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Rebecca Raines
Citizen
Username: Robin_realist
Post Number: 493
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 2, 2006 - 3:38 am: | 
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Thanks BGS, I think of you too. The only thing that hasn't worked out well here is a church to go to. There are two English speaking churches that would be good for us, but both are difficult to get to by public transport. We live on the opposite side of the city and by bike it's about 40 minutes. I just can't do that on Sunday morning and look and feel good and then there's the weather. We just don't go regularly. There's a Dutch church in our neighborhood that we go to sometimes. I'm hoping to go more when we understand the language a little better. I also think joining a Dutch church choir would be good for me, but I need to be able to understand the director. I'm not worried about the songs, they are either hymns I know with Dutch words (good for my pronunciation) or sacred classics I know or in English.
I spent all day yesterday cleaning the gift shop, cleaning out the storage closets and putting away the Christmas stuff. I know we sold a bunch because it all fits in one cupboard now and before it was in two.
JEM, Ik (still) spreek een beetje Nederlands. I still speak a little Dutch, but my understanding is getting pretty good. I have broken through and will sometimes speak to the shopkeepers in Dutch. They love that. It shows progress on my part. The hardware store owner brags about me to his customers. Unfortunately they have to keep to the script I know or I have no idea what they're saying. It's like in English: the shopkeeper might say "What can I get you today?" or "Hey, anything in particular you want today?" or "What's your fancy?". There are so many ways of saying things and they have no idea that I only know one or two of them. That's the understanding side. On the speaking side I know lots of words, but have difficulty with sentence structure. They don't always use the same sentence structure and it's hard to know when to use which one. Also, we are just now learning tenses. Everything has been in the present tense, but now we're learning how to say we did something or we are going to do something. It's definitely hard work and expensive. I don't blame those who come here for a short time and don't learn the language. If it upsets them so much that people don't learn it, why don't they give free classes?
Congratulations of D's graduation. We'll be coming back the end of May for K's. We're in the midst of the job hunt and it's very strange. She knows the things she wants to do, but how do you get a job doing those things? We keep trying to push her into categories and she keeps risisting. She kind of a square peg and will need to work a round job for awhile until she finds a square one, I think. She's very excited about us coming. It's our firt visit since we left. We have to come by Maplewood to deal with the house. We've never seen the new kitchen and we have to move our stuff out of storage there. K and I will then drive across country to visit family and I'll leave here in TN with her aunt and uncle. They have two boys about the same age and can deal with the internet, job hunt, airport stuff that she'll need. Hopefully she'll have a job by Sept, but there's no way of knowing.
Better go. I'm spending another day cleaning shelves in the shop. Wish you guys could visit. There's a lot to do here and so close to the beach and so much history at the end of a train or bike ride. Bye now. R |
Rebecca Raines
Citizen
Username: Robin_realist
Post Number: 495
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, May 4, 2006 - 4:15 pm: |
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I'm just glancing back at my last posting and see several typos. This is not because I am turnin senile or overtired or whatever. I have a cat the rests her head on my wrist while I type and I don't always catch the typos. I know that's what the preview is for, but sometimes you just get lazy.
Today was the first truly warm day we've had, about 75 I think. I worked at the clubhouse in the morning, had lunch with P at an outdoor cafe and then went shopping. I can't believe I found shoes to buy. Did I mention that I wear American size 8 and that's inbetween the Netherlands 38 and 39 size? If I have, I'm sorry, but it's just such an irritation to me. Isn't size 8 the most common foot size in the US? Unfortunately, here they don't usually have the half sizes so I'm stuck. Today I was looking for sandals and luckily found a pair in a 38.5! and another with open toes so bought the 38. My toes don't hang off, but they would have been pinched in a leather shoe that size. I also found two skirts I like. They have so much more variety in skirts here and I'm a skirt person. Skirts always have something interesting about them, a ruffle, a pattern, a tie, seams down and across or sideways, stripes, so many different skirts here. I found a white one with eyelet (you have those too) and one with a yoke of one fabric and the skirt with another fabric, gauzy, loose and flowing, but both fabrics had the same print. Really pretty. Success on the skirt and shoe hunt!R |
Rebecca Raines
Citizen
Username: Robin_realist
Post Number: 496
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Friday, May 5, 2006 - 6:52 am: |
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Okay today we have a new topic. Fish ponds. We have this fish pond that seemed fine until about 4-5 weeks ago when the water started turning green. Since then I have done everything in the book, or so I thought, to get rid of the green and it just kept getting worse. I finally realized that the filter motor was about shot so switched to the bubbler motor. It works great, but everthing is still green and the microbes I've been putting in don't seem to have any effect. I've been worried about the fish. We had problems with a heron using our pond as a luncheonette and I had to put up a rope with ribbons to scare him off. I really didn't know how many fish were still in there, but never saw him get the big ones. With the water so green I feel strange putting in fish food. It's like I'm feeding an empty pond. However today I saw two! They were coming to the surface and splashing around. I actually thought they were going to jump out. I got worried that they couldn't breath or something. I determined to solve this problem one way or another. Drain the pond if necessary.
So today I set off on my bike to find a tuincentrum (that's a garden center). I went way out of my way, hunting around where I knew it must be and finally found it. They were very helpful. I ended up buying a UV lamp, new filter material and some different bacterial agent than what I used before.
I only got what would fit in my saddlebags, but am hopeful we can rent a car and get some plants and pots too. I miss my garden. They have a new shipment of veg plants coming in this afternoon.
When I got home I rigged up the new system and got it to pumping. While I was working on it the fish started jumping again and I was getting excited. What is the matter with them? I went to check on one of my pipes and what do I find? Fish eggs. Those fish are not only okay in the muck, but mating as well. We need to get some plants to go around the ledges. They need plants to hide in. Maybe we'll have babies, if they don't all get eaten by the koi. Bye for now, lunchtime. R |
Rebecca Raines
Citizen
Username: Robin_realist
Post Number: 497
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 16, 2006 - 3:20 am: |
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Well, I'm sad to say that I think all the fish eggs are gone. I've been working on so many things I haven't had time to report. The pond is looking better, if still green. We now have all kinds of plants in and around it and I've potted flowers for all around the little patio area. We still don't have a converter for our gas grill so moved it to the back of the garden a bought a med size Webber charcoal grill. It works fine and takes up a lot less room. We'll be having a bar-b-que this Sunday. Hopefully it will be warm enough to be outside, but inside is nice too. I have several cans of baked beans from the US and we'll do hamburgers. I have never seen hotdogs like you have. They look the same, but inside they are more like really plain bologna or actual sausages.
