2026/11 - Peaceful Pruning

 Suddenly the weather has turned into practically perfect. Lovely! Everyone has started spring cleaning, my neighbourhood echoed with the sound of drills and power saws. All those boys have come out to play with their toys. So I fled to Hunky Dory for some peace and quiet, and for the pruning of my tiny orchard.

I have been brutal! Perhaps a little too brutal...we'll see what happens. The apples are so-so anyway, I cannot ruin much about those trees I inherited from the previous allotmenteer.

But it was great to be able to take off my coat and sweater, and chop for an hour. The birds were chirping away, wonderful.

I put half of the branches on my dwindling woodpile next to the frog pond, and the other half on the compost heap. I know the latter is not ideal, it will take years for those branches to disappear. But I simply have nowhere else to put them. Although...I am contemplating making a dead hedge from them. I do have space underneath my rickety wooden fence. And I know small mammals and birds love those hedges to hide in. Actually, now that I telling you my thoughts, I have decided: a dead hedge is what I will construct!

You know what a dead hedge is, right? No? It is a 'hedge' constructed from cut off branches, by ramming some stakes into the ground (my soil necessitates ramming!). And then you layer the branches in between, so you get a hedge-like structure.

Meanwhile I saw that some of the insects had woken up. A yellow butterfly danced past; they are always the first ones to appear. We  call it citroenvlinder (Gonepteryx rhamni) and for me the sight of it means yes, finally, winter is on its last legs!

But I spotted a few Ladybirds as well, a very welcome sight. I do have to be careful of their larvae though...last summer I turned out to be allergic to their bite/venom. My hand swelled up until it resembled a baseball glove.

Happy, happy. My many daffs make me very happy.

As do these primulas. They are a bit nibbled, but never mind. They brighten up this patch of border until the large swathes of daffs kick in, and the early bees love them.

I planted the tall stemmed variety next to the frog pond, but they have disappeared...You know, if I received a Euro for every plant I put in this garden which has simply disappeared, I would have no money problems anymore!

This Teucrium I took from my balcony to Hunky Dory last October, thinking hey ho, I will see what happens. And wow, not only did it survive those weeks of frost, but it is now starting to flower along with the bulbs! Absolutely fabulous!

 Oh, I do adore a blue sky!  I will have to do something about my greenhouse though...last Summer all my plants scorched in there. So either I will have to paint the windows with chalk, or I will have to put up shading nets. The latter is probably much more expensive.

It being the third day running with temperatures of 16°C yesterday (March 6th), I could not stop myself from clearing the rest of the balcony and putting the railing planters back up. So you can bin the top half of this blog post; sorry.

My wallflower backs me up! "Why wait", it is shouting, "good times are here!"

Just to put me back on my feet, today started misty with 4°C... Oh well.

Every time I look at my cheerful planters, I feel my spirit lift. Puck is happy as well, she knows that the months where she can wander onto the balcony at will are finally here again. Drinking out of the tiny pond, bliss for her, hahaha.

If you'd like to visit my website, here is the link: Renée Grashoff Schrijft

Take care, wherever you are!

Renée Grashoff 

2026/ maart - Zwaartekracht Interview Algemeen Dagblad 12-03-26

Interview Algemeen Dagblad 12 maart 2026

Helaas heb ik geen inscanmogelijkheid voor jullie, maar je moet me maar op mijn woord geloven als ik zeg dat het een heel positief artikel is.

Mijn boeken zijn verkrijgbaar bij Trichisboeken

Of bij je plaatselijke boekhandelaar.

Je kunt mijn verrichtingen volgen via mijn website Renée Grashoff Schrijft en uiteraard kan je me hier ook volgen.

Wil je je aanmelden voor mijn nieuwsbrief, laat dan of op de website, of hier in de comments je e-mailadres achter, dan houd ik je op de hoogte over alles wat mijn boeken betreft.

Fijne dag!

Renée Grashoff 

2026/10 - When Will Spring Arrive Syndrome (and other stuff)

 And here I am: the yearly Whenwillspringarrive-Syndrome has struck again.

At least the Narcissi bloom in Hunky Dory

My balcony garden looks a fright, and I am itching to clear the dead Pelargoniums and other sad debris of winter away, empty the planters and plant some fresh, cheerful flowering beauties in them.

But experience has taught me that it will be silly to do so (put fresh flowers in)  before at least the middle of April.

Firstly there are always spring gales. Secondly all that fresh earth will wash out of the planters. A waste of money.

Thirdly my new plants will take a battering by the cold winds, also a

     waste of money.

Yeah, yeah, the sky is blue...but that is for the first time in a fortnight. My balcony is in deep shade until 15.30...

Still. There is some compensation.

Until I can get them in their proper planter, these Cyclamen are doing their utmost to cheer me up. And I noticed my purple Clematis is showing new buds, yay!

And here you are!

Much better, eh? You can see the muck on the floor...always the case after the winter months.

I know, I know, it looks an utter mess. But I have cleared 3 planters already, carted the dead Pelargoniums to the compost heap in Hunky Dory, and will do the rest tomorrow.

Zwaartekracht 

Totally off-topic (yes folks, it is one of those blogs yet again, sorry), my book has arrived, physically.

Am I proud? I certainly am! Next Saturday, in two days time that is, I will be taking up my chair again in Hoofdstuk Een, the most wonderful bookshop of Voorne. (By the time you'll read this blogpost, that day has passed)

Where last year I was still slightly suffering from Impostors Syndrome, this year I feel totally validated. That is due to so many people telling me that I am 'actually a very good writer'. Mind you, quite a few of those sounded surprised, hahaha, those are the best! And they are even better for buying part 2 of the trilogy.

