Raymond made us our yearly batch of dandelion honey this weekend! For anyone interested in the recipe and process, there is a reel on his Instagram: www.instagram.com/reel/DXUWHJD...

Raymond's hand-carved utensils. Spoons of all sizes, a porridge spurtle, Danish dough spoon, risotto spoons, a honey dripper, all made from wood he finds laying around the forest, and his trademark black handle dipped in the iron gall ink he makes himself too (non-toxic), and sometimes he makes art!

Raymond was enjoying the afternoon sun in our garden and carving another spoon from a piece of elderwood. Rescue dog Noodle as always, was supervising.

The Dutch countryside is full of tulips this time of year. We stopped to see this field on our way home today.

We stopped at De Nachtegaal mill for some flour. This is our countryside mill where local wheat is still ground the same way it has been done for hundreds of years. Raymond also bought some oats to make porridge and has enough flour to keep baking our bread.

More of tulip season as we stopped in the Dutch countryside on our way home today to look. Seemingly endless flower fields!

It's tulip season in Holland right now and we stopped in the countryside on our way home today to look. These orange ones were incredible. This field seemed to go on endlessly.

Dutch tulip fields are currently in bloom for the next few weeks and rescue dog Noodle loves flowers! We stopped on our way home to take a look.

Cows in the Dutch countryside where we pick dandelion flowers.

Raymond picked a basket full of dandelion flowers in the countryside today to make dandelion honey. The petals are cooked shortly in water with some lemon. This has to infuse 24 hours and tomorrow it will be strained and then cooked down with sugar to create a vegan dandelion honey.

The meadow where we picked dandelions today was full of 'pinksterbloemen' (cardamine pratensis) - may flowers. They are edible and have a peppery taste similar to watercress. We picked two to try, but left the rest as they are unfortunately not so plentiful anymore.

Today in the Dutch countryside.

We headed out into the Dutch countryside today so Raymond could pick dandelion flowers to make dandelion honey. He managed to attract quite the audience from across the water!

Ice cream season officially began this afternoon! Raymond and I celebrated with a scoop or two in front of the river Zaan at Hemels. Raymond is doing his bit for the environment by using the spoon necklace he carved instead of plastic spoons 😄

Pink blooms from our garden. Bleeding heart flowers and geranium. #GardeningFeed.

We have strawberry flowers! This particular plant has spread across a whole corner in our garden. We brought back one tiny stem from a forest in France the other year and we may be in for a treat of wild strawberries this summer! #GardeningFeed.

The most Amsterdam thing on the tram home yesterday evening! The conductor was singing songs between each stop! This one is possibly the most famous of them all, and my favourite Amsterdam ‘chanson’. Sound up!

Rescue dog Noodle looking for Raymond who is hiding. Our green fence which was planted two seasons ago is growing strong. #GardeningFeed.

Amsterdam from the tram window. Koningsplein.

Amsterdam from the tram window. Leidseplein.

At the garden centre yesterday.

This is Phileine's Dream Train full of fun monsters! My team and I have been working on this project for more than half a year and it's finally out there riding through the Netherlands for another year and a half! I spotted it in the wild at Amsterdam Centraal the other evening! ...

We bought this Orfac Roden vintage clock yesterday, made by a small Dutch manufacturer last century in Roden, the Netherlands. I am unable to find any information about this particular model online. Does anyone here know anything about clocks?

Starting to crochet a new bag.

Describe your Bluesky account with a single image.

Rescue dog Noodle, photographed in her natural habitat.

I bought cotton yarn today so I can crochet a new bag. The one I made a while ago is showing signs of wear and tear. I decided to replace it with a new and improved version.

Death won't admit it but he too is glad the winter is finally over and is thoroughly enjoying spring in our garden! #GardeningFeed.

Tonight in our plantbased kitchen: Rice with sautéed leeks and lentils, topped with a layer of thinly sliced potato and baked golden! I have no name for this dish, I often change ingredients according to what I have to add to the rice. It starts on the stove and ends in the oven.

More from the garden today! Our clematis is in full bloom and the kiwi berry has started growing leaves again. The tulips are all going strong, and little pink flowers have surprisingly survived the winter! #GardeningFeed.

We also have some tiny flowers growing in the garden right now. #GardeningFeed.

These are all 'wild' tulips grown in our garden. These varieties bloom year after year and spread on their own. #GardeningFeed.

Raymond and I in the garden at the De Groote Weiver in Krommenie today. This contraption was out in their garden! We were there to visit the vintage store. Not sure whose neck this was made for but probably misbehaving children so the parents can have a coffee in peace.

Ended up in ER with Raymond yesterday. Got a call from him like he was having a stroke. I was still at work. He was taken to ER while I dropped everything at my desk and rushed off. They stabilised him and we made it home hours later. Exhausted. Lots of needles, testing, questions, neurologists.

Out with friends tonight in Amsterdam. Friends who happen to be some of the best ex-colleagues! Ku Kitchen & Bar for some really good Japanese food and mocktails.

Out with friends tonight in Amsterdam. Ku Kitchen & Bar for some really good Japanese food.

Frederiksplein, Amsterdam. Magnolia trees are in full bloom at the moment.

Finally finished sewing a cushion cover with one of my cross stitch creations! Most of the work is in the measuring, cutting, and preparation, the sewing itself is the easy part.

Cushion cover progress with the cross stitch I created a while back. It wasn't easy sewing a circle into a square but I managed in the end.

I baked rows and rows of spanakopita today!

Pink tulips and grape hyacinths in our garden today. #GardeningFeed.

Visited Kees in Zaandam today and had a cup of tea before heading to the market. Kees collects knives and after saying I need a small knife to cut my fruit with at work he came down and gave me this! It fits into my coin purse!

What’s the perfect GIF for your BlueSky persona?

Half this building is shaped like a person. It is the ‘Corpus’ museum and discovery centre and houses everything to do with the human body. We drove past it on our way home from Den Haag.

Lunch in Den Haag today at Café Loft with friends. It was a beautiful spring day to be outside!

This is Angel, she is a Golden Retriever and Labrador cross and the goodest of good girls! She joined us for lunch today in Den Haag with her humans.

I sewed the second pencil case today! These are for my niece and nephew (twins) in Australia. They've just started high school so now they have custom-made pencil cases. 🧵🪡

Our avocado tree was too large to take inside this winter. We wrapped the base and insulated with straw. The leaves did not survive freezing temperatures but we are waiting to see if there is still life in the roots and branches and perhaps new leaves will appear in the coming weeks. #GardeningFeed.

More from our garden today. Spring snowflakes under the fig tree, a snake's head fritillary, and the yellow wild tulips were closed this morning but open with the sun. #GardeningFeed.

In our garden today. Tulips have just begun, daffodils are well underway, and grape hyacinths are just starting. #GardeningFeed.