Yesterday I got a box in the mail from my sister. It's supposed to be a birthday present, but I'll open it before then. It has cake mixes and icing, etc. in it. A nice simple cake might be good for our bar-b-que. Not really something you get here. The cake mixes are kind of dry and most people buy pies. They have pie shops like we have ice-cream shops in every neighborhood. Go in and order a slice. 50 kinds to choose from or something.
I have been spending a lot of time working on the AWC gift shop. Now that it's clean and most of the old merchandise is put away for awhile, I can arrange new products. I hung all the stained glass pieces, some big and some small, in the windows and rearranged the Flemish tapestries and the Port Meirion so they look fresh. Yesterday boxes from Ulster Weavers in Ireland arrived and I spent the morning unpacking and pricing aprons, bags and potholders. Then after lunch about 10 boxes from a Dutch souvenir company arrived and I spent 2 hours sorting out and checking all that in. I had to open every little packing box to check for breakage. I was really fortunate that only one cheese board was cracked and 4 Dutch shoes were broken (completely shattered). All the little windmills and jewelry containers and plates, etc. were fine. Today I'm going back to price those things and arrange their display.
On the way over I want to stop at the paint store and get a small can of paint for a little shelf in the shop. It's a dingy cream color and does nothing for any merchandise. I have a piece of cloth over it now, but I think a fresh coat of paint will look better. I have in mind a shade of green I used in the butler's pantry in our house in Maplewood. I painted the inside a very pale green and the outside a rich, dark green. I might do something similar with the shelf. That's all for now. Looks like a nice day here, 60 degrees or so and beautiful blue skys. The summer is the best time to be in The Netherlands. R |
Rebecca Raines
Citizen
Username: Robin_realist
Post Number: 498
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Friday, May 19, 2006 - 2:52 am: |
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I know my conversation seems to come around to the weather a lot, but it's hard not to talk about. Today we have a typical Dutch rainy day, med-heavy rain with gusty wind. Like you might have on a rainy March day. It's not a day to ride a bike. P took the tram. I'm going by tram to Centraal Station and then being picked up by car and taken to Sassenheim. Another AWC member and I are going to get the Portuguese ovenware I ordered. I hope they had everything I wanted. I'm anxious to get this last display in the shop done and let the gift shop go for a bit. I have one order outstanding, but that's for Pimpernel placemats, trays and coasters (you have that there too). The contact person said, "have patience" when I placed the order. I don't expect it for several more weeks.
My focus now is on a bar-b-que we're having on Sunday. We need sun! or at least please don't let it be pouring rain. We have two couples I know from the AWC coming, (one Bitish and one American), our Dutch teacher and family are coming (two adults, two young teens, all Dutch), and two other couples are maybes (one person each of Scottish, Romanian, Greek and Turkish). Hopefully everyone likes hamburgers and baked beans. R |
Rebecca Raines
Citizen
Username: Robin_realist
Post Number: 499
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 23, 2006 - 4:37 am: |
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Well the bar-b-que was a success despite it being too cool to actually eat outside and we started the charcoal a little too late and didn't eat until almost 7. We've been gas grill people for awhile. Everyone had a great time and they didn't sing happy birthday although someone did let the cat out of the bag. I was trying to avoid that. I just said, "That's okay. That was yesterday and today is another day." We did eat the chocolate cake with strawberry icing that my sister sent for me to bake. We also had fresh fruit.
I vegged out a bit yesterday although I did meet P for lunch. (That requires dressing up a bit.) Today I'm going shopping and working on laundry. The washer takes two hours to run so it's easy to go shopping while it's working. I love the fact it actually cleans the clothes, but between the washer and dryer I can only do two loads any given day and that's if I start early. I do wish the dryer was a little bigger. It seems like things never fluff up. If they are squashed in the wash, they stay squashed. A Dutch lady recommended I only put half the load in the dryer at a time. Then it would take twice as long! I just take things out that need pressing and hang them to finish drying. I also don't dry most underclothes. Better for the elastic anyway.
My shopping today is in two parts: one will be in my shopping street Vlierboomstraat. I need cat food and bananas. I'll drop that stuff at home and then take the tram to the Centrum. There are two big department stores close to a particular stop and I can shop for clothes (I need pants) then get back on the tram and come home. Easy in and out.
Tonight we have our last Dutch lesson for awhile. We'll start again in mid-June, but P won't take them while I'm gone. Last week the lesson format changed to include a section in which our teacher talked about something and we listened. Kind of a long story, about 5 minutes. We had been discussing the Dutch medical system and she told a story about an experience she had. I understood about half of what she said. I certainly get the main words and some of the references, but that doesn't mean I always comprehend correctly. Paul is much better. He understood almost everything. I do think my pronunciation is a little better. He's in a hurry and slurrs over some words. I'll be like one of the old Dutch ladies speaking in proper Dutch and he'll be a kid on the street, talking a mile a minute.  Bye for now. R |
Rebecca Raines
Citizen
Username: Robin_realist
Post Number: 500
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, July 5, 2006 - 2:52 pm: |
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Well, I hope you didn't think I had dropped off the face of the earth. I spent almost a month in the US and when I arrived home(here) our internet modem died almost as soon as I signed in. It takes forever to get something like that taken care of here and we just got the new modem today, almost three more weeks after the initial problems. Good grief.
Our trip to the US was great. We attended K's graduation from Mount Holyoke College, dealt with some house related issues in Maplewood(P did) and K and I did a major road trip after P returned here to work. He wasn't too happy about that, but couldn't really afford more time off and we had a car load of stuff anyway.
K and I had a good time driving, talking and visiting relatives. We spent most of our time in MO, but I left her with her aunt and uncle in TN. She'll be fine there while she job-hunts and they'll help her on to her permanent residence, wherever that might be. She seems anxious to live someplace in the central or western US.
We did drive through Maplewood and things looked great there. We miss the people and some things about living in the town. I certainly miss my job and routine with the garden and friends, etc. We have a really nice set up here though which includes a small deck and fish pond. We've really enjoyed watching the fish now that I've got the filter working properly. There are 6 bright orange goldfish about 7" long, two creamy ones about 10" and two spotted Koi about 14". Obviously not exact measurements. We eat outside every night and our small 'garden' is perfect for the cats.
