Holland - Easter weekend!

After meeting Ginnie on the Thursday ,we drove back to Harry and Brenda’s for a nice table grill dinner and a chocolate fondue for dessert. Since we had been up since 4:30 am and our coffee machine had broken down the evening before we left, I was dead tired and went to bed around 11pm. I know! Me? On holidays with friends and family and not partying until the wee hours? Unbelievable, right? Maybe we’re just getting older…, or smarter.

After some coffee and breakfast, we decided to go shopping and since the weather was really crap (again wet snow, rain and lots of cold wind), we opted for covered shopping areas. So off we went to Hoofddorp. The stores were not that exciting there, so we took another drive to Amstelveen, where OX bought himself a pair of really nice brown Van Bommel shoes. Shortly after that, I found a pair of dark brown boots just begging to be purchased. A perfect fit. How could I resist?

After our shopping spree, we had a few drinks at Café Hoevel, one of Amsterdam’s brown bars (usually bars with a lot of dark wood that serve simple dishes and of course, beer) along the Prinsengracht. An hour or so later, Brenda went to pick up Pa, Ma and two very good friends of theirs, Frits and Ria for dinner. We had reserved a table at the *Kelderhof, situated about 3 minutes walk from where we were, to celebrate Pa’s 76th birthday. How convenient… (and well planned for the digestive). Once Bren had parked the car, she gave us a call to go over to the restaurant and met them all. We had an excellent Tapas dinner and a lot of fun. Unfortunately, I had not gotten the part about not returning home before dinner, so I didn’t have my camera with me. We tried to take a few shots with our cell phones, but with the dim lighting, the quality of the picts turned out too bad to put up. You’ll just have to take our word for it.

Of course, the evening for us younger folk was not over just yet. Ma, Pa, Fritz and Ria took a taxi home and we walked straight over to the Café Heuvel again. Harry and other regulars there lovingly call it “the office” because many of them are into construction and much of the business is conducted there. It’s really interesting place and fun. The owner, Pierre, is an incredible host and makes anyone that visits feel at home. All of a sudden, he’ll take out a huge sausage and a kilo or so of cheese, cut it all in bite-sized pieces, put it on a plate and walk through the café offering some to all his guests. Anyhow, we met a few more people there, had a few more drinks, and came back home around 1:30am. (Don’t worry, Bren was the designated driver that evening, so we got home safely)

The next day (Saturday), we packed our things to drive southwards to Veenendaal to meet up with Jaap and Patricia. But first, we had to drive by Makro, a whole sale service chain, where Brenda and Harry are registered members. Now THAT, my friends, is a shopping experience non-plus-ultra! We bought too much stuff (mostly things that we can’t find here, or just so freaking cheap) that we had to take our luggage on the back seat in order to stack everything in the back of OX’s Volvo V70! I’m still amazed that we weren’t stopped at the Swiss border the next day. Our front wheels must have barely touched the ground from all that weight in the back. LOL!

We arrived at Jaap’s apartment around lunch time and after taking in our luggage, we drove to downtown Veenendaal to meet up with Patricia who was shopping with Jaap’s older sister. Did anybody mention shopping?? Oh, yes. Jaap and OX did some serious spending (it was all 25% off!) in a very nice local shop: Suits and casuals (only in Dutch). By that time, I was getting kinda edgy and went in to the next Esprit store to buy a few things for moi, too.

That evening, we had a really, really great dinner. Jaap had been talking about the **Royal Mandarin for a few years already, and we knew we wanted to go there. OMG! I cannot begin to tell you a) how good it was, and b) how much we laughed. And in this case, the laughter was NOT caused by an excess of alcohol. You’ll see why… soon.

Once at the restaurant, we were lead to an open fireplace, where we took an aperitif and were given the menu card (also in English) to study. We decided to go for the surprise menu. You then tell your Maître d’H if there is anything that you do not eat or are allergic to, and they arrange the menu accordingly. All are pretty fluent in English and so I wonder why their website isn’t. Anyway, the nicest thing is that once you have enough, you simply say: “Stop the food service here, please.” You can eat from 3 to 6 services, not to mention the 2 offered amuse-bouche. They just go on until you say stop.

After 20 minutes or so were taken to our table, chose a nice bottle of wine and the beautifully presented plates started arriving. Just a few courses to let your mouth water… now.

At the end of the meal (the men had a serving more than we did), Jaap started playing around with our camera and was just taking pictures of me without really looking. Unexpectedly, the Maître was standing behind him making “bunny ears” behind his head. You’ll see my reaction to that in the following film.

Otherwise, we laughed so much because of these two clowns.

And what did Patricia think?

Sorry guys, that’s just the way my Jaapie is (I love this shot).

