FRIDAY's FAVE FIVE

1. After aquagym I had to buy a new grass cutter for the borders, our old one had broken down. I had the good intention to do some garden work in the afternoon. But with intentions the work is not done, especially when you change your mind and rest watching a discussion about twins on TV. It was very interesting so I had a good excuse.

2. As the weather was so nice, Ilona and I decided to visit Maastricht in the Netherlands, which is located near the German and Belgian border. It is not that far only around 100 km (62 miles)



It is a beautiful little town and we walked around, had lunch at the border of the river Meuse and then a coffee on the huge place in front of the city hall.

3.


Under the watchful eyes of cat Arthur I finally cut all the borders of the grass and dead twigs, but after one hour and a half, I was fed up, I don't like garden work but it has to be done. Now our garden looks nearly perfect.

4. My friend Sylvia from Linens and Royals, had sent me a DVD about the visit of the Queen in 1954 in Australia.



It took a month to arrive in Belgium, maybe the mail had walked the parcel over here. The movie is excellent, the old films were of such a good quality and I was amazed to see the big reception the Australians gave for the Queen. The shows and performances all over the country were better than all Olympic game shows of the last years. It was unbelievable. Sylvia was in the movie too, she gave an interview about her mother who had bought an entrance ticket for her and showed the ticket. Then she showed her Royal collection which is really impressive. I recognized her immediately, we had met in Brussels, when she had come over to London to see Kate's and William's wedding in 2011.

5.



Before leaving the painting class I took a picture of my unfinished cat together with Ilona's finished painting. Although we have a lot in common, our paintings differ ! She is always up in the space and the future and I am always down on earth with my cats !



I watched TV, while Mr. G. cleaned the tiles around the house. During winter they always become a little gray and dirty. But then I joined him and salted the gravel which is now weed free thanks to the weed burner to avoid that the weeds grow back ! Salt is very cheap and efficient !

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FRIDAY's FAVE FIVE - RANDOM 5 FRIDAY

1. On Monday I had the blues. It was the first day at home after my one week holidays in the sunshine of Tunisia. I just did nothing except my aqua gym class, and found that I had done enough for the day.



I didn't even unpack my suitcase much to the delight of Rosie who had one more day to sleep in it, while Arthur played with my beach slippers.

As we had a breakdown of our internet, I finally decided to sort out my holiday pictures and put them in order, at least I had the impression to be there again.

2. Looking in the mirror and saw a mop like head, I called my hairdresser for an appointment, before I got back to civilization outside our house. Then I could make my weekly shopping and say hello to my friend Nicole.

3. Brussels was blocked by the visit of Mr. Obama ! The streets were closed in many places and  trams, buses and even the subways were not allowed to run. Although the city was quite proud to receive such an important visitor for the first time, the companies, shops, stores etc were not so happy. Nobody could get through.


They block all the roads, and I am only arriving by helicopter ?!

In reality he arrived in the evening with his special airplane Air force one and its twin. The planes were escorted by 2 helicopters of the marines, 5 helicopters of the army, 3 airplanes carrying "the Beast" and two other armoured  cadillacs. 45 patrol cars escorted the convey. 900 employes worked on the organization, 300 security agents were posted all around and snipers were on the roofs. This less then 24 h visit has cost Brussels 500.000 € (689.000 $) and 10.millions € (1.4 millions $) for the USA (according to the British Newspaper "The Guardian) !

Quite an expensive excursion for only one man.



He was greeted by our King and the Prime Minister, and the next day went to the military cemetary in Waregem, called  "The Flanders Field American Cemetery and Memorial". It is the smallest World War I American cemetery in Europe and the only one in Belgium.

Although the American president is very much appreciated in Belgium, people found these security measures a little too much !

 4. My friend Ilona had her birthday so I went to give her my birthday present. I had bought her a USB stick so that she can do back ups. She just had bought a new computer and had lost all her photos and documents which were in the old one. Fortunately I had almost all photos of her paintings, as it's always me who takes the pictures, which she regretted the most but also from our trips together, which I had put on the stick. Ilona and I have the same age both born in 1943 she is only 4 months older.


Here we are in Edinburgh together

5. Nature has changed in the one week I was gone ! The trees are starting to become green again



I have put some red (fake) flowers at the entrance and the Magnolia tree of my neighbor is in full bloom.



For the first time this year Oscar the lawn mower robot had to work, while Mr. G. and I were busy on our computers ! What a difference ! Two weeks ago we had to mow the lawn with our "normal" lawn mower and for our handkerchief sized lawn we needed two days, the grass had grown so fast and it had rained all the time so that it was wet like a sponge and too high for Oscar.

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FRIDAY's FAVE FIVE - RANDOM FIVE FRIDAY

1. This week went by like all the others, and started with my aqua gym.



This time I arrived too early and took the opportunity to take some pictures as nobody was around yet. We were only 6, the others were on holidays before the carnival school holidays start, because then everything is more expensive. Those who had booked for ski holidays sat in the mountains without snow, or if there was snow it was so foggy that you couldn't see anything and the ski runs were closed. For the moment we have nice and sunny weather, but it is so windy that it is no pleasure to walk outside.

2. I spent the afternoon with Nicole and we could sit on her terrace which is wind protected and both purred in the sunshine. Unbelievable for February, last year we had snow at this time !

When it got too cold I helped her googeling for dog booties, as Charlie's wound on his paw has to be protected against humidity when he walks outside.



We found some nice once, but before ordering them Nicole first wanted to ask her vet.

3. It was an ideal weather for photo hunting, which I did, making a stock for my different photo themes,



Then I wanted to switch off my camera but I pushed on the wrong button and made some very creative pictures of  Ilona's feet, until I realized that something was wrong.

4. I never buy cut bread because the slices are too thin and I like to toast my bread and therefore need larger slices. So I cut the slices I need with a knife and noticed that it became sometimes a hard job. I thought about buying a bread cutter, but that takes a lot of space and finally a friend told me why didn't I buy an electric knife ?



I thought it's an excellent idea, went off and bought one.

Now I don't need the forces of a lumberjack  but can cut my bread with elegance !

5. I have started a new painting in my painting class and while I painted with energy and temperament an abstract painting, I used the opportunity, not on purpose of course, to paint my neighbor's jeans and painting at the same time. Now she suggested that I should come with an umbrella to protect her from my spatters. We also had a lot of conversations, about Hashish smoking grandchildren, lazy husbands, back and hip problems, etc. It's always good to listen to other people's problems.

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