Mojoblog

My desk at work is next to a wall of windows oriented to the south, so I see the sun rise every day until about 10° above the horizon and then go back down. As soon as it pokes through the clouds we often get beautiful sunrises and sunsets.

Yesterday night on the way back from work it started snowing a tiny little bit, and I even fell off my bike on a thin layer of snow on cobblestones. But we’re not in Boston anymore, so I didn’t expect anything very serious with snow in our new country. Imagine my surprise when I opened the curtains this morning...



That’s right, not an optical illusion but actually 10-15cm of snow on the city!



I got ready quicker than usual to walk to the carpooling place and take photos along the way. Looks like the snow plow hasn’t come yet...



A lot of bikes are buried, when they are not in use with not-so-prudent-bicyclists who still try to bike in a loose and not-melted snow...



I walk in front of the hospital, it’s really coming down. Not easy to take photos in a snow fall (not a blizzard though, just a heavy snow fall).



Notice the sunk houseboat on the foreground. Poor thing.



Yes, you read the correct time, it is quarter to eight and it’s still pitch black except for the snow that won’t stop falling.



It seems that everybody thought the same thing when leaving their house this morning: there can’t be that much snow, I should be able to go to work... But there is more snow than one may imagine while looking out the window, and without plows all morning it’s not that easy to get around. Here is the fishmarket without the market:



Almost eight o’clock, I arrive to the meeting point of my carpool as the sky is starting to lighten.



Kris is clearing his car. He promises to pick up a colleague about 2km away from his house, then to drop me off at home with the car. After a half-hour spent driving for about 1km towards the pick-up place, we turn around and he goes back to his place, on the other side of the city from our house. I walk home, after 2.5 hours to cover just a few kilometers slower that I could have walked. Sweet, my first snow day!

Beautiful weather on Sunday when we woke up, but we weren’t brave enough to catch the morning light so we went out around 3PM to catch the decreasing light instead.



All the other photographers in the city were also out.



Our future house just above the parking sign:



The Saint Joseph church (we call it San Jose of course):



An interesting reflection spotted by Ryan but also possible as a self-portrait:



Our street is decorated with statues at each intersection, which is a lot of statues:



This shows that we still get some sun sometimes:



You need to catch it before is disappears though.



A cute little store that I had never noticed before:



The sun is set, bars wake up.



We enjoy for a few short moments the sky still blue in the beginning of the night.



The university:



The official city hall for weddings and other events where photos are taken (the city hall where we go for administrative purposes is all concrete and shapeless):



And finally a classic Dutch view, a vending machine of hot burgers and croquettes at any time.

It had been too long since the last time we took photos, it was time for an excursion. Today we went to Bremen in Germany for the Christmas Market that just started. Actually quite a good reason to be excited about the upcoming holiday season!



While we were enjoying some tasty hot wine, a witch convention was singing Christmas carols, perfectly in tune.



The fun team, Jelle and Kris, driver and car owner.



All these cabins were selling very intriguing things, such as these decorated gingerbread hearts and other candy.



The symbolic statue of Bremen:



Still in the candy aisle:



But there are also puppets:



Bird houses:



And guess who we ran into... The red and white chubby-cheeked old man himself, together with Miss Freimarkt 2009 who was making little kids sing.



Then we went in the ferris wheel of the main plazza, to enjoy the view.



Along with a pretzel, fried cheese and mushrooms and hot chocolate tasting, it was a wonderful day!

Can you believe, dear readers, that Mojo is about to buy a very cute apartment in an old house on the side of the city center of Groningen! We signed a contract (all in Dutch) that would make us owners early January, so we have time to make a few changes before moving-in in February before the end of our lease on Gerbrand Bakkerstraat. We want to meet the other people living in the house before we send the contract back, which should happen this week. Isn’t this some great news?


The house is divided in four apartments, and on the photo below we would have the top right corner, including the center balcony.



The big windows, oriented south-east, will probably be very pleasant.



I let you erase in your head the furniture of the current owners, and we’re thinking of putting the dining room in the big bright room, but you get an idea.



It’s on a quiet street with chestnut trees and grass on the center strip, in a fancy part of town. Without the need for a car and in the middle of a housing crisis, we can afford to indulge ourselves with a nice house!

