22 Apr 2026

HODGEPODGE APRIL 23

 1. April 22nd is Earth Day...what's the most 'out of this world' place on earth you've ever visited? Tell us something about it. 

In 2001 I was spending Holidays in Sharm el Sheik (Egypt).We saw that there were excursions to Petra in Jordan. I had never heard of it, and it seemed to have just been made accessible to visitors. The way leading to the temple in Petra dated back to Roman times and was made of cobblestones; I remember it being quite difficult to walk on. There was nothing there to make it easier for visitors. We walked through very impressive rock tunnels, and then suddenly we saw...

What Is So Special About Petra in Jordan? | TheCollector

This temple carved in the red rocks. 

2000 years ago Petra was the capital of the Nabataean Kingdom. Nobody knows exactly when the history of Petra began. May be in 312BC. I don't know what it looks like  today, but back then you were not allowed to enter everything because excavations were still taking place. 

2. A favorite quote, verse, or song lyric with the word earth in it? 

The Earth will endure…

 Man believes he can conquer the Earth. He believes it will bring him great things, but if he doesn't soon realize that the Earth will declare war on him, he will soon perish. But the Earth will endure.

3. What's the most trivial thing about which you have a strong opinion? 

I have no strong opinion about trivial things, I just don't care 

4. What's your most commonly used kitchen utensil or tool? What's the last thing you made using that tool? 

a fork, just had lunch 

5. Marilyn (Memphis Bridges) gave me a great book of 3000 questions, and I'm going to try to use one in our Hodgepodge every week. Here is today's - 

What is your greatest extravagance? 

People would say my cat collection, because when my grandson counted them in all corners of the house he proudly told me that I have exactly 468 cats in all materials forms and shapes big or small ! I still have a shelf with cats, but less of course .

                                                                   Swarowski cats 
 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Saturday was a beautiful day; my son, grandson, and of course, dog ​​Leia, came for a visit. My grandson Toby has grown again and is now 2m 3 tall and 15 years old. Both son and grandson have become a souvenir of my Italian husband. They inherited nothing of the blonde Dutch DIL and me, the German grandma! I wonder if Toby will continue to grow ? My son stopped growing at 16 at 2 m. I felt like a dwarf, with my 1.70 m ! They were both the attraction of the day!


21 Apr 2026

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY



















Garden architect Louis Fuchs created the 14-hectare park alongside the castle at the start of the 20th century. 

Every year since 2003, the park is open to an international flower exhibition.

The floral shows in the grounds of Groot-Bijgaarden Castle, are dedicated to tulips, with over 300 varieties (early, medium and late varieties, as well as classic triumphs, botanicals, bleurs-de-lis, viridiflora,and multi-flora) and other varieties of spring bulb flowers. More than a million bulbs are planted. 

We visited the flower show on Monday, April 21 and it was the right time to see all flowers in full bloom and nothing had faded yet. It was a wonderful walk admiring the flowers, and the color creations. We enjoyed the exhibition very much.

 

 more participants here

19 Apr 2026

AWWW MONDAY - WEEKEND APRIL 18





 

Linking to AWWW MONDAYS 

 

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WEEKEND 

My son had announced his visit for Saturday with Toby and their dog Leia. Naturally, it was the only day we had a constant shower. Since there was nothing special planned for Sunday's menu, they brought hamburgers and a cheeseburger for me, and instead of flowers, good Dutch cheese and tangerines.

Toby has grown again since February and is now 3 cm taller than his dad, who is 2 meters tall. We ate our hamburgers with gusto and caught up on all the news. Toby is the tallest in his basketball club, but his coach is even taller, 2.13 meters! He showed me a picture, and I asked where the poor guy buys his clothes and shoes! Leia really wanted to say hello to Rosie the cat, but Rosie made herself very small in her basket. We let Leia sniff around a bit, and then there was peace and quiet. Rosie in her basket and Leia on the floor. 

 I with my Body guards ! Obviously Rick has left me two nice souvenirs !  

The Italian blood had erased the German and Dutch, son has inherited from his father and the grandson has inherited the brown hairs too. Both I and my DIL are blond. They have nothing from our families

After lunch we went to the restaurant to join the others and I felt like a circus director leading two rare species around the room. Leia the dog preferred the people in wheelchairs, letting them pet her and waving her tail like a fan. Then it was the others' turn, but she was a bit shy at first. Afterwards, she felt completely at home and walked under the table, rubbing against everyone's legs! That was really funny, and the whole group enjoyed the presence of an animal.

Archery was on the agenda, and since we hadn't done it since childhood, or perhaps ever, only two of us hit the target! Me and a resident who was over 90 but fit as a fiddle. It was very interesting, of course, and my two guests had a great time, especially Toby. He loves coming and playing with the grandmas and grandpas. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture when we shot !   

They helped Kim to prepare the tables, picked up coffee and cookies in the kitchen and I was proud that they were so helpful. I got quite a lot of compliments. A few thought they both were brothers, but I think they need new glasses ! 

 

As my son has a new electric car they were looking where they could charge the car for the way back. 

 
 
and Leia after having begged for cookies, finally settled down amongst all these legs under the table.

At 6 pm they returned to Amsterdam, it had been a very nice day !

On Sunday (of course) the sun was shining and I could do my daily walk through the park. Others had the same idea and rested on a bench. It was too cold to sit outside, so we had our activity inside.
 

I joined Solange and Brigitte on the Bench 
 

Kim had prepared a word game for us, which is called "words mixed up" it was quite difficult. The words we had to find were written on the left and the letters on the right. We then had to find the words in this jumble of letters ! But we managed and quite quickly !

After our coffee we chatted until it was time for supper.