Category: Photo Diary
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Pretty, Pretty Books
Honestly, there’s no other point to this post than to show off my pretty book babies. A Trial of Sparks & Kindling came in the mail a week or two ago, and I pulled out the props for a quick photoshoot. I just love the way the two books look together, and am once again […]
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Writing Retreat to Rocky Mountain House
My family and friends were lucky enough to go on a mid-week retreat to a fantabulous cabin just outside of Rocky Mountain House. My plan for this retreat was to WRITE and I’m happy to report I managed to revise a few chapters of Book 3. The setting was ideal for writing. Loads of gorgeous […]
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July in Photos
The month of July was heatwave upon heatwave, with the odd smoggy day thrown in the mix due to many raging wildfires in North America. You’ll clearly see the effect of those in the final handful of photos, though the photos do look worse than it was IRL. The air smelled of smoke for a […]
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Weekend in Cold Lake
We went away for the first time in, like, ever, and it was incredible. Worth every second of the 6-hour drive, worth every mosquito bite, and worth the ‘spot the *insert colour here* car’ games born out of serious boredom. That said, I don’t want to come off as insensitive. It’s starting to feel something […]
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June in Photos
It’s been a busy one, folks. My kid finished Gr 2 (with three dress up spirit days thrown into the mix), Jan and I were fully vaccinated, and we’re surviving an intense heatwave. There was a lot of drawing, yummy treats, and time spent outdoors. Here are some highlights. Have a good one. Yolandie
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May in Photos
I did a photo a day challenge in May, and I’m happy to say I actually stuck with it! Up until the last few days, anyway. Still, I did better than I imagined I would, and I’m proud of that. Most of these photos were featured on my Instagram as part of the challenge, though […]
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Chalk Fun Day
I’m in that weird ‘just finished a book’ phase of the writing cycle. During this time, I struggle to focus on anything for long periods of time and my mind constantly wanders. I reckon it’s because so much of my brain capacity is allocated to storylines and keeping the plot together while I’m writing. My […]
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Let’s Get Inspired
IDK what it is, but I’m feeling a bit low creatively. It’s like I can only make stuff if someone tells me what to make. It’s that weird low-energy after-anxiety thing that happens. So, I figured if I needed to be told what to create, I’d best turn to something I know will help. Lists. […]
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Some Weekend Stuff
It was a busy one, folks. Kayla wanted a girls’ day, so that’s how my Friday went down. In the late afternoon, I had another buddy write with the fabulous JR Rainsville, and actually got some stuff done! With the lockdown restrictions tightening again, the only time we can see other people is while outdoors. […]
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The Random Photo Post
Just a collection of random shots from my last few weeks. Enjoy! Have a good one, folks! Yolandie
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While I was Away
This post is basically a collection of random photos. I took some with my Instagram account in mind, but most are just spur of the moment, hey-look-a-shiny! pics. Did they make it to Instagram? Nope. Still, this is a pretty good collage of my quiet, uneventful lockdown life, and I figure I should document it […]
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Trip to Blackshale Suspension Bridge
Last weekend, we went hiking with friends. Why? Because Canada is a peacock on show this time of year. Blue skies, golden trees, and glittering water. Folks, I love it here. Anyway. We visited the suspension bridge first, walked around the area there, then decided to find another, slightly longer hiking route. Unfortunately, this idea […]
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About Yesterday…
So, yesterday. One of my author buddies, Suneé le Roux, posted the book trailer for her upcoming novel, Myth Hunter, on Facebook. Seeing the video reminded me that I started working on a book trailer for A Trial of Sparks & Kindling aaaaaages ago, and promptly forgot about it. Here’s a disclaimer for you. This […]
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SA Bookswap – December 2019
I was lucky enough to take part in another South African Bookswap as 2019 ended. This time, the theme was Baby it’s (not) Cold Outside. It’s summer in South Africa, but this theme also allowed participants to do a Christmas themed box if they chose to. Since the two of us who participate in this […]
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New Year’s Eve 2019
