Oh lovely soft fresh rain....

The weather gods fulfilled my pluviofylic needs: it is raining!!
Being very quiet you can hear the grass sing, the trees whisper and the flowers rejoice greatly.

Some parts of my lovely country had heavy showers and thunderstorms earlier but here we only had a few drops that evaporated immediately. I heard stories of people switching the lights on at day time because of the dark clouds. Not here. We did not have much sunshine but we didn't have much needed water drops from the clouds either.
Well, they made it up today! The yellow roses bow due to the weight of the water, their scent is extra strong.
Birds sheltered in the trees and just came out to sing again. You can almost see the grass wiggling due to a growth spurt and my Hydrangea's are feeling great!

And so do I, I love rain. Yes, it is a little dark (or cosy) in the kitchen but that is also caused by the fruit trees which I checked yesterday for apples and pears but the storm of 2 weeks ago blew most of the tiny young fruit away. Much to the joy of the youngest dog who thinks they are toy trees throwing balls at him.
I was so much looking forward to apple pies, chutney's and marmalades in Autumn but it looks like it will only fill a jar or two, three. We'll see.

Last week I got 2 kilo's of strawberries, still warm from the sun and freshly picked. Oooohhhh.... the smell!! Mouth watering! They needed immediate attention; I washed and cleaned them, held a few back that could last a little longer and put one kilo in the slow cooker to make a Spicy Indian Strawberry Chutney. I never did that before but the taste is delicious. You need to keep in the freezer.
The other kilo also went into the slow cooker and is now marmalade with the lovely taste of Summer, even today with the dark clouds poring out water.

I know I should not go on about my Butler James but I love him so much! He is so useful!
Soon I will try to bake a cake in a special oval mould on top of what James is cooking more that day (with of course a layer of cooking (baking) paper to separate the dishes).

Speaking of cakes.... the friends who gave me the strawberries, gave me this morning 2 litres of colostrum.
Not everyone will be familiar with colostrum (from a cow in this case) and some will say just by the sound of it "No, tank you", but I love it. The beautiful yellow creamy substance tastes lovely! The Internet is full of recipes for pancakes, puddings etc.
The cake with the lovely name 'Lariekoek' ('fiddle faddle' or 'balderdash' in English, I like those names even better) are on my to do list for tomorrow as it is a very good recipe for the slow cooker.
And why not today? Well, James is already cooking my curry minced meat peas dinner and I want him to pay careful attention to the Lariekoek.

And last but not least: from cows to chicken.
In the chicken indoor pen are two baskets to lay eggs. I always find it fascinating that chicken who lay eggs for the very first time, know they need to do that in the hay filled basket. It might be the smell of hay anchored in their genes that tempt them shuffling to make these beautiful soft round holes for their eggs.

Although both baskets contain hay from the same bale, they all prefer the right basket and leave the left alone. And not only to lay eggs and to walk away again. No, broody hens love the right basket too. And not just a single hen! A community brood! My question is: how many broody hens fit (voluntary) in one basket.....?

Enjoy the Wednesday, tomorrow is heading towards the weekend.

Helen

The Holiday Day

English is not my native tongue and sometimes words make me wonder.
For instance 'holiday'. Is it a holiday that lasts several days, weeks, months maybe....
Than there is Bank Holiday but is one day off, the day of your own choice, also a holiday or, if a holiday is a longer period, a holiday-day?

If so, than I had a holiday-day yesterday. Or more precise: a holi-half day. A 'holiafternoon'.
It started at 1 PM and my first stop was a petrol station (how 'holi' is this).
My second stop was the Veterinarian practice for the medication of my cat. I had a nice chat with the paraveterinarian nurse who enjoed the sunshine on a bench in the garden.
The third stop which I find very 'holi' was the village Suwald or Suawoude (in English on Wikipedia).
A small village where I used to live and even after 9 years, still feels at home. Every time I am there, people still know who I am and there is always time for a chat.

   Suwald is an old village with just 700 people. It should be world famous for it's very first bicycle and pedestrian solar ferry in the world. For a very small amount of money, it crosses the canal and you can start a walk or bicycle tour in the Friesian landscape.

