Meet Freya

Biting my  nose!!

Puppy paws!!!

And I know I’ve posted this one before, but it’s SO cute!!

And a video of me being mobbed by puppies last time we went to visit.

I’m still living in Den Haag but have moved in with my boyfriend Sander to a new apartment about 20 minutes from the centre of the city.  We have also been joined by Vala (yes, as in the Stargate SG1 character) our kitty who came from the rescue shelter and has just turned 1.

Here she is being abused my her mummy by being made to wear tinsel for Christmas!

And her first time exploring our back garden/yard

So with one animal in-situ, the little bundle of torpedo like fun will be coming home on 12 February.  We have been to visit the puppies a couple of times and will find out which one will be ours this weekend (we are 7th on the list and there are 8 puppies), but they are all adorable and fantastic quality.  The breeders have done a wonderful job breeding and raising them.  So here are a few pictures from our second visit:

Squishy puppy!!

“Get your feet out of my face!!”  The joys of sisters (the litter is 6 girls and 2 boys).

The pup with the light green cord might be ours

Kate’s jumper makes an excellent tug toy!  This little girl is also a possibility for us.

And little purple one with me (another possibility for us).

And Sander having puppy cuddles.  I do love this little girl… trying not to get my hopes up as to which pup we get until we hear this weekend, but it’s very difficult!

This weekend is the last week of puppy shopping.  We have most things (or are waiting for them to come through the post) but still need a baby gate to keep pup contained where I can see her!

Spoilt girl!  There are another 5 toys on their way in the post!!

And last but most certainly not least, my ickle sister Sally is coming next week with her boyfriend, Will, as a birthday treat!  Very much looking forward to it and I haven’t seen Sally in ages, think it was Mum’s wedding a year and a half ago!!

Will keep you all updated on our progress… we will have a lot of learn but that’s all part of the fun!

I have copied this list from elsewhere but I found a LOT of these to be very true!!  Though there is no way in hell I will ever like dropjes!!