We entered 2020 in one of the most beautiful places in the world–right at the foot of the Rocky Mountains in Banff. Can you say incredible vistas, the freshest air, and fabulous company? For us, this little trip was brimming with new experiences. We got to stay at the Rimrock hotel with friends, and we […]
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Montecasino Bird Gardens (Vacation Pics Part Two)
I mentioned in the first vacation photo post that we did one touristy thing while in South Africa, and this is it. When Kayla was about a year old, we also visited the bird gardens. Since she doesn’t remember that, and she’s quite the zoology buff, we reckoned she might enjoy going again. So, on […]
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Vacation Pics (Part One)
Aren’t you proud that we managed to take some photos on this last visit to South Africa. You know, amid the chaos that was this last visit to South Africa. 🙂 We managed to do a total of one touristy thing, the pics of which I’ll share with you next week. Brace yourselves for lots […]
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Exploring Lake Minnewanka
As with most of the well-known tourist spots, we’ve visited Lake Minnewanka before. Just a quick stop, though, as the sheer mass of tourists kept us from exploring the area last time we were there. This time, no such thing happened. We drove mountain-side last weekend, stopped at Minnewanka, and could finally see what the […]
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Johnston Canyon Revisited
The last time we went to this magical place, the ice was thick and we had no spikes on our shoes. We’re noobs. How are we supposed to know you need spike strips when visiting Canadian parks in the winter. 😛 We’ve wanted to go back since that first time–heck, we’ve even tried–but somehow, something […]
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SA Bookswap
The South African Bookswap, organised by Tams, or Bibliobookwolf on Instagram, is one of the coolest bookswaps ever, and I wanted in. Of course, South African as I may be, I don’t live in the country. Or even on the African continent. With shipping costs as high as they are, pairing me with a bookswapper […]
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Trip to Big Hill Springs
During the Summer Holidays, we headed out to hike in Big Hill Springs with friends. It was a super humid day, with oodles and oodles of mosquitoes. The kind of mosquito that bit while we walked, but only some of us were victims. Jan and Kayla, for example, had no bites at all, while I […]
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A Hike to Grassi Lakes
I swear, every time I think I’ve seen all Canada has to offer, we discover a new route to hike and our minds end up exploding. Grassi Lakes is one of those places that will take away your breath and make you want to stay forever. The best part? We’d never even have known it […]
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The Random Photo Post
These are the last of the vacation photos, the stragglers who didn’t come in with the rest of the herd. My in-laws aren’t really photo people. I have a wall of photos in my house, a display of all of the faces we love, but the last family photo I have of us and my […]
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Calgary Stampede & Parade 2019
Yahoo! Our very first Stampede stomped around in early July, and these new Calgarians were there to enjoy it all. Parade day was cool and overcast–apparently not the usual weather around Stampede. Still, I reckon the cool air was good, since we didn’t need to deal with general sweatiness. We were also quite lucky and […]
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Vacation Photo Diary Vol 1
We went to the mountains. I mean, this was obviously one of the first things we did while my in-laws visited. Have you seen the Rockies? I want to live there. 🙂 We explored Banff and Bow Falls this time, so expect to be bombarded with images of nature that will pull at your heartstrings. […]
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A Visit to Calaway Park
The weather forecast wasn’t great, but we had family over last weekend and decided to have some fun at Calaway Park. None of us had ever been there, so this promised to be a day of exploration. This is not a sponsored post. 🙂 What I really love about Calaway Park is how family-oriented the […]
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Exploring Bowness Park
Now that the weather is getting better, we’ve had more opportunities to explore Calgary. We’ve been living here for 7 months now (SE-VEN, holy crap, when did that happen?) and still haven’t seen most of what Calgary has to offer. Friends have recommended the Bowness Park trip multiple times, but though we’ve been in the […]
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Mother’s Day 2019
Jan and I aren’t really big on celebrating holidays. We’re more chillaxed and show-them-daily than I-need-to-spend-all-the-money-to-make-them-feel-appreciated people. No judgement if you’re a hard holiday celebrator, it’s just not our groove. So this was literally the first year since Kayla’s birth that we went out of Mother’s Day. And then only because we had friends over […]
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Royal Alberta Museum
For the first time in forever, we went away for a weekend. Since a blizzard was in the cards for Calgary, we reckoned we’d get the hell away from here, and maybe catch some sun up north. We have friends and family in St. Paul and Cold Lake, and have been dying to visit them. […]
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Johnston Canyon
Since Canada is gorgeous and we have serious wanderlust, we headed out to the Rockies again. As if we could be kept away. This time, our destination was Johnston Canyon and the mission was to see the frozen falls. We miscalculated a little. Who’d have thought the pathways would still be slick with ice now […]
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Peace Bridge Explored
One of the coolest landmarks in Calgary has to be Peace Bridge. Apparently, the locals have nicknamed this one ‘Finger Trap Bridge’, because it kind of looks like a finger trap. I personally think it resembles a diamond back snake. Either way, it’s gorgeous. We haven’t spent that much time exploring Downtown Calgary since we […]
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Snowy Hike
This winter was tough. November through January was lovely, but then February happened. As these things go, it was a record cold February in Calgary–you know, just to welcome its new South African residents. It seems we’ve been breaking records where weather is concerned wherever we’ve moved in the last few years. Remember last year […]
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Two Jack Lake & Banff
We couldn’t wait to go back to the mountains. I think this is going to be a theme. We go, have a blast, then already miss the feeling of a higher vantage point as we drive home. We’re always a little desperate to go back, always more at home in those higher reaches. Last time […]
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Walking on Water – Lake Louise
You’d think–after everything–we’d pretty much be sick of road trips, but you’d be wrong. Why? Well, mountains. They call to us. We’ve seen some mountains before, of course. When Kayla was just a wee babe we went to the Drakensberg in South Africa, and we also experienced the glorious Bavarian Alps one December, back when […]
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Downtown Calgary
One of our first exploration trips took us into the heart of Calgary. We hadn’t planned anything specific–it was a see where the road takes us kind of thing, AKA we wanted to get out of the house. Back in Toronto, it was always fun to go Downtown, and while some of us are in full-blown […]
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Homeward
When you’ve left as many times as we have, you learn that home isn’t the land, air, or water. Definitely not bricks and mortar. Home is a smile, a hug, a long conversation at the end of the day, a week, or even a month. Home is a beating heart. For this reason, I know […]
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Niagara 2.0
The last time we visited Niagara Falls, the fog was so thick we could barely see anything. Going back was a huge bucket list item for us, so we did just on an EXTREMELY hot Sunday this summer. The experience was completely different. Last time, we froze our butts off. Everything was covered in ice, […]
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Horton Tree Farms
Living in Canada means loads of snow and maple syrup. As a self-proclaimed right of passage in our journey to become Canadian citizens, we figured it was a must to visit a maple farm and witness the process of making maple syrup. We’ve seen it a time or two on TV shows, but the actual […]
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Visit to Reptilia Zoo
It’s no secret that Kayla is a serious lover of creepies and crawlies. Her perfect day involves crocodiles and spiders, so we figured we’d deliver. The Reptilia Zoo in Vaughn caught our attention last year, but we haven’t had a free moment to go – until last weekend. As you can imagine, we had one […]
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Canadian International Autoshow 2018
As you can probably guess from the title, we saw some cars the other day. And rightly so, considering I share a house with two major auto enthusiasts. Kayla’s one big dream for the day was to see a real racecar, while Jan wanted to check out all the American cars we don’t usually get […]
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Sledding Fun
I mentioned on Monday that we went sledding for the first time. Loads. Of. Fun. I never imagined I’d like it, I’m not a very sporty person, but I’m excited for when we go again. 🙂 And if I’m excited, you can imagine what’s going on in the Kayla’s mind. She had an absolute blast, […]
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Niagara Falls and Fog
Lots and lots of fog. And thick. Trust us to lose one of the most impressive natural landmarks in the world in a blanket of fog. Oh, you don’t believe me, do you? Nobody can lose a waterfall, not one that big. Luckily, I have photos as proof. 🙂 We headed out to the falls two […]
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Vacation Highlights
As many of you know, my parents came for a visit over the month of December. I’ve already shared photo posts of us doing the things tourists do (over here and here if you missed it) but we still had some other expeditions that you haven’t seen. Since there are SO MANY photos, I thought I’d […]
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Snow Fun
I learned one of the most important lessons of my life as an immigrant this week – don’t leave the snow shovelling for the next morning. Also, snow shovelling? Not fun, but really satisfying when it’s over. Having a walkable sidewalk made me feel fantastic, weird as that may sound. And thankfully, I had my […]
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CN Tower and Ripley’s Aquarium (My WIP)
I’m typing this as the snow is falling and slowly piling up outside. Just thought I’d put that out there, since our friends and family in Europe and the UK have been spamming us with wonderful imagery of snow, and we’ve been feeling left out here in Toronto. Ironically, everybody was expecting us to spam […]
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Gingerbread House
When we saw gingerbread house kits in Michael’s the other day, my husband immediately knew we had to build one together. He’d always wanted to try baking a gingerbread house, but I’ve never been that interested in art of the food variety. Sure, I bake when I have to, but I much prefer a paintbrush to […]
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Toronto Christmas Market 2017
I guess we wanted to see how the Canadians do Christmas. You know, considering we’ve been to a lot of European Christmas markets. 🙂 Living in Germany will do that to you. Honestly, the Toronto Christmas Market was a lot like its German counterparts – merry, happy, jolly. Sure, this time around we understood the […]
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Photo Catch-Up
It’s been a while since I’ve shared some photos with you, I’ve barely been in front of my computer in the last few weeks. In the name of some semblance of normalcy though, it’s time to fix that. These pics span from around the middle of October to this past weekend. There’s no real theme […]
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First Week in Canada
It’s difficult to believe, but there it is. We’ve been in our new home for a week already. One of the first observations or questions we get asked now has to do with the weather. Who’d have thought, right? 😛 But no, it’s really not freezing here in the north. In fact, at this stage, […]
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Family Weekend in Pictures
I’m so sorry I missed Friday’s post! It slipped away from me without my notice. We had my brother and sister in law over for the weekend, a last visit before the big move, and spending time with them got priority over being in front of the computer. This was also probably the last weekend of […]
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Duisburg Zoo 2.0
We’ve had precious few sunshine days this past season, so whenever we had even half a chance of catching a ray or two, we were outside. Feeling bolstered by the cloudless day, we hiked to Duisburg Zoo. We’ve been at the zoo twice before and this is my second blog about it (hence the 2.0). […]
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Anniversary Pics
As promised, here’s the bonus Thursday post. 🙂 For the 9th anniversary, we headed to Düsseldorf. This actually happened by accident. The real reason for the trip was to pick up our passports with the brand-spanking-new visas to enter Canada. Both of us had completely forgotten it happened to be our anniversary too. 😛 Since […]
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De Haar Castle
We’ve wanted to go to this place since we arrived in Europe, but every time we had the trip planned, something got in the way. We finally drove to the Netherlands on one sunny Sunday to feast our eyes upon the glory that is Castle De Haar. The original castle suffered major damages in a […]
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Visit to Duisburg
Would you believe we’d been living in Germany for almost two years before we went for a stroll in Duisburg (our neighbouring town)? I couldn’t either. Duisburg is a quiet city with an abundance of fountains in the city centre. Colourful and weird, these fountains create a strange contrast to the ancient buildings in the […]
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Soccer – Essen vs Mönchengladbach
We’re not the biggest sports supporters in the world, but there’s something incredible about going to a live soccer game. To those of you who take this seriously, I know it’s called football in Europe. I’m South African, so to me it’s soccer. No offence meant. Anyway, the last game we went to (which was […]
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Sunday Afternoon Hike
Sunshine has been rare this summer – I don’t know what’s going on. Apart from three or so heat waves, we’ve had an excess of rain and gloom this season. Pretty depressing, if you ask me. Especially considering the fact that I had a tan last year this time. So, when the sun is out, […]
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When Parkruns Rain Out
Well, I’m sure some of the other runners still had their fun, but by the time we reached Düsseldorf, it was coming down in buckets. So much so that my water resistant jacket (and shirt underneath) were drenched and we had to stop to buy something dry and warm to wear. Jan and Mario would have […]
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Ten Pin Bowling
Life is full of little firsts. A while ago, one of these came up for Kayla, when we took her bowling for the first time. Jan and I used to love bowling back in SA, but haven’t played in about 5 years. Thinking about it now, that puts the last time we played at before […]
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Düsseldorf Kirmis 2017
Another weekend, another fair. Let me tell you something about this one, though – it was huge. Everything is bigger and better in Düsseldorf, right? I almost felt bad for the Saarner Kirmes we’d visited the weekend before. On a cloudy Sunday, we headed to the city to see the fair. Loud music, delicious food […]
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France Festival 2017 in Düsseldorf
One sunny Sunday, we went to Düsseldorf on a macaron-finding quest. It was France festival, after all, so it would be a likely place to find French sweets, right? Well. Hundreds of stalls were set up along the River Rhein, with long tables across a narrow walkway, filled with wine and cheese connoisseurs. The brunt of the […]
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Saarner Kirmes (Fair)
In the post about those things I love about Germany, I mentioned random fairs popping up at every opportunity. This weekend, we found one of those. 🙂 The Saarner Kirmes set up in our hometown of Mülheim an der Ruhr, on the bank of the River Ruhr (Saarn is a suburb of Mülheim). We wouldn’t […]
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Weekend Recap
I’d call it a Weekend in Pictures post, only I took too few photos for that. I don’t understand how the picture-drought happened, to be honest. We got up to SO MUCH, I just didn’t think to snap the events. Those moments I did shoot fall off the other side of the spectrum. I have 32 […]
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The June Report
My… month in pictures? The monthly recap? As far as alternative titles go, these aren’t the best. Sorry. 🙂 Since I didn’t do a single post with photos from this month, I thought I’d give you an overview today (all my WIP posts were of adventures from past months). I’ve been toying with this recap post idea for a […]
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Japan Day 2017
Japan day took place on the 20th of May, in Düsseldorf. This yearly event sees thousands of cosplayers in the city, all to see the firework shows, sumo wrestling, samurai artefacts, talks hosted by the Japanese Embassy and so much more. Most people come to dress up, though. Some come in full costume, so detailed […]
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Trains & Tulips in Grugapark
Towards the end of April, we visited Grugapark one day. We found ourselves suddenly alone after our fabulous vacation, and needed some TLC. Hence, the visit to the park. We’ve been to Gruga a few times before, but we’d never seen it covered in tulips. Being nature-folk, you can imagine how much we enjoyed this […]
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The Random Post
This is the end. We had a blast, saw amazing things and bonded with our tribe. We miss them terribly. The house is still quiet. Going through all of these photos somehow amplifies that. But, before I get too soppy, let’s get on with the post. While I shared all the main events with you, I […]
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From Beethoven to Burg Castle
On the last full day of our vacation, we drove to Bonn to fulfil a dream. Lizanne is a muso and a massive Beethoven enthusiast. So, when she found out that we could go to his birthplace, she was pretty much out of her skin.
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Tulips from Amsterdam
We returned to Amsterdam after a day of rest, but this time, we had a mission. Tulip fields.
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Hello, Amsterdam
Oh, Amsterdam. Still one of my favourite places on earth. The sweet smell in the air (no, not the weed, the pastries :P), the buzz in the streets and the beauty of the city will always draw me to return. Add the fact that we can be understood when speaking Afrikaans and it becomes all the more […]
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Visit to Maastricht and Aachen
We love these two cities so much, we’ve visited both before. This was our second time in Maastricht, Netherlands, and also our second visit to Aachen, which is a small German border-town. I can highly recommend both. This was a lazy Sunday trip and would also be the last warm, sunny day we had while […]
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Farewell, Rome.
On our last day, we had to leave the apartment by 10. Since we had to keep our luggage with us until we left for the airport, we decided to treat the kids. They’d been such little troopers with all the sightseeing, after all.
