Last day in NL

It's been a very busy 3 weeks. We're not ready to leave, but the plane is scheduled for tomorrow morning so I suppose we need to be on it as scheduled. Besides, if we stay we'll have to go grocery shopping because we've emptied the refrigerator! Wait... grocery shopping is one of our favorite things to do, so that won't work.

This was the view out of our north window this morning.

This was a day to stay "home", organize things, take our bottles back to the store, and pack our bags. I'm sure the car is lonely because it never moved today.

The weather turned darker and windier as the morning progressed, but it was dry so we took the bikes out for one last ride into "downtown" Zevenhuizen. We got back the deposit for our bottles, then spent it on a soda. A walk across the street to the bakery got us raisin buns, and goodies for afternoon snack & evening dessert. We did some window shopping for Dutch bikes. About €500 we could have just the kind of bikes we want, but I'm not sure we could get them shipped to the U.S.

I love the deep, dark blue that is used on so many Dutch houses. It's not just the color, the paint looks inches thick because of the gloss and evenness of the paint. I want it on my house!

Linda brought along this quilt as a gift for our hosts to grace the dining room table. It looks right at home.

 Hanging around home today meant that I could get out and grab some shots of some of the other residents.

 The cat, in its usual spot, reigning over all it can see.

 

Our usual view of the cat, looking from our upstairs window.

 Here we are with our hosts, Jan and Jannie Visser (and their dog Boef). What a wonderful couple. We've truly enjoyed our time here at their home.

The day came to a close with a dinner of split-pea soup accompanied by raisin buns with butter and Beemster cheese. During dinner we were blessed to see a complete rainbow out of our windows.

Last Beer Report for this trip: Leffe Blonde, 6.6% alcohol content. Normally, I don't care for light-colored beers, but Linda's cousin Harm Hubbeling recommended this one and it has turned out to be a great recommendation. This one is Belgian, and it shows in how smooth it is. No sharp, hoppy edge - just wonderfully smooth flavor. Highly recommended.