tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83111519687165148672024-03-14T09:47:38.059-07:00oreneta aground (but missinaibi's afloat!)orenetahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10616103982088424715noreply@blogger.comBlogger2525125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8311151968716514867.post-52705488851494403132021-02-18T08:07:00.002-08:002021-02-18T08:07:38.676-08:00Creative Writing<p> Because of this ass of a virus, among many other things, we haven't
been able to go to Catalunya this year, and my Catalan is struggling,
especially as I am studying French for a couple of hours a day. So,
when the library from our town sent out a message saying that their book
club has gone on line and they now have a short six week creative
writing course again, free and online, I signed up as fast as I could.
Listening, speaking, reading and writing. All good. </p><p>It has been
much better than I had hoped. I didn't think I had much interest in
creative writing at all, but it's actually pretty interesting, and fun
to do! Something to consider as I go forward. Not gonna write a book
or anything, I think you need a pretty hot fire lit underneath you to
embark on that, but writing some things up.</p>On another note,
nothing like a rainy day and a deadline for tasks you hate doing to
really make you burn through every little thing on your to do list!orenetahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10616103982088424715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8311151968716514867.post-85261975240280973592021-02-18T03:55:00.003-08:002021-02-18T03:55:44.125-08:00Buying online<p> </p><p> I love that we can buy stuff online and it just comes to us in the
mail. Absolutely fantastic, until it isn't. Somethings I just want to
buy in person; to whit, art paper and trousers. I LOVE going to an art
store and feeling your way around everything they have, the heft of the
paper, it's exact colour, what the edges are like, feeling the texture.
Loathe it online. I mean, if you have a pad you adore that you can
find and order, all well and good. You miss the joy of seeing and
feeling what's there, but at least you know what you're getting.
Online. Meh. And returning stuff? Please, such a gigantic hassle and
even more so in Covid.</p><p>Trousers. I am sorry. I didn't realize I
was such a weird shape, but seems I am. I go into a store to buy
trousers, bring 10 pairs with me, maybe one works, rinse and repeat till
I find something I like. This is not convenient online. My jeans, the
only pair of trousers I have left are literally dissolving, but here we
are in COVID, in the middle of a mass of muddy fields miles from any
store. I may have to resign myself to leggings and skirts till I can
get to a store, cause damn this sucks. </p><p>And while I'm whining, what I would do to have a bit of take away, but nope, too remote for that too.</p><p> OK, time to stop complaining.</p>orenetahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10616103982088424715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8311151968716514867.post-77917520222836452622021-01-13T10:26:00.001-08:002021-01-13T10:26:27.083-08:00Change, and a loss<p> Well, just found out that a job I've had for a long long time isn't going to be happening next year, and we don't know about the year after that. Life is odd right now. We know precisely what we'll be doing for the next three months or so, exactly what we're doing now as we hunker down and wait COVID out, but then things are SO wide open. So so so.</p><p>Can't lie and say I'm happy about it, I really love that job. And there is the financial angle to it too, fortunately I usually have quite a few gigs on the go, so no massive disaster, still. Not nice. Lets see how all this plays out. I'm still employed till the end of June anyway.</p><p>Ho freaking hum.<br /></p>orenetahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10616103982088424715noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8311151968716514867.post-39443246043331358142021-01-03T07:21:00.004-08:002021-01-03T07:21:43.514-08:00Covid, 10 months in Jan 2021<p> As a quick update, we left the Netherlands at the very end of Aug, made it down through France into Belgium, the canals were closed and there was no where to stay, so, back up to Belgium, across the bottom of the country. Very very industrialized, and down through France. </p><p>We ended up having to go up the Siene and went through Paris completely alone. There are no tourists and there was not another boat in sight. Very odd. Stayed for one night in Arsenal, where we'd like to spend a month next fall if we can. Had to stop for the year early as they were closing up the river we're moored in for an entire month starting the beginning of Oct, so rather more time at the dock this year than we'd hoped for, even by our travel standards, but we've landed in a nice place with super helpful friendly people. <br /></p><p>That sais, we're still very isolated, still waiting, likely for quite a while. One striking aspect has been the complete inability to make any kind of plan. We know exactly what we will be doing for the next two and a half months, basically absolutely nothing in one small tiny part of France and then hopefully a very basic van trip down to Catalunya for a week to see youngest, hopefully!!! Then we have no idea at all. None. </p><p> So weird.</p><p>Hopefully we can travel around this spring on the boat. Hopefully I will have work this summer. Don't know if we'll make it to Canada or not. Hopefully we'll be able to travel around this fall. Maybe we'll come back here next winter. Hopefully we'll be able to have Christmas together next winter. Hopefully we'll be able to go to Catalunya next winter. Hopefully we'll get the vaccine this spring or fall. Hopefully we'll see some of our family and friends in 2021. </p><p> Thank all that is good for my darling sister and her family, at least they're nearby. And we're lucky that the people in the club we're at are so great. Much to be happy for. If they don't lock us down to a 1K+1hr radius again, it'd be better. We'll see.<br /></p><p> <br /></p>orenetahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10616103982088424715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8311151968716514867.post-53388822711590385942020-04-09T12:50:00.000-07:002020-04-09T12:50:18.271-07:00Chai, a revelationOK, I drink tea, love the stuff. I simply adore chai though, tea like you get it in India. Sincerely, the first time this gorgeous nectar passed my lips in India in the 80s it was one of those moments in your life that was so astonishing and so delicious. Ahhhh<br />
<br />
I have tried the chai you get at Starf*cks, and meh to say the least. It's mostly just sweet. Meh. I have occasionally bought chai teabags, which are honestly pretty good if you basically cook them straight up in milk with a lot of sugar, no water at all. Not the same thing, but definitely tasty! But then you have a pot that you've cooked milk in and all the resulting tidying up that has to happen, and that is simply not something I can see myself doing every single day. Though I do have some very distinct and happy memories of drinking this. It is very good. <br />
<br />
One day a couple of years ago a student brought me in some of the chai she makes every morning for her family, and lord above, I was transported back to those utterly insanely delicious moments in India. <br />
<br />
Still.<br />
<br />
Then, as we are all here with covid, well, hopefully without it, but you know what I mean, and I have plenty to do every day, indeed, I rarely accomplish all I'm aiming at, but we all do need some more brainless moments of distraction, and I have been watching the Bon Appetit youtube videos. (like that run on sentence? It's a good one. Glad my English students can't read this!!!) Highly recommended! (not the run on sentence, the Bon Appetit youtube channel) The presenters are great and often laugh out loud funny and it's fun to see all the food I'm never going to make. <br />
<br />
