Conversation at the Breakfast Table

Man to his wife: this morning I have read on the Web that women on the “top” these days seems to behave more and more like men! (With a look on his face that says: that cannot.)

Wife: oh, that's very good!

Man: do you find that!! (very annoyed as if it was an assault towards men)!

Wife: why are you angry when I say that? Are men “that bad” that you see this as a an assault! In fact you as a man, you must see that as a “complement” instead as an assault! If a woman shows her real female kind it's “not good”! Sometimes... you men, can have so much fun telling stupid and belittling jokes about women, and when women show then a little more a male side, then “also that” isn't good! Will it ever be good? I hope that those women will have “balls”!!! They must work much harder than men to get at the top and to stay there.They shall need “ big balls*” .... to survive in the men's world!

Man:.......silence ! (only an ugly look)!

End of the conversation!

PS: *Courage, truculence and decisiveness.

A Needle Work From the Past

To day I went to the attic “especially” to take out this piece, very valuable for me, a souvenir, now almost 50 years old.

A little tablecloth! I worked on it together with my mother in law.

I made a small tablecloth, my mother in law made one twice as large. When I had finished mine, I helped her to finish hers. So we spent much time together and I was always looking forward to the Sunday afternoons when we could sit together and do our needle work.

Many years it decorated my drawing room table.

It's made in “cross stitch”!

I think after so many years you still can say it's a very modern pattern. I still like the colors and I always found them very special.

I had so much pleasure in needle work in those days, it was my favorite hobby.

I also made my own dresses like the one on this picture where I was only 16 years old.

I often think back on those days with mixed feelings because my fiancée (now my husband) was at sea and often away from home for long time. So I had much time to do needle work.

Now these days, I do no longer needle work, only small adjustments (on cloths) so now and then.

It's all in the past!

Time flies fast! Much too fast!

Changing Plans

Yes, I've decided to change my plan!

As I told you in my first post, my plan was to tell Pipke's story first.

I read and reread the posts that I've already wrote and came to the conclusion that: this would not be the right approach!

I think for an outsider ... it would be very boring if I would talk “only” about Pipke!

I am afraid ... that you should think by yourself: “there she's again with her Pipke”!

And yes, I could understand that very well and I would not blame you if you should think that.

I agree, sometimes it can be toooo much. But she is so close to my heart!

In Dutch there is a proverb that says it so well: waar het hart van vol is, daar loopt de mond van over! ( maybe you can try the translator )!

So ... to avoid this, but also in the interest of my blog: I will take an other course!

And yes, I am interested in so many things: of course animals, but also in wildlife, nature, my favorite sport: running, health, arts, oil paintings, needle work, classical and contemporary music, popular science and all the things with “substance” that matters in life!

I would like to talk about these subjects too because some variation is always good! I must avoid to be boring!

In the mean time I will place some smaller posts.

And of course I will come back later with Pipke's story!

Till soon!

Time for a Funny Note!

I think now it's time for a funny note after all my bad news and I think ... no ... I even know that there are a few people on the blog that can use a funny note right now!

This is something I like to share with you! It's already a few years old and I kept it because it's so appropriate especially in my case! :)

I hope it can brighten your day!

Postscript: the text balloons are originally in Dutch. I have cut them out and gave them the English translations. It was not easy to find a correct translation!

In the head roll

Pipke as the duck.

My hubby as Hagar - Me as Hagar's wife.

Click to enlarge picture.

Correction: of course it must be "are you spying ON me"!

No Good News

Pipke is ill again!

She has again the same problems.

It looks like we are sitting in a “roller coaster” with Pipke's health!

The tops are no longer high, the valleys go much deeper and it goes faster and faster!

Again we had to go to the veterinarian, I will spare you the details because her situation is very bad.

It seems almost hopeless, and if she recover this time it will be a miracle. We do all we can to comfort her.....we cannot give up hope!

I have the first part of her story ready (already more then two weeks). I have written it with a relieved feeling and with so much pleasure when I was looking at her pictures, but when she became ill again....... I lost the courage to publish it.

Now I am writing this with tears in my eyes, but I will continue her story!

Will follow soon!

Through the Eye of the Needle

The last two weeks we went through the “worst” weeks in Pipke's life so far!

