Happy New Year

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And days o' auld lang syne.


And for auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne,


Auld lang syne



© KH

Salamander

Last summer in France while walking in a castle garden I saw this salamander and lots of his brothers and sisters!



© KH

Last Christmas

Last year with Christmas there was a lot of snow. We had a white Christmas. Now we have had a grey, wet one. O well, maybe next year:

The birds like this weather better I think:



© KH

Scottish Santa

My love for Scotland can be found in my home as well as in my Christmas tree. With lots of Scottish Christmas ornaments, tartan and ofcourse bagpipes and Scottish Santas.



This one is a music box:



© KH

Merry Christmas

May Peace be your gift at Christmas and your blessing all year through. 

~ Author unknown

Have a very merry Christmas and a wonderfull, Inspiring, healthy and great 2012



©KH

Statue St Catherine Church

This statue stands against the St Catherine's Church in Eindhoven. I love to watch and photograph holy statues. They make me feel humble in some way I guess. Maybe my Catholic upbringing. 

© KH

Thursday Challenge, Light

"LIGHT" (Candle, Street, Business, Fireplace, Glitter, Sparkle,...)

In the dark days before Christmas you can use some extra lights, for example, candle lights. Cosy too. 

I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and lots of warmth with the ones you love. 

© KH

For more Thursday Challenges look HERE

Winter Solstice

In the bleak midwinter  

Frosty wind made moan,

Earth stood hard as iron, 

Water like a stone; 

Snow had fallen, 

snow on snow, 

Snow on snow, 

In the bleak midwinter, 

Long ago.

       ~ Christina Rossetti

December 21e last year.
What a difference with this year. Now, rainy days and it seems we're getting a wet Christmas.



© KH

Chateau Saché

The more one judges, the less one loves.   

~ Honoré de Balzac 

Castle where Honoré de Balzac (French novelist and playwriter) has lived.



© KH

Clouded Silver

In all seasons but winter my common ivy is the habitat for lots of moths. Especially for the clouded silver or in Dutch 'witte schaduwspanner'. Love the English name by the way! Moths have such a negative ring to their name. Most people think they only eat their (wollen) clothes. 

But they are such beautiful (night) butterflies actually. 

© KH

Winter with snow

With all that rain lately, one is going to miss the snow in winter. So here's a picture of last year's snow: 




© KH

Lyme Bay

A man should learn to sail in all winds 

~ Italian Proverb

 

© KH

Edinburgh Castle and fountain

My favorite city in the whole world: Edinburgh



© KH

Thursday Challenge, Shoes

Today's challenge: "SHOES" (Boots, Sandals, Dress Shoes, Wooden Shoes, Stiletto heals, Horse Shoes,...)
My photo is from my rain boots. The weather here is so bad, rain, heavy winds, more rain, and I have to go to work every day on my bicycle, so I need them every day.
I'm afraid we are going to have a 'wet' Christmas next week instead of a 'white' one.




Other Thursday challengers you can find HERE

© KH

Longing for winter

You have to be happy in Summer, don't you? 
I don't tan or have the legs for shorts, 
Can't afford to get away. So I close my eyes
And have winter thoughts.

In winter it's harder to get out of bed, so cold
Harder to walk uphill, on ice, in the dark.
Welcome to my world.
The duck pond is always frozen in my park.

I hope I can hang on tighter than the leaves.
Give Summer my old shoulder, and feel.
I can try again, 
My mind as clear as a snow covered field. 


Paul Yates 



Winter 2007 Sunset over River Maas

Angel Statue

Statue beloning to a Railway Monument at the Valkhof Square Nijmegen: In 1865, the railway between Nijmegen and Kleve, Germany was established. In honor of this event this monument in 1884 in Renaissance style, was erected in theValkhof (square). It is one of the oldest statues Nijmegen has. The pedestal is an angel, representing the winged Victoria - god of victory - which throws a laurel wreath. The statue of zinc is a copy of one in the 30s of the 19th century marble sculpture made by C.D. Rauch. The limestone base is manufactured by J.J. Weve. Previously, the base also had a thermometer, a barometer and a clock. 

