When the weather is fine, run don't walk!

As of the start of June it is officially 'summer' over here in Europe.  We did have a week right at the start of June where it was warm, sunny and not so windy but honestly summer here is nothing like summer in Australia 'hot, hot and more hot' if its not raining. 
So over here if its a beautiful sunny day seriously half the country goes to the 'strand' or beach as we call it, and good luck getting a parking spot, we drove around for almost an hour looking for a spot one saturday as we were going to a birthday party for a cousin who lives at the beach. 
The other funny thing is that a lot of people here complain 'where is the summer' then when it is a sunny day they say 'its too hot, I can't take it' and its only 28degrees, we always want what we don't have hehe.
Last weekend was pretty good so we decided to take the kids for a day of sightseeing.  We drove about an hour to a little place called Enkhuizen, it is this gorgeous town of cobbled streets, old pubs and lots and lots of sailing boats some amazing sights.  It is also home to the Zuiderzee Museum so we jumped on the ferry to the museum and had a wonderful day in this village of houses and buildings some of which are a few hundred years old and discovered some of what life was like in the olden days living as a fisherman, farmer or a painter. 
I took quite a few pics here so get comfy and I hope you enjoy what you see.

B xx

 

Two New Friends

Since we arrived here back in March our kids have been having lots of new life experiences and thankfully taking it all in their stride.  Another new experience for them is having lots of cousins around to hang out with and just have fun.  Miss N is just one of them and as she is only 2 years older than Miss S they get on really well and despite the limited knowledge of each others language they seem to be able to get their points across enough to understand what each is trying to say.  Miss N has helped Miss S to learn to rollerblade which she loves very much, and i've been showing Miss N how to operate 'Instagram' so she can take lots of pics of her best friend 'Tessa' the dog.  A few weeks ago we went over to Egmond for the day and ended up at the beach of course, here are some highlights from our day.

Your friend
B xo

'Holland, ik hou van jou'

Translation: 'Holland, I love you' and I'm happy to report that we really do love being here and are having a wonderful break in this pretty, pretty land.
I must appologise for the huge break since my last post but due to my reasoning for sending a pc from Australia to Europe being questioned at this end and then a 50euro fee (for what i'm still baffled) it took a while.  Thank goodness for our wonderful relations here who have been so kind and helpful with our settling in and translation of the small forest of paperwork involved finally i'm up and running again with my blog. 

The weather hasn't been too bad since we arrived but we have had some very chilly days with tops of 5deg and howling wind brrrr and then today was our best day yet sunny 20deg, so grateful for sunshine.  Spring is here but a little slow to get started this year apparently, so proud of the kids who just take it all in their stride with no complaints they've been amazing.

I can't tell you just how beautiful it is here, it really is so pretty everywhere its like living in a postcard everyday.  The dutch folks are all so use to this beauty and don't really seem to 'see' how stunning it is at times, although they are a very proud people and happily fly their flag for all to see.  Its wonderful for us to be learning about their culture and history, so different to home obviously.  Some of the windmills we have been seeing are 500yrs old, and still look so grand quite an amazing sight up close.

The kids have not yet started school here and so have been struggling with the language barrier, they will start next week and i'm told by their new teacher in 6 months they will be speaking fluent dutch (me, may take a bit longer) we are all excited to see the progress and will keep you posted.

On the photography front well its a smorgasboard of amazing locations, if I die tomorrow I am a happy girl.  I just now need to begin setting myself up for some paid work again, not an easy task with the current economic situation here in Europe but will try my best.

Have a wonderful week everybody wherever you are, and enjoy the sunshine if its shining on you.

Your friend B xo