FRIDAY's FAVE FIVE

1. First thing Monday morning was calling my doctor because of my hand which had swollen to a balloon and hurt ! My cat Rosie for I don't know what reason had bitten me very hard. I got a tetanus shot and antibiotics and now have to wait ! Rosie got a slap and some shouting and showed bad conscience the next day !

2. Despite my swollen hurting hand, fortunately it is the left one, I started our Christmas decoration. A groaning Mr. G. carried two suitcases from the basement to the living room and we realized that we are not getting younger ! Of course in one suitcase was all stuff for the Christmas tree and nothing else ! I should put labels on them !

3. From year to year our Christmas tree shrunk, but this one is the smallest we ever had !


Christmas tree, son with a pram for his guinea pig

When our son was a little boy we used to have one from ground to ceiling.



And this year we have a mini one ! The reason is, we are going to Amsterdam for Christmas, but I couldn't live without a Christmas tree and a little decoration.

4. It took me two days to get the decoration up, because of my hurting hand but finally I managed !



on the tables



on the furniture



on the plants.



and in the entrance my season basket

I didn't even put my nose outside, it was so humid and wet and I didn't want to catch a cold. Fortunately I still profit from the sunshine I got in Egypt !

5. To end the year, we had a Christmas/New Year party in my painting class



We celebrated with Champagne and cakes and had a lot of fun.



After that, I went for lunch with a friend in one of the Waterloo shopping galleries, where I got a new title : I became "the wife of Mr. G." My friend know lots of shop and restaurant owners in this gallery and it is also the place where Mr. G. uses to go each morning for a cup of coffee and meet friends. Apparently he is so well known by everybody, so that they were curious to meet his "better half" as I go very seldom in this gallery. We had  Chinese lunch and when the restaurant owner heard that my "take away" was for Mr. G. he added another portion ! After a nice coffee we separated and I went home. I just made it before a strong wind and rain started !

more participants at Susanne at Living to tell the Story.

THE EARTHQUAKE

Letter : E

I was laying on the beach, the sun was shining, it was warm and I felt so good ! I heard the sound of the waves. Suddenly the ground started to shake and I swang back and forth on  my beachbed ! Something heavy dropped on my belly. Rubble ?  Fear came over me I tried to open my eyes but I couldn't ! I hardly could breath, I panicked and sat up.

It was dark around me, and I shivered. Suddenly I realized that I wasn't laying on a beach, but in my bed in my room ! I switched on the light and saw cat Arthur sitting on my belly, scratching himself vigorously ! He had jumped on my belly so that I thought a rock had hit me and his scratching made my bed or rather mattress shaking as if it was an earthquake ! That at least was what I imagined because I never had experienced one.

Very relieved I fell back on my pillows and pushed my nearly 6 kg (13 lbs) heavy cat from my belly. The earthquake stopped immediately and a very offended cat disappeared through the door !



Arthur the earthquake !

more participants at Jenny Matlock's Alphabet Thursday

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

wet floor ???


more participants here

OUR WOLRD - Hurghada the best of

For the last 12 days my world was in Hurghada a city at the Red Sea in Egypt. It is a main tourist center and third largest city (after Suez and Ismailia) in Egypt located on the Red Sea coast.

The city was founded in the early 20th century. Until a few years ago it was a small fishing village but since the 1980s has been continually enlarged by Egyptian and foreign investors to become the leading coastal resort on the Red Sea.  Hurghada is known for its watersports  and warm weather. Daily temperature hovers round 30 °C (86 °F) most of the year. Numerous Europeans spend their Christmas and New Year holidays in the city, mainly English, Germans,  Italians and some guests from Eastern countries, like Russia, Poland etc.



Freshly baked bread at the beach



and a variety at breakfast



The breakfast room



Boats for excursions and divers,



The swimming pool



View on the beach



View on the Hotel Sunrise Resort



a lovely little bay for those who don't dare to swim in the vast ocean



Massage bed



Happy divers



and a beautiful view on Hurghada city

more participants here

MY WEEKEND OF DECEMBER 13

During the night of Friday to Saturday we had a strong storm and the wind howled terribly on the 7th floor ! When I went on our balcony, I found only one of Nicole's slippers, the other one had been blown away by the wind !



Looking down we saw it laying on a bush ! Nicole went down couldn't find the bush, went up again to the 7th floor to find out the exact location and finally managed to get her slipper back. Of course there were many spectators very amused when she shook the bush to get her slipper down.



The rest of the morning we spent at the beach, enjoying the sunshine, watching the cook asking the guests if they like the food (it was delicious) and the animation guy who called for "Belly Dancing" ! Then it was time to leave.



While waiting in the entrance hall I took this picture of a new Christmas decoration which was displayed in the hall. We did a whole tour through Hurghada and stopped at hotels where other guests waited to be picked up for the airport.



The airport too looked christmassy and people were rather sad to leave !

The 5 h flight went smooth and Mr. G. picked us up at the Brussels' airport. We felt very cold !



This was the view I had this morning when I opened the stores ! Depressing, compared to when I opened the curtains yesterday !

I finally emptied my suitcase and dressed reluctantly into thick winter clothes.



After lunch I gathered my courage and started the Christmas decoration. As usual each year Mr. G. doesn't remember where he had put all the stuff, so instead of preparing Christmas we first did an Easter egg hunting not looking for bunnies and eggs but for angels, stars, balls and fathers Christmas. Finally we found them in a suitcase even labelled "Christmas decoration" !