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…

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 shouldn’t have complained about the hot weather yesterday Today I woke up with thunder and lightning and the roof being pelted with rain as if a thousand mice were dancing a tarantella on it. Having a modern house with high sloping ceilings is nice, but a pain when trying to sleep when it rains – not as bad as a tin roof, but it comes a close second!

So I’m scratching my head again for a subject for ‘picture of the day’. Maybe I’ll go to the park later, inbetween rain bursts, and see if the deer are out, otherwise I could go to the rose garden for a few scenic pics. I will have to pop over to the shops too. Eldest girl of the neighbours across has her birthday tomorrow – 7 I thought it was – and I have to find her a birthday present, so I can go and give it before I leave for London tomorrow evening. Which also implies no posts on Saturday or Sunday. The kids already txted me they would like to go to Camden Town. If we make that, it should be a good photo opportunity

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

08-Triptych – Peace

Originally uploaded by Reinhilde.

Nothing much happened today. There was a terrible storm yesterday – or well very early this morning, we didn’t get to bed till 2, so we’re having a lazy day today

It’s very weird to see lightning everywhere and every few seconds but not hear any thunder. It was raining like they were preparing for the next flood and then suddenly the rain stopped, the lightning lessened but then the thunder started crashing just above our heads – the windows and doors were literally rattling!

It was worse further east of us, looks like we escaped the wind that ripped out trees and ended scouts camps all over the place…

 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

As voting is compulsary in Belgium, I had to leave my beloved PC for half an hour to go and tick the right box… Everyone has to do it – even the royals – and as I just heard on the news, so are the French today. Just goes to show how much politics plays a part in my life!

At 3 o’clock local time the voting closes and a few hours later we should about know who will push us around for a few years again. If you want to follow the results, the national broadcasting company made a special site for it.

In our town, voting happens electronically. You get a card that you have to insert in a slot after which you can vote on the screen. I probably didn’t have enough coffee yet, as it took me a few seconds prodding the screen with my finger before I realised I had to use the special pen provided with it – d’oh! I prefer the old times, when you had a (extremely large sometimes!) paper you had to unfold and find your preferred party and then use a fat red pencil to colour in the dot next to your candidate.

I didn’t take my camera with me this time – and the kids stayed home too – so no recent pics of the crowds… just an old one of the local elections of last year. I hope they’re happy with the results this time so we don’t need to go voting again too soon

snoepjeskast – or why I don’t seem to be able to loose any weight…

Originally uploaded by Reinhilde.

On Flickr there are loads of groups – depending on interest and such like – one is the Monthly Scavenger Hunt – or the MSH for short. Every month you need to find 20 subjects, photograph them, and post them to the group. One of the subjects this month was ‘Evil’. I was really stumped there. My life is rather evilfree lately (touch wood!) and I just couldn’t find any inspiration. Until I got hungerpangs (or ‘goesting’ as we call it in flemish) and opened our sweets cabinet… and then inspiration struck. I should put a lock on it – but then it all goes to waste, and that would be evil too, no?

If you’re wondering what all the stuff is, click on the picture – in Flickr you can attach notes and that’s where it’s all explained…

Hmmm… I think I’ll have a frangipane, no, a waffle, no, a packet of penny wafers… Oh what the heck, I’ll have the last bar of chocolate – I’ll eat it with two slices of bread to diminish the sin…