Just when you think the snowy part of winter was over! 
Thought I could look for Snowdrops...
but instead I found lots of drops of snow!
... and more drops of snow!
I wonder if this winter will be one of those that we remember in our old age. The winter in which we had to clear the sidewalk more than once. The winter when the novelty of snow disappeared faster than the snow!
We awoke to snow 17 Dec 2009! After a few weeks of cold winter weather, regular snow flurries and icy paths the above 0C teperatures came and stayed for a few days! Time to get the bike out of the shed! Look! The wheels are still round! Cycling uses different muscles than walking, that's for sure! Saddle muscles!
I do enjoy walking around the Baarn Soest area.
The last big ice sheet is to be found at Buitenzorg's parking lot!
Along with doing the odd job and Spring cleaning around the house I've also been busy at Buitenzorg. Groups will soon be arriving to use the buildings. Today I walked in and found a dead bird on the window ledge. Wasn't there when I left yesterday! Gave it a respectable farewell and got to work. This big black rectangle is a chalkboard! Two layers of this special paint and the sliding door is now a useful space!
Says it all! 
Remember this?
This afternoon I visited Baarns Historic Room, a mini museum with a big reference area. Time to start investigating the who, what, when, where and why of this mysterious pit! Heard a nice story from one of the volunteers about an Aunt of hers and silverware. Just before her Aunt was being evacuated during the War years she quickly took the silverware out of her bag, threw it into the pond, and put the cat, that had been circling her legs, back into her bag. I don't know how long this Aunt had been away but when she returned home, without the cat, the silverware was still in the pond! Could this pit have a history like this? We searched through a few folders containing old newspaper clippings about Scouting and the Amsterdamsestraatweg. Nothing. Lots of articles about the local Scout groups, Scouting Museum and Buitenzorg though.
Did a few rows of cross stitch today. Took a few hours! Counting, recounting, colours that are almost the same, undoing a knot or two and getting back into the swing of things, especially my eyes! This in combination with clearing the sidewalk of snow makes for a pleasant day at home!
Remember this? Warm days! Plants! Hosta's! Green and more green! It stays in the ground, under a layer of snow, waiting for the Spring thaw! No word yet as to when that will be!
I wonder about the Hosta's in pots.
The photo of the picture of the Blue Heron cross stich pattern turned out so well that I thought that I would get that photo enlarged and printed on linnen, like the other photo's that we have, and hang that on the wall! Not! I don't think so!
Wasn't official because of the weather. Buitenzorg's volunteer staff come from far and near. Those that would like to drop in can. There will be another brainstorm session at a later, not so snowy, date. The table decorations gave the normal office/shop space a not so office/shop feel.
The Centre managers are creative too! 
What's this?
It's time to get this cross stitch project on the go again!
Blue Herons are one of my favourite birds
The floss colours haven't faded! 
The aida cloth is hand dyed.
I was just reading The Progress, Chiliwack's local paper, on internet. Did you know that Chilliwack is the warmest city in Canada! (average temperatures, year-round) 30 years of Environment Canada's weather data were reviewed from 100 of Canada's largest cities.
Chilliwack not only topped the list for warmest average daily temperatures but also got first prize for warmest Spring months!
Wouldn't be a suprise for its residents to hear that it made second place for the city with the fewest sunny days year round!
Third place also went to Chilliwack as wettest city in Canada!
Another third place standing is for having the fewest freezing days, followed by Victoria and Vancouver. Remember, this is based on 100 of the largest cities in Canada and not the "out of the way", "in the middle of nowhere" towns and villages!
Dropped off the seed order at the allotment yesterday! Parsnips, turnips, 3 types of sweet corn, celery root, swis chard, butternut squash, dill, and huge flowering sunflowers should be growing here come the summer! Luckily the plants won't grow as fast as on Farmville!
The school holidays are over. Time to see what the kids have been up to! Nice enough day to enjoy the 30 min walk there and pick up a few groceries on the way.
20 minutes are through the Polder
and a few minutes up hill and I'm at their front door!
After work Nachos!
Happy New Year! 2010!
My "get up and go" has been gone the last few days. Stayed in but was well enlightened in the Art World. Learned about the life of Franciscus from Assisi. That's in Italy! Then there was a documentary about Sandro Botticelli and his work "The birth of Christ". Part of it filmed in Rome! Victorian Farm Christmas on BCC showed us life on the farm getting ready for Christmas. James May's Toy Stories is another great BBC series. The plasticine garden at Chealsea was amazing! A lot of oh's and ah's from me again as we watched National Geographic's Ancient Megastructures show about the great pyramid. So that's how it's made! Then their Ancient Megastructure show about the Alhambra, Spain was on. Now that's a place where I could spend hours at! Maybe a trip for 2010?
