Holidays: Flowers and Pootling Around

My next holiday post is a bit of a mix. Of course it contains flowers - you knew it would, didn't you? On the first morning in our little holiday bungalow we sat outside and ate breakfast in the garden. This is the view over the rose hedge. I think the little houses with their steeply-pitched roofs are really pretty.

 It was a bit gloomy and chilly, but I got my crochet out again. As you can see, it's a scarf in its early stages - I still haven't done much of it!

As well as the seaside trips I showed you last time, we pootled around some sweet, old towns. I was very taken with the fact that lots of flowers are grown in towns and cities, from tree-lined streets to climbers up the front of houses, and especially many hollyhocks  growing in tiny cracks between house walls and pavements. I have never seen so many hollyhocks!

Above and below is a poem on a wall by a Dutch poet. It's about oysters, which are an important Zeeland product. You can see all the hollyhocks around the house.

Here are flower beds in the middle of pavements containing trees, annuals, roses and sunflowers. I wondered if the householders tend them. Most of the urban places we visited have these pavement flower beds - I love them!

So that this post doesn't get too long I made a collage of photos of flowers, a market, streets and a little abbey garden in Middelburg and Zierikzee.

At the market I treated myself to a bunch of sunflowers which I brought back to our holiday home. Aren't they wonderful?

We wandered around some very pretty places and saw sweet houses, windmills, boats, historical buildings and beautiful countryside.

Oh, and lots of canals too.

I'm always fascinated by wild flora, and found lots to see in the sand dunes of Zeeland. There was a very pretty purply-blue flower which I didn't  recognise (top left) and lots of colour in quite a dry landscape. I especially liked the information board on Wild Bees in the Dunes (I hope that translation is correct!).

Finally I have to show you my new discovery which I made in the Netherlands. It's Fresh Mint Tea With Honey and it's delicious! (I've been used to dried mint tea at home, so this seems rather exotic - why have I never done this with my own mint?)

It usually comes with a tiny biscuit, and D and I have decided to continue the tradition at home. We may have to bake some little biscuits too for an authentic feel.

Right, I'm off now and will leave you with a photo of some stunning cakes in a baker's shop - I think they're little works of art. I managed not to buy one, despite this. I just admired them.

See you soon x