Summer is the best time to be in The Netherlands. It can rain, but the temp is usually moderate (although it's been over 30C the last two days, ugh) and the days are so long. It doesn't get dark until about 11PM and it's daylight by 5 or so. We don't plan to travel much this summer, just enjoy the country we live in. We can have dinner, relax, go for a walk, etc. and around 9 say, "Want to go into the Centrum for a drink?" You can always find a place to sit outside and visit with friends.
We did take a quick trip to Bonn, Germany last weekend, but I don't have much to tell you. It's a neat place, but we were there such a short time, I hardly saw any of it. I recommend a boat ride on the Rhine. There are a lot of small villages nearby I would like to see more of. We'll also take a weekend and go somewhere later in the summer, Paul has two comp days coming(unusual).
I've been working on curtains and rearranging in preparation for the last of our possessions' arrival. We cleaned out the house in Maplewood and it's on the market. I can hardly believe it. It's a great house, but I can't imagine we will come back there. We'll go to Switzerland or Germany next and maybe retire to France.......... maybe? Bye for now. R |
jem
Citizen
Username: Jem
Post Number: 1584
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, July 5, 2006 - 5:19 pm: |
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Hi, Becky. Funny and a little weird: this morning for some reason (before you posted) I was looking at the Weichert site and saw your house. I was looking at the rooms - it wasn't a surprise, I'd seen the sign. I'm sad that you're not coming back, but, it's so cool that you're able to live in Europe and even to contemplate retiring there. Good for you!
Congratulations on the graduation. Hope K finds a job and a place that she likes.
Please give Paul our best. |
Rebecca Raines
Citizen
Username: Robin_realist
Post Number: 501
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Friday, July 7, 2006 - 5:36 am: |
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Thank you JEM. I think Paul was a little more upset about selling the house than I was. He really enjoyed getting involved in the community there. Now he's looking into Democrats Abroad. They invited him to participate in their Amsterdam group. If there's not a group here in The Hague, maybe we can start one. It is strange to see the photos of our furniture there. Buying/selling a house is always weird. Seems like there are a lot of houses on the market, but we're not in any hurry, really. We put so much into that house, a new furnace, electrical, new chimney and roof, paint, carpeting, kitchen redo, and completely new plumbing. Not to mention all of the repairs we did to cracked and broken wood and plaster that was 100 years old. All the next family needs is to paint or paper the living room to their own tastes. It's a great house, but not for everyone. Old houses/lots of things to do.
It's a beautiful, cool day here. We've been so hot for several days, I was really hoping for some cloudy weather. (Cloudy days are so normal that it's strange to wish for them.)
I finished the curtains in the room we call the office. It's that hybrid room we seem to always have, part computer room, library, storage and P's dressing room. In this house it's quite large and will need to accomodate some of the wicker furniture we used to have on our Maplewood screened in porch. (It's coming with the last of our possessions sometime this month.) I moved our American TV in and am making cushions for the wicker love seat. We can sit and watch our American DVDs.
I also rearranged our little storage room trying to make space for the boxes/doll house, etc. that are coming. I don't know where we're going to put some of this stuff. There will be about 6-8 American appliances that I can't use here. Even if I use them with a converter, I just don't have room for them in the kitchen. I may try to give them to some Americans going back.
It's Friday and we try to find something interesting to do over the weekend. Last weekend we were both sick (picked up a bug at the gym, I really hate when that happens, go to the gym to get fit, get germs instead). The weekend before that we were supposed to go to Bonn, but P had to work both days and we didn't leave until Sunday around 5 PM. He and a co-worker had a meeting Monday and we two wives just tagged along. I did enjoy the city. It used to be the capital and has struggled to draw international organizations to fill the gap the government offices left. It's where Beethoven was born. There's a nice, small museum and a walking tour over the town that show significant Beethoven monuments/places. We also did a boat ride up the Rhine. One long day, but interesting.
I'm taking my bike to the garden shop, looking for a seat cushion for that love seat. If they don't have one, I'll have to make it. There aren't a lot of options here, can't just jump in the car and try Costco, Kmart, WalMart, etc. Gotta make do with what you have or can get, when you can get it. I'll leave you with the image of me strapping a giant cushion or two to the back of my bike and riding home. By now. R
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mtierney
Citizen
Username: Mtierney
Post Number: 942
Registered: 3-2001
| | Posted on Saturday, July 8, 2006 - 12:01 pm: |
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Hi from one of your needlecraft club gals!
Sorry to hear you are planning to stay abroad, but having a lot of wanderlust myself, I can appreciate the temptation! We just returned from two weeks in Alaska and the Yukon Territory. An amazing trip! In October we're off to Venice and a cruise. We'll even get to see the Pyramids!
Just wanted you to know how much I have enjoyed reading your travel news. Please keep posting!
I often wonder if we all finished the projects we were working on during our library meetings. Marie |
Rebecca Raines
Citizen
Username: Robin_realist
Post Number: 502
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Monday, July 10, 2006 - 5:52 am: |
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M, Good to hear from you. What?! Projects left unfinished? I have to admit I have several. One is a cross-stitch that was about 3/4 done when I discovered they didn't give me the right set of thread. I completely ran out of certain colors and had to start replacing them. So aggravating. Another is an entire quilt top, completely finished, needs quilting. I don't really like quilting, just the piecing. The one I need to complete the worst is my scrap book of our trip to Japan. It's about half done. I should just take a day or two and glue it together. It's in order, just not assembled. There don't seem to be many crafty/sewing stores here. I have yet to find a fabric store. There's fabric in the open markets, but you never know the content. I did see a yarn shop in another town once and there are bead shops in a lot of shopping streets. Jewelry making seems to be the one exception to the non-crafty society.
It is just the most beautiful day here. I cannot describe the color of the sky and it is just the right temperature. Not too cool and not too warm. I'm glad you're getting the chance to travel. The more you traval, the more you appreciate the similarities and differences among people. I hear it is beautiful in Alaska in the summer. I've always wanted to go to Venice, Amsterdam is not quite the same, even with all the canals.