After World War II, the monument moved several meters.

On the base are the words: Unity makes strength

© KH

Geese in flooded meadow

I took this picture of the geese in a flooded meadow last winter when the river Meuse (Maas) flooded into the meadows. 




© KH

Good morning

Good morning (The Beatles)



© KH

Caterpillar

“A caterpillar who seeks to know himself would never become a butterfly” 

~ Andre Gide

 

© KH

Itchy

If it itches, you scratch (Als het jeukt moet je krabben)
This Scottish sheep must have thought so anyway... 




© KH

Thursday Challenge, Communication

"COMMUNICATION" (Talking, Sign Language, Telephone, Technology,...)

These geese must communicate very good together in order to get wherever they are going. You hear geese 'talking' to each other when they fly over. They communicate during their flight. 

© KH

Other Challenges can be found Here

Mother Nature's Christmas Ornaments

If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere. 

~ Vincent van Gogh

 

© KH

Crows

Crows everywhere are equally black ~ Chinese Proverb

© KH

Sunrise

Opportunities are like sunrises. If you wait too long, you miss them. 

~ William Arthur Ward 

Beautiful sunrise this morning!



© KH

Stained Glass

Sunday morning song

Stained Glass windows Tours Cathedral France



© KH

Dark clouds

A cloudy day is no match for a sunny disposition. 

~William Arthur Ward

© KH

Leonardo da Vinci's bedroom

A well-spent day brings happy sleep. 

- Leonardo da Vinci

© KH

Thursday Challenge, Door

Door, in the town of  Nijmegen




More Thursday Challenges can be found here

© KH

Ardnarmurchan

"Up the airy mountain
Down the rushy glen
We daren’t go a-hunting
For fear of little men." 

- William Allingham, The Fairies, 1850

 

© KH

Autumn leaves

The falling leaves drift by my window The falling leaves of red and gold - Eva Cassidy



© KH

Frostbite

Never say there is nothing beautiful in the world anymore. There is always something to make you wonder in the shape of a tree, the trembling of a leaf. 

- Albert Schweitzer

© KH

A rose

But he that dares not grasp the thorn 
Should never crave the rose. 

- Anne Bronte

 

© KH

Orléans Cathedrale Sainte Croix

I never weary of great churches. It is my favorite kind of mountain scenery. Mankind was never so happily inspired as when it made a cathedral.
- Robert Louis Stevenson

 

© KH

Clan MacDonald Graves

The Massacre of Glencoe     13 february 1692

The graves of the Clan MacDonald, Glencoe Scotland



© KH

Thursday Challenge, Soft

This weeks Challenge: "SOFT" (Pillow, Blanket, Feather, Animals, Clothes,...) 
I chose this photo of a bumblebee in a yellow flower in my garden last summer. 
I like bumblebees. They are very soft. I had one as a 'pet' when I was a child. He fell in the dogs water bowl and I fished him out of there. Put him on a dry place, fed him sirop or so I thought. (I was 9, I didn't know bumblebees didn't eat sirop) But a few days later he seemed stronger and flew away. I could pet him so I try to do that with every bumblebee in my garden. They are very soft indeed! 
Personaly I love this picture. Makes me think of my pet bumblebee! :-) 



Other Thursday challenges can be found here

© KH

Foggy wednesday

Let us go in, the fog is rising 

- Emily Dickinson 

 

© KH

How now brown cow?

© KH

Ice flowers

“a thing of beauty is a joy forever” 
― Robert Frost

© KH

Misty sunday morning

It's a beautiful day (Queen)





© KH

The Jacobite Steamtrain

In dreams, we enter a world that's entirely our own. 

-  Albus Dumbledore

 



© KH

Geese

Watching birds has become part of my daily meditation affirming my connection to the earth body. 

- Carol P. Christ

 



© KH

Thursday Challenge, Books

I consider myself a real bookworm. Imagine my surprise that while I was reading this fellow came creeping by.
No not a bookworm but still.. :-)



© KH

More Thursday challenges here