Help

Yesterday the social worker came by for the third time. We talked about bread, Winterberg in Germany, France in general, moving to Norway and a little bit about what happened and how I felt about it now. And I must say: I feel okay. I have yet to dream about it (it will happen at some point, I know), but I can talk about it with some degree of distance. 

We will have one last meeting in November and then I will have to do it on my own. Well, with family, friends and colleagues that is! I must say I feel positive about the help I received, it certainly helped me get things in perspective a lot more. Your head can say all these things to you, but unless your heart says the same, you will get stuck at some point! And she helped me realise in my heart that my head was right. 

'Fancy'

After seeing an episode of Doctor Who about Madame de Pompadour a few years ago, I so wanted to visit the Chateau de Versailles. Just over two years ago I got that chance when my parents had invited us all to spend a week with them near Paris. Me and my sister then went to Paris and to Versailles. And it didn't disappoint!

The one room that was completely over the top, was also the one room that was very very crowded. It was a shame really, but I guess they probably thought I was clogging up the space as much as I was thinking it about them! However, I still loved that room, perhaps because it was so over the top. It was of course the Hall of Mirrors. It was 'fancy' squared! Mind you, the whole place was over-fancy and it all screamed 'look at us having all the money'. And in some parts a bit amusement parky before its time!

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Busy busy busy

I wouldn't want to live here! But I passed
through it on the way to the rally.

I wanted to get online this past week, but apart from last Friday (when I was off), it seems as if I have been working almost non-stop. Of course that was not the case, but I definitely made long hours! Starting early and coming back late, not even having the time to get my shopping in!

On Saturday there was some rally or other somewhere not close from home. Starting at 7am and finishing more than 12 hours later, I was not the happiest bunny! Because it seemed as if they had forgotten a little about us. Two of our colleagues were already close to home (an hour and a half's drive away), while me and another colleague were still waiting somewhere out in the sticks! After I climbed into the telephone however, things started moving and in the end we were able to leave.

On Sunday we had to drive for one of the biggest runs in the country: Dam to Dam, from Amsterdam to Zaandam. It's about 18km and we had to shuttle the athletes and the onlookers. This time however I made it back earlier than the rest because I had run out of driving hours! It was still late though. 

On Monday I was supposed to have an easy day, but of course it didn't turn out that way: instead of a morning run and an afternoon run, I now had a morning run, then another trip and then the afternoon run. By the time I got home I was fed up and in no mood to get online!

Yesterday was going to be another corker and it turned out to be exactly that. I must admit it wasn't the driving, because there wasn't too much of that, but the waiting can get quite draining at times as well! In the end I was very close to the maximum 15 hours working time I am allowed to do and felt completely pooped. I went to bed as soon as I got home!

The good thing though: today I only have an afternoon run of about 2 hours and then I have tomorrow, Friday, Saturday and Sunday off! Joy!!!

K is for...

Kaliningrad

Kaliningrad is a town in Russia, but situated in a part of Russia between Lithuania and Poland. It used to be part of Prussia and was called Königsbergen until 1946. It lies on the Baltic Sea. But not only is it a town, it is also a naval vessel. And a fairly big one at that!

The name in Cyrillic writing

As I was at the Navy Days in the Netherlands this year, we saw this ship arriving and being moored. It's always amazing how they do that: the steering is somewhere at the back, which goes against all I believe in. Then again, they might be lousy at parallel parking a coach!

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'Park'

I could use park or woodland and even garden, so it wasn't that hard! As long as I found one that I liked that is...

One of the dreads of anybody having a garden is little critters thinking you've put up a buffet for them. And in my case I have. I have planted hostas especially for the snails and they love them, evidenced by the lack of leaves from the moment the leaves start to appear! Recently I saw one in action: turning the flowers of the hosta into his lunch! Munch munch...

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It all went so well...

Wuppie and his wonky ear

I was doing fantastic, posting nearly every day, having something to tell, you know, blogging business. And then it stopped. I mean, I still had stuff to tell, but for some reason I couldn't really be too bothered by telling them. I don't know why. But, here I am again, all fired up and ready to go, so I thought I would give you all a little update about everything.

