How to be HAPPY!, 2

Jay, over at the Depp Effect, started a new meme: How to be HAPPY!
It’s quite simple, so if you are one of those people who likes to share the little things in life that make/made you happy, and you want to spread the happiness (oh, ugh, that sounds far to sweet), join in. Here’s the brief:

‘How to be HAPPY!’ is a brand new meme. It’s about finding the little things in life which bring a smile or a glow of warmth to our hearts and souls during our daily lives. Why? Because it’s the way all these little things add up which truly determines if we are happy people, not the big stuff like a lottery win.

To enter, write a post about one thing which has made you happy in some small way recently – it could be birdsong, a favourite smell, a particularly good loaf of bread, a blue sky, anything! Then scroll to the bottom, click the Mr Linky graphic and add your blog post details to the Linky which will appear in a new window, and you’re in.

As you might have guessed, I’m in!

What made me happy recently? Well, there was this:

One particular morning in the beginning of December 2012, the light was rather beautiful. So I grabbed my camera and went outside to take some photographs and try to capture the golden sunlight that gave the fields and trees opposite our house a warm glow.

It was a Sunday morning and it was very quiet. Lovely. I took some photos of the field right opposite our house and decided to take some shots of the view a little bit further down the road. And as I walked along the field I noticed something odd.

There was a mug standing on one of the fence posts surrounding the field.

That was weird. I was pretty sure the mug didn’t belong to one of the cows, nor did it belong to me. And there was no other human being in sight. Yet… someone must have left it there. I’ll translate what it says on the mug, because that was what made me smile:

“You’re looking good and you’re getting more charming each year.”

Isn’t that nice? Someone left a very complimentary mug on a fence post. For me? Of course. Just for me (in my dreams). How very, very nice of that someone. How did he (must have been a he, and a very handsome he too) know that I’d be there, taking photos of the golden sunlight? It was quite puzzling.

I decided to take a photo of the mug. And then I took some more photos of the fields. And then one of the neighbours, who’d been walking his dog, approached. “Hi, it’s a beautiful morning isn’t it?’, he said. “Hmm, it is. And what made the morning even more beautiful’, I smiled, ‘is that someone left a very complimentary mug on one of the fence posts.’

‘Yep, that was me’, he said. ‘I often take a coffee with me when I’m walking the dog and when the mug is empty I just leave it here and pick it up on the way back. Actually, the mug belongs to my wife.’

Okay, so that did shatter my dream. But still, it did make me smile before I knew the true story of the mystery mug.

‘How to be HAPPY’

Jay, over at the Depp Effect, has started a brand new meme: ‘How to be HAPPY’.
Here’s the brief:

‘How to be HAPPY!’ is a brand new meme. It’s about finding the little things in life which bring a smile or a glow of warmth to our hearts and souls during our daily lives.  Why?  Because it’s the way all these little things add up which truly determines if we are happy people, not the big stuff like a lottery win.

To enter, write a post about one thing which has made you happy in some small way recently – it could be birdsong, a favourite smell, a particularly good loaf of bread, a blue sky, anything! Then scroll to the bottom, click the Mr Linky graphic and add your blog post details to the Linky which will appear in a new window, and you’re in.

I’m in!

Winning the lottery would probably make me happy, why not, but it isn’t very likely to happen as I never buy a lottery ticket. So my happiness is pretty much dependent on the smaller things in life that make me smile.

Here’s something that made me HAPPY:

At the funfair in Groningen last September I saw these ladies who were fanatically trying to win a cuddly toy. It was the unexpectedness of seeing the two middle-aged bums sticking out and seeing how focussed these girls were, that made me smile. I just had not expected two middle aged, practical types to really ‘go for’ something like this.
Notice the little bear, hanging above the ladies,showing us his bum too. So cute.

Well, it made me smile

Kicking!

And alive too. Sorry for being a bad blogger. I blame it on the broken wrist which made typing difficult. And also nothing blogworthy happened. Anyway… that’s my excuse. I’m no longer plastered (haha) now, but the hand and wrist aren’t working properly yet, so I have to visit a physiotherapist regularly. Sigh.

