z e e b o d e m

Reason to celebrate: it has finally stopped raining!

Amazing sunshine when i biked back from the library with two books and a small bread from león tied on the rack of brompton. I traced the route from our house to the mailbox (well, actually vice versa) because tomorrow morning i’ll have to do it in the dark and the landscape is pretty rough after the monsoon period. One of the books i took with from the bib is waar niemand is inspired by my all-time-internet favorite le and also because it happens in finland.

Here at home i inserted cd of sheila chandra (how i dislike the cd cover & prefer the lp cover – too bad our lp’s are still in the soft cardboard box in the garage – and i bought this lp so long = 20 years ago, in the sellout of a library where i was working then) and i started to chop and shed a lot of tears with three onions. Since we received so many paprika’s by mistake on friday (when someone accidentally gave us someone else’s basket of food) i’m preparing gevulde paprika’s for our sunday late lunch. The sun was still shining in while i was brushing the champignons – something that he would call zen i guess, while i call it just cooking.

Now i’m waiting for S & Gk back from the swimming pool. Red porto that i heated up – accidentally almost boiled the bottle on the stove – and garlic crackers. Soon i’ll chop some more wood. Gotta keep warm. :)

Outside the window you can see more..

Last saturday we were in the second hand shop in gent. After i’d dragged all the fragile stuff in the car (few blocks away) and returned to the festive area i dragged S back in the shop and showed him the glass door book case – a slightly worn out piece of furniture from about fifty years ago. He liked it too and since it cost only sixteen euros we decided to buy it. When we were about to pay the electricity went out in the whole building..

Today S swapped cars at his work to get us a transport vehicle that could take in that bookcase. As bonus he drove to stekene later in the evening and collected the water container he’s been dreaming about for a while. It can contain one thousand liters and it used to be filled with caramel sauce.

The evening before my birthday S drove to the chicken farm and got us a chicken hut. We placed it at the back of the garage and S made a hole in the wire fence for the egg box. Then he drove back to the chicken farm and came back with five chicks. They had to be kept in the hut for the first night so that they would settle down a bit. Now their third night is ahead and they seem more or less at ease. But til now only two eggs in the box: the first one was really small and bumpy “stress-egg” but the second one we found looked more like an egg. We didn’t eat it yet.

Nice sunny and long weekend. Flowers. Trampoline. Garden. Fire. Green. Misty morning. This afternoon we barbequed. After eating (out in the garden) we layed down on the grass on the straw blanket. Warm sunset.

Soon a documentary about het lam gods on canvas+ in eyeTv.

folded ivory brompton open after the bus had unexpectedly stopped in the middle of its way and biked fifteen kilometers to my work (on monday morning, of course)

photographed hairy cows next to our garden in the early morning mist

finally made it back to pilates (twice) after almost a month break

got back a cd i didn’t know i had “lost” (it had been in steve’s box and he gave it back via S)

found out that recht van uitweg exists

washed clothes of a woman i’ve never seen (brought them back to acec on friday)

had lunch with colleagues in wakame

received a translated nausicaa in the mail

watched television at home via eyetv hybrid that S had bought us last week (we’ll need an old-fashioned antenna on the rooftop to avoid hassle and receive channels across the border)

made a phone call to wish happy birthday

talked with an unknown drug addict while waiting the bus at the station

sorted out the bills with S

* * * * *

Yesterday i was shopping in a hurry and bought angus beef when i thought i was buying lamb. It was delicious anyway, with creamy mushroom sauce and rice. Fresh thyme!

We had two invitations for this weekend, one from our previous neighbors and one from our new neighbors. Due to circumstances we could only accept the nearby option. Tonight.

S just got up and made me touch his cold and wet shirts. He’d been sweating out the fever all night long. I think i’ll just hang the blankets out in the sun today. Yes, it’s still shining. :)

Saw the face of the holy mother. (it’s a daily apparition but i’m not a believer)

Put our dirty towels in the washing machine and started the sixty degrees program. Emptied the ash chambers of both stoves. (spread some ashes on the mole heaps) Walked to the mailbox to get the newspaper. (it started to rain lightly) Added some grains in the bird house and hung two fat balls in the hooks. (birds were singing) Started the fire.

Set the coffee pot on the camping gas. Took the recyclable stuff in their containers. Filled the coal scuttle with egg coals and anthracite.

Sat down for breakfast and read the newspaper. Ate bread with butter and cheese.

Added fresh layer of coals on the glowing wood and shook the bottom grill for better airflow.

