HODGEPODGE SEPTEMBER 16

 1. How do you define beauty? 

For me, beauty is something to look at, a beautiful landscape, a beautiful painting, a beautiful house, beautiful people, etc. 

2. Have you ever taken a trip by train? If so where did you go and what did you think of the experience? If not do you have any desire to do so? Where would you like to go? (You might find inspiration here-The Best Train Trips in The World)

 

I often traveled by train. The first time, I was eight or nine years old. My parents handed me over to the controller with a sign around my neck showing my name and address, and my grandfather picked me up 400 kilometers away in Frankfurt. It was very exciting, and I really enjoyed it. Countless train journeys followed, including one on an old steam train through Cornwall in the UK.

 

 

 3. Shell shocked, bombshell, bandshell, shellacking, in a nutshell, walking on eggshells...choose one and tell us why you chose it, or how it relates to your life in some way currently.

Actually, nothing really fits me, except perhaps "walking on eggshells", because I’m a very spontaneous person, and I find it hard to "walk on eggshells" ! (an occasion to try out my AI skills !)

4. Tacos, pistachios, oysters, clams, eggs...your favorite food on the list that comes in/with a shell? 

 

I would have loved to say oysters, but ever since I got an oyster poisoning, I can't even stand the sight of them! Therefore I choose Tacos.

5. Are birthdays a big deal in your house? Is your own birthday a big deal in some way? Elaborate. 

In the past yes, but now at 83 with a son of 53 and a grandson of nearly 16, we just wish a happy birthday and Toby gets an envelope !  Eventually we go out in a good restaurant.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I wait for the moment to go to the renovated animal park (not zoo anymore) in Antwerp !!

 

 

 

HODGEPODGE SEPTEMBER 10

1. ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL?  On a scale of 1-10 how much of a fan are you? (10 is never miss a game and 1 is I'm just here for the snacks). Who's your team? If you're playing along today, but live outside the US feel free to sub your feelings about futbol for the more American sport of football.

I give a triple 0, I don't like this sport not the European football and not the American. If I see "football" I change channel immediately. Fortunately Rick and son Dario don't like football either, only my grandson watches and then his father sacrifices himself and watches with him. My son had done almost all sports in his life, except football! Tennis, horse riding, judo, basketball, diving, and golf. I always wonder how we the parents don't like any sport!

 

Father and son make Judo

2. What's something you currently have a game plan for managing? 

To slowly organize the misunderstandings between nurses and caretakers, often the right hand doesn't know what the left hand does ! 

3. Do you like chicken wings? Hot, mild, or some other flavor? What's a must have food for you on a tailgate menu? I know tailgating isn't as big of a thing outside the US of A as it is inside the US of A, but you can also answer the question this way-what's a must have food for you at a sporting event viewing party? 

Chicken wings are not the favorite part for me from a chicken, I prefer legs, roasted with a bit of rosemary. I have no idea what a tailgate means, the all knowing AI explains a party on a parking lot. (why not) I suppose it is a big get together where everybody brings something special to eat.  

4. Teams typically have strict playbooks they follow. What is one unwritten rule or piece of advice in your 'life playbook' you think everyone should know?

I have no idea about team rules. I have never been in a team other than with my husband, we were a team. As for advice, I can only offer my own motto: Don’t be a sheep, and don’t let people push you around. 

5. This is the week we remember and mourn all that was lost and changed on September 11, 2001. I always include a spot for bloggers to share anything they'd like to share about 9/11. Share as much or as little as you like. 

I think I felt the same way as everyone else; I simply couldn't believe what I was seeing on television. Gradually, I learned from friends or acquaintances that this person or that person had lost their lives in the towers. After all, it wasn't just Americans, but people from all over the world. The New York skyline looks completely different now. I saw the Twin Towers, but I haven't seen what it looks like now in real, only on photos, this one below I like the most. 

 

6.Insert your own random thought here. 

The whole month when I wasn't feeling well I thought of our couple or rather the "Team" we were

 

 The beginning

and 54 years later, the last picture of our Team when Rick lived his last days

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.

HODGEPODGE

1. What do you love most about your country?

I really don't know. My parents simply took me along to Belgium when I was 14 because my father started working for the European Union. I didn't choose it myself. What do I like best? Most of it, probably. 

