Through the year
The land changes dramatically with every season — what flowers, what moves, and how the forest smells.
🌱 Spring · March–May
April brings wood anemone and lesser celandine to the forest. The wild meadow bursts open with flowers and the hum of insects. Birds become audible early in the morning — flycatchers, woodpeckers, tits, nuthatches, treecreepers.
A good season for a walk along the Bandijk dyke and the nearby stretches of the Marskramerpad. Children can play safely on the meadow.
☀️ Summer · June–August
The meadow is at its most cheerful, the food forest in full bloom. Apples colour up in the sunny spot. On hot days: into the pond, or over to Bussloo lake (3 km away) to cool off.
The Loenen–Dieren steam train runs in summer — a nice day out. In the evening, under the terrace with the gas BBQ.
🍂 Autumn · September–November
The forest turns deep. Virginia creeper along the walls, orange and brown in the canopy. Mushrooms appear. Mist hangs low over the meadow in the morning.
The quietest season — fewer other walkers on the path behind the house, and a better chance of seeing a roe deer.
❄️ Winter · December–February
The land is bright and open. Squirrels work their way through their stores, and there are tracks in the snow when there is any. The stove inside, an afternoon that gets dark early, and in a frost sometimes a white forest.
The Hanseatic towns of Zutphen (10 min by train) and Deventer make a good day out in winter too.
Spotting from the window
The bedroom windows look out over the meadow. It's a matter of luck, but regularly you'll see:
- Roe deer — especially in quiet moments in spring and autumn
- Squirrels — in the forest all year round
- Birds: flycatchers, woodpeckers, tits, nuthatches, treecreepers
- Frogs in the pond on the land
- Bees and butterflies on the wild meadow