Oliebollen & Appelflappen

For the first time, Jaap and I will be spending Hogmanay in Scotland. That would mean not tasting the delicious "oliebollen" en "appelflappen" baked by my mother- and sister-in-law. Making (or buying if you don't fancy spending time in the kitchen and smelling greasy afterwards) and enjoying oliebollen and appelflappen on New Year's eve is a typical tradition in Holland. As emigrated Dutch people not wanting to miss out on this this year, we had arranged for a pack of Koopmans with special oliebollen dough from the Dutch supermarket AH in November when my mum was here. So I just baked my very own for the first time in my life and they have been approved by Jaap (and he knows what is good or not)! I had to be quick before they were gone...

Eet smakelijk and Happy New year!

Winter walk Banchory

Finally, I conquered the horrible stomach flu after a week! My apetite is back again so I'm allowed to gain the 2 kg I lost. But first things first. Today was just a gorgeous, crispy winter day so I had to play outside again after sitting and lying on the couch/bed for so long. I took my car (with winter tyres) and drove to Raemoir hotel, close to our house, where I walked uphill (about 430 m) and enjoyed excellent 360 degree-views towards Scolty Hill, Clachnaben, Mount Keen, Lochnagar, Morven, Bennachie and Aberdeen coast.  View a short video:



and a few images:



On top of the plateau it was hard work. Not many people had walked there yet and thaw and freeze from the last few days had created a thick ice layer on top of the hard snow. This short video gives you an impression;



But it was all worth it and after 4 hours walking I really felt revived again!

Map of my walk:

Weekend in Edinburgh

We had an excellent weekend in Edinburgh; a perfect hotel along Royal Mile for a very friendly price, delicious food (I miss that in Aberdeen!), especially the vegetarian restaurant David Bann, an interesting visit to the Scottish Mining Museum (what a tough life then), a tour along Mary Kings Close (underground medieval alleyways) and cosy pubs, a visit to the National Gallery with paintings from the great masters and to the Queens gallery where we enjoyed the fascinating photography exhibition about the polar expedition by Scott and Shackleton!

Here are a few photos from us;


Unfortunately, I caught a severe stomach flu on Saturday which really came to the surface on Sunday! Vomitting in the car, shitting my pants on the couch (luckily this was at home) and spending hours back and forth to the toilet is not a nice way to end this weekend. After three days with hardly any food and no hunger, I've lost almost 1.5 kg and I'm still not feeling 100 %! I really hope it will be better with Xmas...

Merry Christmas

Since last year I'm going to a weekly art class. I have now put my skills to good use and created my own Christmas cards, each card is an original painting and all have been posted today. Although I have still lot to learn, I'm quite pleased with the result! Unfortunately I didn't have the time to send all my friends and family a self-made card. So I wish all of you a

Merry Christmas and a happy 2010!

Gift vouchers Xmas

Very busy with creating and sending gift vouchers to customers who would like to give someone a photography course. This is just what PictureNature needed after a relatively quiet period!

Winter sea kayaking Stonehaven

Jaap and I have had an amazing kayak trip from Stonehaven on Saturday; calm sea, no wind and crispy winter weather. Perfect conditions to explore the many caves and passways through cliffs and to practice our paddling techniques again.

Project Hope

Just donated two canvas prints for a fundraising event in aid of charity Project Hope. This organisation provides support and humanitarian aid for children and youth around the world living in areas of war, conflict, deprivation and underdevelopment through the application of education, training, recreation and health-care activities.

Poetry-photography book 'Life'

A few months ago PictureNature published a unique poetry-photography book 'Life' in cooperation with Gillian Shearer, a poet from the North East of Scotland. It was first presented at the Frankurt Book Fair in October. It can be a great Christmas present for your partner, friend or family member! You can see a preview and place your order here.

Digital processing in batch

Computer is up and running again, YEAH! Now, I can continue preparing a large submission to Spanish distributor. 12,000 images in total need to be processed in batch according to their requirements. I'm glad I've got the right software to do this for me...

Photo gallery

Just added a selection of my images here in the sidebar.

Computer settings lost

Bad day today! This morning when I started my computer, my personal settings were lost. Probably due to a malicious trojan I deleted yestreday. Luckily I hadn't lost all of my data, but I had to reset everything again (mail and internet settings, desktop, plugins). What a waste of time and so frustrating! I think I need a relaxing Christmas break...

Starting my blog

I just started my very own blog here. It's called Fenfolio; Fen is my nickname and folio is a Latin word meaning 'a page of a book'. It looks like I'm starting my very own digital book here. I don't know how it will develop, but I intend to include my own photos, links and share my life experiences. I hope you're going to enjoy it!