HODGEPODGE MARCH 7

1. Has March come in like a lion where you live? If not a lion then what animal would you use to describe the weather in your area this first week of March? Does the weather affect your emotions? When did you last feel 'under the weather'? 

Certainly not a lion rather like a goldfish which turns around in its bowl. I live in water !

Of course weather influences my mood. When you have always a grey sky, no sunshine, or at least a bright day, my mood is rather "under water"! But I try to bring some sunshine into my heart, but it is very difficult. I would describe my feelings like a roller coaster, there is no "last time" it goes up and down the whole day !

2. Do you know what your name means? Does the meaning of your name fit with your personality? Do you like your name? If you have children did you consider the meaning of their names before choosing them? 

My real name is Ingrid  and means “the beautiful” and “the beautiful goddess”. Ingrid is a Nordic two-part name that was adopted from Scandinavian into German at the end of the 19th century. The Swedish variant of the name is Inger. I learned something, didn't know that but Google knew ! I have some doubts about being a "beautiful goddess"!

When we choose the name of our son, we payed attention to two things. The first name had to be short and impossible to translate into another language. Therefore we choose Dario, which remains Dario in all languages and is short too, because our name is very long and I thought the poor boy when he has to learn to write his name the first one has to be short !

3. It's National Sauce Month...what's your favorite sauce? Last thing you ate that used a sauce? 

Here in my "castle" we always have a sauce. Mostly French or Italian, our chef is excellent, yesterday we had Piglet confit, leek risotto, sage juice and today cod fillet, Vincent Sauce, which was delicious but I cannot explain what sauce it was. French cuisine claims that there are five foundational mother sauces from which they form all other sauces. Each mother sauce has a  unique liquid, thickening agent and distinct flavorings.

4. Something you've seen, tasted, done lately that you'd describe as 'awesome sauce'? 

There are so many awesome sauces in the French kitchen, it is unbelievable ! I think they had to create the best sauces to hide the bad taste of meat and poultry (sorry not everywhere) but that's what  people say !

5. What kinds of things do you love to collect? 

The people who know me will laugh ! Cats of course. My grandson counted all the cat figurines I had in our house and counted 403 cats in all kind of material,  

This is only a little part ! Of course I couldn't take all cats with me here in my "castle" but I still have a  shelf with probably more than 100 cats, which fits very well in my room and makes it cozy.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Sometimes, when I see my breakfast on the table, I think, one day my holidays are finished and I have to return home and think about shopping, cleaning, filling in and out papers and be alone in my 4 walls. But then when I get up and look out of the window, see the cats waiting for the man who feeds them, and hear the noise of the cleaning machine which cleans the long corridors, the shelf on wheels which the nurse pushes to distribute the medication to those who needs them, and then I feel a relief. I don't have to bother anymore about shopping or cleaning or thinking the only one I have to take care of is little Rosie, she eats like a horse and becomes more and more skinny. But as long as her fur is shining, I am not worried.