Easterlittens (Fries)-Oosterlittens(Dutch).

Name board with Coat of Arms.

Marja and I  went to Easterlittens((Fries-Official name), Oosterlittens (Dutch), it was a cloudy day but dry.

When first entering Easterlittens it appeared to be a small village,but what we were not in store for was what this picturesque village hadto offer us.

Bridge-Boat-river-

Wehad parked the car and walked over a bridge with a sign Easterlittenson a board, hanging from the side railings, a garage mechanic  had justlet the bridge down after letting a small boat go through, (how quaint,I love this, what people do in these small villages).

We continued our walk and came across a little lane going towardsthe church, it was full of flowering 'Holyhocks' on both sides of thelane, what beautiful colours they were,  a man gave us a smile and wentaround the corner to look after more 'holyhocks', that he had growingin front of his house.

Close-ups of Holy hocks down lane.

Thechurch was on a hill (terp ), and it was quite big, (bigger than thechurches), we have seen in neighbouring villages. The farms were builtaround the church years ago, but now the village has extended quiete abit but you can still see this as a few farms are still there today .

Church-church tower from distance-arch.


Easterlittens (Oosterlittens), Hervormde kerk was dedicated to Saint Margaret (Sint-Margaretha).Church

We continued our walk from the church towards the village center.

I suppose one would call it the village square. There was a big treein the center with a park bench surrounding it, (I could imagine), onecould sit there and watch everyone pass by doing their errands andgreet a neighbour, and have a chat, how peaceful it looked.

We then walked to the end of the square and came to a interestingboard with information over the village, the very famous Kaartspel,(Keatsen-Fries), similar to the game 'Jeu de Polete' from Belguim, thatis played here and is quite famous explained on the board in dutch.

Justoff the village square was what was once (I think), a convent(klooster), turned into an old age home.  It had a lovely little gardenand statue in it.  Just off to the right of this was a house that wethink was once a house belonging to the Mayor,  (Grieterij) of thatvillage.

Friesian cows.  Preservation of ducks.  Horses.  Hens.

Wewalked back across the bridge where we started from and found thatEasterlittens extended across here, there was this place for preservingducks, and apparently Easterlittens is one of nine ' villages ofTradition' in Friesland.  It is nice to know that Friesland also hasthis as well as England.

We found so many interesting things this strange flag pole onsomeones house, this pile of wood to make wooden clogs, remember thatin days gone by this village had tradesmen (timbermen, windmills, afactory).
Here is a picture of the factory and it stone chimney (I do not think it is used today).

Wood to make clogs. Used to be a cheese factory. Factory with stone chimney.

Easterlittens, falls under the Littenseradiel municipality.  (Courtesy of FOTW)

Municipality Littenseradiel Coat of Arms.

Littenseradeel/Littenseradiel is in central Friesland, just southwest of the provincial capital Leeuwarden.

It is a new municipality (since 1st January 1984), formed from Baarderadeel and Hennaarderadeel and its name is derived from the tiny village of Oosterlittens and its popular story. ('It pealtsje fan Easterlittens') see story below.

** It pealtsje fan Easterlittens (Het paaltje van Oosterlittens)** The Easterlittens peg.

In Easterlittens once lived a poor shoemaker, who used to dream of being rich.
Then one night he dreamed that if he were to go to the Papenbrug in Amsterdam, he'd find his fortune.
Thenext morning, after kissing his wife, he set off for Amsterdam, andthere for three days he wandered to and fro over the Papenbrug.
Then a beggar asked him: "Hey! Why do you keep hanging around?"
"Well, I dreamed I would find my fortune at the Papenbrug."
"Man,dreams are deceptions," said the beggar: "I've been dreaming for threenights now, that a treasure lies buried under a peg in a shoemaker'sbleach-field in Oosterlittens. But it's just a dream!"
Theshoemaker went home as fast as he could, and immediately dug out thepeg,and sure enough, under it lay a large iron kettle full of silverpieces. He was rich!

Eventually, he and his wife decided they wouldn't tell anyone wheretheir wealth came from, but they did replace the peg with a decoratedstone pole, and if nobody moved it, it should be still there.

The picture of the shoemaker and just off the square is the pole (peg) where he found his kettle of silver.

** It pealtsje fan Easterlittens (Het paaltje van Oosterlittens)**

The pole (peg) where he found his kettle of silver.

(COURTESY OF FOTW).

Flag  : adopted26 Jan 1984 by municipal resolution. This flag is a simplification ofthe municipal arms, in the colors of the Frisian flag and the flag ofWestergo. 

Description : Two equally wide horizontal stripes with in the canton a yellow six-pointed star, and at hoist-bottom a red rose.

The star is from the former Baarderadeel flag; the rose from the former Hennaarderadeel flag.

Hennaarderadeel - Hinnaerderadiel was southeast of Franeker, an agricultural region. Municipal seat : Wommels.

Baarderadeel flag.

It was part of the old region of Westergo and in the middle ages suffered under the fights between the Schieringers and Vetkopers, as well as under the 'Donia-wars' (15th century).

Hennaarderadeel flag.

The municipal flag was adopted 28 June 1963 and was abolished 1984, when the municipality became part of Littenseradeel.

Description : Blue with a white fly-wise bend withon it with from top to bottom a green clover, a red five-leaved roseand a green six-pointed star.

The flag is nearly identical to the CoA, derived from several noble families which had lived here.

As we continued our walk I could see a windmill in the distance.

We came to a bend in the road where the preservation for ducks were and there were some lovely houses.

Houses. Long haired sheep.

Aswe walked out of Easterlittens there were some farms (Boerderijen),with the most unusual looking sheep. Two in particular had very longhair hanging around their bodies in little ringlets. I have heard frommy sister-in law that these sheep produce beautiful wool, as she doesspin wool from sheep's. As we continued just outside Wieuwen was thisfarm with sheep's and this ditch (sloot) running next to it, it wasvery pretty, with this we had to turn around and walk back to the car. Easterlittens your village is lovely and full of charachterestics, wewill be back I am sure.