opening of the 4day marches

july 14 2008

We managed to get tickets to witness the opening of the international 4 days marches.

When I was young I used to go each year.
My father was a member of one of the many medical teams and he gave his free ticket to me.
So I've been on the VIP-part, sat between Swedish female soldiers, and cheered between all those thousands of people that crowded the stadium.

I haven't been there in years.
The stadium has been rebuilt and some traditions have changed.

One of them was the time of the beginning.
We had to wait almost two hours before the gates were opened.
Don't think we were the only ones.
There was a huge crowd at "our" gate and I think as much at every other gate.

Somehow we maneged to get through this time by chatting with people around us, observing the crowd, making jokes and even singing when they were testing the sound equipment.

Among the crowd I saw someone who resembled the brother of my grandmother so much, that he must be family. I saw someone whose feet I cared for when I was in the medical team, and some other familiar faces.

Then the gates were opened and I was shocked by how the stadium looks now.

It's so much smaller!
And the field is almost half the isze it used to be.

The surrounding running floor wasn't there anymore, adding to the feeling that the stadium is just small. (Which it isn't)
Instead of the surrounding area there's now a pit, where people come in.
During the games supposts and the police can keep an eye on the people, and no one can enter the fields from the tribunes.

The pre-program was boring.
I guess someone developed it for people with an IQ of about minus 20 to 30.
On top of it all the sound system wasn't working properly and the choir singing had just 1 microphone, which is not enough in a stadium with 12.000 people.

At a certain moment people started to keep themselves bussy with 2 waves going around.

I loved the airballoon visiting us.
For a few moments I thought it would land, to make up for the paratroopers which were unable to jump because their plane leaked oil, but the balloon slowly slided down to have a look, and then made height and disappeared.

When the official program started a sigh of relief went through the stadium.
It was so nice to see the bands enter the field and hear them play.
People started to hum the songs, and it sounded marvellous!

The artistic part was a delight.
I haven't seen photo's yet, but I'll put some links on my blog when they're worth to get an impression.
The show featured one of the best singers of our country. I was told that she's live far better than on CD and they're right. What an inspiring woman Edsilia Romley is!

After that dansers and other artists entered and the performace was awesome. Each part of the show featured a different continent of the world, thus paying respect to all 73 nations taking part in the marches.

Ofcourse the flag of our country was already high in the wind, and all the other flags were raised too.
In the end the flag of the 4 days marches was presented.
The commenter didn't announce it, so people were still sitting.
As soon however as I heard the anthem I stood up, started to sing and I heard the people behind me one by one doing the same.
It was like a wave went through the stadium and in the end everyone was standing and singing the special anthem.
Wonderful!!

It was almost midnight when we arrived at home.

What an evening!

reading in a hammock chair...

july 10 2008

For the first time in ages I've been reading a book.

It was raining cats and dogs this morning, the weather was grey and ugly, no kids in the room.

For some people it's a daily activity, for me it's almost never possible to have some time for myself.

So I made coffee, took a soft pillow and nested in the corner of the couch.

Ofcourse I first contemplated over the fact that we need a new one, and that I needed to vacuum upstairs, but this time my book was more important.

Isn't it a pity I don't have a hammock chair?

I could have found a nice place outside, under the cover, and have the raindrops providing the music.

At GardenFun.com I've seen some beautiful and colourful ones. They would fit in my garden perfectly, matching the colours of the flowers.

Sometimes it's a pity we can't have it all.

The final musical

july 10 2008

It's more than a week ago the girls had their musical, their final goodbye to the basic school.

They didn't know that our former neighbour would come too, so that was a real surprise.

When we entered the hall, the boys and their dad wanted to sit at the side, and I wanted to sit at a place where the girls could see us.

So without ill fellings we split, and I ended up sitting between my former neighbour and friend and another friend, who came to see the girls too.

It kind of marked how special the evening was.

One of the girls had a very large balletsolo.
She did so very well, that I even got compliments in the bus yesterday.

