PHOTO HUNTING

the result is here

FRIDAY's FAVE FIVE

more participants at Susanne at Living to tell the Story.

 1.


We are still covered in snow at least in my corner downtown it has disappeared and only on roofs and trees you still see some white. But getting out of my corner is a slippery affair ! Therefore I was mostly locked in. As you can see nobody cleans the sidewalks and you have to walk on the street. No danger as there are very few cars driving here during the day. My fake flowers, which I still couldn't take out because of the bad weather conditions, are now blooming in the snow ! Now that I could built snowmen on the sidewalk , there are no kids around to admire them. And then I also ran out of carrots for the nose.

2.

I badly needed my night creme and therefore drove to my favorite Indian shop, which has in my opinion the best natural cremes to very modest prices. I love this store, which looks like an Indian house and took some pictures inside for some photo memes. I always have the impression to be in another world, you can sit down there have a cup of Indian tea (for free) and listen to a very zen music. All the benefits of this store goes to India to help street children and orphans and a village where most of the handmade items are made. That brings at least some money into the village and creates jobs.

3. My friend and neighbor Dominique asked me to go with her to look for a new car, as I am better in discussing prices and don't let me influence by an eager salesman. It still hasn't changed yet, when a woman wants to buy a car she is considered as the perfect victim to make good deals even for the worst salesman, as we are supposed to be idiots completely ignorant.



4. Dominique wanted a "hybrid" car as the petrol/gas becomes more and more expensive. The only brand which had small cars was Toyota. I had already driven in this car with a friend, so I knew it. First nobody took notice of us. Men first. Slowly I got angry went into the office of a salesman who had his nose stuck in papers and told him that we are not here to buy bread but to buy a car. He jumped up as if somebody had stuck a needle in his bottom and we showed him the car we were interested in. Dominique climbed into the Yaris, which had the perfect size for her use, and tried it out. Then I asked for the price with all reductions possible because there is the motor show in Brussels and they sell cars to very interesting conditions. He was a "little" surprised that I knew all this and finally calculated a good price. Now Dominique wants to sleep it over which means she will ask her brothers what they think about the car and then buy it. And I thought the day when my car is too old I would buy the same.

5. For the week's end, we had a very cold wind, and I had no intention to go out in this cold weather, I needed nothing. But because  of my dear cats I had to go out ! Since the world outside is covered with a white carpet which apparently they don't want to spoil, they use the litter boxes more then ever, they sneak outside along the wall of the house where the snow has melted just for a little walk in the fresh air, but to do their buisiness they come inside. I had no litter sand anymore and  with the intention to only buy that I went to the supermarket and of course came back with a lot of other things which I suddenly needed.

JEANS AND I

more participants at Jenny Matlock's Alphabet Thursday
  

I remember very well when I got my first Jeans !


me at 13(my hair wasn't that dark!)

I was 13 and looked much older ! But that was only the appearance inside I was still a playful child, which sometimes caused me some troubles because people thought that for an about 18 year old looking  girl I shouldn't behave so childish and run around and roller skate like a 10 year old. In the 50th the girls were not so developed as today. As the Barbie doll of my mother, I wore whatever she wanted me to wear, that changed later !

It was rather difficult to get nice clothes just after the war, Germany was occupied by the allies. But we were lucky we lived in Bonn which belonged to the American sector.

As the population had to be dressed in the in the postwar period, in the American Army Surplus stores Jeans from Levis, Lee and Wrangler were for sale and greeted with enthusiasm especially by the teenagers ! They also were cheap and came on purpose for the parents to dress their sons and daughters.

We wore Jeans everywhere even at school. Uniforms were banned, Germany had seen enough uniforms since 1930 ! They had an overdose. Even policemen who had to wear a uniform were disliked for that. I grew up with the conviction that all people wearing a uniform were bad and especially the military.  It was put into my mind by my grandma and it hasn't changed ever since only I became a bit more tolerant.

My first jeans were the real once from the American Army stock and of course they had to undergo a special treatment. With the help of my mother I put them on and then sat in the bath tube while she filled it in with hot water so that they would shrink to fit exactly on my body.  It was a funny procedure, and I had to keep them on until they were dry ! My father shook his head, and stated that at least I was slim enough to wear them.