More laughs followed that evening because, in a nutshell:

- Jaap and Patricia ate the four chocolates that were served with the coffee. They brought more chocolates and OX shoved them all in (except for one that I got) one after the other in intervals of about 3 seconds.
- When the fortune cookies came, and after all of the first load of chocolates were eaten, OX’s read his as last: “Don’t worry, Jaap’s taking the bill.” Of course he made that one up, but it came across so naturally that it baffled us all. It became the running gag of the evening. Oh… and guess who took the bill.

The drive back to Basel the next day went very well and got home in 5 hours. No trucks, very little traffic, good weather. What else could we ask for?

*I can really recommend this restaurant. It is fair priced, the quality of the food is excellent, the service friendly and guaranteed that you will sweat garlic for at least another 24 hours.

**Excellent restaurant/service, quite expensive for Holland, but worth every penny. For Switzerland, quite expensive, but not really over the top.

Meeting Expats

I first thought of combining the whole Easter weekend in one post, but then I thought a) it will be too long, and b) it might get confusing. So get ready to read a few posts in the coming days.

We left around 6:30am for Amsterdam on Thursday morning. The weather was a bit grimy, but the drive was pretty good after all. We arrived at Brenda & Harry’s at 12:30, dropped off a few deep frozen goods that we had carefully packed into a cool box for them. Since we were to meet Ginnie downtown Amsterdam and still had a bit of time, we unloaded the rest of the car and enjoyed a cup of coffee with Bren. Then, OX’s mobile phone rang and all he could see was “unknown number”, so he didn’t pick up. He thought it might be work related and he decided he was on holidays. “If it’s important, they’ll leave a message.” And right he was, but it was Ginnie, announcing that she was leaving the apartment and giving us her mobile number. I called back and told her that we were on our way.

I was so excited, an in all the excitement, I forgot the camera. Of course, Ginnie had hers, so she gets the credit for the pict. We’ve been waiting for this meet-up for almost 3 years, and now, it was about to happen. We met in front of the Heineken Hoek on the Leidseplein and, after a huge hug, we went in the café because the weather was really cold and windy. We started talking and ordered some lunch, and chatted some more. After an hour and a half, Ginnie invited us to her apartment for a beer, which we gladly accepted. It’s only about a 5 minutes walk from there, but by then, it was raining/snowing, windy and cold. We had some really interesting conversations and I just wish we had had more time. She’s has such a bubbly personality, her interests seem to have no boundaries and she’s very soulful: An incredible woman. And you know what? We even got to meet her niece, Lesley and her boyfriend, Chris, who were over for a one week vacation. Now we only have to meet Donica, too, and I have a feeling it won’t take as long as the first meet-up with Ginnie. It was truly a fabulous experience. Thank you so much, Ginnie! You are absolutely AWSOME.

Let's fast-forward a bit to Monday morning, shall we? (you can read about the weekend in A'dam in the next post). We had travelled back to Basel the day before to avoid the Easter Holiday traffic and to prepare for Expatraveler’s (a.k.a. ET) arrival the next day. Since I still had gotten no news from her by 10am on the Monday, I got a bit worried, but she finally called short before 11 to tell us that she had just missed a train, but would take the next one and arrive around 1pm in Basel. Perfect. Enough time to shop at the train station for breakfast the next day. We had just returned from Holland the day before and our fridge needed some basic filling-up.

We were just in time. Just as ET was boarding the escalator to go down, we were getting to the top in the opposite direction. Again a big “greeting Hug” and we made our way to the car. We drove home and we had to keep her there for a while. Why?... Because we had a little surprise for her. TBFs were coming over to say hello, but we didn’t really have a time set, so we had to keep her busy until they popped up. Finally, I thought they might be held up and decided to open a bottle of champagne for the occasion before their arrival. And you know what? I was just filling up glass number 3, when the doorbell rang. Hmm. I’m getting the feeling that TBF’s can smell champagne a mile away. Anyway, since Mrs. TBF had to work for most of the weekend and Mr. TBF has a “man cold”, they stayed only for an hour, or so.

After TBFs left, we decided to go for a Tex-Mex dinner with ET at Papa Joe's and relaxed a bit, chatting until about 11:30 pm. I still had to work the next day, so I did need the sleep. The next morning, OX drove me to the dentist and brought our coffee machine to get fixed (that’s another story). Then he drove home to meet ET for breakfast. Unfortunately, we had locked her (and Dale) in, so the poor girl couldn't even get out. I guess we expected her to sleep-in a bit longer. OX and ET had breakfast and chatted a bit before meeting me for lunch at the Market place in Basel. I had to return to the office after lunch, so I said my goodbyes and left them both to discover Basel a bit. It was great to meet with you again, ET, but this time, we knew who we were meeting.

It was really great to meet two Expats in one weekend, albeit a bit stressful, mixed together with visiting family/friends in Amsterdam. But what the hell… It was worth every second.

Happy Easter!

We just returned from 4 days in Holland and we had a fabulous time!

We met blogger Ginnie in real life, celebrated Pa's (O-X's Dad) 76th birthday with family and friends, and spent a day with Jaap and Patricia.