The other one was dressed so outstanding that she caught the attention because she was, and is, so beautiful.
I hope we can lay our hands on the video, because I was too bussy keeping two different eyes on the twins, that I've missed important passages.

When the musical was over we were invited for a drink we had to pay ourselves. LOL!
Well, we had time to have a word with a befriended teacher and some friends who were present too.
One of the girls got a necklace from her boyfriend. So cute!!!


When we came home we all had cake and something to drink and we talked for hours.

Now the flowers are long gone, but the memories remain.
They're part of the best ones of those years.

She's got her diploma!!

june 24 2008

Yesterday she did it!

She swam for her diploma and did very well.

Just 2 months ago whe stood trembling at the pool, afraid to jump in.
People couldn't understand that she was afraid and that made matters worse.

Parents weren't allowed to have a look, but when her twinsister swam for her diploma I saw something that made me shiver.

The teacher offered her the hook (point up, ugh!), and she was more busy trying to feel safe with the hook, than learning to trust herself.

I've been a swimmingteacher myself, a long, long time ago. And I know people have different ways to teach children now.
But the principles are the same: teach a child to trust itself, to stay calm in the water, and to thhink and assess risk.

So when this little lady came home, I praised her straight into confidentiality heaven.

In the past she wasn't able to learn to swim.
She was one of the few who got lessons at school and didn't get a diploma.
I managed to convince the council that when schools have parties at the pool, the council is responsible to provide enough lessons for all children, not only the ones who learn fast.
So the girls get a second chance.

And they took it.

After I witnessed the non-inspiring lesson, I told her everything about upwards pressure of water, the principles of floating in the water, the influence of stress and breathing on muscle performance, and how she was endangering herself with that terrible hook.

The next lesson she almost jumped in herself, the lesson after that she jumped in and experienced the joy of feeling free in the sky.

Knowing how to prevent yourself from drowning gave her the security she needed to swim everywhere in the pool.

So she did great swimming yesterday.

She showed me the first movements to learn to dive.
My stomach ached when she it the water, like a crashing plane.

Just a few words, and she tumbled in far better,
and another few, and now she can dive too.

I'm sorry for the teacher that I managed to teach her this so quickly.
She stood listening in a corner, I only saw her when she came out.
I hope she can show more enthousiasm when she gets new pupils next year.

Today at school, my girl went to all the teachers, and got stickers and congratulations.

She's the oldest one at school ever, to get her swimmdiploma,
but she sure has enjoyed her success!

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want to invade my country?

june 21 2008

When you want to invade my country, now is the best time.

More than 100.000 people are in Basel, Switzerland, to watch, either in the stadium or at one of the large screens, the footballmatch between The Netherlands and Russia, coached by a Dutchman.

The rest of the inhabitants here are watching the match on TV.
The streets are so silent that you can hear a mouse walk around.

It's 1-1 now.

The tension hangs between the houses.

Well, when you want to invade The Netherlands now, you won't meet much resistance.

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Just a few blows and I've got my smallpipes.

june 19 2008



The moment is almost there...

After a long time of saving I only need a little bit more to order my smallpipes!!

Smallpipes are a kind of bapipes.

They don't make as much noise though, and don't need as much air.

Smallpipes enable me to play when I can't play the highlandpipes because of my asthma.

People have asked me to tell a bit more about the differences.

Well, here we go.



You all know the highland bagpipes.

The sticks are:
a blowpipe
a chanter (for the hands to make the notes)
a long stick, that's the bass drone,
and the others are drones too.

A bagpipe makes sound because the air goes through reeds.
There's a reed in the chanter (chanterrreed)
and in each drone (dronereeds).








And this is a set of smallpipes.

The system is the same.
A blowpipe, to blow the air in the bag,
a chanter, with the chanterreed, to play the tune on,

and drones.

All drones however are smaller than the long ones of the highland bagpipe.


Instead of each drone coming directly out of the bag, the drones are brought together in one system which needs just one hole in the bag.

The dronereeds are in the system and the drones are put over them.

