AWWWW - WEEKEND NOVEMBER 29

When I saw this dog, it made me laugh and my mood improved a lot!

 

 

Linking to AWWW MONDAYS

  

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WEEKEND 

In the morning News there was a heated debate about the nativity scene that adorns the Grand Place in Brussels every year. Until now, it had been a traditional nativity scene, once even featuring real people and sheep, but since then always with life-size statues.

The classical nativity scene, each year a bit different

This is the controversial nativity scene, made by an artist entirely from pieces of fabric. The figures don't even have faces. Personally, I like the nativity scene; after all, nobody really knows what Jesus, Mary, and Joseph looked like. The baby Jesus's head was stolen the very next day! Another scandal. Even the politicians got involved and talked a lot of rubbish. The head will, of course, be replaced. Now the nativity scene is under guard ! While we still not have a government, now they fight over little Jesus' head !

On Friday I had invited Jacky (Rosie's pedicure) for a cake and coffee at Paul's.  We had never been there and were pleasantly surprised. It's very cozy and they have excellent cakes, cookies, muffins etc, but also salty take aways. It is a bakery and everything was fresh. To our surprise the place was full and we just caught the last two places at the window, I couldn't take a photo, there were too many people. We had a very nice afternoon together. I had met her in our castle, her husband also had Parkinson's and died a year ago.  

When I got home, there was a lot of commotion, and the staff was running around looking for a Marianne. They even came into my room, but I was alone with Rosie. I don't know this woman, she's on the fourth floor, which is usually a closed-off floor. She must have seen a hole and run away. That's terrible, of course, because it's cold and raining. I certainly know tomorrow when they have found her. 

 This is a screenshot of the Grand'Place this evening, 

and the Christmas tree

Brussels Christmas market

FRIDAY's FAVE FIVE

On Monday, I received a reply from the laundry service, who had charged me for two duvets and a coat. Of course, I didn't pay. I don't own any duvets, and I have never even worn my coat here. Luckily, we'll be switching laundry service next month. They probably thought the old lady would not notice. 

It's gotten quite cold, and rather damp too. Luckily, I don't have to go out since we are having a three-day general strike—no buses, trains, or trams, the shops are closed, and there is no mail. Thankfully, it's supposed to be over tomorrow. Am I happy that have my pension each month and nothing can be changed anymore. 

The next day I was invited by my friend Laure whom I hadn't seen at least since a month. She wasn't feeling well, just like me, we were both feeling down. We also lost our husbands around the same time. She was worrying about her almost-grown grandchildren instead of leaving that to their parents. Somehow, I get the feeling she's letting herself be taken advantage of. But it's hard to say that to someone without risking the friendship. She'll figure it out herself.

On Wednesday the residents of Nivelles returned home, now the 3rd floor will be repaired and get new furniture. We also will not see anymore the very mental ill people, because they will be locked in, as some of them try to escape. It happened already twice since I am here.

 

In our activity group we lost two people, they both suddenly died. One just fell asleep after having watched TV and never woke up. How lucky she was ! We all were sad because it was such a nice person. The other one I didn't know well, but he was in a bad shape so it was certainly better for him.  

 

I'm increasingly noticing that the brain ages in a rather strange way. Younger people are already showing signs of dementia, while our 100-year-old still speaks and thinks perfectly normally. Unfortunately, her body hasn't followed she can no longer stand and her hands tremble terribly. She is completely dependent on a care taker. Gilberte, on the other hand, who is 103, has the brain of someone 30. She walks and sees, and her body is also normal. Of course, she tires more easily. Then we have a 90-year-old who was once a history and French teacher; she has a very good general knowledge and hasn't forgotten a thing. She walks without help and is completely normal, but one of us always has to take her back to her room because she has lost her sense of orientation. Even when she's standing in front of her door, she tells me she doesn't know where she is. She has a beautiful, authentic Buddha from Thailand, so I open her door and point to the Buddha, saying, "See, this is your room." Then she immediately knows where she is and is so grateful that it makes me feel a bit awkward.  

 

I find it really interesting how differently people age. The worst part is you don't notice it yourself when your brain starts to fail, it's always other people who notice. I hope I'm still "normal"—at least my car seems to agree.

 

Different ways of aging

 

 

more participants at Susanne at Living to tell the Story.

