Honeysuckle in the sun [June 24, 2009]

Roadside shrine for a schoolboy [June 24, 2009]

This impromptu shrine has sprung up on the Marnixstraat, where a 12-year-old boy was killed last week. Boris was on his way to school when a lorry drove into him at a notorious traffic black spot. It was the day of the school party, marking the end of his time in primary school. The boy's death has prompted the council to suddenly talk about doing something about the lack of bike lanes on the Marnixstraat - once it has carried out the necessary research of course. Locals have already painted their own zebra crossing on the road.

When is a car not a car II [May 29, 2009]

Not only can you park these little tin cans on the pavement, because they are not officially cars, but you can also park them in invalid bays without buying a parking ticket. The solution to all Amsterdam's parking problems.

How to park your SUV [May 29, 2009]

Those SUVs might be too big for the narrow city canals and their owners might be not exactly the most considerate of drivers but hey, this is a really sociable bit of parking.

Peony thieves - thank you [May 26, 2009]

Thanks indeed to the bastards who snapped the heads off all the peonies growing outside our front window and trampled on them. Nice work.

I thought it was storm damage at first, but the heads have all been broken, not just battered by last night's rain. Never heard thunder like it. A continual roll that lasted almost 10 minutes with lightning over and over again.

Pink roses in Amsterdam [May 25, 2009]

Cycling back along the grand houses overlooking the Sarphatipark there were so many flowers. On a sunny spring day like today, Amsterdam is perfect.

Trees covered with caterpillars [May 24, 2009]

A ghost tree, spotted in the Amsterdamse Bos on Saturday. A group of four trees were entirely covered by dense grey cobweb containing thousands and thousands of caterpillars.

A bit of web searching reveals these to be the caterpillars of the ermine moth, or hyponomeuta padellus. The trees are not damaged and spring back into life when the caterpillars have gone.

When is a car not a car? [May 22, 2009]

This might look like a car, but apparently it is not. According to the advert blazoned on its side, you don't need a driving licence, you don't pay any parking fees and you can park on the pavement.

Plant thieves
Some bastard has stolen our window box... again. It has happened before when we had really beautiful ones, overflowing with summer flowers. This one contained two scabby cordylines. Stolen to order perhaps?

Roses from Amsterdam [May 18, 2009]

It's Spring again, I'll bring again....

The yellow roses are always the first, then come the deep red ones and then the pink and all the other colours. Glorious. (Snapshot)

Tourist draw
According to the Parool newspaper, one in five Amsterdam tourists will not visit the city any more if the council goes ahead with plans to shut half of the coffee shops in the red light district - coffee shop being the misnomer for a cafe where you can buy five grammes of cannabis over the counter.

The research was done by the bright sparks at Amsterdam University and involved 550 tourists who were in the city over the Easter weekend.

So, fewer tourists who come to the city to get off their heads will keep on coming if 26 coffee shops are shut down? Even if another 26 are still open? Really?

Still, it is very unlikely the council will take any notice of this little piece of scaremongering. It wants to attract a better class of tourist to the red light district, with upmarket cafes and sex clubs. And they don't want to be confronted by the pasty-faced travelers who stumble blinking into the daylight after a large piece of space cake. (Paroola)

That wintry feeling [May 12, 2009]

Walking through the drifts of elm seeds is like kicking through snow.

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