Spotted in Voorschoten...

We were surprised to see a parking meter placed on a random driveway in our village. 

We finally decided to see if there were any geocaches in our village. We were happy to find our first one pretty easily, but disappointed to discover that it was locked, which defeats the purpose.

In early January, Jimmy noticed a bunch of people staring up at some trees. We later walked back to the spot and were pleased to see an owl sleeping in a big hole. 

Just past the tree with the owl, we spotted this vibrant rainbow with a second lighter one to the right.

The other side of the rainbow seemed to be sitting on the top of the CitizenM corporate headquarters. After gawking at the rainbow for a few minutes, those gray skies caught up with us; luckily we didn’t get drenched.

The closest we came to travelling in January was to pose in front of this Air Bee & Bee (the perfect name for a bee hotel) in the main park while out on a run. 

On January 16, we got our first sprinkling of snow.

Granted, this isn’t a great photo of the church, but I like the way this crazy tree is reflected in the window. Not sure what the plans were for this recently built extension to the church, but suspect it has mostly sat empty due to the pandemic. 

 

Reusable Masks...

From afar, it was a bit hard to tell if my eyes were deceiving me...

...but my zoom lens confirmd that the statues on the Leiden Stadhuis (City Hall) were indeed wearing masks.  

As the other mask post shows, I’m not a big fan of disposable masks. Beyond the litter, even when they’re disposed of properly, they’ve created a lot of extra trash. However, when I somehow left my mask behind when we were going to the beer store, I was thankful that the owner had a new one to spare.

In an effort to help support the Mauritshuis, my favorite museum, I ordered several masks of famous Dutch artworks. I couldn’t resist buying Jimmy this Frans Hals mask of The Laughing Boy. 

Veronica looked great in the mask made for her by AWC volunteers.

She also used a mask to make a statement.

This mask was a message best worn with an corresponding shirt (as seen here at the This is America exhibit in October). 

Veronica sent this photo of a vending machine at a shopping center in Exeter that sells reusable masks. I’ve never spotted anything similar in Holland, but apparently there are now 40 of these around the UK. Honestly, it’s a business that I hope won't need to be around for too much longer, but appreciate the effort to make quality masks easily accessible to folks, especially in the early days of the pandemic.

 

A New Kind of Litter...

The pandemic has had an unexpected downside: a crazy new type of litter has appeared all over town as disposable masks are tossed on the ground rather than disposed of properly. This was an especially heinous example as both a mask and latex glove were just outside of a trash bin in front of the grocery store. While I regularly pick up trash on my dog walks, picking up masks is a step too far. 

It’s a rare day that I don’t spot at least one mask on the ground in our village. Whether it’s at the market...

...crossing a farmer’s field...

...in the remnants of snow...

...or next to a puddle.

One of the crazier masks I’ve spotted thus far was in the bushes near a train station on the edge of Amsterdam...

...complete with lipstick marks.
 

Most Expensive Day Hike Ever...

In early January, Veronica took Ashlynn for a day hike in Dartmoor, just before the next lockdown began. Things didn’t turn out quite the way that they’d expected after Veronica realized she’d lost her iPhone, which must have slipped out of her camera bag...

...and Ashlynn fell into a mudpit when they turned off the main trail. 

Luckily she managed to get out of that deep mud, but her running shoe didn’t. At least she had worn two pairs of socks so could remove the muddy outer pair before hiking the final few kilometers shoeless. 

The beauty of the area helped to keep her spirits up. You can read the entire hurmorous story on a post she wrote for Veronica’s blog, Coves to Cliffs.
 

New Lambs...

At some point in December, we stopped going to the local farm because they had stopped selling eggs. We were shocked when Jimmy was told that the chickens had been made into chicken soup, Later I learned that bird flu had reappeared in the Netherlands and many chickens had to be culled. In late January, we stopped by and were happy to see a bunch of lambs in the barn; we later learned that they were between one and four weeks old. 

Ever since, we have visited the farm at least twice per week to be entertained by these sweet little creatures...

...some of which were apparently horny from a very young age. 

It was so cute to see them running up and down on the ramp from the milking area.

Might look quaint on the righthand side, but clearly an action shot on the left.

The mamas push and shove to get to the front of the line for milking. Clearly the one popping up in the middle was extra impatient.

We don’t know what is served in the little metal bowl, but it’s clearly something that the sheep really like as they often push and shove to get there as well. Not sure what the lambs were trying to do...

...but they had a tough time pushing the gates open to get out.

One of those rare moments when a sheep stops and poses.

 

Walking in Voorschoten...

Caught several cool reflection shots of puffy clouds in the field. 

The muddy field had finally dried up enough for us to walk along the far canal for the first time in ages. Sadly, there were no sign of the horses.

It was nice to finally run into Appa...

...and Kenji for the first time in months.

One of those rare moments when Kati stood still and looked at me so I could capture her reflection.

A rarity: a puddlegram and Kati once again looking at the camera (taken on the path behind the BSN). 

The friendly tukey followed Kati around again...

...and a pretty heron made an appearance.

 

Delftse Hout...

On a cold and windy but beautiful day at the end of January, Terri and I decided to switch things up and head to Delftse Hout, a large recreation and nature area. I had thought we could walk towards central Delft, but I stupidly walked out the door without a leash, so we stuck to the fields and woods just beyond this neighborhood. Luckily Kati was very well behaved, so my screw-up wasn’t a problem.  

Looks can be deceiving as this bridge might look covered in heavy frost, but there was none. 

This was one of the more unusual pieces of artwork that I noticed in the neighborhood where we parked. 

We passed a large bunch of greenhouses.

The first part of the route was open fields while the second part was in the woods.

One of Terri’s nicknames is Shetland because she’s tiny, so she couldn’t resist asking the owner if she could pose with these two adorable Shetland ponies.