I don't really hear about the Library programming any more. I sometimes wondered if I was doing any good or not and then we'd do something like knitting all those squares for baby blankets. I'm glad you all are still hanging in there. Say hi to everyone for me. R |
Rebecca Raines
Citizen
Username: Robin_realist
Post Number: 503
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Friday, July 21, 2006 - 6:56 am: |
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It's Friday noontime here and I've just returned from grocery shopping. Friday isn't a good day to go because a lot of people shop for the weekend during the day on Friday. It's really perfect weather here right now so everyone wants to spend all their free time at the beach with friends. Did I mention their different sense of modesty? I think I did. Well, in the summer it's more obvious. There are nude beaches and then there are normal beaches where people are nude. The just don't see the problem. Change your clothes or sunbathe, whatever. I'm not a beach person actually. I burn so easily and have been burned in the past so I'm trying to avoid sun and skin cancer. I think the sun is closer to us here also and I'm getting really freckled arm and the v at my neck. Had to start putting on sunscreen as part of my morning preparations for the day.
Yesterday we recieved the last of our goods from the US. These items were stored in the attic of our house in Maplewood and so I didn't intend to see them again for 3-7 years. It's weird to go through boxes of K's dolls and toys. There's also all the US kitchen appliances. I just stuck them on a shelf in the upstairs storage room. I am enjoying the wicker furniture. A better place to sit while I watch DVDs on our American TV. The cats weren't too happy with strange men in the house, but afterwards loved rubbing up against everything and tromping on the packing paper. I was very pleased with the way things fit in. I'll have a little rearranging to do in the storage room, but it was mostly empty and the boxes just about fit already. We were so lucky to get this house. Most people live on one or two floors of a house this size and we have all three plus the garden.
AWC (American Women's Club) gift shop update. I've written an article for the fall newsletter introducing people to the gift shop. Apparently a lot of members have never been inside (and who can really blame them: the door is always locked and the stuff inside looked like it had been there for years). I've made a lot of changes, cleaning everything, storing items that seem like they've been on display awhile and stocking lots of new stuff. This week I finished painting one shelf for a fresh display. I'm also going to paint and install a funky tall skinny shelf and hat hanger thingy that just came from our attic. They's help with displaying the aprons and bags from Ulster Weavers. I'm hoping the changes will make people want to check it out.
It's actually a self-serve shop: get the key from the office and make your selections, return the key and pay in the office. I'm also going to have the shop 'open' one day a week this fall. Every time I've been there working with the door open people stop by so I'm hoping advertising my work hours will increase foot traffic. I have so many ideas (as usual), but it is a volunteer thing and I have to be practical. I could sit there all day every day and get the same number of people as I will by advertising my one day.
Another project I'm working on this summer is planning for the Christmas Bazaar. They do it very early in November so I need to order merchandise by the first of September. I'm also letting people special order Portmeirion Christmas dishes. I'm hoping to not have so much left over from that line this year as last. I'll stock a basic supply and let people order all their special things. The only bad thing about it is that I have to work up price/item lists to hand out. I can't show them the wholesale price list and the retail list is actually way too high to charge them. Especially when I'm asking them to prepay. It's a lot of Excell work which I don't mind, but it's tedious. I think I'll work on it while I watch Beetlejuice this afternoon. Bye for now, R |
Bob K
Supporter
Username: Bobk
Post Number: 12199
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Friday, July 21, 2006 - 7:37 am: |
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JUst don't forget to put sunscreen everywhere. |
Rebecca Raines
Citizen
Username: Robin_realist
Post Number: 504
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Friday, July 21, 2006 - 5:49 pm: |
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Don't worry, Bob. I put sunscreen on everything that's exposed. I noted the thread about nudity somewhere else on MOL and was reall surprised (although I shouldn't be) about some of the reactions to the idea of a family vacation at a nudist resort. We Americans are well-known for our prudishness, but I can't equate this situation with child abuse or pornography. I'm a very modest person and can't see myself in the situation. I do think there are families that would be okay with it. I would never have sent my kid to soccer camp either, she would have been miserable. You have to use your own judgement about what's okay for you/your family. There are a lot of places in the world that clothing is optional and they have nothing to do with sexuality, just practical, natural situations.
We went into the Centrum tonight and had a really nice dinner sitting outside. The food was delicious and the evening lovely. The only bad part was that when we decided to come home, the 3 tram seemed to have stopped running. They are doing major construction on the line. We'll be getting something called Randstad Rail Trains on our line soon and they need to upgrade all the tracks. This weekend they are shifting our 3 tram to a different route for three days. Unfortunately, we wanted to come home right when they were making the change and they seemed to have just stopped all the trams for awhile. We walked to the Centraal Station and took a taxi home. I love the public transport, but sometimes a taxi is the best. Bedtime for us. R |
Rebecca Raines
Citizen
Username: Robin_realist
Post Number: 505
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, July 25, 2006 - 3:34 am: |
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We had another nice weekend here in The Hague. Saturday morning P got a haircut and made us a picnic lunch. We spent a couple of hours on the beach and then rode our bikes on down to the Kijkduin Beach shopping area. They have a display of the best National Geographic photos all along the walkway. Very nice. We walked through the shopping center and poked our heads in a couple of places. They do have everything necessary for living, but seemed a little heavy on clothing. I guess a lot of people staying at the beach buy clothes. I picked up a new brochure for Kijkduin and it says they have a sports center with bowling alley. I didn't know that. I knew they had camping and cabins as well as the nice hotel and about 40 cafe/restaurants. We rode our bikes home from there and did a little bodschoppen. It's the kind of shopping you do to buy the things you need to live: meat, bread, charcoal, etc.
Sunday morning we went into the Centrum to the Mauritshuis. It's a museum and they have a permanent exhibit (which we've seen before and includes that Girl with the Pearl Earring everyone loves) and a changing exhibit (which is what we went to see). We have a Museumkaart which allows us free entry there. There's a long list of museums we can get in free or at a discount. No way we will ever visit them all in a year. The current exhibit is, of course, Rembrandt. It was nice. You can see more info on this museum at www.mauritshuis.nl
After that we went to the plein or square and had a light lunch. Just down the way is the Sunday antiques market so we browsed through that on our way to the Escher museum. We had to pay to get into this one, but we wanted to see the exhibit of Botero sketches on the top floor. They are in conjunction with the Botero sculptures (that looks strange, did I spell that right?) on display all along the street in front of the museum. We visited them last week and I really enjoyed that. They are larger than life in more ways than one. I liked the sketches also especially the water color ones. He has a vibrant sense of color. He also had a whole series on Abu Graib. Didn't care much for those, but I don't know who would be into torture anyway. I bought a couple of little notebooks in the gift shop. They had Escher designs on their covers. Nice gifts. I hadn't seen the Escher exhibit before. It was interesting to find out more about him. He was much more popular in the US than here, although in the end he did become more so.
