happy holidays

This blogger would like to wish all her loyal readers a happy holidays. Also, consider this post your Christmas card!

the animals officially hate us
but we just looooooove them!

yard stuff

There's not too much happening in the yard these days other than plants freezing and wilting. Below are a few notable plants from happier days aka 1-2 months ago. Both plants originate from my Grandmother's yard.

Four o'clock flower (Mirabilis jalapa) found a home in the ivy


Angel's Trumpet (Brugmansia)

close-up shot of the pod
note: the blooms come out at night, so it was pitch dark
out when I took these 2 shots
hooray for the first bloom!

We had a lot of buds after this first bloom, but none actually bloomed due to a frost a few weeks ago. Oh well - there's always next year!

owey and marge misc.

Marge just killed this beaver

Owey standing on Marge's food station

Margey's nook under a table

Owey's nook on top of the dryer

Marge loves walking on these rocks

it's a cat in a box...

If there is a box in the house, Owen will find it. And wherever Owen goes, Margot will surely follow...and make sure he isn't having any fun without her.

best.cheese.drawer.ever

I just had to take a photo of this cheese bonanza that we created ahead of our cabin trip with the Berrongs and the Blanks in November. Our favorite is an aged gouda that we were introduced to in Amsterdam - it's called Reypenaer.

And if any of you ever feel the inclination, please purchase me the amazing Reypenaer cheese guillotine pictured below and found here. It would be a gift straight outta cheese heaven!

amsterdam botanical garden

I forgot to post these pictures upon my return from Europe, so here you go. Some really cool plants in this place...

dead mole

Here's a dead mole that I'm pretty sure was killed by our neighbor's cat. Guess it brought it to our house as a present? RIP mole.

new beds

The previous owners of our house created walkways around the yard with these slate rocks. Well, over time grass and dirt piled up over them and eventually they got buried. We decided it would be a fun little project to dig up as many as rocks we could and then use them to create beds in the backyard. Well, here's 2 of the 3 new beds - I'm lazy and haven't taken a pic of the 3rd. And we still have a ton of rocks to dig up but again, see my point about being lazy.

the swans of bruges

Whether we were traveling on a boat or a bike, we always seemed to run into a swan or two. Below are some photos I took at the Minnewater park, which is a park completely covered in feathers because it's literally owned by the swans, ducks, etc.

this guy was pissed!

bruges

Bruges was beautiful, unique and charming. We really enjoyed our stay, so much so that for a short time we thought about moving there. And then we realized we didn't want to learn French so yeah...Decatur wins!

our bed and breakfast

window boxes just pop against the buildings

beautiful garden at the Church of our Lady

a great nook/garden on the canal - loved it!

a field of red roses in a park adjacent to
the Lake of Love

happy roses!

the Lake of Love

some ducks resting on the edge of the canal

a 'Private' hydrangea

close up

brussels

Brussels was nice, but it didn't have many gardens or landscapes worthy of a photo. The few posted below are of the only places in the city that stood out to me.

Royal Palace of Brussels

a little place near Kunstberg and the Mont des Arts