13 Aug 2021

FRIDAY's FAVE FIVE

Weeks are flying by and mostly the same way. Monday I did a little shopping  and then withdrew into my cave. I am still withouth any energy and just did what I absolutely had to do. I think I still recuperate from the last month or maybe even the year. The lockdown hasn't helped me neither !

Luckily we went on another organized excursion the next day and this time to Dinant ! Dinant is a charming little town  where the inventor of the saxophone Adolphe Sax was born. We were lucky, each time when it rained we were somewhere inside !

None of us 4 girls felt like walking around in this cloudy weather and decided to take a cruise on the river "la Meuse". From the boat you can see the pretty old houses, the Citadel and the high cliffs. We sat in the restaurant with a cup of coffee and looked to the right and left at the landscape and houses.

 

We had a lot of fun and also saw a lot. When we came back we found a nice restaurant where we had a pita and excellent French fries. We could sit outside, the terraces were all covered. After lunch as there was nothing to see what we hadn't seen already when we were in Dinant a couple of years ago, we decided to take the cruise another time, you saw so much and the second time you always something else. When we had finished our second cruise, we made a little tour in the city center, but there was nothing interesting and we sat down in a Brasserie just below the Citadel and watched the different boats and ships which went by and a lot of people too, the weather had cleared up. Then it was time to return to our bus and return home. We were really tired, after 2 years of lockdown we are all a little stiff and quickly tired ! But we had spent a nice day. 

The next day I rested my legs and sorted out my pictures. I lay a bit on the balcony and besides that I only chatted on the phone. Mr. G. also had a nice day and talked well.

Now it is one month that Mr. G is in the retirement home and I wanted to try to take him home for the first time after nearly half a year. Isabel who has helped me so much in the past and is used to these diseases, proposed to pick him up and bring him home where I should wait with coffee and cake. I should call him before. Which I did. To my surprise he asked me what I wanted and when I told him that after lunch he can come to see Rosie (can't say home, had to mention our cat) he told me that he is not feeling well and he prefers to stay home and in his room. I proposed to come over and say a little hello, but even that was too much and he told me not to come. Was I happy, that means that now he is really feeling home there and doesn't want to come back. I was always feeling so bad when I had to tell him that I can't take him home. Another worry gone !

The week ended with frozen food shopping in a specialized shop together with my neighbor who has no car and had never learned to drive ! When we came back and had filled our freezers with what we had bought, we sat together on the balcony had a beer and chatted. 

I think this year I won't take any holidays if I can't go to Egypt. There is no organized tour yet for the Eastern countries which I hadn't seen yet. And in nearly all other European countries I have already been. I will see !

 

 

 

more participants at Susanne at Living to tell the Story.

12 Aug 2021

HODGEPODGE AUGUST 12

1. What's something you would say 'runs in your family'? 

In my mini family I would say that we are all multilingual and have learned the different languages just like that in work or with friends or during travels. I am the only one who has made a profession out of it and have worked my whole working life as a translator in German, English, French and Italian. Our son speaks French, English and Dutch, my DIL Dutch, English and French and the Grandson of 10 years old speaks Dutch and French and learns English at school and with friends.

2. A book, song, tv show, or movie you love that is centered around family. 

As an only child and very few relatives family doesn't mean a lot to me only my own family  my son, DIL and grandson. But we all have very different tastes and nobody has something about family. Or yes maybe me, when I read a crime story where a man killed his whole family.

3. Family matters, family ties, family tree, family man, family fortune, black sheep of the family, family values, one big happy family...choose a 'family phrase' that applies to your life currently and explain. 

 This is my family, so not much to say, you can see yourself ! No place for a black sheep though 

My son, Daughter in law and 10 year old grandson, almost as tall as his mum !

4. Last thing you fixed for a big family dinner? If you're not the cook, last thing you were served at a big family dinner? 

Fixing a dinner for five people is not a great deal, but we are not more, Mr. G's family lives in Italy and most of them have passed away and the once who remain are too old to travel. I mostly make pasta with seafood and vegetables as my DIL is vegetarian. Not a lot of work it's already prepared and I just have to put it in the microwave. At my vintage age I am too lazy to cook. Have cooked enough in my life !

5. What are three words you would use to describe your family. 

Impossible ! it depends on my mood, how they behave in short, I love them. 

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Strangely I have never regretted to be an only child. When I saw the fights between siblings I was happy to be able to go home and be alone. I always had a lot of friends and never felt lonely 

When I hear family stories around me, mostly now patchwork families, and the problems people have especially on Christmas I am happy that we are only 5 ! But we invite good friends and I always say

Friends you choose, family you inherit.

 

 

11 Aug 2021

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY





Items from the past
 

more participants here, and Image-in-ing

10 Aug 2021

SALT LAKE CHOTT EL JERID TOZEUR - Tunesia

Lake Chott el Jerid is a great salt lake located in the Tunisian part of the Sahara desert. It’s known to be the largest salt lake in the Sahara, it’s also the largest salt lake on the African continent. With a surface area of more than 74 square km (2,700 square miles), Chott el Djerid is over 1.5 times larger than the Great Salt Lake of Utah. (if you want to read more about this lake here)

I made a tour around Tunesia a few years ago and I was very impressed by this lake. I had seen the Salt Lake in Utah, but here it seemed to never end. With the sun shining on the salt, it looked like diamonds.


miles and miles in the Sahara with little salt hills

Strange, nobody had an emergency !


our bus

Some modern art ?
a strange statue

Salt, salt something for people who like it salty

He sold something, but I don't remember


 

more participants here

9 Aug 2021

AWWWW MONDAY - WEEKEND AUGUST 7

Boxes are the best



 

 

 ********

 

WEEKEND 

It's hopeless, another wet to very wet weekend ! The weather was very moody and didn't know what it wanted, so it rained, pourred, hailed, thundered  and in between the sun was shining. It was a real  challenge to get out of  the car when it didn't rain and in the car when it rained. 

Not very inspiring for going out. After lunch I took my car and went visiting Mr. G. I got out of the car when it just had stopped raining and was lucky enough to get in dry on my way back.  The people  looked all more or less tired and Mr. G.. didn't feel well, his belly hurt and he was more confused than usual. So I didn't stay very long, just to tidy up his room a bit pick up the dirty laundry and stopped in a shop to buy some cleaning products. The rest of the day I spent behind our TV avoiding fires, flooding and other disasters. It should be hot and sunny.

I couldn't even see my friends, they were all sick ! Not with the Virus but with a cold ! Nicole had a voice like a man and I didn't recognize her and told the guy that I had no time for phone games and that he is certainly not Nicole. But she insisted and suddenly I recognized her the voice got a bit better. But I could have sworn that she had a deep male voice ! Later she called back with her normal voice, she had taken a sirup.  Louis Armstrong had a hight voice compared to her. Myriam was in bed, with a terrible cold. Her voice too had changed but still I recognized her. Apparently there are lots of people sick with it and as they are all vaccinated we decided that now they have the Delta Variant, the symptoms are the same when you have got your two vaccines but it sounds more chic we said, then just saying I have a cold. I wonder if all people will run away when we say that !

Sunday was not better, exactly the same weather whille the others feel a little better, I suffer from laziness, but managed to to some laundry and emptied a few drawers containing useless papers.

The day went by the only thing which I appreciated were the beautiful skies the whole day !








Rosie doesn't care about rain or thunderstorm, as long as nobody disturbes her in her basket !

 

Linking to AWWW MONDAYS



8 Aug 2021

SUNDAY SELECTION






 Who has the most beautiful garden in town ? Competition between neighbors



Linking to SUNDAY SELECTION