One of the presenters is Priya Krishna, who has a new cook book out, <u>Indianish</u>, which I haven't read, but I am wildly tempted by. I had actually heard her interviewed last Spring on a podcast and I was impressed. ANYWAY, there was a video that got posted about her mom's chai. It was so easy. Her mom boils water, crushes a cardamom seed, drops it into the mug with the tea bag, pours in the hot water, lets it steep then adds milk and (maybe) sugar. <br /><br />*******MIND BLOWN*********<br />
<br />
I can get close to the taste without all the boiling and straining and dirty pots??????<br />
<br />
But just cardamom? That seems a little distant from my memory. So I looked up the recipe on Bon Appetit, and on that one, the full on make it in the boiling pot of milk and water version, it uses four spices: pepper, cinnamon, ginger and cardamom. Now we're talking my language, I adoooooore ginger!<br />
<br />
So, today at the store? Picked up the cardamom and ginger root. (Imagine me rubbing my hands together gleefully!!!!!) OK, and any British tea purists? I don't want to hear your shade, I don't care, I am a colonial I can make my damn tea anyway I want.<br />
<br />
So, I drink Yorkshire Gold decaf tea by preference, cause holy geez, it is so good. But, I have to buy it in quantity in the UK and bring it with me, so it is a Precious. Commodity!!! It is very hard to get decaf tea at all outside of anglo countries and to get good tasting decaf tea is like a miracle. Please remember also that I live on a boat, so an electric kettle is just not a thing. The man, the darling darling man, gets up in the morning and puts about 2 cups of water on to boil in a small pot, that is almost always used exclusively for my tea. He then drops 1 tea bag in and it steeps for a long long time cause I like my tea strong. Eventually I get out of bed, add milk and sugar (no haters you Brits) and I am a happy camper. There is usually about a half to a third of a cup of tea left in the pot at the end of breakfast. To this I add another cup of water, and put it away for afternoon tea, when it gets reheated and sugar and milk are added. (LA LA LA LA I'M NOT LISTENING!!!) (SPEAK TO THE HAND!!!) And I am very very happy. Since we got on the boat, we are also channeling Peggy and having a cookie (yes a cookie, I'm Canadian, live with it!) with afternoon tea, and I give a silent greeting and salute to Peggy with my cookie and tea every day.<br />
<br />
But now, and this is when true greatness happens. So, in the morning after drinking my tea I'm adding a pinch of cinnamon, a smashed cardamom seed, a slice of ginger and a grinding of pepper to the tea, and putting it away till the afternoon. Reheat, milk, sugar. <br />
<br />
OH my goodness. <br />
<br />
Oh oh oh oh oh<br />
<br />
Now, I have to admit, it still isn't as good as the boiled milk version, but it is, without a shadow of a doubt, completely and utterly worth it. SOOOooooooo delicious. <br />
<br />
If I come to stay with you in future, I may have brought a ginger root, cardamom seeds and cinnamon with me. I'm assuming you'll have pepper. Not saying you should try it, but, if you aren't completely rigid and fixed in your ideas of what tea should be, this is a damn fine drink.<br />
<br />
Love ya! Byeeeeee. orenetahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10616103982088424715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8311151968716514867.post-25412792283785269682020-04-03T13:29:00.005-07:002021-01-03T07:22:50.258-08:00This ride is making me sca-a-a-a-attered!Well well,<br />
<br />
Covid 19 is certainly taking all of us on a ride. We're more or less stranded in the Netherlands on our boat waiting. We're hoping that maybe we can spend a bit of time outside of the marina, and further from other people, but no one seems to know if the canals are going to be open or if they will be letting people tie up at the docks.<br />
<br />
What is bugging me a little more is that I am finding myself constantly going to do something and not remember what I was going to do. I am teaching two different courses, one with a university in Catalunya, with a bit less than 50 students, on tight police controlled lock down, with Covid running horribly amuck in their communities, and in some cases, their families; the other are student teachers ( a little fewer than 24) in Canada where most of my students have been laid off work, and have been home for weeks, with increasing tension as Covid girds its loins there. On top of that the course in Canada has some very very strict limitations put on it by the Government of Ontario and our industry specific governing body, so we're trying to tiptoe through these regulations and negotiate with those groups to try to create a situation wherein they can complete their practicums and complete the course. Each and every student in both places, is struggling, and I am doing my very best to help them all get through their course work and pass, if they want to try. But man o man, each and every one of them has their own challenges, which they don't have to and often are not explaining to me. So every time I sit down to try and get some work done, I end up putting out fires, and everything I open, every classroom page, or forum or email sends me down a different rabbit hole, and then I come back and find a half-finished email from something I was working on 4 students ago. I have so many tabs open on my window I cannot find them, and the little counter on the *four* email accounts I have to keep open for this keeps going up and up and up. Then there is trying to plan for work this coming summer. I currently have four separate potential schedules created, plan A, B, C, D and E. Plan A is pretty much written off, but not for sure. I figure that the chance that any of those plans will come together is about 10%. That feels optimistic.<br />
<br />
So I am feeling scattered. In fact that is running through my head to the tune of Bowie's 'Changes'. 'Sca-a-a-a-t-er-er-er-ed'<br />
<br />
It's all good, and we are healthy, in a country that seems to be managing the illness reasonably well all things considered. We can still go out for walks, our family is doing well. Chatting with lots of friends. But focus is a thing of the past at the moment.<br />
<br />
I am getting some painting done though, and it does let me sink in and focus, I am really enjoying that, even if I do have to force myself a bit sometimes.<br />
<br />
Hope you're all doing well.<br />
<br />
<br />
PS. Just got a message from the marina that they're closing the bathroom and shower down. Gonna shower tomorrow and that'll be the last hot shower, no the last shower whatsoever, till who knows when.<br />
<br />
Ho hum.<br />
<br />
PPS. And that also means we cannot get water! Ho double hum. orenetahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10616103982088424715noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8311151968716514867.post-2204073165739042012020-03-27T09:52:00.001-07:002020-03-27T09:54:37.379-07:00Covid 19Well, like everyone else on the planet, we've been overrun by this pandemic. All is well, but uncertain at this point. Instead of leaving the marina in Weesp as we had planned on April 1st, heading to Paris, we've paid for a dock for the 2020 summer season. We've just completed what may prove to be the longest sail of 2020! We moved about 100 meters to a new dock!!!<br />
<br />
Hopefully we'll be able to manage a little more than that, but I am doubtful. I am also doubtful we'll be able to travel to Canada this summer, and doubtful that I'll have work with TMI this summer. Ho hum.<br />
<br />
If that doesn't pan out, I will have to think of a big project I'd like to complete while we wait in Weesp for a year. I have to confess there is a degree of shudder when I write that. If it comes to that, maybe we leave the boat in the fall and go to Catalunya. But that of course assumes that we can and that the pandemic there has receded. Both two big ifs.<br />
<br />