I was very proud with the result and together with all my girlfriends and classmates who had done the same, we all wore jeans !

When my parents moved to Belgium in 1959 I was shocked ! The teenagers there didn't know Jeans yet, wore uniforms at school and their fashion was old looking and  far behind what I called fashion and to what I was used to. Jeans only moved slowly in later in the 60th, but were mostly worn by boys and not by girls. Girls still had to wear skirts. When I left the German school and went to a Belgian college, I had to wear skirts or a dress and over that a blue apron dress !! I thought they were 100 years behind modern times !

In the 70th when I was a respectable working wife and mother, the Jeans disappeared from my wardrobe and I only wore them occasionally on weekends.


black and blue Jeans

When I stopped working, I started to wear Jeans again, I have no skirts anymore, I wear Jeans in all colors all the time and when I have to go out I wear some dressed up trousers, I went back to the past and to the future ! I think Jeans will last forever in fashion !

The history of the Jeans you find here

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

more participants here

Although this post should be wordless, you probably never will find out what this is !







melting cat paw prints in the snow !

WATERLOO IN WHITE

Since a few days it has snowed in Waterloo



and the Lion looking towards France has a white coat



Some 30 years ago, children went here with their sleighs on this historical place, which now of course is reserved for tourists who want to see the Waterloo battle field from the top of the Lion.



Napoleon is also freezing and looks at the also freezing tourists



The huge battle field is covered with snow



so is the entrance to our house

And when I look out of the window










my neighbors are stuck in the snow too !



But views are very beautiful !

WHAT DID YOU DO THIS WEEKEND ?

Helps you to remember what you have done on the weekend of January 19. If you participate please put the little logo on the top of your post and leave your link.



Saturday morning started with a little "Skype" chat with grandson Toby.



With Daddy's help he calls us every weekend ! This time he was very busy with playing with his little train, so after having given me a big smile he returned playing and then kissed the screen to say good bye !

As Ilona has now Skype installed, we went together to buy a webcam, because without it didn't work of course.



on the way back we stopped at Nicole's for a cup of tea and say hello to Charlie, who was happy to see us, and then he returned to the deck to watch the snow. We warmed ourselves up in front of the open fire and chatted as usual of course !

I also went to Dominique to install Skype (I will become a specialist) but she too needs a webcam.




We have icicles hanging from the roof and for our region it is very cold - 7°C (21F) !



On Sunday morning it started snowing and that's what I saw first ! Unfortunately I couldn't catch the snowflakes which swirled around ! Poor Rosie wasn't very happy about this white landscape.

Impossible to go outside, the streets were covered with snow and not yet cleaned. I hope that this year they won't run out of salt !

I don't know why but with this snow weather I always feel cold, although the temperature in the house is  the same as usual !



I put on a T-shirt with long sleeves, a woolen pullover, warm tights, thick socks, and over all that a sweat suit in thick velvet ! I look rather fat !  Here I am with my three layers and a pillow filled with cherry stones, which I had put in the microwave to heat it up and this keeps my feet warm ! I should rather sit in an igloo !

And in summer with the same temperature I just wear jeans and a T-shirt ! Isn't that strange ?

I also watched the Belgian Royal news, the crown princess Mathilde celebrated her 40th birthday today and of course there was a whole reportage about her ! 



She  has four children with the future King Philippe, and is quiet a pretty woman. She speaks fluently French, Flemish and English and also some Italian. She had studied psychology and was speech therapist. She also belongs to the hereditary nobility, the perfect women for the rather shy crown prince, but to my taste she is a little too perfect and I find her boring. There is some charisma missing. That's maybe why she is less well known like the other Crown Princesses.  Princess Mathilde is the Honorary President of Unicef Belgium. She also serves as the World Health Organisation’s Special Representative for Immunization. There were no special celebrations, but she got her face on a special post stamp for her 40th birthday.

After this romantic interruption I returned to my photos and my blog and looked at the still falling snow outside.

Dominique came over in the evening to watch with us our favorite Inspector Barnaby. We still have not seen all of the movies. Unfortunately this time Mr. G's calculations of the murdered people didn't reach the average of three, there were only two !

IT's VERY COLD OUTSIDE

It's very cold outside, my recipe  : a warm fire in the hearth, and a lap warmer !