Boat

When I was young, my parents didn't have a car. Well, not all the time anyway. So, whenever we visited my grandparents, we had to take the bus to the station (10 minutes), then the train (90 minutes) and another bus (45-50 minutes) plus all the waiting in between. I nearly always got sick on the last bus, because a. I refused to sit in the front which would have been better but was absolutely thorougly boring and b. the road to my grandparents was quite a winding road, since it was on a dyke next to a river. However, that route was quite a nice route, because it went through several villages, you could see the river nearly the whole way and it had a boat on dry land. You knew you were over halfway when you saw that boat.

The boat probably used to sail on the river Lek, but had long since given up that function and was now lying on dry land. People were living in it and there even was a garden. In my memory it was quite big ànd it stood alone. So, today, when my sister and I returned after visiting my uncle, I wanted to see that boat again and take a photo.

I saw the boat again and I did take that photo. It was smaller than I remembered and there was a house next to it. But it was still there!

Feline Friday 1

I took this picture just over a year ago. It is of Mathilda, although it's hard to see (I know my cats though). She always gets up the roof of the bicycle shed when she gets the chance to go outside. She doesn't get that chance very often though, because there are still some weirdos in my neighbourhood who like to give 'treats' to neighbourhood cats. Those treats consist of bathing sponges baked in fat and then thrown out. Cats love the fat, but while eating also eat the sponge: which is not so good for them and can kill them! Fortunately my cats usually come back home within about thirty minutes and I've never found anything weird in their mouths (not counting the toads)!

Stocking up

I will be busy today. I have to go to the hairdresser's, I have to buy catfood (and lots of it), I have to buy human food (and lots of it), I have to get an external hard drive (I don't want to be caught out again) and usb-sticks. I probably need some more things, but I figure those out when I realise I need it.
So, as soon as I've finished my sandwich with white chocolate butter (yummie), I will get on my bike and head to town.
I will spend some money!

F is for...

Famine

I've been to Ireland quite a few times now and I love the country. It's nature is so green, beautiful and different where ever you go. But Ireland isn't just nature, it's also culture. And its culture is formed in a large part by the oppression by the British. Midway through the 19th century a major (potato)famine hit the country. According to some British leaders, it was all just nonsense: 'Walk it off' kind of stuff. But of the by then eight million Irish, only four million remained. Starvation, illnesses related to starvation and for the lucky ones who did survive: emigration. This picture I took in Dublin a few years ago. It's the Famine Monument and remembers all those who didn't make it.

For more F entries please check out: ABC Wednesday

Oscar

After last year I vowed never to watch another Oscar ceremony: it was so boring and the 'supposedly' funny who-ever-it-was, was SO not funny. At least I didn't think so. But when I heard that this year Hugh Jackman would be hosting I thought: I will give it a go. He is definitely too cute to miss...

So, after a hard day at work (driving back from London), I had to wait until the middle of the night before it started, but was not disappointed when it finally did start. Hugh Jackman was brilliant (and very very very cute). Singing, dancing ànd presenting. Great job!

Now I have to admit I've not seen a single film that was nominated. I would love to see Benjamin Button and The Reader sounds interesting as well, but that will have to wait a while, so it will probably be a dvd soon. Therefore my knowledge of the nominated films comes from magazines and television shows about film. It didn't matter though: I thought this year wasn't half as boring as last year, the dresses were beautiful (I loved Kate Winslet) and the speeches were short enough. So next year, I will (if possible) watch again...

London

Well, I'm back from London. Where only two weeks ago, England was more or less covered by snow, this weekend it was a far and distant memory. It was beautiful weather. Sunny and quite warm, 14 degrees Celsius. The hats and scarves were immediately replaced by short sleeved shirts and on a couple of occasions even shorts (must have been Americans). The picture is of crocusses in Hyde Park. The daffodils were also coming up, but not blooming yet.

On Saturday morning I had to do a tour of London, giving out information about history, use etc etc. In the afternoon I was off and could do my own thing. And at night I had to do a light tour, which is quite silly really, since half of the buildings and monuments aren't nicely lit or lit at all!

The people on board were a nice mix: the three oldest were nearing 80 and the youngest was about 13. Everyone had a good time: either shopping to their hearts content or doing the sights. Of course the lovely weather helped a great deal. Spending a whole day in London while it's bucketing down with rain is not something I recommend.

In May I will be showing my parents (and sister, but she's come with me before) and a lot of friends London. I'm looking forward to it...

No pink

Well, the pink has gone. Not that I didn't like it, but it wasn't really what I wanted after all, so when I found a site that had those lovely side backgrounds, I couldn't resist. Now, the only thing left to do is find a new title picture. The roses are really pretty, but roses are definitely not my favourite flowers (deep red carnations are) and so a bit out of tune with me. But I don't really know what to put in its place yet...

Hmmm

E is for...

Eye! The London Eye to be precise.

I took this picture in 2004 when I took my goddaughter A. to London for a few days. It was overcast for most of the time we were there, I embarassed her on a few occasions (I only was about 40 pence short in small change, after counting for about 10 minutes), but we had a great time anyway. We went on the Underground a lot, we took a touristy trip, we visited the London Dungeon, we went to see Chitty Chitty Bang Bang in the theatre (BIG hit) and of course we went on the London Eye.

I hope that despite the embarassing moments, she remembers our time in London well...

For more E-words, visit: ABC Wednesday

C'est le ton qui fait la musique

Picture scene 1: after unloading eight passengers, three people are standing outside my coach, two of them are smoking. I tell them I want to move out immediately and after a few seconds the oldest of the lot comes up to me, telling me her son has to poo, the toilet is full on the coach and deal with it!

Picture scene 2: while still driving, a woman comes up to me: excuse me, my son has to use the bathroom, but I've heard the toilet on the coach is full. Would there be a possibility to stop at a petrol station?

Now, in both situations the little boy had to use the bathroom and in both instances the boy would have had that chance. However, the mother used scene number 1 and in the end the boy went behind a tree.

The woman who told me to find a solution, will make a complaint. Because it was my fault! Now, let me explain: the toilet on a coach is small and has a small sceptic tank. Once it's full it's full. We have a clearance to empty it at our company, but you can't just empty it everywhere. I started driving at 7pm, after my colleague had driven it all weekend going to Paris and back. And the coach was full! So, who is to blame? And emptying it out anywhere? No chance!

Everyone is always saying about how young people have lost their manners: I wonder where they've got it from...

500

Ever since the start of the new year, I've been counting down to my birthday next year. Not that it's a special birthday (I will be 39), but because it's exactly in the middle of the year and I want to move to Canada by then.

So, one night I sat down and made a calender. Just strips of paper held together with a piece of string. On the strips of paper I have noted down all the days from now until June 30th 2010 ànd I've noted the number of days still to go. Every day I cross one off and today, I've got 500 days to go!

Five hundred seems like a lot to me right now. Since I've started less than 40 days have passed and it's going sooooo slow! That might have something to do with the fact that a. there's still 500 days to go, so it seems a lot and b. I haven't been working a lot lately, so the days seem a lot longer than they would if I were out working day after day.

Don't get me wrong: I don't mind the easier times right now, I know it will change soon enough and I will pray for a bit of peace and quiet.

Five hundred days to go. Mind you, it's not as clear cut as that. I might not find myself a job before then, these economic bad times haven't only hit in Europe, or I might actually find a job way before then. Either way, I felt I needed a focus date and that became my 39th birthday.

Five hundred days to go...