Europe and England

Amsterdam

In September last year my daughter and I went on holiday for 5 weeks. Our first stop was Amsterdam for 36 hours as a stopover on our way to London.

Amsterdam canal.

We flew into Schipol Airport at 5.30am, too early to book into our hotel, so after dropping off our luggage, we went in search of breakfast which we enjoyed while watching the traffic. Weekday peak hour traffic in Amsterdam is a thing to behold.  The amount of cars are less than a lazy Sunday afternoon in most capital cities I have visited.  It is the bikes that make up the majority of the traffic.  They have their own lane next to the pedestrian footpath and their own traffic lights.  It is easy to forget that there are bikes bearing down on you and as you walk across the bike path, which looks exactly like the footpath, you get vigourously 'belled' by oncoming traffic.  :)

8am Friday - from the breakfast bar.

Peak hour traffic ;)

More cities should implement this.

 In the afternoon, after finally getting into our hotel at about midday, and being able to have a shower, I wanted to do a canal trip to have a look around the city the easy way. So we went to Starbucks for a coffee, and then I took notice of my daughter's suggestion of the direction we should head off in, and off we went.  Note to self: when in strange city 1) do not listen to daughter; 2) buy a map. 2 hours later we were still walking the streets trying to find our way back to the city centre. Now, don't get me wrong, it was certainly a novel and educational way to see the city and we certainly saw some sights we would never have seen from a boat, but I could have done without the exercise after a long haul flight and 30+ hours of virtually no sleep, and she could have done without the blisters. In spite of all that though, we had some great laughs and some great mother daughter bonding time.

Beautiful.

Dam Square Monument

Hotel Krasnapolsky behind Dam Square

Dam Aquare

Thank you Amsterdam for some great sights and better memories.

The family grows.

I am very happy to announce the arrival of Xander Lee, my new grandson who came into the world on 9 February 2013 at 10.48pm.  This is my 8th grandchild and 5th grandson.  He is the first baby for my youngest son.

Xander and Grandma - 2 hours old

Xander and Daddy - 2 hours old

Xander with Mummy's hand - 12 hours old

Xander and his very proudDaddy - 5 days old

The laziest blogger on the block.

It has been 9 months since my last post and I'm hanging my head in shame. I have actually written stuff but for some reason I haven't published it, and the longer one leaves these things the worse it gets.  So, I have cleaned out all the past unpublished posts and we're off to a fresh start.

So, a brief catch up on the last 9 months , which I will publish in sittings, so a) any readers don't get bored;  b) so I manage to get the posts published;  then on to the present and a greater effort at blogging regularity.
 
I will start with a subject that features quite forcefully in the home. Those objects of my affection that make the most mess, take up the most time  and generally create havoc in my otherwise peaceful and organised life.

  

Feline Power!

 In my last (published) post I talked about the kittens.  They are now teenagers and bundles of mischief.  Their personalities are as different as their looks.

Felix

Felix - right way up

Tabitha - wants to be on TV

Tabitha - the mouser

Twisty Tuppence

Snuggled Tuppence

A sad thing happened on 3 November 2012. I  lost my old girl of 17 years. 

 

RIP Mink.  You were a sweet and faithful purr-person.

 

 

 

 

Then a couple of weeks ago, I had a message from a very longstanding friend who desperately needed a home for a mature cat. To cut a long story short, I said yes and so Mr. Prince entered our lives.

Mr. Prince

Mr.Prince is not used to a large family so some adjustments are in order, for him as well everyone else, particularly Obsidian, who thinks he is the boss ... and probably shouldn't be in a multi-feline home ... but despite interminent growling, hissing and the odd bit of flying fur, we are gradually all getting used to each other. And so once again, the purr-people in our little home outnumber the humans 6-2.