Hey. Sorry, it's been a long while. I've had a very busy time as is normal before a big trip.
I'm sitting in the late evening sun at my mother's dining table in the Netherlands. We've been here for three days now, my husband and I, and I have to admit it feels much longer. There is so much work that needs doing here still, and there were some logistic and boring affairs to sort out, like buying a new sim card for my phone and applying for a new pincode for my bank card.
Also, Ash and I had the interesting task of replacing seatbelts and a rear light cover for my mother's car, the dog had decided he liked eating seatbelts. He chewed right through two of them, one of them being the driver's, and I was horrified to find out my mother has been driving around since mid-December with a piece of string holding up her seatbelt, while it no longer held any tension or would have offered her any protection in case of an accident. And she managed to back into a fence and break the cover for her rear lights on one side, but luckily they still worked.
Life here has changed a little since I left last - our poor old cat has taken refuge upstairs when the big black monster arrived on the scene. Mum's dog Joep is adorable, disobedient and into everything. He is very big, and very dirty and very slobbery - he likes to jump in every body of water he encounters on his walks and so he perpetually stinks. Subsequently, the house always smells of wet dog and is covered in mud. However, my mother now walks thee times a day for at least half an hour at a time, and she has a friend in her house who never gets enough cuddles. Sure he's destructive to the extent of frustration, but he's part of the family.
Our poor old cat has gone blind since I last was here, and it has really made her world much smaller. She spends most of the day sleeping on the chair in the bathroom, where she also eats and has her litter box. She no longer sits in window sills because she can't see what's outside anyway, and it makes me very sad. She still really loves cuddles, but she won't come down for them. So I go and spent time with her in the bathroom. I have obtained a few serious bites on my hand as her nails constantly get stuck in things, because she can't retract them anymore. So when she get stuck on your shirt, and you try to dislodge her nail, she hisses and bites and screams. So I ended up cutting her nails while my poor husband held the screeching, angry, scared thing in his arms. But now she doesn't get stuck anymore so that's a good thing.
On Thursday we went to look for the things that needed replacing on the car, and found a wrecker's not too far away that had all of the bits we needed, so yesterday my very capable husband fixed everything so that my mum's car is now safe to drive again. I also updated my mother's sat nav, cleared her computer of unnecessary software that she accidentally downloads and cleaned and re-organised her kitchen cupboards. I have also vacuumed several times, cleaned out the cat's litter box and mopped the floor in the bathroom. So it's not exactly a holiday quite yet. But we're leaving for Amsterdam this afternoon and we're off to Tuscany on Tuesday!
I feel a bit sorry for my husband as there's really nothing exciting here for him, but it does force him to relax and read books and play sudoku. He's not very good at relaxing normally so I think it's not a bad thing to start off a holiday in a very boring place.
Of course, there is one exciting thing here and that's food. Glorious Dutch food, that tastes of home and childhood and happiness. I thoroughly enjoyed our shop at the best supermarket in the world: Albert Heijn. I made my shopping list on its iPhone app called 'Appie' while we were walking the dog. The app, which I have written about last year, is fantastic. And then being in a pleasant, neat supermarket with great products was also fantastic. And buying and eating all this delicious food for the last few days is even more fantastic.
But I better get going, between starting this post and actually finished it, it is now saturday morning and my husband is preparing my breakfast. After which, I am going to do Zumba at my Dutch gym, which I love. I am very excited! You'll hopefully hear from me again soon.
I'm sitting in the late evening sun at my mother's dining table in the Netherlands. We've been here for three days now, my husband and I, and I have to admit it feels much longer. There is so much work that needs doing here still, and there were some logistic and boring affairs to sort out, like buying a new sim card for my phone and applying for a new pincode for my bank card.
Also, Ash and I had the interesting task of replacing seatbelts and a rear light cover for my mother's car, the dog had decided he liked eating seatbelts. He chewed right through two of them, one of them being the driver's, and I was horrified to find out my mother has been driving around since mid-December with a piece of string holding up her seatbelt, while it no longer held any tension or would have offered her any protection in case of an accident. And she managed to back into a fence and break the cover for her rear lights on one side, but luckily they still worked.
Life here has changed a little since I left last - our poor old cat has taken refuge upstairs when the big black monster arrived on the scene. Mum's dog Joep is adorable, disobedient and into everything. He is very big, and very dirty and very slobbery - he likes to jump in every body of water he encounters on his walks and so he perpetually stinks. Subsequently, the house always smells of wet dog and is covered in mud. However, my mother now walks thee times a day for at least half an hour at a time, and she has a friend in her house who never gets enough cuddles. Sure he's destructive to the extent of frustration, but he's part of the family.
Our poor old cat has gone blind since I last was here, and it has really made her world much smaller. She spends most of the day sleeping on the chair in the bathroom, where she also eats and has her litter box. She no longer sits in window sills because she can't see what's outside anyway, and it makes me very sad. She still really loves cuddles, but she won't come down for them. So I go and spent time with her in the bathroom. I have obtained a few serious bites on my hand as her nails constantly get stuck in things, because she can't retract them anymore. So when she get stuck on your shirt, and you try to dislodge her nail, she hisses and bites and screams. So I ended up cutting her nails while my poor husband held the screeching, angry, scared thing in his arms. But now she doesn't get stuck anymore so that's a good thing.
On Thursday we went to look for the things that needed replacing on the car, and found a wrecker's not too far away that had all of the bits we needed, so yesterday my very capable husband fixed everything so that my mum's car is now safe to drive again. I also updated my mother's sat nav, cleared her computer of unnecessary software that she accidentally downloads and cleaned and re-organised her kitchen cupboards. I have also vacuumed several times, cleaned out the cat's litter box and mopped the floor in the bathroom. So it's not exactly a holiday quite yet. But we're leaving for Amsterdam this afternoon and we're off to Tuscany on Tuesday!
I feel a bit sorry for my husband as there's really nothing exciting here for him, but it does force him to relax and read books and play sudoku. He's not very good at relaxing normally so I think it's not a bad thing to start off a holiday in a very boring place.
Of course, there is one exciting thing here and that's food. Glorious Dutch food, that tastes of home and childhood and happiness. I thoroughly enjoyed our shop at the best supermarket in the world: Albert Heijn. I made my shopping list on its iPhone app called 'Appie' while we were walking the dog. The app, which I have written about last year, is fantastic. And then being in a pleasant, neat supermarket with great products was also fantastic. And buying and eating all this delicious food for the last few days is even more fantastic.
But I better get going, between starting this post and actually finished it, it is now saturday morning and my husband is preparing my breakfast. After which, I am going to do Zumba at my Dutch gym, which I love. I am very excited! You'll hopefully hear from me again soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment