Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Fall Carpet
Lovely autumn carpet from fallen leaves. Every single moment the carpet changes color and texture.
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
What a Circus!
We still have 12 hours before the movers come, and my hub is already running up and down the halls.
He tried to reserve a place for the container truck to park tomorrow early, and no one is cooperating. He put out three brand new moving boxes containing bricks to mark the extra parking place for the moving company. First a box just disappeared! Then he went back later to check and caught a man emptying out the second packing box and loading it into his car. My hub shouted for the man to drop it and was told they thought it was trash. A new packing box costs 5 Euros, and stopping to collect one is a good deal. That is unless my hub sees you stealing his box!
Hub finally just gave up and placed the last two boxes into our rental car. Before he goes to bed tonight late he will set out the boxes one more time. Then we will see if the packing guys can park near our apartment.
He tried to reserve a place for the container truck to park tomorrow early, and no one is cooperating. He put out three brand new moving boxes containing bricks to mark the extra parking place for the moving company. First a box just disappeared! Then he went back later to check and caught a man emptying out the second packing box and loading it into his car. My hub shouted for the man to drop it and was told they thought it was trash. A new packing box costs 5 Euros, and stopping to collect one is a good deal. That is unless my hub sees you stealing his box!
Hub finally just gave up and placed the last two boxes into our rental car. Before he goes to bed tonight late he will set out the boxes one more time. Then we will see if the packing guys can park near our apartment.
Whirlwind Auction
Today is a day of rest in the eye of the storm of events around here. Last night we spun everything out of control with a last minute visit to an auction.
Here is the story:
We had been following a local auction in search of paintings or such that we still want to own. Well, last night we participated in an auction for the very first time for both of us. We were there to bid on a clock. Our item was number 340 of 400 items, and as usual we were the first to arrive and our bidding number was 1.
The auction began at 7:00 pm, and things began rolling. There were really not enough bidders in the room, so most items went unsold. The auctioneer could not even give some things away, it was so bad. But he kept up his enthusiasm and his speed. I bid on some pottery and never knew whether I actually bought it. Luckily it wasn't too expensive. Then the Persian carpets came up for bidding. As we are going to leave behind here a big red one, I bid on a big blue one. Again I wasn't sure if I was the winner of the bidding, since the auctioneer raced through the whole deal. That was almost too much for my hub. At that point the whole auction hall heated up for him. I think he panicked. His whole demeanor changed. Maybe he was afraid I was going to put him on the auction block (No Chance!), but everything was going too fast for him. And for me, too. Can you imagine sitting through and bidding in a foreign language?
Finally hub got his color back in his face, and we got closer to the clock we had come for. #329 was a similar clock, and we said we would see how that went and then bid on #340. The first clock came in way cheaper than we had expected and went unsold. So we waited for "our" clock. And we got it for a reasonably cheap price! Mission accomplished!
Now the next part. Paying for whatever we actually bought!!!! We stood in the short line to the paymaster's office and giggled that we were so stupid that we didn't even know what we were going to take home. Then the big moment came. I had bought the big, heavy rug, and Hub had his clock. We paid and stuffed the treasures in our rented car and drove towards the apartment.
While lugging the too awkward and too heavy items up to the apartment we had to laugh again. Why are we doing such crazy things as this in our retirement age? Because we still can. Short and simple. TeeHee.
Here is the story:
We had been following a local auction in search of paintings or such that we still want to own. Well, last night we participated in an auction for the very first time for both of us. We were there to bid on a clock. Our item was number 340 of 400 items, and as usual we were the first to arrive and our bidding number was 1.
