FRIDAY's FAVE FIVE

It's rather cool for end July, and we are locked in. We have two new ladies and I am not the youngest anymore ! Now I have one who is 4 years younger then I and the other one two years older. But it is still a long way to reach Gilberte who celebrated her 103 birthday ! 

 

 

She is amazing, if you chat with her, which she loves, I don't even realize that she could be my mother ! She goes with the time and is not against anything new, except a smartphone, she says that it is complicated, but she can call and receive calls, even video calls ! She is healthy, has nothing and is a very sympathic person.

My new Smartphone a Samsung A26 has so many security apps, that it is easier to open the safe of Mr. Trump, then to install my Bank app. I spent an hour and tried before I had asked several people here, it always stopped at the same place. Finally I went to my bank and thought they can do it easily, but no, there is something blocked and I have to call the technical Service. The technical service was not available and it was in Antwerp, so I decided to let my bank solve the problem. After all there was a bug in their program and therefore it was their job to find a solution.

 I have to say I had tried out a lot of keys without knowing what it was. So did my phone meow and I couldn't find why,where and how to change the sound. My companions laughed each time when my phone meows. They say that Rosie calls me !  

In the afternoon I went to my bank and the girl there told me that she had spent the whole morning to find out why my mobile didn't want to install my bank app. So when I arrived she was proud that she had found the problem and asked two of her colleagues to join and listen to her explanations. The problem was rather ridiculous, I had blocked some pubs and my bank was taken for a pub. Of course it got stuck. Now they know what they have to do, I was certainly not the last client who had this problem with a new mobile model.  

We celebrated the birthdays of all those who were born in July ! They had hired a female singer and we all hoped that she was better then the man who sang for the June birthdays.

She sang all songs from the 60th and we were all thinking of our youth. She had a lot of success and and we applauded and one even asked if she could sing the song "Michèle" because he had met his late wife during this song. For me it was funny because most of the songs were from Harry Belafonte, Petula Clark, Tom Jones, etc, but translated into French and of course sung in French, and the texts were not exactly the same or completely different. It sounded so strange to me hearing the songs in French.

My bank had called me to ask for an appointment and I went, I was a bit worried that the bank's app would be having problems to be installed, but it wasn't a problem. My phone meowed happily, and the employees laughed. I still don't know, I was too lazy to check why it was meowing. It was probably incoming messages or emails. Anyway, one of the bank employees had a honking sound! So we meowed and honked happily.

After the bank suddenly I felt the need to buy shoes ! I badly needed walking shoes for outside, because inside I wear a sort of baskets. Of course if you are looking for something special you find nothing and that was the case. 

When I came home I met the two girls who have rooms with a balcony and they asked me to join them. There was no activity this afternoon, so we stayed there and chatted. One was younger as I and was diagnosed Alzheimer and couldn't stay alone in her apartment anymore and the other was older had balance problems and had to walk with a walker. She was here to improve her balance and was only supposed to stay for a month. But she enjoyed it so much that she stayed ! She is already 90 but looks much younger, I thought she was in her 70 ! That's nice that we are now more and more who are still fit ! With the youngest one, she proposed to me to go for a week to Tunisia in October because there it will be still sunny and warm. I'll see ! 

 

 

more participants at Susanne at Living to tell the Story.

 

 

 

 

 

 

HODGEPODGE JULY 31

 1. On July 29th 1957 The Tonite Show premiered with Jack Parr as it's host. This marked the beginning of the modern day talk show. Do you watch any daytime or late night talk shows today? Do you have any thoughts on the hubbub surrounding the cancellation of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, or are you more in the camp of 'who is Stephen Colbert? 

Of course I don't know Stephen Colbert, in the four languages I know, I don't like talk shows at all. It's in all countries more or less the same, you are supposed to laugh and the guy on the scene is a big charmer with a big mouth. But once the show's over, he transforms—maybe not always, but usually—into a very unpleasant fellow who never pleases anyone and just complains.

2. What's the best part of your day? 

 

 

I have no idea, usually it's in the afternoon until 4pm and then my batteries are empty. But not always, I can have the best part of the day in the evening or even but rather seldom in the morning. Depends on my mood or my hormones. 

3. What's something your generation does that you actually dislike? 

That they talk a lot especially in politics and do nothing concrete since they have grown up. The best example is the hippie era or the riots in May 1968, when young people wanted to turn the world upside down. Today, they are probably, are brave fathers and mothers who eat organic food and no longer smoke.

