It's all in the planning, the excitement is mounting.

 A clear blue sky, the sun is doing it's best to send warmth on this chilly February Monday. Another month draws to a close in 2023. Is it just me or are the days shorter than last year? Just kidding - well sort of. I somehow feel that I achieve less per day this year than I did last. Why is that? I know in all reasoning that this is ridiculous. There are still 24 hours in the day and seven days in a week. Maybe it's because it is February and there are only 28 days, making the reality of another month dawning just that much sooner than I anticipated. Who knows? I won't go on about it - just thought I'd 'throw it in the group' letting you ponder should you feel so inclined. It is Monday after all! 🤣

This time last year our spring holidays were taking shape quite nicely thank you. We do plan to be away again the month of May this year, and finally yesterday we took the first step to make sure we commit and continue our research and plan accordingly. We are aware of the possibilities, the possible limitations and the age we are, that we need to take and make opportunities when they present themselves. As I mentioned: Time is of the essence! Exciting stuff. I can almost get the feeling the holiday has started - the preparation being part and parcel of the whole experience.

Our last 'big' trip, Re-tour de France, was a great success and I guess we will be measuring this one against it. Despite that being quite unfair. Different country, different rules, different expectations. It would be like comparing apples with oranges. Couldn't make myself say pears - so traditional! 😂

It will again be a road trip. My flying experience of September and December are still a vivid memory and long distance flights enough without wanting to find myself being catapulted once again into that open air space. Keeping the feet ( and rubber) firmly on the ground. I am looking forward to the driving part. More challenges I am sure. Nice thing is when traveling in one's own car, it is comfortable and reliable. I know its quirks. Rentals are an enigma, the unknown quantity. 🚘

Right now we are looking for our second stop, a place to lay our heads to rest and working out for how many days. There is so much to see, explore and enjoy. No, I am not going to disclose the destination just yet. Keeping it exciting. 🪙

So thank you February for being a not too wild a winter month. I'm enjoying the longer daylight hours and the new buds on the trees, the pristine snowflakes and bright crocuses bobbing their delicate heads above the ground. Winter hasn't left the building yet, I am aware of that. Anything can stil happen to make it want to stay and gather strength. We have had no snow to really speak of so that's still very possible. Still, no use conjuring up the whims of Mother Nature. What will be will be. 

🏖️ 🌋 ☔️ ☃️

Should you wish to enjoy some spring from your armchair, here is the link to the:

Playlist of our French get-away!

Till next time

Be Good                    Be Kind                  Keep smiling

Timing is everything- sometimes!

 

I'm not normally that focussed on the time issue ( except when it comes to appointments that is) It is just that lately we have been so busy doing so many things that I wonder how we manage it all. I seem to be getting lots more done and yet my pile of things to do isn't reducing at all. The more I do the more there is to do. Does that make sense at all? Probably not! Just a ramble that is running through my mind at the moment.

Good morning/afternoon/evening, where ever you are at, at the time of reading this ramble. I'm working my way through a few chores at the moment and they are taking longer than I anticipated. How do you cope with issues like this? I am also easily distracted for some obscure reason. Maybe I need a holiday 😂! Just kidding or am I? 

Talking about holidays, I have managed to post 7 videos so far of our Re-tour de France road trip on my YouTube channel. Such fun and good memories. Number 8 is in the pipeline- almost done. Why did we give it that title? Well because we started in the Netherlands, 'at the top' so to speak, and made a round trip returning to the same spot on the highway where we left. So we thought this quite an appropriate and fun title.

Five weeks on the road. Ten different places to lay one's head at night. All of them on my own pillow I might add. I take it everywhere. Can't sleep properly on someone else's pillow. Which brings to mind a trip to Australia I had many years ago. Yes even Down Under has seen me place my head on my own pillow. Till it became harder to get it into my overfull suitcase. 

My then wee grandson of 4 decided he wanted to keep me close each night so he confiscated my pillow and kept it for many a year on his bed. So lovely and heart warming.

