Amsterdam, Holland - June 1, 2008

After the Cheese Factory, we boarded the buses again and proceeded to a village where we had lunch on our own. After lunch we went by boat to the island where there is a refurbished fishing village. Its a lovely place. We were marched around single file in long lines of tourists. Again, no opportunities to photo anything, or to really enjoy this village. Back to the town and we managed to get on the wrong bus to take us back to Amsterdam. It did not matter, as the buses were going the same place where we had started in the morning.

At home; the day turned into a beautiful sunny warm day. I was out for about 3 hours. I finished setting the pump and filled the pond. The pond looks so much bigger without all the water plants. I am undecided about putting the bog bean back. I potted up one of the irises from on the deck and added it. It is the only water plant on that side of the pond. The other side has the marsh marigold, the big lovely iris, and the sweet flag. There is still a lot of that little duck weed in the pond. While the pond was filling with water, I filled a large pink plastic pot with garden soil, put in 3 'burgundy' tulips, and 3 'blue heron' tulips and filled it with topsoil, topping it off with a layer of small stones to keep the dirt from washing out and making a mess. I planted the other 6 tulips in front of the small Spruce tree. I had some time to clean up the strawberry bed and add some of the compost around the plants. I managed to get some of the perennials at the front cut down before it was time to come into the house. It was starting to get dark and 4:15. The pond is not quite full, but I did wash down the pavers and stone paths around it. It all looks so much better for the attention. Water fall sounds good.