Rein's Cookumentaries and other Stuff

It will take ages to post something decent in the beginning but I have figured out how to put new posts in my blog from my   new toy. An HTC Wildfire no less but with ittybitty touch type keys which are a pain to use with my xxl hands to say the least

I already sacrificed my nails but I can’t trim my thumbpads. I’m going to grow special tiny calluses

on the side of my thumbs I think and carry an extra spare fully loaded battery    Whew this will do for the moment…

I learned a new word today: Favicon.  Wiki tells you all about it.  In short, it’s just a “Look at me, I’m your favourite website!” thingie that appears in front of the url in the web adress bar.  Of course I had to have one.

But what?  It being only 16 by 16 pixels, you can’t expect to put part of the Sistine Chapel on it   So I opted for my old time favourite, the little rabbit I’ve been drawing everywhere since I was a (very small) kid.  Yep, I was a tagger avant la lettre   Can’t see it properly you say?  Well, here it is, ten times bigger.  So when you see ‘Knijn’ popping up, you know I’m around too

Meet Knijn, our official favicon for the site! Hasn't changed in 45 years, wish I could say the same

Too many things to do, not enough time to do them – or wasting the time I have with things I shouldn’t be doing anyway – so the advent calendar wasn’t lasting for a long time now, did it?

That’s also why I’m definitely not making any new year resolutions this year. I could be making so many – saving more, spending less, eating less, dieting, do more housework, going to bed earlier, spending less time behind the pc,… naaaahh… why bother? I could make one and only one: I’m now officially a grumpy old lady as I’m over 50, so I can use that as an excuse to do whatever I like to do – yeah, that’s what I’m going to do!

There are those ladies in the US (or is the UK?) who wear red hats and purple coats (or is it purple hats and red coats?) and just do whatever they like to do. I’m going to join their ranks. I bought myself a red coat and red shoes when I was in London last week – the shoes in the sales, the coat not (and both were approved by my teenage daughters – success!) – so I’m almost there. You won’t see me wearing a hat in a hurry, I do have a black woolen ‘egg cosy’ (well, that’s what we call them in our family) and an orange one with earflaps, the peruvian style one which is again all the rage now, but I just don’t seem to have a ‘hat head’, my ears are the wrong shape and don’t like to conform to a hat brim As it is snowing today and temperatures are still dropping – they said it could get as low as minus 10 Celsius on Wednesday – maybe I should find one of them to wear later when I’m going to have a look at the sales here. Although I probably won’t be buying a lot, I filled a whole suitcase with books and dvds when we were in London, as the pound had dropped so dramatically compared tot he euro, so I’m good for a few months

Well, the only thing left to say now is “Have a happy new year and that all your wishes may come true!” Just be careful what you wish for though

I like the new ‘backstage’ look of wordpress! I really do! It’s neat and compact and gives you a nice overview and reduces frantic back-and-forth clicking of tabs etc to a major extent. A+ for the designers and crew!

What I also notice now is that my ‘About’ page gets the most clicks of all my posts (not that I have such a huge following already, teehee) but there’s hardly anything to see as I never know what to talk about when it’s about myself. Well, I did a bit of work there, so there’s a little bit to read about me. Go and have a look. Not that you will find anything that you didn’t know already, probably, but still, the page hasn’t got that empty look anymore

Thanks Jane

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo.

11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train

21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb -did hold a piglet though
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset

31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David

41. Sung karaoke.
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted – does a cartoon count?
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris – queue was far too long

51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain.
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class.
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen

61. Sold Girl Guide Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma – alright, I don’t like needles
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a cheque – received one that bounced, that’s worse
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favourite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial

71. Eaten caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book.

81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car – loads of bikes though
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating.
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury

91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a mobile phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

 I was talking about Lolcats a few days ago, remember?  I’m still browsing the site on a daily basis and yesterday late I submitted my first comment – the lolcats were just too irresistible

That simple comment took me more than 15 minutes to edit – Kitteh Lanwich rly iznt eezi to raat u no!

The weird thing though – I caught myself speaking in ‘Kitteh’ to Oki today – she did give me a funny look – she probably speaks Flemish Kitteh instead of Engrish

Or, just to say I wanted a new look for the site – brown and lots of chocolate is for winter, let’s hear it for greens and blues and spring and summer

I must say, it does read easier it seems.  Now I’m off to have another look at all those Lolkatz – boy, is that an addictive site (they’re also topblog today on wordpress.com) – I’m even feeling an urge to lolkatzise Oki, poor thing

You never know what life is going to throw your way. You don’t always need to come out of the house for it, but sometimes it helps.

Yesterday we went to a Christmas Market of a local school – a good friend of the girls went there and wanted to show her old school and show off her mum and all the splendid things she made for the fair. It was really impressive and I spent way too much money, but as it was artful, decorative and all for a good cause, who am I to grumble? The most astonishing thing though, when we were browsing through the books I heard a voice I recognised immediately, although I hadn’t heard it for over 25 years, I turned round and the profile hit me – a guy I went to university with all those years ago! Luckily he recognised me too because I was stinking jealous, I can tell you that – that guy was still looking as hot as he did 25 years ago! If he didn’t see it in my dropped-jaw-face then, he will know now, as I gave him one of my moo-cards to pick up the thread of then. All above board though – he’s one of the lucky ones – husband and father of a great family: 7 kids, I still can’t get over it, 2 is more than enough for me! But it made me decide to get out of this chair and away from this machine a bit more and get some excercise – that quarter of a century has certainly snuck up on me lately

That was yesterday. Today I receive a mail from a friend: one of our good friends had been admitted to hospital with a colon infection yesterday evening. He died this morning at 2 am. It would have been his 53rd birthday on December 9. We wil be burying him this Friday, December 1. All of you who read this – spare a moment, a thought for him and the family he leaves behind. And cherish your life and your loved ones – you never know what life will throw at you…

Rounded by Ghyslain Armand

A brown, flexible width theme.

I like this one – very chocolatey and warm-looking.

I think I have to rethink all the stuff I have on the net – I should leave the clutter behind (ha!) and start again. The only problem is – what will I be posting here? Life is going slow – it’s only in times of upheavel you find the blog juices flowing freely…

Hmm… the kids are gone for 3 weeks too – so life is very quiet – the only thing making noise is the ventilator of my PC – poor thing is overheating as much as I do – Belgium is just not meant to have such scorching temperatures…