I went to a party on Friday night for the 50th anniversary of a guide group starting. Someone described me as tne OG (original guide) since my mum started the whole thing 50 years ago.
Many of those who were guides or leaders came back to meet and greet and celebrate. There were photos and scrapbooks and camp blankets… all the good stuff. The new guides did a show for us with dancing and sketches too.
And there was cake…..really good fruit cake.
So I randomly opened my secondary mail…. a sort of dead letter box… hundreds of things you forgot you subscribed to. Over 8000 emails unread and not needed. Let’s say even at 100 a ti.e it took a while to get rid of them all. The trick being to unsubscribe from each new service I spotted on the list. For a week or so I’ve had nothing in that inbox. I’m now on to email two, the main e mail.
I suppose I’ve signed up to things because, one one occasion, I was buying a gift and wanted a discount … or maybe it was something that interested me, but I’m done with that thing now. I’m sure the odd ‘newsletter’ or ‘warning’ will pop up unwanted in future. I’ll unsubscibe from the first and report the latter as a matter of course. It’s a joy opening my e mail and knowing that its not full of things I’ll never read. Sadly, I can’t entirely get rid of unwanted e mails from the Student Union in my PhD. email inbox. That’s OK. They are infrequent and who knows? I might need them one day.
I’ve been sitting in my usual chair but not doing the usual things. I’ve been painting. Creating new pieces of art. I’ve been listening to long form vlog/podcast broadcasts. I’ve been taking my ease.
The festivities were lovely. I’ve enjoyed spending time with family (with the louder and quieter ones) and with my better half. I’ve enjoyed having the house decorated and lit. I’ve enjoyed the roaring fires and the special food and all of those things…. but now I feel like I can relax. Is it just me?
This year will bring more PhD. work, especially as I made it through the internal review just before the break, more travel, for fun and study, and things I don’t expect. More time.spent on committee work and at my club. Imalso hopeful that I’ll get back underwater as the Achillies injury heals slowly.
Tonight’s tea is a new to us recipe. Tomorrow, a visit to the chiropractic. Next week I’m seeing my parents. Funny how the whole world failed completely to change at the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve or the first minute of 2024.
Family stuff, as they say. One such was a wonderful visit to my second home in the Netherlands. Utrecht is one of my favourite cities in the world. Thus year I had the chance to take my young nieces to visit and explore the city.
Of course they had never tries Dutch food so day one, meal one gad to be traditional ‘borrelhapjes’. To be honest, the wee one can be a touch fussy, so bar snacks offered the widest opportunity for something to be OK. Butterbollen. Kaarstengels. Loaded fries. Loempias. And the best baked apples ever. We ate, we collapsed.
For anyone planning a visit, I’d recommend the Strowis. It’s a workers collective run hostel. Clean. Quiet . It even has a garden…but no sharks.
We stayed in a shared bathroom twin in the attic. Showers are large and clean and there are plenty of loos on each floor. There’s a kitchen too for making your own food though sadly breakfast is no longer available (covid). There’s a bar and coffee available. Games, art materials and they own the pub axcross the garden too. We chatted to Aussies, Koreans and Americans. That’s the joy of hostels you never know who you’ll meet. The staff are great and proved very helpful on this occasion.
Day two with the small people and a visit to the Museum Speelklok which is a personal favourite. Noisy and full of grandparents and grandchildren. We were in there for hours watching and listening to the huge circus organs and making our own musical books to play. Of course there was coffee and apple pie
After dad had gone off to the dance music festival in Amsterdam we carried on to the library. I love this building. It was once the Post Office. I’ve been trying to get inside again for ten years, and now it is gloriously open. Go to the library.
It’s like something out of Dune. I just feel like lying on the floor snd staring at the ceiling. Now there’s a lift so you can get above it to see the preservation work they’ve done. Seriously, go to the library. They also have a play post office which took a chunk of time and an excellent cafe.
Day three saw very tired youngsters peek up at the sight of a playground and a petting zoo in Grift Park. Word of caution here. If you’re an Uber fan don’t expect to find them much outside of Amsterdam because the Dutch use cycles so much so why get a cab?
Day four. Amsterdam. A stroll from Centraal Station to Rokin for a trip on my favourite boat (Reiderij Kooi). By now, the young ones were flagging as evidenced by the question (from the 4 year old) “When are you going to stop showing us things?” To be fair we’d made each of them an age appropriate scrap book to use whilst we were there and these had been used enthusiastically throughout the trip. Daddy was spotted on the bridge awaiting our return. Lunch and off to the airport for us. Naturally, it is more bitterbollen at the Hoppe.
Twi weeks later and our chums from the Netherlands arrived on the doorstep.
It’s an ordinary Saturday. We’ve done the shopping in an hour…all the food for the week. It’s actually quicker (and cheaper) to go to the next town over to buy our food because of the traffic around town and because it’s market day. We try not to shop on the weekend, but this week it was unavoidable. Today’s extra purchase logs for the fire before the price goes up for winter.
We took to making a plan and a list about a month ago on account of the austerity and all that. We are still having a treat of steak for lunch with celeriac chips (fries to my US chums). Meal planning bores me senseless, but having an accountant as a partner it works for us. We have a couple of favourites and have found an app (any list) that means we can share lists across two phones. Definitely makes shopping more efficient.
