AWWWW MONDAY - WEEKEND MAY 30

 

Isn't he cute ? This should be the smallest dog in the world. It's a shame he barks at everything from a fly to a St. Bernard. Otherwise, I would like him as a little dog.

Linking to AWWW MONDAYS 

 

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WEEKEND

On Saturday the temperatures had dropped from 30 to 28°C and that was very nice ! More then 30 without wind and aircondition is difficult to support. 

The sun had disappeared and we didn't really need the antique parasol at all, but there it was, and we hoped that the next strong wind would finally break it completely. Unfortunately, it was still there the next morning. 

 

For our game we needed an umbrella in which we had to throw little plastic balls. You could get from 10 to 50 points if your ball landed in the right place.  I just throw my 5 balls 4 landed in the part which gave me 4 times 50 ! I became second. It was quite funny !

 

In the evening we had terrible thunderstorms, never had I lived such a strong storm like this time. The thunder came from all sides and the lightning, which came non-stop, made the room  almost as bright as daytime because I always had one curtain open so that cat Rosie could look out ! It lasted quite long from 9 to nearly 1 am with some interruptions. 

 On  

Sunday people discovered the damages it was quite extensive. Houses were destroyed, cars were submerged, and there was mud everywhere. Such a thunderstorm with so many lightening had never happened in Belgium. We, in our castle with its thick walls, were unaffected. Not even the antique parasol had moved, and no water had seeped in. Most of the residents hadn't heard or seen anything at all because they weren't wearing their hearing aids. I heard everything despite my earplugs.

We couldn't sit on the terrace and play basketball, it was very windy and humid, really unpleasant.

One of the castle cats had hidden in Pauline's room and was meowing when I visited her, she hadn't heard it at all ! I looked in all wardrobes, but I couldn't find her. In the afternoon, she was on the balcony, and Kim tried to catch her with a cardboard box. Suddenly, the poor cat jumped from the balcony onto the terrace but wasn't hurt because she ran away immediately! I was standing under the balcony looking up when I suddenly lost my balance and fell on my backside. They helped me up, but I was just like the cat, I didn't hurt myself !

 Rosie who doesn't fear thunder or lightening, this time she came and sat besides me making huge eyes 

FRIDAY's FAVE FIVE

Today marks four years since there is no longer a 'we' but only ' I '. Time flies so fast, I can hardly believe it, but unfortunately it's true.

1941 - 2022 

"When a husband dies, it's no longer us. It's just me. Not even death can steal the love I feel for you."

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This week it was very hot, over 30°C, which we're not used to at all. It was also Pentecost, a long weekend. Half of Belgium went to the seaside, and despite the train strike, they ran 30 extra trains so everyone could get there. Naturally, the motorway was completely jammed.

We sat comfortably in our lovely park under a huge tree that must be over 200 years old, chatted and had drinks. We were not many outside, a lot stayed inside the cool Restaurant with air condition. 

 

The next day was exactly the same, but in the morning I went to Amandine (our manager) to tell her that chairs were broken and we didn't have enough, same with a table and  that we badly needed bins in the park. The visitors and children are sometimes not very well educated. 

 

To our surprise there was no activity at all the whole week except today. This game was funny ! I was given five plastic balls and had to throw them into an umbrella, one after the other. Inside the umbrella, points were written on a slip of paper, and depending on where the ball landed, you got 10 to 50 points. You couldn't really aim because you couldn't see the points. So I just threw my balls aimlessly into the umbrella, and the first time, four landed in the 50-point range! The other times, I got zero! Anyway, I came in second!

This is the last survivor ! I wonder how long it will last. 

We all had for the first time a meeting with our new manager ! I felt really sorry for her. Instead of admitting that she didn't really know yet how things worked here, she acted like she understood everything, but I didn't believe her. I had the feeling she was swimming in unknown waters, but she will learn.

We have a new couple. Honestly, they are getting on my nerves. He is constantly making jokes that no one understands except him, and then he laughs loudly and heartily! His wife looks like a 14-year-old little girl and must have been very pretty once. She's always smiling or laughing, and as soon as she sees a man, she runs up to him, hugs him, and tries to kiss him. As soon as our men see a man, who's quite tall, they know the little girl is clinging to his arm, and they "run" away or try to hide behind a table. She does the same thing with women. I only just managed to dodge her at the last minute,  otherwise, she would have "attacked" me too. But I jumped aside (it's still possible), and her husband caught her again. I don't know what they're suffering from, but neither of them is normal.

The rest of the time I worked on my pictures to make old once new and they really look now as if I had taken the picture yesterday. 

  

We are the couple of the right side together with my American uncle in 1971

and this is in the Yellowstone Park

more participants at Susanne at Living to tell the Story.

 

 

 

 

 

 

HODGEPODGE MAY 28

 1. Do you like your name? Are you named after someone (grandparent, etc)? If you have children how did you choose their names? 

When I went to school in Germany I didn't like my name, because there were so many Ingrid s I think we were 6 in our class. This was probably due to the fact that Mr. Hitler loved everything which came from Northern countries like Ingrid Bergman.

But when I moved with my parents to Belgium Ingrid was a very rare name. I often had to repeat it or even spell it out. That's when I started to like my first name. With our son, it was a bit complicated. I wanted a name that couldn't be translated into another language. Besides, it had to be short because the last name was so long. Finally, we settled on "Dario," which can't be translated. We added the names of his two grandfathers, Paul and Gorgio. Rick initially wanted to name him Gorgio after his father, but in French, that's George, and it sounds awful! He finally agreed to that, he didn't like George either. .

2.  A piece of red velvet cake, a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a slice of blueberry pie? You can only have one...which will you choose? If you could pick any red, white, or blue dessert other than those listed here, what would you choose? 

If it's hot I would choose an ice cream, but otherwise I prefer blueberry pie ! I would choose Strawberry cake. But on both I would add whipped cream !! 

3.  What's a job you'd like to try for just one day? 

Working in a zoo 

4. Any patriotic decor in your home currently or coming up this summer? 

Patriotic ? We are 4 nationalities in our family ! Italian, German, German/Italian, Dutch, Dutch/German. Therefore the answer is No 

5. It's the end of May, so let's exercise our brains. Sum up your month with an acrostic using the word MAY. We can do it!! 

Many flowers start to bloom

After a lot of rain

You finally can enjoy spring   

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Besides the hot weather, the moody Trump, the dangerous Putin I only hear about AI in the News. As there is no age to be curious I started to put my nose into AI. first with pictures, my wedding in new, my 2 m long son as a little Baby etc. Then I wanted to try if it is really possible that AI is able to write my last will, which I don't need, but it did !  

Very good indeed. How wonderful that AI can write such impeccable letters for authorities administration etc. 

But for personal things, like writing a book or my blog I would prefer to use OI for that, because I doubt AI can be romantic. You are probably wondering what OI is. I have discovered that besides AI (English), there is IA (French and Italian) and also KI (German), and they explain and answer in those languages.

That's really great, of course; you don't need a psychiatrist or psychologist anymore, just ask AI, IA, or KI. Personally, for private things, such as my blog or letters, I use OI, which stands for OWN INTELLIGENCE. I don't need Psy or Psy yet !