BBQ

Three different BBQ parties this weekend and I am recovering. Mom came with and is enjoying her first few days here. Went to the acupuncturist today and I had the gaps in my aura fixed. Feel better already just knowing that. She said it was bad circulation from my radiotherapy. I need to make a things to do list. I used to do this quite often but have gotten out of the habit over the years. I am starting to have more energy these days and I will need to be more organized to make good use of it.

Dare to (listen to your) dream.

I had a dream about 10 days ago where I was speaking to someone and they told me to be prepared. "Buy a big piece of land with a water source, plant fruits and veggies and put a good sized wall around it to protect your food from thieves." They explained that there will be a period of time where the people will have to forage for food and water and will become very aggressive and I have a little bit of time to get prepared for this. Upon hearing this I woke up and it happened to be morning anyway and Doc and the Little One were already waking up. I told Doc about this very vivid dream which he shrugged off as he sleepily made his coffee and prepared for his day. I have taken the habit all of my life to listen to my dreams as usually they give me invaluable guidance. Some people ask their pastor or palm reader, others go with pure logic, I listen to my dreams and follow intuition. I am not a fruit loop but I do believe someone came to me in my dream to warn us. Fortunately they gave very explicit directions as sometimes I can be a little dense or stubborn. I will try to convince Doc of the direction we should perhaps be heading, but this might be tricky. Today a friend came by and explained about a group he is with that gets together once a year to live a week or 2 a nomadic life completely (or as close as possible) independent of the current system. For example: trading work for a farmer for food or camping rights, setting up tent near water sources, eating "weeds" or exclusively locally grown, no electricity, no cars, no cell phone, avoidance of monetary system with preference of exchange, etc. This reminded me of the warning dream. I would like to join them as I think it would be not only fun but a great learning experience, also a great chance to meet other like minded folks who would understand. This chat spurred me on to research edible weeds where, after a few clicks, I stumbled on the following site by hazard(?):
http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/Index.html
Check it out before sizing me up for a XS straitjacket.

First bike and slugs

The little Ones first bike. Actually it is not a bike but a draisienne as it has no pedals. Found it on ebay and she loves it. Doc took a few photos but this is the only one you can actually see the bike in. I will get some better ones later. She got some good speed on it yesterday when we gave it to her which has me wondering why they didn't put a brake on it as well. Mom is arriving tomorrow and I will clean the bathroom before she arrives as the slugs that normally crawl in the window to do the job are not as hungry as usual. Winter is better for this as the window is shut, they take residence there and eat really well. I hate cleaning it as we share the bathroom with our downstairs neighbor and I don't like dealing with non familial pubes. Apart from that, I don't have complaints in that department as my neighbor occasionally cleans it anyway and doesn't stay in there too long. We all greatly appreciate the cleaner slugs for the day to day upkeep and highly recommend them for bathroom duty.

Camping

We spent the weekend in Holland camping at the sea. We set up our tents at a small campground in a farm just 5 minutes drive from the water. There were 8 adults and 6 kids and we had a wonderful time. The water was too cold for me to even consider going in, but Doc and the Little One got in and splashed around for a bit. Saturday I attempted to look for treasure, but the kids were absolutely obsessed by the machine and the Little One was practically glued to my side making this task almost impossible. Sunday I brought the hammock and strung it up under a greasy spoon and chilled out in the sea breezes watching the kids run all over and the adults either sleeping in the sun or playing with the kids. It has been a long time since we have gone camping and I forgot how much fun it can be. We cheated a little bit by not eating all of our meals on the camp, but we could not make a fire there anyways. We got back last night and we were all completely exhausted but more relaxed. I will post some of Gaga's beautiful photos of our trip, as I think she took about 300+ of them, later on in the week.

In other news, the renter is finally out of the house and the big cleanup has begun thanks to Mom who is heading up the project just before taking the plane to move over here to Belgium indefinitely. This woman knows no fear and in between packing her suitcase she is coordinating the painting, cleaning, locksmithing, and general reparation before her Weds morning departure. She is Lara Croft meets Martha Stewart and I would be cooked without her help! Thank you Mom!!

Lazy days

Still here, but the lazy days of summer are definitely making me slothful. The neighborhood girls are fighting over who gets to play with the Little One and she is eating up the attention. Doc won $50 and an entry to a higher paying poker tournament so he is excited and I am jealous today. I putz around on the internet whenever I am not entertaining the Little One. My radiotherapy session are starting to irritate my skin and the doctor told me to use special cream. I will go to the pharmacy now as it is on the way walking to the daycare. Yeah, nothing exciting going on but I like it this way sometimes. We were supposed to go camping with a bunch of friends in the Ardennes this weekend but the forecast calls for rain.

The door

UN knocked at the door yesterday to apologise and announce that he has quit drinking. He cannot remember very much of the past few weeks and took to heart some of the things everyone in the house had told him the day before. I hope he can dry out and I know it will not be easy for him. UN is actually a really sweet guy. A young 30's musician with a big heart, open mind and will literally give you the shirt off his back or whatever else you compliment him on. Unfortunately, his generosity is greatly appreciated by the area transients for the moment. Yesterday and today a young vagabond rang at his door to do laundry, and he let him in. This cannot continue or I will go insane. I hate the idea of strangers coming and going just outside our (normally unlocked) door. I don't want to start locking it but I see no other choice for the moment.

Speaking of doors, the past week Doc has been refinishing all the window frames of the apartment and today the guys started on the front door. I love the little windows that open and the detailing on the upper part of the frame. I took some pics while there seems to be a small crowd there drinking beer, dodging hornets and watching/commenting on work progress. Something about getting out tools will always attract thirsty men that want to help, give advice, and drink with power tools whirring as background music. If I am ever single and on the prowl, I will deploy this fail safe technique for meeting men who are good with their hands ;)