18 BIRTHDAY OF THE FUTURE QUEEN OF BELGIUM

This 25th of October the crown princess of Belgium became 18 and therefore able to replace her father King Philip if it would be necessary.

I followed the whole ceremony on TV and can only say it was really well done. It was modern and classic at the same time, no long dresses required but nonetheless very beautiful



Elisabeth with her parents King Philip and Queen Mathilde (but only by marriage). Elisabeth wore a simple elegant white dress, which made her visible from everywhere.



She is very well prepared for her future job, is fluent in Flemish, French and German, very open and and likable to everybody.She is a student at boarding school UWC Atlantic College, in South Wales UK and also fluent in English. She had invited 80 young girls or boys from all over Belgium who had their birthday also in October and as she likes dancing also the very famous Antwerp ballet with the dancer of the movie "Girls"


Victor Polster (Who had to be a girl as he wasn't accepted as male dancer)

The ballet was modern not classic at all on a Spanish music.



The family is very close, here she is with her mother she also has three younger siblings.



Her two brothers, the King and Queen, and the younger sister applaud when Elisabeth had finished her speech in the three official languages, French, Flemish and German.



and here she is holding her speech



After the ceremony she guided her guests out of the palace, the first once was the ballet performers



and here the photo with all her young guests and the ballet, on the steps of the Royal Palace



The official photo in her beautiful dress



the stamp issued for her birthday



Elisabeth in Jeans and baskets what she usually wears as all young girls



and her medal

This was the official part but in the evening she celebrated with her friends.

FRIDAY's FAVE FIVE

As usual the week started with our Scrabble group and this time it was Ilona's turn.
The game which looked so easy and full of possibilities turned out to be very difficult and took a long time ! We had to wait for our coffee and cake !



And while it was cold and rainy outside, it was very cosy and warm inside thanks to the fire in the stove.



I had got an email from the German embassy that my identity card and passport were ready and I went there 15 km to hear that I am too late it was 11 am. I had called before and they had told me that the office was open until 12, but not for picking up documents. I made a little show and insisted and finally I got both things and waved them good bye ! Now I am in peace for 10 years and finally I can travel again with a plane and a train !

While I was shopping for painting material I saw an advent calendar, very special, all little boxes glued together and you have to fill in yourself. As my grandson is very allergic to nuts I can't buy one with sweets because a little piece of a nut is enough for him to swell up and suffocate. I found some cute smilies to put them in the boxes with the date on, and also a few sweets I am 100 % sure that they don't contain any nuts !





Since Myriam and I are the "Presidents, Administrators "or whatever we have got 4 more members and now we have to pay attention that we are not too many in our group. Last year we had lost quite a lot of members. Now we have enough money to pay our teacher, the insurance and we even could buy a coffee machine, for our coffee breaks  !

In the evenings now, I have each day the same view, Rosie on the second floor and Arthur on the first on and close to the radiator !



Above you see Joëlle teaching backgrounds in watercolors, besides those who paint what they want and with the material they want and then the "piggies" with their pouring. Mine from last week is to the left and I "poured" another one which has to dry and it is again the suspense how it looks when it is dry !

more participants at Susanne at Living to tell the Story.

SUNSET SERENITY

When I think of sunset serenity I think of the ride on a camel's back into the Sahara in Morocco.



Already the soft rocking on the camels back made me feel happy. Its name was Michael Jackson ! I never will forget the beautiful eyelashes it had !



The sand first white became more and more a deep yellow while the sun set slowly



and then it was there, it was just too beautiful ! I sat on my camels back and we listen to the noises of  the Sahara which spoke to us in a soft whisper. I could have stayed there for hours but it became dark very quickly and we had to return to our hotel.

While the sunset in Morocco was serene



you can't say that from the sunsets I have sometimes here, looking out of my kitchen window !




Linking to One liner Wednesday

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

The Berlaymont
 
The office building in Brussels, which houses the headquarters of the European Commission, the executive of the European Union (EU). Each day there are lots of people protesting against the Brexit.


more participants here,
and Image-in-ing

AQUARIUM NAUSICAA - BOULOGNE SUR MER

The year's end excursion for the seniors of our city took us to Boulogne sur Mer where we visited the Aquarium Nausicaa (all details here) The French Tourist Office describes it as the biggest of Europe. As everything is always the most beautiful, or the biggest or greatest in France, I wasn't surprised when I saw it. It was not so big at all and all signs for the different species of the water world was placed like in a mace, and as everybody walked of their own, I did it with my two friends and of course got lost turned around had to ask several times and finally gave up. But apparently we didn't miss a lot, but what we saw was really very interesting. I had never seen so many different fishes of all sizes and colors in my whole life !




Read more here

more participants here

AWWW MONDAY AND WEEKEND OCTOBER 19

Linking to AWWW MONDAYS

*********

Weekend

Saturday I continued to "built" the Blog for our painting group. It's a long time ago that I have done this for me, and so many things have changed that it takes me longer then I thought. But now I have maybe half done.

As it was impossible to do some window shopping or just a little walk because it poured I went to Myriam and we talked about the different "Pouring" techniques, but with acryl and for our paintings and not like the heaven with water on us. It happens to be the same word.

The last pouring I did came out quite well, as you are never sure about the result.



It's a pity that I can't do it at home, because it is a very dirty procedure. But in summer I could do it on the grass or on the terrace.

On Sunday the weather was even worse and it rained non stop from morning til night ! Nicole had gotten an invitation to an exhibition of a friend and as it was inside, we went there. The house was in a little village full of old farms and the cobbled streets were so narrow that horse and carriage would just fit in it. Fortunately I have my cute little mini car a Toyota Aygo which slips through any obstacle but my Madame GPS got mad in this maze ! And we were not the only once !

When we arrived it also was an old farm completely modernized 



It rained too much to take a picture of the house, but I could make these once standing inside from the huge garden, almost a small park and the old horse stables which had been converted to her painting atelier. Must be a real paradise when it is warm and sunny.

Except the above elephants, the paintings were not to my taste, so I wandered around and looked more at the house's inside then the paintings.

We chatted a bit with the other visitors and then left, because we wanted to go to the cinema and watch "Downton Abbey"

We had tried at 4 pm but the the film was sold out, at 6 it was better, we arrived very early because a lot of people had the same idea then us.



I liked the film very much, but regretted a bit that it was only the romantic side of the film and nearly nothing about the social situation of the farmers and servants and other "ordinary" people. But we loved the dresses and the hats and the old grandma and had a real nice time.

Then we drove home, now it's already dark at 7 pm and it was 8.30. For the first time I took my "night glasses" out, which look like sunglasses but protect your eyes from the strong light of the headlights and street lights. Without them I would see trees where are none and no trees when there are ! Same with side streets. Thanks to these glasses I arrived home safe and sound.