A DREAM CAME TRUE ?

Between these two pictures 50 years went by, I had never dreamed that 50  years later I would celebrate a Golden Wedding in the City Hall of our little town Waterloo together with 20 other couples invited by our mayor !


Linking to SOCS - Dream

FRIDAY's FAVE FIVE

The week started with pouring rain and we were happy that we could play our Scrabble in the warm living room of Myriam. I was third this time out of five which was a little better, but honestly I don't care to be the first or the last, the most important is the fun of playing ! After our scrabble we had a special treat, a Moroccan afternoon tea see post here.

I felt so tired and without any energy on Tuesday, so that even picking up a crumb was too much work. I just prepared the decoration things for our Golden Wedding on Saturday. The TV was also a good company. And to make my day even "better" I found out that the company where I had ordered the new TV furniture was bankrupt and my money was lost. There were many other clients too, but unfortunately nothing to do. It really had been a rotten day !

Aqua gym was nice, our animator just became a proud Dad 3 weeks ago and is beaming of proud and of course he has the most beautiful baby boy in the world. He makes us grandmas smile, we have had all this behind us !

As my grandson is also coming for our Golden Wedding and has his birthday just on Sunday, I had bought his birthday gift, don't ask me what it is it's a Nintendo game. But I also needed something for St. Claus on December 6, which is a very important day for Dutch kids and is more celebrated in the Netherlands then Christmas. I was looking for a nice pullover a bit fancy as he likes that, found one but not really for winter so I have to go into another shop.

On my way back home I stopped at Nichole's and we had a coffee and a chat together, while the neighbor's Labrador was with us, otherwise he is always alone because his owner is working and Nicole takes him out when she can. The dog was very friendly and adopted me immediately. Cat Isis sat on the windowsill and had a disgusted look on him. She doesn't seem to be afraid, Isis has a lot of character !


Queen Isis

A few girls were missing in our painting class many have a cold no wonder in this humid weather.
I discovered my "pouring" it had changed while it dried. I was quite happy with the result you never know what is coming out.



I started a new one, I just love pouring especially in this dull and grey season, colors cheer up !



I have to cover myself because it's  around with acrylic colours. But that's fun for me and let me forget all worries. But it's not something to do for a person who wants to know exactly what they are doing ! Here I choose the colors, mix them and pour them over the canvas, and then I have to wait a week to see what has come out ! So far I haven't been disappointed.

After class four of us went to the Chinese Restaurant "all you can eat" and came out almost exploding !



When I came home the tree in the middle of our useless roundabout had lost most of its leaves and looked so beautiful

more participants at Susanne at Living to tell the Story.

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

My friend prepared a Moroccan mint tea ! Delicious !




more participants here,
and Image-in-ing


After our scrabble our friend served us a Moroccan mint tea, with delicious little cookies and crepes. The crepes you could either eat with creamy cheese or  with butter and honey. The crepes are very thin you can almost look through and you have to make several layers.

As you can see the teapot is freshly polished and the tea is served in special glasses. When serving, she poured the first glass half full and poured it back into the tea pot. Then she held the pot as high as possible and poured the hot tea into the glasses. The tea is made with fresh mint leaves, green tea and some spices.

I never drink mint tea, I don't like it, but this one is really delicious and I even had 2 or 3 glasses with the cookies and crepes. Of course none of us had supper !


Linking to One Liner Wednesday - pour

A SPECIAL STREET IN BRUSSELS

The rue de Brabant is behind Brussels' North station and is the third commercial artery of Brussels.













I couldn't find out when exactly the rue de Brabant developed its "Shopping Mall" aspect, with the difference that the around 240 shops are all side by side in an open street and not covered. There are only shops no private houses, except apartments over the shops. Each day there are an average of 25000 pedestrians going through this street. Why does Rue de Brabant attract so many people? Because there is an impressive diversity of oriental products. Food, fabrics, furniture, spices, accessories, gadgets, but also objects made in Africa or the Middle East impossible to find elsewhere to very cheap prices. The shops are open all the time, not closed on Sundays or official Holidays which is not the case of the shopping malls still closed on Sundays in Brussels.









