30 Jul 2026

PARENTING ....

 

  

“A two-year-old is kind of like having a blender, but you don’t have a top for it.”

 “The quickest way for a parent to get a child’s attention is to sit down and look comfortable.” 

 Why don’t kids understand their nap is not for them, but for us?” 

 “If evolution works, how come mothers only have two hands?”

 “Having children is like living in a frat house – nobody sleeps, everything’s broken, and there’s a lot of throwing up.”

 “Becoming a mom to me means that you have accepted that for the next 16 years of your life, you will have a sticky purse.” 

“Raising kids is part joy and part guerrilla warfare.” 

“Great parenting lies somewhere between ‘don’t do that’ and ‘ah, what the hell.’”

“A baby changes your dinner party conversation from politics to poops.” 

“One day I’ll be thankful that my kid is strong willed but that will not be today, not in this grocery store.”

“You can learn many things from children. How much patience you have, for instance.” 

 “All of us have moments in our lives that test our courage. Taking children into a house with white carpet is one of them.” 

“When your children are teenagers, it’s important to have a dog so that someone in the house is happy to see you.” 

 “Silence is golden…unless you have kids, then silence is just suspicious.” 

 “Diaper backward spells repaid. Think about it.”   

“I have just returned from a children’s party. I’m one of the survivors.” 

 “People who say they sleep like a baby usually don’t have one.”

 “Few things are more satisfying than seeing your own children have teenagers of their own.”

“Parenting without a sense of humor is like being an accountant who sucks at math.” 

   

28 Jul 2026

HODGEPODGE JULY 29

 

 1. What was the last thing you celebrated? 

Rosie's 19th birthday ! She got a lot of birthday wishes from the staff and the manager ! It was very touching.  

2 July 29th is International Day of the Tiger. Besides the wild animal itself, when you hear the word tiger what's the first  person-place-thing-whatever that comes to mind? 

That I want to pet it ! It's just a big cat, in German we call cats "room tigers" 

 3. The expression 'eye of the tiger' describes someone with intense focus, determination, and the drive to succeed. What area of your life are you currently bringing that kind of energy to? 

I am learning AI and try it out ! That takes a lot of energy especially for a person who has a lack of energy, but it helps. 

 Tigerauge Trommelsteine Ø ca. 30 - 45 mm

Tiger's Eye Gemstone: It is also the name of a smooth, brown-and-gold quartz stone that people wear or keep to bring courage, power, and clear thinking. I saw a lot of these stones in Egypt and bought a bracelet.

In Buddhism it represents strength willpower and clarity   

4. What was the last meal you cooked? 

I swear I have not Alzheimer yet, but I can't remember when or what meal I last cooked, for the simple reason that when Rick had to move into a retirement home because of his Parkinson, I had no time and no energy to cook for me alone, and even before when he was home for a 6 months, I didn't cook, I had other worries. I suppose it was 5 years ago and certainly Gnocchi with Tomato sauce and Parmesan cheese, which was a meal he loved. 

 Gnocchi with Tomato Sauce

5. Describe your July using exactly five words. 

Sick, weak, hot, cold, recovering,  

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I was happy that I felt real good on Saturday when my mini family stopped in Waterloo to visit me ! They came back from Italy and had a long way behind them. From the Toscan in Italy they drove 800 km to Metz in France where they spend the night and arrived here a little after noon.  

 
Grandson Toby had 4 cm more, only dog Leia was still the same, I shrank again 

here we are the 4 of us, the Lilliput wives in the middle 

 
We had a nice picnic in the park, nobody was keen to go to a restaurant, it was too hot.
Leia was the happiest dog of the world, as she could run around in this big park, and she did several rounds 


  

I dressed my two men with the help of AI into Body guards, so I feel protected, never ever in my life I have been so little ! I had always been a tall girl of 1,71 m and still am, despite the fact that normally people shrink when they get old ! 

 

 

26 Jul 2026

AWWW MONDAY - WEEKEND JULY 25





 

Linking to AWWW MONDAYS 

 

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WEEKEND 

After the nice warm weather on Saturday, today the temperature dropped by half today, and I had to change into warmer clothes because it was simply too cold.

From the window of my friend you have a great view on the original castle, it shows the little tower with a cross on the top. The building around was the castle when it was built. The part with the red bricks and balconies was added later, when the winter garden was transformed into the today's restaurant. As I have exercised to make old pictures new with the help of AI, I now try to create pictures by just writing what I want. Here I asked for a full moon in a cloudy sky and this came out !

and then a burning open fire
 

and then I asked for a sunflower field with a bench in the front. 

