House Cleaning

I love house cleaning.  I like clean shiny surfaces.  I like that picked up look - everything put away and in its place.  I love the order of a clean and picked up house.

I hate to do it.  I don't like being up close with the chemicals.  I don't like the work of scrubbing and wiping.  I hate that so soon after all that work, it is undone.

Today is a good day.  Today is the day our cleaning lady starts.

Finding one has not been easy.  In Belgium there are cleaning services but they work on a complicated voucher system.  In order to purchase this service there is a bunch of paperwork.  To enter into this maze of paperwork one must have a Belgian ID.  I've done two steps of the Belgian ID process.  I started it 5 weeks ago.  I don't have a Belgian ID.

I have been checking bulletin boards around SHAPE to see if a non-Belgian is offering a non-voucher, non- Belgian ID cleaning service.  I have found someone.  She will come today.

When you have someone clean your house, you have to pick up and put away.  Already this makes the house look better than it does on non-cleaning days.

I realize I am not working here in Belgium.  I do have the time to clean.   But did I mention I hate it?  I will point out in my defense, we don't go out to eat.   I figure the money we save from that more than covers house cleaning expenses.

This morning I have a picked up house.  This afternoon I have will have picked up and clean house.  I'll enjoy it for as long as it lasts...

Flat Stanley

When Kyra was in second grade, Flat Stanley came into our lives. Flat Stanley has become a popular teaching tool amongst elementary school teachers.  Stanley's story is read, the kids create a Stanley and then mail him off to relatives.  Children map out where Stanley has been and report on his adventures.

If you don't know Stanley's story, the short version is that one night when he was sleeping a bulletin board fell on him and flattened him.  This was an unfortunate event but had some advantages, one of which was cheap travel - just postage stamps.

Kyra's Flat Stanley first traveled to visit her Grandma and Grandpa Reeves in Arkansas.  Flat Stanley rode a horse while there.  He also played golf and ate pancakes.

Since then Flat Stanley has traveled to Panama, Mexico, Afghanistan and London.  As he is flat he is very easy to pack and whip out for a quick photo.  He can be accessorized like a paper doll.  You see in this photo he is wearing his camouflage pants - he got those when he went to Afghanistan.

He has not yet been on any outings in Belgium but we did remember to take him to Luxembourg.  The first photo is of Kyra and Stanley in the Bock casemates.

Here is another one of Stanley in front of a pretty house in Luxembourg.

Hopefully we'll remember to bring Stanley along on other European adventures and you can read about his travels here.  We don't have too many relatives still of elementary school age, but Stanley would welcome any visitors of the flat or three-dimensional variety.

Vianden Castle

As I was searching for an internet link to more information on Vianden Castle, I learned something.  I've been spelling it wrong.  I've been leaving out the first "n."  The town is Vianden and the castle is called Vianden.

Vianden castle was constructed between the 11th and 14th centuries.  Over the centuries it was neglected and poor construction gave way to gravity.  It was given to the state of Luxembourg in 1977 and reconstruction efforts were begun.  So what you see on the tour (or in photos) is new built on old.

For the price of admission, one gets to walk around the castle - there aren't any tours.  We have learned to invest a few more euros and buy a guide book in English as most of the placards are in German and French  with a smattering of English here and there.

Most of the rooms were large and unfurnished.  This allowed us to appreciate the construction style and just imagine how many people it would take to fill such a room.

The colorful photo is of the upper chapel.  There was a small altar and statue of the chapel's patron saint - I forgot who the patron saint is and my guidebook is hiding.  The middle of the chapel was open to the lower chapel below.  The lower chapel was very plain - no furniture and no finishing just the cut rock.

As we moved from the historically older parts of the castle to the newer parts, rooms became more finished and we began to see furnishings as well.

This is a family dining room with period tapestries and wood furnishings.

My favorite room was a large open room with trefoil shaped windows.  It was open to the outside, kind of like a very large porch.  The fresh air of the morning was lovely and the whole effect of light and the views from each window was wonderful.  I turned my camera this way and that, zoomed and unzoomed but really couldn't take a photo that I thought really captured the room.

This was my best attempt and I don't think it is very good.  Hopefully it hints at the size and scope of the room and the views out the windows.

I'd love to go for a return visit and just sit in one of these windows and read for a while.