Tomorrow is Turkey Thursday!!!!!!

Oh my gosh, tomorrow is Thanksgiving! Bring on the turkey! The stuffing! The mashed potatoes! The gravy! The parade!

Bring on the bloated, too-stuffed-to-move feeling, too.

Netherlands doesn't have a Thanksgiving, but we'll do a little mini-dinner on Sunday with Ludi's parents. I'm only making a turkey breast. Some people here seem to think that a whole turkey is too much. Ha, I say to them.

They've no idea how much turkey I can eat.

Regardless of my abilities to devour tons of the stuff, we're not doing a whole turkey. It'll still be delicious, I'm sure! Will the weather be decent enough where you are to start putting up lights outside over the weekend? We used to do that in my house. Decorate outside this weekend before it got too cold to be out there comfortably. Anyone else do that? Or do you just leave the lights up all year round? *wink*

We were having nice weather here last week. We've had a pretty decent fall this year. We had some rain, but there were some glorious days too. The colors of the leaves were fantastic. The trees in the neighborhood park were so pretty I stopped and stared a few times. I'm pretty sure the other people walking around the park thought I was goofy. But then again, I think they always think I'm goofy.

Goofy American.

There was a tree that I could see from our dining room window that was the same bright yellow. This picture barely does it justice.

late season fall color

The tree is on the street behind us, so I could only see the top of it. But when the sun hit it just right, the thing just glowed. (See? Terrible picture. That's not even close to glowing.) I enjoyed it for about a week before the leaves finally started falling. I'm not sure what kind of tree it was, but they stuck around for quite a while before finally giving up the fight.

And now it's all gray and cold and the leaves are gone. It's barely 4 and it's too dark to knit without a light on. How sad is that? Remember when it was light out at 10:00 p.m.? Yeah.

That's alright. Christmas lights show up better in the dark. tee hee!!!

I hope that everyone enjoys their turkey tomorrow! And get that decorating started!


xxx

Independence Day

Happy 4th of July, everyone!

oooooo...aaaaaaaaaa

I hope you all enjoy your holiday. It's not too hot where you are, is it? That might make things uncomfortable. For me, anyways. Maybe you enjoy sticky oppressive heat, I don't know.

I read somewhere online that it's estimated that there are 80 million BBQ's today. Wow. That's a lot of hamburgers and hotdogs. Yum!


xxx

The potato salad was a success.

I hope that everyone enjoyed their holiday weekend! It was Memorial Day weekend in the USA, and here it was Pinksteren (Pentecost), so Monday was a day off. Yippee! I can’t remember that happening before. Both holidays on the same weekend. We took advantage of it and had a little cookout at Ludi’s parents. We brought the hamburgers and potato salad, and they supplied the grill.

The grill with the yummy burgers

Another thing I can’t remember is if I've made potato salad since living here. It seems like I have, but it must have been a long time ago. At any rate, I made the salad this weekend. According to all sources, it was good. I made it a little differently this time. I was lazy and didn’t want to chop up a whole bunch of different vegetables to put in (onion, bell pepper, carrots, etc) so I got some pre-cut soup vegetables and used those. There were some things in the bag of veggies that I wouldn’t normally have used, but other things that we always have. I think I liked it! I KNOW I liked how easy it was. Opening a bag and dumping instead of chopping. What’s not to love about that?

The salad and the rest of the spread

The weather was great for the Memorial Day/Pinksteren Cookout. Maybe a little warm and sunny, but it was breezy so that made up for it. And no rain. There’s nothing that can ruin a cookout faster than rain. We even walked to their house, so Ludi could enjoy some of his favorite beer, Palm. (No drinking and driving here, folks!)

All in all, it was a good holiday weekend. How was yours?


xxx

And so it begins again

The countdown, that is.

Starting back at the beginning.

363 days until Christmas.

(It's leap year this year.)

Did everyone have a nice holiday? Was it a white one for you? We didn't have snow, but that's not unusual for here. It was warmer than normal, too. I think most people were alright with that, but I miss having a white Christmas.

Here are some pictures of my decorations this year.

 pine boughs, holly, mistletoe and hand made yarny snowflake

 same ingredients, but mittens instead of a snowflake

 oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree...

I meant to post these much earlier, but hey... life happens.

I had a little fun with my camera and made these shots too.

sweeping lights

whirly wheeeee!!!

Remember Spirographs? Doesn't this remind you of those? I was quite pleased with that one!

I hope that everyone had an enjoyable holiday!


xxx

Yikes!

Gosh, I can't believe how busy it's been around here! I have had so many posts planned, but I haven't had time for any of them! And just 3 days 'till Christmas! whoa.

But I had to take a minute to post this little holiday treat. I read about it on Ravelry.

Go to Google, and then type in the search bar "let it snow" (minus the quotes), and then let it search.

Sit back and enjoy!

I hope you're having a great pre-Christmas week. I know I am! Ludi is off this week, so we're doing all sorts of Christmassy things. Maybe next week I'll be able to catch up here!


xxx

12 days??!!

