Little Visitor 16 Gallery - Halloween and the Winter Holidays

[IdlersDesign]

I spend an afternoon in Amsterdam yesterday. I do that sometimes in a school holiday, just for fun and to discover the city.

When you walk to Leiden railway station you first see the bike "parking".


And this is Amsterdam Central station:


Just a small street.  The houses are so old that they are askew. (because they were built on sometimes even wooden pilings in the past)  

Did you know some (mainly American, sorry  ) tourists think Amsterdam is not real, but more like an attraction parc for tourists? Just because there are so many beautiful houses and canals.  

And I found a very nice little quilt shop where I bought these cute fat quarters of fabric for PFD ...(M, hope you like!)


This morning we made apfelstrudel. As my SO doesn't like raisins I replaced them with cranberries, the filling smelled so good! We started with a small surface of dough...


And with the help of a youtube video (I never made strudel before) made it into a big transparant sheet of dough. Here the filling is on it.


After I rolled it up and put it in the oven the big disaster happened....
My son had to go to the potty 5 times and I had to help him each time. And I forgot the strudel that I in top of the oven for the last 5 minutes. The baking paper caught flame and I could rush to stop it just in time. Result: a black strudel.  
(it looked too terrible to take a photo)

So, the good news is that we still have about 4 kilos of apples left, so I can try again soon  

[phoenixfiredesigns]

I spend an afternoon in Amsterdam yesterday. I do that sometimes in a school holiday, just for fun and to discover the city.

When you walk to Leiden railway station you first see the bike "parking".

That is a LOT of bikes!

Did you know some (mainly American, sorry  ) tourists think Amsterdam is not real, but more like an attraction parc for tourists? Just because there are so many beautiful houses and canals.  

Silly people! (Though it does look cool looking!)

And I found a very nice little quilt shop where I bought these cute fat quarters of fabric for PFD ...(M, hope you like!)

Very cute!

After I rolled it up and put it in the oven the big disaster happened....
My son had to go to the potty 5 times and I had to help him each time. And I forgot the strudel that I in top of the oven for the last 5 minutes. The baking paper caught flame and I could rush to stop it just in time. Result: a black strudel.  

Aw, that stinks! Glad you have more apples to try again.

[Oath Keeper]

Well it looks like Sandy will be hitting up hard this weekend So much for the plans for this weekend XP Fingers crossed that we don't lose power at least. BUT Sandy won't be stopping Pose and I from going to an early Halloween party tonight

[IzzyBee]

Today I had to go out for some shopping, so took Po to explore the town's riverside gardens when I was finished.

We saw the origami swan statues...


... then we met a real life swan (who wasn't too pleased to see us when it realised we had no food and it couldn't eat Po!), and some ducks and geese on the River Thames...


We also saw the London Stone (if anyone's interested, there's more info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Stone_%28riparian%29 - I think this one is actually a replica, I was going to take Po to see the real one too which is in the museum across the road, but unfortunately it was closed so we'll have to go back another day)






A few days ago we picked what are probably the last of the season's raspberries from my garden...


... and used them (along with the other raspberries I've been picking and freezing for the past few weeks, and some wild-growing blackberries my mum picked) to make some tasty jam...

[Alexampersandra]

What an exciting day! I went to my first professional conference, and on the way home, we stopped at my undergrad alma mater and had dinner and toured the campus! (The place has been under construction since I started there in 2004, so it's always exciting to go back and see what's different.) More photos at www.pbinvb.blogspot .com but here's one in front of the gym / fitness center / and there's a theater and smoothie/sandwich in there too:

[phoenixfiredesigns]

Thursday, I went up to my Mom's to help her with her housework. (She's sick with pneumonia so I told her I would come up and for her to REST!!) While I was there, she asked me to carve her pumpkin for her.

So Ihaka got to experience some good old fashioned pumpkin carving!







More pics and larger versions here: https://www.facebook.com/IhakaVisitsFlorida

Tomorrow, looks like we might be going to see the Titanic Exhibit that's in St. Pete. We saw it about 10 years ago and it was really neat so looking forward to seeing it again. Of course, Ihaka is interested too.

[Alexampersandra]

In case the power/internet goes out later, I thought I'd mention that Peanut Butter and I are battening down the hatches in preparation for what is probably his first hurricane (seeing how he's from CA and all). But don't worry... I've seen dozens, since I've lived in VB for 26 years, so we know what we're doing.

[MeganCrafts]

We were supposed to go out this weekend, but with the storms coming through we decided to put it off until next weekend. So it'll be another weekend of sitting around at home. Poor Sidney hasn't done much other than watch Netflix with me and help my OH brew some beer.

[Mountains and Clouds]

We're still here!  Trying to figure out what to do today... we might end up just lazing around or going to the beach.  We'll see.

I hope all you east-coasters are safe and that you find something interesting to do if the storm keeps you holed up for a bit!

[RaraAvis]

Best wishes to all of you on the east coast of the US, I hope the hurricane is not too bad! Stay safe!

I took Anana to my parents house today in Canyon, Ca, a small town (about 200 people) where I grew up.
Here he is in one of their apple trees

Here he is scaring the chickens, lol. They were ok once I gave them something to eat.

And finally here he is sitting on the back deck of their house