Busted!!

The look of guilt, caught with perfect timing:

Of course I was not going to attack aunty Pino, what on earth makes you think that? 

Spring chicken

Odd log

Spring is definitely in the air, so time for another long walk with Ziva.

We found this tree trunk at the edge of the forest: 

There is only one possible explanation: the OCD beavers are invading!!

T minus 365

The wait has officially begun! 

Happy Holidays

Merry Xmas and best wishes for 2017!!

(Yes, we made that ourselves! ;-)

Old & cold

Pippin is 15 years old. That's a pretty respectable age. Lately, he's not been doing too great. He's lost his appetite, lost a lot of weight (and he was a skinny bugger to start with!) and he's rather cranky. After increasing the number of feedings per day, his health and mood improved drastically, but he was so matted from neglecting himself, that I had to clip a lot of his coat to get rid of it. Never a problem in summer, but it's mid-winter! Poor puddytat!

The solution came in the form of a tiny dog coat. Not only is he nice and comfy now, he also blends in with the rest of the cats perfectly. Camouflage kitten!

Close, but no...

The city council probably meant well when they decided to create a parking space especially for the disabled. But I think the person tasked with the execution of said plan, was probably suffering from some disability themselves?

What suprises me even more, is that I'm apparently the only one that's noticed. The sign is so dirty and dilapitated, it must have been around for ages!

Bert and Ernie, sitting in a tree...

While hunting for Pokemon, I ended up in Almere Kruidenwijk, the area where all the streets are named after herbs and spices. The herb-hood, so to speak. I didn't quite realise I was riding along the Sesame-street, when suddenly I came eye to eye with 2 of my childhood heroes:

Over the years, the tree had wedged itself slowly in the bicycle standard. So when the tree had to be removed for safety reasons, the city council decided to leave the stump where it was, entwined with the metal bars.

As a tribute to Sesame Street, they hired a chainsaw artist to carve the likelyhood of the two lovely muppets out of the tree:

Ah, fond memories...

Good food

For many people 'Italian food' is synonymous for 'pizza'. But I don't like pizza. Pizza for me is bread. With stuff on it. The only good thing about pizza is stringy cheese. So far I haven't managed to find a decent Italian restaurant in the immediate vicinity, meaning that whenever I have a craving for Italian food, I have to take a slight detour of approximately 188.4 kilometres. Luckily, it's only 45 kilometres away from where one of my best friends lives, so a visit to her tends to result in a visit to Vecchia Roma in Delfzijl. 

For starters, I can strongly recommend the Antipasto Fantasia, even though it is pretty much a meal on it's own:

Allow me to add a disclaimer: it's not always the same dish, it tends to depend on what's in storage as well as the chef's mood. The taste however, is always brilliant!

If you have any room left – or in our case: sit on the cozy terrace watching people pass by and catch Pokemon for 1.5 hours – try the lasagne. The amount of flavour in there is extraordinary. This is pretty much the only time I regret I cannot eat more!

Gnomish cows

Another lovely July day, so a great opportunity for a trike trip. While enjoying the sun and the scenery, we passed this cute cow.

I confess the adjective 'cute' is not one I often use in the context of cows, but this one was actually cute! It probably makes a bit more sense when I add a bit of perspective:

Yes, that is a full-grown gnomish cow! And no, I've lived in the country side long enough to not mistake a calf for a more-or-less-fully-grown cow. That, plus the fact that Mrs. Gnomish Cow had a calf of her own. A pint-sized baby bull!