Anticipation

The vineyards are looking green and lush,

more so than in this photo which was taken a while back.

And the wine festivals are in full flow,

complete with sausages~

But I am busy,

busy,

busy.

My family arrive today!

Son, daughter,

grandson and his dad!

Then on Saturday,

my sister and her family arrive!
So I won't have much time for blogging.

What did you say?

Oh, I haven't been blogging much anyway?

Well maybe I'll be out and about more with my camera in the weeks to come,

and have some great pictures to show you.

I'm sure I will!

A-Z Monday, Letter A

A is for Arthur.



Our new greyhound.
Here he is with his tongue hanging out.
It's not unusual to see greyhounds with their tongue sticking out of their mouth's when relaxing.
I think it's probably because they are so long.
But Arthur's tongue hangs out the side of his mouth more than usual because he has no teeth, except for 4 canines.
Poor thing, his teeth were in such a state that he had to have most of them removed.
It was when he was under the anaesthetic having his teeth out that the vet phoned the kennels and suggested that Arthur should be put to sleep.
Arthur at this time was in the rehoming kennels.
And as well as having most of his teeth removed it was known that he was partially sighted.
He has a condition known as Pannus.
You can see the effect of this in the above photo, his eyes do have a milky film to them.
We were told this story when I went to collect Arthur from his foster home.
We decided to take Arthur as he is Rufus's brother.
And when we heard about him
we just knew that he would be just as lovely as Rufus.
And he is!


Here are the two brothers lying down quite close to one another only a day or two after meeting.
Rufus is on the left of the picture and Arthur on the right.
Apart from their colouring they look quite similiar in shape and size.
And also similiar in nature.
They are both happy dogs,
they both vie for attention.
After Mike has fed them all,
Rufus and Arthur come rushing in and come up to me to be stroked.
They stand next to each other while I stroke them both
and they will both stand there as long as I will stroke them.
Paddy and Jewel don't do this.




It was good of our friends Richard and Susan to foster him once we said we would take him.
Arthur stayed with them whilst getting his passport issued.
They have recently adopted their own greyhound.
That is Poppy in the photo above.
She's a pretty little thing, very sweet.
Totally different to Arthur, but they became good friends.

So I met Arthur for the first time just before Christmas during my visit to the UK.
and he returned with me.
Richard very kindly drove us to the ferry port
but after that,
Arthur and I were on our own!
I am grateful to the ferry company P&O (edited to amend company name) for looking after us so well on the overnight crossing and then escorting us and our bags to the bus once we arrived in Belgium.
The bus took us to the railway station, here a fellow passenger (a woman) carried one of my bags off the bus while I managed my overnight case and Arthur.
(I know I should have travelled with less luggage).
After buying tickets for us both we waited on the platform for the train.
When it arrived Arthur refused to budge!
This all must have been strange for him.
Travelling with someone who he had met only 3 days earlier,
travelling on a boat, a bus and now a train!
This was a part of the journey that I had been concerned about,
getting on and off the train.
Susan was also worried about Arthur managing the steps and the gap between the platform.
I tried to lift Arthur but I didn't have the strength.
Fortunately a railway man lifted Arthur onto the train for me.
But then we sat in first class before being told by the conductor that we had to move.
That was a shame as Arthur had just made himself comfortable by lying down on the carpet!
Of course once on the train I worried about how to get Arthur off!
I didn't have much faith in the conductor returning to assist us as I had requested.
But fortunately Mike was there to meet us and greet us.
Luckily he was waiting near to where our carriage stopped,
it was a very long train!
People helped me off with my bags and waited patiently while we got Arthur off.
So it all went well.
We just had a 2 hour drive to get back home then.
And meet the rest of the gang!

The others have accepted Arthur very well.
There have been a few growls from Arthur when he has been lying on a bed near to one of the others.
He has probably thought they were getting a bit too close.
But none of them have retaliated.
They probably realise that he is just settling in.






In the photo above left to right are: Rufus, Arthur, Jewel at the front and Paddy behind.
It's easy to mistake Jewel and Arthur if you don't look at them properly or out walking in the dark, they are similiar in size and colour.
You can see Arthur with his brother Rufus below.



He seems to be managing his new life in a new country very well.
His loss of sight doesn't seem to disadvantage him either.

And we enjoy having him.

Visit Jen for more A~Z fun.

Christmas is Coming

Well we did get to the Christmas Market
and what a treat it was.
I took lots of photos
just for a change!
We arrived when it was still light and after stopping to buy a glass of Gluwein
we made our way to the main market square.
We took the Gluwein with us as you pay a deposit on the glasses and can return them to any of the stalls selling the Gluwein.
The first thing we heard was a band playing Christmas Carols.
Then I looked around the square.




We saw them working on this house on Thursday.
I thought perhaps they were putting up lights
and changing the window boxes.
I never imagined the decorations would be so creative.



This Hansel and Gretel House below
is just off the market square.

Can you see the witch outside the house

and Gretel at an upstairs window?

Mike took the photo above standing next to the Hansel and Gretel House.

Doesn't the square look pretty?

The band stopped playing.

The square was full of people and there was an air of anticipation.

So we hung around.
Then the trumpeteers sounded.
A speech or two were said.

And a choir of young children sang.

One of the carols was in English!

In the photo above you can see the trumpeteers in the upstairs window.

They were dressed in Medieval costume.
We moved around to soak up the atmoshere and take in the different views.

I found myself next to a cake stall
and couldn't resist,

so I bought myself an Apfulstrudel Beliner.

