belgianwaffle

Reading etc.

The Amaryllis yesterday


Posted in: Reading etc.

The same amaryllis today:

Comments
midwifemuse

on 01 May 2005 at 15:25

Okay, no flowers, but its got leaves now. Perhaps you can’t have both?

Friar Tuck

on 01 May 2005 at 19:10

I presume you are using this to teach Princess a lesson on the fleeting nature of this life?

jackdalton

on 02 May 2005 at 21:40

I used to have a wonderful stand of tulips that I brought home with me from the UK.
This morning I had a very sick dog and no more tulips. He even dug up the bulbs.

Friar Tuck

on 02 May 2005 at 22:55

Did you notice that it appears to be trying to jump out the window? I’d put it on a suicide watch if I were you.

poggle

on 03 May 2005 at 11:47

Dear me. They’ll be calling in the NSPCP …..

beachhutman

on 03 May 2005 at 16:58

It always happens if I eat fruit too.

belgianwaffle

on 05 May 2005 at 14:02

Locotes, we live on the second floor, relax. What’s watering?
MWM, well, maybe, but if so, why couldn’t we hang on to the flowers?
FT, it’s jumped.
JD, um, did he eat the bulbs?
Pog, the inspectors are at the door.
BHM, at last, now I know where we’re going wrong…

jackdalton

on 05 May 2005 at 15:41

Flowers, leaf and bulbs…

belgianwaffle

on 06 May 2005 at 21:22

Terrifying. Get a child. It’s easier to put things out of its reach.

jackdalton

on 08 May 2005 at 16:12

Hmmm… there’s always the question about what to do with it when you want a holiday or some sort of a life. Kennels don’t generally take them I believe – even with full MMR etc certs…
And the poor houses are long gone, so there’s not even hope of refuge to be had in later and declining years…
😐

belgianwaffle

on 12 May 2005 at 19:29

JD – Grandparents?

jackdalton

on 13 May 2005 at 09:53

Not unless I dig them up…

belgianwaffle

on 13 May 2005 at 19:28

Go, go, go…

jackdalton

on 13 May 2005 at 19:31

As in away? 🙁

belgianwaffle

on 13 May 2005 at 19:39

No as in start digging.

jackdalton

on 13 May 2005 at 19:55

But they’ve dead. 😐

belgianwaffle

on 15 May 2005 at 20:29

Picky, picky, picky.

Petit Bateau


Posted in: Reading etc.

She came to Petit Bateau to buy t-shirts.  Like me, you will have assumed that it was only for children’s clothes, but it goes up to 18. You may say that it’s a long time since I’ve seen 18, but 18 year olds are a lot bigger than they were in my day. And their t-shirts are cheap (in contradistinction to their babies’ things which are terrifyingly expensive) and fabulous and don’t have a brand name across the front.  I offer you this information for nothing.  I am good and kind. And the best dressed one bought a beautiful little dress for the Princess also, which you may inspect here where my daughter has chosen to model it with a sieve.

Comments
jackdalton

on 02 May 2005 at 21:37

That’s a really cool sieve. Not so sure about the dress though…
😛

poggle

on 03 May 2005 at 11:46

She’s looking very grown-up waffley. Just as well – she’ll be on big sis duty soon ……

belgianwaffle

on 05 May 2005 at 14:03

Yes, gentlemen, I know the seive is a worry.
Pog, I know, well she has 4 and a half months and she would need all that time to adapt, if she had the remotest idea of what was coming.

Religion in Britain


Posted in: Reading etc.

I am fascinated by the way people in the UK are so interested in Tony Blair’s religion.  They get very excited about it. They say, in deeply disapproving tones “he’s going to convert to Catholicism, you know, he’s always going to church with Cherie; she’s a catholic”.  I mean really, who cares?   If Tony Blair had grown up a catholic, the liberal middle classes would no more voice objections than they would fly in the air.  It seems to be that the idea of him converting allows them
to express all their suppressed nervousness about catholics.  Personally, I blame the Da Vinci code.

Comments
poggle

on 20 April 2005 at 13:07

I don’t think it’s the catholicism so much. It’s the terrifying thought of having a PM who is so religious that he would convert to anything …. if you see what I mean.
(I see you, too, have been hit by the boring little tosser ‘OWNED’. A bit of ‘divert’ HTML in comments. And it thinks it’s a world-class hacker. Sad.)

belgianwaffle

on 20 April 2005 at 13:13

Pog, am kind of excited to have been hit by a hacker, means I have arrived right? And the nice 20six people will fix it, right? Right? Thanks for the insight on the Tony Blair thing, that does make sense actually..

poggle

on 20 April 2005 at 13:53

They do seem to have fixed it, bless ’em – but not before I deleted yesterday’s entry in an effort to get rid of the little scrote. Still, at least it wasn’t an essay ….

lauren35

on 20 April 2005 at 17:58

The Da Vinci Code can be blamed for most things actually. I bet the nasty hacker has read it.

NorahSplog

on 20 April 2005 at 19:02

The catholicism doesn’t bother me. The religion does a tad. As an athiest, the idea that the chap running the country believes that a big guy in the sky is watching over us is a little unnerving. Does he pray for guidance? To someone I don’t believe exists?

belgianwaffle

on 21 April 2005 at 20:04

Pog, 20six, yay. Lauren, you are entirely right. Um, Norah, probably yes, I would say, he seems very earnest.