The auction began at 7:00 pm, and things began rolling. There were really not enough bidders in the room, so most items went unsold. The auctioneer could not even give some things away, it was so bad. But he kept up his enthusiasm and his speed. I bid on some pottery and never knew whether I actually bought it. Luckily it wasn't too expensive. Then the Persian carpets came up for bidding. As we are going to leave behind here a big red one, I bid on a big blue one. Again I wasn't sure if I was the winner of the bidding, since the auctioneer raced through the whole deal. That was almost too much for my hub. At that point the whole auction hall heated up for him. I think he panicked. His whole demeanor changed. Maybe he was afraid I was going to put him on the auction block (No Chance!), but everything was going too fast for him. And for me, too. Can you imagine sitting through and bidding in a foreign language?
Finally hub got his color back in his face, and we got closer to the clock we had come for. #329 was a similar clock, and we said we would see how that went and then bid on #340. The first clock came in way cheaper than we had expected and went unsold. So we waited for "our" clock. And we got it for a reasonably cheap price! Mission accomplished!
Now the next part. Paying for whatever we actually bought!!!! We stood in the short line to the paymaster's office and giggled that we were so stupid that we didn't even know what we were going to take home. Then the big moment came. I had bought the big, heavy rug, and Hub had his clock. We paid and stuffed the treasures in our rented car and drove towards the apartment.
While lugging the too awkward and too heavy items up to the apartment we had to laugh again. Why are we doing such crazy things as this in our retirement age? Because we still can. Short and simple. TeeHee.
Monday, October 22, 2012
Shorts Weather in Nederland
Who would have dreamed that we would be using the air conditioner and that I would be looking for shorts on October 22 ? And yes, we are still in The Netherlands!
Since we have no clothes dryer, I quickly did the wash this afternoon, and it is dry after only four hours on the drying rack! Even the heavy bath towels!
Temperatures are warmer here than in Italy or Croatia. But by the end of the week, we will have freezing temps. So we had better enjoy the warmth and sun while we can.
Now back to the warm, sunny balcony for perhaps the last rays of an Indian Summer.
Since we have no clothes dryer, I quickly did the wash this afternoon, and it is dry after only four hours on the drying rack! Even the heavy bath towels!
Temperatures are warmer here than in Italy or Croatia. But by the end of the week, we will have freezing temps. So we had better enjoy the warmth and sun while we can.
Now back to the warm, sunny balcony for perhaps the last rays of an Indian Summer.
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Screaming Chinese Takeaway
At least once while we are in The Netherlands, we pick up Chinese takeaway food from our favorite Chinese takeaway. This evening we decided to walk there instead of going to the trouble of taking the rental car out of the garage and the gated apartment building.
Within 15 minutes we entered the small Chinese takeaway and ordered our dinner of Babi Pangang (sweet and sour pork), flavored noodles, and kroepoek (shrimp chips). The Chinese lady who runs the business is very friendly, but very loud. It sounds a bit like she shouts at all of the customers.
Tonight was like any other time we have been there. She shouted a greeting, took our order, and shouted the amount of money that we owed her. In less than 10 minutes she returned with our order and shouted for us to come pick it up.
One customer sitting near us waiting for his order could not contain his laughter. We were not the only ones to be enjoying the screaming Chinese lady! And when we got back to the apartment, the food was outstanding, too. We had so much food, that I don't have to cook tomorrow night either. What better vacation than that?
Within 15 minutes we entered the small Chinese takeaway and ordered our dinner of Babi Pangang (sweet and sour pork), flavored noodles, and kroepoek (shrimp chips). The Chinese lady who runs the business is very friendly, but very loud. It sounds a bit like she shouts at all of the customers.
Tonight was like any other time we have been there. She shouted a greeting, took our order, and shouted the amount of money that we owed her. In less than 10 minutes she returned with our order and shouted for us to come pick it up.
One customer sitting near us waiting for his order could not contain his laughter. We were not the only ones to be enjoying the screaming Chinese lady! And when we got back to the apartment, the food was outstanding, too. We had so much food, that I don't have to cook tomorrow night either. What better vacation than that?
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Bacon (Spek) Drippings
A jar of bacon drippings as a housewarming gift. That is what my dear neighbor gave to her daughter and new son-in-law when they had an Open House party for their families.
