Frank and Wilco went to Islay

In November Frank and Wilco went to Scotland for a short vacation.
Frank had his 51st birthday on November 25th and Wilco his 49th on November 28th, so together they are now 100 years! To celebrate this they planned a trip to the island Islay, as they both like the malt whisky's from Islay.

It started not very well, as the KLM had cancelled their flight to Glasgow and forgot to tell them. So they were way to early on Schiphol for the next flight was in the afternoon. Their first day should have been spend in Glasgow, but instead was mostly spend on the airport. They were on time in Glasgow to catch the flight to Islay.

two nights in B&B The Grange on Islay

The first distillery they visited was Laphroaig, both Frank and Wilco own for life a square foot of land there and planted their flag!

Frank and Wilco at their square foot at Laphroaig

Lagavulin, where Frank tasted the best whisky at this trip, and Ardberg

of course Frank and Wilco find the only brewery of Islay Islay Ales too!

beautiful Islay

Bunnahabhain and Caol Ila

a picture of Frank and a beautiful sunset

an other attraction of Islay is the very old (800 AD) Keltic Kildaton Cross next to the roofless remains of a church from the same time

the oldest distillery on Islay is Bowmore

the youngest distellery is Kilchoman

the last distillery visited was Bruichladdich, our late blue smooth Chow Chow Gladdich was named after this place.

the village Bowmore with the church on the hill

no Gladdich, but a street named Sraid A' Chladaich and an old synagogue

In two days Frank and Wilco saw all Islay distilleries and visited a few of them, sadly they had to leave Islay and went back to Glasgow.

Islay Airport

One night in Glasgow and some time for sightseeing and shopping!

Frank in Glasgow with his new Sherlock Holmes hat

And then back home, Chimay, Ari and I were very happy when Frank returned!


Many thanks to Wilco for the pictures.
Website of Islay www.islayinfo.com

forgot my vitamin B12

I had too much going on the last weeks.
The Thyrax was upped again, Frank gets vitamin B12 shots too, slowly I get back on track with housekeeping and we visited some family and friends.

Today I found out that I was 5 days late with my vitamin B12 shot...
Looking back Chimay tried to tell me, 5 days back she kept looking at me, but neither Frank or I understood what she tried to tell.
When I took the vitamin B12 today, Chimay yelped as she was so relieved, finally I had understood what she tried to tell me.
She is such a great service dog!

Birthday Chow!

Today we celebrate Chimay's 8th birthday.
Happy Birthday Chimay and littermates!!!!

Chimay on the couch

Dutch Chow Chow Club walk

The Dutch Chow Chow Club organises a walk every year.
We never attended before, but this year we decided to go with Chimay and Ari.

The weather was great, a bit cold, but the Chows like that!

Chimay, Frank and Ari

there were a lot of Chow Chows!

the wood was beautiful in fall colors

Chimay

Half way a little rest with coffee and cake

And on we went again

It was a great day, we enjoyed it very much.
Chimay was happy to see so many Chows!

last roses of the season

rosa "Grand Palace"

rosa "Mein München"

and the Hydrangea

Floriade, second visit - part 3: and more

rosegarden

One of the things I had missed at my first visit was the rosegarden.
It was a bit disappointing, only a few roses smelled nice, the others had no fragrance at all...

Anyway, there was MUCH more to see!

theatre

We walked upon the hill of the theatre.
There was a group of singers on stage and we could hear them clearly.

On the top of the hill we had a great view over the Floriade. In front the Aqua pavilion, in the back the Innovatower, where we entered the Floriade.

Guido on top of the hill

Celtic tree calendar

On a big stone in the middle of the place was an explanation of the Celtic tree calender.
The Celtic tree calendar divides the year in 39 periods of 1 or 10 days, ruled by a tree. Our date of birth gives our life-tree. The calendar has 21 trees, most of them rule a time in spring and a time in autumn. Then there are 4 holy trees oak, beech, birch and olive, those are connected to special days that mark the change of seasons.

The 21 trees are planted in a large circle. Between the middle stone and the trees were stones with dates, pointing to one of the trees.

Guido and I shared our tree

Guido and Ari next to the cypress

cloth-tree

Walking on we discovered the cloth-tree, an oak covered with knitted cloths.

Tourists from all over the world visit here.

Ari was very content with the stroller.
He got a lot of attention and was able to see everything :-)

Wooden shoes, at least six foot tall, in front of the House of Taste.

pavilion My Green World

The building of the Dutch government, called My Green World, is an eyecatcher. It is made from wood and glass.

Inside you can see how it is constucted, almost a work of art!

Inside there were presentations of horticultural innovations, like floating farming. Crops can be harvested more times a years and it needs less space.

In Bangladesh are projects with floating farming for farmers who have lost their ground due to the flood; article about floating farming in Bangladesh.

Outside floating crops too, the red leaves look extra shiny against the white styrofoam!

Ari tired

but unable to nap, each time he wanted to close his eyes for a bit, he heard of smelled something and had to see what was going on ;-)

hemerocallis

Choices

Many buildings on the Floriade had roofgardens. They add green to building, isolate it and help to reduce CO2.

This building was designed and constructed by students of the agricultural education from the South of the Netherlands.

De plants are growing in large containers that gradually go up, with a path next to them, so you can climb to the top of the building.

our route at the Floriade