Seriously? It's only 12 days until Christmas? Whew, this month is just FLYING isn't it?

What with all the decorating and card writing and Christmas shopping and cookie planning and still trying to do normal every day stuff (cook and clean??), I just don't know where the days are going.

Last Saturday we went on a bus trip to Bonn, Germany for their Christmas market. It was a really great day, and I'll make a post in the next day or two with the photos!

That same day, this was delivered:

a package from Sandy Claus!!!

It's a package from Mom! Unfortunately we weren't home to accept delivery. BUT one of our nice neighbors accepted it, and then brought it to us on Sunday when we were home.

The tree is up and decorated now, and the contents of the package are arranged underneath. I can't wait to open them on Christmas morning! I may be old now, but I still get all kid-like on Christmas morning. Wanting to get up before dawn and everything.

Fun times.

I hope everyone is getting their holidays on!


xxx

Sinterklaas

Sinterklaas Kapoentje,
Leg wat in mijn schoentje,
Leg wat in mijn laarsje,
Dank je Sinterklaasje!

Sinterklaas visited yesterday! He left us chocolate letters in our shoes (sorta!).

 who doesn't love chocolate?

A milk chocolate for Ludi, and a milk chocolate with hazelnuts for me. How does Sint know? How does he know our favorites? It's magic, isn't it?

Sint (aka Ludi) also left these in my shoe

left it small - too extreme close up - yikes

Magnifying glasses. So I can crochet little tiny snowflakes. Yay! It's my dream to make this:

photo courtesy Martha Stewart.com

a garland of crocheted snowflakes. I want it to be in that tiny fine thread, but it was so hard to make them, with my aging eyes. These glasses will help immensely with that! So I love them, even if they do make me feel/look like Granny.

Did Sint leave anything in your schoentje?


xxx

Where did November go?

Hello everyone! So nice to see you all! Won't you come in and have a cuppa?

 chai tea latte... mmmmm....my favorite

I got out my Christmas mugs last week. It's so fun to drink from these. My tea of choice is chai latte. Such creamy deliciousness. Crazy good!

It's hard to believe that November is over already. I knew it would happen. I knew it would fly by like ... like... well, like something really fast. But as usual I am shocked that it's December 1st. Now that it is, though, we can really get down to Christmas Business.

I've been busy doing some Christmas knitting (pics after Christmas!), making cards to send my Ravelry friends and trying to get more into the mood. The weather here has been so mild it's hard to find Christmas spirit! I heard on the news yesterday that November was the dryest ever this year. Normally we get 82mm of rain, and this year we got 9. NINE. Less than half an inch. And it was sunnier, and warmer than normal too. I'm all for a little warmth in fall and winter, but come on.

C'mon.

How's about a little snow for the holidays?

c'mon.

In the meantime, while you're working on getting some winter weather for us here in The Netherlands, I'll listen to more Christmas music, put up some twinkle lights, light the pine-scented candle and enjoy the season.


Oh, and drink my fantabulous tea.


slurp


aaahhhh.


xxx

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone enjoys their Thanksgiving!

 image courtesy American Greetings (I think? It's old, I'm old, I can't remember!)

Bring on the turkey-mashed potatoes-stuffing-gravy stupor!

gobble gobble!



xxx

Day with many hats

Today is a special day in a lot of places. In America it’s Veterans Day. In the UK it’s Remembrance Day. In Belgium it’s Wapenstilstandsdag (celebrating the end of WWI). And in The Netherlands (mostly just in Limburg, I think?), it’s 11de van de 11de (11th day of the 11th month). The official start of the Carnival Season.

This year it’s the 11de van de 11de van de 11de (11th day of the 11th month of 2011)! So they’ll probably be even more crazy this year. Those Dutch really know how to get their drink on.

How do you celebrate this day?


xxx

'Tis the Season

Ok, folks. Halloween is over. That means we can finally officially begin

I am sure that stores have already begun without me, but I try to wait until November to start my holiday frenzy.

TRY, that is. Doesn’t always work, but I try.

It's also hard to get in the Christmas mood when the weather has been so nice here.

the trees are losing their leaves

We've had temps in the mid-60s (mid-teens Celsius), and tons of sun. Very nice weather for this time of year! And blue blue BLUE skies. Just gorgeous.

Anyways, now begins the preparations for Christmas. Time for list making! I’m a list kind of person. I make lists for everything. The Card List. The Gift (Giving) List. The Wish List (aka The Gift Receiving List). The Christmas Movies To Watch List. The Decorations List (what decorations I’ll put up this year, and where).  The Baking List (a very important list! The list of cookies that I’m going to make!).

All knds of lists. It keeps me organized, and let’s me know what still needs to be done. Because the holidays can get a little overwhelming, can’t they? Lists save my sanity the whole year round, but they are especially helpful at Christmas.

And frankly, my sanity can use all the help it can get!

