Feeling... happy with how my painting is coming along :D

Well, every country has its own so called normal and extremes :)
No need to diss someone else's experiences because yours are different.
It's not a competition, ya know!

Thinking... what an afternoon?!
A cool start after more than a week of extremely high temps, then we got loads of rain, really bad thunder again & again during the entire afternoon.
And once the rain turned to hail of 2-2,5cm Ø !!
THAT was frightening.
I knew it could occur, never had it happen. The noise alone! And I feared the roofing of my extension wouldn't be able to withstand that onslaught. I already had buckets out in case of leakage.
Thank goodness it held!
But the noise, on the flat roof and against the windows...

Spectre
Going through Craig's Bond movies :)
I never really liked Spectre a lot but I guess it was very difficult to come back after something as good as Skyfall.

I don't feel the chemistry between Bond and the woman either although in interviews both have said they do have it.

Nevertheless it's a good movie. Daniel Craig still in shape and still a sight for sore eyes :)

Thinking... it was good we had a shower just now! The garden needs it!
And first time in days that the temp indoors dropped below 27,5C. For now.
It's been 30C and 30,5C for more days than I like. I'm going to save up for an AC for sure!

Hiya, and welcome here!
There is a subforum on food lower down on the board :)
There's one on dinner, but you can also start one for breakfast of course.
Could be interesting to see what people eat in the morning.

Yay! Dutch team won again!!
I didn't watch the match as it was played in the middle of the night. But still good news that we beat Tunisia with 3-1 :D

Thinking... getting fed up with the heat!
Code Red today.
Can't recall ever having Code Red :o

There's a 3 day gig next to the beach, stone's throw away from me. 45.000 people a day. I cannot believe it didn't get cancelled... People could die standing on that asphalt, getting excited, drinking alcohol etc. etc.

As for me... started the day of with 29,5C. Indoors...
Where's the W wind when you need it?!

Feeling... sleepy but not sure I can even fall asleep as it's so hot indoors.

TXS Glad to hear you enjoyed it :)
If you want another nice series to watch try CIA.
Or if you haven't watched it yet, Strike Back. Season 1 through 5 of that are excellent!


OT --- watched Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace.
The next one, Skyfall is next, but not tonight anymore.

Feeling... sorry for my 3 cats. The poor things are also struggling with this stinking heat :'(

Thinking... I've just about had enough of this friggin' heatwave! After today there's 2 more extremely hot days to go, Friday being the worst.

It's already 28C in my livingroom...
I think this is the hottest it's ever gotten inside!

Thank you for that feedback, Merry!
I read up on the situation just now. Scary and stressful. I was shocked, didn't know any of that as I stopped following the news 11 years ago.
And learnt through the years that when there's something of importance I always find out regardless.
But truly scary what's going on. At the same time very understandable. Illegals pose a huge problem everywhere.
Stay safe!!

LARSI, thank you for that feedback!
Makes a lot of sense. We have similar things here too. Certain areas are looked down upon, mostly the south, farm area. Also difference in religion: The south was conquered by both the Spanish and later on the French and hence it's catholic.
Above the rivers like the Rhine people generally speaking are reformed. They weren't conquered by the Spanish & nor the French.

My son told me most German tourists that come here are from NRW.

So that means you aren't referred to as "Afrikaaner"?
Now if I may ask, aren't there lingering ill feelings towards the white people in SA because of the history?
After all it's not that long ago.
My dad went to SA in the 70s by himself to see if he could find work there after which we'd likely emigrate.
He was shocked by how the non-Caucasians were treated!
So only 55 years ago the situation was bad. And I cannot recall exactly when this apartheid shizzel ended, I think in the 90s?
Meaning only 35 years ago.
When looking at the US and how difficult things still are there between black & white... it takes a long time for things to change. As in really change.
Now I don't know if there's a difference in this between Malay and African people.
But just wondering to what extent things have truly become (more) equal?

Thinking... Can't wait for the Gesso (primer) to have totally dried so I can get the paints out!! :D

Well, I once wanted to make a corn dolly for Lammas/ Lughnasad harvest festival.
Failed abysmally, hihi. But I tried!
Gave me serious respect for basket makers/weavers though! It looks so easy, but it isn't.

I've made a bracelet from beads I made from red rose petals. The one time I used my little cauldron on the stove :)
I had doubts it'd work, but it did!

I wanted to dye fabric with woad. I so love that colour! It's quite a lot of work and you have to make a vat. Traditionally a urine vat but that is extremely smelly so I used the alternative; soda ash.
Unfortunately I couldn't keep the vat at a constant and warm enough temperature so it didn't work out...

I'd love to learn various bushcraft skills. Making cordage from nettles for instance, although I'm not sure I'd have the patience for that.
Various firemaking skills, making bow & arrows etc.

Merry, wow, I never thought of that! Sure nice to hear :)
I once came across a small group of Afrikaner friends at work in Australia. I spent quite some time talking to them about the language, SA etc. I had a good time, great people!

In any case, to get back to football... (sorry bout the history waffle, I can get carried away as I find that stuff so interesting!)...

Happy the Dutch team did so well last night! I rarely watch football so it was a treat that the match was good!

We had an awesome team in '88 with Koeman and Ruud Gullit. We did really well in those days!
Dutch football went down the drain for quite a long time after that as far as I know.

But in '88 the street were empty and all was quiet when we played. Everyone in front of the telly. Every goal we made you could hear the entire city cheer, haha. It was brill!
And people took to the streets after we'd won, driving round in orange shirts etc., cheering and honking while driving.
I think that was the time of these god awful vuvuzelas as well?

I remember I had to go somewhere by bus during a match and I had to leave right before the end. I was narked but had no choice but go to the bus stop.
You could hear a pin drop, no one outdoors but me.
Then right before the bus arrived you heard this wave of cheering and I knew we'd won :)

As for the rest, I don't know if we'd ever get along. To be honest, and truly nothing personal, just observation, I don't think I've ever come across anyone who likes Germans.
Not here, but not abroad either.
Germans are so different from us Dutch. And not so say the Dutch are nice folk. In general I'm not impressed with how the Dutch are.
But I think the German attitude and how they treat other people (non Germans) goes back hundreds of years.
I'm not quite sure what exactly makes them so different compared to other Europeans. But in a way I'm inclined to say they're the toughest MFs on the planet.
I mean, even the Romans failed to conquer them.
But that attitude is what they still exude. Entitlement & arrogance. They generally make you feel they're superior. Even when they don't want to. It even shows in how they drive, go through the supermarkets with their trolleys etc.
It's just in your DNA or something.
And why we don't have it I don't know. After all the Dutch have Germanic roots, certainly the northern half.
I have truly often wondered why you are so different. Researched it online even. I have yet to find the answer to be honest.