By admin , 6 April 2012

New shoes make all the difference

A few days ago I had a very painful run. My old injury in the lower left leg came back and I had to walk more than 25% of the route.

After the run I immediately ordered new shoes -- my previous ones were from November 2010 and completely worn-out. The shoes arrived yesterday and I went out for a run just now.

What a difference! I felt my leg but not strongly and I ran with only my usual walking breaks. Such a relief.

By Guus , 4 April 2012

Solid foods

We have established that Nora loves the smell of bananas and tomatoes -- but hates onions.

When we put a piece of banana under her nose she started smacking her lips; the same with tomatoes. There was no noticeable reaction to either potato chips or lasagna. Is this a sign that she will love only healthy foods? A parent can dream!

A weeks ago I was cooking hachée on the balcony -- a beef dish with a lot of onions -- and at one point I went outside with Nora in my arms. When I opened the pan to check on the food the smell of the food came in her nose and she made a face of absolute disgust.

So, no onions for her anytime soon. Bananas and tomatoes it will be (in a few months).

Topic
dailylife
By Guus , 4 April 2012

De Tweeling

In my parent's house the to-be-returned library books were always on a specific shelf. Right above that were my parents' books, and "De Tweeling" always stood out. The book was published in 1990 so it clearly wasn't there throughout my whole childhood but in my memory the book was always there. It didn't appeal to me then to read it, but two years ago I bought a secondhand copy online.

This is a wonderful novel, and I greatly enjoyed it. It combines a traditional World War II story in the Netherlands with that of a woman growing up in Nazi Germany, and the book beautifully intertwines the life stories of the twins. The reader gets drawn into the story, and is intellectually curious to see how the author will wrap up the story, and emotionally curious to see how the women's lives will turn out.

Some parts of the book read like a boy's book about World War II, vaguely resembling Jan Terlouw's stories about the War in the Netherlands and the hunger winter, others parts are more about family relations and coming of age in difficult circumstances.

The book is also available in an English translation. Recommended.

By Guus , 2 April 2012

Portrait at 6 weeks

This weekend Nora turned 6 weeks old. We made some portrait photos on Saturday; she seemed to enjoy that.

Slowly but surely she start smiling at us. She likes it when we talk or sing to her. We've relearned some Bulgarian and Dutch children songs, so my head is full with "onder hele hoge bomen" all day.

Topic
dailylife