The first reaction is "Whaaat?". When the idea sinks in, then it really seems like a thoughtful and useful gift. In some modern households it might take months to accumulate a Ball jar full of that yummy fat. Collecting bacon fat in a jar has saved many a sink drain! If more fat had been saved here in this apartment, then we would not have had to buy Dutch draino today. It takes more than hot water and dishwashing soap to loosen up that fatty mess in the drain!
But tonight for dinner we ate bacon fat and the drippings. I fried up bacon (spek) pieces in a new wok on a new induction cooking element. (If you haven't cooked on an induction stovetop, you haven't cooked. Water boils in 90 seconds, and cleanup is a breeze.) While the spek was getting crisp and golden brown, I opened two jars of capucijners ( brown Dutch peas) and heated them up until they were good and hot. Then I served the capucijners on a plate with the spek and vet (fat) drizzled on top. Quick and super delicious! I ate my peas with a dab of potato salad, and was that ever good? Just Simple Cooking!
The first reaction is "Whaaat?". When the idea sinks in, then it really seems like a thoughtful and useful gift. In some modern households it might take months to accumulate a Ball jar full of that yummy fat. Collecting bacon fat in a jar has saved many a sink drain! If more fat had been saved here in this apartment, then we would not have had to buy Dutch draino today. It takes more than hot water and dishwashing soap to loosen up that fatty mess in the drain!
But tonight for dinner we ate bacon fat and the drippings. I fried up bacon (spek) pieces in a new wok on a new induction cooking element. (If you haven't cooked on an induction stovetop, you haven't cooked. Water boils in 90 seconds, and cleanup is a breeze.) While the spek was getting crisp and golden brown, I opened two jars of capucijners ( brown Dutch peas) and heated them up until they were good and hot. Then I served the capucijners on a plate with the spek and vet (fat) drizzled on top. Quick and super delicious! I ate my peas with a dab of potato salad, and was that ever good? Just Simple Cooking!
Thursday, October 18, 2012
How to Keep Your House Clean for Six Months
The answer is to stay out of it! The house, I mean.
Six months ago we left the apartment in The Netherlands in super neat and clean order. Today when we returned, we had very little to do to make it livable.
Somehow while we were gone the small fridge/freezer had defrosted and now needed demolding. But it did not smell bad. In fact the small bowl of coffee grounds that I had left on the fridge shelf was moldy, but it still smelled like coffee. So before we threw in our groceries, I scrubbed the whole interior of the fridge and got out the mold and turned on the electricity. I think that I know the problem. After we left in April, someone cut off the electricity to the little icebox and probably closed the door. Then someone else came along and saw the mold and left the door open. That will teach us to next time leave notes on all appliances that can experience damage from well-doers.
We also experienced water staining in the toilet bowls. I can't wait to try out soda and vinegar solutions like I read about on Pinterest. If that does not work, I have other methods.
But in general, the apartment looks great. A week from today it will look reasonably empty. More on that another time. Maybe even with photos.
Six months ago we left the apartment in The Netherlands in super neat and clean order. Today when we returned, we had very little to do to make it livable.
Somehow while we were gone the small fridge/freezer had defrosted and now needed demolding. But it did not smell bad. In fact the small bowl of coffee grounds that I had left on the fridge shelf was moldy, but it still smelled like coffee. So before we threw in our groceries, I scrubbed the whole interior of the fridge and got out the mold and turned on the electricity. I think that I know the problem. After we left in April, someone cut off the electricity to the little icebox and probably closed the door. Then someone else came along and saw the mold and left the door open. That will teach us to next time leave notes on all appliances that can experience damage from well-doers.
We also experienced water staining in the toilet bowls. I can't wait to try out soda and vinegar solutions like I read about on Pinterest. If that does not work, I have other methods.
But in general, the apartment looks great. A week from today it will look reasonably empty. More on that another time. Maybe even with photos.
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