Having good luck…

I have a bit of trauma when going to visit my mum in Poland by car.
Simply, I hate driving there and not because of the bad road which in the West Pomeranian region are actually quite good, but because of the way most of the Polish people drive.

It was different when was living there and been driving in Little Fiat 126p. My perception changed since I’ve been living more than 10 years in NL and got used to highways and in general proper way of driving. Exceptions exists of course.

Saying that, the latest incident definitely will not help to get over a creepy filing when being on the Polish roads. Recently, my aunt had an accident. She is alright, having some bruises, cuts and small wounds which is MORE THAN LUCK taking in to consideration the frontal strike and the damage on the car as seen on the below pictures. LUCKELY she was driving alone on the way to pick up my grandma … I do not even want to think what would happen if she was taking her home which happens quite often during the year.

The guy driving the new Volkswagen was in the hurry, of course reasonable explanation, and was passing another car as a third one in the row (na trzeciego)… Those people that never have driven or been in Poland would not imagine how stupid it is and how many people do it … well he did not fit apparently, causing the accident that could cost a life of innocent person. Make me sick!!




source of the photos www. Iswinoujscie.pl

HEY...

HEY is coming to The Hague. They will play one concert in Paard van Troje 17 April 2011 and we girls will be there. It will be like being 18 again ....

Doldrums …

Can Fuyo, my dog, use the fitness pass and go for a run or maybe group lesson like spinning or body pump? Can I also send A. with her? They seem to have a lot of energy and I do not. The rubber frog is squeaking and fling around the room … and I just want to sink in the sofa. Need a strong Nespresso and I need it now!

“Lucky” 13…

I am talking here about the number of people creating ski-snowboard group visiting the Krimml, in Austria anno domini 2011. I could describe the holidays in three words we came, we saw, we conquered … again! For those that would like to enjoy many km of different difficulty slopes, I recommend ZILLERTALARENA.

Even though we went there for the second time in the row (2010), we have not been bored or disappointed. 2 days of sun with 3 days of snow has given both the skiers and snowboarders the perfect conditions to enjoy. Beside the accidents that happened we had simply great time!

M: had got a quite a headache after smashing the side line wooden pole in to two halves, luckily wearing a helmet. “The best 120euro spend” he said afterwards.
D: hit the ground with her ribs loosing air and getting quite some pain. She spend 2 last days in the apartment i/o with the group.
E: being too optimistic with the slalom and trying to break the record, he almost broke a leg. No leg broken but the knee injury will lead probably to the surgery and revalidation afterwards ;(

For all people still going on the winter holidays BE CAREFULL and ENJOY!!!!!

sun...

Is it possible that spring is coming a little bit earlier this year?... I saw a lot of sun today... have you heard any rumors about that... maybe it is better to keep quiet otherwise winter will know, turn back and grab her chance again.

Baking is my secret weapon...

Beside using a tip from A. and discovering the blog "Moje wypieki" (english: My bakings) I started also to dig in to my new book "Taarten & vlaaien", how to prepare different types of tarts and pies. Yummy!!!

I started my baking journey by making "pączki". It was first time in my life and all Polish readers will know, this is not a "piece of cake" but quite a high level activity ...

Nevertheless, I managed and must say that they tasted very good, better than they appear on the pictures. I admit, I had dreadful moments when discovered that the dough has not risen enough, almost shocked when they start to double or even triple the size in the hot oil and panicking when the jam started to pop out during the frying... but how should I know what to expect if I have never made them or see them to be made.

It was good experience before "Tłusty czwartek" (Shrove Thursday) when I intent to make 50 pieces...

For those that would like to make them please follow the English recipe or Polish one and be very patient. GOOD LUCK ;)

The Way Back...

Not yet in the cinemas but will be 13th of January and I would like to see it.
Why? Not only because of the beautiful nature, amazing landscapes, director Peter Weir, actors as Colin Farrell, Jim Sturgess and Ed Harris but also because the film is based on the true story from the book of Polish writer Sławomir Rawicz. The trailer looks promising so let's see.

Creativity with the big C...

One of my good friends live in Brisbane so I was very happy when heard that she is visiting NL during the Christmas time. Of course I would be even more happy to visit her in Australia but this is not in my plans soon, unfortunately. Beside the fact that we had great Italian meal and took the trip down our memory line, we talk about the future and things we would like to do. She just finished a year long graphic design course and has been very excited about it. “It is so nice and interesting to create something” she said and I believe her.

Since I was child I loved to participate in the drawing, painting lessons and be part of the artistic groups. Somewhere during my study I lost the sparkle and attention focusing on more “down to earth” activities but still somewhere, unconscious I was and still am, admiring creativity and people that can communicate in the interesting way no matter if via photographs, graphics, movies, sound or writing. Work of one of the guys my girlfriend told me about you can see here but there are more remarkable people around …

Let it snow …

The week holidays in Ardennes was in general WHITE. I have not seen so much snow for a long time and I hope not to see it for the next 50 years, okay maybe during the skiing holidays but that's a different story. This time we have visited other part of Ardennes then two years ago. We have chosen the area close to Malmedy with our house in Libomont booked via www.dogsincluded.nl. Very nice place and the region with enormous possibilities to walk, unfortunately not that many in the winter time. We have tried our best and visited Château de Reinhardstein, Nature Centre of Botrange and the dam in Eupen. There, the walking paths were quite well prepared but everywhere else after half hour of walk we simply had to give up. The snow was far to deep.

Affected by the weather conditions we have searched for the alternatives and discovered a Jacques Chocolate fabric (without Willy Wonka) and the local brewery BRASSERIE DE BELLEVAUX. Both the chocolate and the beer very tasty ;)) maybe even a bit to good.

All and all, with all above, a lot of wine, beer and wonderful bakery “just around the corner” we had great time, White Christmas and a lot of snow fun.

wryyyy...

Can you think that your computer is dead, not breathing, screen black and that you lose all your files, programs, music, photos and other things that you have been working for last days, months, years ... well I have not lost everything but quite a lot, especially programs and films that I could not backup properly ;(. Now I have to be patient and step by step rebuild my old computer life ...

Can you imagine how will your day looked like without internet? How long will you survive without e-mail, Facebook, news, blog, youtube, your list of favorites ...

I read an article that from a group of 500 people, 40% of women and 20% of men will rather have 2 weeks without sex than without the internet ... interesting.

I miss my Microsoft office and Photoshop Light room ...