Must Rush ! Mustn't Miss The Mice ...

 

The Peepshow exhibition's been on for six months so I only had myself to blame as I galloped , puffing , across the bridge and round the corner to the Natuurmuseum on the very last afternoon .
As always it was all beautifully staged and children rushed about between Scratch'n'Sniff exhibits ( "Eeeugh Mama , mouse pee smells disgusting !"  "No Mama , rat pee smells worse !!" ) , tiny skeletons  ,

 a large array of lethal antique mousetraps and the biggest stuffed mouse in the world . 

The art exhibition at the entrance was good too , though it did seem slightly tactless to have filled walls with paintings of owls .

 

 

 

Altogether I was glad I'd managed to drag myself away from a very good book , Ian McEwan's The Children Act , to go ... even if I don't seem to have come back alone .

Culinaria Village-style

I do love our local free paper . Every week it opens a vast world of possibilities ... enough village jumble sales , plant sales , Get To Know A Sheep day , concerts and bird watching to tempt us all .

In Bitgummole tomorrow , for instance , there's a Culinary Fair with stalls full of organic honey , sausages and herbs . There's coffee and delicous home made cakes , ices and petit fours , cooking demonstrations , lessons on how to build your own BBQ oven , drinks , tapas and snacks , nibbles and treats galore .
What makes this village's event slightly different is that food technician Folkert Follema will be entertaining  us with "An Edible Bible History"and at 4 o'clock there will be a performance by a local women's choir , the Bitchbeat .
Only the thought of the 7 km. bike ride each way is putting me off .

Modern Mania

 

Tulip mania has mutated and rages through Holland again . Wherever you look ... Pinterest , Facebook , newspaper columns ,  keetsmakelijk.nl , and school notice boards  ... updates on everyone's AH seedlings pop out at you . According to YD , her colleagues even keep them on their desks in the office . So I make no apologies for showing you mine again .

 

I suppose the big difference this time is the fact that no one I've talked to hopes to make their fortunes out of them .

Easter was very low key this year and we paid tribute to the Easter Bunny with Carrot and Ginger soup instead of chocolate . Afterwards , I chaperoned my paprikas as we sunbathed briefly on the balcony and celebrated the end of winter .
On Monday Leeuwarders were spoiled for choice  . There was a Friesland Food Festival in the center , but my Scottish blood rose at the thought of paying 10 Euros entrance money so that people could sell me their cheese , especially since there's a perfectly good outlet in the town which  currently even gives you a free peppermint when you buy the stinkiest .

 Instead I went to the Spring Fabric Fair on Monday and only saw one thing I wanted  and even then , there was only a meter left and it wasn't quite the right shade . So I wandered about getting giddy with this summer's prints and colours  , wondered fleetingly what I'd make with this

... a toga , perhaps ... and realised it was time to go home when I found myself wondering whether I should buy a couple of meters of these , just in case .