Delicious!
Beliners are like a doughnut.

Mine was flavoured with apple.

We then wandered up out of the square where we came across a horse and carriage.

What lovely horses they were.

Waiting so patiently

and looking so fine.
Can you see Saint Nicholas in the carriage?

The carriage then made it's way to the square that we had just left.
Led by the small band below.

Mike waited patiently as I tried to get some decent shots.

I just had to try and get another shot

not easy with people milling around

but the horses were gorgeous.

We passed a number of cosy looking bars
and cafes.
I am peering through a restaurant window

to get the photo below.

And I had to take a photo of people in Santa hats sitting outside this cafe.

It has come out more hazy than I intended

but I still like it.

Can you tell what the blurry shot is below?

Can you see it now?

A chicken

sitting above the nativity.

We eventually made our way back through the town passing some different stalls in another part of town.
It wouldn't be complete without seeing some of these confectionaries.

I must find out what they are called.

I'm not sure why there is a toy dog poking his head out of a suit of armour......

The suit of armour was stood in the street near to this antique shop.

When we passed the shop the other day it was empty

but although you can't see from the window,

it is heaving with people inside.

And so down to the river where we had parked the car.

Where I couldn't resist taking a few more photos.

Can you see the castle in the background?
It looks as though it's floating in mid air doesn't it?

Such a lovely visit.

It makes Christmas even more special when it is as pretty as this.

Blogtoberfest Day 20, Tidy Gardens

Setting off down the stairs with the Hounds for their morning walk, I stopped to take this photo of the sun pouring through the blinds in the spare room. Just perfect, the position of the shadow beneath the hat I thought.

We've had a few days of sunshine now after that wintry weather. I've even been doing a bit of gardening wearing a sleeveless top. It was just bordering on being cool. People round here seem to be very keen on keeping their gardens tidy, so much so that as soon as the leaves fall they are swept up. We've a long way to go with this garden before it comes up to scratch. I'll just have to hope that the sun continues to shine!

The Romans are coming

Today we took Danny to a wine festival.
This one was also celebrating the Romans.
Hence the Roman boat,
and the Roman soldiers.


They were part of the parade.
Of course there was some wine as well.
This happens to be where my favourite wine comes from.
But I let Danny and Mike do the tasting as I was driving.


Danny tried some Flederweiss which I mentioned yesterday.
We asked the guys serving it what it was,
(they spoke good English).
It is indeed wine that has not completed the fermentation process.
I did not take a photo of it though.
But I did take this one of a decorated pumpkin
which caught my eye.


And this one which I rather liked.

But the rain hasn't been far away all weekend.

So it wasn't long before the umbrellas made an appearance.

We were ready to go home by then

and take the Pups out for their teatime walk.
I did a little jogging with Paddy.

I'm not sure whether he cut across me,

or pulled me, (he's quite boisterous),

but the next thing was, I was flat on the floor.

Fortunately it was on the grass,

and fortunately only Mike saw me.

He found it funny of course.

After which,

we were off out again,

(unusual for us),

and across the river to a nearby eating place.

It's an old monastry,

which is now a brewery.
It's very popular.

We had our meal,

and the boys had a beer,

then it was back home to watch a DVD.

I hope you all had a good weekend.

See you tomorrow.

A Quiet Saturday

Mike and I took a drive to a neighbouring village today.
We left the Pups with Danny.
He came with a cold and today he wasn't feeling too good.
A bit like the house above!
But isn't it lovely?
And the Autumnal decorations on the steps.



Kurbis, as they are called here,
are used to decorate the outside of houses.
I think the collection here looks particularly nice.


And of course I'm always photographing the window boxes.
They are everywhere.
The house below also has some rather nice wooden, carved, painted flowers.
Can you see them just below the window box on the left?


And after a stroll
we stopped and took a glass of Flederweiss

which is like a glass of wine,

but it is cloudy.

We're not sure what it is

but intend to find out.

The literal translation is feather white I believe.

And Zweibel Kuchen which is an onion cake.

More to Mike's taste than mine.

We just got back to the house when the heavens opened
and I got quite wet although I was only in the rain for a brief moment.
Mike later took the Pups out
and the same thing happened.
A great big black cloud came and sat overhead.
So instead of going for a walk
they took shelter under a tree.
Later Mike was feeling ill, but fortunately
he's feeling a bit better now.
So all in all
it's been a bit of a funny day.
Not at all what we planned.

Playing the Tourist

Last night I went over to Tinniegirl and joined in with the Blogtoberfest she's hosting.
I had fun joining in with this last year.
It's a good way to get into the habit of posting everyday.
That's the idea,
a post each day
throughout the month of October.

Not that I need much encouragement at the moment
what with wine festivals every weekend
and places to visit.

I just hope I manage to download the photos I've been taking.
They don't seem to be co-operating tonight,
and we've had quite a busy day today!

However we went to a nearby popular town yesterday,
and these photos were downloaded successfully.
Perhaps you would like to join us in a walk around the town?

There's inviting shop displays,
wine, of course.

Flags,

and important buildings to see.

Window boxes,

and interesting shaped buildings.

How about a stop at a pavement cafe

for some kuchen

which one would you like?

And a cappuchino?

Ahhh that's better!

Now we can continue.

Mmmm, I like the way those vines

grow over the narrow streets.

Oohh, more shops!

It's a bit quieter here at this end of town.

Well, I don't know about you,

but I'm quite tired after all that walking around.

Happy weekend!