 

 

 

 

 

 

HODGEPODGE NOVEMBER 27

1. Do you feel like you have a 'full plate' at the moment? In what way? 

Not at all, my "full plate" is rather empty ! I don't even know where and how we celebrate Christmas. I would like to go to Amsterdam, but I don't know if my health allows it. My son has to go to the inlaws and as they are divorced the poor couple has to split Christmas into 3, FIL, MIL and myself. Anyway Christmas without Rick doesn't mean anything to me anymore. I let them decide I am here anyway and I am sure we will celebrate as we did last year. And for my old Rosie it's perhaps her last Christmas.  

2. How did you learn to cook? If you have children did you teach or encourage them to cook? Do you like to follow a recipe or is your cooking style more 'let's wing it'. 

My mother wouldn't let me in her kitchen and learn cooking ! 

I learned to took with Rick, he loved cooking and taught me a lot of very good Italian recipes. I started to like to cook and it became a hobby to me. I read or tasted a dish and then I would try to recreate it. That mostly worked out fine.

Rick suddenly became "unemployed." Then we both started cooking. Whoever got home first cooked. That worked really well. Since our son saw his father cooking, he thought it was perfectly normal, and when he lived alone, he was always the one who cooked. He said that cooking relaxes him after work!

He even took cooking classes, and I have to say he's a really good cook.

3. Last time you bit off more than you could chew? Elaborate. 

That's ages ago, now I started my third year here in "my" castle, and have nothing to chew anymore, not even a chewing gum, as I don't like them.  

4. When did you last say 'the more the merrier' and mean it? 

Probably about sunshine, my mood depends on the weather 

5. Write an acrostic using the word T-H-A-N-K-S. 

T  The gratitude I feel

H   has no limits

A and makes me feel comfortable and happy

N Nothing but pure chance has brought me here. 

K Kindness of the people and the beautiful park convinced me   

S So I will stay here forever

6. Insert your own random thought here.  

I have the new Theater program for winter and summer and am looking which piece interests me. The last one was really good, and I hope this season will also have some good pieces.

 

 

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

 

Shopping mall in Brussels

 

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AWWWW MONDAY - WEEKEND NOVEMBER 22

 

Little figurrines

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WEEKEND 

Saturday it was real cold, humid, foggy and windy. My son and family wanted to come and visit me, but when I saw the weather forecast, I told him not to come, as the roads were slippery and too dangerous to drive. We can see each other on the telephone screen too. 

We spent the afternoon with playing UNO, apparently it's one of our favorite games.

On Sunday when I opened my eyes I saw the roof of the house just in front where we keep tools and furniture, white ! it had snowed. Unfortunately it didn't last long and in the afternoon the grass was green again.

A priest used to live there, and later it was a daycare for disabled men; their wives brought them there and then went to work. Now 3 of our cats sleep in there when it is cold or it rains. 

At noon the snow was gone.

We were in the warmth around two big tables and played Bingo. We laughed a lot and forgot that it was awful outside. Our Bingo is cute, it's a little thing with little balls, but it works very well we were 19 ! I won twice. We play with buttons !

 

 

and this is a real Bingo cage !  

FRIDAY"s FAVE FIVE

This week was a little strange. Not only we switched from warm weather to -1°C. It was winter suddenly. I took my winter pullovers of my chest and replaced them with my summer sweaters. That completed my season change.

After we had played cards, there was suddenly a commotion throughout the castle. The staff were running around. Our coffee only arrived after I asked for it, and then I found out why. Everyone available had to go up to the fourth floor, which had been renovated and the furniture was already in the rooms, but lamps and other things were still missing. Most importantly, the beds had to be made and the rooms cleaned of all the construction dirt. And why? In the neighbor town  a nursing home the electricity had broken down and the water  pipe had burst, about 100 people had to be moved to neighboring nursing homes. We "inherited" 20 of them, and they were the worst cases of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and dementia. 

I saw the whole evacuation on the news that evening. I didn't experience any of it life; I found out later from a nurse and others who stayed until 10 pm to settle in and care for these poor people.The next day was even worse. In addition to the 20 people, caregivers had also arrived, who of course knew absolutely nothing, and we helped them as best we could so they could find everything they needed.

Today it was a little better and we played UNO,  it was very cold and nobody went outside. 

Am I happy that my room is always warm, I don't have to look after the temperature or worry about the increasing prices. 

