zomer

Last weekend should have been my last in the Netherlands (wow?!), but word on the street said that the ghentleman and lady were hoarding a small stash of that genovese pesto I'd heard so much about. It is rumours such as these that a lady such as myself must investigate. And so I did.

The low-countries have been treating me uncharacteristically well this week, with day after day of glorious sunshine. As such this entry will too remain uncharacteristically snark free- Im not even going to poke fun at the above 'beach'! Gent is a really nice city, those Belgians seem a pretty swell bunch, Mojito's rule & the Pesto really was amazing. The end.

chicken fever (its kind of like the bird flu except way better)

So anyway, about Chickens? Im crazy for them. They turn your food scraps into delicious things to eat! Sometimes those things are blue! They're hilarious! They poop out garden fertilizer! They say "bawk bawk bawk"! Some have boofy hairdo's! They strut! Their butts are fluffy! They help get rid of snails and slugs and grubs and things! They're Cute! They're Cute! They're Cute!

This is to say that the part of my brain that should be focused on things like, oh I don't know, finishing my degree or organizing ways to ensure Im not entirely broke, homeless and unemployed when I return home (a month today!) are busy considering crafty coop designs and hilarious chook name combinations. Doomed.

produce

Do you love markets? I do! One of my favorite things to do in a new city is go check out the pretty/crazy/weird produce on offer at a local market (plus stall holders are always a bit loopy and, thus, the best fun to talk to). In Holland its about flowers, all the time & its pretty hard not to be cheery about that. Same goes for any market containing morel mushrooms or fancy cheeses. In other cities, depending, you could find fancy spices, salted mango, scorpians or seahorse skewers (alas, i cant find my picture of that right now!), crickets, dildos, tiny birds, big birds, bunnykitten combos, fish, fish and more fish or mountains of meat. Yep, you might have to hold your nose along your judgement, but thats all part of the adventure, no?

swans

All's quiet around here. So - just because I can - I give you.... Swans.