1. You have a bike
2. You even know how to brake using retropedaling
3. Walking from your faculty to the cafeteria has become unimaginable. You take your bike, even if it’s for 50meters
4. Eating 7 slides of bread for lunch doesn’t scare you anymore
5. By the way, you stopped eating warm lunch. You just eat bread
6. You know what a kroket is, and you learned to avoid the orange ones
7. It doesn’t surprise you anymore to eat at 18:30
8. You drink beer
9. You got used to trance and electro music
10. You don’t cheat on the train, because controllers are EVERYWHERE
11. When the cafeteria is crowed, you line up neately with the others
12. You used to use cash all the time, but now you have a pin card
13. You think ducks are cute
14. As soon as the sun pops out, you make a barbecue, even if it’s 10°C outside
15. You think 15°C is warm
16. You know winter stops in May, and not March as everywhere else
17. You don’t remember what a moutain looks like
18. You still don’t know how to speak Dutch. But your English has improved
19. You know what Surinam is. And where it is
20. You never go out without your bike lights
21. You think butter in a bottle is normal
22. You know that all the guys are in Delft. And the girls, everywhere else, especially Leiden
23. You go to Leiden on saturday
24. You’ve been to a flower park, and thought it was cool
25. You’re ok with having only one flavour of ice cream (the white ones)
26. You don’t even bother to ask “do you speak English?”, you just speak English right away
27. When you go to the cinema, you are ok with being told where to sit
28. And you wouldn’t dare sit anywhere else
29. You have finally accepted the fact that Gouda is cheese
30. Paying 6€ for a meal in the cafeteria seems normal
31. You know how to repair a bike
32. You eat potatoes at least once a day
33. You always check the weather before leaving home
34. You know what it is being late and having to wait for a boat to cross the bridge
35. You can drink milk at any time of the day
36. Sometimes, you only drink milk as lunch
37. You have tried karnemelk at least once
38. You start liking dropjes
39. For you something sweet means straubwaffels
40. Spring means flowers blooming and construction sites opening up all over the place
41. Being tall gets a new meaning
42. Blonde is back to being a hair-color, not a concept
43. you have 4 seasons in one day
44. you can start a mail to your teacher who happens to be a doctor by “yo, wassup doc” (exaggeration can get the message through)
45. You think that paying to use the toilets is normal.
46. You know that kapsalon is not a typical turkish dish, but a hairdresser
47. You start to think that the strange position of the hole in the WC is not that disgusting
48. You find it easier to find a good joint that a good coffee
49. You have the AH bonus card
50. Your windows have no curtains, and you don’t care
51. If your windows have curtains, you don’t use them, and just don’t care who might be looking at you
52. For you, light rain is not rain
53. Professors write a “well done” comment in your assignment and still grade you with a 6
54. You can drink beer in the cinema (good)
55. 10°C is warm enough to wear a short or mini skirt
56. You can ride your bike in the rain, wind and even snow
57. guys are very cute
58. you can ride your bike wearing skirt (if you’re a girl), a suit or even high heels (if you’re a girl)
59. When you start having strong opinion even if you vaguely know the topic
60. When you “wash” the dishes with soap without rincing them
61. “alstublieft and dank u wel” are the only dutch words you know
62. You aren’t surprised anymore that the disco closes at 4 (but it still pisses you off)
63. You learn to bike without using your hands on the handle
64. You go to the market and you only buy the stuffs that fit in you bike
65. Riding a bike and driking coffee/smoking/eating lunch at the same time is not a problem any more
66. You reformulate the saying “if you drink, don’t drive” by “if you drink, don’t ride”
67. You’ve been asked where the coffeeshop is
68. You start wearing orange during soccer events, even when you’re not dutch
69. You get used not to use napkins when eating. You just eat dirtily.
70. You know what GVD stands for
71. You can never predict the weather and can not believe the weather forecast anymore
72. You wait for the light to go green before crossing the street, even if there is no car
73. You sometimes eat only with a spoon
74. You tried fried fish from the caravans at least once
75. You clap the lecturer (just because he’s been speaking for 2 hours)
76. You run to Albert Heijn at 21.55 to get some beer for the party that night
77. Trees planted in straight rows/ aka the forest/ seems normal
78. You think you understand why they don’t serve coffee at coffeeshops (but you’re not sure yet)
79. You steal a bike at the station because the night before someone stole yours
80. You think it is okay to eat multicoloured sprinkels on bread for breakfast
81. You use 9292ov.nl to go to the supermarket
82. You know that the wind blows in your face regardless of the direction in which you are biking
83. You don’t even try to park in an unauthorised area just to ‘pick something up in 5min’, because you know you will get a ticket in 30secondes
84. When you move out of your appartment, you know you might have to take the floors with you
85. Stepping in doggiepoo on the sideawalk becomes almost a daily thing
86. You end up eating super greasy food at 5am at FEBO or ALEV (Delft)
87. And after that, you manage to bike home still completely wasted and go to class at 8:45
88. You need an appointement to talk with your friends. Or your mother.
89. You enjoy making tourists jump off the bike path
90. You paid more for the lock of your bike than for the bike itselft
91. Real bread? You’ve made your peace with it. It doesn’t exist
92. You know that the Netherlands doesn’t have a special dish. They just fry everything
93. You know getting a couch will be difficult because it doesn’t fit through the door. Windows maybe?
94. You’re ok spending Queen’s Day in the train because people are walking on the rails
95. Yap, Joost and Jeroen are the names of most of the Dutch guys you know
96. when the sun pops up all your Dutch friends are wearing beach flip flops
97. Dutch people ask you why don’t you speak Dutch?
98. You still don’t speak Dutch but watch silly Dutch TV shows like Take me out and Single
99. You have been in a relationship with at least one Dutch person
100. You are used to people bumping into you abruptly on the street, yet never saying sorry

Anyway, not a huge amount to update on.  I STILL haven’t done my polo (my birthday present from my team last year) due to the weather.   So far it has been postponed about 4 times so I am desperately doing a sun dance to let the field dry so that we can go and play.  At this rate my birthday will come around again before I get a chance to go!

So yeah, that’s the next big thing coming up really, my 30th birthday!! Eeek!!  It really is a big one.  I think I’ll be OK turning 30, I have managed to get my head around it so far and the birthday has been talked about so much that I almost think of myself as being 30 already! I’m not planning a massive blow out but rather am going for dinner and drinks with friends.  I’m more interested in being around people who are important to me than having a big party.  I STILL haven’t decided where to do dinner as I would like to eat at a place down near the beach, but I prefer going for drinks in down which is a pain to relocate half way through the night.  So I am still umming and aahing about that, plus what to ask for for my birthday as people keep asking me and I am, as usual, useless of thinking of things that I want!!

