Brom is happy

Coocoo

Oh wow oh wow oh wow. So much to tell, so much to show! Unfortunately I can tell a lot, but not show! I saw pipers and dancers and a tug of war. I heard a lot of music and a lot more music. There were men on bikes and men who ran. Some threw tree trunks or balls and chains. And Mara took more than 400 photos! Unfortunately she can't upload them so you will have to wait until next week! Sorry.....

Brom is excited

Coocoo

Do you remember me? The little orange teddy called Brom? If you do, you may also remember that I went to the Netherlands in May and Mara promised me that if I were a good teddy, I could come to Scotland as well. Well, I have been a really good teddy, not causing any trouble at all, and today is the day! In fact, when you are reading this, I will already be on my way!! 

I just hope that Mara will read all the signs very very carefully before going on the bus or boat or bus or bus or plane or plane! I don't want to end up in Japan, my kilt would look absolutely silly there!! Because yes, Mara did make a kilt for me! It looks absolutely beautiful and I think she did a great job. 

But it isn't just Mara and me on this trip to Scotland, Mara's Papa and Mama are also coming and we are already meeting them in Amsterdam! And Mara's little sister Gera is coming as well and we are meeting her in Edinburgh. Plus there will be surprise on Thursday which she won't tell me about yet.

I hope to see a lot of kilts and perhaps even (*blush*) see what it is they wear underneath. Mara says there are animals there as well, so perhaps I see one of those deer and Mara can take a photo of us together. I want to hear the bagpipes. I want to taste some whisky and I really really really want to see the Monster of Loch Ness. 

So exciting!!!

Miss Oswin

Miaow

Well! Not only did she bring in small two-leggers a few weeks ago, she then nearly forgot to let me write a great post and then she brought in a big two-legger (who wasn't that bad really, at least she didn't jump up and down) and completely forgot about me!! Really, some people don't deserve to be enslaved by us felines!!

Now, speaking of the other two-legger who stayed here: she had a silly name (Pepperfly, what's that about?), but she was a good cuddler. And she wasn't bad in taking photos of the most beautiful cat in the wwu (whole wide universe) either, just look at the photo at the top: doesn't that show a fantastic me?

This post is going to be a short one. After all, even the most beautiful cat in the wwu needs her beauty sleep. Preferably in the sun!

Holiday

Even though she had only just arrived last Wednesday, the question Pepperfly asked me that very same evening was: which bus do I need to take to get back home again on Monday? And do I need to take a bus to get to that bus or can you take me to the busstation? My answer was a resounding 'eeeehm'! I didn't have a clue! 

I only knew what I had had to do up until Sunday and not any further. So, on Thursday morning I tried to find out which shift I had on Monday and whether I could be of any help getting Pepperfly on her way home. However, when I looked at my new rota, I was a bit confused. Because I knew I had to work this week and would have a two week holiday starting next Monday. 

I don't know where the mistake was made, but apparently I have this week and next week off! So, ehm, it's my holiday now!! Which is good, because a. I am still recovering from the climbing I did on Sunday, although it is slowly getting better and b. I can prepare everything for the holiday in an easy manner. But, it's also quite bad, since I was due to have a friend come over during the second week of my holiday (she couldn't make it, so not all is lost) and I had some other plans that now have to be put on ice. 

Anyway. Free. Off. Holiday. Laundry, dishes, paperwork. Oh, and next week a proper holiday with parents and sister that I am really looking forward to!!

PS: if you come from New Jersey or know somebody in New Jersey, could you do me a favour. I need some information about distant relatives of mine that can be found in a book called Prominent Families of New Jersey and of which there are two volumes. They are edited by William Starr Meyers (Myers). My relatives appear from page 1179 (so likely volume 2, but not sure) and are called Faber by their last name. John Faber Sr, Harry Faber, Jacob Faber, John Faber Jr and Garry Faber. The books are quite expensive to buy and I only need about three pages! Scan or copy would be very welcome. My email address can be found on the 'Me'-page. 

