Singing and dancing to be happy

Sister nr 2 sends this message by Nina.
If you look closely, you may spot sister nr 3 doing this dance .

Sister nr 1 will teach you both how to make a link very soon.

A few things I learned after hosting a party for eight five year old boys

After weeks (okay, maybe one week) of meticulous planning for the big event, it actually only took about five minutes for complete chaos to ensue. You could call it not having complete control over the situation, but I like to think we gave our son the bithday party he wanted. He does not like party games, we found, or do you think we misread the signal of stomping off upstairs, shouting: "I am going to bed NOW", half way through the party? Blind man buff, we will keep for next year. Or we just might consider hiring professionals to entertain in a confined environment.
When the party was over, we put Rosie down for her nap, Jip in front of Cartoon Network en we both fell into a deep, deep sleep.

Did you have a relaxing weekend?

With love,


The elder sister

for want of better words

I am developing Recipes Using The Oven (read: experimenting): how simple is this:
+++++++slice a courgette (that's zucchini to you transatlantics)
chop a red pepper, finely slice a to-ma-to (pronunication as you wish),
chop some garlic, disperse the lot in layers in a low oven baking dish
sprinkle with olive oil; herbes de provence in the different layers
cook for 25 mins; yum a licious.topped with scampi baked in olive oil with garlic curry sauce. Okay it is not haute cuisine, but a start.++++++++
Greetings from the Belgian front.

LIZARDY: and now we are five

"Of course you can have a lizard for your birthday": I said, somehow envisaging a shoe box under Jip's bed with a few lettuce leaves thrown in, when he asked for one. But apparently a lizard is not a silk worm. We now have an albino leopard gecko lizard, named Lizardy by Jip, complete with tank, sand, rock, artificial driftwood, heating pad, heating lamp, temperature gage, vitamin dust, a water bowl, a feeding bowl for the worms Lizardy likes to snack on, and a box to keep the live crickets in; of which Lizardy eats about six a day.
After only two days, Lizardy is already a full member of the family and, as I like to remind myself when shaking the fidgety crickets into the tank, a lot less hard work, in many, many ways, than a baby brother, which was the other thing Jip considered asking for his birthday.

Blossomdoodie

hello there ladies. Yes, it has been a little quiet from my side, but then again, in the meantime, winter has burst into spring! The blossoms are popping into bloom and the buds are unfolding into leaves at a disturbingly high speed; in fact it all seems to be happening at once, enough to make the calmest among us dizzy. I can even sunbathe on my bed when I open the window wide enough.

I must go out and photograph some of that floral abundance, before it all flutters down.I discovered a secret garden near my house, in the middle of the city! I am delighted!!!and a great moroccan fish restaurant where they bake the superfresh fish you select and serve it with mouthwatering salads, olives and lemon. Yum!! Who said living in Borgerocco was a pain? It is in fact good for your health!!!

I have been having fairly quiet and rewarding days lately, respiring, inspiring the rays of spring. I think I can safely say I have a great view. In the morning I see the shadows of the houses move until there are none, the great space outside my window fills up with light from the sun. This morning the birds were making a joyous riot. You know I have a furry alarmclock who gets me up each morning around seven; he has various well-honed techniques. When the bedroom door is closed he is adept at wailing loudly and quite pathetically; enough to make your heart bleed. If perchance I left the door open and he is inside he plays catch the toes in the morning, which involves kitty claws, not an awakening I would recommend. Another favourite one is 'play with the pencil on the wooden floor' which I try to avoid because it might annoy my neighbour sleeping below. In fact I do get some graphic noises myself from canine creature living with neighbour above. Canine friend thrashes about with paws on the floor, maybe he has bad dreams?, making a polar bear in my dreams. Such are the amplificational qualities of wood.

What else can I say? Have you heard about my bathroom, it's down a little cubby hole spiral staircase behind a door in my bedroom which looks like a closet; it does everything to make my home be like a castle - and inside, when I lie in that bath tub, it feels like I am in a protective womb of the building. And then I hear distant horns beeping coming through the air duct.. and occasionally I hear someone cough. It reminds me when I revisit Henry Purcell or some Italian arias that quite possibly someone is listening. Great accoustics though!!

Slowly I am getting accustomed to my new home, and I am happy to say domestic flair is encouraged by beautiful surroundings.

I must close now; I am ambitious concerning an early start tomorrow. There is much to do, and much to say. I realise I have written quite a bit, about absolutely nothing. So it can't be that hard now can it?
Lots of love coming your way,
from the one in the middle
and now to find some chocolate, he he.

A house, a house

Dear sisters,

It is very quiet on the eastern front. I must assume the sister in Antwerp is painting a picture, so I will jump in and tell you all about our new house. Yes, we have moved and by golly, this is a good home. You should come and visit some time.

I will show you some of the more intereresting details:


First of all, it is big and blue and there is a palm tree growing in front of it.



We have a kitchen we can live in and a study with lots of cubby holes so we can organize our papers, just the way we like them.



Only the best from Ikea.



The owners left a grill which makes melted cheese on toast just the way it should be.


We cannot agree on the era in which this kitchen was built, but we agree it has got that special something.


Luckily we have a potion to stop bad guys in the house. What you do when a bad guy comes into your house is: you give him the potion, which he then will drink and 'voila', he will no longer be a bad guy!
Note wire to stop objects falling during earthquake. Note lack of decorative objects on shelves.


For now, this is the dancing room.


Upstairs we have wall to wall carpeting and a 55" plasma television screen, where Jip watches his educational programs. We also have a pipe to throw the dirty washing in, which then comes out in the basement. Much fun. The dirty washing now only has to come back up.



Last but not least, the doors in the master bedroom lead to an atrium with a non-functioning hot tub, but with functioning fairy lights for that all year round xmas feeling.

A grown up house. Very easy to get used to.

Love from Cx