Which brings me to the next subject: Where will my pillow take me to next? My last trip to visit my children was in 2019 with the intention of being back there at the end of 2020. We all know why that didn't happen. Less said the better. So it has been a struggle coping with the loss of physical contact over a much longer period of time that I ever have had away from my children. I am fully aware that there were harder, sadder and more gut wrenching struggles for many. It isn't that I want sympathy or am presenting myself as a victim. Just stating a fact. Yes, there is internet- yes there is light at the end of this long and dark tunnel. So I am now actively planning a trip to my other homeland, the one where I bore my children, where my parents are laid to rest and where a huge part of my life tells its story. 

This week will see me having a conversation with a travel agent, I am not prepared to book my own trip like I have done in the past. Too risky. It will see me blow off the dust of my pasport and relocate my NZ driver's license. It will see my bank balance shrink horrifically. It will also add another list of chores. But most of all, it will cause those pre-trip butterflies to return, those emotions of reconnecting with my own upsurge and take hold. It will most likely also cause disruption to my sleep despite my head being on my own pillow, due to the anticipation of what lies ahead. 

I guess that might just be why, I am easily distracted, can't get through all the lists like I am used to and already causing the fluttering in my being even though the ticket hasn't even been booked yet. So I am trying to keep occupied, to keep my mind on things to distract me. The editing I need to still do will be part of my therapy to keep my wits about me. The two children's books I want to complete before I leave need attention too. Plenty to do - now I must get on with them. No more rambling. Till next time.

In the meantime, enjoy the videos. It was a fantastic trip and we saw such beauty all around us. I am pleased to be able to share that with you. 

Be good    Be kind    Keep smiling

This is the link to my YT channel 

Dat was het dan.....! Time has just flown.

Scroll down for the English version

tJa, dat was het dan. Nee, dat bedoel ik niet negatief of oneerbiedig. Maar gewoon- dat was het dan! De 8 weken waar wij zo lang op hebben gewacht, gepland, naar gesmacht hebben, ze zijn voorbij. Als ik terugdenk aan mijn kleinzoon Max zijn aankomst uit Australië op Schiphol 4 april, dan lijkt het een paar weekjes geleden en geen twee maanden. Maar als ik dan vervolgens de lijst activiteiten op een rijtje zet- nou dan snap ik wel waarom we door de tijd heen zijn. En begrijp ik mijn vermoeidheid ook ietwat.

Onderweg vanuit Berlijn heb ik het volgende geschreven. Soms is wat uit het hart komt op het moment van ervaren, toch het meest ingrijpend. De sfeer van het moment zit er dan goed in. Hier dus mijn eerder geschreven tekst:

Dat is het dan. De acht weken zitten erop! Vol programma inclusief vrije thuisdagen. Van rust, nou ja voor mij althans, weinig. Thuis zijn betekend inhalen wasgoed, strijken, koken, boodschappen. Je kent het wel. De boel draait door.

Ik schrijf dit terwijl wij terugreizen uit Berlijn. Een uurtje geleden in de bus gestapt. We zijn 3 nachten weggeweest. Vrijdag in alle vroegte vertrokken! Ik moet zeggen dat hoewel een pittig eindje, de reis zelf ook een waardevolle ervaring was. We hadden een zeer bekwame chauffeur/gids die ons op de heenreis ook veel wist te vertellen. De twee pauzes die hij in had gelast op super plekken waarvan een de grenspost was. Geweldig uitleg en tijd om rond te kijken. En zoals met alle uitstapjes heb ik en video gemaakt voor op YouTube. Het is bij dit schrijven nog niet klaar maar komt wel online te staan net als al onze andere belevenissen die al gepost zijn. Om te kijken klik op deze link: Oma Far Away

Onze zwerftochten waren o a de stad Parijs, Euro Disney, Burger’s Zoo, Amsterdam, Efteling, Madurodam, Kinderdijk, Rotterdam, Oudenbosch, Leeuwarden, Giethoorn, Archeon, Harlingen. En nog meer. Dan natuurlijk ook dagjes dingetjes in de stad zelf waar wij wonen.

We hebben met de trein, bus, waterbus en auto gereisd en tig-tallen voetstappen gezet. Op mijn 65 ste verjaardag was ik bevoorrecht om mijn kleinzoon erbij te hebben. We hebben gelachen, stevige dan wel gemoedelijke oma/ kleinzoon gesprekken gehouden en veel samenzijn momenten beleefd. Hij heeft mij wat trucjes op ICT gebied geleerd en hij heeft eierkoeken gebakken, kaassaus gemaakt en mijn boodschappentassen gedragen.

