Friday 1 November 2013

Autumn 2013 : Japanese garden Clingendael near the Hague

Every year when autumn comes around, nature starts to prepare for winter :
the leaves on the trees start to turn yellow and red and many birds travel south.

These are some geese in front of the park, preparing for their long annual journey to the south.



Each year in autumn the park of Clingendael near The Hague, the Netherlands , opens their splendid Japanese garden for visitors for a mere  2 weeks : an excellent opportunity to get together and wear Japanese kimonos in a unique setting.
This is the main 17th century house of the Clingendael Institute in the centre of the park.


Although the weather was still mild for October, it had been quite windy and rainy the past week. Luckily the rain stayed away while we were visiting.

The Japanese garden is criss-crossed by many small paths


 
and bridges, giving excellent views of the many ponds, with their moss-covered edges.


Everywhere you look you can see beautiful mossy patches and shrubs.

 

Sitting at the tea house : from left to right : Youandi ( who has organized this year's meeting) and our newest members , Maxime , Jente and Jordy.


To welcome our newest members ( and also because I like food ) I'd brought a few sushi I had made that morning at home.


I have several favorite spots around this garden  : one is behind the tea houseand through the round window with bamboo lattice.



 Jordy and Jente.


 Maxime and Youandi.


Musubi shot behind the tea house.



Maxime's musubi.



Youandi's musubi



Youandi's kanzashi ( hair ornament)
 

Jente's musubi (Obi knot). The picture is a bit unsharp , sumimasen !


A little fountain right next to the tea house.


All of us , posing in front of the tea house


 Showing off our sleeves.


We stood there for quite a while  : suddenly everybody wanted to take pictures and pose with us :)

 Our traditional tabi shot :)



A grey heron decided to pay a visit to the garden, but unfortunately for him , there are no fish in these ponds.


This little bridge between two ponds is another favourite spot of mine :
Youandi showing off the motif on her sleeve.

 Jente in a kimono with lots of autumn colours.

Maxime, wearing a michiyuki ( outer garment ) over her kimono.


Maxime, showing her kimono without michiyuki .

 Jordy.

While the sun was starting to set and everybody started to move towards the exit, I took a few last shots around the garden.

 The pond in front of the tea house.



A typical red-lacquered  bridge near the tea house.


One last look at the tea house


and I'm off to Belgium again.


Till next year.

(as always click on the pictures to see a slideshow with enlarged photos)

8 comments:

Ray's Rabbit Hutch said...

It's sad that such a beautiful garden opens for a mere two weeks. Inside the garden scenery and kimono, you were wearing, were superb.
Thanks for sharing Walter!
By the way, Youandi wore more colorful kimono this year than that of white one with Kornelia and Stephanie in 2011. :-)

Kumiko said...

Amazing autumn photos,Walter!
This Japanese garden is so wonderful.
And you welcomed new kimono members! Their kimono fashion is so cool.
I love their fashion,because they are not fixed on any stereotype or tradition of "Japanese" kimono.
Showing individualitiy is good,I think.Youandi,Maxime,Jente and Jordy,their kimono fashion is really cool!Jordy's kimono is so cool.
And your sushi! Did you cook these sushi by yourself? Wow!It is incredible.And you look fabulous in your kimono,Walter!
Thank you for sharing these wonderful pics!
These pics are so beautiful beyond description.

Unknown said...

Wonderful as always, you look great yourself! It's a small group but the colours match together very well and the fall colours are beautiful.

Walter said...

Ray, thank you for the comment. Yes, it's only two weeks to prevent the mosses from being damaged too much by people stepping on them. But the garden also opens for 4 weeks in March or April.
Yes, the white kimono had many more flower patterns on it. I'm surprised you remember ( it was 2 years ago ).

Walter said...

Kumiko, hello ! Thank you for commenting. I believe Jordy's kimono is originally for women, but I agree the pattern is very cool. His red scarf complements the kimono very well.
Incredible ? Not so . : I have been making sushi for 4 years now. It is not so hard to do.
After so many Kimono meets, it's about time that I showed up in kimono myself, don't you think ?

Walter said...

Hello , Unknown, thank you for commenting. We were a smaller group this year, but it was very cosy meeting and we had lots of fun in the beautiful garden. I don't look so great , the wind is blowing my air everywhere :)

Maya said...

Mooie foto's! Hopelijk lukt het me er volgend jaar eens bij te zijn. Walter, leuk om de KimonoBox tabi te zien :).

Walter said...

Hallo Maya ! Ik hoop ook dat je een keertje kunt komen : de tuin en het gezelschap zijn echt de moeite waard :)