Eldest is self-isolating in Ggow, and will be into the future. Also is hoping to go to Canada this summer, and will likely start a masters at Edinburgh Universityin History in the fall. In the meantime, they're hanging out in their apartment, morbidly tracking deaths (as am I to a degree) and crafting. They may get a computer from work and will be able to work from home, which would honestly be a good thing, a little focus and structure to the day as well as money money money. <br />
<br />
Youngest is locked in her apt in Catalunya and is pointedly not looking at the news, figuring it doesn't change anything and is depressing and frightening. A good point. She says she spends most of her time sitting on the balcony drinking coffee watching not much at all happening. She made an (illegal) escape yesterday with Spit and went up to climb a local peak all by herself. Much needed sanity break for youngest and exercise for Spit and Youngest.<br />
<br />
My folks are locked down into their house, possibly for a year. Thank god they've got the garden and a terrace, and a nice big house. And that my Dad's still working, again, it brings focus and activity to the day to day. <br />
<br />
My sister has it and is recovering very very slowly. Hopefully her husband won't get it as he's asthmatic. <br />
<br />
Our big accomplishments today were moving the boat to the new summer slip, without dinging anything in a very unfavourable wind for backing into a slip! And I paid our Canadian taxes. Online!<br />
<br />
Whew.<br />
<br />
Like everyone, its a waiting game. I'm starting to think about what I would like to do if we're here at the dock for another year. Jeez. A whole year of our lives, waiting in Weesp. I thought three weeks to cross the gulf stream was a lot. I'll have to figure out what I want to do with this time.<br />
<br />
Anyway, there we all are at this moment. <br />
<br />
Waiting orenetahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10616103982088424715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8311151968716514867.post-14604806408206586142020-02-23T02:40:00.003-08:002020-03-27T09:36:32.141-07:00Prologue and introductionsHonestly, these drive me nuts. Hate 'em.<br />
<br />
Alright, I'll allow a short, as in 3 page max, introduction if there are mitigating circumstances that it is important that the reader should know, OK. But 50 pages of prologue and introduction? No. I am not that interested in your thoughts on the book. Write the fricking book and have the balls to send it out in the world without your endless maundering on about it. For the sake of all that is good in this world.<br />
<br />
Rant done. orenetahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10616103982088424715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8311151968716514867.post-90412692882774341892020-01-09T11:20:00.001-08:002020-01-09T11:20:57.103-08:00Van life, or anchoring problems? Well, as there are massive strikes all over France today our train tickets to go down to Catalunya were worthless. Fortunately we get a full refund. Also fortunately, my amazing sister who we just spent a couple of wonderful days with in Paris, knew about an app that let's you hook up with cars that need to be moved, so we're in a campervan for the night!!!!<br />
<br />
It has not been entirely flawless, in part because we aren't properly renting the van anf in part cause its not really fully equipped. But still very cool, and as it costs 1 euro to rent it (plus gas and any tolls), it's pretty cheap, and you can cook, which is very nice. Difficulties? We couldn't grt into a parking lot to get the man a coffee cause we're too tall - I can stand up inside which is sweet sweet sweet, so we had to park down the road and walk back 20yards. No biggie. <br />
<br />
The man has saved the day twice over, first we had some trouble getting the stove to light, but he got it going!!!!!! Pasta with Canned cassoulet as a sauce. Very tasty. The other problem he solved was potentially more serious. We're in a municipale campground, which asks you to pay 10cents an hour. Not exorbitant, but as a result you need to check in and out. We dutifully check in, get the little ticket with the code to get out and it tells us to put it in the front window. Ok!!! I tuck it up there and it disappears, like it's been sucked down vlby some kind of sea creature, into a finger wide gap between the glass of the windscreen and the top of the dash.<br />
<br />
I mean, what the absolute f#ck. Who on earth désignés That into a car. Well, we now know how to open up the hood, and we've closely examined inside the glove compartment, we've inspected the entire passenger side footwell and unscrewed part of the panel on the top. Finally, in desperation, cause we can't leave tomorrow without this ticket, the man just randomly blew down the gap in the hopes that something might happen, when low and behold, out it pops!!!!!!<br />
<br />
What we couldn't figure out is how to make the Lower bunk into a proper bunk. So, it's kinda pulled up one side and I'll have to sleep on it diagonally, but the man's driving tomorrow, so he gets the better long enough, flatter upper bunk. I'm just the Google interpreter.<br />
<br />
Its an adventure!!!! <br />
<br />orenetahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10616103982088424715noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8311151968716514867.post-9862749006171067432020-01-06T13:38:00.001-08:002020-01-06T13:38:02.320-08:00*Phew* sometimes it's complicated!Well well well.<br />
<br />
I love to travel, but sometimes, man o man, it gets complicated. We're supposed to be leaving tomorrow to go down to Paris and then on to Catalunya, the original plan was a train to Paris, then a couple of days later, a train to Perpignan - cause the train that goes right to BCN doesn't accept dogs (????). Then a rental car for 2 days from Perpignan to drive down into Catalunya, leave the dog and me behind the man returns the car and comes back on the train. Complicated enough, you'd have thought...but<br />
<br />
The first train, they automatically - as in they told me after I had purchased it and I had not choice - the mailed the ticket to my address in Canada. Not convenient as I am not in Canada. <br />
<br />
Then the french went on strike. But it seems that train is travelling! YIPEE!!!<br />
<br />
But, the next train is on a day they are declaring a massive national strike, and so my darling sister got me onto an organization called driiveme, which links people who want a one way rental to car companies who need their cars repositioned and if it lines up, you get a car for a Euro. Yesterday we waffled around, do we book it or do we reserve it and hope for the best, you see as it is a car rental agency, it is a little risky as all the cars may be needed that day and they cancel on you. Well, we figured that as it was a national strike there would be a good chance that every rental (I keep typing 'renal' car - something completely different!!!) anyway, there would be a good chance that every rental car in the city would be rented and we'd be stranded. So we sucked it up and booked a camper van, on a 48 hour trip Paris to BCN. Fingers crossed this works out or my sister will be singing that old line that 'guests and fish start to smell bad after three days' except her apt is a little small, so two will likely do it!!!<br />
<br />
We got an official notice that the train from Paris south is cancelled, so we had to go through the process of getting our money back for that, and cancelling the rental car from Perpignan. The car was easy, the train a little trickier, because with so many strikes, there are about six different places to cancel tickets, but I think we did it right in the end. <br />
<br />
