Seemingly endless..
along the Grote Nete river.

In search of magic.. ✨

I wish you a merry Christmas!🎄🍪💝

So crazy about his sweets 🥰🍌🦎

The heath in Kessel, Belgium is characterized by heather, swamps, drifting sand and ponds. Heath landscapes are a beautiful example of the interplay of culture and biodiversity. 6000 years ago 80 percent of Europe was still covered by forests. Heath areas naturally occurred only in very rare cases on coasts, in moorland areas and in the mountains. Then people started to use the forests for themselves. They required grazing land and thus not only changed the landscape, but also created new habitats for many different species. The extensive use of deforested and cleared areas resulted in increasingly nutrient-poor soils and grazing animals were bred that are particularly suitable for these areas. The upper layer of soil was regularly removed, mixed with animal manure and burned or applied to fields as fertilizer. The rain washed out the last nutrients and specially adapted plant species settled there, followed by rare animals.

These unique ecosystems survive only through active human intervention, which has been achieved through centuries of heath farming. However, this type of farming has become uneconomical, and a large part of the land has been converted into arable land by applying fertiliser. Other areas became forest again because keeping animals on nutrient-poor areas is associated with lower yields. With the loss of the heathland, numerous animal and plant species are threatened with extinction. And all the beauty that has always inspired painters and poets could simply disappear. It could hardly have been the biodiversity alone that led to active conservation efforts, but rather the cultural connection to this romanticized landscape form. We keep what we find beautiful and we can only find beautiful what we can see.

🌺 A reminder of spring, against the winter blues. 😊

❄️🕸️❄️🕸️❄️

This morning the whole balcony was hung with white spider webs. It was very foggy at minus 5 degrees. A beautiful, enchanting sight that did not last long. The webs collapsed after a short time. These were the works of garden spiders (Araneus diadematus).🥰
I couldn't stand it for long either and I'm back in quickly! 😄☕

Vincent spent a year and a half in a tight suitcase. If your son is a stuffed animal, you can do that. For me, looking at him was painful because Vincent was a gift from a woman I loved dearly. The magic of our bond breathed life into it. He became a real baby sloth. I have many fond memories of Vincent. He guarded the fruit basket and mistook kiwis for his eggs. He stuck his round head out of my backpack on hikes. He sat with us watching TV and always had a more or less clever comment ready. He slept in bed with us and lost filling quite quickly from being cuddled so much. Vincent van Sloth, a real sloth with personality. I miss the passion in my life, somehow all the magic has gone. I always had this vibe, the trust in the universe, I could feel the beauty of the world in my body and mind. And I always wanted to convey this feeling to others, or at least share some of it. I'm used to being alone. That's not it. I feel exhausted from the experiences of the past two years. All this insane German bureaucracy on the way to my professional goal. Half a year ago I temporarily stopped my Instagram activities because I needed my energy. I'm feeling better now because I was able to win an important stage. But there is a lot of work to be done in the next few months. The magic will come back on its own one day, and maybe my posts will get some of that as well. I brought Vincent out again because my grudges have faded and suffering has dissolved into heartwarming memories. And now I want him back with me, my little Vincent.

A Dubia cockroach (Blaptica dubia) that extrudes and retracts the ootheca. But what is it and why does it do that? The egg packets of cockroaches and mantises are called ootheca. The Dubia cockroach is ovoviviparous, meaning the eggs remain in the body until the young are ready to hatch. The extruding of the ootheca occurs because it's the only way to move them from the ovary chamber to the brood chamber.

I keep a small group of cockroaches because they are good food for my animals. The terrarium is set up with an 11 to 15 centimeter high layer of coconut soil, which is piled up like a slope towards the back wall of the terrarium. In the lower area there are branches, leaves and pieces of bark, where the animals stay the most. The upper area stays free, only the feeding bowl is there. I only keep the soil slightly moist in places. These areas are visited by the animals from time to time and also cover their drinking needs. Springtails and microorganisms also live in the soil, which help to keep the terrarium clean. It smells very good like forest floor.

Many startle when they hear the word cockroach. Only about 30 species out of 4,600 are associated with human habitats. In a normal living situation, there is no need to worry about an infestation by these animals.

Banana Joe passed away in April. He has lived with me since 2002. At that time I was 16 years old. Banana Joe wasn't seen very often, he kept his wild nature to the end. If you had to grab him, he often responded with a bite and a loud crackle. I just really liked his incorruptible nature about him. All the more enriching were the moments when he showed himself, or when you could hear from the loudly vibrating tail that he was presenting his special advantages to a female. In 2017, he became a father to five girls. His daughter Nameless still lives with me, the other "Banana Shakes" got new owners. Like her father, Nameless is a rather shy animal and she is a beautiful living memory. I really wished that Banana Joe would stay with me for many more years, but he has reached a good age and I am grateful for the time together.

Surrounded by what I love, it's the best place there is.😄