Sunday, August 02, 2009

Cheese, Cows, Canals, Crops, Clogs...and Windmills...

... Captured on Camera in the Netherlands. Many were taken through the windows of a moving bus, hence the reflections and somewhat blurry finish - sorry.
Edam Cheeses wrapped and ready for sale sit on a trolley outside the marketplace.

Fields are divided by canals rather than fences.

Flat, flat, flat is the Dutch countryside.

Crops growing but I'm not sure what sort - possibly berries.

Making clogs.

The various stages.

The finished product.....

.... the clogs, not me!

Once there were 10,000 of these windmills in the Netherlands, but now only about 1000 remain. To restore one of these huge windmills costs nearly 1mEuros, so it's no wonder that the numbers are decreasing all the time.

Typical farm buildings.

The canals freeze in winter, offering many opportunities for skating.

This area is known as the Polders.....at one time covered by the sea. The area has been drained, via the canals, and reclaimed for agriculture.






9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Don't you love the old farmhouses, small house to live in at the front and large barn for the animals at the back!

Alice said...

Wonderful to hear from you again, Googs. You can't disappear...Victoria isn't that big...lol.

A house and garden near the barn and that ready supply of manure....fantastic. My garden would love it.

Gattina said...

Looks like home, lol !

diane b said...

It is so sunny and green. The pics are beautiful. I was only in Holland a few days and it was wet and grey, but I did get to go inside a windmill. It was very interesting.

RachelD said...

Alice,

Just peeking back in to say Welcome to LAWN TEA!!! I'm delighted that you joined, and hope you'll enjoy being with us.

As a little aside apropos this post: I've had quite a few visitors from Amsterdam and close cities lately for some reason.

I'd love go there, as well.

Marlene Depler said...

I'm enjoying my "travels" with you via the computer! Thanks for all the wonderful pictures!

Puss-in-Boots said...

What a picturesque country Holland is. My grandson lives there with his fiancee who's Dutch, so I'm going to Europe in a couple of years (if my saving is successful!).

The flat paddocks remind me of some parts of New Zealand, which are flat like that.

Thank you for those very interesting photos, Alice.

Kerri said...

A Dutch farmer might very well become extremely bored driving back and forth for hours on a tractor in those fields :) On the other hand, I'll bet they don't roll their tractors over very often ;)
How sad that the windmills are disappearing. They're such a symbol of the Dutch countryside.
Did you buy a pair of clogs?
Are there bridges over all those canals that will support a tractor?
Very interesting to see how they farm is that part of the world. Thanks for sharing your fascinating travels and wonderful photos, Alice.

Anonymous said...

Hi there,

I found your blogpost very interesting.I am Michel Moore,a community forum member at http://www.bgi-usa.com (Bougainvillea Growers International (BGI) was founded in 1994 on 5 acres with a vision of turning a niche market into a global phenomenon, bringing color and beauty to landscapes and bougainvillea lovers everywhere. Will like to talk(through email) to you,is this the right time to talk about or should we talk during weekends ?

Best-Regards,
Michel Moore

E-Mail:- bougainvilleausa@gmail.com