My Tweet Lord...

(subtitled 'When I Went Down To The Woods Today')

I'm just back from a couple of days in Holland.  I do love being around Dutch people. It feels and sounds so familiar and nostalgic and the simple flavour of Dutch cooking brings back many childhood memories of home-cooked meals at Oma's table. 

I'd never ventured beyond Amsterdam before and so it was with delight that I found myself in the North Brabant province in the town of 's-Hertogenbosch (which translated means The Duke's Woods, and is often shortened by the natives to the more easily pronounce-able Den Bosch, or The Woods).

While the days themselves were filled with meetings, Thursday evening gave me the opportunity to walk around the city with my colleague (a local) before dinner.  It's absolutely beautiful and historically rich with the remains of its medieval fortifications, the old buildings, the fountains (based on this visit, I have decided that the Dutch have a touch of OCD around fountains) and the thing that makes Dutch towns...well, Dutch - canals.  Here's a short pictorial walkabout of my evening in 'The Woods':

Crossing the Canal to the Medieval City centre

The 'neat as a pin' town square

The medieval well (in the town square) unfortunately covered over

The Town Hall

Statue of artist Jeroen Bosch

A statue I liked in a side street

Excellent signage in another side street

But there was one thing that was so perverse and unexpected that it was the thing that inspired me to post about the trip in the first place.  The cathedral was undergoing a refurbishment and there was a desire to represent the 'new generation' by including a modern angel in the pantheon - so here she is...

...on her mobile:

Nothing like a direct line to the Big Guy Upstairs eh?

Cupcakes and Champers...It's Lush!

It's the last day of my little staycation before I go back to work tomorrow.  It's been grey and drizzly, a perfect recovery day after a Saturday of champagne (and a few other alcoholic beverages), chocolate making and cupcake decorating with friend, A-down-the-hill (she of the emergency handbag adventure). 

Yes peeps, champers, chocolates and cupcakes.  On a Saturday afternoon.  I think the word that the youngsters use nowadays is 'lush' (or is that to describe my drinking habit??)

Anyway, we met at the train station in the gorgeous sunshine and before we knew it we had arrived at The Peacock Bar - 30 minutes early (not excited - much!).  Being the resourceful Aussie girls we are and having always been taught to entertain ourselves, we perused the cocktail list, read up on the Burlesque portion of the club's entertainment offering and did a little reconnaissance on our preferred position at the chocolate-pots. 

(I'd like to point out here that this was purely for the chocolate-making, not the burlesque, although there was a boobs chocolate mold and another that looked alarmingly like a woman's...well...bits.  But this is a family blog - hi Mum - so let's move on to less fruity tales!)

Serious dipping, dribbling and chocolate mold-filling was the first order of the day (oh sorry wait - it was the second: champers was the first!) and before long, our creative efforts were whisked away to 'chill' before our departure. Come to think of it, I am now wondering how on earth those little bundles of cocoa joy knew that they needed to prepare for a stressful trip home.

Then it was on with the cakes - and some rather nuclear coloured icing that kept melting a little in the heat.  But with perseverence (and a few nips outside for a hormonal flushed yours truly to un-flush cool down), I managed these little beauties:

A's were pretty good too but she was quite speedy about it all and hers were boxed up for taking home before I got around to whipping out the ol' HTC for happy-snapping.

So there was nothing left to do but have a(nother) drink and sample some more of the expert/organisers' wares while our chocolates continued to get suitably chilled (remember, we did the chocolates bit before the cupcakes bit.)

After three hours or so, we were issued with our little bundles of chilled cocoa joy and, placing our boxes of iced splendor carefully into carrier bags, we set off in search of the local gbk (all hail gbk!) and a savoury snackette (a chicken and avocado burger, chunky fries and smoked chilli mayo between us) to take the edge off our sugar rush before heading home, comfortably ensconsed behind our fashionable sunglasses at 5.30pm.

(Imagine, if you will, two grown-up and determined-not-to-stop-yet children after substantial quantities of red cordial, followed by the inevitable post-cordial slump, the slavish search for carbohydrates and a doze-y train ride home.  The walk (me) / cycle (A) home from the station was never going to go well.)

Just for the record, the cakes did not really survive the trip home...

These are A's - mine weren't much better!

...but the chocolates were delicious.

Staycation...In The Sunshine

There are moments in my expat life that make me realise how much I love living here in the UK.  I am lucky enough to live in beautiful Kingston Upon Thames - a completely accidental find about a year after I arrived - just a 25 minute train ride from London and right by the river (hence the Upon-Thames part of the name). I am up on Kingston Hill - apparently quite a posh bit (so my landlord says in justifying the price of the 'cosy' flat I am in!) and only a short walk away from one of London's most wonderful Royal Parks, Richmond Park.  

Hanging around at home on my little staycation this week has meant that I've been able to visit a few times and just enjoy it in the British half-term sunshine.  And on today's walk, the camera on my phone got a bit of a workout. 

First there was a surprise appearance from the locals grazing by the walking path...

Then this view of the lone bench-sitter really gave a sense of the scale of the view.

This little corner near Ham Gate is at about the three quarter point on my circuit...

  ...and Ham Gate pond is gorgeous.

And the final stretch back to Kingston Gate is just perfect for meandering and enjoying the solitude.

I came home smiling and relaxed (and a little damp with perspiration from the 'heat' and the final walk home up the hill).  You know, there's lots of talk these days about 'going somewhere' - on holidays, at work, in life generally.  But I love days like this.  They remind me to just enjoy the journey...and that the destination more often than not, will take care of itself.

Hope this inspires you to find the magic in your great outdoors.

Gidday Is Getting Around...

Excitement over here at Gidday HQ.  Gidday from the UK has been awarded featured blog status on Blogging Women for the month of June.

Blogging Women gathers together women bloggers from all walks of life to offer a comprehensive collection of the best spam free women's blogs online.

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!
(That's a squeal for those of you who are Gidday neophytes).

Now, back to my little staycation...