Tomorrow, we get to meet another blogger face to face! And... we have a surprise for her :)

More about all of the latest happenings in my next post, but for now, Happy Easter!

OMG! I'm a murderer!

We got up in time this morning for a haircut appointment. The sun was shining and it looked like it would be a glorious day..... *But no... not quite.

We left the house around 9.45am and, as I said, the sun was shining in all it's glory (and in my eyes). I started walking down the steps of the back yard and as I looked down... Yikes!!!... I saw it in the corner of my eye. Something small and dark. A leaf,... a branch??? No. But it was too late. I had already shifted my weight to the next step down and all I all of a sudden felt was a "scrunch" under my foot that made my stomach turn.

The first words I blurted out to Orange-X were: "Shit! I'm a murderer! I just stepped on a baby salamander!!"

I felt so bad for the poor thing - believe it or not, I think they're cute. Really! I don't even kill spiders (at least the big ones... to messy). I throw them out... in a tupperware.

And you know what Orange-X's reply was?...: **"Is it dead?"

* After my first shock (the murder) and the haircuts, we went 'next door' to Germany and bought a new sofa! The day is saved! Yayyyy! And only the equivalent to 1 trip for two incl. expenses (compared to 3-see post below) to Canada.

** 55kg (120 lbs) is enough to kill a 1 1/2 inch long salamander. Duh!

You'll never ask again...

You must be wondering what we've been up to lately since my blogging has been more than slow. Well, actually, not that much. Secondly, I didn't feel like writing. About what???

Here's a litte summary of the past few weeks' activities, but don't get all excited, now.

- Orange-X has been very busy at work this past month (many internal changes, etc.)
- Jaap and Patricia (our Dutch friends) dropped in for an overnight stay on their way to and from their skiing trip in Switzerland.
- We had 2 1/2 weeks of beautiful weather (now replaced by rainy weather)
- I removed most of the moss from our back yard and there's still quite a bit to do there
- Did a lot of shopping. New pants, new raincoat, etc.
- Went out for a couple of nice long walks since the weather has been so good to us
- We're thinking of changing our sofa, but the one we saw and really like would cost about 3 trips to Canada. *sigh* So, we'll wait.
- I went for a massage from Paolo yesterday... HEAVEN! I must do this more regularly
- I cleaned out my closet... Two big garbage bags! The charity organisations will be happy.
- I filled out my income tax declaration form today. YAY me!

That's about all the excitement we had as of late. So, next time I don't blog for a while, don't ask or wonder. It's just not been that much going on.

BUT.... We do have fun up-coming events. Easter Holidays are nearing quickly and we'll be driving up to Holland to meet friends & family (it's Pa's birthday on Good Friday). AND... I will meet not only one, but two Bloggers personally. One in Holland and one when we come back.

Stay tuned....

Do you think you know me?

You must be totally bored with my blog, no? I admit, I've not realy been up to posting lately. Plus, last weekend I had a horrible head/sinus cold. You know, when your head feels like it weighs a ton and, if you turn it too quickly, everything inside your head follows in slow motion and ends up banging on the inside of your skull. When blow your nose and it sounds (and feels)like you're blowing out your brain! I won't go into more details. But I seem to be cured now.

Anyway, to keep my few readers busy until I'm back into shape, I'm offering you.... ME! I saw it on Swenglishexpat's blog and then on Christina's. I must say, this test is pretty accurate. Try it out. However, it will take about 30 minutes to complete, so don't let your boss catch you doing this at work ;) Here's the link: http://www.personaldna.com/tests.php

Just go over the squares with your mouse to see the split. What are your views?




And here are the details:

You are an Inventor

Your imagination, self-reliance, openness to new things, and appreciation for utility combine to make you an INVENTOR.

You have the confidence to make your visions into reality, and you are willing to consider many alternatives to get that done.

The full spectrum of possibilities in the world intrigues you—you're not limited by pre-conceived notions of how things should be.

Problem-solving is a specialty of yours, owing to your persistence, curiosity, and understanding of how things work.

Your vision allows you to identify what's missing from a given situation, and your creativity allows you to fill in the gaps.

Your awareness of how things function gives you the ability to come up with new uses for common objects.

It is more interesting for you to pursue excitement than it is to get caught up in a routine.

Although understanding details is not difficult for you, you specialize in seeing the bigger picture and don't get caught up in specifics.

You tend to more proactive than reactive—you don't just wait for things to come to you.

You're not afraid to let your emotions guide you, and you're generally considerate of others' feelings as well.

Generally, you believe that you control your life, and that external forces only play a limited role in determining what happens to you.


If you want to be different:

Try applying your creativity to more artistic arenas, and letting your imagination take less practical forms.


how you relate to others
You are Benevolent

You are a great person to interact with—understanding, giving, and trusting—in a word, BENEVOLENT

You don't mind being in social situations, as you feel comfortable enough with people to be yourself.

