Vacation's over......

Well, the house is empty again, because my houseguest got picked up this afternoon, but we came to an understanding... I will be able to borrow him if I want to go for a walk. The only stipulation is that he's dropped off on the way when his human has to go to work, and he'll get picked up on the way home, but that gives us 8 hours :-)

Monday: Drop off and lazy day. Needed to catch up on planning, cleaning and paying bills, so actually, just no long walk. We did go to the park twice before dark.  (2km)

Tuesday: Disappointingly short walk, but an easy start of the walking for the week. (3km)

 

Wednesday: Getting lost and royally overdoing the walking bit :-)  (8.5km)

This was the creepiest thing I've seen in long while. It's a little statue of a boy and a girl remeniscent of the ones you'd find on childrens' graves, that's completely enveloped by the tree and really deteriorated. It makes me wonder why it is where it is........

Thursday: Day to recouperate. You KNOW you're in somekind of trouble if you're sitting down, and moving your feet 2 inches makes you cringe in pain.... so after taking 5 minutes to get off the couch, I decided we were going to have a lazy day and get some reading in while doing that. Had some oatmeal for brunch, and snacks the rest of the day. Not what you'd call a healthy choice, but hey, I'm on vacation this week! LOL!!!  (2km)

 

 Friday: Jury is still out on how that went..... :-) 

The walk was nice, with just a short carride to get to the trail and a nice area to walk in, but OH MAN what a cluster to get around.....Nowhere could I find how long the trail was going to be, and while I followed the loop, as indicated on the little pole thingies along the way, when I looked on my phone to see where we were, because it started to feel like I was farther from the parkinglot than I thought I should be and afraid I was on my way to another 5 mile hike, I realised I was in the middle of the woods and nowhere near where the trail showed I should be. Trying to double back to get on the path I could follow on my phone didn't work, because for some messed up reason, walking in one direction didn't show the breakaway path that you saw when you turned around..... It was like I was stuck in an Esher painting and being alone with way too many mysteries under my belt, you can figure it was not a relaxed hour spent finding my way back to the car..... 

I don't think I'll be going back there again any time soon, even if it is close by and pretty. I was really close to a panic attack, seeing as there didn't seem to be a way out, and that's just no way to enjoy a walk.  The pup wasn't any help :-)  he just kept wagging his tail and walking right along with me, no matter how many times we hit the same spot. I'm thinking his sense of direction is as flawed as mine ROFL!! (4.5km)

 

 

 

 

Saturday:  Initially, this was to be the last day of his vacation, but I was asked if I minded keeping him until Sunday, so.... he stayed. Since I hadn't figured any plan towards going for a long walk, I figured I would treat myself to Fritestand dinner, while taking our walk, so a little after they opened, we got on our way to get dinner. I  completely forgot that the pup couldn't come in with me, until I actually hit the place and I hoped that the outside service was still in effect, but after sitting on the patio for about 15 minutes without anybody showing, I checked the website, only to discover that  a) they don't take phone orders and b) they don't deliver, so we went home, and warmed up soup while baking a loaf of French bread.  I absolutely love the corel cups that I can stuff in the oven at the same time as I bake the bread that goes with the soup -)  and only have one dish to clean :-).    (4.5km)

Sunday: (2km)

Total walking for the week: 26.5km.... now to keep it up on my own, without the pup for company :-)

 

Don't forget to hug a loved one in human as well as furry variety LOL

Love and hugs,

Pauli 

I did good....

Didn't mean to, but I walked 8 km or 5 miles today :-)

Who knew you could get lost in a town of 12000? It spans 31Square Km, but still....  You see, I have Robbie this week, and I was very intent on spending part of the week walking different places. Monday didn't happen, because I was lazy and catching up on paperwork, Yesterday we went up north a little (half hour drive) to walk around some lakes and visit the windmill before returning home. Well..... we had fun, but we didn't make my objective. The lake was HUGE once I got there in person, and I wasn't sure I would make it, so we only did part and took the first exit out of the cowfilled nature area and went in search of coffee/water and something to eat....As is customary here in the southern part of The Netherlands, after summer vacation and main earning period.... most places tend to close up shop. I guess if you don't want to fight crowds, you don't need to do anything fun, but that's a different pet-peeve. It did, however, effectively  nixed the idea of grabbing a little sitdown and fresh air.  True to form, I had forgotten to pack water and snacks, assuming I would be able to grab something, as a treat when we were at the mill....... 

So, lesson learned, I figured I would walk around the edge of town today and plan better for tomorrow. Left around 11 this morning, and we did good, until the path my navigation put me on, didn't have the indicated cut off back into town, and I ended up  on the backside of one town over from where we live..... The pup got so tired at one point, that he just didn't want to move anymore and stood in the middle of the path we were on, just staring at me with the biggest FU look on his face I've ever seen :-). Luckily, I had just seen a sign for an icecream shop, and fully expecting it to be also closed, but hoping at least for a bench to sit on for a bit, I was pleasently surprised to find it open.  So, just to be neighborly, mind you, I got some icecream and asked for an empty cup for water for the pup, and was treated to a full cleaned bowl of fresh water. However, as I was putting the water bottle and icecream on the table and tried to hook up the leash so he could walk around a little, without tripping people in the process, the little Sht stole my icecream. Not just a couple of licks, but he litterally dug in like it was his foodbowl! So, I ended up just sitting for a bit while trying to figure out where exactly I had ended up, and how to get home......  where we finally ended up a little after 3PM. The big dissappointment of the whole thing?  I only burned 1900 calories..... not fair!

