Rein's Cookumentaries and other Stuff

Mother’s pride and joy – still

Originally uploaded by Reinhilde.

The girls are growing up fast – I can’t look over their heads any more, certainly not when they’re sitting on my lap (which they still like to do ) Sometimes they’re fighting – like all sisters do – and sometimes they are just too cute for words – like teenagers can be, still Don’t tell them I said so though

This afternoon they will get their final report and I’m sitting here fingers and toes crossed they will pass – maths can be a demon so any good karma sent their way will be gratefully accepted

Caution

Originally uploaded by Reinhilde.

*sigh*
It’s there, we’ve reached a half-century. The neighbours snuck the warning sign in this morning. Proceed with caution!

after dinner tea

Originally uploaded by Reinhilde.

The nephews are staying over for a week – it’s never easy finding child care for the full 9 weeks of summer holidays, so ‘Tante Rein’ takes over for a week. Midweek mum and dad came for a check and took us out for a slap-up meal – but we had dessert and tea at home afterwards, otherwise the bill gets too enormous
I could have finished all the apple cake, but I restrained myself
Yup, new IKEA catalogue checked for useful stuff, newest DVD we watched yesterday, shown to my brother – I thought he would take it home with him, but he probably forgot.

Now it’s almost midnight and I need to clear the table for breakfast for tomorrow morning – better switch on the dishwasher too, or we haven’t got any breakfast plates – we were down to odds and ends already.

Why I made this pic? Because I thought special photo domino number 11 could use a boost – and I can use it still as my daily pic, which has fallen quiet again with the kids being home

Birthday present for a 7y old

Originally uploaded by Reinhilde.

Eldest girl of the neighbours across has her 7th birthday today – what better stuff to give than lipgloss, body glitter, hair ties, a necklace and sweets and all that in a crackly, red, shiny paper? Problem is, her (almost) 3 year old sister wanted it all too, so was bawling her eyes out, until I promised her she would get such a present on her birthday too – which is in only a few weeks

Tomorrow and the day after no post, I’m in London, fetching the girls back – WOOHOOH!!

Let’s hope the weather is a bit clear and not like it is here now – I hope I will get to the Eurostar without looking like a drowned cat

The TV is on too – with half an eye watching the opening ceremony of the Olympics in Beijing (of course I’m recording it!) They really have pushed the boat out – all very nice of course, but I do hope that later on the people who have been evicted and those in the poorer regions of China will profit one way or another of those games too…

Proof

Originally uploaded by Reinhilde.

Yesterday I had a ‘blah’ day and didn’t post a pic – so I got a worried txt this morning from the girls. When they were re-assured I just had a little ‘dip’, missed them something awful and couldn’t sleep as I was missing their nightly noises but would be there on Saturday morning, bright and bushy-tailed, they were quick to ask for the latest ‘Joepie’ (a teenmagazine that already existed when I was young – now that is a long time ago – not that I bought it, I rather went to the library for ‘proper’ books – I know, I’m a geek and proud of it ). So here is proof I went and bought it and – oh joy – no Tokio Hotel on the cover this time!

Today it has been hot, hot, hot. I really should cut the grass, but I rather not scorch to a crisp. If the mower doesn’t get through it, I always still have the strimmer to do it next week

You know what? I can always squeeze a pic of Oki in from yesterday as #14 – I caught her red-pawed when she was on the table checking out Rooz who came out for a nibble.

13-Hamsters all present and accounted for!

Originally uploaded by Reinhilde.

Normally I never do the hamsters. My kids are very good – each looks after their own pet and they’re doing a splendid job. This time though, I have to make sure they’re fed and watered and have a not too smelly house.

So here’s the proof I’m still performing my duty and both hamsters are safe and sound!

I had to chase Oki off the table a few times as she came to investigate, but no animals were harmed during the making of this mosaic!

Meh – it’s dull and grey and I just can’t find anything interesting to photograph today. It’s Sunday, so I’m not allowed to mow the lawn, so no pics of a clean garden. Oki’s been sleeping all day, the hamsters haven’t left their house for the whole day – they will have to tomorrow though, they’re getting a bit smelly, their ‘pooh corner’ needs cleaning – and I don’t seem to be able to find a nice juicy snail for some gory pics with the turtles…

So I’ll just leave you all with this Lolkat I saw today, which fits in beautifully really

btw – you know what is worse than PMS? PMS and having no-one to shout at

Pink

Originally uploaded by Reinhilde.

It was a rather cloudy day, so no garden pictures. Nothing much to do either. I could hardly give you another one of my food pics (although today’s chicken tajin with carrots and mushrooms was simply delicious ) so we go with one of Oki’s food pics today

Never realised she’s that dusty!

A video of her snoring is uploading on youtube – I really have to take lessons on how to edit vids – even with the program included with the pc (Windows Movie Maker) I can’t seem to be able to bring it under 100Mb. Funny thing is, the unedited version is 2 minutes and 200 Mb, the edited one is 1min 30 sec but 300 Mb – weird or what? So as 1Mb of video takes about 1 to 5 minutes to upload – according to Youtube – I went with the unedited one. It will take a few hours then before you can enjoy her song

11-Red, green, white

Originally uploaded by Reinhilde.

I had invited the neighbour across for a cup of tea as it was her first day of her holiday, but her kids were watching a movie so she was shooed out, poor thing While I was putting the tea things out, the white cat – don’t know her name, but she’s bold as brass – didn’t move an inch.

She’s the cat of the back neighbours (diagonally) and I have to keep a very wary eye on her, as she’s always spying on the fish. It could be her colouring of course, but I think she’s got a rather snooty expression (a bit like her owner really )

It’s funny how a lot of the neighbourhood cats like to come and snooze in our garden, maybe there is a certain ‘ambiance’ they like?

There’s no love lost between Oki and this cat. The moment she noticed that cat was in the garden, she chased her out…

It’s a beautiful day

Originally uploaded by Reinhilde.

The garden needs attention, but it’s just too hot to lift a finger. Everything is lush and green and there’s even one bunch of grapes that’s colouring purple!! Full set of the garden pics here!

I can’t even bring up the energy to go and strangle the kid playing outside with a noisy toy (Side note for the kids – it’s Maya’s youngest, but luckily he’s playing outside in the road and not in the garden!). Hours on end he’s been at it – it’s a kind of bullhorn that amplifies his voice and emits wailing sirens at the push of a button – oooh the fun to be had! (Not!)

The neighbours across have given in and bought a big swimming pool too for their three kids, as they were constantly playing in the swimming pool next door, which didn’t leave much floating space for the teenage daughter there I had just wandered in their garden, as I was feeling a bit lonely and thought I would go for a neighbourly chat. Tempers were getting a bit frayed between husband and wife while setting up the pool, so I stayed and helped a hand before any bloodshed could happen

Yeah, summer is nice, but now it’s getting a bit too hot – it’s always something