FRIDAY's FAVE FIVE

On Monday I went to the pharmacy to pick up the new medication the pneumologist had prescribed for me. It was not so a good day for me so I didn't dare to walk and took my car to drive exactly two buildings further. I found myself ridiculous but it's better to be ridiculous then fall on the sidewalk, and to find an excuse that I had taken my car, I drove to Nicole's retirement home to visit her. 

Having not called to see if she was in her room, I finally found her in the big room celebrating the birthdays of two ladies turning 101 and 102 !! They all sat in a circle and in the middle stood a woman who sang very beautiful songs. Countless cakes were on tables along the wall. I quickly said hello and although they invited me to join the party, I really didn't feel like it.

 I drove home thinking that of all my friends many were disabled now  or couldn't go out because they had all sorts of illnesses. From a photo of my painting group from 2010 of at least 16 people,  were only 5 left ! I'm the only one who hasn't been sick in years and I don't have anything else (apart from this damn bronchitis now). After all, I still made this long journey  in 2018. (and each night in another hotel !)

 

And then came this "plague"  that locked us up for 2 years and let us run around with masks as bank robbers. I spent the rest of the week with my photos, blogs and TV, as I was told, rest, and walk a bit.

Marie-Lou my neighbor from the second floor rang my doorbell very excited, she had a new phone and Whatsapp was gone !!! Since she absolutely had to make a phone call to Brazil, she was in despair. I comforted her and in 2 minutes Whatsapp was back on her screen and she called me 3 times to see if it was working. Overjoyed, she then ran to her apartment to make the call.

Now I've become a computer expert, which is easy when nobody has one, but only phones that they can't or don't want to do much with, except phone calls. With some people my age, you think they're holding a bomb in their hand that's about to go off!

As I had seen Nicole very shortly, I went on Friday. Now she has made her room a homely. I had found a nice little bouquet of fake orchids which look beautiful on her table, she also had some of her paintings now on the wall, and asked me to bring more little fake plants. Real once are not appreciated because the people forget to water them. We chatted and I laughed and I noticed that although she wanted to laugh she couldn't. Her daughter had already told me that. She can't laugh anymore and she was such a funny girl who loved laughing and giggling all the time !

 

more participants at Susanne at Living to tell the Story.

 

 

 

 

 

 

HODGEPODGE

1. Hello March! Is it coming in like a lion where you live? How do you feel when it rains? 

March marched in with a lot of sunshine but also with a very strong and very cold wind. It was better to stay home and not catch a cold. 

I would feel bad the whole year, as Belgium is like the UK it rains a lot !

2. What's something you'd like to do differently this week than the last? Explain. 

I would like to go out and not stay home, but as I have still a bit to recover from my bronchitis, I have no choice, I stay home !

3. March 1st is National Sunkist Citrus Day...do you drink orange juice? Orange, lemon, lime, tangerine, grapefruit...what's your favorite citrus fruit? A dish you love with a citrus fruit as one of it's key ingredients? 

Yes I drink orange juice and love all other fruits too. I love lemon ice, a grapefruit salad, the others I like to eat just as a fruit.

4. What do you consider to be your culture. Elaborate. 

As  I live in Europe where each country has its culture, I probably have several cultures, as I live in Belgium where the culture, especially concerning food, is completely different from the German one. Having been married over 50 years to an Italian I also adopted Italian culture. My son who has a German passport was raised in Belgium and speaks no German but French, married a Dutch girl and had to adapt to the Dutch culture too. The one who is the "victim" of all these cultures is my Grandson !

 

5. Sum up your February in fifteen words or less. 

That's quickly done, I had a very severe Bronchitis the whole month and still not running full speed !

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Honestly the only thought I have, is life is boring and I am waiting for spring, and a colored nature and not these trees which look like in a horror movie naked and without leaves. 

 

 

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

Last time when my grandson was visiting me, he disappeared with his friend, while we chatted. Suddenly they both showed up and Toby shouted "Nonna, we have counted your cats in the whole apartment, you have 401 !!! Here are a few examples 

 

All people who know us think that I started the cat collection, that's only half of the truth. Rick loved the little cats too so when somebody asked him what I liked for my birthday or Christmas or whatever, he answered that I liked cats. So everybody offered me cats and on top he bought cats for me (the once he liked) 

In over the 50 years of marriage you can imagine that there are more than 401, the rest is in cartons in the basement, I wanted to sell them and then Rick got sick and we were locked in for two years. Therefore they are still there.

Rosie is not part of the collection !

more participants here, and here Image-in-ing

AWWWW MONDAY - WEEKEND FEBRUARY 25

Pookie 

Pookie the little one was the aunt of Kim the big one. Kim's mother was also a little cat ! They both were born in London and finished their lives happily after 20 years in Waterloo !

Rosie, soon 16 years old

 

Linking to AWWW MONDAYS

 

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WEEKEND

Next weekend will be March ! The end of the winter months is near ! I hope it will not snow again, although it had already happened on April 2; 1975, the day we moved from Brussels to Waterloo ! Of course with such a date I won't forget the snow !!

Since I was at the doctor's on Friday, I did my shopping on Saturday. It was freezing cold because of the wind, but the sun was shining like it was paid for.

 

Then I bought my frozen dishes for 3 or 4 weeks,  in my special shop. So I am prepared for possible illnesses. I was walking much better and was then able to rest on the sofa. I did what the doctor had said "rest and recover"

On Sunday my "old friend" from 1967 came to visit me. She is the wife of an ancient colleague of mine an Indian, meanwhile Belgian. He had to travel a lot and with his Indian passport he had so many visa that his passport looked like an accordion ! We had so much to talk, especially because her husband had also a brain cancer and with my experiences  now, I was able to help her a bit. 

My son called from Switzerland where he is together with Toby and an old school friend whom I know since he was 6 years old. He likes Rick and me very much and came even to Rick's funeral from Switzerland in the morning and flew back in the evening. He lives in Geneva. Unfortunately they don't have snow but they skied a bit on fake snow ! They have a beautiful chalet which belongs to the brother of his wife. I hope for them that the snow will come !