Quaintr

She might be out of office for almost another week, but I've just returned from a long weekend camping and due to the lack of internet (or even a computer) you will hear about it now (and then)...

After the first night, I woke up around 7 am after a completely exhausting night of turnoiled sleep. Dressed, 'washed' and fed I settled with a book between the trees at 7.15. There's no sun yet and I forgot to bring my beanie so I've got cold feet. I'm surrounded by a chilly wind, the morning sounds of birds and all kind of crawly bugs and flying bugs (and a couple of biting bugs too).

Sitting here, with my cup of tea, nothing else seems to matter. My mind doesn't wonder off, no one is dying, no to-do-list, no work and no study. I sit and I think of absolutely nothing. I think 'being at peace' feels like this.

I go on holiday and i take with me:

1) me
2) my passport and ticket
3) wallet
4) some clothes
5) lots of Dutch food

So guys and dolls, i won't be posting till the 6th of May...

Where's a Mic when you need one?

Coincidentally, just standing in front of the door.

Thnx Mic!

Saint George's Day!!!

So here i am, brightly awake, way past my normal bedtime. Trying to sedate myself with valerian, wood betony, passionflower, and lavender tea. So what's keeping me awake? Not the coca cola (cos i hardly ever drink that ehm... stuff). Nope i made a tea containing Cola acuminata Okay, admittedly maybe not my brightest idea to drink it at 7 in the evening. So much for being a herbalist?

"You'll be perfectly fine. Have a nice day madam."

"Thank you doctor."

To her neighbour...

"We've got a very nice doctor, don't you agree?"

"Yes. Yes. Yes."

Sometimes it's very useful to make up one in order to remember something. But i def start to doubt my mnemonic if i need to think of a mnemonic to understand the previous one...

"Hello. How can i help you?" A question i've heard about 7 or 8 times in the past 25 mins. Well, actually, to be completely correct: i've heard it 3 times in the first 12 mins and about 4 times in the other 13 mins (when i returned the call after half an hour). But finally, finally they've managed to issue me with an e-ticket no!! *hooray*

"She died a beautiful death. Peaceful. Quiet."

"My condolances with the loss of your mother."

"It feels strange... I mean... not the loss of my mother, she was old, it was her time. It feels strange to become an orphan at the age of 76."

Interesting combination: Neue Deutsche Harte and a teddy bear. It's a classic case of I-like-the-two-seperate-parts-but-I-don't-know-what-to-think-of-the-whole.

"I just saw a nice pair of legs, and when i looked up i was surprised to see they belong to you!"

My associative mind has made some strange connections in the past. E.g. 'holding a cup of tea' is associated with 'safe' and 'a man' with 'be alert'. Some (mostly men) around me enjoy making sounds (whistling, tapping, etc.) In my mind this is linked to animal behaviour. Male-animals make sounds to show off their dominancy, to scare and to impress. So, men making non-communicative sounds isn't a good thing.

In the presence of men, I'm already on the alert (nothing personal, it's just the gender) and if you show of your dominancy (by making non-communicative sounds) I stop feeling any comfort I might had left and want to run for a cup of tea.

So please, stop whistling!

Another (probably) interesting read...

I love to see a good sword fight. So yesterday eve i watched 'Highlander'. And to be honest, i quite liked the sword fights. Unfortunately though... ever flung a great sword with that speed?

Okay, so we both don't like peas... so what did we make last night? Right... Pea and Salmon risotto. Rather then using tinned peas (which i really refuse to eat), we used frozen ones (since peas are not yet in season). We added them at the very last moment and they turned bright green, so the risotto looked weird and wonderful, and tasted really nice!

It's strange to sleep with 2 cellphones on the nightstand, knowing you can be called on either one in case of medical emergency. It's stressfull sleeping like this, even more so because I've got the habit of sleeping through earthquakes and other things. Luckily he's a very light sleeper and wakes up with every twitch I make. Knowing this, makes me relax a bit.

And indeed, they called, a couple of minutes ago. I woke up and answered the phone. He slept like a baby...

Last night, somebody died. It happens. Before the undertaker is allowed to remove the remains, a doctor most pronounce this person dead. So I went. I declared this person to be deceased and went to the nurse to do the paperwork. No papers. WTF? I need papers, the undertaker needs the paperwork. So I drove 15 miles to the nearest nursing home to fetch some papers and drove back. Declared the person officially dead of natural causes. But there must be a simpler way, at midnight I'm a very expensive courier... and a very moody one...

For years now i've been walking around with the idea to make a t-shirt with this line. The shirt would be bright yellow, and there would be a tree on it in green and brown felt. I'd actually forgotten about this idea, which was born out of the need of provoking my colleague at the butcher's. But spring has arrived and i do feel like provoking some of my colleagues at Uni. But there might be something more behind it... It's my profound lack of being in touch with nature. People keep wondering why i like to hug trees or caress stinging nettles. Well, it's very easy. It's my way of being in touch with the spirit of the tree or plant, to actually get to know this wonderful personality and understand it. The added benefit is that once you know the plant it is much easier to use it. For non-herbalists it might sound a bit strange and airy-fairy, but for me it is just as real as meeting people and caressing them.

"So my BP turned out to be 185/125... Is there anything i can do to bring it down? I've already cut out my 'few' big mugs of coffee..."

"Well ehm... how much liquorice are you having a day?"

"Oh, there always is a stick next to my desktop, at least a liter of liquorice tea, and of course some candy"

Daughter: "My mom's sleeping, sorry, but I'm leaving again."

Nurse: "Your mom? Sleeping? Strange. Let's go see her together."

...

Nurse: "Ehm? Miss? Ehm... she is not your mom, your mom is over here, awake."

Ask any one person who knows a bit about herbs something about Calendula off and they'll start to smile and glow and generally give off a very happy vibe. So i was very happy to stumble upon the notification that it is going to be the herb of the year 2008! Gives me a good reason to write something about this wonderful and gorgeous plant...

(after i'd written the monograph i found this)

It's always great to see people taking care of their health. Of late i've seen and heard people using herbs for minor ailments. Sometimes it worked, and sometimes it didn't... They just made it up as they went along (well, accompanied by some basic knowledge), which proves my point that everybody has a bit of a herbalist inside him or her.

It just makes my day whenever i hear such a story *smile*

I'm not great with music. Don't know a lot about it, can't remember names of composers, musicians, or songs. That's why i was surprised to notice i do occasionally think in songs. For example, my friend and me talking about beans. But then i started to wonder about the following: how does one get brie into a jar?

i always claim that patience isn't one of my virtues. So i've been trying to change it. I've waited patiently for a book for 2 months. And suddenly they've cancelled my order! And suddenly, it's also impossible to order the book from their site. mmmm.... so much for being patient...

There's a first for everything, and yesterday I expertly burned my cabbage in just 10 minutes. Quite interesting to learn how to smoke the laundry without using the smoker-oven.

He: "So lets meet in Amsterdam"

Me: "At the station?"

He: "No, at the 'Dam'"

Me: *silence* "Ehm... so how do i get there?"

It's just a broken cardboard box (in two pieces to be precise), guitar shaped and sized, wrapped in bubble wrap, being carried by a small girl through rain and wind together with two bags of groceries. Nothing special.