FRIDAY's FAVE FIVE

On Monday my ancient neighbour for 14 years came for a visit. Meanwhile so many things had happened ! 

She had moved away before us, because she unfortunatelyhad married a mentally sick man who separated her from her family, was a champion of manipulations, until after nearly 3 years she managed to escape in her bathsuit, she was supposed to go to her acquagym,  and  refuged to one of her brothers. 

In the meantime she is divorced and lives again very close to me in another small town where she is closer to her children and grandchildren. So we had a lot to talk because meanwhile she had gotten 3 other grandchildren from her youngest boy whom I knew when he was 14 and lived with his mother in the next house and her daughter who studied at that time in Brussels. Now she is happy again although a bit bitter that she was so naive to fell in the trap despite the fact that everybody who knew her had warned her ! Most important is now it's over !

The next day another ex neighbour came I knew her since a very long time her husband and I worked for 10 years together. We mostly talked about the vaccin which so many people refuse and the shortage we have due to bad management. I got now an "invitation" for a vaccin but both towns which they proposed to me had run out of vaccins. So I am here with the convocation and can't get an apointment ! I loose so much time on the telephone because their internet page didn't work either, what a mess !

Meanwhile the population has filed a complaint against the State of Belgium and had won, because there were too many restrictions made against the law which took our freedom. After one year of lockdown the restaurants are still not open and we have curfew between 10 pm and midnight it depends where you live and many other strange things which have nothing to do with the virus.

Summer broke out and for the first time I was laying on our balcony and enjoy the warm weather. Mr. G. is still in hospital and I can't get the information if the last test had been done or not. So there I hang on the phone too and try to push them a bit. 

When we moved in I never saw houses from our balcony. When autumn and then winter came, to my surprise I discovered a like a village looking houses. Now that spring arrives the little village disappears again behind the blooming trees.

This was after scrabble !

We also had our Scrabble for the first time this year outside ! It's a pity that the weatherman announced cold weather for easter ! We will go again from summer to winter ! 

I finally got an appointment for the vaccin but quite far from here in our Clinic they ran out of Pfizer vaccins and have nothing anymore and now I will get the other one I always forget the name which several countries had refused because it was dangerous and now suddenly it is not anymore ! They ran out of stock that's simple. Had to find an excuse. I think all vaccins are the same and I never heard so far that somebody died of a Corona vaccin !!

For Easter Rosie got a new cat tree ! Of course she doesn't like it (yet) one day she will, cats need time. But for the first time this year she stayed outside and looked down on a black cat ! 

 Now I am curious when she finally decides to climb on her new tree !

 

more participants at Susanne at Living to tell the Story.

HODGEPODGE MARCH 31

1. The Hodgepodge lands on the last day of March...in ten words or lest bid the month adieu. Were you really only 31 days? 

For me it was an awful long month full of worries and I am happy that March is over ! Besides the fact that Mr. G had to be hospitalized, it also was a very cold and rainy month ! No regrets to say good bye !

2. March 31st is National Tater Day...your favorite way to have a potato? Given a choice would you opt for sweet, white, or red? How often are potatoes on your menu in one form or another? Ever been to Idaho? If not, is that a state you'd like to visit someday?

From all potatoes in the world I like the English once. They have another taste then the once we get here in Belgium. Each time I am in the UK I eat baked potatoes or jacked potatoes and I could eat it every day, but there are also the fish and chips which I love too. Otherwise we don't eat a lot of potatoes my husband being Italian he considers potatoes like a vegetable, spinach for exemple. We eat a lot of pasta and grilled vegetables. 

3. Last time someone or something 'rained on your parade'? Explain. 

Of course the Lockdown ! With a little interruption where everything was nearly normal, it hit us again and now even more restricted ! Curfew at midnight, in Brussels at 10 pm, outside you can receive 4 people but inside only 1 or two ! If you want to shop anything else as food, you have to make an apppointment before and you have half an hour shopping. I only respect the rules which make sense I can't receive 4 people on my terrace and tell them to go behind the bushes or flower pots to do your little business, because they are not allowed to cross the house ! Real ridiculous. 

