It has been about three weeks since I blogged, it wasn’t planned like that as although we were going away to spend time with my brother and his family in the Netherlands I had every intention of writing blogposts while I was there. I never found the time or inclination though, I think that probably proves that it was a very enjoyable and relaxing holiday, with plenty of catching up to do as we hadn’t been able to visit them for over four years.
We took the ferry from Harwich which has the advantage of being a shorter trip than the Newcastle or Hull route, but the long drive down south was very tiring and boring, despite us having a break overnight in the English midlands on the way down. It’s not far off 500 miles for us. The traffic on the south of England motorways was a nightmare, dead slow and stop and at times scary. It was a real treat to reach the Hook of Holland and what appears to be civilisation. Britain looks like a third world country in comparison with the roads in the Netherlands.
Although I cheated slightly by starting on my Twenty Books of Summer reading a couple of days before June, I’m much further behind than I thought I would be, mainly because my brother (who has lived in the Netherlands for over 50 years) gave me a book to read saying he hadn’t been able to get into it, obviously that one wasn’t on my original list. The book was A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole. Have you read it?
I was a bit worried about my garden while I was away because people living in the Netherlands can watch the BBC on their TVs – for nothing, in fact the newspapers publish the TV listings for the Beeb every day – and they don’t have to pay the licence fee – so I was able to see the weather forecasts and it was very hot while we were away, although not quite as hot as we had it in NL where it was over 30 C, not far off 90 F. Anyway the garden had exploded while we were away and the Turk’s Cap lilies had been and gone. I’ll take some photos of the garden tomorrow. I have a few book reviews to catch up with too.
It’s good to have holidays! Glad you had such a lovely time and your garden survived the heat. I have read Confederacy of Dunces long ago and don’t remember much other than i really enjoyed it and was really sorry the author died and didn’t have any other books.
Stefanie,
It’s especially sad as it was suicide which I suspect came about because he couldn’t get a publisher for this book. Since we got back home we’ve had some torrential rain, but apparently the whole of Scotland has a hosepipe ban and some smaller rivers are drying up!
Like Stefanie, I read Confederacy of Dunces decades ago and only remember that I liked it. Quirky.
Joan,
Quirky is the word and I always enjoy unusual characters and situations.