Tinselled

I've been attacked with tinsel! I arrived home from overseas to discover that my home had been attacked by the tinsel-fairy with incredible taste. She seems to have tossed decorations left right and center and was not content until she had done every last corner of the house. Needless to say, it took me a while to get everything cleaned up. The fox on the top of the tree just made me laugh - he's perched up there so happily!
Even the houseplants all got into the spirit of the season, all sporting their own decorations!
Yesterday, i baked. Hopefully there aren't any chocolate balls in any of my baking, since i found them in the salt pot, the sugar pot and the flour sack and here, there and everywhere over the house!
Yep, there are utensils in there somewhere - it looks like a strange type of snake curled up there.
It seems that the big top has come to town! Or a candy-cane fairy...
My lamp is sporting a fuzzy red hat - sends off a very cozy glow when the light is on.
Tinsel is crawling all over my living room like ivy... it stays up for now!
This was my first inkling that something was up - a trail of stars all through the entrance hallway
My kitchen cupboards all look like presents, wrapped up in red ribbons!
The table is set for dinner - anyone coming over? I'd love to have some company - i'm even so decadent that i have TWO Christmas trees - i believe the second one may be Lauren and Tom's fake tree that has been hiding out in my basement in pieces the last few months - it somehow migrated upstairs and managed to get itself decorated with more tinsel than i ever thought was possible for one tree to carry - you only see about half of the length of that strand - the rest was all stuffed into my closet and nearly attacked me as i went to get my vacuum out yesterday. I had no idea that garland came in such long lengths!
Good thing i didn't just turn the microwave on - something would have lit up and it wouldn't have been the Christmas lights.
Whoever is the tinsel fairy had much too much time on their hands... it was a challenge to get into my drawers for the first little while... Boy, oh, boy, makes you think twice about stating "have fun decorating!" I had to laugh so much when i found all these decorations and had to marvel at the time and effort which was put into the whole process!

Groeten

Joeri flying through the snow... he LOVES the snow!
A day out in Leiden - i think my umbrella was inside-out more than it was right-side-up... but i was thankful for it nonetheless and thanks to the wind, it was easy to fix each time!
Aline's umbrella was a little stronger! I've seldom toured around in wetter weather, but we managed to have a wonderful day despite the rain.
A typically Dutch bridge in Leiden... it was so much fun to be a tourist.
Wet wet day in Leiden - i don't think i'd like to get back on my bike with a wet seat like that!
The Koepelkerk in Smilde - we attended church here on Sunday morning
- it's a pretty neat building!
Rode Pannen - Ome Klaas and I "went" to jail for an afternoon - we had a tour around the former jail which once housed some of Holland's worst criminals - very interesting!
The family farm in Smilde - looking a little snow-dusted.
Boy, these are out of order - standing in front of the prison museum in Veenhuizen - it sure was a nippy day and there was lots of history there - Ome Klaas was a good tour guide.
And now we're in Amsterdam - one of the ferries for people to cross the big cana
l from one side of the city to the other - how Dutch!
A mysterious little window - in an empty house in Woubrugge - i felt like a bit of a creeper but i kept thinking about the people who lived in the house - who were they? what was their life about? Can i poke around inside a little bit?
Snow day in Woubrugge - i went for a long chilly walk with Tantineke and Joeri - it was a winter wonderland - everything was so beautiful!
No, Toto, we aren't in Kansas anymore or even Australia for that matter - this little wallaby is a resident in the dierentuin in Woubrugge - they seemed pretty insulated against winter's chill but were none too enamoured with the snow i think.
The snow covered lane in front of Tantineke's house - a fairy tale look.
Ome Johan working hard to clear the path in the snow - snow shovels have been hot sellers the last few days in Holland

Yes, an update from across the big blue ocean where apparently as i look outside now, it's snowing again... Everything here in Woubrugge is a winter wonderland. I sit here with nice red cheeks (a Vos special trait) and a full stomach from a lunch of lekkere fresh bread and a cup of hot chocolate after a nice long walk with my Tante along the canal/river here. We took Joeri (de hond) with us and he very much enjoyed his little outing - running here, there and everywhere, greeting all the neighbourhood dogs and doing the social rounds of all the trees. I got an amazing picture of him running flat out towards me and he's got all four paws off the ground. I'll post it when i get back home but it's pretty cute!
It's hard to believe i've been here for a week. I have the feeling i've been here in Holland for much longer, which i suppose is a wonderful thing. i'll give a brief synopsis of the events of the days to give you a bit of a taste of my trip... I arrived last Thursday and spent the day here in Woubrugge with my Mom's youngest sister and her family. Friday it was up north to Smilde for a family dinner at ome Ruurd and tante Gerda's place - very nice - set the record for how late we stayed up - three oçlock is very late... or early depending on how you look at things. Saturday was tante An's birthday party - so on the road again to Groningen where we had a tour around the canals on a boat and then heerlijk en gezellig stampot eten op de boot! Very very nice! And good to catch up with cousins again.
Sunday brought us to church in Smilde and a trip to the begraafplaats of oma and opa - memories always come bubbling up to the surface, remembering them and their special place in our lives.
Monday a visit to cousin marjan in roden and shopping in Assen with a little bit of snow - always exciting. Tuesday i paid for the privelege to go to jail! It was a museum in a jail which is now closed in Veenhuizen - extremely interesting and since we were the only two there, my uncle and i, we even got a private tour! How nice! And daarna, patats en kroketjes voor eten, mmmm lekker!! Tuesday evening i spent with tanan in groningen - a short but wonderful visit.
Wednesday on the way again, this time to Amsterdam, to visit cousin jantine who just bought an apartment in the city so there was lots to do to make it all official - and a nice dinner in the city on top of it all! i don't think coming home will be too easy with all the yummy food here!
Yesterday was spent with my cousin Aline in the city of leiden - a city full of history and culture, and lots and lots of very bad weather. I don't really think that i've ever toured around in worse weather - sooo rainy and wet and windy and cold... but we still had lots of fun and managed to see lots too! Also a nice dinner in a Belgian restaurant with i think fifty thousand kinds of beer - not really but maybe!
Now this morning, so much snow in the south and west of the land that everything is paralyzed and the radio station just warned everyone to just stay home if they didn't have to go out - so we're kinda stuck here... but it's kinda neat too... gezellig, echt wel - we got a christmas tree this afternoon and hope to decorate that this evening after dinner maybe... so i still get to decorate a little bit this year!
Anyways, the pictures above will receive titles when i'm home but for now, enjoy!