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Rome – Day 4
By this time, we were knackered. Four days in Rome, walking off your toes will do that to you. Having said that, we were still just as in awe of the place as we were upon arrival. Rome, folks. It’s magical.
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Rome – Day 3
After the excitement from the night before, we returned to the Pantheon first thing on the third morning. Well, first thing is relative. The Groenewalds are early risers. An admirable trait, I tell you. Kayla and I, though, *are not* early risers. In fact, we’re some of the grumpiest morning people you’ll ever meet. Nobody wants […]
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Rome – Day 2
In an unfortunate turn of events, we seem to have lost some of the vacation photos. Don’t hyperventilate yet, though. All my photos are still intact. We’ll get the rest at some point in time, but you probably won’t get to see them. Meh. Our second day in Rome (day one here) was sunny and […]
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Rome – Day 1
So, Rome. Folks, you don’t even begin to understand the spell this place has me under. Even now, I can’t get it out of my mind. But then, Venice was amazing, so maybe I should have known how bewitching I’d find Rome.
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Cologne 3.0
There’s a feeling that fills your chest when you round that corner, or take that step out of the train station in Cologne. The first and most undeniable structure in the heart of the city is the Cologne Cathedral – majestic, impossible and awe-inspiring. It claims your every thought and emotion with its sheer size, […]
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The House is Quiet
Well, I’m back. This vacation was one for the record books. Having friends over was seriously special, and more so because we experienced so many new things together. It was an honour to have them fly half-way around the globe to visit us. All the warm and fuzzies were felt. Having said that, I’ll try […]
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Chillax (My WIP)
Last week, I mentioned the rain being late. Yeah. Not long after I posted that, it came down in buckets. The rain didn’t stop until Friday afternoon, when the weather jerked into spring mode. As in, it went from cool indoors and winter-jacket-cold outside to ‘hey, we’re in short sleeves, please turn off the heating’. […]
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The Rain is Late
Last year this time, we had maybe an afternoon of sunshine every two weeks. The drizzle was constant, predictable like the beat of my heart. Depressing too. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of rain. I come from a place where the thunderstorms are legendary, with rushes of rain like waterfalls and crashing thunder […]
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Kaiser Animal Park
With the weather in Germany finally turning, we’ve been seeing some sun. Though, that thought barely crossed my mind when the rain arrived. As I type this, it’s dristing outside. No, that’s not a word. It’s a weather phenomenon that is neither drizzle nor mist, and is so definitive of Europe that you probably have the exact […]
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Unexpected, but Fun
If you’ve been around the blog for a while, you’ll know I’m the obsessive type. Whenever I do something, I hurl myself at it until it’s done and I’m exhausted. Then I go into a weird, anti-climactic ‘what the hell now?’ state. That’s what I’m combatting now. So, since finishing the latest revision of The […]
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Ice Cold
Last week, I bombarded you with images of snow. This week, it’s ice. You see a theme here? This winter has been more than a smidge colder than last, but the weather brings many new experiences for those of us originally from warmer parts. So, ice. We live close to the River Ruhr, but we […]
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On Excess
We entered 2017 to a chorus of whistles, glittery explosions, pops and sizzles. Fireworks. Hours and hours worth of fireworks. Just to keep you in the know – in South Africa, fireworks are pretty much illegal. The minority of people still shoot these pretties to celebrate the new year, but on the whole, it’s a […]
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Snow Day
If you’ve hung around the blog, you’ll know we’re a family of South Africans living in Germany. Johannesburg is our hometown, and is overall not a very snowy place. In fact, we’re used to truckloads of sunshine all year round, with some thunderstorms in the warm season. We find European weather a strange phenomenon. Here […]
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Neuschwanstein Trip
We’ve been ogling this castle for a looooong time. You know how I feel about castles to begin with, but this one was kind of special, and not just because it’s the template for the Disney castle. Imagine this place, with its majestic spires and pristine white bricks, keeping its vigil on the side of a […]
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Munich Zoo
Hello, all you lovely folks. Hope you had a good weekend. As I mentioned on Friday, our trip to Munich ended in a zoo, because of a three-year-old’s heartfelt request. For this reason, we braved the cold, ignored the patches of snow on the ground, and went to see some animals. The highlight of the […]
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Kayla’s Birthday Blog
My baby turned three yesterday, folks. Three. I can’t even. I baked the cake on Monday afternoon, cleaned the house, wrapped the gifts and then Jan and I decorated the cake in the evening. We woke up to Kayla bellowing something about her birthday party yesterday morning. 🙂 From there on, it was gift opening, […]
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My WIP – Tree Decorating and Tower-scapes
We spent Kayla’s first two Christmases in South Africa, but for the one she was 6 weeks old and for the other, just over a year. So I doubt she remembers much. Last year, we didn’t want to make too much of a fuss, because our apartment was still temporary and we didn’t want to […]
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My WIP – Where Did Autumn Go?