Near the harbour is a small cafe where you can buy non alcoholic drinks, tea, coffee, (hot) coco's and ice creams. The cafe and ferry are run by volunteers. A wonderful group of people and not all are local but also from nearby villages.

   The sun was out and I could not resist going to the cafe to view the canals and fields, sitting in a chair, enjoying my ice cream and tea. School children and their teachers chatted away and I talked to the locals.
But also to a lovely couple way in their 80's who were still so young at heart and very fit although health wise they had their own fare share in life.
It felt so good to sit amongst all  these people of all ages; some with a life ahead of them, some living the best they can in the last part of their life. The voices, the wind, the birds, the whisper of the ferry when it landed to release and collect people..... to me it was heaven on earth. It felt wonderful and it felt like home.

   The best had still to come: a visit to my former and lovely neighbour Ann, age 94.
I do miss her and she misses me. Because she is getting deaf, phone calls are a bit difficult but being with her, spoilt with tea, cakes and chocolates, is a great joy. She is mentally very fit and has an excellent memory. We talk about everything and nothing, have fun and enjoy each others company.
I felt sorry when the time had come to say goodbye again. I arrived with hugs and left with hugs, promising to be back soon.

Instead of taking the motorway, I drove the country lanes with the car window open. I felt so rich, happy and free. But above all blessed with my good health and inherited genes which allow me to look beyond sadness and grief, to see and feel the sun, to enjoy talking to people, to visit a very dear friend and to smile and love.

Wishing you all a blessed weekend,

Helen

 

Chic Chac's and hierarchy

The readers of my Dutch and English Blog know I have chicken, 6 in total.
Chicken are known for their 'little' brains but if that means that they are stupid, I strongly disagree. Yes, they are naive at times but not stupid. Well...... most are not. And each chicken has a character of its own, a Chic Chac.

When I moved to this house, there were 8 Java dwarf chicken, funny and friendly animals who got along very well. And of course there was a cockerel to keep the peace in the pen (and garden).
But this was quite a few years ago, and all but one died. The oldest died at the age of 10, I called her 'grandma'.

Serama eggs (photo Helen Varras)

The only one left was 8 at the time and she did very well on her own. Than winter came and although there is a lamp to heat the inner pen, she couldn't cuddle up with friends any more and  I thought it was cruel to leave her on her own and bought her a new friend: a gold feathered Serama dwarf chicken who was laying the odd dwarf egg too.
The Serama is quite a character and was telling the Java that she was the boss from now on. The Java, very friendly, disagreed of course but within a few hours they were friends and got along extremely well.

A few weeks later I was able to buy two Bantams (Dutch dwarf chicken); they look like Pheasant hens and turned out to be dominant. It took more than a few hours before everybody got along peacefully. One of the Bantams took over and became the Alpha chicken and took care of her 'sister' who was the Omega.

Not much later I got two Serama's who were very young but lovely. One black-and-white and one dark brown, almost black. Again there was this struggle for hierarchy and no cockerel to handle it.
Why no cockerel you would ask? You live in the countryside!
True but I have a lovely neighbour who is always willing to help out and I am always welcome in their house, still, he hates the sound of a cockerel and I respect that. And... my youngest dog is interfering when the chicken quarrel. He runs full speed to the pen and barks. His bark brings a peace where all chicken unanimously agree to. And they are not afraid of the dog, they come to see where the barking is about...

It is 6 months after the first Serama arrived and I love to watch how they get along. The current hierarchy seems to work best. The Java is of course the oldest but not the Alpha, the Bantam still is and her 'sister' still the Omega. But the Java is definitely the smartest of them all. She does not fight and is a close friend to the gold feathered Serama who is definitely the most cheerful one and the best egg layer.
The dark brown Serama is most quiet but very close with the black-and-white who is far most the stupid one in the pen. Very, very sweet, tame and social but indeed stupid (as we say in Holland: 'exceptions confirm the rules').