Most players don't put the drones over their shoulder.
Because they're small they're very light and can hang in front of the player.
(Which is a delight for the ears.)

Smallpipes can be mouthblown or blown with bellows.

I'm very excited, because I would love to be able to play a couple of tunes when the girls leave school, and maybe even at the graduation ceremony of my third son.
With only the highlandpipes I'm never completely sure I can play well enough, as the asthma can pose a problem anytime.
With smallpipes I'll be able to play anytime.

Ooohhh... just a little bit more to save.......

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Football and golfbags

june 15 2008

I grew up with a father who watched football each and every sunday from 19.00 to 20.00 hours.

So I know the rules, know how to yell ooh and aaaahhhh, and I even know the clubcolours and the song of our local team.

One day he took me to the stadium to watch a game. Sadly I can't remember one little thing about it. Just that we went.
I do remember however that we played in the same stadium, with our drumband a year before.
So the footballmatch didn't impress me at all.

Now the dutch team is doing very well at the european contest I'm moderately interested.
I can talk about it, because the boys made me sit with them for a while when they showed the most interesting parts of the game.

In my mind however I was thinking about golf bags.

I wonder if the smallpipes (small bagpipe) fits in a golf-bag.

When I was at the site of The World of Golf my eye was caught by TM Carry Bags and the Titleist 70 Carry Bags.
I wonder if they're made of a material that protects the content as a whole.
Are they padded with foam or another soft material?

Like I already knew when I was a young child: I'm not someone who enjoys football.

And you?

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Prompt writing before she's famous

june 8 2008

Today I suddenly had some flashbacks about a long time ago.
I was referred to a magazine by my Dutch language teacher at school, because he was impressed by my writing.

Before I was admitted as one of the writers I was confronted with a rather strange system I've never experienced anymore:
The main editor would ring me up at 11 in the evening, give me a few words, and requested an article on his doormat as early as 8 in the morning.

Ofcourse I sat down immediately and tried to write something to be in time.
Trying to please him took me away from my sleep, and I dozed of with my head on the table, only to be woken up by the alarm at 7.

Like the words had taken meaning in my sleep, I wrote the article, frantically bicycled through the town to get the product of his wishes on his doormat before 8.

The same evening he called me again at 11, gave me some words, and the same instruction.

I just went to bed, with the alarm on 6.30, wrote the article and threw it on his doormat.

That same evening he called again, but before he said one word I asked him how much he would pay. He laughed and told me to have a nice night of sleep.
The next morning the alarm went of at 6.30, because I'd forgotten to put it later, and I couldn't help myself.
I sat down, wrote an article, and posted it in his mailbox before 8.

He invited me a few days later for a meeting.
He turned out to be the best teacher in journalism I've ever had.

Why he made me write these articles?
To teach me that I could work under stress.
He intended to order me around as long as I didn't stand up against him one way or another, hoping I would ask how much it paid, because he was told by my teacher I wasn't bussiness-like enough.

He and I had a great way of sensing what the other wanted, and we worked for over 10 years with respect for each other.

I came across the blog Before I'm Famous where J. Scott has found a way to train herself in writing stories of 1,000 words maximum.

She asks readers to give her a name, a gender, and a genre so she can write and explore her writing.

Like she says, using some minor prompts are a great way to experiment in writing and discover ones own strong and weak points.

I hope she'll find someone like my head editor: a critical reader who never stops to feed her insiration and trigger her skills.


Now let's hope she'll ask me to invite her for Buzzfuse (just ask me to invite you), so she can spread her talents with a public that is very interested in her achievements.
Her stories will be rated when she uses the widget.
A perfect way to get feedback!

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a girl, a stool and applause please!

may 31 2008


This week one of the girls went with school to a special organisation that teaches children some basic skills about electricity, making furniture and such.

She came home with a little stool she made herself.

We were all stunned. None of us expected her to take woodwork as a subject there, and on top of that we didn't expect het to make such a little beauty.