First of all Norway of course. A lot of people have asked me how things are going on the Norwegian front (so to say) and the only answer I can give right now is 'slow'. They would get in touch with me within a couple of days, but I guess there days last longer! Never mind though, I hope to hear from them soon and in the mean time I work as much as I can to earn some extra money.

I saw this again, although this photo was taken two years ago

Work then. I have been doing a mixture of the 'boring' school run stuff and 'adventurous' long distance stuff and will continue to do so this week. Nice on the one hand because it keeps me busy, not so nice on the other, because I make long hours. Yesterday was a 14 1/2 hours day! Tomorrow will be another one like that!

The monsters. Well, they are doing fine. They want to go outside, but the weather has turned a bit and it is autumn now: rain, wind, cold and I am not looking forward to wet cat one bit! Wuppie has slowed down recently and Linette has been throwing up occasionally, so I have to keep my eye on both of them!

Me. Well, I am doing fine. Occasionally packing, although if you were to see my home, you wouldn't really think so: so much stuff, especially books are still out there and unpacked! But, as soon as I get more definitive news from Norway, I will call some moving companies to get the best deal and get lots and lots of boxes to fill!

J is for...

John Steele

John Steele was an American paratrooper who fought in Europe during the second world war. He was with the 82nd Airborne Division and was dropped from a plane on D-Day over the small French village of Ste-Mère-Église in Normandy. As bad luck would have it, that evening a fire had broken out in one of the bigger houses in the center and the Germans and the French were busy putting out that fire. So, when all of a sudden a lot of men come falling from the sky, the were quickly noticed and the firing started.

Some of the men landed in the countryside, others in the village, some were shot and some survived. John Steele? He got caught on the church steeple smack bang in the middle of the village. He got shot in the foot and decided his best chance of survival was playing dead and he hung on the steeple until the Germans got him down. Upon realising he was still alive, he became a prisoner of war and was locked up. However, he managed to escape and rejoin his division.

John Steele survived the war and passed away in 1969 of throat cancer, just a few weeks short of the 25th anniversary of D-Day.

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Photo taken in March 2012 in Ste-Mère-Église, France

'Attractive'

Well, it was a choice between him and her, but in the end I chose her. She is always good for a lovely photo and I especially love her eyes. Here she is in a neighbouring garden, just relaxing in the sun!

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I is for...

Ice Skating

It's been a few years since I last bound under the skates (this is a literal translation of the Dutch expression, before any of you start in on me about my bad grammar), but in the winter of 2012 I got the chance to take some photos of other people skating.

In early February it was cold, very cold. About minus twenty cold! Windscreen frozen on the inside and all that. But during the day the sun came out and it was quite pleasant to take a walk in the snow. Until we got to the lake. We had two options: return the way we came or go the long way round. I came up with option number three: go across the lake, it was frozen over!

As soon as we hit the lake, we realised we weren't the first ones: we could see tracks made by other people. And then we saw those other people, on skates, making skating tracks right next to their own footsteps. Since we knew the area they had walked on was safe, we followed their tracks and made it safely across the lake. Only slipping a few times...

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Fish and potato

In the thirteen and a half years I have lived in this town, I have never gotten my free fries, available one day a year during the spud festival. Usually because I am working and thus was the case yesterday as well: work.

And the thing I had to do was the fish-potato run. An annual run/race from the village of Urk (which lives of the fish) to the town of Emmeloord (which sets the Dutch potato price) of 12,8km (8 miles). Fortunately though I didn't have to run it (it was way too hot for that), but I drove the runners to Urk. My second run was to the half-way point where I would have to wait until everybody had passed and then take any stragglers, injured, tired and so forth on the bus and take them back. Despite the temperature I only had two giver-uppers, but I did see everybody fly, run and struggle past.

Of course I hadn't taken my camera with me and so I didn't get any photos. But the winner was some small black dude from Kenya who was so fast I never would have gotten the chance to take a proper photo anyway! I found a photo online and even the professional had trouble!

Now to stay with the spirit of the race and the name, everybody who finished got some fish and a sack of potatoes. Plus a gold medal of course for the winner!