To make it up to you, I’ll post some photos (I can finally hold the camera again) that I took with the macro lens. As soon as I can find the time to read up on you all, I will. And I do hope all of you, my dear blogfriends, are fine. I’ve missed you all, but it’s my own fault. I know.

The creatures below visit my garden. They are a hoverfly, damselfly and very small grasshopper.

Sunday Selections #70: The incredibly creepy edition

Sunday Selections is hosted by Kim from Frogpondsrock and is thé place to post those photos that have been hanging around on your computer for far too long and need to be seen by other bloggers. Or something like that. Hop over to Kim’s rocking frog ponds and join in if you like.

I’m not always really following the rules to the letter, but Kim doesn’t mind. To make it up to her I’ll post some photos of Lovebirds or Ladybirds or whatever you call them in your country. We call them Lieveheersbeestjes. They are not incredibly creepy of course. BUT… I just thought I’d warn you. There’s also a photo of a spider. Just so you know. I’ll start with the cute ones:

This is a 14-dotted one. Not to be confused of course with the 14-spotted one, which is a much rarer kind of ‘lieveheersbeestje’. I’m not kidding.

Back end. The entire creature, not only its back end, is tinier than the ‘normal’ red/black ones. About two millimetres head-to-tail at the most.

 

Don’t worry, he made it.

 

And he’s saying ‘Hi Kim!’. Or ‘look mama, no hands!’.

 

I’m glad I’m not the mother of this daredevil.

And now a really scary, but also rather beautiful photo, if I may say so myself, of a spider. So don’t look if you’re suffering from even a mild case of arachnophobia. Do not be curious. Just look away. 

 

 

 

Don’t say I didn’t warn you…

 

 

It caught a fly, beheaded the poor victim and is probably saving that best part for last. When I checked this photo on my computer and saw that eye looking back at me it did send shivers down my spine. And I’m not even scared of spiders.

Anyway… wishing you all a nice week and I promise that when something blogworthy happens, I’ll tell you all about it. Life has been incredibly boring, but also quite relaxed. As far as working my ass off in the garden can be considered to be ‘relaxed’.

Sunday Selections #69: The bench edition

Sunday Selections, hosted by Kim from Frogpondsrock, is the place to post those photos that have been hanging around on your computer for far too long and that need to be seen and enjoyed by fellow bloggers.

So, here’s my selection for this Sunday: I’m trying to make a series of photos of people who use the bench opposite our house to give their bums a much needed rest from cycling through the countryside. I’ve managed to take four shots on a sunny Sunday in April and it is far more interesting to look at them than I first thought it would be. I mean… they are just people sitting on a bench. How interesting can it be? And yet… they speak to me:

He’s soooo relaxed, but she wants to know and see everything that’s going on.

 

 

They are prepared for everything! And she leads.

 

 

Now, you have to understand that I don’t want them to see me taking their photo, so I sneak out of the garden gate, take a shot and quickly disappear again. But this woman, she just didn’t park her posterior on that bench. She just stood there, looking at our house. And there I was, hiding behind the ivy that surrounds our garden gate, waiting until she finally would turn around and just sit! After ages, I just gave up and went inside. Of course at that point she turned around an sat down. So I quickly took this shot through the window next to our front door. Which is why it is a rather poor quality shot.

He clearly needed this rest, his posture says ‘phew’. She can’t wait to stand up again. And look at his glasses. What’s with those?

 

Now, they are cute. Notice the non-existing space between them and compare that to the other photos. Sweet. And they clearly love blue. Aww…

 

And just for fun I though I’d add some macro shots. Have I mentioned I love my macro lens (I know I have. Lots of times. But hey… I do.)

Sunday Selections #63: the bee’s knees edition

It’s Sunday again. Time for the Sunday Selections, hosted by Kim from Frogpondsrock. They do, you know.
Anyway, if you have tons of photos hanging around in your computer somewhere, waiting for a reason to be shown to the blogging world, hop over to the rocking frog ponds and follow the almost non-existent rules for joining in.