Because the time was limited the little wooden stool needs some sanding, but that's it.

We've already used it for a bear to sit on, as a stand for a pot of flowers and as a place to put her dinner on.

In fact the thing is so handy that we want to have more of them.

Even though we have 4 boys, she is the one who makes it.

Applause for her please!

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Wimbledon is inspiring

may 28 2008





Since the girls watched an item on TV about the The 2008 Junior Wimbledon Championships taking place between 28 June and 6 July they're playing tennis each day, wheather permitting.

We don't have a tenniscourt nearby, so it's just on the field. They have fun, that's the most important.
I've spoken with one of their teachers about using the Wimbledon in the english lessons and take the chance to teach all children the rules.
Because knowing the rules makes this sport even more interesting to see and play.

I didn't know her husband attended the Wimbledon Championships last year.
She told me he'd won two seats in a contest and he was able to realise his mother's dream. They both attended the championships and had third row seats at the centre court.
They both tremendously enjoyed being so close to the sporters. According to them hearing and almost feeling each slash made them feel very alive and drawn into the intense feeling of competition.

So we thought that maybe they both could come to school and tell a bit more about the tournament.

I would love to be able to attend Wimbledon.
Almost all in my family did, and I want to stick to the tradition.
But I'm not sure if I'll manage to get some Wimbledon tickets this year.
With one of the boys doing his final exams and the girls going to the next schoollevel.

But it would be great to be present and see the best of the world playing tennis at the most famous court of the world: Wimbledon!

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Cheese-roling, a traditional.

may 27 2008

Take a hill, a bunch of english people, and ofcourse: a cheese.

The rules are clear.
They were shortly after the romans left the country and they still are:
- role the cheese from the hill
- run,slide,glide,fall after it
- who reaches the cheese first is the winner.

In case you want to have this visualised.

Here is the (dutch) video of it all:

Thank you NOS for allowing to display the movie



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searching for Glencroft dollhouse kit

Sticky post

I'm looking for a lovely cottage dollhouse as a gift for the girls when they leave school.

It's called Glencroft. it's made my Greenleaf, and it's absolutely adorable.

It's not available in my country.
Ordering it from the factory means full prize and more mailingcosts than the dollhouse costs.

I've found out that it's available at Overstock.
It's $69.99, which is a lot less.
But they won't ship to The Netherlands.

I found one on the famous -bay shopping site, but the guy rips people off on the shippingscosts.

Is there someone able to help me out?

Thanks!!

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Spock and Ainsley

may 22 2008

As many of my readers know my favorite cook is Ainsly.
The way he manages the combine ingredients is not only amazing, it's also very inspiring.
Often the children refuse to eat something, but when they have seen that the idea came from Ainsly, there is no comment at all!

So my strategy: plant them in front of the TV and have them write down the ingredients, so we can "Ainsly Cook" ourselves.

A friend asked me to do a favor, I did, and she wanted to thank me with one of his cookbooks.
I didn't want more than a smile, but she insisted.

So I went to Spock.com to search for him.
As I didn't know his last name (at that moment. LOL!), I was happy to find his name was on the list of Ainsley's. The photo was a 100% positive identification.
So I landed on his page at Spock.com and was able to choose a book written by this famous chef.

Spock.com is my favorite search engine, because they are so many keywords that can lead to the right person.
I also like the interactive aspect of it. Every member can add, after free registration, news and other interesting facts to the excisting pages, or enter other interesting items, like their own profile. When tagged well, one can even enjoy the benefits of Spock by a group.

One of the other features of Spock I value is the fact that it's easy to get the code for a widget to your favorite page.

In this case the page where I found the book I love to have:

I'm glad I had a look, because I found out that Ainsley has a great site: recipe gallery.

You see, that's what makes Spock.com so special. You can find biographies, news, quotes, people who are related to the person and a lot more.

Try it yourself!

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houses

may 13 2008

I started out looking for dollshouses and ended dreaming away at a site with Tuscany villa rentals.