I do have one present already!!!  I am going to see the Deftones in Amsterdam on 23 August which I am rather excited about.  Its been years since I’ve been to a gig though so it should be interesting!

In other news, apparently we are going to get a ‘plague’ of mosquitos here over the next few days thanks to the generally shitty weather.  I’m just hoping that being on the third floor I’m not going to get too many in my flat but that may be wishful thinking!  Although I really should stop reading dutchnews. nl as recently I have been getting rather wound up by some of the racist bullshit coming out of the Dutch government and supporting parties.  But I feel that rant will require another blog post!

So till then, ta ta for now

At 0:10 last night, myself and Sander joined a cinema full of other Harry Potter fans to witness the end of an era.  Midnight showings are always a bit of a risk as if the movie doesn’t live up to its potential you feel its a bit of a wasted night (not least because I have taken today off work to recover from my very late night).  This movie does not disappoint at all!  The atmosphere in the cinema was fantastic with everybody clearly as excited as me to be some of the first to be seeing it.

The action kicks off almost straight away with the Gringotts scene which is one of my favourites in the book.  David Yates followed the book almost exactly and the effects were amazing.  Hermione as Bellatrix was brilliant which pays tribute to the versatility of Helena Bonham Carter and the duplicity of the goblins really comes to light.  Almost immediately the movie moves on to Hogwarts which takes you by surprise a little as you get the feeling there should be more before this but of course this starts halfway through the book.

The scenes at Hogwarts are truly amazing.  McGonagall really comes into her own and the power that we all suspected was there comes to the fore.  There are some extremely funny bits in this movie and I mean, proper laugh out loud funny but tempered with some very sad and emotional scenes.  Top of these has to be the revelation of Snape.  For 7 movies now, we have not been given a single reason to feel any empathy towards Snape at all but the scene where everything is explained is truly touching.  I’m not ashamed to say I was holding back the tears.  To turn a character round so fully couldn’t have been done better, in my opinion, and is probably the best  Alan Rickman has been in any of the films.  In fact, for me, this part was the highlight of the movie.

Other characters that deserve a mention have to be Neville Longbottom who has probably grown the most out of all the characters in the movies, though there was a moment where I thought they were going to steal Neville’s thunder (thankfully I was wrong).  Molly Weasley finally shows she is capable of doing more with magic than knitting and baking and Draco proves once and for all that he truly is the coward we all knew him to be.

On the downside, and this really is nitpicking purely because I know the books so well, the film was very very focused on Harry which detracted slightly from some of the other characters.  This was the shortest movie of the franchise so far so I feel they could have afforded to make it a little longer and give some of the other characters a chance to shine more.  The final part with the Elder Wand was done differently which I think I would have left the same and Harry and Ginny’s kiss was weak to say the least.  Hagrid was also relegated to essentially a cameo role which was a shame and I really couldn’t see the point in doing it in 3D.

But as I said, that really is being very picky and David Yates has done an excellent job bringing this book onto the big screen and I really don’t think that any Potter fan will be disappointed.  I thoroughly enjoyed it and would be quite happy to go back and watch it again today!  Even the fact that there were no taxis on a Tuesday night and we had to walk home in the rain didn’t detract from the evening!

I hope I haven’t put too many spoilers in there (although those who haven’t read the books… shame on you ) and I really do recommend paying to see this on the big screen.  Enjoy!!

So today I’m happy.

Firstly, Tazz was amazing last night, tried some extension for the first time and his medium-trot feels like there is a powerhouse underneath me.  It’s awesome!!  His canter was also the best we’ve ever done and he’s really starting to sit up on his back legs and balance himself properly.  Onno and Corry (his owners) are coming on Sunday so I’m very much looking forward to showing them how far we’ve come in 2 months.  Considering the first time I rode him his nose was stretched so far in front that his neck and head were on the horizontal!!!

Secondly, work is going really well, if very busy.  Been with CEVA for a year and a half now and I still enjoy it as much as I did when I started – possibly more.  We have our Christmas Party coming up which includes a talent show which most of the PAs are taking part in.  I shall not give away what it will be as it’s going to be a surprise but I’m sure there will be a video of it.  Most people are too afraid of being embarrassed to take part but what’s a little bit of embarrassement if it leads to fun – embrace life people… embrace it!!