This Sunday Selections being my bee’s knees edition; Kim is Queen of the Bee’s Knees! She participated in ‘the worlds greatest shave’ to raise money for a leukaemia foundation. Not only Kim’s frog ponds rock, she does too! Follow the above links to her blog and see the evidence for yourself.

And Kim… you look really good with short hair!

 

So, back to the Sunday Selections; I did take some photographs of buzzing bees this week that I thought you might like:

Sunday Selections #62: the ‘if this doesn’t bring a smile to your face’ edition

It’s Sunday again. Time for the Sunday Selections, hosted by Kim from Frogpondsrock. They do, you know.
Anyway, if you have tons of photos hanging around in your computer somewhere, waiting for a reason to be shown to the blogging world, hop over to the rocking frog ponds and follow the almost non-existent rules for joining in.

Sorry for not being here last week, but I’ve been busy with all sorts of other things and also the Lyme is playing up, making me extremely tired. So tired, that I have difficulty even talking, let alone translating my words into English *sigh*. It’s an on-and-off thing, the Lyme. Sometimes it’s here, most of the time it isn’t.

This week I’m posting some photos that will hopefully bring a smile to your face. I took them at the first birthday party of three young friends of mine. Cute guys they are. Even though one of them was still recovering from a really bad case of chicken-pox, he still had his happy face on.

These two boys (yes, you’re right, they are twins) are a hilarious double-act.  

In full admiration for their sister who is doing the ‘farting-dance’ that comes with lots of butt-wiggling and raspberry blowing sound effects. She’s almost a double-act all by herself.

Ah… young love… (they are not brother and sister, before you think that weird things are normal in the Netherlands)

The cake tasted good!

Sunday Selections #60: The ‘longing for spring’ edition

It’s Sunday again. Time for the Sunday Selections, hosted by Kim from Frogpondsrock. They do, you know.
Anyway, if you have tons of photos hanging around in your computer somewhere, waiting for a reason to be shown to the blogging world, hop over to the rocking frog ponds and follow the almost non-existent rules for joining in.

This Sunday I thought I’d get into spring-mood again and just randomly pick some photos from a folder dated May 2009. Our first foal was born in April 2009 and she, her mom and our other horse stayed for about 6 weeks with the horses and foals of friends in luscious green meadows nearby. The first two photos I shot there. The last three are of our garden and are mainly there to remind me that it will look like that again soon, for it is now in a sorry, muddy state.
Each winter I lose faith and cannot believe that it will ever look pretty, green and flowery again. And each spring I’m proved wrong.
So, this year I’m keeping the faith! And my fingers crossed.

Army adventures: part 1

Years ago when hubs bought his first Landrover, he got an invitation for a one-day-off-the-road-driving-course. He came back with lots of great stories, about being able to touch the grass through the open window when the car was parked sideways on a steep slope, driving through water, driving up steep hills and off them again. He did have a great day.

Then I bought my Landrover, Bob, and I too got an invitation for such a course. Since I knew it would be a great day, not to be missed, I called a friend and asked if she wanted to join me on a fun day out. And so we went into the woods to learn how to drive up a slope. Landrover have a special truck, that unfolds into what looks like a Canadian wooden lodge, and acts as a bar/restaurant. They also employ some good looking rugged men to teach you how to drive through the wilderness in cars owned by Landrover, so your own car will not get dirty and/or dented. Friend and I had a great day. And indeed, we touched grass through the open window of a Range Rover while parked sideways on an extremely steep slope. All very exciting. What made it even more exciting, friend needs glasses to drive a car and see where she’s going, but because of the handsome Landrover guys she didn’t want to spoil her good looks by hiding them behind those glasses, which meant that half of the time she was driving the car in braille-mode. Not a clue where she was going. Sometimes the driving-instructor would scream things like: “What the…!?! Where are you… ?!?”, but she kept her cool and didn’t mention her blindness. And I was just trying not to wet my pants from the combination of fear and laughter.

Of course, with the Netherlands being asphalted over almost entirely, after that one day I’ve never driven a car through any wilderness, apart from our garden, again.