Hopefully the actual travel will be easier than this part has been!orenetahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10616103982088424715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8311151968716514867.post-89418981793769505262020-01-03T15:23:00.004-08:002020-01-03T15:23:59.327-08:00Visitors and what we do all dayWent into Amsterdam yesterday to meet up with some friends from Catalunya, he's Dutch, but has lived in Catalunya for decades, and prefers it there. She lived her for five years with him, so speaks quite good Dutch as well. He wasn't from anywhere near Amsterdam either, so I ended up being tour guide for them, which was very odd for me, but also shows that we've been here a while as I can find my way around the city without much of a problem, at least the more or less central parts of it. <br />
<br />
It was fabulous to see them, we've been luck this year with more people coming to visit. One of the things we talked about was that if you're the one who buggers off into the blue, you are also the one who has to make the effort to maintain friendships, part of why we go back to Catalunya (also it's Catalunya, and as an added bonus, it's warmer and doesn't rain so much) and Canada. It's important to put that work in, it is also fabulous when they come and visit though!!! They also asked what we do all day, and honestly, the same stuff everyone does, except we don't go into work. Like many people who work at home, I spend part of my time working online, we take the dog for long walks, we buy groceries, get some exercise, read. I still can't get everything done in a day that I'd like to. I've got to take the dog for a vaccine tomorrow, normal stuff. <br />
<br />
Today I walked the dog for a shorter walk as she still seems to be recovering from whatever she got in Glasgow and her sleepless night on the ferry with the endlessly barking dog, so long walks are off for a bit. I had an unfun errand to run in town, I bought some mushrooms and buns for the man's first birthday celebration, I'd found a perfect book for him, entirely by accident, while we were in Glasgow, and as we're heading off with only knapsacks on our backs again, it didn't make a lot of sense to carry it off with us, only to have him carry it back again, so, TA-DAAAA, and excuse for a birthday dinner!!!<br />
<br />
Greek yogurt with sugar and Ikea ginger cookies for dessert. mmmmmmmm.<br />
<br />
Then I did some yoga, some more work, dealt with more life irritants online, made dinner, read a bit, walked the dog, rescued a tennis ball she found after she dropped it in the lake - she was very careful thereafter when she put it down - and played a short game of fetch with her. Finished my book, which was great! My sister in law had told us about a series of crime novels that were set in Medieval Girona with Catalan characters, the principal character being a Jewish physician, and Eldest found a used copy and got it for me for Xmas, it was really good! An auspicious start to 2020 reading!!!<br />
<br />
Now a quick right up and to bed. Zzzzzzzzz<br />
<br />
A day, pretty normal. Tomorrow will likely be similar, but different. orenetahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10616103982088424715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8311151968716514867.post-37393072464993866962020-01-01T05:36:00.001-08:002020-01-01T05:36:16.105-08:00New Years Eve in the NetherlandsWell, we're back from our trip to Glasgow for Christmas which was wonderful, and I have to say that Kelvingrove park is the best dog park I have ever ever been to, and I already miss it. It was great to get to hang out with the kids, although youngest could only be there for three days, and the dog got sick for part of it. We got some lovely walks in as well as touring around Glasgow, though nothing is open over Xmas, so we didn't get to the tenement museum, and the man didn't make it to Govan Church, the coolest thing to see in Glasgow, hands down.<br />
<br />
Anyway, we made it back to the Netherlands in time for New Years Eve. Now we'd heard that the Dutch go over the top with fireworks, and kids have been banging some off for a month now, this was like nothing we'd ever seen before, and the Catalans love fireworks. This, however, was a whole new level.<br />
<br />The fireworks were going off all evening, fortunately Stella is completely unafraid. Chuck would have been a mess. And it was pretty loud, but you honestly got used to it. Then it was midnight. Allow me to try and describe. Imagine it is hailing heavily and you are under a canvas tarp, that is the base sound. Now, at the same time, there are a large number of horses running back and forth over wooden bridges. In addition, many many people, lets say at least a hundred, are shooting off hunting guns continuously, and added to that, at least once a minute, someone shoots off a cannon, near you. <br />
<br />
And we are in a remote area on a boat, not in a big city. I cannot imagine what it was like in Amsterdam. I gather that many people go off to Belgium in the summer to stock up on hundreds of Euros worth of fireworks that have to be stored in a special safe for half a year. They can only, legally, buy them for three days before new years. But it seems that lots have an at home store of them.<br />
<br />
They are utterly bonkers. Apparently in some parts of the Netherlands, the tradition includes setting cars on fire! Nice.<br />
<br />
The firework litter this morning was impressive. orenetahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10616103982088424715noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8311151968716514867.post-85090647709175352352019-12-22T00:11:00.001-08:002019-12-22T00:13:19.429-08:003 trains, Harwich to Glasgow Woke a sleepy Stella up, in fact she was so asleep it took her a while to be excited!!!! X and I were both looking forward ro visiting Harwich, where the Swallows started their trip from, and also where the captain of the Mayflower was born. We had a n initially un lovely but fast improving walk from the ferry terminal to Harwich proper stopping at a train stn en route for breakfast.<br />
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We walked along the Channel side of Harwich, looking out to sea, where they didn't mean to go and we'd just come from. I'd been a little disappointed when I went out early that morning that I hadn't seen us going into harbour. On the way home with any luck. It was a calm day with the tide going out.<br />
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However, as we were settling in to explore the town a bit, I got a notice from the Greater Anglia train services that a lot of trains were cancelled that morning. As wee had a train to glasgow to catch that afternoon, getting trapped in Harwich seemed a poor idea. We headed to the train stn to check and sadly chickened out, making our way to London (2 trains) sooner. I sat next to a man who chatted about the 7 parrots and parakeets he has. (friends with Capt. Flint???) <br />
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London for a puppy from the pobla was a pretty overwhelmingly exciting thing!!!!! Tremendous pulling on the leash at first but that gradually waned on the walk from Liverpool st stn to St Euston. We walked along London Wall st for a lot of it, which was cool, because, well, London Wall!!!!<br />
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We went by a Victorian era hero's wall, with many plaques like this one,<br />
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We then hung out jn Russel Square for about an hour and a half, remember we were quite early, before heading for the madness that is Euston Station.<br />
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While in Russel Square we managed to sit on a bench dedicated to a Catalan who was born at the close of the civil war and emigrated to London in the 70s<br />
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Got some supplies for dinner and got on the train. It was a little squishy. But it was fine. Stella was an angel on the train, sleeping peacefully for the entire trip. Her onky problem was that she's longer than the seat is so even with her butt against the wall, her head hung out in the aisle. The man spent a lot of time picking her head up so it wouldn't be stepped on. <br />
