EASTER TRADITION IN BELGIUM

The first time I put my feet on Belgian ground in 1958 it was Easter, and I was very disappointed because I couldn't see a single Easter Bunny as I was used too since I was a child, no Easter decoration, there was just nothing.

In the shop windows I saw chocolate fishes symbolizing Good Friday but not one single Easter bunny. Unfortunately also little real yellow chicks which were considered as a toy, I found that rather cruel, some of them survived but most of them died. Mid 60th real chicks were not allowed anymore and they were replaced by fluffy fake chicks.

Later I learned that the bells represented the bells of Rome. The story said that as they ring every day of the year, they stop on Thursday until Saturday evening. During these days they go to Rome and rest from the whole year's work. Then on Easter Sunday they come back with a lot of eggs which they drop in parks or gardens or in flats and houses.

Today for all children Easter egg huntings are organized in parks by the city and colored eggs and chocolate eggs are hidden in the bushes or behind trees.

The chocolate shops which were full of chocolate bells, wrapped in golden foil and yellow ribbons in the past, were slowly, slowly replaced by the Easter Bunny, although some children still believe that the eggs and chocolates are brought by the bells of Rome.

With the arriving of the European Union the Easter Bunny arrived too and today you will see everywhere Easter Bunnies and eggs and only very few chocolate bells.

FRIDAY's FAVE FIVE

more participants at Susanne at Living to tell the Story.

1. Since November I hadn't mowed the lawn and if we didn't have our entrance on the street's side we would have the same difficulties like in the cartoon below. The grass was so high that I had to do it in two times to take a little pause in between. Our lawn has just a handkerchief size and usually it takes me not even 20 min but this time it took me an hour and I was exhausted !



Now I am dreaming of a lawn mower robot, so I could sit in the sunshine and watch it working !

2. I was looking for a little Easter gift for grandson Toby, and as he is not old enough yet to look for Easter eggs and chocolate, I thought this littly tricycle would be of more use especially when the weather is nice.



Our son had exactly the same in the 70th, some toys are so useful that they are still modern. Apparently I wasn't the only person who was looking for such a bike, because in 3 toy shops they were sold out. Now we will see how it works for him on Easter.

3. I did some Easter decoration shopping, and also had to buy cat food, as we are away to celebrate Easter in Amsterdam and my neighbor will take good care of our cats as she did in the last 37 years !!

4. Dominique and I took the train and went to Ostende visiting our friend Nicole who has a holiday flat there. Despite the fact that the weatherman had forseen rain, the weather was nice and sunny and we could walk along the beach sit on a bank on seafront and take some sunshine



We also visited the grave of the Belgian painter James Ensor



Along the seafront there are always nice little shops and I couldn't resist to buy these two scarfs, immediately inspected by Rosie. Our way back was a nightmare we left at 6.45 pm, had no correspondence to Waterloo, had to take a train which took us to a nearby city and from there a train back to Waterloo. We were at home at 9 pm ! More than 2 h for 150 km ! I am quicker in London !

5. Mr. G. has his birthday after Easter, but we wanted to celebrate together with our son and family so I asked him what he wanted, and as usual he didn't want anything. Finally he said he could use a new electric shaver. I talked with my son and we agreed to buy him a new one, but that I should do it because of the guarantee. So I went, bought the thing and when I came back, I found a happy Mr. G. who told me that he had also bought the razor ! Now we have two !! and on top of it the razors are the same ! Men !! The result is I have to bring back the one I bought. He has only one face to shave !

TV PROGRAMS - THE AGONY OF CHOICE

more participants at Jenny Matlock's Alphabet Thursday

Yesterday evening I was laying sitting happily on my sofa, with an apple in one hand, the remote control in the other and Rosie rolled up like a little snail on my lap with the intention to watch a wonderful Love Story with a lot of dramas, misunderstandings an then a happy end.

Mr. G. had a nice book to read (probably about the Mafia, he likes it) so I was alone and could choose what I liked. Not that we have any problems in watching TV together, we always try to find a compromise. If that is not possible, then we watch our things separated.

So I looked for my love romance. We have about 70 channels and I really were convinced to find something. I had quite some choice as I could watch in German, French, English, and even the Dutch/Flemish channels as they are mostly subtitled in English. I started the hard work of zapping.

First I landed in France, a stupid talk show with a guy who took himself for the belly bottom of the world and found himself very charming. I got bored and changed.

Now I saw one of the CSI series. They were just busy to find out what the murdered victim had eaten. They digged with tweezers and other medical instruments in his stomac, and you had a lovely view on a disgusting dark colored mass which looked like vomit.

I looked at my appetizing apple and changed quickly. Next was another crime story where the pathologist just fumbled in red meat looking for a lost bullet while the blood dropped from the table. I wondered from which animal the meat came from it could hardly be the "dead" actor's flesh.

Not giving up so easily, l went on and hoped to find my romantic movie, and yes I found it !

Finally !! I took another piece of my apple.

He kissed her passionately, but then, behind her neck he suddenly had a nylon string in his hand and what did he do ? He strangled her !! Isn't it a shame ? She dropped on the floor with open loving eyes and died.

I got enerved ! This was definitely not so romantic and I switched to the next channel. This time it was something very interesting for me, a Golf game ! An old bold guy stand there like a statue, with his club in one hand and looked concentrated at a hole as if a mouse or a mole would come out.