Your caring nature goes beyond a basic concern: you take the time to understand the nuances of people's situations before passing any sort of judgment.

You're a good listener, and even better at offering advice.

You're concerned with others at both an individual and societal level—you sympathize with the plights of troubled groups, and you can care about people you've never met.

Considering many different perspectives is something at which you excel, and you appreciate that quality in others.

Other people's feelings are important to you, and you're good at mediating disputes.

Because of your understanding and patience, you tend to bring out the best in people.


If you want to be different:

You spend a lot of time taking care of others, but don't forget to take care of yourself!

Sometimes you can get overcommitted, and when you sacrifice spending time with those close to you, it can make them feel unimportant.

About Cars and Ducks

No, no. I didn’t buy myself a Citroen 2CV, also known in many European countries as “The Duck”.

Actually, I sold my car last week. Yes, I finally did it – not that I liked to do so, but I had to. She was a 1994 years old red Mazda 323i (sorry, could only find a white one) and has been my 4-wheel companion for the past 8 years. It might not me much to you, but she has never let me down - with the exception of these past few months, and only because she was stuck in the garage, unused for weeks on end. You see, I don’t live far enough from work to get a parking space there, so I’ve been forced to use the tram. *sigh* I’ll miss her. But the costs, I won't miss (garage rent, road tax, insurances, maintenance, etc.) Luckily, the public transport systems here are really efficient, but not very practical when you have tons of stuff to carry. However, I think I’ll join the Mobility car sharing. I hear it works quite well. You know, just for the times where I need a car and OX is travelling.

Last Saturday was absolutely gorgeous: Sunny, no wind and about 7°C (45°F). So right after the groceries, we decided to take a walk. Since we live pretty much at the end of town, we walked towards the village, then took a right, then a left, crossed the main road, and zigzagged our way trough unknown territory of a town we’ve been living in for 3 ½ years!! We even crossed the highway without really realizing it (we crossed it over a tunnel so that we couldn’t hear the traffic). Then we passed what looked like a mini-petting zoo with deer, goats, a few exotic birds, ducks and geese. Not very thrilling all in all, but this one duck and goose sure got our attention.

This one duck really went crazy in his little pond. He literally kicked the others out. Unfortunately, our camera is not fast enough to catch all these moments, but it was really entertaining to watch. Then he really went wacko: Swimming after his tail, diving, swimming under water real fast, then jumping out of the pond as if the devil were after him, then spreading his wings as if threatening an invisible something.

He even managed to scare the whole bunch away! What did they feed this duck?!?! Speed?

Mr. (I think) Goose was quite the opposite: Fat (or should he look like that??), lazy and loved being the centre of attention. See how he posed for us.

Believe it or not, we walked/were out for two and a half hours. I think we’ll be repeating this walk whenever the weather allows. We ended the evening chilling out on the couch with homemade lasagne.

Ain’t life sometimes a bitch? ;)

Meme Sunday: Two Things

Tina tagged me with this "Two Things"meme a couple of weeks ago. I still have another meme pending, but I'm having trouble finding wierd stuff to say about myself that you don't already know about. LOL. So I guess ET and Xmichra will have to be patient :)

I'll be putting up another post a bit later, but until then, here's the meme.

Two Names You Go By:
1. Poppy (that’s what OX calls me)
2. CS (my blogsphere nickname)

Two Things You Are Wearing Right Now:
1. My warm, pink polar trainer pants
2. A white T-Shirt

Two Things You Would Want (or have) in a Relationship:
1. Respect (the rest usually follows on it’s own)
2. Humour

Two of Your Favorite Things to do:
1. Spending time with OX
2. Cooking and trying out new recipes

Two Things You Want Very badly At the Moment:
1. A cleaning lady
2. A couple of weeks in the sun

Two Things you did Last Night:
1. Made a lasagna
2. Chilled-out on the couch with OX and a bottle of bubbly, watching TV. I know, life is sometimes a bummer, but someone’s gotta do it ;)

Two things you ate today:
1. Coffee (does that count??)
2. I’ll be making myself a ham sandwich after I’ve posted this.

Last two people you talked to:
1. OX
2. Ma (OX’s mom)

Two Things You're doing tomorrow:
1. Work.
2. Do the groceries after work. (Also my plans for the rest of the week. Isn’t my life exciting?)

Two longest car rides:
1. Basel to Vienna
2. Basel to Amsterdam

Two Favorite Beverages:
1. Coffee
2. Bubbly/Champagne (as long as it’s not sweet)

Two Things About Me you may not have known:
1. I HATE V.P.L. (visible panty lines).
2. I only wear G-strings (see above)

Two jobs I have had in my life:
1. Hairdresser
2. Marketing Services Coordinator

Two Movies I would watch over and over:
1. Little Shop of Horrors
2. Bad Boys (the list could go on, and on here)

Places I have lived:
1. Canada
2. Switzerland

Two of my Favorite Foods:
1. Anything spicy (Thai, Indian, Mexican, etc.)
2. Rice (goes well with the above)

Two places I'd rather be right now
1. Canada (yes, I know it’s cold there)
2. The Maldives with OX

Two people I think will respond:

I’m not tagging anyone, but feel free to do it.