After that we stopped outside for a drink and to enjoy the atmosphere then headed home for the evening. R |
Rebecca Raines
Citizen
Username: Robin_realist
Post Number: 506
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, July 25, 2006 - 3:36 am: |
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You can see more about the Escher exhibit at www.escherinhetpaleis.nl |
Rebecca Raines
Citizen
Username: Robin_realist
Post Number: 507
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, July 27, 2006 - 3:51 am: |
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It's Thursday morning here. A very rainy day. We've had so few of those I was beginning to worry. All the grass is completely dead (not that anybody has a yard, but all the grass in common areas like between the tram tracks is brown :-). I liked it better when everything was wet and green. I've been watering my beans and tomatoes. I think the sun is too strong here for the pepper plants. Their poor leaves just seam to wither in it. Our 'garden' isn't really that sunny and I can move things around, but I can't keep the container in the shade completely.
I'm on my way to the clubhouse to work on the gift shop. I need to do an inventory before it opens again in September. I really need to get a key to the building. I tried going yesterday, but the magazine editor didn't show up as promised and I just sat on the steps. Today I'm bringing home the primer and green paint. I'll paint the shelf and hat rack here at my leisure and then only need one trip back to put them in the shop. Saves me several trips with all the drying time in between. It takes three strips on my strippenkaart to get there and three to get back. Not super expensive, but it adds up. I buy them in the tabac shop near the bus stop and the owner now knows what I'm coming in for. "Ik heb strippenkaart nodig." "Lange?" "Ya, lange."
I have to admit I don't have much to say today, but I just realized my blog is almost to 100 posts. I think that's a nice goal. Gotta go now. R |
Rebecca Raines
Citizen
Username: Robin_realist
Post Number: 508
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Friday, July 28, 2006 - 3:39 am: |
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Friday morning here. It didn't turn out to be rainy yesterday, just rained really hard for an hour or so and was sunny the rest of the day, about 75degrees. Really nice.I got into the clubhouse and cleaned out the gift shop closet, straightened a little bit and took a better look at what's in the creche (nursery) closets. They've always been for gift shop use, but aren't always accessible to me. Sometimes that room is in use and I can't really stand in a mom's meeting hunting through the closet. I'm going to try to move some stuff upstairs to the attic. Maybe I'll just get rid of a bunch of the empty boxes. When it's time to buy something, very few people go find the box the item came in and now I have a closet full of empty, useless boxes.
Today I have a few things on the agenda: Take P's fiets to the shop for repair. The chain came off and we can't get it back on. Go grocery shopping for Sat/Sun/Mon. We'll be out all day Sat and for dinner on Sunday so we don't need too much. I also need to European size printer paper from the Bruna and I saw a vase in Blocker that I think is just right. I didn't have room to carry it home last time so I'll make a short trip to get it. Busy day. R |
Rebecca Raines
Citizen
Username: Robin_realist
Post Number: 509
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Monday, July 31, 2006 - 4:05 am: |
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The month of July, 2006 has officially been named the hottest month in the history of The Netherlands. I don't know what the average daily temp was, but the hottest days were in the low 90s and it seemed like it stayed up in the 80s all month. I was told the highest it ever got to here was 85 and that only one or two days a summer. Climate change I guess.
A few articles in the paper related to the weather: Use of the ladies in the red-light districts is down. Four elderly people in a nursing home died "Nursing homes do not have a budget for air-conditioning." Tourism is way up this year; the beaches are booming.
Another thing that may be related: The water control council (I don't know their official title) has made the decision to put additional millions into managing the country's water. Mostly small projects dealing with the rivers in an attempt to keep them from flooding. I was interested to learn that this council is the oldest office in the country, it precedes any other form of government and is more powereful than the govt or queen. If they decide something needs to be done, they simply tell the govt what to do and how much it will cost and the govt has to come up with the money. It's always been that way. I guess they have their priorities straight.
Gotta go. It's a nice, cool day and we're having cat issues. R |
Rebecca Raines
Citizen
Username: Robin_realist
Post Number: 510
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 2, 2006 - 7:50 am: |
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Well it's been 10 months since we arrived here in the land of cheese, the lowlands, The Netherlands, most usually called Holland (although only a part of it is). 100 posts on this blog today. I'll wait for the year anniversary to recap. Today I'll talk about the weather..........again. It's a recurring theme! How boring, you say. Well, life can be boring sometimes, but even the weather can be exciting.
Today when P started off on his bike to work it was just dribbling a little. After a block or two it started raining hard so he decided to return for his gore-tex. By the time he got back it was gushing so hard he could hardly see the house number. He decided to wait a bit before trying again. You could describe the day forecast as gushing with moments of bright sun.
Based on last month's record breaking heat waves and high temps, I think global warming will make The Netherlands a place more people will want to come in the summer. It's certainly going to affect their use of electricity. Now only hotels have ac, but people will start getting it in their homes soon.
Someone pointed out to me recently that I seem to have moved on, I never talk about Maplewood or the people there. Well, I have moved on somewhat, but that doesn't mean I don't think about my life there. I don't usually talk about people I know online. I think it's kind of dangerous. I actually griped about something online once and someone I know thought I was talking about her. This person never spoke to me again and I didn't know why until after we moved away.
Maplewood was a great place for me. I had the most full life there, mostly because we lived there so long and I had the time to get involved. I had a great job and great co-workers, a great place to work (The Maplewood Library). I had a great church (Morrow) with mostly good experiences there. (See this is where things get dangerous. I loved that church, but not everything that happens in a place you devote yourself to turns out good.) Our daughter got a good education there and we had a great house which occupied most of our spare time and all our spare cash. We lived in the best neighborhood of the whole town (hey, you flamingos). None of these things can be replaced. I wouldn't try anyway. My life is totally different now and not just because of living in a foreign country.
Another thing I don't talk about much is our house there. That is kind of a sore spot with me. It was my dream home and is connected with what I thought my life should be. It was really hard to let it go so I try not to think about it. They lowered the price and there's another open house this weekend. You're welcome to go by and see it.