Thirdly, my friends are all amazing and I love them to bits.  Plus they make me laugh.  Going for drinks with Manuela tonight which is always good (though I usually drink too much… must behave)!!  Then off to the cinema to see Harry Potter 7… SO excited!!!

So yes, I may have sod all money at the moment and have also come to the realisation that most men are basically fuckwits who have the emotional maturity of a newt (though that’s probably being unfair to newts) but at least I’m still happy and enjoying life and I shall refrain from a man-based rant   Besides, I’m more than happy to be proven completely wrong… in fact I really hope I am

And finally, because I’ve been singing it all day and she is AWESOME…. the fantastic vocal stylings of Dory:

Now… just need to find the and mp3 so that I can set it as my ringtone

Just to jog anyone’s memory, she is a 13.2hh, skewbald with totally unknown breeding who will be 24 now.  She will say please with her near foreleg for a polo and tends (maybe this should be changed to ‘always’) to rear if she has to go somewhere alone.  Very safe out on the roads but known to spook at really scary things like leaves (but fine with massive lorries and tractors… obviously ).  Hates men with a fiery passion particularly vets! Very very sound, the only time we ever had the vet out to her except for her jabs was when she decided to knee a wall (the day before I was due to take her to the PC games… of course!!). I’ve attached a few photos of her and if you recognize her or know anyone who does I would love to hear from them.

I k now I should have done this ages ago and feel rather ashamed at only getting round to it now.  Anyway, fingers crossed that someone knows where she is and lets us know how the little madam is doing now.

So did join-up with him which he responds to fantastically and was glued to me by the end of the session.  The beginning of the session was interesting though.  True to how he is to ride he much prefers going round on the left rein rather than the right.  The first time I asked him to switch direction he leapt straight up in the air twisted and bronced… which had me in hysterics

We also did some carrot stretches (both sides and between his front legs) which he’s also great at so clearly he doesn’t think he’s 17… he’s still 5 in his head!  And I also got bullied into scratching his shoulders for about 15 minutes while he stole my kinder bueno (which is very yummy but requires pulling faces while eating it).

So no riding but we had a great time.  Thursday it’s back in the school for the Tazz Monster!!  Lets just hope it doesn’t pour down or he’s not going to be very happy.

Well, he is so much like my old horse, Jeremy, personality wise it’s scary.  He’s such a nice ‘person’.  Yet when you get on board if you know what you are doing he has that extra zing to make life a bit more interesting (but put a 2 year old on him and he’s as safe as houses).

The first time I rode him we just went into the school, he does have some tricks he uses to try and evade your aids such as sticking his nose out in front as far as possible and shaking his head from side to side (no, there are no health problems, its just him being a ninny) while ‘talking’ – he is the chattiest horse I’ve ever know, very cute.  Lots of transitions and leg and he realises this doesn’t work and starts to come softer and accept the contact.  We still need to do a lot of work to get him swinging through from behind better but he is improving every time I ride him and is obviously a quick learner.  I have a few of my own issues that I need to work on (like my stupid right arm which is far too stiff and tends to lock at either the elbow or shoulder, though weirdly if I lock at the elbow I still have a nice bend to it… I’m just weird.  I then try and make my right arm relax and concentrate on that too much and I lose stability in my lower leg… fix that and my arm stiffens again, etc etc.  Think I need to find an instructor to just yell at me )

Anyway, he’s also great out on the roads as well, we’ve been out for an explore and went up to the lake to have a paddle.  We also had a nice fast canter (no gallop yet) while we were out which apparently makes me crazy as it was only the third time I’d sat on him – though personally I think the people who get on horses who have been stabled for 3 weeks without a hat on are crazy (yes, someone actually did this – different safety cultures I guess).  Anyway, I got some pictures while we were out and about:

Having a paddle

A very tired sausage

“Stop taking photos and give me my dinner… I’m tired!!”

So I’m now riding 2 weeknights and Sundays which should be interesting through the winter!  But it makes the riding in the summer all the more appreciated.  We’re also hoping to get to the beach some time soon which will be amazing!  Also, I have discovered that I am still able to fully muck out a straw bed in 10 minutes.

Going up this evening and just having a quiet stroll about as he had new shoes and the physio yesterday.  The physio apparently commented on how well he’s moving at the moment due to the work I’ve been doing with him which made me feel very proud!