Your loss if you don't watch this!

Charice is 14 (turning 15 in May). Some of you might have already seen her on TV, YouTube, or vis my Facebbok, but I just had to share her video again on my blog.

I've never heard anything like it. Enough said.

Click and hear for yourselves and be amazed.

And finally....

The day before New Year’s Eve, O-X drove to the Basel airport to pick up a second guest for our party. Hans is Ma’s cousin and also a very good friend of the family. Although we have often invited him to come spend a few days with us, he finally decided to do so a few weeks after Ma and Pa returned from their last visit in September.

He arrived at our house in the early afternoon and he was amazed to see Ma and especially Pa looking so healthy and relaxed. We opened a bottle of Champagne for the occasion and while I was preparing the goulash soup, I could hear them laughing and chatting away. Hans is such a great entertainer.

Orange-X walked Hans back to his hotel - only 500 meters away - to freshen up (he says that at his age, he needs a his privacy) and came back about 2 hours later. We went out for dinner at Pa’s favourite restaurant. No, it’s not a 5 star, but a simple Tex-Mex restaurant. They have excellent crispy wings there and that’s HIS dinner. You guys would not believe how he literally attacks those poor wings. Forget even trying to get his attention! There is NO WAY his eyes or hands are going to leave that plate! So what makes him happy makes us happy. After dinner we drove home for a last Irish coffee and then all went to bed.

We had many preparations for the New Year’s Eve Party, so the next day we did a few last minute groceries with Hans, dropped them off at home and took him for a mini shopping tour through Basel. We came back around 4.30pm which just left us enough time for the last minute preps. Thanks goodness it was cold enough outside to keep the drinks cold. Our fridges were busting at the seams already, and we knew that our guest would be bringing even more food, so whatever could go out on the patio, did.

At 7.45 pm, Hans was the first guest to arrive and all the others arrived within 5 minutes after that. O-X cracked open a few bottles of Champagne while we women were warming up food and setting up the buffet table. In the cold food department, we had a lovely cheese-crab ball with crackers, an incredible rocket salad with grilled vegetable, foie gras on fresh baguette and a huzaren (Hussar) salad made of red beet, carrots, potatoes, green beans, peas, beef, apple, pineapple and hard boiled egg in a mayo dressing. In the warm food department, we had the pasteitjes, cocktail wieners, Asian style meatballs, ham croissants and pangsit.

Not to mention the goulash soup and the deserts that never made their appearance that evening (I think we all ate too much). Believe it or not, with all that was going on, I completely forgot to take a picture of the buffet table. Now that I think of it, TBF could have done that instead of taking self-portaits. Or maybe Andy? Nahhh. He was busy enjoying his beer! ;)

It was a fun evening and a very active one, too. TBFeven did a bit of Rammy weight-lifting. And look... even Dale stuck around the whole evening. And I thought he'd go up and hide in the bedroom with so many guests in the house.

Orange had lit the torches in the garden and also made a nice fire in our caminero. Short before midnight, TBF, OX and I started opening the champagne for the New Year’s toast, but some of the corks were really stuck, and I felt a bit of panic. Three minutes to go to fill up 11 glasses? We were all sweating and hoping we’d get all filled and handed out before the stroke of midnight. And we made it.

At midnight, the fireworks went off and the New Year’s wishes were spread about in our little community of family and friends. Diana went to get the kids (only a few houses away) to join the fun. A few minutes later, we were all were standing outside warming up around the caminero to watch the fireworks.

After that, we all went back in for a nightcap. In the bar, I even found a leftover of a very special drink called Sortilege. It’s a whiskey mixed with maple syrup and can only be purchased in Quebec. We wanted to share it with all our friends and poured the last ounce or so into a glass and passed it on to all to have a sip. TBF of course, thought he could have more, but the bottle was empty. Sorry, buddy. Maybe next year?

Christmas 2007 flashback

Ma & Pa arrived on December 21st and while I was preparing dinner, Orange-X drove to the Basel Airport to pick them up. Their flight was delayed by 40 minutes, but they made it safely. I was quite shocked when I saw Pa. He was out of breath and his face and feet were swollen from the medication he has to take. Frankly, it looks pretty scary on a fragile man like he is. Amazingly enough, the swelling disappeared after only 2 days. Ma swears it’s the fresh air here and the exercise he gets from all the stairs in our house.

Orange-X had organized a demo wheelchair from his work so that we could take Pa with us wherever we went. At first, he looked at it reluctantly, but soon discovered that it was a great way to travel and keep up with our fast pace. We had added a lamb skin to keep him warm and taken a blanket to cover his legs, and in the end, he really appreciated the wheelchair. We wheeled Pa through Christmas shopping, the groceries, the Christmas market and much more.