After a while, as nothing came out of the hole not even a worm, I didn't follow this event further and zapped again. Some Arabs with their checkered kitchen towel on their heads and some soldiers in their camouflage uniform with big guns in their hands looked at each other and before anything could happen or somebody got shot, I changed, that was not for me I am a peaceful person !

I looked angrily at the screen, still no love story ! This time I saw a masked black dressed person jumping out of a bush on a peacefully walking women, a blade was glittering in the moonshine (this was romantic, I mean the moonshine) and ....stabbed her in the chest ! I didn't wait for the blood streaming out of her and went further. Now it became better, a scientific explanation about spiders, beatles, worms and other disgusting critters which I dearly "love", so I quickly switched before a hairy spider was zoomed.

Elephants ! that I like, they are cute, not so easy to keep in a house but still they are nice animals. Maybe not so good companions for my cats, they could step on them and I love my cats and not cat pancakes.

After mass car accidents, floods, fire, bombings, bank attacks and other catastrophes, I finally gave up and realized that there was nothing, but absolutely nothing on TV. I wonder why we pay for it ?

I moved an angry Rosie from my lap and looked through our DVDs which I hadn't watched yet. And what did I find ? DVDs of my son, full of science fiction, war stories and other stuff of no interest to me ! Offended, I switched off the TV, picked up Rosie and went to bed with a book !

But before I checked if there were no bloodstaines on the floor and under the TV.

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

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Grandson Toby

OUR WORLD - Oh Green Store

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I like to stroll through big garden stores and see the flowers and decoration. It's especially nice when it's quiet cool and you don't want to walk through a park.



I had been at OH GREEN quiet a few years ago, and it had changed a lot ! It has become enormous ! It is located in the middle of the countryside and I only found it thanks to my Madame GPS.



Many people had the same idea as I



Outside big items are shown, like garden sheds and furniture



even barns for little life stock



Greenhouses and play items



little swimming pools with cabines



a nice little park



where you can overlook the roof of the building



and at the same time gives you an idea how to create a pond



Inside you have a lot of choice of garden decoration



or inside decoration





and all possible things you need to work and entertain your yard.

You could stay there the whole day ! Unfortunately my battery died when I wanted to take a picture of the surroundings with cows on a field.

WHAT DID YOU DO THIS WEEKEND ?

Helps you to remember what you have done on the weekend of March 31, 2012.


On Saturday morning I really felt the need of new feathers for Easter ! I had spotted at one of my favorite stores C & A (which most of the Europeans know very well) that they made a "seasonal reduction" of 50 %. Despite the fact that I don't know what a seasonal reduction is, I went there and found this :



Two blouses and a pullover I can wear underneath in case it is cold when the Easter Bunny arrives.

So now I am equipped for whatever weather it will be.

In the afternoon I went with Dominique to my friend Nicole, who had asked me if she could join us on our roundtrip through Tunisia.



Charly the dog, wasn't very interested in our discussions but very much in the cake we had with our coffee. Dominique and Nicole didn't know each other so before we go as a trio we thought to spend
an afternoon together !



We had a lot of fun, we have the same interests, we love art and architecture Dominique paints too and Nicole is in my painting group, that's where I know her from. Now we are very much convinced that it will be a lot of fun to make this trip together. We will leave mid June.

My son had sent us some pictures of 15 month old grandson Toby, which I replaced with the old once I had in different frames.



Now it looks like this.




and we also could see that little Toby enjoys very much the fact that he can walk and run around now !

On Sunday I went over to Dominique because she babysitted her two grandchildren. The young parents had invited 40 people for a concert. Lucy's Dad has an amateur music group and he plays guitare. No babies needed for this event !



Little Lucy is 4 days older than Toby, but compared to him a little doll. She was tired, she just had eaten and needed a little nap. But I could update myself because after 37 years I forgot how 15 months old Toddlers behave !

I also made a little excursion to a huge garden center and when I had done some pictures, my battery gave up its soul and I returned home without buying anything. This store is far more expensive as the one I use to go.



and when I came home, I saw the first Lillys of the Valley in our front yard, which should only grow end April and are usually offered for the 1st of May !

THE TURQUOISE UNDERPANTS

Doing our laundry doesn't bother me at all, I just make two "hills", one for the white and one for the colored laundry, put it in the machine and push the button. Then I occupy myself with more interesting things.

But one thing I really hate is folding the whole stuff and put it back into the closets and wardrobes or wherever.

Last week Mr. G. arrived in the kitchen and complained about his underpants which apparently had shrinked and hurt him on both sides. I told him that it is made of a matrial which doesn't shrink and that he had probably put on weight, which he denied furiously. Anyway he changed the underpants and came back with the one which had become to small to show them to me.

I looked at it and and looked again and then I bursted out in laughter, he had put on the shorts of my two part sunbath suit, which explained that they effectively were to small. He couldn't understand why I laughed so much until I explained him that "his" underpants were shorts which belonged to me.

"Ah, he said, I was already wondering about the strange cut, but I saw turquoise and I also have turquoise underpants". While folding the laundry, I hadn't payed attention and had put my shorts with his underwear.

Unfortunately he refused to model with my shorts, so I don't have any pictures.