SPRING TIME IN HOLLAND

WOW! Talk about gorgeous!  The captions came with the photos.

 In springtime, the lowland area by the North Sea is carpeted with fields of gladioli, hyacinths, 

lilies, daffodils, crocuses... and, of course, tulips

Keukenhof - literally 'kitchen garden' - is part of the hunting grounds of the ancient Teylingen estate.

The patchwork quilt of colours in the Keukenhof park, just outside Lisse in 

South Holland, is a veritable feast for the eyes

This year, the theme for the Keukenhof exhibition is Germany: Land of Poets and Philosophers

 Keukenhof – know as the Garden of Europe – is the one of the best places to view the abundance 

of spring flowers in the South Holland region of the Netherlands

 Around seven million bulbs are planted each year in the park at Keukenhof, in an area of 32 hectares.
(A hectare is about 2-1/2 acres, making  Keukenhof just shy of 80 acres.)

Spring in Keukenhof is one of the main tourist attractions of the Netherlands

The mild climate of Holland, with its wet springs makes it an ideal place for bulb cultivation

 The bulbs of Keukenhof are re-planted each year according to the current trends and

in collaboration with a number of gardening magazines

Humor --

Blessed are those who can give without remembering and take without forgetting.

The irony of life is that, by the time you're old enough to know your way around, you're not going anywhere.

God made man before woman so as to give him time to think of an answer for her first question.

I was always taught to respect my elders, but it keeps getting harder to find one.

Every morning is the dawn of a new error.

BIRDS AND BEES ...

... and butterflies.  Lots of color!

 

 

Humor --

The following was on a classroom wall:

 

Time will pass, part 2

On the wall of my doctor’s office:  Too bad I didn’t have a camera with me.

                                                            Time will pass.  Will your kidney stones?

ORCHIDS

I am no botanist, but a couple of these look like roses to me.  Tell me what you think.

But first, a quiz that I may have posted before.  Answers below.


A STATELY QUIZ
Of the 50 states in the union, which is the most northerly, the most southerly, the most easterly, and the most westerly?

 

 

 

QUIZ ANSWERS

Northerly - If you said Maine, go back and read the question again. It says, “Of the 50 states in the union...”
If you said Alaska, you are correct.

Southerly - If you said Florida, try again.  If you said Hawaii, you are correct.

Westerly - No, not Hawaii.  If you said Alaska, you are correct.

Easterly - If you said anything in the lower 48, you are not correct.  If you said Alaska, you are correct.

WAIT A MINUTE!  ALASKA? Most easterly? Quit pulling my leg!
Okay, time to look at a map that shows the International Date Line. You will note that the Aleutian Islands, which is part of Alaska, crosses the International Date Line. Go ahead. Argue with geography.

BIG STRANGE ANIMALS, part 2

Discover for yourself these giant creatures. The captions came with the photos.

Giant  Hog
This wild hog weighing over one ton was taken down by an 11-yr-old hunter. Bacon for months!

Japanese Spider Crab
 -- can weighing up to 41 lbs. The Japanese spider crab has long been 

a Japanese fishing staple, and can inflict serious injury with its powerful claws.

Nomura's  Jellyfish.  
Found in the waters off Japan. It can weigh up to 440 lbs. 

Flemish  Rabbit
.  This is Sandy, one of the  largest Flemish rabbits hanging out with her pet sheltie. 

Huge Rat Killed in Foot  Locker Store
.  This incredibly large rat was killed in a Bronx, NY Foot Locker 

back in January of 2012. Let's hope this employee got some kind of bonus for taking on the beast. 

Chinese Giant  Salamander
The largest and most  definitely slimiest salamander in the world. 

It can grow up to 6 ft  in length and is nearly blind.

African Giant Snail.  
Africa does things big and  this snail is no exception. It is found
in parts of East Africa, and it can reach up to 8 inches in length.

Giant Huntsman  Spider
This bird eating spider was discovered in Laos back in 2001. 

It spends much of its time in dark jungle caves.

Macroptychaster Sea Stars
These giant starfish were found by scientists in Antarctic waters back in 2008. 

Giant Freshwater  Stingray.  
These monsters can grow up to 1,300 lbs and are considered 

endangered in many of their Asian waterways.

Fun --

MURPHY’S LESSER KNOWN DICTUMS

A fine is a tax for doing wrong. A tax is a fine for doing well.

If you lined up all the cars in the world end to end, someone would be stupid enough to try to pass them, five or six at a time, on a hill, in the fog.

The things that come to those who wait will be the things left by those who got there first.

Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

Flashlight: A case for holding dead batteries.

The shin bone is a device for finding furniture in a dark room.

BIG STRANGE ANIMALS

What more can I say?  They are big, and most certainly strange. The captions came with the photos.

Cane Toad originally found in South and Central America, the cane toad is considered 

a nuisance to Australia's natural wildlife and has few predators because of its toxic skin.

Mekong Catfish found in China's polluted waterways, it can grow up to 10.5 feet and 

provide enough fish sticks  to feed an entire school cafeteria.

Coconut  crabs
 - not what you want to see when taking out the trash. Coconut crabs have claws 

powerful enough to crack coconut shells. Needless to say, they're not to be trifled with.

Trigger, the cow, 
6.5 feet tall, 14 feet  long and over 1 ton, it's estimated he could 

produce 7,665 Big Macs.  Holy Cow!

Giant Weta Cricket
 is found only (thankfully) on a small island off the coast of New Zealand. 

This cricket is large enough to devour a carrot.

Saltwater Crocodile.  
Believed to be the largest croc ever caught. This mammoth 21 footer
was captured alive after a three week hunt.  Amazingly, it wasn't exterminated.

Bismarck Flying Fox is found throughout the  treetops of New Guinea.
This fruit eater is the largest bat on the planet.

The African Goliath Frog is located it Cameroon. It lives up to 15 years 

and eats everything from birds and snakes to other frogs.

Giant George, the Great Dane has a spot in the Guinness World  Records.  George 

weighs 245 lbs and consumes over 110 lbs of dog kibble a month.

MURPHY’S LESSER KNOWN DICTUMS

Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.

He who laughs last, thinks slowest.

Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.

Those who live by the sword get shot by those who don't.

Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool.

The 50-50-90 rule: Anytime you have a 50-50 chance of getting something right, there's a 90% probability you'll get it wrong.