secret rock pool

the secret rock pool not far from the house we rented in arquette-en-val was indeed a little hidden, and more than once we thought our directions were wrong when we had to drive through large puddles and overflows to get even deeper into the woods. but the real shock came later when we found it and had admired its beauty and on a hot august day were ready to jump - the water was ice cold. no wonder we look so stiff in the pictures - we were half frozen. "the pacific was colder" is an old saying in this family of keen swimmers, in memory of near zero degrees at the oregon coast one summer. not quite so sure that's true here, though. a few minutes after these pics were taken two families with at least eight kids came noisily along - when the kids jumped into the water they nearly drowned. 'so cold' they cried, before they turned all quite, just like us.

the magnificent leon

for five months now rike has had the magnificent leon and he is just a wonderful horse - solid in the school, and a wild boar in the woods, according to daughter, who eagerly watched that i would not mess him up too much while holding him. admittedly, the two are a great pair and very much in tune with each other. luckily i've been able to get a few lessons on him which was great fun, and again all i can say is 'i want one, too...'

wild boars and horses

just like me you may find it hard to believe that wild boars do ride horses but honestly they do - proof is above - right?? It also reminds me that last winter must have been one of the most unpleasant ones in three decades. all i remember is standing in the cold while daughter and friends had fun. cruel! and just about to start all over again... where is my horse...

 

life and



great reading stuff arrived some weeks ago from the old shores and made life on the morning bus bearable. didi has featured on other pages on this blog and if you've payed any attention you have seen some of his work by now.

 

the somewhat fragmented text reminded me in some settings of our mid twenties, when there was just enough spell left from our student days to keep us wishing we would never grow up. some beautifully disguised names and places, just who deacon ross is i'll never figure out...

 

check out the interview with the author here. buy your copy here.

 

  

things to do when in london (2)

well - you actually can spend a lot of time in the shops and in the museums, and is has to be said that our lovely visitors andy and joana did just that. i'm kind of grateful that they don't want a list of all the markets and department stores they went to...

but what they suggested (hang on - what andy suggested - ) is a list of the restaurants and bars they went to, or we went to. so i happily oblige. not that i remember every pub we had a glass in, and of course there were times when we let them off the leash. let's see if they report their very own adventures one day...




babur - you can't ask for a better place in the neighborhood for fine indian food. still love it after many visits. also currently ranked as the best indian restaurant in london by zagat and third by trip advisor...how's that!


  
fernandez and wells - so so convenient for my work place, so our visitors had to meet me there several times.

meat mission

that was a bit of a find by accident, after we strolled around dalston and later hoxton. lot's of burgery stuff with some chillies. nice for what it does, and great premises - an old children's mission.

opera tavern - here we ended up because we didn't want to wait two hours for cucina asellina's first table available. or five hours for their roof top bar. or anything... good food and good times, though.




















yauatcha

still a favourite of mine. service is never up for it, and there is always a dish you wonder what possessed you to order it, but always great atmosphere and the crispy duck is just to kill for...

sapporo ichiban 

a faultless round of sushi after we found out that our guests were staying actually a little longer than planned...

bar italia

and even today no good night out can be complete without a last pit stop at bar italia. what worries me though is that it used to take so much longer and so much more alcohol to look so old in their infamous mirrows... depressing! 

so, andy and joana - over to you! where else did you go? and where would you like to go next?? let us know...

a fine pair of rogues

daddy - you know i just finished school and you owe me lots of presents, don't you? and i haven't been to new york yet, or in la, or ...
don't you know that funny woman in london? actually, that would do!





oh right - what's her name... something with s...susie...no... hang on... oh, forget it, i know who you mean. we could go on her nerves for a while, i guess... haven't done that for years, really...

ok, but only if i get masses of new clothes and i definitely don't go into any museum, get that? let me think: a ball gown, a leather jacket, a cute little black number, shoes, for starters... from harrods, i'll take it. or harvey nicks. and let's go into armani and mess up the sales assistants!




you mean we go in there and you try everything on and throw it on the floor and i nick their whiskey? and then we complain and leave? good idea, daughter. you're learning fast...





ooohhh, daddy - i'd be delighted! and can we please be really horrible with your friend and her silly husband? and the daughter - lol!

just be your natural self, darl - you deserve it, and so do i...

but no art - or i stop breathing!

fine with me - i never liked that modern stuff. all posers... 

and you know what? when they think we leave and they finally got rid of us, we say we got the dates wrong. that way we squeeze another night in, without paying...

cool, daddy, just try not to forget to look weird when we "find out"!

practice, my darling, practice makes perfect... 





Listen, you guys were great and we love you lots and we had a really great time. come again soon, but do check out those flight times good, willya?!!

over to pastures new

rike's loan on the little mare came to a slightly abrupt halt, but then you are always surprised how people behave when you thought they seemed decent... anyway, she is out horse hunting again, and on the first nice day of the year tested the lovely dressage trained horse olli, which was quite an experience, even for her.

olli is a near olympics quality stunner, and rightly it was agreed that this was not what rike - and olli's owner - are looking for, but a great two hours anyway. very brave, my girl! and i can start breathing again...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!



she may be as wise as five old trees

she may be as strong as five old trees

she may be as solid as these trees

she may be as grounded as the trees i just mentioned

 

but she still looks as young as a tender new leaf in spring!

 

 





happy birthday, dear patentante!
 

what a charmer!

what a charming little horse, and what a pity we haven't seen him 'in the flesh' yet, but only on pictures, but it seems anke and family are having a great time riding issie elja, and it is a real sign of trust that he does not jump up when anke goes in to see him - very impressive! so - hopefully we can soon spoil him with a few carrots ourselves, though we trust that he gets plenty of that from his happy owner...

pressie time

friday morning 6 am and instead of going to the pool (yes! pool! 1000 meter!)the birthday table gets set as we all know it's rike's 14th birthday.

whereas it usually is impossible to get her up at this hour today we have a competition who gets to the living room first, but i have to win (and i did) to get the cake out of the fridge and onto the table.

speaking of the table - not that there was much space left for anything. it feels like madam is getting more evey year, and this time most definitely her dad is to blame, who pulled one pressie out of the hat after the other.

big grins and sheer delight - and rightly so, because deac has been incredibly generous this year. 

and while i believe secretly she was still hoping to find a horse in even the smallest of parcels, at the end of the day it was little bambi that stole her heart, jumping all the way from the lower saxony woods right into her lap - well done, little brother!