2. Your favorite patriotic song? 

I don't know patriotic songs ! I would need to compose a song that concerns Germany, Italy, and Holland and, of course, Belgium.

3. Red, white, or blue? Stars or stripes? Something you own besides a US flag with some combination of those colors or decorations as part of its design?

We never had a flag at home except the one of Ferrari, as Rick was a Ferrari fan.  

 

To create a patriotic flag I should make this one :  Italy, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands

4. What's one thing you want more of this summer: fun, rest, adventure, connection, quiet, or confidence? Elaborate.

I would love to do a lot of things this summer, travel, lie on the beach, visit friends, but unfortunately, I likely won't be able to; my illness won't allow it. So, I will probably go  to Amsterdam to visit my son and his family, and take day trips whenever the weather is nice. After all, the sea isn't far away. 

5. What was your ultimate, go-to summer activity when you were a kid? Do you still do any version of that today? If you answered yes, does participating in this activity as an adult make you feel like a kid?

When I was a child, there were no summer activities. Germany was still in ruins, and the Rhineland, where I lived, was under American occupation. Having food and something to wear were the adults' main concerns. No one thought about vacations back then. We kids played in the ruins and rubble. I certainly wouldn't do this activity now as an adult. As a child it was fun to play in ruins, we had no idea why it was like this.

Bonn

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I think we have a very special retirement "castle" ! If you want to work here, you really have to be a jack-of-all-trades. Yesterday, I saw our cook sitting at the computer at the reception, welcoming guests. A little later, our physiotherapist was chopping up thick branches, brought down by the storm, into small logs. Amandine, our director, helped serve lunch along with the others. The head nurse made my bed. I think it’s great; at least no one gets bored, and we residents pitch in too, as much as we can.

 

HODGEPODGE JUNE 25

1. Summer's here!  In the northern hemisphere anyway. If you're in the southern hemisphere substitute winter for the word summer. What do you love most about summer? What's your biggest summer pet peeve? 

Yes  summer is here ! As usual or to hot or to cold. This time we have a heatwave which has never happened before. To much is to much that's my biggest summer pet peeve. But a nice temperature and a blue sky that's what I love. 

2. What song always reminds you of summer? 

I have no special song for summer, I like the same music in all other seasons too.  

3. What's something you remember about your childhood summers? Do you think kids today get to enjoy summer the way you did as a child? Elaborate. 

I spent my summers with my grandparents who lived in the countryside, near a small town. We played outside all day, jumping from hay barns into the hay, and had a great time. Luckily, our son had the same childhood as my husband and I, because when we moved to Waterloo, it was a small village with many farms, fields, and cows. The farmer who owned the field behind our garden let the children sit on the machines that baled the hay. my son, too, was outside all day. Today, that's no longer possible, since the Belgian child murderer Dutroux brutally abused and then killed four little girls. After that, parents were afraid to let their children go out alone.

4. We celebrate Fathers Day on June 21st. Do you favor your dad in looks or temperament? Tell us something about your dad. Or your husband as a dad. Or a son/son-in-law as a dad. Or your grandpa. 

We have never celebrated father's day. My grandma always said, "it's father's day the whole year long" It didn't exist either when I was a child I loved my grandpa very much, he told me so much about nature, took me in the woods at 4 am to watch The deer, stags, or even wild boars. 

                                                              My grandpa

That impressed me greatly. He also carved me little flutes out of willow wood. He was a real grandpa! 

I can't say much good about my father. I was like a Barbie doll for him to show off around, and when I was older, he even faked discretely that I was his girlfriend, because I was a rather pretty girl.  My poor mother was the victim of his moods. He could be very bitchy and hurtful. For the outside world, he was such a charming and nice gentleman; no one could imagine what a distasteful person he was. Except our neighbor, who was my mother's friend. He wasn't violent, it was worse; he found words that hurt her deeply, and I saw her crying very often. She was, so to speak, his doormat, but she loved him.  With me he never dared, when I was little I had my grandma behind me, and when I was older I also had a sharp tongue !

I learned very early to protect her from my father's spiteful words.  That made me very distrustful of men, and I told them all to get lost, not very politely, until I finally met the love of my life. We were both 24 and 26 then. When he became a father, I was so surprised and amazed, he was so loving and caring father, and also playful I had never seen that. 