My personal assistant

The way to spend our evenings

Yes yes, I know. Normally there would have been a post here called Photo on Sunday. And yesterday there would have been a little story written by the beautiful Miss Oswin. Plus all the other posts I could have written about my friend Pepperfly staying here (she arrived on Wednesday). I didn't! Busy with work (even with Pepperfly staying) and my research (even with Pepperfly staying) and all that. 

Selfie of the Treehugger and Pepperfly

So, what did we do? Since I had to work the first three days, not much. Yesterday we were supposed to go to that climbing park I took my family to two weeks ago, but checking the weather forecast beforehand, we decided a bit of second hand shopping would be in order. So, we came away with new and mostly unnecessary stuff, like beads (she) and felt (me). Mind you, she felt she needed the beads and I felt I needed the felt.

SCARY!

This morning however the weather looked good and we were both raring to go. So a little after nine we made our way to the park in Nedstrand (about an hour's drive) to start our little climbing expedition. We got kitted out and we went through the training course again. As you may remember, last time it was very hard to make it onto the platform again. This time? It was as hard. But fortunately I had my friend with me and she just grabbed hold of my leg and started heaving me up! Time to start the proper course!!

Barrelling along!!

We were doing the light green course first. It is the low family course, which means that everything is low: the wires to hold on to, the wires to crawl under to get from one end to the next. At times it was hard to find out how to do that, other times I just stayed on my knees! There were two ziplines and for both I needed help getting on the platform again. 

It mightn't look that high, but believe me:
 IT WAS!!!

It was high, it was scary at times, there was a lot of movement, but I did make it to the end! I was so pleased with myself. We then had a lovely picknick lunch we had taken from home. Get some strength back before our second course: the dark green one, or the high family one.

The second course was a bit easier to get through: the wires were higher, so I felt a bit safer. However, by then fatigue had begun to set in and I was getting a bit shakey. Unfortunately I would still have to do 4 parts before there was a chance to get down, but I made it through, albeit with quite jittery legs. I then got the camera off Pepperfly to take some photos of her in action, since most of the photos up til then had been of me (not complaining mind). She completed the whole course.

Pepperfly on the last zipping stretch!!

However, even if I didn't complete the whole second course, I still feel like I achieved something. I knew it was time to stop and trying to finish it would have been madness. I would most likely have frozen up at some point, which I didn't think would be wise at all. 

So, been there, done that and I did get the t-shirt as well!!!

Miss Oswin's Photo on Sunday 2015-26

Miaow

Pfrt! She hogged the computer all week: typing away and writing away and doing who knows what! She wouldn't even let me write my own post on Saturday. So, I tried a little sabotage! She took a photo of it!! The nerve!!!!

An old hobby

A few years ago I started putting together a family tree. A lot of work, a lot of paper and at times a fair bit of guessing was involved. Times have moved on in those few years since I last was really involved. There are now websites where you can make your tree and then get connections with lots of other trees from people doing the same thing! 

Occasionally that results in a big question mark for me! Why, in a family that hails from one province in the Netherlands, does one person die in Emden in Germany? And then my eye fell to one single word: balling, which means excile! He was exciled from the Netherlands? Why?? It took a fair bit of digging and going through records, but I think I found some sort of answer. In short: he didn't agree with the Spanish who ruled the country and felt he only had one way out: Germany.

When researching him, I found out he had been to University in Belgium and cross checking some other names in my tree, I found several others who had also been to university. One in Germany and one in France (where he was arrested for murder, still to look into it). 

I found somebody who died at the siege of Franeker in 1500, a letter from a mother to her son who serves in the army in 1853, both are ancestors of mine! That same mother had another son who moved to America in 1893 with four of his sons (I call them the Faber Five). 

