Where does time go to! All I know that it is galloping along too fast. And to think that this time last week I was staying with Aaron and Kylie, in Houten, in the Netherlands. And now I am back home, in Great Britain.
And in the midst of it all, there is a new President of the United States. Well, the less said about the presidential elections, the better.
But back to my short sojourn in the Netherlands.
It was great to catch up with the family there, and be part of their lives for a week.
I spent a couple of days looking around the shops in Utrecht, which was very pleasant, wandering around on my own. I did some Christmas shopping, with plenty of choice and interesting objects to buy. I also bought three pairs of winter trousers for me. Trousers for women in the Netherlands are both stylish and made for tall people. Perfect.
A typical Dutch view - bicycles and canals.
Instead of trying to photograph the Dom, and never getting the tower straight, I made sure it was behind a tree. Now is it still on a lean? Probably.
The view through Aaron and Kylie's back window. The misty weather gave the woods an air of mystery.
I took Mia, Abi and Raphy to the local children's farm for a look at the huge rabbits, tiny sheep, fat pigs and bouncy goats. All great fun.
Then we went back to a cafe for hot drinks and delicious cakes. A lovely day out, enjoying the company of my grandchildren.
Abi goes to skating lessons every week at a huge indoor skating rink, which has a speed skating area outside. It was extremely cold, and I needed to go into the cafe every half an hour to warm up.
An interesting machine! Uses unknown. For injured skaters? There is probably a logical answer.
Abi carefully practising her figure skating moves. It all looked a bit scary to me.
A visit to the Utrecht Centraal Museum. The surreal paintings by Joannes Moesman.
Plenty of designer chairs on display.
There was an exhibition of the work of Craigie Horsfield who comes from Cambridge, England, which showed tapestries, photographs and drawings. He recently spent some time on the Utrecht Project, a social project, where he made photographic portraits of residents of the city.
Unfortunately, I started at the end of the exhibition and it was not until I reached the beginning and picked up a catalogue that I understood the aims of the exhibition.
There were five enormous tapestries, based on themes, which were very impressive.
A rhinoceros, another tapestry.
There was a reason for this very bright orange room, with orange lights, but I am not sure what it was all about. However a great opportunity for a 'selfie' photograph.
There were many other interesting activities during the week, such as taking Raphy to school, and seeing how much progress he has made during his first few weeks in Group 3. After two and a half years in the kindergarten section of the school, he is now starting formal education, and he loves it.
I also spent a very pleasant and relaxing Sunday morning, swimming with Raphy in the local swimming pool. And I went with Aaron, to watch Abi at her basketball coaching lesson, which was considerably warmer than sitting in an ice skating arena. Aaron used to love playing basketball in Australia, so he enjoys helping Abi shoot a few goals before she starts her lesson.
Mia rides twelve kilometres to her secondary school, so I decided not to accompany her home from there although it would have been great to meet her at the school. I might have been tempted but the weather was very cold, bitter more like it.
Kylie has started to write songs which she uses with the children at De Brug school. She teaches the youngest children English songs, and also takes part in group themed activities for older children. She teaches the children in her group English, again using songs and rhymes, hence the need to write her own songs. It is very creative and all songs are themed based. The children love them. Great talent.
And I ate plenty of hot chips, plus my favourite, krokets. And for lunch at Hema, I ate pea soup, accompanied by a slice of rye bread with slices of spec (bacon) on top. Not forgetting the delicious cakes in the cafes, of course. All very fattening, I know, but luckily I rode a bike everywhere. Hopefully the exercise balanced out the high calorie intake.
And so it was goodbye to the family in the Netherlands. It will be three or four months until I see them again. Looking forward to it.