4. When you cook do you clean as you go, or clean it all up once you're finished cooking? What's the last thing you cooked/baked in your own kitchen? 

 

I don't remember when I cooked the last time, but when I cooked I cleaned the kitchen when I had finished cooking. 

5. Sum up your July in ten words or less. 

Bronchitis, feeling better, bronchitis, feeling better etc. Now it seems to be finished. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I have a bit the blues ! It is already August now and it seems to me that fall is approaching, a season I hate. So today I see everything in black and have no special thoughts, the only thing which is positive now is my new Smartphone ! The bank app finally works, but it took them also a day because it is a new model full of safety protections! It was the first time that such a thing had happened, so I had served as guinea pig !

 

 

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

 

A "dog  day care" called "Dog's Factory" for working "parents". They bring their darlings in the morning and pick them up in the evening. Just like kids.

 

 

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A SPECIAL GENERATION

I don't remember where I found this text and also not in which language. Certain is that I translated it, because it is so true ! Being born in 1943 I am part of this special generation ! 

They call us the elderly
We were born in the 40 50 60
We grew up in the 50 60 70
We studied in the 60 70 80
we were dating in the 70 80 90 They call us "the elderly"

We got married and discovered the world
in the 70 80 90
We ventured into the 80 90
We stabilized in the 2000

We got wiser in the 2010
and we are going firmly through and beyond 2020
Turns out we have lived through EIGHT different decades
TWO different centuries
TWO different millenaires

We have gone from the telephone with an operator
for long distance calls, to video calls anywhere in the world

We have gone from slides to YOU TUBE
from handwritten letters to email and Whats App
from Live matches on the radio, to back and white TV coolour TV and then to 3D, HD TV

We went to the Video store and now we watch Netflix,
We got to know the first computers, punch cqards, floppy disks and now we have gigabytes and megabytes on our smartphones

We wore shorts throughout our childhood and then long trousers, Oxfords, flares, shell suits &blue jeans
We dodged infantile paralysis, meningitis, polio, tuberculosis, swine flu and COVID -19

We rode skates tricycles, bicycles, mopeds, petrol or diesel cars and now we drive Hybrids or electric.

Yes, we have bee through a lot but what a great life we have had
They could describe us as exceptional, 
people who were in that world of the fifties, who had an analog childhood and a digital adulthood.

We have kind of "seen it all" ! 
Our generation has literally lived through and witnessed more
than any other in every dimension of life
It is our generation that has literally adapted to CHANGE
A big round of applause to all the members of a very special generation which will be UNIQUE !

AWWW MONDAY - WEEKEND JULY 26

 A stroll through a zoo

 

 

Linking to AWWW MONDAYS 

 

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 WEEKEND 

 On Saturday we could sit outside it was warm with a mixture of sunshine and clouds. We played a Quizz and then Kim our animator asked me which song I liked. I was so surprised that I said "Jailhouse Rock" from Elvis Presley. They all laughed and then it started. He only played songs from the 60th ! 

Suddenly everybody woke up and tried to dance and then we talked about our youth. Many residents had lived in Brussels, just like me and we asked each other in which Dancing bar we had been, and found out that several of us had been dancing each Saturday in the same ! Maybe we met each other. Some told us that they had to climb out of the window because Daddy hadn't realized yet that his little girl had suddenly become a Teenager and was interested in girls. 

 

We were so loud just as if we were still 20 so that people in the next street thought that there was a party going on,  but not in the nursing home. The kitchen staff had to call us, we hadn't realized that it was already so late. And then we thought that all these famous singers who had created a new kind of music were all our age ! For Kim who is only 30 it was very interesting. 

Sunday it rained and we had our coffee, and chatted still about our life 60 or 70 years ago ! And were sorry for the youth today. 

 

FRIDAY's FAVE FIVE

On Monday was our National Holiday and usually it rains 98% of the time on this day, and we call it "national shower day." This time it was mixed but more sun then rain and we gathered in the restaurant, which was decorated with Belgian flags, and talked about all the folklore festivals in the different regions. It was quite a lot, and it was quite fun.

 

I suppose that because of our fancy antique air condition, I was sick the next day and felt lousy. Fortunately I had all necessary medication available and spent the day laying on the sofa and watched TV.  

I spent the night with coughing and Miss Rosie checked all two hours if I was still alive sat on my belly and stared in my face. Of course I thought a rock had fallen on my stomach and woke up ! After having washed my nose she meowed for food. Despite her 19 years she has a good appetite only now she has some difficulties to jump. I put her cat tower closer to her basket so that she can with a little jump land on her tower and look out of the window.