De kroketten, stroopwafels, bitterballen en citroen schijfjes in de cola vielen in goede aarde. Ook kon hij de Griekse keuken erg waarderen. Hoewel hij niet erg avontuurlijk aangelegd is wat eten betreft, heeft hij wel nieuwe dingen ontdekt. Chapeau daarvoor zeg ik maar. Hij heeft zijn leven voor zich laten we maar vanuit gaan. Tijd zat om meer lekkernijen te ontdekken.

Bij thuiskomst de koffers bij de wasmachine legen. Vooral voor Max moet alles schoon en gestreken de koffer in dinsdag. Woensdag vliegt hij weer naar zijn ouderlijk huis, zijn hond, zijn vrienden en een nieuwe toekomst. Wie weet wat deze tijd hier daar invloed op zal hebben. Hij zal alles toch wel met een ander blik bekijken al zegt hij dat dat wel mee zal vallen. Ben benieuwd.

Het was een privilege om even oma dichtbij te mogen zijn. Niet voor 8-10 dagen zoals ik dat wel eens doe om de paar jaar, maar 8 weken dag en nacht. Ik voel me bevoorrecht en gezegend. Zou er nog een kleinkind willen komen - ik zou zeggen, prima. Alleen of ik dan nog zo actief kan zijn als nu..... dat zullen we dan wel zien!

Ik/wij hebben genoten. Ieder op hun eigen manier. Mijn man en zwager, allebei kinderloos, hebben daar hun eigen kijk op. Ik als moeder, oma en juf, de mijne. Mijn kleinzoon zal ook het zijne ervan denken. De verhouding samen is er alleen maar op vooruit gegaan. Elkaar zo lang en van dichtbij mee te kunnen maken is toch bijzonder. Wat ben ik een gezegend mens.

De komende tijd zal ik van de restanten van onze ervaringen nog wat videos plaatsen. Er komen meer. Volgende week een paar dagen België, even op adem komen samen en eind van de maand een reisje door Wales. Dus wil je meer zien en mee reizen- subscribe en blijf op de hoogte. Zo krijg je een berichtje als ik wat nieuws op de YouTube kanaal zet. Voor nu- even gas terug. Ik begin me weer wat mens te voelen....de afgelopen dagen heb ik weinig tot niks gepresteerd. Ook wel eens lekker.

Well, that was that! The saying " Time flies when you are having fun" certainly is a true one in this case. I cannot get my head around the fact that 8 weeks have gone so quickly. We spent ages planning, saving and looking forward to the moment...and now life as I know it is slowly returning to normal. No more grandson to give a wake up call, prepare breakfast for and accompany to worthwhile sights, places and events. He now sleeps back in his own bed, under the roof with his parents and is reunited with his pet pooch Bella.

It has been a wonderful time. The places, people and events have been selected on basis of what I thought might please or interest him. The request to visit Berlin we gladly gave head to. What an experience that was, at the end of his stay with us.

I've tried to hone my video skills and have posted a few short videos to date, with a couple more left to go. The holiday ones start at number #015 I think. The others might interest you too- bits and pieces out and about in Nederland. I'll be posting more as time goes on as it appears to be something friends, family and even strangers like to watch. I am learning new tricks all the time. Next week we are off to Belgium for a couple of days with friends and end of this month I'll be discovering Wales with my dear friend Annette- so keep watching if you want to tag along.

Our itinerary was pretty full, the energy we needed to sustain us has held up, but believe me it was a challenge. I am not a young chick but a 65 year old who enjoys a challenge. Not used to sitting still and need a good walk or activity daily to keep my motor running. And believe me, the daily 'doings' did just that.

I have had the privilege of having my grandson as 'guest' for 8 solid weeks. They couldn't have gone faster. We had time for chats, laughs, shared happy moments and just 'being' together. I do believe the experience has enriched our lives. What a dream come true.

Well, I am back to being 'OmaFarAway' with a happy and thankful heart. Who knows who'll come and join me next!