If you would like to read about that meet-and-greet, do visit my website at Renée Grashoff Schrijft , where I will tell you all the juicy stuff in the latest blog.

Santos

Off-topic as well, I visited the newly moved Fotomuseum Rotterdam, which is now housed in the old Santos warehouse at Rijnhaven. I was taken with the building, especially with those extremely sturdy wooden doors,  so took a few photos to show you.

I love that there is a cat door in that old door (middle photo). They used to store Brasilian coffee in this warehouse (shipped from the port Santos, hence the name) and apparently mice were an issue. I can see a big black and white cat in my mind's eye, prowling the 6 floors.

Right. I'll leave you with a photo of the front of my greenhouse, where the mini Narcisii are blooming amongst the fresh Fennel now. Better gardening times are coming!

Have a lovely week, wherever you are!

Renée Grashoff 

 

2026/9 - Too cold/wet outside? Visit a greenhouse!

 Leiden is one of my favourite cities. Not only does it have in common that it was liberated from the Spaniards in 1574, with my own home town Brielle (we were first though: 1572). But it also has two of my favourite places to visit: the Museum voor Oudheidkunde and the Hortus Botanicus. But fìrst two photos I took today, at 6 a.m. and at 2 p.m.

The view from the ferry landing near my house. I think it is so utterly ugly that it has a beauty of its own.

My Narcisii are blooming, yay! Apart from them, all is still sodden and brown. But we are going in the right direction! Right, Leiden here we go.

This wooden casket is only one of many I saw this week.

The painted detail is simple but exquisite at the same time.

If the mummy of that woman found inside is anything near as gorgeous as this receptible, that woman must have been beautiful.

Now I do know that beautiful is not a correct word to describe mummies...but you know what I mean, right?

I'll give you some impressions of other exhibits, before reverting to plants.

Large, flat feet! But so sweet, this sculpture.

Okay, back to my not so secret pleasure! The winter garden of the Hortus Botanicus was the same as my winter garden, that is to say some bulbs and other very early plants, but mostly bare earth and withered stems.

Still, the anticipation of Spring was palpable!

The Helleborus were looking amazing already!

And this gorse bush ignored the cold drizzle. But we quickly took ourselves into the large hothouses, where there always are lots of blooms to enjoy.

Is there anything more beautiful than what nature produces? No, of course not! We try, and sometimes come near, but never completely.

Leiden is lovely, so put it on your list if you ever visit the Netherlands!

Okay. This is it for this week. I'll leave you with the good news that the 2nd part of my murder trilogy has been published. You can find it in the web shop of Trichisboeken.nl, under the name Zwaartekracht. It is in Dutch, but these days that is no problem, as the friends of my Taalcafé show me each week. They simply point their phone at the Dutch text and it gets translated into Chinese, Farsi, or whatever 😊

Trichisboeken

Renée Grashoff Schrijft

Have a great week, wherever you are!

Renée Grashoff 

2026/8 - Mildenburgbos Magic

 On the cusp of being able to tell you all about my garden awakening, I took myself to the largest forest on Voorne: Mildenburgbos. Actually not that large, we are a small island, but worth the effort!

It is a mixed forest of predominantly Oak, Beech and Elm, with an underplanting of prickly Holly. In fact I was amazed by how much holly there was! I have been coming here for 67 years, and this was the first time that holly really sprang out at me. By the way, February is a much more interesting month to visit than, say, July.

In Summer the forest floor is a mass of nettles and other weeds, and you lose the contours of the forest. Whereas in February you can see how this area is laid out, as original parkland bordering the sand dunes. The mansion whose park it used to be, has long gone. But that Ginkgo in the photo above is an original tree from the mansion era. It is huge!

Both Oak and Beech trees are in danger from the extremely dry years we have had. Here in Willow country, those trees are precious, and I'd hate to lose them.

When I was a child these fallen down branches would have been cleared away, but thank heaven they leave them to rot now. The insects and small forest floor creatures are grateful, and so are the fungi. You can tell how wet everything is; there was an entire day of rain the day before.

The entire area is criss-crossed by waterways, for water (duh!), but also to act as anti-fire ditches.  When I stopped to take this photo there was a small woodpecker hacking away above my head, not taking any notice of me.

There are roe deer here as well, but I didn't spot them.

When you come closer to the dunes, the huge Oaks disappear, and Pines appear. But the Jays and Red Squirrels have burried a lot of nuts, and all those saplings you see in the back are young Beech trees.

When I admired this fungus I was scolded by a Red Squirrel, who clung to a Pine next to me, and did not like me stopping. They are rare, so I was happy to be called nasty names.

On one side of the forest there is a stinzen garden, a collection of early flowering bulbs and roots which grow wild on land of old mansions and castles. This garden is cared for by volunteers, so you should take the word 'wild' with a pinch of salt. They keep that holly at bay!

I love those cheerful Aconites, and they were happy with the sunshine, I could tell.

A gorgeous bed of Ferns looking their best in the sunshine.

As a child I adored this side of the forest, as it had 'hills'! Growing up amongst the flat meadows of my polder, anything higher than a molehill was amazing to me. The highest hill in Mildenburg is approx. 10 m., and I know now that they are actually ancient dunes.

Isn't this idyllic? Those ducks in the background were making a hell of a racket, splishing and splashing away.

Yes! We are on the right side of the Winter months again! Whatever the weather may yet throw at us, we will have some sunny days to enjoy.

I bought fresh soil for my balcony, so will start to prepare for the days Puck and I spend with the doors wide open. Can't wait!

Have a good weekend wherever you are, and do visit my website at Renée Grashoff Schrijft where I will share the publishing date of my 2nd part of the trilogy about murder in Brielle soon. Or follow me here, on blogger, for weekly instalments about gardens. Take care!

Renée Grashoff