What’s on your lists?


xxx

Happy Halloween!!!

 Trick or Treat!

Have a spooky night, everyone!!! Enjoy all the tricks and treats that come your way.


Tonight we'll be having birthday dinner. Because not only is today Halloween, but it's Ludi's birthday! wheeeeeee!!!

Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to you!

Actually...this is how it really sounds.

Habby Burdday to you!
Habby Burdday to you!
Habby BURDday dear Ludi...

HABBY BURDday to you!!!!!

(I have a cold. bleh)



xxx

Counting down

Hey! Did you know that today it's

days left until Christmas??!!

Is that all?! I tell ya, it's going to be here before we know it! I'm making my list.

Checking it twice.

Gonna find out who's naughty and who's nice.

Which list are you on?


xxx

{catchy post title here}

I can hardly believe it's September already. August just FLEW by, didn't it? And I didn't even have to go back to school! Why did it go so fast for me, then?

One of life's many (MANY) unanswered questions.

And soon it will be the end of summer. We have had such a lousy summer here that it might not even feel like the seasons are changing much. I heard on the news today that we've had the wettest summer here since 1906. More than 100 years. Wow! No wonder people are complaining. 

Holiday weekend is coming up! Labor Day. Does everyone have big plans? Last BBQ of the season? Family get-togethers? We don't have any plans. It will be just another Monday here. And it probably will be rainy, so we can't even arrange a bbq. Hamburgers inside sound good though!

I wish had something exciting to tell you about, but there haven't been any hot air balloons this week so far. The week isn't over yet though, so I'm optimistic. I keep my camera handy! I know that lately my posts here have been all about knitting. If you're not into that, I'm sorry! I'm trying to wean myself of my obsession/addiction, but it's not easy. Knitting is so much fun...

Other than when I get frustrated with sock heels.

Anyways, if you want me to talk about something specific (or NOT talk about something specific!), just let me know! I'm open to suggestions.

I'll leave you with this.

strikefingerhut, or knitting thimble

Can anyone actually USE this thing? Effectively? Because Lordy Lordy am I struggling with it. I aspire to knit Fair Isle someday.

Some day. After I master this wire yarn guiding thingie.


xxx

Merry Christmas!

Deck the halls with boughs of holly,

fa la la la la, la la la la

'Tis the season to be jolly,

fa ra ra ra ra, ra ra ra ra

oooh, so pretty!

Are you ready for Christmas yet? Shopping done, cookies made, etc? I haven't even started yet. Maybe cuz it's only July?

More than half way there, though! wheeeeee!!!!


xxx

Independence Day

Happy 4th everyone!

photo courtesy of AmericanGreetings.com

What I like about the 4th of July:

• Fireworks
• Cookout food
• Fireworks
• Strawberry Shortcake

Yep, fireworks is on there twice. That's how much I like them. I have really great memories of going to local firework displays at home with my sister and friend. We had a pact to try to always be home at 4th of July so we could go see the fireworks. Sadly I haven't been able to make it the last few years (it's kind of a long commute). Some day we'll take a vacation in July. Some day.

For some reason I always think of having strawberry shortcake at this holiday. Maybe because the fruit is at it’s peak? Whatever the reason, I can remember family bbqs and requesting specifically this dessert. And I make it here. In the Netherlands. Where they don’t celebrate America’s Independence Day.

Here it’s just Monday.

That and the last week of school for kids. So they’re celebrating something at least.

Time to go make some biscuits. Maybe I’ll go all fancy and make them in a star shape. In honor of the holiday and all.

Enjoy your family bbq/cookouts!


xxx

Happy Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day everyone!

I pledge allegiance to the flag...

I hope everyone has great weather for their holiday cookouts or whatever it is you do on this day of remembering.


xxx

eeeeks!!!

It's Friday the 13th!!

Run for the hills!

Throw salt over your shoulder!

Don't walk under ladders!

Or, just go about your normal daily business. I'm not superstitious about Friday the 13th at all. Even after all the movies. Do you have any superstitions? Not stepping on cracks? Worried about broken mirrors? Do you have any habits to break the spell of the superstitions (like the throwing salt one)?

Look at me, asking all these questions. I think since there are only about three people who read this blog on a regular basis, I know the answers. Speaking of which...who reads this blog? If you read this post, could you do me a favor and post a comment? I'd like to know my audience. ha ha ha!

Let me know what kinds of things you'd like to read here, too. More about life here in The Netherlands? Less about knitting and crochet? More about those? More posts? More/less photos? Give me some feedback!

y'know.... if you want to......


xxx

p.s.  the countdown to vacation still rolls on. I can taste the Reese Cups and Gibbles potato chips now.
Not at the same time, of course.

xxx

Mother's Day 2011

Happy Mother's Day everyone!


xxx

Happy 2011!

Best wishes to everyone for 2011! 

Did you make any resolutions yet?


I had to post today. It's 1-1-11. Gotta love those kind of days.


Did you break your resolutions yet? tee hee hee!



xxx