Beacuse I have an MDF kit of a dollshouse, I first had a thourough look at the size of it.
My dolls and furniture are 1:12.
There was no scale at the kit of the house.
So I measured a door.

The doll was larger. Problem solved.

I need a dollshouse 1:12.

Extra alert I started to look around and found a lovely house with anex.
Perfect for my idea of a victorian house with a teaservice shop.
1:12 it said, bit the style looked like the house I have.
Measurements made it clear: it wasn't 1:12, but ptobably 1:24.

Now I can put my 1:12 dolls and furniture in boxes and start anew with 1:24, but I'm not seeing that happen at the moment, unless the big ship with money arrives.

So now I'm looking at tle lovely architecture of the Tuscany houses.
Maybe I have to design a house myself.
But who can help me with the MDF?

Life can be so easy when you don't have a hobby. LOL!

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Mom of 6 did it!

may 11 2008


I did it!!

I made some firm bids on a dollshouse last night, but I still owe my own money, because someone else made a ridiculous bid. Maybe the seller himself with a second acount, because everyone was bidding rather careful and suddenly one bid came in and was skyhigh. So strange.

Well, I started surfing around, got me a glass of cranberry juice and enjoyed the silence of the night.

For a long time I've wanted to do more with the dollshouse items I've collected.
I do have a dollshouse, but it's 1:24.
Most of my items are 1:12 thought. So too large. But they're beautiful.

I've decided to take a bit more effort to start a 1:12 house.

When I can't find a dollshouse I love against a reasonable prize, I can at least start with one room.

I have such lovely dolls:
a real victorian lady
two maids
twinbabies
one pair of parents

I have even a beautiful christal chandelier

A large table with kitchenitems, which can be used for a kitchen or a shop.

Furniture for rooms and a kitchen.

Etc etc.

Instead of the dollshouse I bought a lovely cot and crib. I can use lace to make them victorian. (Even though I doubt if victorians slept under lace. LOL!)
And I bought a tiny silvercolour teaset.

Because I know a few teasets waiting to be bought for a few pennies, I've deccided to start a teaset shop.

I can't wait!!!!!

So I finally made a step towards realising a dream that brightens my phantasy for so many years.

I did it!!!!

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New on my wishlist: (Not all houses, but these I like)

Patricia Villa - gulfriend (EUR 187,79) Item No. Co29116

Mini Palæ - Creme (EUR 228,05) Item No. 29104-9

De Winkel Bouwpakketprijs € 79.50

Rose Cottage Bouwpakket € 85,-

Ann's Shop Artikel Nr.: EM8362 EUR 129.00

shop Artikel Nr.: HM8006

The trophies

may 2 2008

Another terrible morning, dealing with autism in the raw way.
Since my son is taking his meds in the evening, life is crap for all of us.
So I mailed his psych he'll take his meds in the morning again.

With a firm headache the afternoon started.
The sun, the laundry, the groceries, the vacuuming... nothing helped.

Then a little boy came at the door.
He wanted to speak with me.

With me!!!

He made me feel the queen... so lovely.
His mom had written a letter which he handed to me with a big smile.

"Please praise him into heaven for his baseball trophies,
and please don't send him home too soon.
Maybe the girls want to play with him."

I had a chuckle, seeing two limonade mugs with his name written on it.

He held them high.

"See?"

So the round stickers were supposed to be baseballs? Hmmm...

"These are your trophies?"

"Yes, my father lost. I won."

So he got some sweets, played with the girls for a couple of hours and was sent back to his mom.


Wish I could send all my kids over to her tomorrow morning! LOL!

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He traded

april 30 2008

One of the boys had a great time today.

Yesterday evening he went with friends to the queensnight.
It's the night before queensday.
People prepare their stalls for the freemarket of queensday, some try out the beer (LOL!) and others go to concerts and parties.

He went to a concert and after that for a short time to a party.
He didn't like the party, so he came home early.

This morning he went to his friends early, but the concert they planned was deleted from their agendas as large clouds and a bit of rain seemed to announce bad weather.