The whole street was taken over by a majority of Moroccan  business men and their families. You will find a lot of shops where husband, wife and children work together. Of course everybody knows everybody and there is a very cheerful atmosphere around. There is not the  slightest sign of racism in this street. You are more safe here then in other streets of Brussels. That's why it is so well known by Belgians and other Nationalities who come from France, Germany and Holland for shopping.

I have read that probably this street will be declared as a  tourist attraction.

While looking for a parking space, which wasn't easy I had to turn twice around the side streets until finally I caught a space just in front of a Kaftan store where sweaters and trousers were also sold.

And while turning around in the side streets we also went through the red light zone  also behind the North station, where real pretty girls where sitting in their windows.


empty chairs means that they are busy



Unfortunately I couldn't stop and take pictures because there were many cars behind me. But we could see enough from the girls. I only hope they work for their own and not for a pimp.

When the car was parked we had lunch in a Moroccan restaurant and then started our shopping tour. The whole street is a huge melting pot of all races and colors









It had been the second time that I have been there with my three friends and it will certainly not be the last time ! If I am not feeling good, to cheer me up I can go there, and almost feel on holidays ! And .... there are so many things to buy ! I bought two pair of trousers very chic and comfy for 5 Euros each ! Couldn't believe it ! At that price I can change trousers every day.

There are also a lot of food specialities which I would love to try.

more participants here

AWWW MONDAY - WEEKEND NOVEMBER 10

Linking to AWWW MONDAYS

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To do something special on Saturday I had looked through the list of the most special and famous  cafés, bars, or brasseries, in Brussels, because we wanted to go there.  I for my photos and my two friends by curiosity. And ....  I had discovered something for me (but for the others too) a café for cat lovers.

We were full of anticipation to have a coffee and a Brussels waffle in this cat café in company of about 10 cats. I don't know exactly.

There was a terrible traffic on Saturday but finally we managed to arrive there at 3.30 ! We had to ring at the door, so that somebody could open us and no cat could escape. A very friendly lady opened and told us that the cafe was full and there was no seats available anymore. We were very disappointed, stood there with long faces and decided to come back another day and then during the week and not on a weekend.



I just could take this photo from outside  and standing on the tip of my toes I looked through the window to see the cats. Indeed the place was full.

As I couldn't take any photos, I stole them from Internet to give you an idea how it looks like.



It must be really nice. We returned home and stopped in a beautiful "Art Deco" Brasserie, where in my disappointment I forgot to take pictures ! the Art work of the stained glasses was so nice ! We can always go back there in summer.

On Sunday as all shops are closed, we had the good idea to go in the only area in Brussels where the shops are open and it's a long street with one shop besides the other where you can buy everything from a nail to a wedding dress. I would say nearly all the shops were owned by Moroccans.

It took us half an hour to find a parking and then we went to "our" Moroccan restaurant. I had lentils with lamb, absolutely delicious. Then we started with our shopping. I needed trousers and a coat.



This gives you an idea of the "Rue de Brabant" where you can shop to your hearts content and with a nearly empty wallet.

The three others needed spices, pullovers, shoes and also trousers.

There are people from the Netherlands, France and Germany coming because the prices are unbelievable cheap, there are so many special clothes, and beautiful decoration stuff.  Of course it is an Arabic street with women wearing scarfs men sitting in front of their house and as the sun was shining it was almost as if we were in Morocco.

After two hours we had our shopping done and had a lot of fun with the shop owners, they are all so cheerful, no stress and so friendly. I found a red coat, exactly what I was looking for because I needed one for next Saturday when we celebrate our 50 wedding anniversary in the City Hall of Waterloo with the mayor.

We were all happy with what we had bought and returned home, but we stopped in a Bar on our way home to have a beer because we were really thirsty and in this street there is no alcohol at all.

It had been a very nice day. My friends were happy that I "dare" driving in Brussels, because they don't. There is indeed a lot of traffic and a lot of crazy drivers. But I like it.