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Thing's improved as we got further north as the train emptied out à bit and the man went and sat across from us. And then we arrived in Glasgow, met by Eldest. Another slightly hectic walk through a new town and we got home. Ahhhhhh<br />
<br />orenetahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10616103982088424715noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8311151968716514867.post-27410408360457324312019-12-21T14:38:00.001-08:002019-12-21T14:38:25.681-08:004 trains and a ferryWell, we're on the move again!!!! Ho ho ho Merry Christmas!!!!<br />
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We're off for xmas with Eldest (Youngest is flying up in a few days) this time, the land of sunshine and warm weather. Not. Glasgow is darker colder and wetter than the Netherlands, but we'll all be there together and it'll be great. </div>
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So we set off this morning to take the train to the ferry. But the train to Amsterdam Centraal was cancelled because of a problem with a bridge. Fortunately, the train the Amsterdam Schipol airport wasn't and so we took that, though a lovely girl told us we could change trains at an earlier station. Managed that. Stella had her first train rides and escalator rides. Good she liked the trains better cause the escalators were a little panic inducing. </div>
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Got the train to Rotterdam, upper deck!!!! And mostly empty, though we had a lovely chat with a university student who had just written an exam. </div>
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Rotterdam was fine. The river, Rijn, was far and away the most impressive part. It looked pretty North American, kinda like Hamilton, but more stylish, to be honest. Fine. Stella the country mouse who thought she liked the city is not so sure now. Wait till tomorrow and London!!!! </div>
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So we went into Hoek van Holland Haven on a littler train. I was excited to visit as The Hook and Harwich where we're docking tomorrow morning as they're where the Arthur Ransom book 'We Didn't Mean to go to Sea' takes place, and we're on the ferry that their father leapt off of when he saw them in the harbour!!!! Hoek van Holland little resembles the books, it was very very badly damaged by the Germans, so is modern and, at least near the station, honestly a little dreary, though they say the beach is lovely. We may make it out on the way back as Stella will be needing a walk, but it was nearly dark when we got here. There are however a few older houses, and there are still pilot boats, again rather different from those described in the story.<br />
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The ferry is enormous, full of trucks, and we have an inside windowless cabin, we'll be mostly sleeping anyway, with a bathroom and shower. Very lush. Best of all, there's a puppy cam as Stella has to go in a kennel for the trip. She hasn't slept all day, so she should sleep at least some of the trip away. <br />
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UK tomorrow!!!! </div>
orenetahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10616103982088424715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8311151968716514867.post-68190920067132372972019-12-17T12:05:00.000-08:002019-12-17T12:06:48.329-08:00Mice vs Voles<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Our Stella Petronella is a bit of a hunter. Particularly for the little mice that live in the grass beside the canals and walks. She's sadly quite good at it, and is managing to reduce the population a little bit most days. Ho hum.<br />
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The wild thing is that she can hear them scurrying underground, and she pauses and waits then pounces right down through the grass and earth and sometimes comes up with them. Other times she starts excavating digging her face down into the soil, which is very very soft and sandy throughout the Netherlands as it is essentially a gigantic reclaimed peat bot / delta / man made (sand made) land.<br />
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She doesn't eat them though, she doesn't seem to be sure what to do with them, so she carries them for a bit and then puts them down. It does kind of bother me, in all honesty, but some other bird is likely getting a meal out of it anyway. The thing is though that we've been alternating between calling them mice and voles, not really sure what the difference is, so I finally looked them up. They're about the same size, but voles are stockier with shorter tails and small ears. Frankly they're adorable. They also mostly live underground and in runways they make in the grass, while mice are more often in our houses!<br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Not my photo, from wiki</span></div>
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However, they only live for about 6 months maximum! That's a very short lifespan indeed!!! It also oddly makes me feel a little less bad about Stella pursuing them. I worried that she was making them burn through precious energy for hibernation, but no. They mostly eat plant roots, so these are some healthy voles in ideal habitats.<br />
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Still makes me a little sad when she catches them though. Boy does she love the hunt, on the other hand.orenetahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10616103982088424715noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8311151968716514867.post-83782786170841778982019-12-16T13:22:00.001-08:002019-12-16T13:22:16.030-08:00Professionals!Today we called in the professionals....sometimes it's necessary! On two fronts, first and rather mundanely we had to take Stella to the vet to get dewormed in preparation for our Glasgow Christmas. Chuck never made it to the UK, but it seems Stella is going to. Fingers crossed!<br />
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The other professional was an electrician. We have had the absolute worst luck with batteries. The boat came with two batteries that were rather old, but functioning. One day in Denmark, the boat stank like rotten eggs. Now, the man has many strong suits, but his sense of smell is not one of them. He isn't sure he believes this though and so tends to underrate his family's complaints about stinks. (indeed we had a gas leak in the house that took some time to convince him was there!!!) Anyway, eventually the smell was so strong that I started searching for it. <br />
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I'll say this now. If you smell rotten eggs on a boat, and there aren't any smashed rotten eggs? Check your batteries as fast as you possibly can. They may be boiling over!!! And they can explode. So that was fun. The next day an absolutely gigantic viking of a man came over and sold us two new very lovely batteries! Wonderful!!!<br />
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Later, when we got to where we stopped over the winter, we plugged in, but didn't hear the hum from the battery charger turning on. We commented on this, but got on with our lives. Mistake number 2. If you notice something odd, go and investigate it right away! It wasn't working, and we ran our batteries right down to 0. (well layman 0, battery numbers are somewhat less intuitive).<br />
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Blessedly the damn things took a charge again, and hung in there. We took the charger off, took it to the boat repair guy who told us it was both ancient and dead and bought a new one. (oof) Installed it and everyone was happy! The battery charger is only used when we are hooked up to shore power, otherwise the batteries charge off the engine, which works fine when we're cruising. It's only when we get to shore or a marina that we need to use it, and even then our electrical consumption is so low that we don't draw very much.<br />
