FRIDAY's FAVE FIVE

1. After the year's end festivities, school holidays etc, we all returned to normal life again. With these holidays in the middle of the week I didn't know anymore which day we were and took Wednesdays for Saturdays and even mixed up Blog posts, which is a crime in itself.

2. A friend of my painting class came for a coffee and we talked about Christmas and New Year's Eve, she too was happy that it was over know. And while we were chatting I discovered a Father Christmas, and angel and another Christmas decoration and even a little crib, which were in a corner and apparently had escaped my eyes ! I jumped up and put them away, out of my view !

3. Mr. G. after X reminders finally dismantled the light garlands in our hedge. Fortunately there were no children around, but anyway he swore in Italian.

On TV there was nothing else than reports about this terrible terrorist attack on the office of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo (Charlie Weekly) well known for courting controversy with satirical attacks on political and religious leaders of all faith. Amongst the so far 12 victims, the most famous cartoonist Cabu and Charbonnier (Charb), Verlhac, and Wolinski, were amongst the victims, they fought for freedom, and against terrorism with their humoristic cartoons !



When Charb made this last cartoon, he probably didn't know how right he was ! 
It seems to me that we are centuries back to the times of the crusades, making war and killing innocent people in the name of God/Allah ! What a disgusting excuse. The Belgian Muslim community is disgusted and protests. They don't want to have their religion insulted and soiled by these terrorists.

4. As the weather was so bad and my toe had started to hurt again, I was locked in the house and spent my time with creating some headers for Blogfriends, sorted out all pictures from last year and put them in virtual files. I only went to Nicole to bring her back a tray which she had forgotten on New Year's Eve.

5. Our first painting class in this new year has started too. We have a new teacher, who is a very nice and friendly lady and fits perfectly into our group.



We also have changed the tables, instead of being lined up we are now sitting in a circle, which is much nicer. It was a very funny morning, besides drawing and painting we chatted about our holidays.

more participants at Susanne at Living to tell the Story.

HULK IN HOSPITAL

Letter : H

When our son was about 8, I got a phone call in my office from the school director, to tell me that he had fallen in the schoolyard and had been transported to the nearby Hospital, probably had a concussion and God knows what else !

I got a shock, dropped everything, informed a colleague,  took my purse, the car keys and ran as quickly as I could to my car and drove to the hospital. I imagined the worst ! When I arrived I stormed to the reception to know in which room he was. They told me a number and I took the lift which seemed to work like a snail and arrived breathless in the room. I thought I would find a half dead child, unconscious and badly injured !

I opened the door and what did I see ? A normal looking little boy, crying and sobbing loud who, when he saw me screamed : "I want my Hulk, I want my Hulk" ! It took me a little moment before I understood what he wanted. His Hulk doll ! He wasn't badly injured, he actually was in a very good shape which was confirmed by the doctor, who told me that he only had to stay in observation over night. Was I relieved ! So I hurried home, a miracle that I didn't get a ticket, picked up this dammit doll and drove back to the hospital.


The dream of all little boys end 70 beginning 80 !

As soon as my son saw his Hulk, he stopped crying gave me a big smile and put this ugly thing besides him in his bed, not before showing it proudly to the other two children who were in the same room.

From this moment on he was completely cured, spent a good night in the hospital and I could pick him up the next morning.

The day after he could return to school, but without Hulk, he remained home, I didn't take him with me to work !

more participants at Jenny Matlock's Alphabet Thursday

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

a one man's job


more participants here

WATERLOO IN THE RAIN

I wished I could show a nice world in our world, but unfortunately it is not the case. It rains and of course I prefer not to go out for any photo hunting. However I found the solution ! I drove through my city Waterloo, and shot out of the car windows not with a gun of course but with my camera !



The Jehova witness building



Supermarket parking space





on the street home


To increase your bad mood, the funeral services








Some shops



Along the main street



The only colorful spot was the carousel, a "left over" from the Christmas market !

more participants here

MY WEEKEND OF JAN 1ST, 2015

My friend Claudie from the South of France came for a short visit over the weekend. Her daughter will study in Brussels for 3 months, and she wanted to see the room she had rented for her and get the keys. Unfortunately we didn't have the best weather, it was cold and windy, hard for a girl from the South !



Nevertheless we went to the Brussels Anderlecht market which she had never seen and strolled through the stands. Part of it is located in a huge hall where once the cattle had been sold, and at least we were "under cover" !

In the afternoon we drove to Brussels to pick up the keys !



The street looked quiet and the old houses too big now to house one family without servants are mostly rented to students. They each have a room the kitchen is in common and also the living room.



Claudie had already brought some of her daughter's stuff and tried desperately to open the suitcase ! She had forgotten the numbers to open the safety lock and had to call her husband to get the right one. Finally we got the suitcase open ! It turned out that the room had a well equipped kitchen corner and her daughter doesn't have to share the common kitchen. Everything necessary was there.



Then we inspected the bunk bed with a desk underneath. I didn't even try to climb up, it was too high for my vintage age !



A table and the kitchen and then we went to see the common living room. It all looked a little empty, as all students were on holidays, but still quite nice. We turned the heating on and satisfied returned home.



For supper we had a cheese fondue with Broccolis, the ideal food to warm you up when it is cold outside !



The next morning, while Claudie was still sleeping I was suddenly so fed up with the Christmas decoration, that I took off everything and Mr. G. packed the whole decoration in a box and carried it to the basement for the next year ! I enjoyed the look of my now normal looking living room ! Usually I wait until the 6th of January, but this time I couldn't wait ! It depressed me. Christmas is not anymore as it used to be.

It was an awful day, it rained cats and dogs and it was very cold. We wanted to visit the Brussels' Christmas market, but with this weather it was really impossible.

Winter sales had started in whole Belgium so instead of walking through the rain



we went inside the Waterloo Galleries to have a look at the "Sales" ! Despite the so said "Sales" the prices were too expensive for our wallets, that we just walked around and sat in a café watching people loaded with shopping bags.

Time went by so quickly and the day of her departure arrived only too soon ! We took the bus together to the Brussels Midi station, where I went with her into the station and we said good bye. On my way back the sun came out ! What a shame, we could have visited the Christmas market, but she had to leave.

The rest of the day I just did nothing but watching TV and sat at my computer, I couldn't even do the laundry because there is a pipe blocked in the kitchen and water doesn't run through anymore. Very annoying when you have to use the sink ! Tomorrow somebody is coming to repair it, hopefully it's nothing serious.