The high-tea

This week, my little oak tree grew another 9cm. Just like that.

Simone doesn't miss an opportunity to write her name in my dust. This is the only spot visible to the eye of the camera. She did it in at least 2 more spots. I guess I should dust soon ;-)

In the afternoon, Ilse, my folks and I drove to a venue in Putten to celebrate my uncle and auntie's 40th wedding anniversary. They organised a high-tea which was lovely.

Mom and dad.

They arranged for us to see the next door museum about Putten and its surroundings which was very nice I think.

They also arranged for all their visitors to go up a 38 metres tall tower and enjoy the view.

I like that house.

The view was nice. Pity it was cloudy though but hey, this is The Netherlands after all, where we are happy when summer is on a weekend ;-)

There were trees growing on top of the tower as well, which was really cool.  I dig towers like this.

There was also a side-extension. Not for people with fear of heights ;-)

My dad, tower-guy and Ilse.

My mom striking a fantastic eating-pose again ;-) Ilse in the middle talking to another aunty, and my dad.

I had a very nice afternoon!

On the way home I got dropped off at Simone's and had a lovely evening with her as well :-)

The fire

(Not my own picture)
There was a fire in Alkmaar last night... A big one.

(Not my own picture)
My cousin's antique shop burned right down to the ground and took a few other businesses with it :-(

In the evening I met Simone and we went to see a Dutch movie called "Soof". It's labelled as "chick flick" but I think men can laugh just as much. It's a very funny movie.

Loose ends

Cranes seen from my old office.

In the evening I went to my car to have a look at a few things. This is how the LPG vaporizer is hooked up to the heater hose. I need to get the splitter out and put a piece of pipe in but in order to do so I need to know the diameter...

These big and small hoses are part of the vacuum system. All the hoses are connected to one of the vacuum ports on the intake manifold. It's an important system that I do not wish to break. However, I need to connect the PCV system to the manifold as well... Stuff to think about.

And then these wires. They showed up when we took the gas tank out last weekend. I don't know what they are connected to. Maybe to the radio?

Like

I took Marjolein out for some Indian food tonight. This restaurant where we went to is very nice. The bowl of mints you get with the bill is the biggest one I've seen anywhere ;-) And these are my favourite after-dinner mints.

I haven't come across a single Indian restaurant with decent desserts and tonight's one is no exception. So we went to have coffee and chocolate cake in town. I liked the cookie that came with the coffee.

The Fun Loving Criminals

Wilson docks here all the time. I have no idea what it transports... Spotted on the way to my work.

In the evening my mate Ruud and I went to see the Fun Loving Criminals. They played only a 4 minute walk from my house!

I had never seen them before, I only went here because of their reputation and a few songs I'd heard.

Good stuff though, straight from the start!

(Click to enlarge)
They put on a really nice show. Great music, very laid back tunes, good sound quality, great atmosphere too. Glad I went, had a fun night out :-)

The broken banana...

One of my colleagues became father of a little baby girl. Traditionally this is the treat that you then hand-out. I love this stuff! I'd make babies just so I could eat them haha :-)

I tried peeling a banana that wasn't quite ripe yet and I broke it :-/

Ferry-time.

The Amsterdam Light Festival ended yesterday. They started taking stuff down today. Kinda sad coz I liked those sculptures, they brought life to the city.

The terrific Sunday

Today I met Simone and her kids at the ZOO. It was busy and the weather was great for walking around. I had a wonderful afternoon and enjoyed my time with them very much.

Some animals have tall pointy tails.

And some have thick wooly tails.

Can't remember which animals these are. But the one on the left is pretty nice don't you think? ;-)

Sometimes when you want to take a photo someone tries to block it. So immature ;-)

Mr. Gorilla picking honey hidden in a tree stump.

A-hooooooooo.

Ndoki.

Kissie kissie kissie!

"This is my rat, I'm eating it. Go away!"