WEEKEND REVIEW OCTOBER 31

Nicole and I have discovered a Bistro called "Le Grill de l'Empereur" (The emperor's grill), meaning Napoleon of course. The speciality are the good Belgian fries or chips ! We had never noticed it, although it is near the Waterloo Lion. The chips were excellent and the homemade sauce too. The Bistro was full. Now wonder.

Since a few days we have wonderful "Indian Summer" weather !



You could even sit outside in the sunshine. That's what I did Saturday afternoon, while having a coffee. An old friend of mine has a bathroom boutique on the main street and as she was there, I popped in and we had a little chat. It was nice to see each other it had been a long time. Meanwhile she is also grandma of a little girl who was also there with her daughter.

After that I met with Nicole and we went to the the cinema there was a new French comedy movie on the program and it was really very funny. It was the story of a woman who had an only son, who was such a manipulator from his childhood on that he even managed that his parents divorced and no other man could stay with her. He always managed that they separated from his mother. And the boy even now 20 looked like an angel ! That sounds not funny at all but the film was made with a lot of very good humor. We had a drink in the Gallery Wellington before we returned home.

On Sunday there was "All Saints Day" and as Belgium is a catholic country all people who have somebody laying in a graveyard pilgrim there, even if it is a long forgotten great great great aunt. Once a year everybody has to go to the cemetery that's the use and also an occasion to meet friends and family on the graveyard and have a drink together afterwards.

I instead went to Brussels. My way leads through the "Bois de la Cambre" a wood and public park on the edge of the Sonian Forest in Brussels. It has an area of 1.23 square km (247 acres). In this season it looks particularly beautiful.



There were many people enjoying this exceptional weather and the terraces were full.



Here the people tried to discover "Manneken Pis" the very little statue, that's why I biggified it (in the corner). Usually everybody is disappointed because they think it has at least the size of a little boy !

I went to a vintage exposition and market and will report about this in another post.

FRANCE HOLIDAYS WEEKEND REVIEW

On  Saturday morning we quickly went to buy two beach chairs because we wanted to have a lazy day and take some sunshine. I also bought a suncream but didn't notice that it was one with glitter ! I didn't even know that such cremes existed. When I had put the cream on my skin, Claudie started to laugh because all parts of my body, face included glittered in the sunshine ! And while we were enjoying the sun, her husband built a flower pot.



When it was finished I asked him to make my coffin, because he is really very talented !




Late afternoon we drove to the Sanary habour for a drink and watched people, there was a wedding photo shooting going on. The bride looked very pretty.

Before going to bed I tried to get rid of the glitter ! I scrubbed and scrubbed, but the next day I still had some glitter on my arms ! Apparently I will glitter during the whole stay ! 

The next day we went together with Claudie's sister and husband to a stone quarry in Baux.



Inside was a light show with paintings of Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael and Michel Angelo. Before we entered the quarry, we had a nice picnic outside.

The show was amazing. Paintings of these painters were projected against the walls ! It was very impressive.



After the show we climbed up the mountain leading to the little village Baux, nestled in the mountains.



It was a very picturesque village with cobbled stones lirom ttle restaurants and bars and lots of souvenir shops. From high above we had a wonderful view into the valley.

After a coffee and  an ice cream we returned home. Wh at a wonderful and interesting day. I will write more about this stone quarry and the village Baux once I am home again.

WEEKEND REVIEW

The whole week the sun was shining, but as soon as the weekend arrived it started to rain. Poor people who only have their weekends for going out.



In all side streets of Waterloo the Japanese cherry trees are in full bloom and it looks really very beautiful.

Unfortunately the snails like this spring weather too and started to invade our yard and eat every plant they can find. The leaves of my rhododendron were full of holes, so it was an emergency to buy the snail killing product. It's unbelievable what damage they can cause, they even once ate up an invoice in the letter box !



After shopping I stopped at Nicole's for a coffee. Charlie had a paw surgery a nail had been taken out and she has to disinfect the wound. Charlie is an angel, he doesn't move during the whole procedure.



Sunday evening we went to the cinema and watched the Marigold 2. The room was packed with vintage people who laughed their heads off during the movie ! It was absolutely hilarious, and full of very good humour. We enjoyed the movie very much ! After the movie we went to our usual Pub "La pomme" and had a drink there. We really had a very nice evening.

WEEKEND REVIEW

On Saturday morning I took out the bread of the bread machine and it looked like a pancake ! Unusable, it was hard like a stone. I had noticed lately that the machine didn't do it's job correctly anymore.



A decision was quickly taken ! I bought a new one a little bigger than the old one, because I had to bake nearly every day as Mr. G. is a big break consumer. He eats bread with everything as they do in Italy. In a restaurant you will always get bread, olive oil and salt, to eat before the meal arrives. I tried it out in the afternoon, and while I was chatting in Ilona's garden, the bread baked and when I came home I was very happy with the result ! It was just perfect and tasted very good.



