Not the sky

No picture of the sky but a picture of what the sky gave us. It is 4 weeks nog since we saw the first snowflakes. It would be a great opportunity to take marvellous winter pictures but it is too slippery to go out.

Wish everyone of you whereever you are in the world a peaceful and wonderful Christmas!

MyWorld Tuesday

Winter is definately here, This morning everything looked like being touched by a little baby powder.
  

 

Now it looks like this. A little early this year.

  

SkyWatch Friday

I spent a week in Houston, Texas, lately. After two hot and rainy days the sun came out and we saw a bright blue sky. I was impressed by this building which really tried to reach the sky. I took the photo from the 22d floor of our hotel. No idea what the exact height is and how many floors there are in it.

This picture was also taken from the same floor in the opposite direction. It clearly shows the pollution at the horizon. Funny you can't see the smog right above you.

SkyWatch Friday

Where could you have a better view on the sky than being in the sky? Last week I went to Houston, Texas, and spent to and fro about 24 hours in planes. Feels good to see the clouds from above. There you see the variety of clouds like endless white landscapes with mountains and valleys, without crowds, traffic and noise.
So peaceful.

Approaching  Heathrow (London) meant disappearing into the mist.

SkyWatch Friday

We had some incredible sunsets this week but with the lack of horizon (as Jan calls it) this is all I can show about it.

Today was a wonderful sunny day. It really makes the trees in our street shine.

SkyWatch Friday

Last Sunday we went for a drive to the country. The region where I spent my childhood is close to the highest point of the Netherlands. And would you believe I had never been there? So we drove to the watch-tower on the Vaalserberg. It is located on the spot where three countries meet namely  Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. While writing this post it suddenly occurred to me that the pictures I took on Sunday are historic now. Since 10.10.2010 the highest point of the Netherlands is Mount Scenery on the isle of Saba. Saba was part of the Dutch Antilles which ceased to exist last Monday. Curacoa, Aruba and St. Maarten chose to be independent countries while Saba, St. Eustacius and Bonaire prefered to stay part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Officially the three islands together are now a Dutch municipality.

Untill last Monday this was the highest point of the Netherlands, 323 m above NAP (sea level)

Typical for this region are the slim pointed church towers. You see them everywhere in the villages between the hills.

SkyWatch Friday

 We have had some lovely autumn days this week. Temperatures around 20C and beautiful skies. Last Monday we had a nice sunset but bricks were in the way again.



Tonight's sky


This little critter was catching the last sunrays too.

My World Tuesday

A fast changing world just around the corner, only a three minutes drive if there is no traffic jam. The first picture gives an impression of how the area looked about 30 years ago except for the Kentucky Fried Chicken in the front. The other pictures show how it is now. Could be anywhere I suppose! Same shops, same restaurants anywhere.
It was a misty day which shows in the photos.

SkyWatch Friday

There is not much happening in our sky these days. It is misty, rainy etc. Autumn is here. I really don't mind the weather but a few sunrays would be nice to take some pictures.

Last Saturday at sunset I saw a balloon over our house.


On Monday I saw this hole in the sky. It was only seconds then it was all cloudy again.


And finally yesterday I saw some sunrays at sunset. Not really spectaculair but anyway I saw the sun.

MyWorld Tuesday

Last week I went to Aachen in Germany just across the border. It is a very old and historic city. The centre of the city is the Aachener Dom (cathedral) of which I will show some photos. Aachen has been severely bombed by the Allied Forces during WW2 but as a wonder the cathedral survived. It has been damaged several times but a group of brave teenagers kept guard during the war and extinguished each and every fire that they discovered.
Construction of the oldest part of the church started in 792, the octagon that is now the centre of the building. The cathedral is so huge that I could not take a picture of the complete church. We also couldn't get in because there was some work going on at the entrance. I would have liked to take pictures of the fantastic windows from the inside.





A bronze model of the front of the cathedral. The copper plate on the base is in braille.


The back with a plate with normal lettering


Last view from the parking lot

SkyWatch Friday

The tower of the magnificent Aachener Dom (cathedral) pointing at the sky. Aachen is situated just across the German border only 10 minutes from where I live. I'll show some more pictures next week on MyWorld.

MyWorld Tuesday

After days and days of heavy rains with strong gales which caused floods in some parts of the country the sky finally cracked about 5 pm today. I went outside and I tried to catch a few sunrays and warm up a little just like this little creature.

MyWorld Tuesday

Referring to last weeks MyWorld post I can show you a photo of the coal mine in the place I grew up. I think the picture must have been taken before the war because I see empty spots of land where I remember houses. I also see only one cooling tower and there were two as far as I remember.
The closing of this coal mine as of all the other mines in this region had an enormous impact on life. Many people were glad they did not have to do the hard and dirty work anymore though most of them feared a collapse of the economy and empoverishment in the future. Government promised alternative employment by developping and setting up new heavily subsidised industries. But they were not very succesful. Many young people left the area to find jobs elswhere in the Netherlands. The former mining part of the Netherlands changed it looks totally during the last decades. It is about the most beautiful part of the country with a foreign look. Not many windmills, no clogs, not much water and no flat polders here. Geologically the land belongs to the northern part of the Belgian Ardennes. Tourism has been promoted and many touristic attractions have been developped. There is a strong interaction with the surrounding countries Germany and Belgium and the region is flourishing again. The only concern of the government is that there live relatively more older people here than in other parts of the country. That is one of the effects of young people moving way three decades ago.

The Domaniale Mine, probably before WW2



This is how the area looks now

SkyWatch Friday

Highways and crossroads. Interesting sky after three dull rainy days.





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MyWorld Tuesday

Today's pictures show historic grounds. This is where I grew up. It looks quite good now but it is a former mining area. The oldest coal mining area of Europe. It was in the 11th century that the coal reached the surface at Rolduc and mining was not very difficult. When the mine was exhausted they had to dig deeper and coal mines were established. During the 1960s most mines were closed and the grounds were developed for housing and recreation.

The road in this picture used to be a railroad for coal transport only. I had to cross it every day when going to school. A high wall and a barrier prevented us from entering the mining site.


These two pictures give you an impression of how it looks today. Neat houses and a lot of green.



Unfortunately I have no photo of how it was at hand. I must have a book with old postcards on my shelves but I could not find it. I hope I did not lend it to someone I don't remember.

SkyWatch Friday

We had some wonderful skies in the Ardennes last week end. I saw many faces, animals and other shapes which no one else did notice!

The pictures were al taken around the house we stayed in.







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MyWorld Tuesday

Last week end I stayed with friends in the Ardennes in Belgium. Before driving home I took these pictures. The scenery is so beautiful it is never boring.

SkyWatch Friday

These pictures look very different from the usual green Dutch country sides which are flat and usually covered in green grass. The photos were taken on the Veluwe a region in the centre of the Netherlands. Dry and sandy heathland surrounded by (to Dutch standards) vast woods. The sky was just as dull as the land.





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