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Fast forward to this fall, we get back to the boat, Bart the boat yard guy has been plugging the boat in dutifully, but....the batteries are dead. Ho hum. Brand new charger is dead again, and we have to get another new battery. 3 batteries, 2 chargers, 1 year. Not a good average.<br />
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As the charger was still under warranty, it got sent off to get fixed, and we waited and waited and waited! Finally this week it reappeared. I had gone over to ask about it, planning to ask for the phone number of the shop so I could play the bad cop and start to get a little uppity about the piece. Don't know if it's related, but it showed up 2 days later!!! While I was talking to Bart the lovely boat yard guy, I asked if he thought maybe there was something wrong with the electrical installation, as much of the work had been done by the previous owners. And some of it is a little basic. <br />
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We went round and round that, basically thinking that maybe, yes, so an electrician came by today! Good news, the installation is basically fine. A little messy, but no problems. Bad news, the problem is condensation! (See the previous post about mildew.) It is basically raining in the cockpit lockers and enough water is getting on this piece of MARINE electrics that it is messing it up. Ho hum.<br />
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So, we are now madly investigating insulation and ventilation schemes, and the man is building an eave for it. I think we should hang a neoprene shower curtain off it too, but we'll see. We'll be off the boat for 10 days, back for a week then off again for 2 months, so things should dry out a bit. The biggest issue with the condensation is the combination of the heat we add to the boat + the moisture we give off - humans give off about 2 liters a day each plus cooking and the dog...that's a lot of water!!!!<br />
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Get out your drills and I'll be phoning some boat insulation sales people tomorrow. The old charts wrapped in garbage bags we're using in our clothing lockers are probably not ideal throughout the boat. <br />
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<br />orenetahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10616103982088424715noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8311151968716514867.post-41903969994372653642019-12-15T11:22:00.001-08:002019-12-15T11:22:28.726-08:00Mildew, nobody's favourite thingWell, today. What a day! <br />
<br />I mean in the grand scheme of things this isn't a big deal at all, but today was....the battle of the mildew; and I wasn't happy.<br />
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I woke up far to early, and lay in bed, realizing I could smell mildew. Now that's the way to start a day!!!! Nobody loves mildew, but living on a boat, especially a sparsely insulated boat in a cold climate, you learn to hate mildew in such a wide variety of ways! The walls in the v-berth are theoretically somewhat insulated, in that they glued on a vinyl backed bit of thin foam. It is effectively impossible to remove without a grinder, and brilliantly has a weave pattern pressed into them, cause wtf not? Except when mildew starts to grow, it finds every one of those nooks and crannies the perfect place to hang out. And makes it equally difficult to remove! Love.<br />
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So this morning, before breakfast or a cup of tea, there I was with an old toothbrush, cleaning fluid and some tp, having a go at it. We really can never completely get rid of it, but by poisoning it regularly with the cleaning fluid, we can keep it in control.<br />
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Headlamp on, cause the Netherlands in mid December doesn't exactly see a lot of light. (Mildew heaven, rain rain more rain, cold and no sunlight!)<br />
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Well, that accomplished, off to breakfast, if not feeling happy, at least like I've accomplished something. Darned my sweater after breakfast as I was on a roll and we'd gotten up early (insomnia + mildew = not sleeping in!) and I thought I'd read a book for a few minutes while my phone charged before taking Stella Petronella out for her 2 - 3 hr walk. Gotta have lots of juice to listen to that many podcasts!<br />
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Well, I pulled the book out, and you can probably guess this, it was really wet and mildew-y. NooooO!<br />
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Pulled its neighbours out, yet, active ponding water and lots and lots of disgusting growth. I, in a mix of despair and rage contemplate throwing out all the books, but reason prevails. Thankfully! One had to be tossed, and one I'll read and get rid of. We cleaned it out back there, again that same stupid foam shit, and Stella and I went on our walk while the best husband in the world continued the battle. <br />
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We decided we'd need some kind of plastic grid along the back of the bookcase to keep the books from touching the hull and to promote air circulation, so we arranged to meet up at the tail end of the walk to go the Karwei - imagine Home Depot, but much smaller and with more furniture. We may have found a solution there! Wandering the store and thinking laterally, we found this:<br />
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It's that cheap plastic stuff that people put on the roof of sheds. Just might do the trick, and it was really the only option. Plus we got some pipe insulation to stuff up behind the ornamental trim to insulate the bolts that hold the hull and deck together. You see, because they're metal and they go through to the outside, they get horrific condensation, hence the ponding, but a good layer of insulation and hopefully that would be solved. <br />
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Back home, a little lunch, a little struggle cutting the plastic roofing stuff, and it's all up again, well minus a couple of things.<br />
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Doesn't look tooooooo bad! We'll get more of that pipe insulation for all around the v-berth, and likely some more of the roofing stuff for behind the other bookshelf, and possibly between the mattresses and the hull in the v-berth as well. They get more than a little damp too, and if they don't touch the mildewing walls, they'll last longer.<br />
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Oh, and the best husband in the world? We took turns going into Karwei cause we had Stella Bella with us and she can't go in. When he came out having bought everything, he brought me a chocolate bar. This man can totally STAY! <br />
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Living on my ja-ch-t. <br />
orenetahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10616103982088424715noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8311151968716514867.post-32946367356660926822019-12-12T14:04:00.001-08:002019-12-12T14:04:27.531-08:00Amsterdam light showI had to go into Amsterdam today to get a new chimney for the oil lamp. That's a whole other post. (I wanted to type 'a whole nother post' there as that is what we say!)<br />
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And it is legit! I looked it up, cause it does actually make sense, what we've done there is taken 'another post' and inserted 'whole' in the middle of the word 'another' for emphasis, giving us, a whole nother post! They don't give the explanation - I do, I taught English for years - but they it is a legit bit of informal English! How cool is THAT!<br />
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OK, back to Amsterdam and the oil lamp I'm not going to tell you about today!<br />
