Walking in the steps of your forefathers

Before going down the path of my forefathers just a quick journey for the previous days.

On the weekend before heading overseas our daughter Amy had her engagement party.  So we were in Melbourne for that, which was a fantastic couple of days.  Bridal expo followed by engagement party & Sunday catching up with other family in Melbourne.  We returned home on the Sunday & then flew out for our long awaited trip to Europe.   

 Amy & Gemma after the Bridal Expo

     Amy & Rich's Engagement Party

After our 27 hours or so in transit we arrived in Amsterdam.  From there we hired a car & drove 3 1/2 hours down to a small place in Belgium called Ploegsteert.  This was where Graemes great Uncle died during the battle of Messines & is buried in the Strand Military Cemetery.  It was poignant moment to find his grave & to be able to pay our respects to a young man who never returned home. 

Graeme at the grave of his Great Uncle

We had know idea where we were going to sleep so drove into Messines itself where we found a place called Peace Village Messines.  There were some Irish school children staying here as part of their conflict resolution course at school.  On talking to one of their leaders we discovered that every night at 8.00 there is a service held in Ypres, which is only 10-15 minutes away from Messines, under the Menin Gate.  They play the last post & then have a wreath laying ceremony.  Ypres have been holding this service every evening since 1929 & there would be around 200 people in attendance every night.  Anyway the upshot is that even though we were pretty tired we went & it was a moving service to be at.

After a good nights sleep we headed to Brugge which a wonderful medieval city.   Town of Brugge

We had a few hours wandering around here before heading back into The Netherlands.  We arrived in Bergwerd where Graeme's school friend Pieter lives with his wife Ineke.  Graeme enjoyed renewing his friendship with Pieter with much reminiscing & for me it was good to get to know Pieter & Ineke. 

The following day we headed, together with Pieter & Ineke, to Haren which is the birthplace of my father & hence the title walking in the steps of your forefathers.  As soon as we came down Kerkstraat I immediately picked his family home.  It was amazing to stand outside his home & imagine life here 50-60 years ago.  The treks the family would have made to go to their Grandparents, church, the park etc.  We also had the opportunity to go inside the house but it tested my school girl German as the people currently living there are Polish & knew no Dutch but could speak German.  The current lounge room is the room my Grandparents shared & also the place in which my father was born.  I think everyone had an extremely good day. 

  In & around Haren

On Saturday we enjoyed a day in Friesland having a walk around Bolsward which is where we had tea & coffee.  The lady who served us picked that we were visitors & along with the Friesian cake which we had ordered a tray of chocolates, biscuits & a glass filled with cream & ameretto liqueur.  It was very nice & rather surprising.  From Bolsward we headed to Hinterloepen which is a typical Friesian Sea Side Town. 

  Hinterloepen

People hear speak Friesian & most of the signs are written in Friesian.  We had a great time wandering around the town & even came across some sheep out in the paddock as we walked over the dijk.  By mid afternoon we had to head back to Bergwerd so as we could say our farewells to Piet & Ineke & then head down to Amsterdam for what was to be the start of our 15 day European tour.  But that is another story!

Summer Fruits

Summer would have to be the best season of the year.  Not only do we get warmer weather which allows us to sleep with the balcony door open, falling asleep to the sounds of the waves crashing in, but we also are able to enjoy some of the best fruits available.  Raspberries, strawberries, peaches & apricots. 

My mum used to bottle fruit when I was a girl & we used to help out in this process.  As a teenager we would occasionally go over to my grandmothers house & pick some of her apricots so that mum could bottle them but mostly mum would trek down to Woodlands & buy them.  When I got married & had my own family I would spend January bottling apricots & peaches. Later on in February/March I would bottle pears.  

Mum & dad planted an apricot tree in their garden & this weekend the apricots became ready for picking, so I grabbed a bucket today & went over to pick some. 

Within a few hours this was the result. 

A very yummy dessert & for Amy & Graeme it is apricots on their breakfast cereal.

Amy home for visit

Just before leaving for China we had a visit from Amy.  It was great to have her home for 3 days & also help her celebrate her birthday which was to be the day after she arrived back in Melbourne. 

I took the day off on the Friday & spent a relaxing day with her firstly taking Gemma to school then wandering through town. 

On the Saturday night we had my Dad over together with Matthew, Esther & baby Micah to celebrate her birthday.  The evening was very enjoyable.  We started with a roast lamb dinner & Esther had brought over a really yummy cheesecake for dessert.  After our meal we pulled out the cranium which we hadn't played in ages.  If I recall correctly Amy won with Gemma. 

Matthew, Esther & Micah stayed over which was really nice & also meant not waking Micah up to take him home & exposing him to the extremely cold weather outside.  On the Sunday morning we heard a sound we hadn't had for many years, a baby telling us he was awake.  The good thing was it was 8:20 & time for everyone to be up.

The Duplo blocks still come in handy.

Amy enjoying a cuddle with Micah on the Sunday morning.

Micah following in his Grandpa's footsteps & checking out the car guide.

Amy headed back to Melbourne on the Sunday afternoon after packing her birthday present & an early Christmas present.  We had to pack everything in 2 suitcases & it was quite a juggling act.  As her flatmate was moving out we bought Amy a 10 piece saucepan set & a good knife block set. 

Graeme enjoying cuddles from 2 of his girls.

The weekend went extremely quickly & before we knew it we were taking Amy to the airport.  The next time we would be there was for our trip to China & what an awesome trip that was. 

It was great to have Amy home even if it was only a short visit.

Ban on Bee Imports

Whilst listening to the ABC's Country Hour programme yesterday a story came across the radio calling on an immediate ban for the importation of bees.  I thought my girls would find this rather humerous as for a few years now they have tried to nickname me queen bee.  This came about after the death of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands.  Her daughter Beatrix is the current queen of Holland hence Queen B. 

Anyway this is the article that was presented on the radio. 

25 Years On

 On this day 25 years ago my beautiful baby girl was born.  Through out the next years we watched her grow into a gorgeous, vibrant, intelligent, independant young lady for whom we are very proud.  Nat was a lot like me in personality which probably led to a bit of conflict but through it all we have always loved her & have always been proud of what she has achieved & what she has become.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NATTY!!    Have a great day