He's here again.

Sinterklaas is back in the country again, together with all his helpers, 'Zwarte Pieten'. Most Dutch families will celebrate his birthday on the 5th of December. 't Heerlijk avondje komt dichterbij.

Fall.

Shizzle.

Holiday by bike.

The point with the green + red flag is home, which we left on Monday, and came back to on Saturday. Travelled North the first day, and biked all around. Have to admit that we skipped the part Den Helder-Haarlem, where we took a train, because of our 'Battle on the Afsluitdijk', the day before: a 33 km long dike, in combination with two student bikes, wind speed 7 (even 8 sometimes), no gears, and about one downpour every hour. It took us four full hours :) Luckely parents and sisters, with warm houses, showers, clotheslines, couches, etc., are living along the route..

Flo, doing the cooking.

Insect-eating plant (Drosera).

See those trees bending? We had to bike the opposite direction. For long, long hours. Some parts it was just impossible to bike, so we had to walk a little.

Wadlopen, Groningen

Wadlopen means something like 'walking the tidal flats'. To celebrate a 1st wedding anniversary, we traveled up North for a visit, some wadlopen and a bbq.

Crossing a gut.

Some of us slept in the barn, on top of the dusty straw bales. I climbed a little higher, to meet the whole barn owl family, and sleep under their watching eyes. They found me a very interesting thing, with their wobbling heads.

Close to home

Montalivet, France.

Bits and pieces

One day before we'll leave for our 2.5 week holiday in France, Bretagne, some pictures of the last couple of months.

Queens-day in Leiden. Sell old junk on the streets, and use the money to buy new junk.

Flora excursion. Gelderland.

Flora excursion. Limburg.

The only part of the country where we have thing we call 'mountains' :)

Rented a rowing-boat on 2nd day of Easter, to wake up my older brother and his wife; they live along one of the canal's.

Flora excursion. North-Holland.

Groningen. One of the wadden islands on the horizon.

Visited Leonie, and Ruben, on their farm in Groningen.

Getting the girls inside for afternoon milking.

The queen visited the Forum, the main university building. She is somewhere in the crowd.

Just after a gigantic downpour on a warm day. Soaked to the bone.

Field course: Terschelling.

Tides...

Trouble makers. Had to replace the traps 3 times.

Some days ended seated on a dune top, beer in the hand, friends on each side, and views like this.

Fixing a relevé; describing all plant spp + their coverage in the plot (1x1m).