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So, I was planning on going in today and yesterday evening as I was scrolling through Instragram I noticed that there is an outdoor art exhibition on right now in Amsterdam, all installation pieces featuring light and lights. Well, how cool is that! So I decided to go in later in the day than I otherwise normally would, though honestly not that late as it is pretty much full dark by 5pm which is a mite dreary. Not this evening though! I was psyched! They have a website with a route map on it, so all I had to do was follow along!<br />
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Here, you can see some of it.<br />
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Honestly, the last two shown were the best. Most of the exhibits were very cool in concept but not so much in execution. Basically, it is hard to be impressive outside, when there is so many other lights, and people are fairly far away. Hard to make it look big and like you're involved. <br />
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See Amsterdam, and the moon tonight were also pretty cool<br />
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See?<br />
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It's a neat town.<br />
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<span id="goog_1212009110"></span><span id="goog_1212009111"></span><br />orenetahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10616103982088424715noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8311151968716514867.post-86292709407707616742019-12-11T08:24:00.000-08:002019-12-11T08:24:06.561-08:00Leaf blowers AKA instant rage machinesHonestly, the title alone pretty much sums it up. They are the machine the devil invented. On. Every. Level.<br />
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First of all, using fossil fuels for a task that is so easily completed with a rake! Really, these hellish inventions are not necessary.<br />
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Second, the noise they make. Really? They can't put a muffler on them??<br />
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I am constantly astonished by the level of rage I achieve in under a minute when one of them is near me. Why are these not outlawed? They've dealt with jet skis, they're still offensive but not like they were. These infernal machines? I have nothing that does not involve swearing to say about them.<br />
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They should be banned.<br />
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Ahhhhhhhorenetahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10616103982088424715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8311151968716514867.post-74976939246770315502019-12-10T13:26:00.001-08:002019-12-10T13:26:29.720-08:00A typical day?Well, as I comb through the day to think about what to write, in many ways, today is pretty typical, a good day on the whole. <br />
<br />Got up and ate breakfast, at a leisurely pace, chatting with the man, reading the news, patting the dog, drinking my tea. Not like sometimes when I'm out the door at 5am!! Off to walk the dog around 10, a three hour walk, which is not unusual when we are stationary! Lovely one today, off up to the Markermeer walking along a canal, on a bicycle path and a park for the majority of the route. <br />
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They're building new land here, the dutch are formidable at this, you can see it in the background.<br />
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Stella, my determined and delightful and increasingly good on the lead walking companion was every curious<br />
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and we saw an old fort, which we might explore another day, but it was already well past lunch time and we were still a long way out. <br />
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Got home, after the man ran past us and took Stella gleefully with him, had a lovely lunch...(mmmm, those ikea cookies to top it off!) and a nap! Chatted on the phone with a friend for a couple of hours, that's not so typical, but it was great. Her Mom, my dear dear friend, just finished sailing across the Southern Ocean, and was reveling in hot showers, toilets with doors and flushes and dry salt free beds, we hoped while we chatted about all manor of things!<br />
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Dinner, after being on the phone so long, it was quick but delicious, spaghetti with red sauce with bacon and olives, a boiled egg and salad. Mmmmm<br />
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A little work, a little reading, a little blogging, some more reading and ready for tomorrow! NO RAIN TODAY!!! YIPEEE!!!!<br />
orenetahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10616103982088424715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8311151968716514867.post-25476766316503449532019-12-09T12:41:00.000-08:002019-12-09T12:41:02.606-08:00Read the f·&·%·&ing manualApparently if you phone for tech help, less of a thing now, but still, they had an acronym... RTFM. Read the effing manual. <br />
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Teachers have a similar one. RTFI. Gonna guess? Read the effing instructions!!!!<br />
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Honestly, there are two elements at work here. One is that the hardest thing for a teacher to do is to get the students to think. I mean really think. It is easy to bore them, and they sit and gaze out the window. It's a little harder to get them to pay attention, so they take notes. It is even harder to get them really engaged. (I'm not talking about little kids here, they are constantly on, engaged and thinking unless you're REALLY EFFING UP!). So, moving back to what I was saying, it is harder to get them engaged, but the very hardest thing to do is to get them to think. Really really think about something. Deeply.<br />
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Daniel Kahneman wrote a book, Thinking Fast and Slow, in which he described (at aching horrifying length, he must have had the same editor who worked on Moby Dick, honestly, that book was sooooooo much longer than it needed to be) how there are basically two gears to human thinking, one is semi-automatic and based a lot of 'gut' first impressions, associations, assumptions and preconceived notions. This is generally pretty effective and saves a ton of time and energy. Anyone who's spent time with a child who will stare and stare and stare at anything new will realize how much of our day would be taken up by this if we didn't start generalizing knowledge. Then there's really thinking hard and we are reluctant to do it. Partially, he argues, cause it is so calorie dense in its requirements. which is an interesting take. It's also work, plain and simple. <br /><br />If I ask you what 4 x 4 is, you can tell me, no problem. 16 x 16, most people will work that out, but sorta groan about it. 3579 x 42? Almost no one wants to work that out in their head. That's really thinking hard about something. <br />
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See? (I would be inclinded, based on experience with lots of different age groups and lots of different students, to argue with this binary description of thought, I think there is rather more nuance to it - see engagement as a different level - but this is not the place for that arguement).<br />
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Well, back to students and getting them to really think. It is HARD to get them to think that thoroughly about something. It can be done, don't get me wrong, but it is tough and usually requires a fair amount of either brutality (see university physics exams) or creativity - my preferred method.<br />
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This ties into getting them to read the instructions, and to learn from their mistakes. If they don't take a moment to really think about what feedback they've gotten, and what the instructions are, they make mistakes, they screw up, the get lower marks, they burn up a lot of their time uselessly and a lot of the teacher's time too. All to save a couple of minutes of thinking.<br />