Ready for the Opera
 

5. Let's wrap up with a summer this or that-

• flip flops or sandals
• beach or pool 
• watermelon or peaches
• shorts or sundress
• iced coffee or ice cold lemonade
• amusement park or water park 

I prefer sandals, flip flops hurt me between the toes.

Beach of course, pool only when no beach is available

                                                  

                                                           carved Watermelon

Watermelon ! I could eat alone a big one ! 

I think I look better in a sun dress at my age

Only if there is nothing else, I would drink iced coffee

Neither of those, that's something for kids or teenagers and devoted grandmothers. When I was younger I loved water parks

6.Insert your own random thought here.   

It's to hot to have random thoughts or others 

 

I got a virus, my nose is running 

If it remains hot like in the past days, I will melt and all what remains from me is here laying on the beach.

(I make some progresses in AI !)
 

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HODGEPODGE JUNE 18

1. June 17th, 1994 was the day of the infamous O.J. Simpson car chase. What were you doing in 1994? I'm guessing somebody is going to tell me they weren't born yet but that's part of the fun of the Hodgepodge. Lots of generations are represented here. 

 

After having made a travel to the past, I am quite sure that in this year, I spent a lot of time in London helping my son to furnish his house he had just bought and still has, he rents it. I loved this house, it is in the Victorian style and had been already modernized by the former owner. I loved going there, sometimes Rick came with me and then we went by car with the Shuttle.  We loaded the car with all things which were very  expensive in London, like alcohol, cigarettes (it was the time where everybody still smoked), and when we drove back our trunk was full with specialties we couldn't get in Belgium, and clothes too ! Rick loved gammon steaks, and we bought a lot, which I then put in the freezer. In general, the meat was better and far cheaper; our trunk was so full you couldn't stick a needle in it.

 

That was a time when London was still beautiful and did not look like a Dubai copy, all the old houses and the whole area were torn down for the Olympics. I also remember the Simpson's trial, but it didn't particularly interest me.

 

 

London today !!

 

2. What's your favorite summer salad that isn't the traditional tossed green lettuce kind of salad? Do you like fresh fruit in a salad (other than in a fruit salad of course)?

 

I have no favorite salads, they are all favorites, in summer when it was hot, I only made salads with pasta, rise, Greek noodles, couscous, etc in which I put all kind of vegetables like, Cucumbers, tomatoes, etc., and made the Italian dressing with just olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Basil and oregano were also added. It was always very refreshing. Sometimes a hard-boiled eggs, chicken pieces and shrimps were added as well

 

 

3. Is chivalry dead? Should it be? 

 

It is not dead, it depends where you are, I think it is normal and I educated my son so that he learned chivalry but also all household skills, as today most of the couples are both working so it is normal that they share the household too. For my son it was normal because as and example he had his father. And that a woman enters the room first and the man holds the door open for her should be normal too.

  

4. Would you rather spend a week of your summer vacation in Hawaii or Alaska? Have you ever been to either? Are they two places you really would like to see? How do you feel about 'Hawaiian pizza' aka pineapple on a pizza? Have you ever eaten Baked Alaska? 

 

No I haven't been to Hawaii or Alaska, all other States or nearly I have been to. I don't like the Hawaiian pizza it is to sweet for me and baked Alaska, I don't know at all what that is, now I know it's that what we call omlette Norvegienne.  Yes I have eaten the Norvegian  I really like it.

In any case I would prefer to visit Alaska !

 

 

5. World Cup play is happening now...are you interested? Watching any matches? Did you or your children play soccer/futbol? There are eleven US cities hosting matches-

-Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York with the stadium in NJ, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Seattle

along with  three cities in Mexico (Guadalajara, Mexico City and Monterrey)

and two in Canada (Toronto and Vancouver)-

You get free tickets to one of these matches. Which city do you choose? Tell us why. 

Don't talk about the World Cup (football) The whole world gets hysterical, there is nothing else on TV in all countries ! I am not interested at all, but as everybody talks about it, I knew who won and who not, I really don't care. There are flags everywhere, a marketing about all players, all shops, boutiques mall are in World Cup fever. Trump is hated a bit more because he didn't let in players of a few countries ! And free tickets would be a dream ! The cheapest ticket for the game Belgium against New Zealand is 607 $ up to 1170 $ plus of course the plane, hotel, food etc, and for the final game you have to pay 9.076$ (!!!)  the cheapest price ! But there are crazy people who safe money for a year or more just to attend one game ! For that price I would prefer to travel around the world or at least a part of it.