Friday 28th of August 2009 was the wedding of my very good friends Benjamin and Manon. Whay an amazing celebration!



Everybody seemed to have a good day, and the event was well documented.



The back of her dress was just as pretty as the front, as you can see below.



Ryan and I had the honor to be seated across the table from the lovebirds!



In principle if you read this blog you should recognize these kids:



One of the spectacular moments of the evening was when we all lit up some mini hot-air-balloons of silk paper that flew up in the sky... It was an excellent idea and a magical moment.



We all wish them a lifetime of happiness together!

With our very important guests, my family had the responsibility to show the Mauges in all their splendor. My mom took us to the Oriental Garden of Maulévrier, just below Cholet.



My mom is so cute in her pink dress from Groningen!



Everything in this garden is perfectly trimmed and maintained.



We had a very pleasant afternoon.



These balls are sculptures that float on the water, but these looked broken.



After an excellent time in the countryside, we took the train to the capital.



No doubt, they were there!



The fisheye in big cities is very practical, no need for back-up space to fit everything in a photo!

For a family reunion we spent a gorgeous weekend in Bétahon in Brittany. We got spoiled by perfect beach weather.



Picnics, games, danses, splashing around, cousin time, walks on the beach... Can it get better than that!?



At low tide the beach is muddy as far as the eye can see:



The best thing to do then is to walk along the beach and pick up pretty rocks.



The visiting Americans (Ryan’s mom and a friend of hers) loved it too!

I’m a bit behind in my blogging, the month of August has been quite busy. Let’s go back to the vacations with my family, with below an excursion at the island with the unpronounceable name of Schiermonnikoog. I can assure you that despite a long and painful training to pronounce this word (practicing with a Dutch colleague), nobody can understand what I mean when I try to say where I went.

Such a cute tourist family...



After lunch on the island we went to rent bikes, as usual the best way to discover the Netherlands.



Even on islands they find the way to have rivers... It’s only when we went to France where everything is too dry that I noticed how green the Netherlands are.



On this photo the grass is pretty yellow though, bad place to describe how green everything is here.



Ah, finally some normal grass! The country is pretty much a giant swamp, so there is always water not-too-far below the roots.



As usual in this country, the boat is king (with the bike, which is stored on the boat):



The village on the island was absolutely charming.



While waiting for the return boat, Mr Sheep and his pretty two-colored fleece.



There are still plenty of islands to discover along the North Sea not far from here, yay!

Une autre excursion recommandée par notre guide Michelin, voici le tour des églises rurales du nord-est. Dans la famille des photos typiques, je vous présente le moulin en arrière d’un canal.



On s’est même trouvé à passer devant un moulin ouvert aux visites, et un gentil volontaire nous a tout expliqué comment ça marchait un moulin hollandais. Celui qu’on a visité s’appelait l’Espoir (De Hoop), et c’était un moulin à moudre le blé (pas un moulin à transporter l’eau vers l’extérieur des polders, l’autre type). Il suffit d’un homme pour manoeuvrer un moulin, et notre gentil volontaire nous l’a arrêté un un quart de tour rien que pour nous montrer le tissu des voiles. Il faut dire que quand il y a un orage qui approche, le meunier a 2-3 minutes pour tout remballer et mettre le paratonnerre en place. Très intéressant.



Mais les moulins n’étaient que les distractions de notre circuit des églises rurales. Souvent de style roman et toujours en briques rouges (décoration inclues), les petites églises protestantes de la région sont très mignonnes.



Elles sont traditionnellement entourée du cimetierre du patelin, et sur les tombes gravées on trouve un certain nombre de symboles qui reviennent régulièrement: le crâne, la faux, la torche, les os, les papillons de nuit et le sablier.



En continuant vers la mer (du nord) on pensait arriver sur un petit port appelé Eemshaven, mais on est arrivé à un GRAND port industriel sans grand chose à voir si ce n’est... des ventilateurs!



Et pas que quelques uns, mais une flopée de ventilateurs. Un vrai champ de moulins modernes, à perte de vue. Les moutons n’avaient pas l’air d’y voir un problème.