<br />I'll tell you something else from years and years of teaching. The students who read the feedback automatically, and then maybe even sometimes come up and ask about it? Always the most successful.<br />
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Always. Cause they're thinking.<br />
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Now read the effing instructions!!!! OMFG. (AKA; THINK!!!!)orenetahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10616103982088424715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8311151968716514867.post-6479116193670947522019-12-08T11:52:00.004-08:002019-12-08T11:52:57.939-08:00Holy Sh*t, we leave in 10 daysOK, Christmas has kinda leapt up on us! We leave to go have xmas at Eldest's place in 10 days!!!! How did that happen?????<br />
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Fortunately I've been thinking about this quite a bit already, so I have a fair idea in general of what I'm getting for folks, and Eldest's two room mates are going to be there to expand the festive fun, and substantially lower the average age of the event! Should be a blast, honestly, and at six, we'll have enough people that Xmas dinner will be maybe more than a chicken. We'll see.<br />
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Sitting here, planning what to buy and where to buy it! We're taking trains and ferries to get to the party, so we're carrying just a knapsack each as we'll also have a slightly skittish dog with us. A bunch will be bought there, and gifts must be small or edible!!!! <br />
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I adore Christmas, I have to confess, pretty excited. Keen to cook too, this year, feeling motivated!orenetahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10616103982088424715noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8311151968716514867.post-66924248826284269952019-12-07T11:43:00.001-08:002019-12-07T11:43:52.676-08:00Walking the dogStella Petronella and we are thoroughly settled in, I'd say. Obviously over time it will all evolve, but we're all pretty comfy and we have our routines in place! (Good thing, cause we're about to start travelling with her a LOT!)<br />
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But, there is one thing that we are still really really working hard on, and that's walking on a leash. She's bigger and heavier than Chuck was, about 5 kilos more and is seriously strong. When she wants to she pulls like a monster. Truly, it's like having a rope around a horse. My back does not love this. It goes out from time to time, and I try hard to do all sorts of exercises and sleep right etc etc etc to avoid it springing out on me, but Her Stella-ness if she's in a real mood, can do it to me. So, she absolutely must learn to walk well on a leash.<br />
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My sister in law came to visit and as I've said before gave us the miracle tools to teach this to Stella, now it is mostly persistence, and she has come a million miles and can walk for quite long periods of time with the leash actually loose, no tension at all. This is my goal for 100% of the time. <br />
<br />We're not there yet. <br />
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This morning was pretty horrible. NOTHING like when we got her and she pulled like an absolute train All. The. Time, but still, she was towing me around. The biggest difficulty was that it was Saturday morning, everyone was out walking their dogs and she wanted to go into town rather than over to the off leash park in the next town. <br />
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Now, she is seriously fascinated by other dogs and wants to watch them, smell them and go up to every single one of them. So every time we see a dog, or cat, she starts to pull. We're working on this, but it's a battle. I may get her to sit instead, but eventually she needs to learn to not drag us over towards whatever she sees.<br />
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By the time we got back from our walk this morning, we were both a little grim around the edges, it had been a trying time. This afternoon went soooooo much better!!!!! So much better. We went into town even and it wasn't tooooo bad! Not so many dogs out, which definitely helped. Over Xmas the kids will have to be equally consistent with her, I'll have to show them how, cause she simple has got to learn this, or I can't walk her. <br />
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Tomorrow? We're going to the off leash park. No questions asked. She's off leash for 90% of a three hour walk, and we need a little joy after the hassle of today.<br />
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It's all learning, but sometimes learning is more fun that others. <br />
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<br />orenetahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10616103982088424715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8311151968716514867.post-14542197463131566912019-12-05T14:04:00.000-08:002019-12-05T14:05:57.525-08:00ooops! SinterklaasWell, you make your plans!<br />
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We had the day all laid out, had an idea of what we were going to do...and it mostly went according to our plan, except the last little bit! I ran a little late finishing some work for the uni, and we left the boat at around 4.30. No biggie, stores close around 6ish, and the grocery store later still, around 9.<br />
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We get up to the hardware store at 5:15. Closed up tight as a drum with a note on the door. OK, well. As we walk through town, a lot more stores are closed. We start to wonder, is it a holiday or something? We get to the cheese shop, closed. Hmmm, what day is it? Dec 5th?<br />
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Jeez, it's the day all the little dutch kids put out their clogs for Santa (sinterklaas) to put presents in! Ah haa! How did we forget!!<br />
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It's one of the wild things about living in another country, you just don't instinctively know when the holidays are! Even after all the years we were in Catalunya there were some that came as a surprise every year.<br />
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So, happy sinterklass to all the Dutch kids, hope you were good, cause apparently if you weren't he'll put you in a sack and take you back to Spain to teach you to be good. (echos of slavery????? though honestly, the weather's better there, so you know, it wouldn't be all bad!)<br />
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<br />orenetahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10616103982088424715noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8311151968716514867.post-30836721773722947442019-12-04T13:23:00.000-08:002019-12-04T13:23:42.804-08:00And, continuing with the food theme, cooking!I've suddenly found myself collecting recipes to cook at Xmas when we're all together! I saw a mention of Shaker Lemon pie, which sounded amazing, it uses two whole unpeeled lemons as the filling!!!! Plus a lesson for making almond torrons, very simply....then I mentioned that the to man and he said he'd like beer nuts, well, while looking for that recipe I came across about 6 different seasoned nut recipes!!!<br />
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OH my.<br />
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Let's hope this holds on, we're staying with eldest for 10 days and we'll have to do something to keep them from getting totally sick of seeing our faces before we go!<br />
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I'll post if I make something other than Xmas dinner.orenetahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10616103982088424715noreply@blogger.com0