23 May 2009

SMILEY SATURDAY - Help ! The snails are coming !

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When I looked at my freshly planted petunias, I was surprised that they looked rather skinny especially in the flower pots along the entrance.

At a closer look I saw SNAILS ! Never ever in the 33 years we live in this house I had a snail invation ! And not the naked once, no of course in my garden they had to move in with house, furniture and probably children ! I absolutely have to write a letter to Al Gore and ask for explanation ! Is it the global warming or are these space snails under cover ? Anyway I had to do something before they ate up the whole house and us included !


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I declared "WAR " ! and put this snail killing product everywhere !

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my skinny petunias attacked by 6 snails, the blue grains are poison (for snails only)

The result this morning was, that I collected around 30 empty snail houses, the corpses probably had melt with the product or went back in their space shuttle. How disgusting ! I am now a snail mass murderer, I, a such peaceful person ! But peace and love with snails doesn't work !

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Even our letter box was invaded, and they had eaten up an invoice, which in itself was a nice gesture, but we probably will get a reminder !

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and here is my harvest from this morning !

22 May 2009

SHOW & TELL - Trip to Morocco

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In contrary to myself, my computer lost his voice, the sound card is broken. (I know somebody who would prefer my sound card would brake) and as it is very expensive to repair things on a computer I found another far cheaper solution.

I just connected the two little loudspeakers which Mr. Gattino had won in I don't know what contest and they were never used and bought a micro for very cheap. Now I can hear and speak again just as I wish. I inaugurated my microphone by talking for 1 1/2 h to my friend Ilona. We had important things to discuss as we had only spoken together 12 hours before.


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Doesn't it look nice ?

On Sunday I will fly to Morocco for a roundtrip through the south. As I take only a little suitcase with me I bought this backpack for my little Baby Computer which has the size of a book, for all cables, and battery chargers for cameras and mobile phone and probably some other little things. This is very easy to carry when you have to get in and out of the bus to get in and out the hotels, as we will be each day in another place.

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Arthur was supposed to present my flight tickets, but as you can see he is not a very cooperative model.

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Of course I will try to report about my trip and also show you photos, it all depends on Internet connections maybe camels are equipped with that today too.


21 May 2009

THURSDAY THIRTEEN - A heartbroken widow

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My very best friend died end February of a colon cancer. She was 66. She left a big hole in my life and I miss her more and more. She had helped me in the most difficult situations of my life had always taken care of me and was more than a sister. We knew and loved each other for 30 years exactly. Then she passed away and left a husband a son and a little granddaughter behind. They were married for 40 years and she had always taken care of them to 100 % forgetting herself most of the time. The last thing I could do for her was helping her family to get over this loss. But then this happened and it sounds so monstrous to me just like a bad dream but it is the truth ! I just want to know what you women in the whole world are thinking about such a man !

13 Behaviours of a heartbroken widow

1. On the cimetary Pietro throw himself over the coffin banged his head and fists on it and screamed "why, why did you leave me !"

2. She wanted to be incinerated, he wanted a grave to visit her every day, of course she is in a grave now. Even her last will was not respected.

3. He knocked at our door at least 4 times a week to sit with us and cry and complain about his loneliness and get comforted in my arms.

4. He complained about his wife that she dared to die of a colon cancer and that she had nothing done for her health

5. He repeated and repeated what a wonderful husband he was, but he didn't even know that the mailbox has to be emptied every day and the garbadge has to be taken out and bills have to be payed

6. He cried and whined when his 34 year old son wanted to visit a friend and he had to stay alone

7. This lasted exactly 8 weeks. Then he had called a girlfriend of his wife to inform her about her passing away wailing and complaining. He is a handsome man, has money, and the best actor in the world. The woman fell in the trap.

8. When his son came back from holidays he noticed that the picture of his mother had disappeared, the wardrobe was filled with other woman's clothing and in the bathroom new make up things. The poor boy was more then shocked (he lives in his parents house with his little daughter) He called me immediately.

9. Pietro the father visited us one months later to announce the news I knew already. Where he had sat as a crying widow 8 weeks before, he now sat there as a schoolboy in love, and also behaved like that.

