Footpath Ladybugs

Posted on by ghotiindustries

Hallo mijn faithful readers! The Netherlands is in the middle of a long weekend, so I hope you’ll forgive the brevity of this post.

I wasn’t long in Amsterdam before I noticed that some of the paving tiles in the streets of Amsterdam had ladybugs on them. It’s a joyous little touch that adds light and happiness to my day, and a smile to my face whenever I see them.

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It took me a little while to figure out what they were, and what they were for. Mostly because I kept forgetting to look them up when I got back to a computer. When I did take a photo, and therefore remember to search them, it turned out that they are to raise awareness for the National Foundation Against Senseless Violence. (Link in Nederlands.)

As a concept I love it! And it’s a cause I can definitely get behind! As someone who wasn’t around when the project was launched, they aren’t obviously apparent what they represent.

But they are a sweet ray of sunshine in a very overcast Spring.

Welcome to the week everyone!

Fiets Shopping

Posted on by ghotiindustries

We had a quiet one this weekend. I don’t think either of us felt like going out much given that we’d had such a big day on Tuesday. Tuesday also really shook up our routine for the week and I’m not sure we ever really got our groove back.

We’ve found it interesting that when we got here we were told (and witnessed) that if there was any sun whatsoever the Cloggies would be out in it, and soaking it up. In our innocence we condescendingly thought “Hehe, how cute of them! Those zany Cloggies!” Now that we’ve survived our first Winter, we get it. And we join them!

The days have been getting longer and warmer, and we have gotten into the habit of sitting on out balcony in the afternoons. With the doors thrown open, and fresh air wafting on warm, gentle, breezes through the house, with novels, text books, or knitting in hand, we sit in the sunshine and soak up the much needed (and missed) Vitamin D.

What we did do this weekend, was something that we’d been planning since September. We got me my very own bicycle! It’s a long story, but the other bike we had ended up being adopted by Himself, and I hadn’t felt the lack of one until the weather warmed.

So with a mission in mind, we gathered up our wits and spare cash and stormed off into destiny!!! *cough* I mean, bought me a very serviceable second-hand bike.

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Spring in Amsterdam

Posted on by ghotiindustries

A simple post in list form. Spring in Amsterdam consists of several things.

– Tea with friends.

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– Beer with friends while knitting.

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A Year in Europe

Posted on by ghotiindustries

Who’d have thought this day would come upon us so fast? We flew out of Sydney a year ago. It’s one of those strange sets of circumstances where it simultaneously feels like we’ve been here forever, and like we only just got here. Time has passed in the blink of an eye, yet has taken so long for some events to pass or come to fruition, that we thought they’d never arrive. We’ve learnt and grown so much, and yet, there is still so much further to go.

As my first semester of Dutch language class draws to a close, I realise there is still a long way for me to go. I try hard not to feel inundated or intimidated, and remind myself that I’m still learning and refining my use of the English language every day. Some days I’m a better self-motivational speaker than others. I plug on.

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Het Gezin

Posted on by ghotiindustries

It was an over cast day in which our family (het gezin) headed off to see Dr Fleur.

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This is how we head to the vet now. In a backpack. I really need to re-think the whole backpack-handbag thing when going to the veterinary/dierenkliniek.

Thanks to that quick (hour) visit, our fur-kids …

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… made it to Dutch/EU citizenship before we did.

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Ungrateful little wretches! How come they don’t have to speak the language?!?