 

It was a very nice walk. Surprisingly, with lots of people on the same paths, most with dogs or in groups, but it was good to be out. Ive been in a bit of a funk the last couple of weeks, not sure what triggered it, but I definitely wasn't "feeling it".  I'm realising more frequently, that this is permanent, that I won't be getting a call to pick up Mike from the hospital, ot that he's coming home from going on a trip somewhere, even though he only did that twice in our almost 40 years together..... It's really weird what you conjure up....

Well, it's almost 3.30 in the morning so I probably should consider trying for an hour or 2 sleep. Don't foget to hug a loved one!  Love and hugs,

Pauli 

 

Listening to music while doing research

never hit home so profoundly.

This morning, after waking up around 3 again, I was researching for "Stories behind the Stars" on a soldier who died on the beach of Normandy, and while reading snippits on after action reports, his exact situation  as relayed by a fellow soldier, was told in the song "Until the last shot's fired" by Scotty Hastings and it gave me goosebumps.

In June of 1944
I waited in the blood of Omaha's shores
Twenty-one and scared to death
My heart poundin' in my chest
I almost made the first seawall
When my friends turned and saw me fall
I still smell the smoke, I can taste the mud
As I lay there dying from a loss of blood

Say a prayer for peace
For every fallen son
Set my spirit free
Let me lay down my gun
Sweet mother Mary I'm so tired
But I can't come home 'til the last shot's fired

Yeah, needless to say, I'm carving out more time to write the stories behind the stars on the walls of the missing.

 I should have ample time this week, because I'm dog sitting the dog we used to steel for company from the neighbors' house :-)  She moved away right around the time Mike passed, to her new family, so I've been missing her and the imprompty doghugs, but she visits regularly, and every once in a while, I get to keep the pup. Like this week. Not being able to go places with dogs, other than for walks, it willl be fun to sit, research and have company while doing it.  I also plan to go on trips with him. I have a blanket on the back seat for him, and the little attachment for the seatbelt to keep him safe, and a full tank of gas, so I won't be tied to the computer all week, but early mornings and after dinner? Yeah..... it's be fun!

Yesterday friends "dragged" me to an event celebrating the liberation of this part of The Netherlands, with a local re-enactment group for the 30th Infantry. There was also a detachment of WAC re-enactors. I'd never seen that before or realised they existed, so that was really interesting. Loved the "girls" from the motorpool, but had to giggle at the long painted nails and no grease or dirt on clothing, hands or faces. Because, not sure if I was a messy mechanic, but when I was working on the Mustang, or helping Mike with his truck or bike, it would take some serious scrubbing at the end of the day to be able to go back into work the next day :-)  

If one is into re-enacting, and there's a significant other, it's actually quite a great way to both do what you like, and still do things together and it definitely would cut down on some of the friction I've seen around us when one partner has a hobby and the other doesn't.   I only had my phone with me, not my camera, so the pictures are not really what I would like, but you'll get an impression..... It always amazes me, how detailed the props can be. Not sure what/if these are reproductions of items, or if all are actually from the era, but it sure is an eye opener :-)

The other re-enactments we've been to were always "out in the open" as in, a meadow, wooded area or on the heath, but this one was staged in an actual farmhouse. The farmhouse was rebuilt by taking existing buildings slated for demolishing, taking them apart and puzzling them back together on this person's property. The buildings are filled with household and farm items from the time, and it really gave the impression that the soldiers were housed anywhere they could be, without interrupting the daily goings on...... SO COOL!!  And, we had homemade in the original oven, pie..... The place called Nonke Buske, will be closing for the season after the last weekend of October, so I'll be making a point to visit before than. It's only a 20 minute drive from the house, open on weekend and it's in the middle of the woods, and somebody's way of sharing history. There's a small entree fee, but well worth it! 

 

 

 

 

 

Bingewatching Inkmasters...... but for how long?

something I never thought I would.....:-)

 We have a lot of friends with tattoos, some with one or two, some with barely any empty skin left, and I always thought it would be cool to get one, but never did, for one reason or other, mostly a "not enough guts to take a needle" reason :-)  But  somehow I can't shake the old George Carlin skid:  Here you are with a tattoo, but the tight skinned butterfly from your twenties became a giant, scary, skinflapping dragon in your sixties......" ROFL

I came across inkmasters by accident, and started watching over the weekend while sorting my research for Stories behind the stars. I was surprised, and impressed with the whole thing. Season one was interesting. I learned a lot past the "pretty" and "liking" when looking at a tattoo. Usually, when I look at art, I look at the things that make up the total, but I usually don't look at tattoos that way, those always seem like a series of disconnected snapshots, unless you have a full backpiece, or sleeve.... those I'm mostly in awe of, because they DO look like art, when done well.  And although, deep down, you just KNOW that somebody would be repeatedly stabbing you with a needle,  jabbing ink into your skin so deep you assume it will outlast you, seeing the finished tattoo, when done right, still garners that thought of "I maybe, sorta, someday, kinda want one...." LOL!

Season 2 was a whole different feel with a little more drama, season 3 and up are just going off the rail with the drama, backstabbing and challenges with group tattoos, face-off and the likes, but also increasingly less about the art of tattooing so I'm not sure how much longer I'll be watching, but for now.... It's fun :-)

At this point though, it also starts to get more of the "train wreck" vibe... you want to look away and do something usefull, but you're curious what happens next. ROFL!!! 

Well, that's my penny brainbubble for the day.... Don't forget to hug a loved one!!

 

Love and hugs!!

Pauli