I also trimmed some bushes growing in our rock garden into a more round shape. Of course Arthur had to supervise my work !

On Sunday morning I went to the Brussels Midi Market to buy some shirts for Mr. G and for a friend, unfortunately I didn't find the one's I wanted.



While I had a coffee on the terrace, I saw this gentleman drinking a huge glass of beer together with 3 glasses of wine. I hope he returned home safely. The market was full of people, the sun was shining, but the temperatures were rather cool !



In the afternoon Mr. G's friend came for a visit and Arthur as always was happy that we had a visitor. He only was disappointed,  that he hadn't put on leather shoes, because Arthur loves to sharpen his claws on them. The friend knows that and now he always comes with basket shoes !

WEEKEND REVUE

On Easter Saturday I thought about the poor kids who will go into the different parks in Brussels for egg hunting in this rain we have since a week. Only late afternoon the sun showed it's nose for a few minutes !



After having done some laundry, blogging and watching TV I needed to go out ! Finally I ended up in the huge Carrefour store, where you find everything and which is big enough for a little walk ! I didn't buy anything but watched the people with their overloaded caddies with Easter goodies.

In the evening I got a Skype call from my friends in Eastbourne they had moved back into their house they had to leave for 6 months because they had a water infiltration. She was happy to show me around, the new kitchen and bathroom, new painting and new doors. I will see this all when I am going there end of July. Skype is great for house "sightseeings" !

On Easter Sunday the sun was shining ! So before I went to the hospital to visit Ilona's mother, 



I decided for a little walk through the park Cheneau which is very close. Unfortunately it was still very cold, only 8°C and I thought the couple laying on the grass was very courageous. The building is called a castle but looks more like a manor. As you can see nature is very late the trees are still naked like in winter and nothing was blooming. With the wind it was really unpleasant to walk for a long time.



After the park, I went to the hospital, which once had been a very old one, completely outdated, but after a serious renovation and a new built annex it became now a very modern and welcoming hospital. The reception was nicely decorated for Easter and the personal is very friendly. This hospital is specialized for back, hips and knee surgeries. Ilona's mother (91) had a back surgery a week ago. When I saw her she walked towards me like a young girl and looked absolutely great. 



I had brought her a little Easter greeting and she was very happy to see me. We chatted for an hour before I returned home. She really is an amazing woman and will probably survive us all !

My life as Mama Jodi

WEEKEND REVIEW

Being fed up with the rain, I finally decided to discover the new Shopping Center in Nivelles, the next "big" town near Waterloo.



It turned out to be very nice, and lots of people had the same idea as me, the shopping center was very crowded. I was lucky to find a parking space, somebody just left. I started to walk inside protected from the rain and discovered that all the shops we have in Waterloo on the main street were here under one roof. I took some pictures, sat on the nice seats and even found a nice cardigan for half price ! Madame GPS on my return went crazy and I did a sightseeing of places I had never seen. Unfortunately I couldn't stop and take pictures because of the rain. So I really don't know where I have been but suddenly I was in Waterloo and found my home !

As each year at the same time we sprang because of spring to summertime; And as usual there were the same complaints and interviews on TV because of one hour difference. Many countries have used it at various times, but it really started since the energy crisis of the 1970s, so we should used to it by now. They should record the yearly complaints and play them each year, because it's always the same. One hour difference, I don't even realize !



Even my cats don't care. Here is Arthur before and after the daylight saving time.

On Sunday late afternoon I went with two friends to the cinema to see the so much praised movie



Still Alice. Marianne was particularly involved because her husband has just started Alzheimer and I had thought that it would do her good to see the future and at least know and more understand this terrible disease and how to handle it. At the beginning she was watching quietly, sitting besides her I felt her fear. When  Alice started to get lost and it got worse and worse, she only saw the symptoms and didn't understand the movie and started to cry. I felt so sorry for her but tried to concentrate on this extraordinary movie.

But when we got out it was the catastrophe, she cried and cried and we tried to comfort her and went in a Tavern for a drink.

There she started to blame me because I had suggested her to see this movie.
She complained and complained about the future. Nicole and I suddenly understood that she was not crying for her husband, but because she pitied herself. It was always about what a life she would have, that she couldn't travel anymore that she had to take him with her now all the time etc etc. We told her that she has to pull herself together, and get used to cope with it now that she knew more about this disease, there she told us that she knew already everything because she had been at the Alzheimer association and is part of a group of people living with Alzheimer. It was useless to comfort her, she was so deeply sad about herself, and continued to whine and whine, so that Nicole at a moment got very angry, told her what she thought and that she should stop to pity herself ! That helped, we finished our drinks and returned home. I learned something of this experience. Don't try to help such selfish people, its just a waste of time, it ended that she was angry with both of us. Not even once she had mentioned her husband.