10. He shouted "I am so happy, so happy, this is the best thing which could happen to me, you know that I can't stay alone" and clapped in his hands.

11. He told me how wonderful this new woman is, of course she does exactly the same my best friend had done for him for 40 years ! Then he called her to tell her that he would be a little late because he was with us.

12. He used the same loving nickname, he had used with his wife ! (I thought I would go mad ! it sounded to me as if she was still alive !)

13. The grave he wanted to visit every day now is neglected nothing was on it before I put a flower pot and since the funerals he had been there only once !


I will always ask myself now, how could she stay with such an egocentric guy for so many years ? She had often complained about him. It wasn't a question of money. The money belonged to her. She came from a very wealthy family.

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Happy times, my friend (left), I and two classmates of our painting group (1996)

20 May 2009

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

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Long live the (snail) Mail !

(Letter sent by the pension office on Feb 4 and received by us on March 3 !!)

19 May 2009

MY WORLD - Genval after flooding


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Last Friday we had a thunderstorm. It shortly rained cats and dogs and then it was over. But not for the neighbour village, around 20 km (12 miles) away from Waterloo. There the sky had opened and thrown buckets of water on the little peaceful lake and the houses, roads and fields around. The ducks suddenly could swim between cars.

Three days later the water went back into its place, but the lake has an ugly brown color.

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houses were damaged and people had to evacuate

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My favourite restaurant was also damaged by flood

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The sandbags are still there so is a fisherman who hopes to get some fishes out of the brown water.

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This house is still empty

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furniture is on the terrace

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some sandbags which should have protected the garden

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and even the beautiful castle which is a very expensive and elegant restaurant was damaged.
People living there said it had never happened in 40 years !

18 May 2009

FUN MONDAY - Self pampering



Mariposa has following challenge for us :

In the midst of the busyness of our lives we tend to get overwhelmed by it that we forget ourselves. Most of us are inclined to look out for others first, yet we deserve to look for ourselves as much or even more. I believe we do !
Let us share each other's self pampering stories...may they be from little pleasures to guilty pleasures!

I might sound pretentious, but I never have forgotten myself. ! I also don't belong to the people who look for others first unless sombody lays there half dead which is probably a little exaggerated.

Therefore I have no pampering stories because I consider self pampering a necessity to keep me in good health, mood and fit. To me it is like eating or drinking. I think I have always done the same my whole life. I went to the hairdresser, to the beautician for a skin cleaning and that was it. Taking time for other things like painting or reading depended on my mood, but I always found a way to manage. I didn't like any kind of sport, I played a little tennis but that was more for social purposes.

Since I am retired I do much more of course because I have more time and I also changed.

I still go to the hairdresser all 6 weeks no more, and to a beautician all 3 months. But now I also love to walk, because I can take my photos. Walking or jogging senselessly around to catch fresh air is not my cup of tea and I hate hiking. I like to lay work in our garden, and am member in a fitness club, where I go 3 times a week. I don't use the torture machines, I only swim for half an hour, take 20 min infra red cabine and sit for 20 min in the Yakuzzi. ( or longer depending on people who sit in with me and the chatting !) Besides that I have Yoga classes once a week only for light gymnastic not for mental sit ins ! That's all I am doing.
Of course I also could add that I enjoy a good meal in a nice restaurant, but I am not a fan of chocolate or other sweet stuff.

Concerning self pamering I am rather boring !

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Take also care of your partner !

17 May 2009

WEEKLY WINNERS - Waterloo, green fields


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When we moved to Waterloo it was a tiny little town, more a big village without any supermarkets, and a lot of fields around. There probably were more cows than people.

33 years later it has changed tremendously. All big shops are now also settled in Waterloo, only Ikea is missing, there are supermarkets en masse and boutiques and shops for everything.

So when I walked our neighbor's dog Yanouk, he pulled me in a direction where I haven't been since at least 30 years and was happily surprised that this area hadn't changed a bit. While the field with the cows behind our house has disappeared and we now have human neighbors, here the time stood still.

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my guide

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different greens and yellow

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my beloved cows

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and even the bridge over the railway hasn't changed and is still the same
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It was a real pleasure to see all these variations of green. This only happens in spring.

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After one hour of walk, my guide needed rest and I too !