Posts

Showing posts from December, 2020

Corona Changes

Image
In March, the rumors of the COVID-19 virus became reality, and the Netherlands went into partial lockdown. Over the rest of the year, the lockdowns lightened and tightened in turn, but changes were visible everywhere.  Not all the changes were bad. We saw encouraging signs everywhere, like the Feyenoord themed "You'll never walk alone" one hung outside the hospital.                                                 A sign in the window of a closed school read, "Lieve kinderen we missen jullie" - dear children, we miss you."                                                    Church services and messages were held online, and while it was certainly practical, we missed the community of being able to share faith and everyday life with friends instead of staring at a screen.  The holidays took extra effort, since we couldn't meet up for a meal with friends or family. Instead we made Easter baskets with mini chocolate eggs to drop in mailboxes. The children

2020 Garden

Image
FEBRUARY :  The crocuses we planted last year started coming up outside, and inside, Pippin and I sat down to plan out our garden. Bloom helped by playing with seed packets as I tried to sort which seeds we had left and which seed packets I had kept because they were worth repeating. I also had charts from last year with lists of what I had planted, when, and whether it worked well or not. A few plants from last year, like my strawberries and honeysuckle, were still alive but dormant.  MARCH :   Every year I optimistically start seeds inside in February, set them out around March or April... and then the frost kills them. So this year I didn't even start the seeds until March. Pippin and I planted lettuce, morning glories, marigold, rucola (arugula), scarlet runner beans, and sweet peas - all seeds that had done well last year. And they all shot up happily in their little starter buckets within a few weeks.  By the end of March I dared to put the biggest and sturdiest plants outsid