I watched our games but didn't participate, I felt too weak but I didn't want to stay in my room either. Anyway the majority of us had red noses and coughed and one was even brought to hospital with a pneumonia. 

Finally I told myself that I am stupid that it lasted now far too long and I called my doctor and asked for a visit, because I had one food in my grave. When she came the next day I was feeling real good. I wasn't sick anymore. A real miracle, but she knows me, that strange things can happen to me. So I had a perfect blood pressure, a good % of oxygen in my blood, and when she checked my bronchia and lungs, everything was fine there, too. It was really unpleasant for me, I was sick for three weeks and the day the doctor came, I was completely healthy. At least she gave me  a prescription for a blood test.

The rest of the week we played a quizz, we had to find out what our forename meant !

I won't tell you what my name means, otherwise people will think I'm conceited !

We ended the week with playing Bingo, which is always very funny

 Now I hope that we will have a dream Weather over the weekend and the week which follows !!

 

 

more participants at Susanne at Living to tell the Story.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HODGEPODGE JULY 23

1. When does time pass slowly for you? When does time past quickly for you? 

When  I have to wait for something, or somebody ! But when I am on holidays, time flies by !

2. Do you have a favorite beach? What's your favorite 'beach' activity? Tell us what we'd find in your beach bag.

I have two favorite beaches, the red sea in Egypt for swimming and just laying at the beach

  

 

and the South East coast in England where I love to walk along  the beach promenade and sit on one of the many benches and look out at the sea and the people walking by. 

 

I have not much in my beach bag, a towel, sun cream, my tablet and my glasses

3. Your favorite book or movie with a beach setting? 

I am unable to read at the beach and certainly not watching a movie ! There is so much to see or to chat with people ! I couldn't concentrate. 

4. What's a food you love, but find it's a pain to eat? Is it worth it? 

Artichokes ! I love the taste but not the pealing until finally I arrive at the heart !  

5.  Do you like roller coasters? What's the best (or worst) roller coaster you've been on? 

I never liked these things, but one day in my youth, friends convinced me to come with them. I didn't want to, but finally they pulled and pushed me in the cabin of that thing. I thought I would die ! It was awful and when finally I was on the ground again, my legs trembled and my face was green ! It took me some time to pull me together. Never ever I would go on a roller coaster again !! 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Today my doctor will come, finally I decided to call her. Usually I wait until I am with one foot in my grave, but now it's since beginning July that I am still coughing, and feeling not normal. So my random thoughts are rather black and I see my world as a catastrophe. I want to do so many things, but I just have not then energy ! 

 

 

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY - MARKETS

Waterloo Flea Market is a real gem, held every Sunday in the car park of the Carrefour Supermarket.

Regardless of the weather, sellers offer their goods to visitors. The market features a mix of genuine antiques and contemporary collectible. With over 300 stalls, you’re sure to find some real treasures at great deals. Waterloo Flea Market is also known as La Brocante du Biggs or Brocante de Lion.

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AWWWW MONDAY

 

 

Linking to AWWW MONDAYS 

 

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WEEKEND

Saturday it was very warm but supportable because there was a very strong wind, which blew us nearly away, and as we played "MIKADO" where you have to take one stick without moving the others, we never knew if it was the wind which moved the sticks or if it was the player. 

Mikado

Sunday, morning it rained, buckets of water fell from heaven, and at the same time it was very warm, you had the impression to sit in a greenhouse. I stayed inside and I got my new phone set up, because some of the apps I needed were missing, and then the day was over.

In the evening, our king spoke on television, as tomorrow is Belgium's national holiday.

His speech was very nice, at least he told the truth what happens in Gaza and Ukraine and finally nothing concrete is done, besides meetings after meetings. 

Belgian and European Union flag

 

 

FRIDAY's FAVE FIVE

 Unfortunately I still felt not right after the weekend, my COPD  (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease),  I had far too little oxygen in my blood, so that after just a few steps I was out of breath, and even getting dressed was too much and I had to keep taking breaks. 

The smartphone  I had ordered on Saturday because it was sold out everywhere had to wait, I felt too weak to pick it up on Monday. I had no idea I'd chosen such a bestseller; I was just looking for one which had everything I needed and not more. 

I couldn't participate in our activity, I still felt too weak, so I only joined my group later for the coffee. I noticed that there were a few who had the same as I had, I heard sneezing and coughing everywhere. 