But the shopping was only part of the fun. Now it was time for some serious wrapping. Heat the glue gun, out with the bows, the ribbons and colourful shiny paper, hand me the sticky tape and that ornament, too. Creativity at its best. First the girls wrapped the men's presents, then the men wrapped our presents and the parcels were cafully put under the tree.

And this was the result:

There was one "present" however, that was not wrapped. Our new dishwasher! The old one had broken down just a few days before and I didn’t think that we would get a replacement in time for our upcoming New Year’s Eve party. Ma and I had a lot of cooking ahead of us and I was horrified at the thought of having to wash everything by hand. Believe it or not, the new toy was delivered and installed by noon on Christmas Eve.



We spent a quiet Christmas Eve, just the four of us, had a nice dinner and waited until midnight to open the presents.



Between Chrismas and New Year's Eve, Ma, O-X and I spent much of our time in the kitchen preparing for the party. Ma taught me to make these wonderful pasteitjes. She did the first batch as I watched, taking notes in my head, and a few days later, I did the second batch with Ma looking over my shoulder to make sure that they would come out right. And they did! I even learned how to make the nice rim. It's not as easy as it looks, but once you get the hang of it, it goes pretty fast. All in all, we made 58 of these beauties. Serve hot with sweet chilli sauce! YUM!


But we didn't stop there. We also made about 60 Schinkengipfeli (croissants filled with finely chopped ham), a hearty goulash soup, and I even baked chocolate chunck cookies.

Orange made his pangsit (fried wontons) with his home-made sweet-sour ginger sauce.


We really had a good time preparing these dishes. We chatted, enjoyed a glass of wine and laughed a lot, too. I don't know if you see it the same way I do, but I find this kind of activity relaxing and very social.

BTW, I'm glad that I cleaned out the freezers before Ma and Pa came over, because by New Year's Eve, they were both cracking full with goodies for the party. And that, my friends, will be the next post.

It's never too late...

... to send you and your loved ones our best wishes of good health, happiness, and success in your private and professional lives for the New Year!

We've been pretty busy here at the CS/O-X residence, so we are a bit nackered. However, I promise you a post in the coming days with a review of the past weeks.

Orange-X, Dale and I hope that you spent a lovely Holiday with your families and friends.

An Orange Christmas poem

On the 24th December in Christmas Eve’s glow,
Santa pushes his boots, through two feet of snow.
The reindeers are striking, they’re letting him down,
He’s carrying his bags all over town.
He’s feeling depressed, the man dressed in red.
No smile on his face, he’s feeling real sad.
His muscles are aching, his back starts to hurt.
He has no one to talk to, this is really absurd.

What has happened, where is the cheer?
What happened to Rudolph, his loyal reindeer?
The elves worked real hard, all year round
But also they left, without a sound.
“Have I been rude, have I pushed them too hard?”
I got cramps in my stomach, I think I must fart
“I think this is awful, I think it’s a shame
Letting an old man walk, this is really lame”

“I’ll check and go find them, to make my excuse,
I must have them with me, or else it’s no use.”
“To celebrate Christmas the way it is right now
I could go throw darts or start milking a cow.”
“I need my dear friends, loyal by my side,
Only then I can show up, with dignity and pride”
“We all need our family and all of our friends
Partying and singing, holding each others hands”

“What do I see, do I see alright?
Eight sets of hoofs leading on in the night”
“I think I can find them if I follow the trail
I must be real close, I see a waggling tail”
“Oh yes, I can see them, all eight in a row,
They’re moving ahead, but they’re moving real slow”
All of the reindeer have their heads hanging down,
On each back sits an elf with a devilish frown.

They’re forcing the reindeer to walk down south,
Away from the North Pole, to fish for some trout.
What has gotten into them, are they out of their mind?
I need my crew with me, a replacement I can’t find.
I’ll teach them a lesson, those wicked elves,
Transform them into reindeer, so can walk themselves!
The magic spell is spoken, Santa speaks it out loud
The elves are surprised by a big silver cloud.


Santa is laughing, and while his magic is spread,
The reindeer start relaxing and lift up their head.
Donner starts smiling, Dancer lifts up a hoof,
“Hey there dear Santa, let’s go hit the roof!”
Rudolph breaths heavy, he’s ready to roll,
Blitzen gets impatient, “let’s go on patrol”
Then comes the sleigh as if it all was planned,
To ride out for Christmas with all good intend.

There the team goes, with their captain in red,
High through the sky, while we sleep in bed.
Nobody noticed which dangers we face,
If only the elves would have won their race.
So enjoy the Holidays with all that are dear,
Bring positive thoughts all through next year.
Be happy, be healthy, let the candles burn,
May all your positive thoughts be your reward in return.

Have an Orange X-Mas everyone and all the best wishes for the New Year to come from CS and me.

