FRIDAY's FAVE FIVE

I am still not completely rid of my bronchitis and sometimes wake up because of my own breathing noise which sounds like a walrus with a cold. Of course that takes all my energy but at least I participate in our games in the afternoon. 

As there was a day off because of "All Saint's day" there was a terrible traffic to all cemetery in the country because it is the use to clean the graves and put flowers on it. At least once a year ! Only a few of our group were missing and Kim our animator had the good (?) idea to make a Quiz with Saints. Now, I am protestant and we have no saints and the others didn't know them, but we found at least one ! the Saint of Brussels ! There was no saint for our dear Waterloo. Our ignorance and the fantasy some residents had, made that the afternoon was really very funny. 

I had to go to the bank and choose the day when the birthdays of the month are celebrated, because the last months the singers had been awful (at least for me) The bank was full as if you get your money for free, so I changed my bankcard number on the cash machine and quickly returned home. 

The singer still sang with full heart, but to my surprise not bad at all and she even tried to make the audience laugh ! Then it was coffee time and we talked about ..... Trump ! Our nearly 100 year old Jeannie, had a very special opinion about him, which made laugh the whole group. 

The weather is humid and I didn't want to go out but I had to buy my fruits. When I got back we started a game called "throw decapitated heads"! That sounds pretty babaric but it was very funny. It was a miracle that our glasses didn't break and the heads didn't end up in our faces, but everyone still hit the target. The heads were soft balls with scratch and had two ears and two eyes. You throw and they should stick on the target 

 

We got 5 heads each, and I throw 4 which remained on the target. 

Two "Inspectors" from the company came and controlled if everything is OK in our castle, but when they saw how much fun the residents had, they were really pleased. In the past year from 8 participants we are now 20 or more, and if at the beginning everybody made a face like that :😑now it's more like that😄!! 

The goal of this retirement home company is to make people having fun and feel useful. And that works very well ! One works in the park from morning to evening pulling out weeds, another folds the napkins and is very enthusiastic about it and some clean the tables after our coffee chat. We help clean up as much as we can (I'm particularly lazy) but I take the photos for the monthly newspaper. That's also something. 

 And I am still the mediator between management and residents, or simply have an open ear for concerns about the "bad" children who never come, even though that's not the case. 

The week ended with a quiz, one question was "which item brings luck"?

a) a calf's head

b) a pig's trotter  

c) a horseshoe 

Chantal's hearing is getting worse, and she answered "calf's head" which of course caused a loud laugh from everyone.

more participants at Susanne at Living to tell the Story.

 

 

 

 

 

 

HODGEPODGE OCTOBER 31

1. What are your current priorities in this season of life? Elaborate as much or as little as you like. 

I try to recover from my recent cold, which takes a lot of time and all my energy. I feel like a dead/alive which fits for Halloween, and my face has the same colors !

2. What's one thing you wish you had more of ? 

More air ! Because of my chronic bronchitis, I quickly become breathless and that's frustrating because everything always has to happen quickly for me.

3. Do you celebrate Halloween? If so, what are your Halloween traditions? Any special plans for Halloween this year? 

It's not so long that Halloween arrived in Belgium, but now it is here too. Especially in shop decoration ! We didn't celebrate Halloween because it was not known and in my son's school nobody knew about it.

This year in my "castle" we have decorated the entrance and the restaurant, and also baked some cookies, but for most of the 90 or more years old had never heard of it. 

Some are even angry about this new "invention" because the day after is "All Saints day" (Belgium is a catholic country) and the families visit the cemetery and put flowers on the graves and then the family which hasn't seen each other for a year get together for lunch, or coffee. So Halloween with these scary outfits and skeletons doesn't really work. The younger generation is more open in this respect and also don't go at that very day to visit graves.

4. Last thing you ate that contained chocolate? Last thing you made that called for chocolate? 

 It was a chocolate waffle, and there is no first or last thing I made, which called for chocolate. I am retired !

5. Do you prefer laid back weekends or do you like to have a lot of plans? Thinking back to this past weekend... which was it? 

For me it's weekend the whole year long ! I make plans and then I make others, I travel or I travel not, it's just like I feel (or don't feel) since Rick's passing and my move into the "castle" I make a lot of plans but stay always home. I am a bit reluctant too, to leave little Rosie alone (she wouldn't be alone) it's just an excuse I guess. I think I haven't found my way yet !

 

6. Insert your own random thought here.  µ

I only have one thought! I wish I could hibernate in a warm cave and crawl out in spring!

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY - School uniforms

 

In Belgium only private Catholic schools require a school uniform. In all other schools, students can wear whatever they want.

In the UK, students wearing a school uniform is standard across the country - whether this is a public or private school 

In Germany no school requires an uniform. I think the generation of my parents had more then enough of uniforms under the Hitler regime.

more participants here, and Image-in-ing

AWWWW MONDAY - WEEKEND OCTOBER 26

 

Rosie loved camping !

Ironing my Menu card !

stretching exercise

 Halloween spider fighter 

Linking to AWWW MONDAYS

 

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On Saturday my son came for a short visit, that was quite a surprise. He had brought Toby to his friend Benji, to spend their school holidays together, for once they were lucky because the holidays were at the same time in Holland and Belgium. I don't know if I will see him, the two are probably too busy to visit the old grandma. Doesn't matter, they are now 14, and if I remember well, I preferred to play with my friend then with my grandma, at that age. 

But mother and son had a nice very sunny afternoon, we chatted in my room and then went joining the others in the restaurant.  

I shrank over the years ... still 1.71 m !

 I always feel like a zoo director showing off a particularly rare animal when I am walking besides my son. I feel like a dwarf. He was warmly greeted and we stayed with the others until he drove back to Amsterdam at 4 a.m. The roads are very bad for the moment they are being rebuilt and renovated, he wanted to be early at home as he has a lot of work and was also tired.

On Sunday I washed my hair and colored it as usual always with the same color .... light blond. When I had finished and looked in the mirror, I nearly got a heart attack ! 

 

My hair was grey !! horrible, even if it is the fashion now, I don't like it. My first reaction was to stay in my room until Monday and then buy the right color, but then the cleaning personal came and didn't notice my unusual hair color, and when my friend Pauline came she didn't pay attention either. So finally I thought $µ&@* and joined the others for coffee and wafels. Nobody said a word, so I suppose they didn't pay attention, or it's only me who doesn't recognize myself. This spoiled my Sunday, because I want to be presentable not for the others but for myself.