GINDA, MY LITTLE GPS

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Last week I had to drive 4 year old Ginda to the Wimbeldon Tennis Club, where activities for little children were made during school holidays.

I picked her up, she climbed in my car and I drove. A few minutes later she asked me if I knew where the Wimbledon Tennis was. I said, yes of course I know, I even played Tennis with your grandma there.

When ? she asked. Oh, I said looong time ago ! Hhhm I heard, because you are in the wrong direction !

I ? in the wrong direction ? Impossible although I never find my way, this way I knew even blind. When we arrived close to the Tennis Club she said : You are wrong, I am sure !

Meanwhile we talked about Rosie, which Ginda had known since she had been a tiny kitten.
She also explained to me that when I do my laundry I have to separate white from colored laundry, because her grandpa hadn't listened to her and the white laundry was red ! I was stunned !

Then we arrived at destination and what did I see ? "Waterloo Tennis Club" and not Wimbeldon, I was completely wrong and she was right, I had mixed up both clubs.

I excused myself and said I am so sorry, now I drive you to the right place. Yes, she said, but I show you the way ! I have a GPS, which I hadn't put on, but now I had a live GPS in form of a four year old girl.

You have to turn left, she said ! LEFT ! I am 65 and still don't know where left and right is and have always to recall that my wedding band is on the left hand, that way I don't mix up the directions. Ginda didn't have any problem. She ordered me to go straight ahead and after a while explained to me that if we would turn left here, we would arrive at her home ! I could only nod.

Shortly before the Wimbledon Club she said : now slow down and turn left. I obeyed. Take the parking on the right, there is an empty space, she continued. I did, stopped the car and helped her out. Together we went in and she kissed me good bye, but before I had time to turn around and leave, she shouted behind me "and don't forget to go to my house at noon and feed Pims "! Pims is her labrador and big love. I swore I wouldn't forget.

Now I wonder if I was like her when I was 4 years old ! certainly not as I am still unable to make the difference between left and right. And honnestly between us I have also put colored laundry with white one together not that long ago !

Ginda lives together with her Dad and Grandpa since her grandma my best friend passed away 10 days ago and I wonder if she thinks that her men need a woman in the house, because she also helps cooking and pays attention that there is no dust on the furniture !!



My little GPS with Rosie

SHOW & TELL - Egyptian Glass bottles

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When you are in Egypt you will see artists on the street who are selling these little bottles. It's usually a landscape with a camel. We saw one at work and how he filled in the little bottles (even smaller sizes) lay by lay.

Mr. Gattino asked him if he could do a cat instead of the usual camel. I never thought he could do it, I was convinced that the way he did it was like a pattern he automatically used all the time. But no, he did it !



It was very interesting to watch him. He sat there with a little table and had in a big bowl very fine natural sand out of the Red sea. In other bowls there was the sand mixed with colored pigments in all sort of colors.

He then took an empty bottle and a very little funnel and a spoon and started to fill in the bottle with the colored sand lay by lay. I was fascinated by his work. It went rather quick it was amazing !



And he managed to make a cat ! He kept the pattern of the background but I am sure that was the first time that a tourist asked him a cat ! Unfortunately I have no picture of him. I filmed the whole procedure. In 2004 I didn't think of photography yet !


Here you see both sides


and a close up to show you the sand. Isn't that an amazing artwork ? I don't remember the price but it was ridiculously cheap. Of course we gave him more for his extra work.

THURSDAY THIRTEEN - Poor Smokers

more participants here at new THURSDAY THIRTEEN

Yesterdy evening we watched a crime story, an old movie from the 70th. First thing I stated, everybody smoked ! The murderer, the attorney, the police, the judge, the nurses and the doctors and they smoked everywhere. The only one who didn't smoke and for an evident reason was the victim, he was dead.

Today each and every bad thing in your life is due to the cigarette. Here are 13 things you get when you smoke !

1. Your hair becomes grey and falls out
2. your nails break
3. Your partner runs away
4. You get a cold because you have to smoke outside
5. You make car accidents
6. You get malaria
7. Your blood pressure is too high
8. Your blood pressure is too low
9. Your teeth fall out
10. You get the pest (at least you have this impression)
11. Your dog gets pneumonia
12. Your cat too
13. Funeral prices increased

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

MY WORLD

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This shows you my world during economical crisis and recession. If I wouldn't hear every day in the News that we are poor and nearly starving I could hardly believe it.

Before the economical crisis, my world looked like this :



a peaceful pasture (the cows are on strike)



Exactly one and a half year later because of economical crises, a new shopping mall is built on this beautiful place.



Another shop a little farer. Logically there must be people who still shop ??



and houses grow like mushrooms in my street and not the smallest once. There still must be money, because credits for a house are hard to get and you have to have at least 30 % of the value cash on your bank account.

Honnestly I prefer the time we didn't have any recession and economical crisis in Waterloo !

(more about that in the post below)

FUN MONDAY - RECESSION ?

Our this week's host Sayre wants to know :

What are you and your family doing to deal with the current economic situation on a personal level? Obama's got a plan for the nation, but how do you/will you deal with your own economic stress.

I belong to the lucky persons who don't have any economic stress and my family neither. I also live in a country (Belgium) which is amongst the best economically situated countries in Europe and not comparable with the USA at all.

If I wouldn't hear in the News that we are almost in recession, that we have too many poor people and that companies are closing and people more and more without work, I wouldn't know or realize anything about it.

My life hasn't changed, we are retired, our house is payed and we get our pension every month. My friends are in the same situation and if they are still working they don't have any problems either.

The only thing I see despite the "recession" we hear of everyday, is that the shops are still full, the caddies overloaded, and expensive restaurants as usual fully booked on weekends. Cinemas, theatres or Shows of music groups or star singers are sold out. People order new cars and last holidays the airport was packed with people looking for warm sunshine or snow. There even was an increase of travelling people.

More and more houses and shopping malls are built in Waterloo so there must be enough people to buy houses and go shopping. The young couple in our street invited more than 100 people to their wedding (see the pictures below) so I suppose they are not starving either.

Of course there are also people in difficulties and have no work, but they are getting their unemployment benefits which is just enough to live, not more and so far it is unlimted in time. and everybody has health insurance which is included in the gross salary. Of course for all these legal services the taxes on salaries are very high in Belgium and can go up to 50 % depending on the salary.

WEEKLY WINNERS - A wedding

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In my age I am mostly invited to funerals. But this time it was a marriage ! Two years ago a young couple had bought a house in our street, the owners had moved into a flat, they were too old to keep the house.

To my and all other neighbour's surprise we suddenly were invited to their wedding !


The wedding took place in the church "St. François d'Assise" in Waterloo, which I had never seen.



A little girl and a little boy should walk in front of the couple carrying two white baloons.



The little boy refused and cried and sobbed until the little girl took both baloons and walked alone in front of the couple. We all laughed, he showed already that marriage was nothing for him !



the inside of the church had beautiful windows





the happy couple



Greating everybody in front of the church



They had arrived in this little car and it also took them to



this old farm which had been modernized and transformed into a restaurant with a big reception for weddings or other celebrations.


and I was happy too ! outside I discovered the first signs of spring !!