Straight, no chaser

These guys are just amazing! Enjoy and thank you Xmichra!

Who said you needed sport to stay fit?

This weekend, Orange-X drove to Holland to see his daughter before Christmas and that left me alone at home and busy as a bee. Of course, I could have gone with him, but since we only have the weekends to really prepare for Ma and Pa's visit over Christmas, I decided to stay here and take care of a few things. Plus, the older he gets, the more it stresses Dale when we both leave.

On Saturday, O-X woke me up at 6:20 am so that I could at least enjoy a coffee and a short chat (as far as my brain works at that time of day!) with him before he left for a 6 hour drive. I was thinking of going back top bed, but decided otherwise. I went through a few blogs, had 2 more coffees and by 9 am, I was already washing our drapes and looking through our Christmas decorations. While the one set of drapes was in the machine, and armed with a bucket of vinegar water, a cloth and the wiper, I started cleaning the windows and the sills (heck, why didn't I do the walls, while I was at it!). In between washes, I vaccumed and hung up a few Christmas decorations and cleaned some more. My Mom gave me a call while I was doing the dining room windows. While my whole upper body was hanging out the window to clean the outside with the cloth in one hand and my Mom (the phone) in the other, people walking along the woods nearby stared at me, shaking their heads, probably thinking I was insane. I wish someone had taken pictures. It must have been a funny sight.

This past week, we've had quite a few stormy days and regular rain showers, so that whatever leaves were still left in the bushes left and right from our (15 m2) backyard, they were all scattered in our backyard. As a matter of fact, quite a few had found their way to the stairs that we use daily, leading to the courtyard and were dangerously wet and slippery. So today, I spent a good part of the afternoon in the garden picking up about 150 litres of wet(!) leaves that I carried out to the green recycling bin. To relieve my aching muscles from the unusual body movements (don't tell me you hang out the window once a week to clean, do you?), I decided to throw in a few washes.

I think I've done my share of exercise for the weekend and am now enjoying a nice glass of prosecco while listening to Christmas music. Uhm! What were weekends meant for again? Please, someone remind me?

What will your true love send you?

A quizzie that I borrowed from Xmichra.

I'm just wondering whether the glam rockers and the yodeling ladies will get along, or not.

For the twelve days of Christmas, your true love will send you:

Twelve glam rockers drumming Eleven christmas trees a-twinkling Ten gymnasts a-leaping Nine ladies yodeling Eight sheep a-milking Seven hot chocolates a-steaming Six Santas a-hohohoing Five golden toe rings Four calling secret admirers Three French chefs bearing escargot Two bottles of whiskey And a fairy in a olive tree

What Will You Get for the 12 Days of Christmas?

How do you greet an expat for the first time?

Yes! Finally, and thanks to the TBFs, we got to meet Sal from the “Fat Sal's Smoking Lounge” blog (formerly known as “Sal’s virtual tapas bar”) in flesh and blood. We had arranged for this meeting a few weeks ago already, and we were both really excited. We decided to meet at the Brauner Mutz, one of the oldest and most traditional restaurants in Basel.

Sal and TBFs had lunch there, but we had agreed we’d meet them later. Around 2.00 pm, we walked in and saw that “perfect bald head” and knew immediately where we had to go. We sneaked up behind their table (that was thankfully covered by a half wall and lots of green plants). O-X, armed with only a camera, took this first shot. Just for the record… I think this guy smells that there is a camera 100 yards away! Really! How can a guy pose like that in the blink of an eye/flash??

So how do you greet an expat that you know from blogging and see for the first time? Well, Sal stood up and said “Hi. I’m Sal”, to which I kinda responded: “Hi. I’m CS”. And there we stood… not knowing what to do. How embarrassing! As good Swiss citizen, I extended my hand, inviting him to take it and then wanting to pull him towards me (naughty girl!) for the mandatory 3 Swiss kisses. And then, he catches me off guard by just opening his arms to hug me. Although my plan was ruined, it was a very warm welcome greeting indeed!

We had a beer, chatted a bit and decided to leave the restaurant to walk a few steps through Basel, lost Mrs TBF (she had informed us that she still needed to get a few things and prepare the rest of the dinner and would “jump-off”), took the ferry across the Rhine, had another beer and chatted some more. Thank goodness we had the chance to chat a bit with him before “the party”! You’ll understand as you read. :)

Since TBF also still had a quick vacuuming in mind before the other guests arrived, Orange-X and I decided to stroll through the Christmas market and join them later.

We arrived (like any good Swiss) five minutes before the expected time. Sal was helping set up the table and we had nothing to do. We tried not to stand in the way. Soon enough, the doorbell rang and the other guests arrived. Full house! Seven adults and 3 kids: The TBFs, Sal, Rammy, John and their son Oliver, Andy, Di and their two off springs, Ali and Sam, and us. Chit-chat, chit-chat: My head was already spinning and at some point, I asked Sal: “Is this what you had expected?” Sal’s answer went something like: “Uhm, yeah. It’s pretty much what I expected.” I wonder if he meant the cross chatting, or the champagne. Sal?