But, last Sunday we had the opportunity to join a whole bunch of 4x4 car enthusiasts and drive our Bob through army-training terrain. Where usually tanks and soldiers play war, we could freely drive up and down especially constructed hills and through water, without the risk of being shot at.

And we loved it. We did start very carefully, saying that we wanted to keep Bob clean, but secretly just not having a clue how to keep Bob alive in the more challenging parts of the terrain. These guys do this more often…

And as always ‘bachelor's wives and maiden's children are well trained’ or as we say in the Netherlands: ‘de beste stuurlui staan aan wal’ (the best helmsmen are on shore).

The fanclub:

We declined an offer of one of the guys there to drive Bob for us through this mud pit, because I’d just heard him jokingly say that he’d already lost 4 cars in this pool. So, with Bob still clean and alive, we drove further into the woods, looking for two hills known by the army as ‘Vanessa’ (after a Dutch ‘singer’ who has two strong points and singing isn’t one of them).
Since I was navigating, it didn’t take us long to find Vanessa. It could have taken even less time, but hubs has a mind of his own and didn’t always follow my instructions *sigh*.

Vanessa was very popular:

(not hubs and not Bob either)

This looked like fun and also doable, so hubs drove Bob up a smaller hill and through this ditch a couple of times and then I got into the car too to take some shots while we were driving up…

…and down…

This is Bob:

This is one of my favourite photos. Aww…   

And then we saw a couple of guys we know from the Landrover dealer and also a friend of us, and from then on everything went pretty much downhill for Bob’s cleanliness.

To be continued…

Sunday Selections #59 : The tulips and cat edition

It’s Sunday again. Time for the Sunday Selections, hosted by Kim from Frogpondsrock. They do, you know.
Anyway, if you have tons of photos hanging around in your computer somewhere, waiting for a reason to be shown to the blogging world, hop over to the rocking frog ponds and follow the almost non-existent rules for joining in.

This Sunday I thought I’d get into Spring-mood and show you some colourful tulips. One of our cats, Snoesje is hiding behind the tulips, while guarding the newspaper.

Nothing special, just nice and cheerful.

When I buy tulips, I buy lots of bunches in different colours and mix them up. And if the colours clash, so be it. I like it that way. Makes me smile.

Sunday Selections #58: The lousy shots of birds edition

I’ve been trying to shoot birds lately. With my camera mind you, not with a shotgun. Anyway, difficult thing to do. I often hear them, but don’t see them. And just before I do see them, they see me and fly off. Occasionally I manage to get a decent photo and sometimes I post them in my ‘normal’ posts, but more often I get lousy shots that I find difficult to delete, because they are the only shots of that particular bird I have. Apart from the robin. I have loads of robin-photos. He follows me around the garden, trying to get into the picture.

The not so good shots are therefore pointlessly hanging around in my computer, until it’s Sunday. Yay! Sunday Selections time. Hosted by the lovely Kim from Frogpondsrock. If you, like I, have folders full of photos waiting to be seen, hop over to the rocking frog ponds, follow the almost non-existent rules and join in.

I can see two birds in this shot. A male ‘merel’ (in Dutch) or blackbird and a ‘koperwiek’ or redwing.

 

A ‘koolmees’ or great tit. Strange name.

 

The robin managed to get his photo taken. Again.

 

This is a ‘winterkoninkje’ or wren (I think. I’m sure it’s a winterkoninkje, but not sure of its English name). It is one of the smallest birds in Europe, about 10 centimetres long. His tail always points upwards. It’s a quick mover and builds its nests near the ground in hedges or shrubs. Somewhere dense enough to get some shelter and feel safe.

This is more of a close up, but he just wouldn’t sit still *sigh*. Still, I’m very happy that I did get a shot of him/her. I will persist and do my best to get a terrific photo of a ‘winterkoninkje’ one day. We’ll have cake that day.

Oh, and look who I’ve spotted in the garden, checking out trees to build a home in perhaps? Or more likely, looking for food. I suspect he’ll rather have a dead birch, there are plenty of them around, to make his nest in.

Yep, it is a ‘grote bonte specht’ or woodpecker. Perhaps it is the same one I photographed with his family last year? Who knows.