FRIDAY's FAVE FIVE

On Monday I stayed home, because the second part of the liberation phase started ! That meant that now all shops and boutiques are open except the most important one the hairdresser !  It was the first day the boutiques and shopping centers were open and therefore long lines of crazy peoples queued up in the cold,  for a blouse or something they didn't need. Most of them respected the rules of distances but not all had masks.



Even at Ikea !

Blogger also caused me some worries, because when I wanted to write a new post, the presentation of the Dashboard was "new" so new, that I didn't find the "publish" button. Unfortunately I forgot to make a screenshot, but it seemed very difficult to me. Just before I wanted to ask, I saw the mention "Back to old version" clicked on it and had my good old Blogger dashboard back and could publish my post. I hate when they change without telling how it works.

Our Estate agent came with the buyers and an Expert to see if there was any asbestos in the house and we had to go into our guestroom, because it was not allowed that buyers and sellers were in the same room too dangerous. We all wore masks and gloves and it went very nicely. The wife had already seen the house and had put an option on it, the husband hadn't seen it yet, but agreed to everything. It's a couple in their 40th I guess. So now we have to wait for the notary papers.

We also met at Myriam's and there was a lot to discuss, her daughter expected potential buyers for her house, she had already found a new one here in Waterloo. Today M called me and told me that the house is also sold. I think due to the catastrophic stock market situation people put their money into bricks !

I have got the contract for our apartment to look it through, there are some little changements to be made and tomorrow we will sign and move in on June 15 ! I can't wait and even Mr. G. who was quite reluctant to sell our house is now in a hurry to live in the center of Waterloo, where he can walk to his Whist Club and to all shops ! It's less lonely then where we live now, and above all far more practical, no steps anymore.

We will have 3 bedrooms, a shower and a bathroom, a huge kitchen and living, and a wonderful terrace all around.



We can move in no hurry, because we can have our house up to 4 months. So first we move into the apartment, then make a garage sale  in the house, and when only rubbish is remaining I call a "vide tout" which means "empty everything".

more participants at Susanne at Living to tell the Story.

FRIDAY's FAVE FIVE

Another week went by with a few more dead and a few more people infected. I am always angry with the Belgian Television News because they never tell how many people have survived the virus and could go home. Fortunately there are other sources so we can be a bit more hopeful. Apparently the situation is slighly better, and we all hope that by April 18 they will start to release us slowly slowly.

Monday afternoon the sun was shining but it was quite cool. We met at Myriam's wanted to play scrabble the three of us, but then preferred to chat. Outside it rained cats and dogs and it was dark. The confinement rules in our area are well respected and the police doesn't have too much to do. Sometimes a few youngsters who a gathering and are too close together, but usually after a warning they behave.

To comfort me a little, I got an email from our Estate Agent, that he had an offer for our house. He forwarded it to me and I checked, it was OK there were only two little things which I didn't like. But this couple is so interested to buy our house that they agreed to everything and sent a rectified contract.

I was very happy. Mr. G. was more interested in the apartment which I had found and where he would live and when he realized that it was in the middle of our little town, near his Whist Club and friends he was happy too. 



The next day the sun was shining again and we met at Nicole and sat in the warm sunshine. Cat Isis was sitting on the wall and we thought she would jump one floor deeper into the garden, Nicole picked her up, and put her down,  but she returned immediately and continued to observe what she had seen.



Nothing interesting in the flower pot.


My shoes were very interesting to play with again. The air was a bit fresh, but in the sunshine it was nice and warm. The world seemed to be nearly normal again.

Suddenly I smelled smoke and thought somebody made a barbecue, but at 4 pm, was a bit strange. I looked around and in the garden beneath Nicole's terrace a stub of a tree had started to burn !



The neighbor had let his dog run in the garden, and had smoked a cigarette. He hadn't thrown the cigarette on the ground, but apparently a bit of ash has fallen into this very dry stump. Nicole called the neighbor and both came with buckets of water to extinguish the fire. Of course it smoked even more. Later we checked again, but the stump was so wet that no flame had a chance to become a fire. Now we saw life how it can happen so quickly and with just a spark of glowing ash !

Today we signed the agreement for the sale of our house and I sent the signed copy per email to our agent. So at least the paper work is done. We can't go to the notary of course because her office is closed. We have to wait until the confinment is lifted.

But I drove to two apartments which on pictures looked real nice and were located exactly where I wanted, so I contacted the estate agency and left my name and phone number. As soon as it is possible we will visit it.

All this let me forget the misery around me, but when the first joy disappeared slowly, I felt again that my life is not normal at all and the empty streets and closed shops confirm this fact. The nightmare continues although I try hard to make the best out of it not to fall into a deep black hole.

Now all countries in the world realize that their health equipment  is far from being enough, masks and other protections at least for the nurses and doctors are missing badly in all countries and let people become creative. Masks are made by companies which normally produce something completely different and a lot of women are sewing masks for the hospitals. Fortunately we have enough space for intensive care in the hospitals, only two university hospitals had a lack of space but outside Brussels there is again space for intensive care. Nurses are missing too, but medical students from the Universities are helping out as volunteers. That's the positive side of this situation there are a lot of very good and generous people !

more participants at Susanne at Living to tell the Story.