A line of pollarded willows march into the blue heat-haze of the horizon,
sharply delineating the banks of the tiny polder canal. The surface of the
water is thick with greenery, here the small trefoils of duckweed and there
the fat flat rafts of waterlilies, guarding glorious flowers of white and
yellow.

A windmill looms in the distance. A row of cygnets paddle gently by,
ignoring the little fuzzy red-headed coot chicks which rush about, peeping
plaintively, so small that they are almost covered by the duckweed. A heron
flaps lazily overhead, banking to avoid a pair of watchful swans by a farm
gate, wings slightly raised in warning, guarding their pair of huge white
eggs.

In the distance, a small stand of sweetcorn shoulders above the ubiquitous
grass. Above circles a watchful buzzard, mewling patiently as it waits for
its prey to make a move.

Thats was Holland last weekend. Cycling alongside arrow-straight canals
between tiny beautifully-kept villages, I really came to appreciate how
beautiful this country can be.

It's been a full summer so far, with plenty more fun to come.

Tulip fields I recently visited

In Spring, the fields are ablaze with colour.	It is the bulbs that are farmed rather than the actual flowers, so the petals are removed with a threshing machine.	One of the many displays in the Keukenhof gardens

Some photographs from my visit to see the Ice-Sculptures.

Ice Sculptures at Madurodam

Every year, Holland is visited by a group of Chinese Ice sculptors. In 2000, their work was displayed at Madurodam, and included copies, carefully constructed from clear ice, of the modern seven wonders of the world, as well as a large number of other subjects. The whole display was kept at -12 centigrade, so padded jackets were issued to visitors. Here are a few examples from the exhibition.

Pseudemys and the Ice Maiden.	An Ice Dragon.	An Ice Camel

Written by Pseudemys

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