... Lots of it!
I don't mind though, I like snow; it's kind of soothing and gives great scenery that makes me enjoy my little daily hike even more.
The only thing that I hate about snow, is other road-users. It's common sense that with snow you should drive safely by adjust your speed, increase the distance between the cars, etc. Some people, however... ye gods.
Seriously, if you're either afraid to drive with snow, or you see the snowy roads as a playground; Do us all a favor and stay off the goddamn road, will ya?
While driving home from a little hike out in the woods, I came across this road sign.
I guess someone didn't agree with the traffic rules
On a thin strip of land that divides the Maas and Waal rivers, there is a small nature reserve called "de Hogewaard". It's a couple of ponds with swans and geese and some whitebred shorthorn cattle roams the grassy bit.
It's a nice and calm place and I like going there. There's a road nearby, but you don't hear it; and the boats in the Maas river don't make much sound either. But above all, it's not a mainstream area, so you really have some space for yourself. It's a real good place for relaxation and (of course) enjoying a nice cup of hot chocolate.
Mmhmm! Nothing like a little hike in nice weather, followed by some hot chocolate.
Of course, at a random restaurant that will cost you € 2,50 or more. Since I have a little gas stove in my car at all times, all it costs me is 11 cents for a bottle of water, 8 cents for the cocoa mix and about 20 cents worth of butane gas. Saving money is always good, and home-made stuff always tastes better.
*slurp*
My mom had some coupons for free pancakes at a restaurant called D'n Berepot in the village of Nieuwkuijk, The Netherlands. We decided to go there with the whole family including my sister, her kids and her new boyfriend Danny.
This place totally revolutionized my view on pancakes. They had pancakes with pretty much anything you can imagine. I had a pancake with bacon, onions, mushrooms and cheese (as shown below), but you could also get pancakes with ragout or with shawarma meat or with pepperoni, tomatoes and lettuce.
If there was any downside to the pancake then it was its size: it was humungous! It took me quite some effort to eat it, and I'm known as a big eater.
Enjoying a cup of very tasty tomato soup at Café Vingerhoeds in Oirschot, the Netherlands. This place is cool. It has a good atmosphere, friendly staff and excellent food. I'll definitely come back here sometime in the future.
Yum!
After doing my groceries, I decided to take the scenic route home. While driving on a dike (*giggle*), I was suddenly overtaken by an ambulance and two fire trucks. Since I didn't have anything better to do at the moment, I decided to follow them and see what was up. a few hundred meters own the road, there were a lot of police vehicles, another fire truck and a couple of ambulances.
Apparently, one of the tractors that was trimming the grass on the side of the dike, had tipped over and was laying upside-down in the moat next to the dike. About 2 minutes after I had arrived at the scene, a trauma helicopter (sort of a flying ambulance) landed in the backyard of the house next to the dike. A little over 40 minutes later, the driver of the tractor had been extracted from the wreckage and was on his way to the nearest hospital.
While driving to the supermarket, I came across this little pond with water lilies. This posed the perfect opportunity to give my new Sony Cyber-shot a proper baptism. After a tiny bit of tweaking on the brightness and contrast in Lightroom, the picture came out quite nice I think.
Almost a year ago, I wrote about a piece of art called Son-O-House. By coincidence I was in the area today with my new apprentice Reinout, and happened to have my HD camera and fish-eye lens with me. Time for an update
Put your brand new HTC "Snap" messenger phone in your pocket... Then when stepping out of the car brush your leg against the doorpost. What do you get?
HTC, the manufacturer of the phone, will send a courier to pick it up for repair next Friday, I hope they can get my poor baby fixed soon.