Quelles vacances mémorables! Qui aurait pu penser qu’il y avait tant de choses à faire tout en haut des Pays-Bas? Je vais essayer de vous montrer quelques unes des belles balades qu’on a fait ces deux dernières semaines avec la petite famille en balade. On commence par le jardin botanique Hortus de la charmante bourgade de Haren juste au sud de chez nous. Dans les serres du Pérou, on s’est vraiment pris pour des explorateurs.



J’épargne les âmes sensibles en ne vous parlant pas des blattes, phasmes et mygales qui habitent tranquillement dans le vivarium du parc.

On ne sait pas ce qu’il y avait en haut à droite de la serre ci-dessous, mais ça devait être drôlement intrigant.



Il y avait un charmant jardin chinois avec plusieurs pavillons et de jolis étangs à nénuphars. Sa majesté Esther dans la chaise à porteurs...



Et son petit château:



Aucune des nombreuses grenouilles ne s’est transformée en prince charmant sous nos yeux...



Mais on a bien documenté la situation, dès fois qu’une chose pareille se passe alors qu’on y était.



Il y avait de nombreuses volières à perroquets, mais il semblerait que certains aient quelques problèmes de santé ou de voisinage, ce qui leur donne une allure triste mais poilante.



Il a fallu retenir Esther d’aller faire plouf avec les grenouilles qui se prélassaient partout dans les étangs du parc.



En bref, un magnifique jardin botanique à revisiter selon les saisons!

Alors que je me mettais enfin à mon ménage avant la visite de mes invités la semaine prochaine, voilà que j’ai trouvé une distraction pour m’éviter de m’y mettre... Des dizaines de papillons à butiner l’arbuste du fond du jardin!



Je n’ai pas d’objectif macro (enfin, j’en ai un en emprunt, mais je n’ai pas voulu faire toute une session photo au milieu de mon ménage, je suis sérieuse quand même) donc n’attendez pas de voir leur trompe et poils d’abdomen pour cette fois-ci.



En plus ils allaient bien trop vite d’une grappe de fleur à l’autre, et il me faudrait une échelle pour atteindre la plupart des grappes de fleurs.



Je vous laisse compter les petits papillons qui se cachent dans cette image.



Mon aspirateur m’attend!

While Ryan is in California for a “school trip”, I need to keep busy. I finally went in town with my camera to show you a Saturday in Groningen.

I leave the house on Gerbrand Bakkerstraat:



I say hi to the ducks along the hospital:



And I go around the interesting new building of the big medical center.



A short break on a bench to enjoy the perfume of roses in a charming little cloister:



Then we get in the fancy neighborhoods of the center:



The Martini tower, a local monument that we can climb. I can’t wait for the visit of tourists next week to go up there!



In the city, the local tango association is playing music for tango enthusiasts, it reminds me of Buenos Aires:



Above the tango dancers, a frozen trapeze artist:



Too many people in the main commercial street:



I prefer to go on the fish market place to go to the market. First a bunch of flowers:



Then cheese and eggs:



A piece of fish:



A few potted plants for the garden:



After all that I deserve a beer outside.



Let’s keep going towards the North Harbor, where many house boats are mooring all year long.



Most house boats are like floating flea markets.



Each one has a very particular style.



There are even feline inhabitants.



I take a right to go back by the parc.



We’re paying attention to houses for sale along the parc, very cute neighborhood:



Nap time for the ducklings, let’s be quiet.



And I admire the colorful Hortensia in the gardens everywhere.



Such a fun town!

Nicole suggested that since this was Mojo’s blog after all, it was time to post photos of the ever more ridiculous thing. Instant photos from my phone.

The first day we arrived, he started meeting cute kitties in the alley. After that, there was no way to keep him in on Saturday night when he wants to go out and hang out with his buddies.



“Can you please stop following me everywhere? I need privacy to go crash ridiculously on the bed upstairs!”



As soon as the sun is out we get the most ridiculous positions. The dead fish, the chicken legs, the otter, the puma... Here one chicken leg and 3 otter legs.



But the worse is when the humans lock him in the house. Fortunately there are plenty of windows.



And to avoid the tan lines, he makes sure to tan his belly too.



What a cat’s life!