The best time to observe their hierarchy is in the morning when they get their food and fruit/vegetables.
The Alpha Bantam (please don't joke that all Dutch are dominant.....) steps in the middle of the food bowl and only allows her 'sister' to eat. Just for the show, the black-and-white picks the 'sister' but is immediately told off by the Alpha. The dark brown Serama sits and waits; she is not in a hurry. The gold feathered is rushing around trying to get to the bowl too and occasionally act if she should be the boss.

And the Java??? You won't see her around in the outer pen, she is inside in the night pen where is also a bowl with food and relaxed and not bothered by hierarchy, she eats.
So, no brains??? Ha!

Enjoy a lovely weekend!

Helen.

World wide Blog visitors

The stats of this Blog shows world wide visitors with The Netherlands and Russia on top.
Because my Blog is in English, I expected more visitors from the US (as is the case with my Skype Lifestyle Blog) or the UK but Russia surprises me. Dear Russian visitors: a warm welcome!

I was thinking about the countries where you, my visitor,  live and wondering how the weather is at your side. With the Climate Changes it might be high Summer in Alaska and mid Winter in Maroc. You can't tell.
In Holland it is mid Autumn right now: storms, thunderstorms and rain. Cosy indoors but nothing like Spring or Summer. And it is only two weeks from now that Summer begins. Oh dear....

My 'office' is my kitchen, my view is garden, fields and trees. And the trees are waving heavily at me, bowing in the wind. The trouble with storms in the Summer are the leaves at the trees. You will be familiar with the proverb "High trees catch much wind". Well, they do today!

Not a day for food shopping which was my plan. Instead I am writing a short story for a writing contest; dead line end of June. And writing is what I like to do most.
While typing away, I listen to the snoring sound of one of my dogs. They love to be outdoors but don't like this weather. They have chosen to sleep curled up, in their dog bed right in front of the large window with the garden view so if they wake up they can still see what is going on outside.
Even the birds in the garden keep quiet. And according to the forecast, we haven't had the worst yet.

Are you familiar with the word 'freubelen'? I doubt. It is similar to'fiddle (with), tinker (with/up).
With the word 'freubelen' you think of toddlers making beautiful things of paper but one can also 'freubel' (I love that word) digital. And that is what I did the past few days. I updated my Dutch Blog and simplified navigating on all blogs.
And I added Pinterst. One need to be on top of all the Social Media!

I hope you have much better weather, where ever you live. Enjoy the sunshine, enjoy each others company and above all: smile!

Helen

Still visitors

Although I have not been posting for 4 years, there are still visitors to this blog. Thank you!

I know I have promised before to post more often but much has happened in the meantime.
Unfortunately my husband passed away in November 2016. I don't have to explain that this was a very, very sad time.
Early 2014 he was diagnosed with a heart problem and in July 2014 taken into hospital with a second heart problem on top of it. His health was critical at that very moment but still, his death in 2016 was totally unexpected. Not just by me but also his cardiologist and our GP.

Life changed dramatically without him.
I had to sell the motor home and are trying hard to generate an income, either a (part time)job or with writing.
And not only writing stories and books but also freelance writing, translations, proofreading.Please contact me when you think you need my skills

In March of this year, I published my very first e-book (in Dutch) 'Observaties' (Observations) and are planning to translate it in English this year, I received requests to do so.
The book contains 12 short stories which I wrote during our motor home holidays by observing people who behaved just a little bit different than expected.
I gave these people names and backgrounds. Therefore are all stories pure fiction.
The beautiful thing of writing is that you can combine a gentleman in France with a lady in Germany in a motor home on the North Cape. So many combinations are possible to create a story!

I write with the pseudonym Helen Varras, my e-book is for sale at bol.com, smashwords.com kobobooks.com and iBooks for 4,50 Euro's.

You will find all information on my 2 blogs Helen Varras (Dutch) and Skype Lifestyle (English)
You can find Helen Varras also on Facebook I would be more than happy when you like the page.

Although the massive loss and grief, life goes on, there is a new future waiting to be explored and lived.
Part of this future will be occasional updates on this blog. Feel free to subscribe to the other blogs, there are special buttons to do so.

From now on signed:

Helen