Like I told you in the last post, she refused to eat! It's now the tenth year that she has that same problem, twice a year (last year it was even three times).

She barely could stand on her tiny feet and lost all the weight she gained last time.

The other times that she was ill, we always went to the vet for probe feeding, but we are not eager to do that because that's every time such a heavy load for her!

It always seemed that she had a problem with swallowing and because of that the vet always started with probe feeding.

This time we thought: we do the grains in a cutter and crush them, but also now she had a problem to swallow them. Because that didn't work, I pulverized them and pressed them through a sift! Now it was almost like a powder and guess what.... when we presented this to her, she had some interest in it.

Every two hours (sometimes even more) we took her inside the house in the laundry room to give her this powder in lukewarm water.

So she started to eat again, every time a little more, she lost no more weight and at the moment she is stable but still much too skinny.

Sometimes she takes a grain by herself and that's a good sign.

I think next time I can continue her story with a “relieved” feeling!

Till next time

Oei...oei...ai...ai.....plop!!!

I have laid my egg! 

Dear readers

Welcome to my nest!

May I introduce myself.
I am a Belgian Dutch speaking woman and I am not used to write in English. You must take into account that I had only one year English lessons, now almost 50 years ago. So, maybe this blog will sound (only “sometimes” I hope) ridiculous. If this is the case, and it will “perk up" your day ... that's good ... have a good laugh ... then I am glad!

If you can't laugh with my “Bloopers”... then please ... don't read further!

You must also know that I have learned to work with the computer and the Internet only one year ago.

That opened a whole new world for me!

So, I still have a lot to learn and I also don't know if this blog will work, but “the first step is the hardest” and I will try to do my best.

What I am planning to do with this blog?

First to tell the “full” story of my dear Pipke, a white crested female duck! I have rescued her at the moment that she hatched in an abandoned nest during a very heavy rainstorm! She is now almost 14 years old! First I will tell you her “short” story, later on I will tell you about her “adventures” (and she has several)!

So now and then I will add some photographs, so you can see her grow up.

My blogger friend Jen asked me to write a guest post for her blog* and there she published already the “short” story of Pipke! It is “she” who pulled me over the line and gave me courage to start my “own” blog. I must thank her for that.

How this all started.

In January last year I saw a wildlife documentary called “Raising Sancho”on BBC 1 .

Attention: the link above was no longer available. 

Watch here the new version released in 2018. 

This is the touching story of a giant otter cub called Sancho who was rescued and being raised by Brazilian naturalist Carolina Vargas. Sancho had to be bottle fed, shown how to catch fish and taught to outsmart the many predators of the Pantanal – the world's biggest wetland.

The story touched me very deep, because ... I also rescued a little animal and raised it!

In search of that program and more news about Sancho, I asked my husband to look on the Internet fore more information! (At that time I couldn't work with the computer.)

So I came on Jen's blog (Mountain Time), and she gave me more information. To be able to follow this interesting blog, I started to learn how to work with the computer and the Internet.

And now I am here, one year later and I still follow Jen's blog!

I will start the story of Pipke soon, I think very soon, because at the moment she is again very ill!

For the bloggers who know her situation already, for one whole month she was better but now again she's eating less and loosing weight!

Yesterday (1/24/09) we went to the vet for the 278^th time!! This time not yet for probe feeding but for vitamins and pain release injections. She is losing much feathers (which are no longer waterproof) and now she has also a bolt spot on her back.

I hope she will still “be here” next spring, but like she is now .... I lose the belief in her recovering because she has lost that “twinkle” in her eyes! She doesn't eat by herself, we must put her food in lukewarm water and then when we stir with our finger in the water, she starts eating.

Then she overloads me with cuddles, again and again, that is ... so sweet ... but also almost “heartbreaking” because we realize that “these” maybe “are” her “ last” cuddles!

I must try not to think on it and I hope, that next time I can start her story with “good news”!

As a small foretaste on that next time : see here her first picture only three hours old!

How could you “not love” this downy little creature!!

Pipke May 25, 1995

Till next time!

To Jen, from Mountain Time. 

Can you remember “these” words? (It was the start of something “ beautiful”!!)

“Someone alert the media.”........the rest...you can fill in!!

PS: I want to thank jim-irie for sending me the film about raising Sancho!