Mrs. TBF had cooked an excellent meal again, but much too much (to our luck… we were hoping for leftovers!), and it was De-Li-Cious! First a chick pea soup, then meatballs, filled conghilie (large pasta shells) with light tomato sauce, fennel and a beautiful assortment mushrooms. Of course, I just had to fill my plate (that I couldn’t finish!), but I did have a bit of Tiramisù that Rammy had brought later on. Yummy!

During dinner – even for us – it was difficult to follow all the different conversations that were going on, but let me tell you, it was very lively, fun, entertaining and interesting. We had many laughs … Andy even tried to get TBF to work again. Now THAT is a conversation you would have enjoyed! Of course it was full of jokes! What did you expect? Just look at the pictures!

We had a last few drinks … (yes, we were again the last to leave *sigh*. Will we ever better ourselves?) and left short before 2am. But you know what? We never got the “green fairy”. My fault…. I forgot to ask. Sorry, Sal.

We had a great time again, and Sal? Next time we meet, it will be in Chicago, or in Nova Scotia (this is a joke between Sal ‘n me, okay?) ;) What do you say, Sal?

I got an award... I got an award!!!!

First off, thank you to SwenglishExpat for the "Roar" award. I really don’t understand why he chose me, because I haven’t been very active in blogging lately (both posting and visiting other blogs), and I think there are much better blogs than mine out there. Nevertheless, I’m very honoured to receive it and should encourage me to post more often/regularly.

Here are the details: Those people I've given this award to are encouraged to post it on their own blogs; list three things they believe are necessary for good, powerful writing; and then pass the award on to the five blogs they want to honour, who in turn pass it on to five others, etc., etc. Let's send a roar through the blogsphere! The image at the top right can be copied and pasted onto other blogs. Also, a small size of the award for sidebars can be found over at the writing circle site.

I think that’s pretty cool, don’t you? Okay. So let’s start.

Originally, I put it up so that my family and friends, who are pretty much strewn all over Europe and Canada, could follow the daily ongoing of our lives. My blog is about our life in Switzerland, friends, travel and a little bit of bitching every now and then. I do it for fun. That’s all. Like many other blogger buddies, there are no literary ambitions behind this blog. My original thought is still there, but I'm happy to say that I have made many friends through blogging.

However, I do believe that:

1. A catchy title is always a good start to attract the reader.



2. I tend to do posts that are much too long (I think I do), and when I’m in a bit of a rush, I really value short and concise posts. Less is sometimes more. (note to self: remember that line).



3. The contents should – if possible – not be too offensive. Being critical about things happening around us is all right and sometimes a must, but at times, I just think it gets too close to the edge of offensiveness and rudeness. This doesn’t only happen in the posts themselves, but also in the comments, which often results in comments being blocked until approval of the blog owner.
   

Now to my awards (this is not going to be easy):

The Big Finn (alias TBF)
TBF got me started with blogging, so he gets special thanks for that, too. Yes, it's all HIS fault! ;)

He - and once in a while, Mrs. TBF - write about the daily life as an expat in Switzerland, friends, family and travel. He’s “da” (Did I mention that he grew up in Chicago?) houseman and never gets bored. You'll love it!

ExpatTraveler
ET loves travelling, Switzerland and swimming. Not only that, she’s an excellent photographer. Originally from California, she lived in Switzerland and France for a few years and is now in Canada with her husband.

Shelli’s sentiments
That says it all, doesn’t it? Shelli is a loving mother of three children and grandmother of little Belle, and a wonderful person with a great personality. She’s a talented, witty writer and an avid blogger AND she's my friend :) I *heart* her. Go pay a visit.

Ginnie
Ginnie is pure soul and pure gold. She is a loving Mom and Grand Ma, retiree and a very close friend of mine. Not to mention that she's a fantastic photographer. Ginnie travels regularly between Atlanta and Amsterdam with Donica. She loves nothing more than to capture the moments on camera. Curious? Go see! She's incredible.

Kill the goat
Jay is a not only a fabulous writer, she’s also a lovely person AND she’s Canadian. She will make you look for tissues just as much as she can get you to roll on the floor laughing.

So there. It was a difficult choice to choose only five, but you can find my blogroll on my sidebar. It’s there for a reason, you know. ;)

It can only get better...

This morning,

• Dale woke me up by licking my nose, then biting my thumb and not gently, mind you!


• The weather's sad and grey


• We ran out of coffee after one cup


• The milk was sour


• No creamer either

.... and all that before 9.00am o a Saturday morning!! Uhg!



Please tell me it can only get better!!!

Wake up!

We just loved this and those of you who have (had) cats will understand :)

I hope it works (I've never uploaded videos directly from my hard disc)!

Enjoy and have a great week!