Spring

A sunny day with a cold wind, typical for a Dutch Spring. The light is different in spring and everything seems very clear and bright. The trees are still bare, which means that special spring flowers bloom under the tree trunks and in the woods. They need the sun, and so they only flower when the trees are not in leaf yet. 

 The mirror lakes with "De Heerlijckheit Dyckenburch" in the background

Dijkenburg is for sale if you can spare Euro 6 million!

Dijkenburg in late spring. From the website of the real estate agents

I went for a walk in a small park, Klein Leeuwenhorst, not far from the sea and the dunes. In this area, on the border of sand banks or dunes and low moor land, in former centuries many mansions were built for the rich, to escape the noise of the towns and cities and enjoy fresh air. Some of those big houses were already destroyed in the 19^th century, others in the second world war by the Germans who made this area part of the Atlantic wall, changing decorative ponds into anti tank canals. Many grand estates were ruined by the expanding towns and cities, by the many new roads which cut estates into two. But a few were restored in the 1980-ies or even later. Nowadays we try to preserve whatever we have. This wood has been returned to its former state when it was part of an estate. Nevertheless it is enclosed by minor roads, which have cut off some of the buildings and houses belonging together and which are part of the same estate. A nature preservation organisation now owns this park or piece of woodland and has restored the English landscaped part of this estate. 

 Daffodils

 Celandine

 

Daffodils were in fool bloom, dancing in the wind. Yellow celandine looked like specks of gold amongst the brown beech leaves.

Former stables, now a house, once part of the estate