 

The one and only sport who brings the whole world together

6. Insert your own random thought here.

My son came home alone yesterday because his wife is working and Toby is in the middle of his end-of-year exams. I continued enjoying AI and made a picture with him sitting at a table with a birthday cake; the dog didn't have a book in its mouth, and the background was a window. 

And this is what it looks like now. I had asked for a smoking head, so they added a cigarette. Shame on the AI and not on me !

HODGEPODGE JUNE 4

 1.What's something you find extremely difficult that most people would say is simple?

To calculate ! I am an absolute 0 when it comes to numbers. I would need a calculator to add 1 + 1. Rick calculated quicker as a machine, so he was my calculator ! Now it's my phone ! 

2.  "And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow fast in movies I  had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer." 

~F. Scott Fitzgerald

Does the season of summer make you feel this way? Elaborate. 

 

Yes, absolutely ! I return to life slowly in spring and absolutely in summer ! I am also born in summer I don't know if that has an influence. One thing is for sure I hate autumn and winter.  

3. Pickles. Love 'em or no thank you? What's your favorite type of pickle? What's something you eat that definitely needs a pickle added?

I don't eat pickles, I just don't like them, I wouldn't add them to nothing.  

4. This the season...do you know any June brides? Are there any weddings on your summer calendar? What's your favorite movie wedding? 

 

Weddings ? not at all it's more funerals in my age range. But I love the movie "Notting Hill"  I even visited the place where the film was made.

5. June 1st is/was National Say Something Nice Day...say something nice here. 

 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

For the moment as we are again singing sitting in the rain, I am very busy with restoring our old pictures from 1971 when we were for the first time in the USA visiting my aunt in Madison/Wisc.

To get our visa she sent us this letter, European tourists didn't exist in the USA at that time and apparently the government didn't need more immigrants to become Americans. We only wanted to discover beautiful places and certainly not become Americans. I got a visa for 10 years because I was German and my Italian husband only for 5 years, the Mafia was still hanging over the head of all Italians. 

I changed the black and white photos into color, and after a few trials I finally managed these ones and was very satisfied with the result as a beginner user of AI.  

 

 Yellowstone Park we as 2 years married couple and my uncle !

 

Montezuma with us three

 

Lake Mendota in Madison with my aunt. At that time we liked wearing the same clothes. (see our jeans)

 

Home sweet home in Madison/Wisc 

I think this was the day we took the bus to Chicago and then the flight back to Brussels. There was no direct flight, but I don't remember where we had to land before the final flight home. 

It was so nice to work on these photos and see the result, it kept me busy the whole mornings and evenings.

 

HODGEPODGE MAY 21

 1. What do you make more complicated than it needs to be?

Nothing at all, I always try to take the easiest option, which usually works. I'm not for complications.

2. What impresses you? 

That's a difficult question, I have to think it over, I am not easily impressed. 

3. On a scale of 1-10 how picky of an eater are you?  (1=extremely and 10=not at all) If you had to eat a meal made entirely of one color what color would you choose? 

If I were a picky eater, I wouldn't try everything I don't know, except roasted worms or insects. Otherwise, I'm more of a curious eater, i think I earn a 10. As I love the color red I would try to find something red. 

 starter tomatoes and Mozarella

4. What does balance in life mean to you? Does your life currently feel 'balanced'? 

As I had to start a new life because of the death of my man, I am not yet feeling balanced ! 

5. If you could travel the world for a year what would be your first destination? 

The closest airport and then to Finland to see the Northern Lights, which I haven't seen yet.

 

 As I have already traveled a lot I think from there I will see.  

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

For the moment I have nothing else in my head then to improve old pictures from the 60 + and color them,  

and then I found photos from our first trip to the USA which was in 1971 and I guess these were the Rocky Mountains. 

I dared to try out the famous AI, without knowing anything and just typed "change the background to the Rocky Mountains". And this was the result :

 

So I am a little proud ! My son was surprised that his 83 old mother went into his footsteps. Of course he is professional and thousand times better.  

 

And here I only downloaded a photo and wrote what I wanted to change ! It's really amazing what you can do and il looks so real !