25 Nov 2017

EDEN HILLS PHOTO HUNT - WEEKEND REFLECTIONS

1. Starts with U
2. mosaic/collage
3. “I ate this”




I am very unimpressed by these modern mouse !



This is a mosaic made from little cuttings on which each of our painting class mates had to paint a little picture, with no theme, just what we wanted. Then the pieces were put together and out came this mosaic.



It was then used as poster for our 2017 exhibition



Chinese




Linking to Eden Hills Photo Hunt

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Linking to Weekend Reflections

24 Nov 2017

SKYWATCH FRIDAY - FRIDAY's FAVE FIVE-FIVE ON FRIDAY





The new flat where a friend just moved in

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1. There are weeks which go by and you absolutely don't remember what you have done during the week unless something special happens, like a an unwanted visitor, or a breakdown of electricity etc. Nothing happened.



The week started with a very bad scrabble game for all of us ! In fact we all lost. Tosca the dog watched us playing and moved his tail up and down from time to time to support us.

2. The days are split in two parts, blogging in the morning and housework if there is any in the afternoon. This time I was looking for a pullover and came out with 5 which I would never wear again but which I kept as souvenir probably, no honestly I had them forgotten. I will give them to my cleaning lady who is always very happy when she gets clothes.

3. Aqua gym too went by without any drama nobody drowned, not even a little bit. There was only one thing to mention, one of us had forgotten her underwear. But that is not the first time it happens.

4. I went on Christmas gift hunting, and as usual I have always to forget something, in this case the list with the references of my Grandson's Lego gifts. I was so angry that I went in the next shop and bought me a beautiful blouse ! Then I went home !

5. I returned to the shop for the gifts, and meanwhile they were 15% more expensive,  when I had ordered them there was a special offer ! My fault ! The salesman had pity with me and proposed to put the 3 Lego cartons aside until the next day because it was "Black Friday" ! and all toys costed 10 % less. That was really nice of him, so I will send Mr. G tomorrow to pick up the gifts. Two years ago nobody knew about black Friday except me because of my blog and my American friends, now it has moved to Belgium too. Last year not yet so much but this year !!!

The rest of the day I was in  war with my photos, I had misfiled them and even Hercule Poirot and Mrs. Marple together haven't found them yet !

Finally I found them because they were our passports, very  important for our trip trough 10 countries  in August. There is certainly a lot to prepare. I am going again with the Expats, like this year around Ireland and the year before around the UK. They are very well organized and there is nothing to complain.







more participants at Susanne at Living to tell the Story.





23 Nov 2017

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY - ABC WEDNESDAY - WEDNESDAY HODGEPODGE



Dog toy, 10 min later ....


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HODGEPODGE

1. Tradition...how tightly do you cling to tradition when it comes to holiday gatherings and celebrations? For instance do you always do the cooking, never eat at home, always go to grandma's, never miss the parade, always watch football, never change the menu, always eat at 2 PM, etc.? Have you ever celebrated Christmas or Thanksgiving away from hearth, home, and family? How did that feel?

The only tradition I really cling to is Christmas, all the other celebrations are not so important. For me Christmas is Christmas Eve the 24th where my whole life we always celebrated the same way until my grandson was born. Now we celebrate the 25th opening the gifts on the 25th in the morning half asleep, in pyjama and not as I was used too the 24th evening when we started at 5 or 6 with an apperitif unwrapped the gifts had a nice Pierrade in the last years (before it was Fondue Bourgignone) On Christmas day the children could play with their new toys and everything was relaxed. Now for me Christmas is not the same anymore so they can celebrate as they want or not at all.



pierrade



 Fondu

We also have celebrated Christmas in Tenerife and Egypte the English way and had a lot of fun especially when at Christmas morning several Father Christmas swam in the pool in a very cheerful mood. And it was so nice and warm !!

2. Help...is it easy for you to ask for help or are you a do-it-yourselfer? How is that a good/bad thing?
When I really can't do it myself I have no problem to ask somebody for help. Of course when the somebody needs help I help out too if I can. I think it's not bad but ridiculous not to ask and end up in the hospital !

3. Abundance...what is there an abundance of in your kitchen?

Certainly not what you expect



Cats out of my cat collection !