I was quite happy with my trials and finally the afternoon went by very quick ! Outside it poured cats and dogs,


 which gave me this idea .... and then the sun came out, just when I wanted to read a bit on my bed. 

 


 

25 Jul 2026

FRIDAY's FAVE FIVE

 I am sorry but besides I am still on antibiotics, so I’ve been feeling quite tired. I’ve spent the week resting as much as possible, so there are only two events to tell you about.

On Wednesday, we celebrated all the July birthdays; since mine was among them, I naturally had to attend. Fortunately, the entertainment was lovely this time: a fun female singer performed songs from the 60s and 70s and really livened up us oldies —they were waving their hands enthusiastically and even singing along. It was truly funny. I received a very sweet card signed by the staff. Aside from that, there was a delicious birthday cake!

 

 Jacqueline and me 

The singer

 
Our manager Amandine and Nurse Marina 

On Saturday was wonderful weather and I felt much better ! Fortunately ! My son and family came back from Italy and stopped in Waterloo to visit me. They had a long way behind them, first 800 km til France where they spent the night and then 400 until Waterloo where they arrived at noon. 

It was so nice to see them all ! With this nice weather I I thought it would be best for us to have a picnic in our park. My son bought ready-made cold salads that tasted excellent. We sat under our 200-year-old tree, and dog Leia was so happy to have such a huge property to run around on which is exactly what she did the whole time. We enjoyed the Oriental rice salad, and they told me about their vacation. 

our picnic with grandson and DIL, Son took the photo !

 
and here is the whole family Marie and I with our body guards ! 
 

Nonna (grandma) and Toby with Leia, after coffee, and then they left. They still had 250 km to drive ! 

It was a real nice day ! 

more participants at Susanne at Living to tell the Story.
 
 
 
 
 
 

22 Jul 2026

HODGEPODGE JULY 22

 1. Do your goals and dreams energize or exhaust you? Elaborate. 

They energize me, without them my life would be so dull ! I have always been an adventurous girl ! 

2. July 23rd is national lemon day. Are you a fan of this flavor? What's a favorite dish or beverage you enjoy that calls for lemons? 

I have no special love for lemons, sometimes a lemon slice is refreshing, but it is not one of my favorite fruit. 

3. "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade"...is this something you're pretty good at managing? Have you had to do this recently? If so tell us about it. 

That's a drink which would never come into my mind !  

4. Something you love that is lemon yellow in color? 

I looked around me in my room and didn't find anything in lemon yellow, I have a lot of red or orange but lemon yellow is such a cold color so that I only like it in flowers. 

5. How would you describe your attention to detail?

Details don't matter to me at all. The most important is that the result looks beautiful and perfect. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

My son is now for a week at the Garda Lake where Rick was born and spent his childhood. When I saw these beautiful photos, I was a bit sad, knowing I would never see this beautiful lake again. But I comforted myself with the thought that, without Rick, the lake probably wouldn't have seemed as beautiful to me. In any case, my grandson Toby has the same big appetite as his Dad, when he was the same age,  back then, when the three of us were there.





21 Jul 2026

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY





The Netherlands are famous for its bicycles. I took the first few photos in my son's garage, and the last one in a bicycle parking ! There are bicycles  I haven't seen in any other country, some people transport almost their entire family on a single bike.

 

more participants here 

 

 

 

 



20 Jul 2026

AWWWW MONDAY - WEEKEND JULY 18





 

and today this little baby is 2,4 m (6,6 ft) 

Linking to AWWW MONDAYS 

 

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WEEKEND 

From one day to the other the temperature dropped by half ! No wonder that lot of people caught a cold, me included although I was very careful. If the day before it was so hot that it was impossible to sit on the terrace, the next day it was impossible because it was to cold !

I played again a little bit on my computer and then joined the others for the activity and the coffee afterwards.

I have never sat on a horse, but thanks to AI I learned it very quickly.


Rosie has gained a bit of weight
 
My Bodyguards (the left is the baby above)
 
On Sunday the temperature raised a bit but still to cool to sit outside. Our A/C "specialists" had left the A/C on and the restaurant was a fridge. I asked which genius had turned on the air conditioning when it was 18°C ​​outside.
 
I explained for the X time that the thing is designed to cool the room down, so you don't need it when it's already cold. I think it's hopeless; I'm going to let the director know that people simply don't understand how it works
 
There weren't many people there, so we just chatted together; there were quite a few guests present, too.

and to end the day I got this photo from my grandson who just enjoyed a "little" portion of Spaghettis !

 

and a picture from the Garda Lake (Italy) taken from high in the mountains ! He too loves his Nonno's (Grandpa) Lake !