As a side note, several vehicles have pulled out in front of the car todayboth forward and in reverse. Stay awake, people. I know it’s hibernation time for some of us, but safety first!
This afternoon’s tasks are to turn the veg beds and the compost. This, hopefully, will increase our yield next year. It’s been a weird one for the garden and for foraging this year. The climate changes are definitely making a difference. Even in expert hands, the growth of foodstuff has been unusual this year. Of course the garlic goes in now as it takes the best part of the year to mature, but it takes very little space or effort.
The house is almost done too. A panicked flurry of activity to prepare the room for the nieces to visit last week means the guest room is almost complete. There are pictures to hang in the living room and a cost of paint in the utility space. Next spring will hopefully see the front garden completed. We’re putting a wildflower lawn in for the bees although I think the idea of a beehive has been put to rest.
If you live in the UK and have a Stonegate owned pub near you, it may be that at busy times.the price of your drink goes up. That, in essence, is dynamic pricing. Now we are used to holidays costing more.in the school holidays so it’s not the first time this tactic has been used. Hurrah for the quiet pint eh?
Last night was.the first official run out for ‘the talk about my Australian adventures last year. A group of former Guide leaders assembled for the first time since July and excited to see each other as well as to hear the talk and, of course, have tea and a chat.
It’s a little unnerving when your mum is on the front row. This was only half the tale though. Tne story if the train across the desert but not of my time in the outback. I am reliably informed that someone was overhead saying they could listen to it all again. Certainly, feedback was in the form of questions and talwles of family members’ involvement in the building of Australia. Its lovely that people opened up to share their own stories with me, and I was honoured.
I should point out that this was the hottest day of the year to day at 29 degrees centigrade and that we had to close the door part way through because of brass band practice in the next building! The tea was amazing, and I’m pleased to say that all equipment worked as it should. (The touring show being a little different from a ready-made classroom setup)
I’ve a couple of weeks before the next one.
Well, it’s the world.cup final. Sydney Australia. I can’t pretend to have watched all the games. I am going to watch this though. I was at Cambridge watching Billy Bragg when we won the Euros. Today, I’m home, snacks at the ready. As ever doing better than the men’s team. If these gals don’t win sports team of the year, there is no justice. BBC are you listening, not ‘women’s team’ just team. Full time professional women playing football. First team in the final since 1966. Speed shopping this morning as women rush home.to watch. Remember it’s the Lionesses who do the hunt while the lions laze around. Many a man is losing that argument this morning.
Sadly, whoever loses that nation tends to see a rise in domestic violence against women afterwards. Perhaps since less men are invested in this the cycle will.not repeat. It’s a sad reflection on the fragile male ego that sports teams losing cause such things but proven again and again. If a person’s self-esteem is so small that a team, in which they do not play, losing causes them to lash out.
Spain 1 – England 0 at half time.
Much discussion on our house about the dodgy yellow card just into the second half. (Heavens open a run to bring in the washing.) More shots this half for England, but still Spain win. It has to be said some dirty play, some yellow cards… what a game.
My current vice is watching YouTube travel videos. (Maybe I’ll start a channel one day) . In that I don’t pay for the Tube I get ads between and during the videos. Currently, it bring dummer (allegedly) in.the uk, these are largely holiday ads. Many of these are for branded packages to sunny climes. Every fibre of my screams ‘noooooo’ when I see these. I love a bit of luxury, but I’m not averse to a hostel either what I loathe with a passion is tourist hotels. Now I know that when travelling for pleasure you cannot escape the fact that everyone is a tourist. Do not fool yourselves ‘digital nomads’ you’re just tourists with a computer.
What sparked my rant today is an ad for a Hard Rock Hotel. Now, I have an extensive collection of Hard Rock pins, and I’ve spent many a happy hour feeding my face in the cafes as I grew up. I tend to avoid them now. (Please contact me if you want to buy any Hard Rock pins) in preference for local small businesses. Locally run cafes tend to offer better food. I’m no angel. I use air bnbs. On the whole, we tend to look for homes that people actually live in and rent when they’re not there. That’s as it was intended before it was corrupted as a business taking a lot of viable small homes out of the housing market. I rarely use hotels. I stay with friends and they stay with us. Tourist central with the noise and pools and buffet breakfast queue… if you’ve read the Australia posts, you’ll know that was the most disappointing aspect of our visit to Yalara.
Don’t get me wrong I’m lucky enough to not be taking kids with me (I love my nieces, and we’re meeting them and their parents abroad at some point this year) we can pick and choose. We can go during term time, not in peak periods. It can be much quieter when we travel. If I had tips for anyone, these are they. Do not travel to major tourist traps. There are many underrated places on this planet. Walk where you can. Take public transport where possible. (I know that is not possible in the USA, for example). Drunk and shouting by or in the pool daytime or 3am it’s not a good look on anyone. Respect people, and generally, you’ll find they help you, and you’ll find hidden gems and have wonderful experiences that the herd miss.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a train journey to Matchu Pitchu to watch….
ffiftypluses 