about 30 minutes to Zutphen. I was looking for the shop Petra Pins The Tom Tom kept telling me to go down one way streets the wrong way or pedestrian zones, so I ended up parking. I had good walking shoes on so I thought what the heck. Well, I walked and walked and walked. I was very dorky and kept looking at the Tom Tom in my purse trying to figure where to go. I could not figure it out. I went into a shop and asked a salesperson if they knew where the address was located. She was very abrupt and said, "No, I do not!" I even bought some cards there! I then went into a coffee shop hoping to find something to raise my blood sugar and help with directions. I evidently did not close the door all the way to the store. This guy starts yelling at me! I didn't do it on purpose. Needless to say, I left quickly (closing the door securely of course!)
At this point, I'm hating life, including my husband for bringing me here (sorry Ed, I still love you.) I had no idea where the car was, just that it was by a canal and a big old church (narrows that down!) I tried again to get some coffee at another cafe and thank you God for having a nice person there! Also, the cafe had the best apple cake I have ever had. The waitress was so nice and helpful. When I was leaving she even walked with me for a block to show me where the store was. Just goes to show you there are nice and nasty people wherever you go.
The quilt shop was wonderful. They have a huge collection of reproduction fabrics. I picked up a few of the traditional chintz Dutch fabrics. They are so beautiful. Too pretty to cut up!
I did manage to find the car. I was thinking boy it would be nice if Ed were here and he could drive! I would definitely be taking a nap!
I then headed off again to my last quilt shop for the day - about 20 minutes away. Again this shop was located in a private home, so I decided not to go in. I know, I'm a chicken. Maybe if someone was with me.
All in all a good day, but like I said, I have a headache!
I'm so excited! I found a website today that gave all the information for the quilt shops in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany! http://www.miaverhoef.nl/quiltwinkels.html With my limited Dutch and German I have not been very good at tracking finding them. Within an hour of finding the website, I was in the car off to two of them. Ed has flown to the states for a week, so this will keep me busy! I found the first shop ok that was located in Delden. The TomTom makes it pretty much fool proof unless I put the address in wrong. I never did find the second shop I was looking for. I felt like I drove in the country forever. I never did find it. The TomTom said, "You have reached your destination" but I sure didn't look like I was at a quilt shop! Some farm in the middle of the country was more like it. Well, I thought I better get out of there before I got myself into trouble! I love the Dutch countryside so I didn't mind getting lost at all. A woman was walking her two huge draft horses down the road, they were so beautiful. I have another list of shops I want to try and find tomorrow (I better leave my debit card at home!)
Christmas was wonderful! First of all, the kids were here! It was so nice to see them! It was bitter sweet though - cuz it only makes me realize even more that life has definitely changed, and my children are now grown! I am so proud of them, they are all terrific , good and kind human beings. I am very fortunate. I still struggle with what to do with my time these days. I don't see an end to the frequent moving for the next 20 years or so, I will have to adapt. Wow did I just get melancholy, sorry!
Again, Christmas was wonderful! I caught a cold, but that was probably a good thing. It gave me an excuse to stay home and Ed took Krisi and Chris to Amsterdam for a speedy jam packed tour. They were definitely able to cover more ground without me!!! I would have been asking "where's the cab!!!!" We went to Mannheim, Germany to see our good friends, Steven, Susan and Jonathan. It is always wonderful to see them. They are just like family to us! We went to a Christmas market in Strasbourg, France that was very beautiful. On the way back from Mannheim we drove up along the Rein river valley to see the beautiful castles. I think it is more pretty in summer, but it is still awe inspiring in winter!
Christmas is not so commercial in The Netherlands as it is in the states or even in Germany for that matter. It was very nice and understated! I probably gained 5 pounds over the holidays, sampling all the goodies. They have the best spicy goodies here!
I get to travel to awesome places
It's nice spending more time with Ed
Windmills
Gorgeous churches
A large majority of people can speak English
The cleanliness of the Netherlands
I get to see Steven, Susan and Jonathan!
Flowers
Cows (They are so beautiful and healthy!)
Thursday nights (the downtown is open until 9 and it is packed!)
The Netherlands farms
Church bells
Markets on Saturday mornings
The Dutch children are darling
Flea markets
Antiques
Dutch traditional fabric
Dutch quilt shops (unfortunately expensive)
European coffee
More time to quilt
I like living on one floor
Wonderful bread
Fun to shop
Sex shops (kidding ;) )
I am walking more and getting more in shape
Slower pace of living, it's not crazy like in the States
The Dutch television channels don't dub their American tv shows like the French and Germans
Channel 211 on the TV (you have to come visit to find out what it is!)
Sundays are very peaceful, nothing is open except restaurants
I love to see 80 year old men and women riding their bikes!
You can sit for hours in a restaurant
No telemarketers (not that I could understand them anyway if they called)
No junk mail
Lolajasper
Saturday Ed and I headed to Giethoorn, (voted the prettiest village in the Netherlands.) It's about 2 hours Northwest of Enschede. On the way there we saw beautiful farms with the healthiest horses, cows and sheep I've ever seen. So pretty. We've gotten lots of rain lately so everything is bright green. Arrived in Giethoorn and had some lunch. I had my first official "Dutch" pancake, YUMM! We then walked around the old historic part of town. It has canals winding through it with rustic bridges crossing them. Individuals can rent boats to tour the canals. We ended up walking; I thought I would end up in the water if I tried to get in one of those little boats! Next year I will though when I'm in better shape! Giethoorn is a darling town; it's hard to believe anyone actually lives there.
Lolajasper
On the way home Saturday we drove country roads back to Enschede. We drove by this awesome house!
Saturday we drove to Arnhem and visited the site of where Operation Market-Garden took place. That was the battle that had the most Allied casualties during WWII, most of them British. The book and movie "A Bridge Too Far" tells the story of this sad couple of weeks in September 1944. The museum is in an old hotel that was used as the Allied headquarters. There was such heaviness there. I've gotten the feeling maybe five times in my life of overwhelming sadness of tragic past events at locations I have visited or objects that I have been around. I know, weird. It's hard to describe.
Lolajasper
Went to Amsterdam for the day a couple weekends ago. Wow what a crazy place! Ed, me and the kids were there about 14 years ago. I can tell I'm getting older! I prefer the quiet farm fields and cows these days! I didn't see many people younger than 30! Maybe they were all in the coffee shops! We hit the American Bookstore and picked up some books. I got a couple of books on Netherlands history; I hope I can get through them. They don't seem to dry. We then headed to an antique mall. A little overpriced, more "fancy" stuff. I love the more primitive style of everyday folk. I haven’t found any really good flea markets yet. That will be where I will probably find more items to my taste. We then drove up to Volendam, an old fishing village and had dinner. By that time I had a migraine. I finally found out what the Dutch word for MSG is. It's funny the things that you have to learn when moving!
I have been pleasantly surprised by the health care here in the Netherlands. I've gone to the dentist once and had a filling replaced. Met with our new doctor (female, very nice.) I have also gone to the physical therapist several times for my shoulder. Language is the biggest problem I've come across. Everyone speaks English, but sometimes word order and the "correct" word is hard for them to find. I went into an Apotheque (pharmacy) the other day to try to find Tylenol. They had never heard of it and suggested I try such and such. I ended up buying it thinking - well I hope it doesn't kill me! Turns out it was plain acetaminophen. Silly me.
