FRIDAY's FAVE FIVE

1. Rain, rain and rain ! I feel like a prisoner ! On top of that we had a rather strong storm and lots of houses were damaged, roofs flew away, trees fell on the streets and highways and in some regions the electricity went on strike. My neighbor's basement was full of water and I could watch how it was pumped out !

2. Being fed up to be locked in I crossed the street, only a few meters, and visited my other neighbor, but was wet when I arrived ! We had a nice chat and she was happy to see somebody, her view became so bad, that now she is not allowed to drive anymore. At least thanks her tablet she can still read and also watch TV on a big screen.

3. In the News we were told that along the highways at the rest areas, Eros Centers will be built, with the income of the taxes they want to repair the bad state of the highways. The girls get a fixed salary and have to pay taxes ! I thought now the world or at least Belgium becomes crazy, when I learned the next day that it was an April 1 prank !

4. My cleaning lady came with a big surprise for me



A lovely cat bag which contained a card, a bunny, a lamb a chocolate egg and a beautiful colored easter egg. This will probably be the only gift I will get for Easter.

5. Everybody in our painting class had made a painting or drawing on a little square carton.



We put them together and when we had found the right disposition, they will be glued on the wooden square as one single painting for the Waterloo Artists tour exhibition in October.



After this "hard" work, we had a delicious cake, which one of the ladies had baked herself together with champagne or coffee. What a nice morning !

more participants at Susanne at Living to tell the Story.

A NEW TAX

Yesterday I got a letter from the city, informing me that from the 1st of May on, I have to pay 10 € (11 $) per cat per month ! This should contribute to the big deficit in the municipality ! In my case that would mean 40 € per month ! For dog owners it was even more expensive.

To prove that your cat had paid the tax, she had to wear a special collar with a medal on which was written "tax paid for May 2015". Each month you would get a new collar with the new months on. I also could pay per year and would get then 7 x 4 collars for May, June, July, August, September, November, December !

I got really furious, that was a lot of money how could poor old retirees pay for their cats, if some of them owned until 10 cats !

I decided to organize a protest march for all cat owners for the end of the month. There are already a lot of people who will participate in this march and then we will all go to the mayor's home and put as lot as possible dirty cat litter in front of his door, if he doesn't cancel this new tax ! We all want  to have our cats for free !

Isn't that a shame ??



My cats protest and refuse to wear this collar, Kim even got a nervous breakdown !


PS : Don't forget that today is April 1st and that's only an April Fools prank !

more participants at Jenny Matlock's Alphabet Thursday

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

Seen on Internet

Rosie : Because I'm happy

Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof

Because I'm happy la,la,la

more participants here

SHOPPING CENTER IN NIVELLES

When the weather is bad, where can you go and walk around ? In a shopping center ! A new shopping center of 28.600 m² (308.000 ft) in total containing 101 units had been opened 2 years ago in the nearby town Nivelles, but so far I had never been there. A parking for 1392 cars is also available. That sounds a lot but when I arrived it was full. Fortunately some people left and I could park my car rather quickly.

The Nivelles shopping centre has solar panels for energy reducing, and a healthy indoor lighting.



The entrance



the fully packed parking with the Hotel Nivelles behind



Many people had the same idea as I had and it was quiet crowded.



Nice lamps were hanging over the aisles






There were many restaurants and cafés, benches to sit down, I liked these quaint seats.



The first Easter eggs



Despite the cold outside there were many people lining up for Australian ice cream



an American store



the famous Belgian chocolates,



All kind of different items



and a frog greeting the children. I also liked this shopping caddie for parents with kids

more participants here

WEEKEND REVIEW

Being fed up with the rain, I finally decided to discover the new Shopping Center in Nivelles, the next "big" town near Waterloo.



It turned out to be very nice, and lots of people had the same idea as me, the shopping center was very crowded. I was lucky to find a parking space, somebody just left. I started to walk inside protected from the rain and discovered that all the shops we have in Waterloo on the main street were here under one roof. I took some pictures, sat on the nice seats and even found a nice cardigan for half price ! Madame GPS on my return went crazy and I did a sightseeing of places I had never seen. Unfortunately I couldn't stop and take pictures because of the rain. So I really don't know where I have been but suddenly I was in Waterloo and found my home !

As each year at the same time we sprang because of spring to summertime; And as usual there were the same complaints and interviews on TV because of one hour difference. Many countries have used it at various times, but it really started since the energy crisis of the 1970s, so we should used to it by now. They should record the yearly complaints and play them each year, because it's always the same. One hour difference, I don't even realize !



Even my cats don't care. Here is Arthur before and after the daylight saving time.

On Sunday late afternoon I went with two friends to the cinema to see the so much praised movie



Still Alice. Marianne was particularly involved because her husband has just started Alzheimer and I had thought that it would do her good to see the future and at least know and more understand this terrible disease and how to handle it. At the beginning she was watching quietly, sitting besides her I felt her fear. When  Alice started to get lost and it got worse and worse, she only saw the symptoms and didn't understand the movie and started to cry. I felt so sorry for her but tried to concentrate on this extraordinary movie.

But when we got out it was the catastrophe, she cried and cried and we tried to comfort her and went in a Tavern for a drink.

There she started to blame me because I had suggested her to see this movie.
She complained and complained about the future. Nicole and I suddenly understood that she was not crying for her husband, but because she pitied herself. It was always about what a life she would have, that she couldn't travel anymore that she had to take him with her now all the time etc etc. We told her that she has to pull herself together, and get used to cope with it now that she knew more about this disease, there she told us that she knew already everything because she had been at the Alzheimer association and is part of a group of people living with Alzheimer. It was useless to comfort her, she was so deeply sad about herself, and continued to whine and whine, so that Nicole at a moment got very angry, told her what she thought and that she should stop to pity herself ! That helped, we finished our drinks and returned home. I learned something of this experience. Don't try to help such selfish people, its just a waste of time, it ended that she was angry with both of us. Not even once she had mentioned her husband.