First of all, I apologise for missing yet another blog post on Friday. I went to my German lesson as always, then received the bad news that one of our doggies in South Africa passed away. I was really sad and shocked by the news, which really just jumbled my mind, I accomplished nothing for […]
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Day in Düsseldorf
Hi there, folks. Good to have you back here! After dashing off to write on Friday, a severe case of writer’s block made my life miserable. I pretty much wrote a few words, deleted them, wrote a few more and deleted them too. It sucked. Jan saved the day on Saturday, by arranging a Dad […]
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My Long WIP – After the Rain
Hello there! Hope your weekend was good. Mine sure was. I didn’t take so many photos, but the family and friends will be glad to hear that this post will officially be Kayla-fest. As any typical mother, there will always be tons of photos of my kid. 😛 Inktober is in full swing, but I […]
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Visit to Kaiser Park
So, Oberhausen has a schloss (this word can be used to describe anything from a castle to a manor house – in this case, it’s a manor house) and a park, but we’ve been putting off going there. First of all, the schloss is not that impressive (in our opinions) and we had no idea that […]
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My WIP – I See You
I’ve always had pretty good eyesight, but recently it’s been a mission to read the signs at the station, or the subtitles when I watch anime. Plus, the headaches. I knew it was time to have my eyes tested looong before I actually had them tested, but, you know, anxiety. You can guess by the way this […]
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My WIP – Forests and Food
Welcome back! I said this last week somewhere and I’ll say it again – I feel as if a train ran over my head, realised it was on the wrong course and then reversed. I’ve been unable to stay fully awake at any given time for about 8 days solid. Hello, Monday. This weekend was […]
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My WIP – Heatwave
You would never guess from the title, but we had one hellishly warm weekend. In fact, all of last week was the kind of weather where your clothes are perpetually stick to your skin – moist and glistening. Yuck. All I can say is that a lot of ice cream was involved. On Friday, our […]
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My WIP – Girls’ Day and Legoland
This title is probably a little misleading, because everyday is ‘girl’s day’ in my house. You know, because I stay at home with Kayla and all that. The difference is that we don’t usually have girl’s days on weekends when Jan is home. Last week from Thursday to Sunday was Gamescom in Cologne and, being […]
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Castle Hopping – Part Two
This second instalment of castle hopping reached over two countries. So exciting. 🙂 You can see day one here, if you haven’t yet. Maastricht in the Netherlands was our first destination. This is a pretty amazing place, with cobbled streets and beautiful old buildings. You must be getting tired of the words ‘cobbled streets’ and […]
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Castle Hopping – Part One
Friends – castles. Over the weekend, we saw three of them. OK, fine, we saw one castle and two palaces, but you get the general idea. We also visited some monuments, a small fort with an actual moat and drove between two countries. It was amazing. Here’s how it went down.
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American Muscle Cars
The other day, we went to this muscle car exhibition at CentrO, Oberhausen. Jan is a pretty big car enthusiast. So when he found out about this car show, he was firing on all cylinders to get there. Especially when he heard there would be Mustangs, among the other American-loved cars. We saw Oldsmobiles, Dodges […]
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South Africa Trip – Recap
Hi there, folks! I am indeed back in the northern hemisphere and back to blogging / work. Of course, before I can get to blogging about other stuff again, I know you want to see my vacation photos and hear about what we got up to. First of all, I have to warn you that […]