Not everything is peachy keen in Maplewood, but it was the easiest place to live and get involved and I do miss that a lot. I now live in a place that is very difficult to get involved in. The Dutch aren't warm and fuzzy and you shouldn't underestimate the language issue. So don't go thinking I've forgotten any of you. I just focus on the present and the future more than the past.
Cat on the lap is interferring with the keybrrrrroard. Gotta go. R
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Rebecca Raines
Citizen
Username: Robin_realist
Post Number: 511
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, August 3, 2006 - 9:00 am: |
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I finally have photos on disk so I can show them to you.
The fish pond in our 'garden'.
And Oliver enjoying the garden view. His favorite spot to watch the birds. |
Rebecca Raines
Citizen
Username: Robin_realist
Post Number: 512
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, August 3, 2006 - 9:08 am: |
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This is the front of our house, with my shopping cart.
A view across the street. Notice the awnings. On a hot day almost everyone has them open. They are all different colors and patterns and I think it looks pretty.
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BGS
Supporter
Username: Bgs
Post Number: 1214
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, August 3, 2006 - 4:38 pm: |
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Oh R- what a beautiful front door!! That is the first thing that struck me. The rest of the pictures are lovely...please refresh my memory...how big is this house and are you and P the only tenants? Thanks so much for sharing pictures.
B |
Rebecca Raines
Citizen
Username: Robin_realist
Post Number: 513
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Friday, August 4, 2006 - 5:10 am: |
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BGS, I like our front door too. P doesn't care for it, thinks it's old fashioned. I change the decoration depending on the time of year. Right now it's those three little birdhouses. You can't see them, but there are little birds and vines on it also. Last year at Christmas I had a little plate made with our name on it and gave it to Paul. It was fun taking down the previous plate and putting our name on the door. I'm keeping that plate with all the other 'remnants' of the owner and will replace them when we leave.
THe house has all three floors for us. There are technically five! bedrooms, but one of them is really the office with bookshelves lining the walls and no curtains on the windows. Another room is too small for a bed. It's really a storage room, but I've seen kids living in rooms that size here. It was almost empty so when our attic storage came from Maplewood, I just stacked it all in there. One of the bedrooms is K's, but we also use that for guests because it has a full-size bed. The other room has a little twin in it and is really my sewing/craft room. I like having all that stuff in one room and this one has a nice counter along one wall to work on. R |
Rebecca Raines
Citizen
Username: Robin_realist
Post Number: 514
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Friday, August 4, 2006 - 5:17 am: |
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Here's a photo that shows the front of our house in relation to others.
And here's inside the front door. You can see my Old Dutch bike propped up there and the antique shelf we found in a shop in the Fred. Real Delft tiles.
Hmmm. I'm not sure why this is sideways. It's not in my file or on my disk. Sorry, you'll just have to turn your head a bit. |
Rebecca Raines
Citizen
Username: Robin_realist
Post Number: 515
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, August 6, 2006 - 4:56 pm: |
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Sunday night here and we've had a busy weekend. Friday evening we went to dinner at another couple's house, people we met when we lived in the hotel last year. They finally have a house of their own. Saturday was housecleaning as we had company ourselves for the evening. A couple with three girls, new to our neighborhood and expats also. I'm sure we'll be seeing more expats around as the International School is moving to our end of the city. These people are from the UK, but have been living in Paris for a year or two and want their kids to attend the IS. The girls are between 10 and five and are very sweet, all with different personalities. I fixed Mexican (as close to it as you can get here) so everyone could put their own together and eat what they liked. It worked well. We had melon for dessert.
The melons here are quite small in comparison to what you would see in the US and at first I thought they wouldn't be ripe, but they are typically more ripe than yours and wonderful. The small size is to cater to the needs of people with small fridges and carrying containers. One melon sliced in half and seeded is part of our light evening meals this summer. We just spoon it out. Yum.
One of the best things about having people over is that afterwards the house is neat for us to enjoy. I like a really clean house, but it's sometimes seems to be more trouble than it's worth just for us. I enjoy the day after company for that reason and also because I don't have to cook, we eat leftovers and relax all day. Today we took a picnic to the beach again. It was so perfect, not too crowded and the sky was so blue. We stayed a couple of hours; as long as I dare with only one coating of sunscreen.
Tomorrow it's back to work for P, but it's not such a grind here as in the US. He works hard and even though he's tried to adjust, he's still the first one in in the morning. He's usually home by 6 though and for the month of August they all get off an hour early so he's getting home around 5:00! Who ever heard of that in the US? R
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Rebecca Raines
Citizen
Username: Robin_realist
Post Number: 516
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Monday, August 7, 2006 - 5:13 am: |
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I finally have the photos from K's graduation on disk. I'm afraid they are only in one size, probably too big.
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Rebecca Raines
Citizen
Username: Robin_realist
Post Number: 517
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Monday, August 7, 2006 - 5:32 am: |
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Or really small. Hmm, it doesn't seem to be able to do the larger size, probably too big. I'm going to need to work on this awhile. I'll get back to you. These are just the snapshots. There are others done by the professionals, but I don't have those on disk.
I'm working on felt board stories this week. Can't remember if I already talked about this, but I'm planning a preschool storytime for our AWC library for the fall. THey don't have many of the books I would use for storytime, although their collection is quite large, it's mostly donated books. I decided to supplement with at least one felt story each week. Between that, the books they have, songs and fingerplays we should be okay. Some weeks we'll have a little craft too. I mentioned this to my sister and she asked if I had time, could I make a couple of duplicate felt stories for her. She teaches kindergarten in Missouri. She'll be retiring in a few years, but still looks for new things to do. R
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Rebecca Raines
Citizen
Username: Robin_realist
Post Number: 518
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 9, 2006 - 5:57 am: |
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Did you know that it is acceptable to spell chili peppers with an e on the end? I thought that was how you spell the name of the country, but it's also the pepper. You can spell it with two Ls also. I discovered this when I was working on a felt board story entitled "The Goat in the Chile Patch". I thought is was a typo, but it's spelled that way throughout the story so I decided to look it up.
The story itself is a Hispanic folktale about how the smallest one CAN make the difference. Kind of like that story about the great, big, enormous turnip and the mouse's help is what allows them to pull the turnip out except this time it's a goat who won't leave the chile patch and none of the animals or people can get him to leave until the tiny ant bites him behind the ear. It's a fun story.