4. Put all your eggs in one basket, get cracking, nest egg, bad egg, good egg, egg on, have egg on your face, or walk on eggshells...choose a phrase from the list that applies to something in your life currently and tell us how or why.

I never put my eggs in only one basket ! If the basket gets lost, all my eggs would be lost too. You can replace basket by bank and eggs as savings, it's always better to use several accounts in case one bank gets bankrupt.That counts for other things too !

5. If I visited your home would I find a lot of baskets there? Something you like to keep in a basket? 

Yes I have quite a lot of big baskets. One for laundry, one in the entrance for hats, gloves and scarfs, and one which I use as storage for a few paintings. Nothing for Easter, family abroad, husband in hospital.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Today I have no dark thoughts,  we have unusual warm and sunny weather up to 22°C which is very unusual for Belgium and apparently has never happened. This means I can take my first sunbath half shade half sun which makes me feel on holidays without travelling ! 

 

 

 

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

Once upon a time when the world was normal, in the Wolvendael park in Brussels, kids could look for Easter eggs. They were offered by the municipality ! Unfortunately for the poor kids this event had been cancelled due to the lockdown rules which had become more restricted ! 

 

 

more participants here, and Image-in-ing

HAL ST. GERY BRUSSELS

The Halls Saint Géry exist since 1881, in the historic heart of Brussels. The building is of exceptional architecture and had been a market hall. Today it is an exhibition and event space dedicated to the heritage and lifestyles of the capital. The Halls Saint-Géry are a pleasant place to relax and discover new things, day and night. The surroundings are full of restaurants and cafés and a meeting place for art students and students in general.

The halls

inside

Two men playing chess

outside
 

more participants here

AWWWW MONDAY - WEEKEND MARCH 29

 Sheena in Lockdown positions ......

 

Linking to AWWW MONDAYS

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WEEKEND  

On Saturday the couple who had bought our house, invited me to show how they had renovated it !

I found a completely new house ! Everything had changed, all my red and creme colors had disappeared and painted in  by bright grey and a soft black. All colors I usually don't like but it looked real good here. The kitchen was also in black and light grey and they had taken out the wall which separated the kitchen from the dining room ! 

In our garden instead of the Garden shed was now a Jacuzzi and on the white tiles of the terrace was beautiful black furniture. I really admired what they had done it looked like a house just built yesterday ! Very touching was that in the boxroom they had kept the old wallpaper from 1974 when we had built the house ! It was very in fashion at that time but now looked ridiculous. They wanted to have one proof of the age of the house. Such friendly people ! He is Spanish and she  is Belgian and they have a son living with them. 

On Sunday a friend came for a visit, I hadn't seen her for a long time. She is the wife of an ancient collegue of mine and our sons have the same age with only four days of difference. We could talk about the past, when we both walked with our prams and the babies in it through the park nearby. When we moved to Waterloo, they shortly moved there too and we were almost neighbors. Again a very long friendship with some interruption which life brings.

I think now the stress of the last weeks are coming out and I was so tired not physically but mentally. I spent the rest of my day switching from computer to TV.

 

 

 

 

SUNDAY SELECTION

The oldest cemetary of Waterloo dates from beginning of last century. Important Waterloo families are burried here. In November 11, 1918, at the end of WW I more than 5,000 Germans were still stationed at Waterloo. The village was liberated on November 21, 1918. Of the 126 soldiers of Waterloo, fifteen fell on the field of honor. Their names appear on a Monument  on the lawn of honor in the cemetery where are graves of veterans of the 1940-1945 war. 

Nobody is burried here anymore today but the cemetary is open at certain hours. In Lockdown times it is the only place where you are not in lockdown and it's also a place to show the mood of the population !

Linking to SUNDAY SELECTION