May the FORCE be with us. May we thrive in it.
May First
Today is the first day of May.
It is the 53rd wedding anniversary of the parents-in-law. At around two in the afternoon, D and I went for coffee and pastries. It was a simple gathering of six adults. No drama.
After spending a few hours at the parents, D and I headed off to check out the May Day events in Kortrijk. We enjoyed the lovely weather, the people, ate fries, drank beers, watched live performances, went to a Thai restaurant for dinner, and was home by ten. A day well spent.
Although, I think I am not alone to say that having a day off in the middle of a work week is just weird…
Right Questions
The wise man doesn’t give the right answers, he poses the right questions.
Claude Levi-Strauss
Blauwe Reiger
This descendant of a dinosaur has been visiting the garden on several occasion. It has been taking a keen interest of our fish pond.
The first time I saw the blauwe reiger, our fishes were not to be seen for hours. I was so worried that they were all eaten by the visitor. Fortunately, the pond is too deep and narrow for the grey heron.
I love most creatures, big or small. But not our fishes. And definitely not on my watch.
Not Cool…
Yesterday afternoon, I dropped by the grocery store after my volunteer work of covering new library books. I wanted to see if there were any interesting discounted items.
As it was last Tuesday afternoon, there was a pile of school bags at the entrance of the store. Theft prevention, I assume. Small groups of young people were roaming the aisles of the store with no definitive purpose.
I was at the fresh meat aisle when three female teenagers came up really close, giggling, and touching the things I was looking at.
Huh? Is that a thing now? Oh no, am I supposed to be scared of them, or their germy hands?! A new sort of ‘cool’ social media dare? I have no freaking idea. What they did was completely laughable in my Gen-X point of view. In their foolish attempt of being cool or badass, these kids were just making themselves annoying and idiotic.
Transfers
As of today, four of my current financial transactions were completed.
- Malaysia to Singapore was a tad inconvenient, costly but instantaneous.
- US to US took a couple of days, but was free, simple and safe.
- US to Belgium was attached with a small ignorable fee, but the process took ten days!
- Belgium to Belgium was instant, cost free, and in Dutch. Yep, Dutch.
7th Grand Aunt
Today, my seventh grand-aunt’s funeral took place in Singapore. She was the sister-in-law of my beloved maternal grandmother. My ties to the first generation Foong family ends with her, and with sending the 白金. I do still have a good connection with my mom’s cousin, which is a second generation Foong.
Now, I wonder what happened to that black and white photo of grand-aunt and I sitting at the bottom stairs of my grandparents house in Lahad Datu?
Groceries & Fishes
Yesterday, D and I went to check on the parents and then did a quick coupon-related grocery shopping before noon. I must say… we are getting rather efficient at this. 🙂
In the afternoon, D and I went to the open-door-day of a pond and garden centre. While there, we got our pond water tested for free. Same old story, a bit too green and acidic because of the rain water run offs. Almost bought a tiny filter that would have been insufficient. Ah well, we shall buy online then.
Today, we enjoy a lazy Sunday watching a cycling event on TV.
Chilly Thursday & Friday
Despite the unpleasant cold wind, yesterday was a sunny and dry day. So, I took a walk to the weekly farmer’s market to buy eierkoeken and a rotisserie chicken. I also went to the ATM to get some cash. While walking home, I stopped by the bakery to buy a loaf of bread.
In the afternoon, I took the time to clean the water filter and de-calcified the coffee machine.
Today is a rainy and gloomy Friday. So, I baked a mixed fruit galette, using up the store-bought dough, and all the frozen fruit from last summer. I then harvested the outer leaves of the lettuces that are growing indoors, because they are getting a bit too unruly.
Later in the day, I rewarded myself with a mug of frothy matcha latte.