summer holidays and how to enjoy them, part one

 the best thing, or one of the best things about a holiday, is not having to get up when the alarm sounds, of being able to linger in bed slightly longer than the body requires......after a prolonged breakfast where one has had time to read the entire newspaper from front to back, including the more obscure article on the recent discovery lichen consists not of two but three living entities, one succumbs to the dog's impatient whimpering and at last wanders out into the woods for a very late morning walk

 In the afternoon there's time to drive eldest son to Leiden to collect his last stuff there, it is in fact a farewell for him as he will be studying and therefore living in Wageningen for the forseeable future. Whilst he was packing, which he preferred to do by himself, I visited the botanical garden the Hortus Botanicus which was most enjoyable. I intend to visit a lot more gardens the coming week, not by myself however as my husband and I will be in the UK for a week; just the two of us, 'how romantic' our eldest exclaimed! We're looking forward to a trip by ourselves, been a long time since we did such a thing and the boys, both home together for a brief period, will have free reign of the house.

 another very nice thing is drinking an excellent cappuccino in the pleasant company of one's son

living

 despite the heat yesterday I was full of energy and feeling like myself again I wanted to do all kinds of stuff ..... how appreciative one becomes of small mercies once pain has dissipated, fortunately the memory evaporates very fast. Django and I went on our regular morning walk, he even went for a swim, several in fact and each in our own fashion were sniffing out treasures and so we stumbled upon this perfectly poised toad; on our walk back he talked incessantly and was very curious to know where we were taking him, would he be safe there? and were there any dangerous contraptions such as he had had the misfortune to encounter in the field where we met? we almost lost him as he was just so bouncy and nervous, he hopped and quivered the entire time. Once returned to the calm of the safe and quiet haven of our garden he relaxed and wanted to meet everyone, first he introduced himself to the Man in the cloth piece my world where he wondered about for a bit staring at the birds and all of the tiny stitches, muttering and whispering to himself, of how they reminded him of the seeds on the grassblades back home. He then announced he was ready to meet the King. So we took him to the studio where he finally met OBK and part of the household in the Dwelling.

our nervous new friend leapt onto the tea tray in his excitement at meeting OBK

 an impression of the east deck with the mural very gradually coming to life

feeling sorry.....

…… for myself.

Why, you might wander with all the horrible stuff in the rest of the world? If you have ever experienced toothache you will know at such a time the world is reduced to the size of your mouth!

It all started a couple of weeks ago when I went to my dentist for my regular check-up and he had an x-ray made. He detected two leaky fillings, one very old and one not so. Anyway, whatever their age, they had to come out and be replaced by two new ones.  Made an appointment for two weeks later, last Thursday morning saw me in his chair lying back and trying to think myself anywhere but there, which is difficult when there’s someone drilling holes into your teeth. All seemed to have gone well, the dentist was satisfied with the job and I was relieved to be out of the chair, away from all the dental instruments. Went for a belated morning walk with Django, hoping the local anaesthetic would have worn off by the time we got home again. As I couldn’t eat, drink, or talk to anyone for that matter, walking was my best option.

However as the anaesthetic did indeed begin to wear off I couldn’t help but notice the bottom left molar becoming ever more sensitive, I felt feverish and generally not okay. This came and went in waves, I reasoned this was due to the nerves having been overstimulated, swallowed a couple of paracetamols and as long as I didn’t eat with the teeth on the left all went reasonably well. I had places to go, things to do, no time for infections to slow me down. The weekend came and went. Sunday was quiet and I resisted the urge to keep feeling the sensitive molar with my tongue as much as I could, decided I’ld see how it went the next couple of days. Monday in the office was tiring, but still as long as I didn’t touch the dreaded molar not a problem. Monday evening the pain became worse, and Monday night I didn’t sleep a lot. All was not well in the dental state (not to mention my mental well-being)

Tuesday morning I rang the dentist and was able to make an appointment for noon, I then rang the office to say I wouldn’t be in today. The dentist was not my regular one, this time a female colleague* plunged in, I didn’t mind as long as somebody would take care of me and relieve me of my suffering.

Which is what she did; after another x-ray, she determined there was an infection and I needed a root canal, which is what I had been afraid of and why I was in denial in the first place. For those of you who have been there you know what I’m talking about, for those of you who haven’t, it’s no big deal (sorry, just kidding). More local anaesthetic, more drilling, rinsing and filling, alas a temporary one, have to be back next week to ‘finish the job’.

I’m now at home typing this post and as the local anaesthetic is wearing off, things seem dare I say it, slightly better. The tongue hurts, according to the dentist I have a ‘nosy tongue’ and they had to keep it under tight control whilst she was drilling…………….Well there you go, learn something new every day, I have a nosy tongue.

*my regular dentist is slightly older than me, she however is a lot younger, have to put our trust in the youth.

 What did we do on Saturday? Marjan, Jet and I went to Ouddorp on the island Goeree Overflakkee (the most southerly part of the province Zuid Holland) where we first spent the morning in the Beeldentuin achter de Westduinen; an incredibly beautiful private garden full of modern scultures, a delightful, somewhat belated birthday treat from my girl friends; we enjoyed a scrumptious lunch, which I mananged with half my mouth functionioning.

reclining woman (bronze) Karl Ulrich Nuss

Nee de la terre (corten steel) Klaas Gubbels

this one swayed ever so slightly as the trees moved in the breeze
Moonboat (stone) Ton Kalle

Bridging the gap (bronze) Dorte Berner

Torso (stone) Le Thi Hien

Roots (stone) Adri Verhoeven

view of part of the garden with the girls

the entire garden was divided into sections, this is called the Gallery

Forest Lungs of the world (paper) Julie Dodd

I'll call these Sun and Moon, as they're not marked on the map of the garden, I don't know who made them either

Teacher and Silly Virgins (stone) Dorte Berner

again, plus a view of Open Veld or the so-called Open field part of the garden

Girl on chair (bronze) Bernard Sindall

Margreet Huisman made these, afraid no title here either, however one of her small sculptures snuck into my pocket and came home with me, a piglet from a family of 'Mazzelpigs'

he's the pink one on the right

 after lunch we went to the beach and simply walked - it was a great day