Happy reading day !

I renewed my lisence

The past two weeks i have renewed my lisence for First Aid,
Fire Fighting and Evacuations. Was fun, as always !

New Year's Activity

I had to organise an activity for the company i work at
so i arranged for us to go discobowling and inside
grilling. We had a great time ! Discobowling is so
much fun and the best part is that anyone can do it !

Crimezone Thriller 10-daagse : happy reading !

Graduation at Sint Jansbrug

Today we celebrated a graduation in an historic
building in Delft : the building of the Student
Society of Sint Jansbrug. These buildings have been
standing there for more than four centuries and
it is always great fun to have a party in such a venue !

Happy World Apple Day !

An afternoon and an evening ...

... out with the company : I organised a day out which started
with a lunch, we then went powerkiting in Scheveningen and
in the evening we did some beertasting and a dinner at
Trappistenlokaal 't Klooster. Especially that last part was
great ! Good food, lovely beers and generally a lot of fun :)

New Shoes !

Words of wisdom

Imagination does not become great until human beings,
given the courage and the strength, use it to create.

September is Honey Month !

A new animal

I have seen a Mustela Nivalis (wezel / weasel / snømus) for the first
time a few days ago. It was really tiny and cute and fast as water !

Happy Sankthans !

The evening of June 23rd, Sankt Hans or St.John's Eve, is the eve of
celebration before the Feast Day of St.John the Baptist. The Gospel
of Luke (Luke 1:36, 56–57) states that John was born about six
months before Jesus, therefore the feast of John the Baptist was
fixed on June 24, six months before Christmas. This feast day is
one of the very few saints' days to mark the supposed anniversary
of the birth, rather than the death, of the saint commemorated.
The Feast of St.John coincides with the June solstice also referred to
as Midsummer. The Christian holy day is fixed at June 24th, but, in
some countries, festivities are celebrated the night before, on
St.John's Eve. The feast is celebrated in various countries.
Fire is the most fundamental element associated with the
Saint John's Eve celebration, giving of thanks for bountiful
harvests. To keep the evil forces away, the bonfires were usually
lit on high ground. Placing a witch – made of old clothes stuffed with
hay – on the bonfire is a tradition which did not become common
until the 20th century.
In the Scandinavian countries, in which the evening is called Sankt Hans
or Jonsok, short for Saint Johannes or Saint John's Wake, the tradition is
to gather around a large fire. In some countries (Denmark) a witch burning
is included. The witch is represented by a doll, often made by the children,
wearing old clothes and having an evil look. This evening is a large
celebration, often enjoyed together with drinking, eating and festiveness
for the whole town.

I got invited to De Beierd

What a cozy place that is, i can recommend
visiting this place when you happent to be in Delft.

Branchcrafts

There is a man that is always present at the local Christmas market
and he is into branchcrafts. I thought this piglet was the cutest of
all of them, so i had to buy it, for only one euro !

What we eat on Queensday and next year on Kingsday

There is one thing that we always eat on Queensday : Oranje Tompouche
(Orange Mille-feuille / Oransje Napoleonskake).

The mille-feuille (from the French : "thousand leaves"), vanilla slice,
custard slice, also known as the Napoleon, is a pastry of French origin.
Traditionally, a mille-feuille is made up of three layers of puff pastry,
alternating with two layers of pastry cream. The top pastry layer is
glazed with pink icing. On Queensday the glazing is orange.
In Denmark and Norway, it is simply called Napoleonskake.
In Belgium and the Netherlands the tompouce (or tompoes) is the
equivalent pastry. Several variations exist in Belgium, but in the
Netherlands it has achieved an almost iconic status and the market
allows preciously little variation in form, size, ingredients and colour.
The cartoon character Tom Poes by Marten Toonder is named after it.
This year we also had orange soesjes (small cream puffs / små vannbakkels)
and saucijzenbroodjes (sausage rolls / pølsehorn), nom nom !

Happy Liberation Day !

Remembrance of the dead

Remembrance of the Dead (Dodenherdenking) is held annually on
May 4th in the Netherlands. It commemorates all civilians and members
of the armed forces of the Kingdom of the Netherlands who have died
in wars or peacekeeping missions since the outbreak of World War II.
Traditionally, the main ceremonies are observed in Amsterdam at the
National Monument on Dam Square. This ceremony is usually attended
by members of the cabinet and the royal family, military leaders,
representatives of the resistance movement and other social groups.
At 20:00 hrs, two minutes of silence are observed throughout the Netherlands.
Public transport is stopped, as well as all other traffic. Radio and TV only
broadcast the ceremonies from 19.00 until 20.30. Since May 4, 1994,
the flags, having hung at half-staff from 18:00 hrs onwards, are then hoisted
to the music of the Dutch national anthem. Since 2001 the new protocol says
it is correct to let the flag hang half-staff.
The next day, on May 5th, Dutch people celebrate the liberation of the nation
from the German occupation of 1940 to 1945.

A new State Portrait ...

... and a sweet family photograph taken yesterday :

Happy Queensday !

A photographic impression of the new King and Queen,
their three daughters and the former Queen Beatrix.


the abdication




the inauguration


our beautiful Queen Maxima


four other (in The Netherlands) popular royals :
Mette Marit and Håkon from Norway,
Victoria and Daniel from Sweden