Friar Tuck

on 26 April 2005 at 02:29

I read an interesting comment the other day which, in my meager experience, seems to be true. In the United States, it is impossible to get elected without making some kind of public show of your religiosity. In Europe, doing so is the political kiss of death.
One exception was President Oscar Luigi Scalfaro of Italy. It was claimed that he was so holy that he appeared to the Virgin Mary.

belgianwaffle

on 27 April 2005 at 20:44

Yup, think you’re right FT. I’ve been forced to read George Weigel by a VERY catholic friend, whatcha think of him?

Friar Tuck

on 29 April 2005 at 02:05

I have only read a few articles by G.W. The problem is, he is right just often enough to make him credible even when he is wrong. For instance, in one of his recent books, he blames the whole sexual abuse thing on post-Vatican II formation programs, completely ignoring the fact that most of the offenders received most of their formation before Vatican II.

belgianwaffle

on 01 May 2005 at 14:30

I dunno, I think he’s a bit patronising..

Solvency


Posted in: Reading etc.

I got my credit card bill today and it is 10.53 in credit.

Comments
poggleon 19 April 2005 at 10:42

I don’t understand. Wha’?

belgianwaffleon 20 April 2005 at 12:25

Baffling, isn’t it? I have taken steps to remedy matters.

I blame Charles and Camilla


Posted in: Reading etc.

There I was reclining on the couch watching the start of events having a bar of chocolate and a cup of tea and rejoicing in my retreating rash when I was suddenly struck by migraine.  So the rest of the weekend I spent alternately vomiting and lying in a darkened room with a damp face cloth on my forehead.  But today, touch wood, all is well, rash is retreating, no vomiting, no headache.  I’m on top of the world here.  Even filling 20 goodie bags for the creche (tomorrow is the Princess’s birthday and she must give gifts to all her little friends, this is the Belgian way) and filling in the Princess’s application for school has failed to dampen my spirits.

Comments
Bobbleon 11 April 2005 at 20:54

Please me too. I promise to stick you in the car when we go round Umbria later this Summer.

Locoteson 11 April 2005 at 21:03

Oi, no bribery bobble – I asked first so I did.

jackdaltonon 11 April 2005 at 21:49

Stop pushing, just because you’re bigger than Bobs and me doesn’t mean you can go to the front of the queue.
Besides you don’t like fruit pieces and natural, non-additive laced stuff. There’s no Murphys in the bag!

poggleon 12 April 2005 at 11:32

Poor waffley ….

Locoteson 12 April 2005 at 15:03

How do you know jack? The wonderful girl might stick a can in for me. I can give the fruit pieces to the cat or something…

Friar Tuckon 12 April 2005 at 16:02

You go girl! Don’t pay any attention to those other greedy goobers. I love you for who you are, not because of your goody bags.
Ha ha. Just kidding. I want one too!

Beth(Homepage)

on 12 April 2005 at 20:13

It must have been the hats – at least, they certainly gave me a headache.

Bobbleon 14 April 2005 at 23:32

I think I need a bigger car.

belgianwaffleon 16 April 2005 at 20:17

OK, look there are enough goodie bags for everyone. Calm. Bobble you will get extra though if you take me in your car in the Summer. Thanks for all sympathy.
Beth, surely not…

The advantages of having children


Posted in: Reading etc.
I have a friend who’s thinking about having a baby.  What’s it like she asked me, fresh from her third skiing holiday of the season.  I chuckled evilly and gave her the low down about sleepless nights, vomit, screaming, no more weekend breaks etc. She said coldly “you’re putting me off here, tell me the good things”. It occurred to me that a big problem with child rearing is that the bad things are all very tangible and easy to describe (consider the list above) but the good things are intangible and particularly hard to describe to someone who doesn’t have children.� But the other day, Dooce wrote this and I think that it’s a great example of one of the good things about having children: “This morning you and I were playing on the floor in your bedroom — I was hiding the phone and you were crawling all over my torso and legs to find it — and you suddenly stopped, your face very close to mine, and you leaned in and pressed your nose to my cheek. We stayed in that position for several spectacular seconds, a hesitation that altered history, a moment so intimate it felt like it could end wars. I could feel you grinning on my skin and even though I wanted to scoop you up and cover you in kisses I let you hold your face there for as long as you would. I know there are only a handful of moments like that in life. Thank you for that one.”
Comments
jackdalton

on 09 April 2005 at 21:48

‘ waf, you seem top have a gift for spotting the spot. That would go to the heart. If a guy had one.. 😛

Locotes

on 10 April 2005 at 18:17

Well ok…I suppose that sounds good….but still….I mean….the whole sleepless nights, vomit, screaming, no more weekend breaks thing….you know?

Mikeachim

on 10 April 2005 at 23:26

That’s really nice….
*sigh*
As much as it is possible for men to be genuinely broody, there are time I feel broody.
*realises what he has said*
Er. Hey, any guys that are listening, er, harrumm *cough* *spits* hey, what I mean is, waHEY, lots of practice at making babies first, naaarwhatimean? Oink oink.
*quietly*
But one day….yeah….

poggle

on 11 April 2005 at 10:48

That’s lovely.
But nothing – nothing – could make me broody; it runs in the family (though obviously not for long ….).

belgianwaffle

on 11 April 2005 at 20:31

Hey people, do you think responses to this email sort out the slightly older from the slightly younger? Pog, Locotes, you young people are so unsentimental…

Locotes

on 11 April 2005 at 20:38

Ah sure I have my 50’s to worry about the kids. Once I have my money made, my Ferrari bought, and my supermodels wooed.
*cheeky grin*

belgianwaffle

on 17 April 2005 at 14:01

Careful Loc..