I'm sitting in the dining room typing today. I'll have to go out later and get cat food, but I'll wait until the sun comes out. I've been contemplating my poinsettia. It seems happy still to sit in the dining room window. I've never had one last so long before even though I tried to keep them. This one seems here for the long haul. It was completely red for months, just growing more red leaves all the time. Then a few weeks ago it started growing green leaves and longer stems. It's quite full now and I expect it will go on into the fall. I may have to look up what I should do to make it red at Christmas. My grandmother used to do this and I remember something about putting them in the closet. They need a period of dormancy or something.
I'm just thinking of random things I may or may not have mentioned before. Did I tell you about the shopping carts here? They are latched together and you have to put a 50 cent piece in to unhook one. I really like that. You never see shopping carts loose around the town (this may also be a function of different societal norms, but whatever it is, I like it). Because I have a pull cart I have to be careful to get a shopping cart that has a hook on the front to hang it on. Some of them are missing that hook so I always peek through to the front to check before putting my money in. Another thing that's different about them is that they roll in all directions. This surprised me at first and I found myself bumping into things or pushing the cart and having it go sideways when I didn't mean for it to. It takes a little getting used to but one thing I noticed is that NONE OF THEM ARE BENT/WOBBLY/SQUEEKY. I used to hate it in the US when I would get a cart that woudn't go straight because the wheels were bent. That never happens here. The wheels don't get bent because they can go in any direction already.
Bye, R |
Rebecca Raines
Citizen
Username: Robin_realist
Post Number: 522
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, August 13, 2006 - 1:54 pm: |
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We had a nice weekend. Friday night we met some friends in the Centrum and had dinner, Saturday we went to Delft for part of the afternoon. We were hoping to get in to the evening concert of the Chamber Music Festival. Pretty sure it was sold out, but thought maybe a cancellation or whatever. No luck with that, but we enjoyed their Saturday flea market thing. It's basically tents lining the canals with shops in them. lots of imports, food and antiques as well as flea market stuff. We stayed for dinner at a bistro we like.
Today we had lunch on the beach again. It's about 75 here and the sun is shining so we enjoyed that. Fixed lentil soup for dinner with homemade biscuits. Unfortunately I used bacon to season the lentils and the bacon here is just too salty. I've tried three different kinds and it's all too salty. It's just very different. Anyway, the soup was a little salty, but not too bad.
Now I'm waiting for time to call my mom. I try to call around 1 or so on Sunday afternoons because I know they're home then, but not eating or sleeping. It's difficult to find a good time when they are 7 hours behind me. I haven't been calling as much since being here and am trying to be more regular about it. That's all for now. R
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BGS
Supporter
Username: Bgs
Post Number: 1238
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Monday, August 14, 2006 - 10:22 am: |
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Becky- How about boiling the bacon for a little bit before adding it to your soup? I happen to use salt pork to season some veggies or in my Grandmother's vegetable soup recipe and I always wash it first.
Hope this idea helps you.
I am impressed with the homemade biscuits...I am assuming that you do not mean the Bisquick variety!
Best regards,
Barbara |
Rebecca Raines
Citizen
Username: Robin_realist
Post Number: 523
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Monday, August 14, 2006 - 2:10 pm: |
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Barbara, Today I added two 'boxes' of crushed tomatoes to the leftover soup and made it tomato lentil. It worked pretty well and the soup was good as a leftover meal. I brought Bisquick with me, but can't buy it here so don't use it to make biscuits. I'm down to the last two cups of it and will probably use it for a quick quiche sometime. The flour here is slightly different, but works okay for some things and biscuits is one of them. They don't use anything like Crisco in cooking here, but fortunately the British expats use it so they sell it in the British store. Otherwise I'd probably have to save up grease and making my grandmothers biscuits. Not too healthy.
There are several types of bacon in the shops, but I've only tried three. All three very salty. Others have told me they haven't found a 'lighter' one either. I might try your suggestion of boiling the bacon before using it. I can see how that would reduce the salty taste. Truthfully, I hardly ever buy it. We just don't eat much fatty food and I never fry it for breakfast.
Some things you just adapt to the flavor and others you try to squeeze a familiar flavor out. Generally, I'm okay with the food here. We certainly don't spend as much on food shopping as we did in the US. Just enjoy what we can get in the local shops and do a little more cooking that I used to. This summer we've been eating very light alternating with eating out two nights a week. Not as bad as it sounds because the meals in restaurants here aren't oversize the way they are in the US. They do always serve potatoes with every meal, I try to avoid those. |
BGS
Supporter
Username: Bgs
Post Number: 1243
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Monday, August 14, 2006 - 3:29 pm: |
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Becky- Are the boxed tomatoes "Pomi" brand? If so, they are among my favorite tomatoes.
I imagine that you have to adapt to the culture wherever you go whether it is in this country or outside of it. You seem to be adapting very well!
Thanks for your most informative posts...I look forward to reading them.
Barbara
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Rebecca Raines
Citizen
Username: Robin_realist
Post Number: 524
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 15, 2006 - 3:46 pm: |
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Barbara, I haven't noticed the brand name on the tomatoes. Our shop only has two kinds of crushed tomatoes: one in a box and one in a can. I buy the boxed ones because they fit better in the bottom of my pull cart and are slightly lighter than the cans.
There are lots of things about being here I don't like, but I recognize them as my limitations or problems and not the country's. I don't like the beef for example. It seems oily to me and doesn't have that red-meat flavor that we have in the US. Is that the iron content or something? I just don't eat much beef here. Lots of fish though and that's much better for me. So it works out. I'm trying to get K on the Instant Messenger. Gotta go. R
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Rebecca Raines
Citizen
Username: Robin_realist
Post Number: 526
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Saturday, August 19, 2006 - 5:25 am: |
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I was just thinking about how some things get stuck with you when you move around. This isn't a philosophical discussion of psychological issues, just me noting that we still call things by the same terms we've used in other places.
This morning I asked P where the computer was and he replied, "In the middle bedroom." I knew what he meant even though we don't have a 'middle' bedroom. We used to own a house with three bedrooms and the middle one was the study/office where all the spare stuff went. So I knew he was talking about that same room in this house.