Now, all those people hail from my paternal side. On my maternal side I have the fantastic letter from my grandmother that she wrote to me in 1983 (a school project about the war). An ancestor with red hair who served in the army for five years around 1840. You're wondering how I know he had red hair: well, his draft notice told me so. Red hair and freckles! I know some of my ancestors were turn skippers (they were allowed to move freight in turn on the River Lek), there was an artist somewhere and several mayors, council members and the like. And I think I saw a few murders come past as well!

I actually went back all the way to Roman times a few years ago. Not terribly reliable, but good fun nonetheless. Charles the Great (the great unifier of Europe) was found as well, which I felt was terribly exciting, until I realised he is in most people's ancestry! Ah well, can't win 'em all! 

I am going to turn all those stories into two books: one from my mother backwards and one from my father backwards. A great deal of work, paper and frustration. However, in recent years it has become easier to find records. Census records for the USA have placed several of my distant family firmly within my grasp, Ellis Island records do the same (although I still have to find the main man, Job is proving to be an elusive person). And the further you go back, the more difficult it will be of course. Unless you strike it lucky and hit another gold vein that is! 

So, if I am not that present in times to come: my new/old hobby is keeping me busy!!

Beginner's luck

I had been asked several times by a friend of mine, whether I would like to come out on the boat he had recently bought. Not too convinced I said I would come (I am not much for boats, green faces and such). Unfortunately the first two times had to be cancelled due to engine problems, but yesterday the engine was working fine and the weather looked good, so we decided to go out on the boat. 

I had expected a biggish boat, but when I saw it, it wasn't! It was about the same size as the rowboats we use during our rowing race in May, but made out of fiber glass instead of wood. At least I think it was fiber glass, it could have been plastic. Either way, it was a nice little boat. 

After the boat was let in the water, we got in the boat and started our trip. I didn't have a clue where we were going and I certainly didn't recognise much either. But the trip was good. All those little islands, gulls, coots, cormorants. It was lovely. 

An hour into our trip we stopped the boat and my fishing rod was readied. Because yes, we were going fishing! Well, as soon as my line hit the water, I had caught a fish! It was a nice cod (kabeljauw). And then nothing! So, we moved and soon enough: another fish, this time a mackerel. Another mackerel followed and then a pollock (koolvis). 

I think this was the fourth fish I caught!

The last one I caught was another cod. I was happy to catch the fish, but I would not behead them and certainly not take out the guts. I left that to my friend. He had not caught a single fish until then, but soon after, he managed to get a mackerel.

The total haul

The weather deteriorated quite a bit then. It started raining and the wind was picking up, so we decided to head back home. I was quite wet and cold when we got back, but also very proud of my 'catch'. We both took three fish home, so I ended up with a cod, a mackerel and a pollock. The cod and the pollock I can use for fish and chips or for fish soup and such, the mackerel will be best fried. Mmmm

Photo on Sunday 2015-25

My two nieces gazing into the depths of the small Lake Eivind in Haugesund. One of only two photos I took yesterday!!

Miss Oswin and the visitors

Miaow

Oh my, oh my! Let me tell you one thing: I do like visitors. Mara has them come sometime and they are all very nice. They think I am beautiful (which I am) and some of them will pet me. But the day before yesterday Mara had some visitors that might have been okay, but they scared me!!

They were noisy and there were a lot of them as well! Mara says there were only five, but I don't believe it. I think there must have been at least twenty! They all talked a lot and they went through the house to look at everything. It was awful!

Fortunately they left after a short while, but then yesterday Mara brought the three small two-leggers back here! Ooh, the noise and the jumping up and down. Mara says that is what children do, but I do not like it at all. But then I got to go outside, where it's peaceful and quiet. I came back soon, even though I thought I could hear the two-leggers. I even tried to make friends with them, but then they would move and scare me again, so in the end I gave up. I stayed close though, to watch out for Mara!

In the evening everything was back to normal again and I got some alone-time again with Mara. Ooh, nice...