In the afternoon we even had a bit of sun, and he disappeared to the market with only a few euros.

When he was 8 he took 5 slices of cake with him to the market and he came home with the distance driven car, a little policecar and a little ambulance. He even gave me one of the most ugly paintings we've ever seen in our lives. LOL! (He agrees now. I kept it all those years. In the attic, that is.)

Today he came home with two little dollshouses which are lamps.
One he bought, the other he couldn't afford.
He asked the woman to keep it aside for him and she promised not to sell it within the hour.

He bought some top diet pills, traded them for earrings and sold those so he had the money to buy the second house.

Isn't it amazing what he can do?

I don't have a camera available to show you the houses, but when I see them on internet, I'll show you.

The houses have a triangle base.
The back is for the light,
The two other sides have 3 little windows with shutters at the top.
One side has two large windows downstairs. With shutters too.
And one side has a door downstairs.
Around it grass with flowers.

The houses look like tudorhouses.

They're marvellous.

And so is he!!

I'm collecting magnifiers now

april 20 2008

A couple of years ago I helped a friend built her collection of magnifiers.
She's living in another country now.
She's not forgotten, but her collection was.

Untill I had a short talk with the doctor's wife last week and the subject popped up.
And since then it hasn't left my mind.

I have a magnifier beside the computer. Nothing special, just a very large one.

"But I can do with a little one", I thought yesterday.
That way I can leave my reading glasses at home.

Ofcourse I can buy those glasses with normal and reading options in one. But I don't like them at all. I need a wide field of vision without a disturbance.

A long time ago I'd seen a magnifier with a chain, so I thought it to be a good idea to look for one at one of those second hand sites.

Lucky me found a fancy one, with strass stones at the outer rim... for almost nothing.
I mailed the woman, and she didn't want to wait for higher bidders, so it's send to me.

I feel so very lucky!!

I know there are many special magnifiers.
I'm sure I'll be needing one of those table items in the future.

But right now I'm looking around for little pieces of art.

This collection fits in nicely with my fountainpen collection.
So when you have something at the attick and you're ready to throw it away. DON'T!
Give it another life.

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autism in libraries

april 19 2008


Have you ever considered looking through the autism-books at your library?

At the beginning of spring many libraries have a spring cleaning and -filling.

That means that books that are never read and/or are considered old are sold for a low price, and new books are registered and put on the shelves.

The library where I live take suggestions from members, so each year I order a few books.
In the beginning they were hesitant to do so, because they thought it would only cost mony and the books would never been read.
So I urged friends and teachers to ask for the books.

Now I'm asked each year if I have suggestions.

Sure I have!! LOL!

This year I asked him to display a couple of books and information about autism on the special table near the entrance.

Because it's autism awareness month they did.


Maybe you want to take the same action.
It's very worthwhile.

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inspection of the waterplayground

april 19 2008

A while ago I told you about the changes in the park near the lake.

Now they have built a kind of waterplayground.

It looks nice. I can't say anything else.

Al sorts of low bridges go across the water, like rope bridges, a swinning bridge, and one where you have to take huge steps.

The fun is ofcourse to step in the water and get wet.

With a few moms we had a look, because we're not glad with this new feature in the neighbourhood.
It's meant well.
And it looks nice.
But who takes care of matters when something happens?

Within five minutes we found spots where children might hurt themselves.
Pointy nails sticking out, uneven wood.

We pointed out these matters to one of the workman.
He agreed these spots were overlooked and walked away, telling us to wait.
When he came back he had a large hammer and one of the DeWalt tools, a kind of electrical saw.
He took care of the uneven wood and slammed the pointy nails flat.

Well, that's one.

Now we have to get the council interested in employing a supervisor.

Someone suggested the parents could take turns, but I don't think it's wise.
Children from other neighbourhoods visit there too, including the worst bullies.
I'm rather firm and strict, but I'm sure they take it against my children and the children of my friends when I send them away.

So it should be someone independent from the neighbourhood.

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