Another example of this is the third drawer. When I was a kid we used to have a drawer that held string and tape, rubber bands and all kinds of junk that my mom picked up around the house. It was always the third drawer down; whatever house we lived in. Then when I was in HS we built our own house and put in modern cabinets and none of them had three drawers down. My mom picked the first drawer on the end as the junk drawer, but we still couln't help but call it the 'third drawer'.
Just goes to show that we all like patterns and familiarity and even where there is none we'll try to make it so.
Gotta go to the gym. Happy Saturday.  Bye, R |
Rebecca Raines
Citizen
Username: Robin_realist
Post Number: 530
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Friday, September 1, 2006 - 10:23 am: |
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I've been so busy, no time to post. I've been working on getting the AWC gift shop ready to open. That includes working on an inventory and creating forms/price lists for special orders this year. The shop looks great. I'll post some pics: (As I edit this I see that again these first two are sideways. They are not that way in the file so I don't know why they turn here. Sorry.)
This is imported from Portugal. Good quality ovenware, great colors.
On the left are the souvenir items (new this year). On the right is a shelf of art glass. Really expensive and most things have been in storage because they were leftover from years ago. I think they look fresh again and we have lots of new members who've never seen them.
Just a peek in the door:  you can see some cards and photo frames. There are bags and aprons hanging on the left hand wall.
There are also stained glass items and Belgian tapestry hangings and pillows. We have a lot crowded in two tiny rooms. While I was there yesterday my Portmeirion order came so I got to unpack it. It was in good condition although some of my Crazy Daisy pieces didn't come. I hope they're just backordered a couple of weeks and not cancelled. I love that pattern. It looks like the 60's and seems fresh and young in comparison to some of their floral things. But those things are classic and will last forever.
We spent last weekend in Brugge or Bruges, depending on who you ask. It's in Belgium and not too far from Brussels. Three nights was just right to see everything you need to. The people there are Flemish and speak Dutch. In Brussels they speak both Dutch and French and the other side of Brussels just French. Our favorite food was their Belgian stew flavored with local beer. Our favorite things were walking along the canals at night, climbing the belfry (about 400 steps with just a little rope around the center pole to hang onto), and we also enjoyed sitting in the lovely Saint Waldorpa Church in the evenings listening to great music. They don't have a lot of income, but want to have the church open for people so they play the best CDs for a couple of hours each evening. It's better than live music. Always perfect performances and you can just enjoy the sound and beauty of the church.
Coming home was an ordeal. Somehow we alway mess up with these international trains. They change the route of our train and the one we came on didn't exist when we went to come back. We backtracked a couple of times before we finally got back to The Hague. Talk to you again later. R |
Rebecca Raines
Citizen
Username: Robin_realist
Post Number: 532
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, September 3, 2006 - 3:39 am: |
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Sunday morning here and we're getting ready for church. We decided to visit another English speaking church, but there aren't that many to choose from. We visited the American Protestant Church last year, but it's impossible to get to from our house. This time we're trying an Anglican church that's a little closer and you only have to take 1 tram and 1 bus plus a (hopefully) short walk to get to.
It is, of course, pouring rain today. I checked the weather info for August and it's another record month. July was the hottest month in the recorded history of The Netherlands and then August had THREE TIMES the normal rainfall. We've been drowning here, but it seemed like it spared us weekends until today. We've been going to the beach, riding bikes, etc. every Sat/Sun, but now it's cooler that will slow down. They're forecasting dryer, cooler weather for Sept. Only about 16 degrees C on average.
We're going to Atlanta this week. I'm packing light weight clothes for that. It's a very short trip. P is speaking at a conference, I found a direct flight, K found a cheap flight from Memphis so we're meeting up. I'm hoping to buy shoes and pants as well as enjoy their new Shakespeare production.
Okay, time to vent a frustration. Our neighbors love our cat Oliver. He's the sweetest cat, I agree, but he is ours. A couple of weeks ago (on a nice day) I couldn't find him when it was time to close up the house. I called and called, then went up to the balcony to call and look. Our neighbor was in her garden and heard/saw me. She turned and said she thought he was in the house, gesturing to her house which was all open. I'm sure I looked a little shocked, but talked to her a minute. Then he comes galloping over the fence. After I thought about it, I decided it didn't hurt him to have friends(they have two preteen daughters), but I hope they don't ever feed him or close him in accidentally. Then last night I called and called and he never came. I stayed up late waiting for him to show up. At one point I heard someone coming down their inside stairs and then he gallops to my door, warm and cosy, smelling of perfune. I was really aggravated and now feel I have to say something to them. Should I tell them don't let him in your house at all? Should I put a time limit on it? No more than 30 minutes? I'll have to think on this. I don't know these people at all. Not sure how to approach them. For now I'm keeping him in/close by when I'm out. Bye for now. R |
Rebecca Raines
Citizen
Username: Robin_realist
Post Number: 533
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Monday, September 4, 2006 - 11:05 am: |
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Well, today is kind of a bummer. I was really upset about Steve Irwin being killed this morning. I don't know him personally, but have seen him on TV. The thing that bothers me is that he was almost exactly the same age as me. I find that upsetting even though I don't live the kind of life he did. I know some people said he took chances, but look what killed him: a rather freak accident with a stingray. It's not like they are aggressive and anytime I saw him with crocodiles he was always talking about how he handles them and how many people it takes to control one. He lived a full life of his own choosing and I do too. We usually do die from something we lived with: overeating, hang-gliding, taking a bath in a slippery tub or whatever.
I'm working on laundry today for our trip to the US. Tomorrow I'm going to the wholesale trade mart in Utrecht to shop for Christmas items for the AWC bazaar in Nov. I cancelled the Pimpernel order so I have more money to work with on this. I'm hoping to find some unique ornaments and table dressing items.
Tonight a new cat sitter is coming by to get a key. There's a service here that is just for cats. You join the org for 7.50 Euros/year and they assign you a cat sitter in your neighborhood. Ours lives just around the corner. They will come by every day and you pay them 2.50E for each visit. It's really a bargain. We're going to try to squeeze the gym in before 8 so I need to go fix dinner. Bye, R |
BGS
Supporter
Username: Bgs
Post Number: 1293
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, September 5, 2006 - 4:47 pm: |
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R-Your shop sounds wonderful. Wish that I could shop there!
I hope that you have a wonderful trip to the US....and that you enjoy visit with K.
Fill us in when you get back.
B |
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