Now I really had time to configure my new smartphone. But how ? The seller wanted €20, which was too much for me, I decided to do it myself. Nobody here knows anything about it, even though the staff have smartphones. Finally I asked my son how to get started. He told me that it was really easy: I connected the old one to the new one with a cable... and it worked! I was proud! I could add whatever I wanted to later, a little bit every day. The main thing was that the phone, WhatsApp, and emails worked.

And then a therapist had brought her dog with her, an Australian Shepherd.  He was specialized to deal with mentally ill people. I'd seen something like that on TV before, but never in real life. 

After greeting me (I was the first) and then the other healthy ones, he went, on a small command, to one who was seriously ill. She couldn't hold her head up or her body; she was twitching as if she were having a seizure. 

Darwin (that was the dog's name) immediately went to her, placed his head under her hand, and stood on his hind legs to calm her body. Then he pushed his head under hers to stabilize it. The woman couldn't show her emotions, but somehow you could tell she was becoming calmer and didn't want to let Darwin go ! Then he went to another woman who never spoke and always sat motionless in her wheelchair. 

 

When Darwin approached her, she stretched out her arms, and the dog let himself be taken into her arms. Then he gave her a few kisses, and Marie suddenly had a huge smile on her face. We were all amazed. She was then allowed to give him a cookie and was overjoyed. 

This also happened with two others. Then Darwin was allowed to go from one to the other, and from each one he received a small piece of bread. We praised him and clapped, and he sat there and looked at his mistress, asking if he had done a good job.

What a beautiful dog ! We all were very impressed.

The rest of the week I tried to get back on my feet and since two days the oxygen in my blood has improved and is nearly normal. I realize it when I walk and am less breathless.

 

And this bunch of crows wake me up each morning, there are hundreds in the park ! 

 

 

more participants at Susanne at Living to tell the Story.

 

 

 

 

 

 

HODGEPODGE JULY 17

 

1. What's a characteristic you admire in others? Elaborate. 

 

Selfassurance 

2. Do you have a favorite mug? Let's see it. Why is this one your favorite?

Yes, I had one. It disappeared somewhere during my three moves. It was one with a cat on it, of course I got it from Rick for a birthday. 

I found a photo of it

3. July 15th is/was National Give Something Away Day...will you (or did you, depending on what day you answer these questions) give something away? If so what? Do you regularly give away or do you tend to  'accumulate'? 

I gave a whole household away when we emptied our house, and later I got rid of a lot of clothes, I had bought new ones because I had put on a lot of weight, now I gave them away because I lost all these kgs again and the new clothes looked like tents on me.  I had to buy for my normal size again. I bought everything online as cheap and chic as possible. Quality at my age is not important, an expensive cloth would last longer then I ! 

4. You're planning a trip. Do you prefer exploring big cities or smaller, more off the grid towns? World Atlas lists these 12 'off the grid' towns to see in 2025. How many on the list have you seen? Of those listed which one would you most like to visit? Tell us why? 

Boothbay Harbor Maine, Middlebury Vermont, New Hope Pennsylvania, Rehoboth Beach Delaware, Brevard North Carolina, Saugatuck Michigan, Medora North Dakota, Ouray Colorado, Lamoille Nevada, Neah Bay Washington, Hood River Oregon, or Cambria California

*You can read more about each destination by clicking the link above.

I have been probably in these States : Michigan, North Dakota, Colorado, Nevada, and California.  Maybe we have seen what you listed, but I don't remember, we visited all Tourist spots !

5. Have you ever...ridden a motorcycle? been to a Disney park? met a celebrity? won a contest? Tell us something about whatever you answered yes to on this list. 

A friend of Rick convinced me to make a tour on a Harley Davidson. I didn't like motorcycles very much, but I did it. The poor guy had a big blue spots on each tighs because I clung to him with both hands ! This was the first and last time that I rode on a bicycle. 

I have been in Disney World, I won a contest when I was 20, I was voted beauty queen in a tourist town near Pisa, and in Hollywood we met an actor who played the lead role in a TV series Miami Vice.

It was Don Johnson, who had lunch in the same restaurant as us. But back then, he was 20 years younger at least. (like on the photo) 

6. Insert your own random thought here.  

Unfortunately, this roller coaster weather has spread coughs and colds throughout the castle, and it's affected me too. Now I'm wondering when this will finally be over and I'm glad I'm here and don't live alone; at least there's always someone there for me. 

 

This will be soon the case in our restaurant !