Got the dry wash down. Chased one cat down from the attic. (she was investigating the forbidden areas) Loaded the washing machine for the second time. (that will be the last – today) Brought the towels upstairs and hung them out.

Removed the x-mas decoration. (it looks so empty now) Wiped the black dust from free surfaces. Rinsed the chopsticks and knives. Ripped five pages off the wall calender.

The sun almost shines. (though a minuscule gap in the clouds)

We came home earlier than usually on friday, the car loaded with food and stuff that i’d ordered via internet on thursday. To our surprise we found that the fridge was no longer cold and would not get colder no matter how high we tuned it. The frozen pizza’s were soft so we baked them on the wood stove (the oven does not work) wrapped in silver folie.

The next day S drove to Gent and came back with a masonry who would make our new chimney. He knew the guy from den overkant. The bought all the material before noon, broke down the old chimney and started the new one. It was one third ready before the darkness fell.

Today it rains. All the seams from the bricks that were built yesterday were broken during the night because of freezing. That says it all. The work is postponed but they managed to make the rooftop watertight and setup a temporary solution with the aluminium inner pipe. We can try the heating with coals.

The good thing about the fridge is that we’re still on guarantee. Until monday. :)

Before the Big Bridge my bike slipped. i let it go, i smashed my ass on the wet ice and saw the most perfect rainbow in front of my eyes. Simply beautiful! Then the rain started washing the colors away.

Stay-home-monday. Been pleasantly busy all morning with this and that, but first i started with the weekend’s dishes – an unpleasant task so it’s best to have it done immediately and there’s no shadow hanging on your free day. During the dishes i managed to start up the fire without aanmaakblokjes. It was tricky and after few frustrating attempts i just poured a bit olive oil on a tissue and pushed that paper ball underneath all the splinters. Success!

It started to rain as they promised so i’m stuck indoors. Just split in two some blocks of old wood that has been standing in our wood-shed for don’t know how many years. Some blocks have turned into powder inside but nevertheless they all burn and produce heat. My side task today will be keeping the temperature warm in our living room. It’s cosy next to the humming fire.

We didn’t get far yesterday evening due to unusual weather conditions. Unusual for Belgium, totally normal for Finland. Only in Belgium it’s not required to mount winter tires in your car when the cold season begins.

So, on sunday it started snowing soon after three pm. In an hour time it had already snowed about five cm and the snowing just didn’t stop until it was dark outside. (Oh, it’s snowing now again!) We made a brave attempt to leave and got out of the forest all right (some branches hanging almost to the ground, heavy with wet snow, we just had to drive through) but it got slippery as soon as we were on the street. All the cars on the highway were driving like in a slow motion film. The road news announced that the traffic in Brussel ring was practically standing still and they advised people to avoid driving to that direction. At the moment we were driving about 30-40 km/h on R4..

It would have taken us maybe two hours to get to Brussel – if there were no other obstacles on the way – if not getting involved with an obstacle on the way – and when in BXL there would still be the challenges of getting through the stuck ring and finding a parking. Not to mention the thought of driving home again.. We played it safe and stayed home.

Having to settle with the online version this time.

Vierailimme viikonloppuna tulevalla kotiseudullamme ja paluumatkalla mukaan lähti kymmenen kilon säkki “super-perunoita polderin mullista” (mainostivat jotakuinkin näin) hintaan 3,75. Tästä johtuen ruokavaliomme muuttui hetkellisesti hyvinkin perunapainotteiseksi; pottuja on nyt syöty muussina, uuniperunoina ja viimeksi tänään perinteisessä lihaperunalaatikossa. Seuraavana vuorossa kalakeittoa. Polderiperunoiden maku ja koostumus ylittivät odotukset: kuohkea & mehevä sisus ohuen kuoren alla suorastaan sulaa kielelle. Ikävä myöntää mutta voittavat kaupan luomuperunat mennen tullen.

Kotimaan uutisia: lähin olutravintolamme, kulmakuppilamme, kesäterassimme “humalapiru” on heittänyt hirttosilmukan kaulaansa. Virallisen lehtitiedon mukaan ovet suljetaan lokakuun ensimmäisenä päivänä. Vaan jo tänään eivät ovenpielen lyhdyt palaneet ja nyt arvuuttelemme miten käy S:n syntymäpäivien ensi lauantaina. Oli aikeissa mennä kadun poikki “viimeiselle illalliselle”. Pysyttelemme toiveikkaina.