My "little" grandson has reached the 2m and celebrated his15th birthday this week. He had asked the whole family for money to buy an electrical bicycle, as he lives in Amsterdam and goes everywhere by bike. Now he is very happy. When I saw the pictures, I thought he was sitting on a child's bike ! 

Our group of 11 also went out to Waterloo city and had a coffee and crepes or other things, the men had dreamed of a strong beer and were really happy to drink it ! Of course I knew the restaurant and the Gallery by heart, but a lot of boutiques and bars had  closed and other owners were there now, due to the Corona Virus, not everybody survived.

 

I tried to take a nice picture of Rosie and Father Christmas to make nice Christmas cards, but all I got was this. She refused to leave her basket and sit besides Father Christmas !   

 

more participants at Susanne at Living to tell the Story.

 

 

 

 

 

 

HODGEPODGE NOVEMBER 20

 1. Let's do our gratitude question first this week...what's the best thing about your home, and have you taken time to enjoy it lately? 

I love my room, it's my refuge, and of course I always take time to enjoy my little granny cat.

2. Do you like squash? Of the varieties listed, which one's your favorite and how do you like it prepared? Is squash of some sort on your Thanksgiving menu?? 

acorn, butternut, delicata, spaghetti, zucchini, crookneck (yellow squash), patty pan

I don't celebrate Thanksgiving, because my ancestors didn't emigrate, and from the listed plates I simply like spaghetti with pesto 

3. Last time you were 'squashed in' somewhere, or felt squashed? 

I think it was 3 years ago when I took the plane to  Djerba to try to recover from the stress and Rick's death. The airport was so crowded you couldn't even squeeze a piece of paper between the people. Luckily, I had booked senior assistance, so I only had to stand in the throng for a short time.

4. Have you ever played squash? What about other 'racquet sports' such as racquetball, tennis, pickleball, badminton, table tennis (ping pong)? Are these sports something you enjoy? 

When I was 18 I used to play Tennis, but not so much for the game, but there were nice boys there. Years later I played a bit with Rick and friends, but not for a long time, I loved to play badminton and ping pong. We even play ping pong here on our terrace when the weather is nice.  

5. Something in today's society or culture that feels like a 'racket' to you? If you don't like that one, tell us about a place you've been recently where there was a lot of 'racket'. 

This is difficult to answer. As an adult I lived in Brussels, and at that time it was a very peaceful capital of Belgium, compared to other capitals. Now it's less peaceful, but since Rick's death I haven't been to Brussels, or other cities here. But when I was 22 (in the 60th) I was in Sicily and there the Mafia was everywhere on the island and "ruled" it. At that time I didn't know much about the Mafia, but after reading "The Godfather", I suddenly understood a lot that I hadn't noticed before !Today I think that I was a little too adventurous, even careless. But nobody stopped me, and probably I wouldn't have listened.   

6.  Insert your own random thought here. 

 

A friend's daughter was laid off because of AI. She worked as a translator for a company. Since that was my profession for 40 years, I finally wanted to know what this "AI" actually is. To this day, I still don't understand it, especially not when it comes to translations. When I receive a text to translate, you can't just do it word for word; it has to convey the meaning of the text in the original language, and in such a way that it sounds like it was written by an English, German, Italian, or French person. Just for fun, I once used Google Translate to translate a sentence from German into French, then into Italian, and finally into English. The sentence, "I'm sitting at my computer and my cat is watching me," turned out to mean that my cat was sitting at the computer and I was watching. Of course, I had a good laugh.

 

Therefore translations should still be checked  by "human intelligence" to avoid sometimes terrible mistakes. For example, during the American occupation of Germany, the population wanted Kornmehl (grain flour) for baking bread. Korn in German means "grain," but the translator translated Korn as corn, so the poor people received maize flour and had to bake yellow bread. One small word can change everything. Another example is the bible, which had been translated into over 2000 languages. 

 

The first Bible was not written in a single language, the Old Testament was written primarily in Hebrew, with some passages in Aramaic, while the New Testament was written in Koine Greek. Therefore, the original "Bible" was a collection of texts compiled over centuries, with these three ancient languages being the ones used by the original authors. 

Probably some translators let their imagination run wild, during the centuries and /or invented laws that never existed. But who's going to check that today ? Certainly not AI.

 

To be honest I am still not knowing exactly the meaning of AI (in English) KI (in German), and IA (in French)  !

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

 

A friend of mine collects these glass balls. They are all different and some amazing and beautiful and heavy !

 

 

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