December....

My pictures are SO out of order... but you'll just have to put up with it... here are the boys accompanied by Oma's arm, playing with the marble set. As kids, we adored this toy at Mom's hairdresser's place, fascinated with how the marbles spin around and drop and roll. We always have to keep an eye on Aaron, that he doesn't make a meal of the marble but it was fun nonetheless. It was fun to share new toys with them and to watch them growing in understanding. The memory of their sweet hugs if enough to warm the very cockles of my heart (not sure where exactly the cockles lie, but i'm sure they're there somewhere!)
All right... so it's December, as i can tell by the nip of the cold on the tips of my fingers as i type... the furnace hasn't kicked in yet... and it's a little chilly here at the Meadows. But i was running through my pictures last night and since i need to keep up with my prolifically blogging sibling, i thought i'd better churn out an update and share a few pictures detailing the last few weeks in my life. The pictures are by no means all-encompassing... but a little snippet of life. Above is my attempt at holiday decor - some Christmas lights swirled around in a bowl with some candles and some sparkly things... funny thing is that when i went to Rach and Mike's for dinner the other night, what did she have on her table but something similar, involving lights and a glass bowl and Christmas balls... are we children of our mother or what? But hey, it looks super gezellig and that's what counts right? I feel like i could probably put little mini-lights all over the house - decorating all the window and door frames until my house would look like an advertisement for them or a warning as to how not to be efficient with power usage - specially since i don't like LED lights much...
Here's the next creative bit... yes, Mom and Dad, i raided your place for boots, mittens and clippers and headed off into the field to gather rosebuds... oops, sorry, no rosebuds at this time of year... but rather red sticks, red berries on very prickly branches, pine branches and some other random weedy, naturally sculptured things. I had to fend off a dog which came running at me and growling/barking. I wasn't sure if he was being friendly or angry, but at risk of losing essential fingers, i fended him off with the thorn branches and we came to an uneasy truce and he let me get away with my raw materials. I stuffed them all in my trunk and wondered what exactly i was going to do with them... i'm sure my neighbour who just happened to pull in at the same time as me was wondering greatly what i was up to. Maybe i missed my calling, cause man, did i enjoy poking around with those branches and having something turn out kinda neat. The picture is kinda dark because my flash stubbornly will not work, no matter what i do with it, but you get the idea...
Its partner in crime evolved out of the fact that i had some corkscrew hazel branches which i had also stolen from the home gardens and i thought i had better use them but they didn't fit in the big urn character-wise so they got their own container. I think i might need something shiny in there cause it's a little blah but still kinda fun! Since it's based in a chamber pot, i suppose i should come up with some sort of creative name for it... sprucing up the pot? Pining away for you? Going to pot? All suggestions welcome!
Also, my blinds were installed this week past... i really like them, a lot. Just saying. Very cozy and now the neighbours can't peek in at night and it feels oh so cozy in my kitchen!
Another picture of the blinds, you can see "before" and "after". Quite a difference i would say.
In November, my little nephew Aaron was over at my parents with his mom and he was just not feeling well. His breathing was really funny, kinda panting like and he just was not himself. We decided to brave the night and spent Friday evening in the ER. The staff were good, we were in and out in 4 hours thereabouts. He was a total charmer with his red hair, his cute fuzzy pyjamas and his yellow boots, he impressed everyone i think! He had an xray done which unfortunately showed some pneumonia poor little guy. So with a dose of antibiotics, we were on our way home. Aaron was so good the whole time we were there - only getting hyper a few times, then looking like a million bucks of course - that's always the way isn't it? I am ever so thankful we have a good medical system and don't have to trek miles on foot to get to the nearest medical provider who may or may not even have the expertise or meds to take care of us like many people in this world of ours have to do.