4. Name...the smallest thing you're thankful for? the biggest?
A ray of sunshine, a sunny day

5. Key...What do you think is the key to living a more grateful life?
That's a difficult question. I am always in war with keys because I misplace them I mean the place is the same only the key has changed place. So a key for a more grateful life ??  I can't find for the moment must be hidden somewhere. One day I will find it. It's not the house or the car key therefore not so important


6. State your own random thought here.
For the moment my thoughts are how do I get dressed ? It's cold, it rains do I need 1, 2 or 3 pullovers, a cardigan ? which one ? Which Jeans should I wear, the thick or the thinner .... and so on. 





















21 Nov 2017

TELEVIE

Once a year the Belgian TV channel RTL does a "Televie" which is a solidarity action that began more than 29 years ago. Today, thousands of volunteers give their time and energy to this event some of them have supported it since its creation.

Télévie is raising funds for research in the fight against leukemia and cancer for children and adults.

The Televie is always a big show where lots of TV stars and other celebrities participate.

In 2016, the € 10,141,650 (11,961,705.21) collected, enabled Télévie to finance 105 research projects. Among them, 111 researchers work with a common goal :to fight the disease and win at the end.

In 29 editions, the program raised 173,568,482 euros (204,770,428.26 USD) which is not bad for such a small country with only 11.3 million inhabitants and if you consider that only the French speaking part of Belgium is involved.

I had never attended a Televie but this year to my surprise it took place in Waterloo and concerned Tennis. I am not very much interested in Tennis, but this was a special opportunity to see my evening's screen companions life.  300 official guests were invited for lunch and then the tennis plays began between the celebrities (a few from the Tennis too) the broadcasters, animators, series inventors, etc, they were all there. The only trouble for me was, I recognized only 3 ! They looked so different in reality ! Or too big or too small and not very handsome looking either !! My friends Nicole and Myriam had to tell me who was who !!

It was the perfect weather to stay inside.



The Waterloo Tennis Club, where Mr. G. also uses to play his Whist 3 times a week, received the guests.



They greeted each other and prepared for the tennis game. Our mayor was already busy to play.
The guy with the grey vest and green color, is the reponsible for the program with the royals. All about our royal family and the other once in Europe. He was one of the guys I recogized.



An in Belgium and France famous singer was there too and the man in the middle was the one who did the Quiz show we both watch each evening !



he was so kind to pose with Nicole and Myriam



and with me too. Although I hadn't met him in real life it was as if we knew each other !




The bar keepers were very busy and there were always the same people I saw there. The man above in grey is a famous actor I was told, only I didn't know him.





The self made cakes looked delicious



Under a tent everything for music was set up and one Rap singer prepared himself to start. There were also a lot of games for the kids, which were put apart later to make space for those who wanted to dance later.



It seems that our mayor has also fun !



People are waiting for the tombola and companies gave cheques in sometimes quite high amounts.



and there was also a magician who did some tricks with us, I had one red ball in my hand and suddenly they were four !

We had a very nice afternoon.


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20 Nov 2017

MACRO MONDAY - WEEKEND NOVEMBER 18






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WEEKEND NOVEMBER 18

My 2 year old Hibiscus plant decided to bloom suddenly ! I hadn't thrown it away because it looked



so healthy and I thought maybe one day it will  bloom again and it did ! Rosie didn't even admire it.
There are a few other blossoms so if they don't fall before I will have 2 or 3 other once. Above is the flower.

Our city had organized a theater play for the seniors with a professional group. Already the title was funny, "6 in one  pyjama" A married man had invited his best friend to hide the fact that he wanted to invite his mistress and pretend that this woman was the friend's wife. What he didn't know was that his own wife was the mistress of his friend. You can imagine what a mess !



Still in a very good mood we went in an Italian restaurant and had Spaghetti as you can see we had a lot of fun and stayed there for 3 h !!

The next day our neighbor came with a huge black guy to dig the hole to find the box with the cable connections. It was hard work although the hole was not so  big, but there were many roots in the ground and he to cut them with an axe first.



I did my paparazzi picture, I didn't want to take a picture while he was working.




and this is the result. Mr. G. put a plastic over the hole in case it would rain.  On Monday we will call the internet company and tell them that they can finish their work and take off the cable which still lays over the street.

My grandson received the card I had made for his 7th birthday



and amongst the birthday gift, he also found my card !

19 Nov 2017

CAMERA CRITTERS - SHADOW





You can always try !



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