FRIDAY's FAVE FIVE

1. After some shopping together, Nicole and I went to an Asian food restaurant, which had been recommended to us by her neighbor. We first were a little suspicious because the price of a whole buffet "all you can eat" was only 12 € (13 $) with wine and coffee included !



From the outside it didn't look that nice, but the inside was really very beautiful and cozy.



The buffet was unbelievable, such a choice ! These are only the starters I forgot to take pictures of the main courses and the dessert ! We really enjoyed our meal and now we know that this is a place to come back !

2. On the 21st we had our National Day and of course it was very much celebrated !



Nicole and I walked through the park, there also was a flea market and then when we wanted to listen to the band playing songs from the 60th, we had to leave because poor Charlie thought the drums were a thunderstorm and he is so afraid of it. When he started to shiver like a leave in the wind, we left !



There were also a "Kids city" with even little ponies and horses to ride around

3. We also visited the Lego exhibition which had been created for the bicentenary of the Waterloo battle.



It was just amazing ! More than two years of work, no less than 5000 hours of design and installation, and over 1,000,000 Legos !

4. I absolutely wanted to see the Sunflower labyrinth in Mons (Belgium) which had been created in honor of the painter Vincent van Gogh, who had lived here in his early years. Mons is the European city of culture this year.



It was really very impressive. 11.500 sunflowers had been used to build this labyrinth just in front of the City hall. I climbed up on the scaffold to see the it from above ! The entrance was free and there were a lot of people from all corners of Europe.

5. I had to think about my suitcase, as I go on holidays tomorrow. It took me some time to sort out all the battery chargers, for each device another one, mobile, Kindle, camera, computer, and the USB keys etc. That took most of my time, because clothes I just throw in the suitcase. As long as they are all clean, it's quickly done !



I will be in Eastbourne as I do each year since 2007, but this time I will stay in a hotel at the seafront, because it is impossible for me to stay at my friends' house, as Anne my friend passed away not even two months ago. I would see her in all rooms and that would be too sad. On the other hand I love Eastbourne and I will try to make the best out of my stay.

more participants at Susanne at Living to tell the Story.

A JACK AND JILL BATHROOM ?

The first time I heard about a "Jack and Jill" bathroom was in the series "Escape to the country". I know this kind of bathrooms, but why is it called Jack and Jill ??



In the other languages I know it's called 2 bedrooms with a common bathroom. I agree, it's longer to say than just a Jack and Jill bathroom.

I tried to find out the origin of this expression. No way, even Google didn't know. They all refer to an English nursery rhyme :




Now what the heck this rhyme has to do with a bathroom ? I tried to find out who invented the Jack and Jill bathroom, but apparently nobody knows !

The best answer I could find was : It is called that because it is a bathroom that adjoins two bedrooms -- generally separating the two. And the most common gender in families with two children is one male and one female. Hence, the bathroom usually separated a girl's bathroom from a boy's bathroom. And the original designer of the first J-and-J bathroom had 2 kids -- one named Francis and one named Mervyn." Which still doesn't say why is it called Jack and Jill instead of Francis and Mervyn ?

Even Wikipedia let me down it says : On entering the bathroom, one should lock the opposite door to prevent entry from the other bedroom. Before leaving, that door should be unlocked and the other door locked from the bedroom side. This will then allow occupants of either bedroom to use the bathroom, but not gain access to the other bedroom.

If full privacy is not required, for example to wash one’s face or brush one’s teeth, the opposite door need not be locked. This would allow the other party to make simultaneous limited use of the bathroom, especially if it contains a washbasin for each bedroom.

Does someone know the answer ?

more participants at Jenny Matlock's Alphabet Thursday

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

I have no idea where this carton is coming from. The strange thing is everything is written in English instead of French.



more participants here

MILL AND CASTLE OF BRAINE LE CHATEAU

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WEEKEND REVIEW JULY 18

On Saturday morning I forced myself to do some garden work, I had to trim two bushes, which should be round, but had a lot of twigs growing over and there were some weeds in the bark. After that I  had enough and sat down behind my computer on the terrace.

As always when we want to get in holiday mood, we go to the Waterloo Lion !



All signs of the bicentenary celebrations were gone and the fields again empty. There were lots of tourists from all countries and when we sat down for a drink, we talked to Canadians, Germans and also some Belgian tourists.



We had two dogs with us this time, Nicole's Charlie (right) and Kiwi (left) who belongs to a friend of her who was ill and she dogsitted. With these two dogs you get a lot of attention, and it's always a start for a conversation. We enjoyed the sunshine and stayed there for at least two hours before returning home.

On Sunday it was a little cloudy but I had discovered on a new Website of Belgian Wallonia that there was a watermill not very far from Waterloo. They had done a lot for tourists lately, apparently they already had discovered that you can make money with tourists !




The mill from the 18th century was really very nice and surrounded by beautiful fields and woods.



Through the trees I saw a castle which I didn't know either so I visited it too. (I will write about them in another post).



On my way back I saw that in the Waterloo city park they had started to put up stalls and tents for the celebration of the National Day on July 21. The kids city was already in full function !