Viggo's Blog - I Hate Halloween!

Hiya, fans, Viggo here.

See this woman? It's my woman, in a silly witches hat. Not that she's going to any of those stupid Halloween parties, mind. She's told me the hat is for a Harry Potter Night in the library. Equally stupid if you ask me. Grown persons dressing up and pretending they're at a school called Hogwarts? Humbug!

Last night I was out minding my own business, chilling with the mates on the pavement near the primary school, when all of a sudden we were surrounded by ghouls and screaming youngsters. We nearly lost half of our hair from fright!
Why, I ask you, WHY do those teenage girls always have to scream as if they don't like it when being chased by young guys?
Us cats know that a good jowl is only used for two purposes only: as the interlude to mating OR to tell another cat he/she it sitting on our bit of pavement.

Anyway. The only one I liked was dressed up as a giant mouse. I like mice.
Apart from that, it's same old, same old over here. The leaves are falling nicely, there's lots of toadstools everywhere, and all those lovely little birdies have re-appeared in the bushes around my house.
Bowie is growing like mad, and he is mad as well. I need to put him in his place at least five times a day.
And that's it.
Have a good Sunday, won't you?
Tarrah!

Song's Best Books Club - Library of Souls

Hi there!
Number three of the trilogy by Ransom Riggs. And I dived straight into it from the second one (Hollow City). Perhaps I should not have done that...?

A new book is always a promise to me, like a beautifully wrapped gift. And when I've already read and enjoyed two previous ones by that author, my expectations are sky high.
So it was with pleasant anticipation that I started reading the third book of this trilogy back-to-back from the second one.
And fiddlesticks...
I was disappointed.
Ransom Riggs has done his utmost to make it even more exciting, but in my opinion only made the story more gruesome and violent, and I simply tuned out  halfway (can you say that with a book?).
I finished it - obviously, it is sacrilege not to finish a book. But it took stamina, perseverance and needed a good whisky to help me along.

Jacob, needless to say, continues his battle with the dreaded whights and hollows, and makes some peculiar new friends along the way. And wins. Sort of.
What really disappointed me was that the, so far, really poignant love story between Jacob and Emma somehow lost all glow, it petered out. And I think I know why. 
In part 1 and 2 they fell in love, love deepened, physically as well as mentally, but propriety prevailed (this is a YAL series after all) and they didn't go farther than hand holding and a kiss.
But when you are fighting for your life, and appear mortally wounded, I believe instinct and nature take over, and I simply cannot believe two feisty youngsters in love would go no further in that situation than gazing into each others eyes and another chaste clothed embrace. No way! Any historian could tell you that (think baby-boom).
So...was this a conscious decision by Riggs? Probably. He writes mainly for an American audience.

So. Anyway.
The main question now is, should you still read this book?
My answer is: if you've enjoyed the first two, then read it by all means. Hey, my opinion is just that: an opinion.
And I'll be interested in yours, so be sure to let me know.

Gyotaku : a new project (lampshade).

Hi there!
My first try pleased me enough to want to have another go at this ancient Japanese printing technique.
This time I opted for something more difficult: a lampshade.
I bought this rather nice cheap pottery lamp but it came with a boring white shade.

It does have some black needlework as a decoration, but I don't like that either. So, I decided to have a go at livening it up with a print of one of my potted ferns.

And this is the result:

This first is the shade next to the real fern; the second is the detail.

Autumn! And it makes my heart sing.

Good afternoon!
Something entirely different from cats, rambles and printing techniques.
I woke up this morning and was greeted by this:

Well, actually I was greeted by ravenous cats and a dog who wanted sniffies and a tousled son-in-law who had to leave for the morning shift. But then I went out (with Gina and Bowie) and feasted my eyes and nose. Everything smelled so fresh. And ( it being 8.00) I was the only one enjoying all that...I do like that!

The rest of my country is shrouded in mist, we of the wetlands apparently are the only ones blessed with sunshine - even better! 
It made me all enthusiastic and energetic, so I started pruning the shrubbery at the front door, and now I'm writing this to you and afterwards I'll do another bit of printing (which I will show you, don't worry).

I wish you all a great Sunday, enjoy yourselves!

The Hike: Kralingse Plas, Rotterdam

Rambling, hiking, roaming,together with singing and reading they are my favourite verbs at this time in my life.
Last weekend my rambling friend from the Peak District and myself took a ramble around one of the best loved green places of Rotterdam: the Kralingse Plas.

This 100 ha lake is man-made; for years it was the main source of peat in the Rotterdam area, so you would expect the water to be brownish black, but in fact it was crystal clear in the places I was able to look down into the water.

We started our ramble on the south side of the Plas (plas = body of water)and we weren't alone...The Kralingse Plas is busy-busy with all kind of Rotterdam folk who are aching for some greenery and fresh air. So the above photo is deceptive - there were hundreds and hundreds of people there, believe me!

Right: how Dutch can you get? 

There are two windmills there, De Lelie (the Lily)from 1740 and De Ster (the Star) from 1886, which you can visit, and where cooking spices are still being milled, and some really nice restaurants. 

Lysanne took me to the one next to the mills, and as it was sunny we were very lucky to snare the last available table for lunch. Our rambling boots got a few glances...most people there either dressed to impress or to skate or jog...

The Kralingse Plas is adjacent to the Kralingse Bos (bos = wood), the green lung of the north of Rotterdam. This neighborhood is very sought after to live, thus expensive. But next to Kralingen is Crooswijk, where many immigrants reside, and the Plas had a lovely mix of both kinds of people all enjoying the same sunshine.

This is the restaurant; nice, eh? It is called De Tuin van de Vier Windstreken (Garden of the Four Compass Points) and I can recommend it.

After lunch we did the thing everybody does there: take a walk around the water. From the north side, looking towards the centre of Rotterdam, the wonderful skyline was a thing to behold. It must be amazing in the dark as well, but Lysanne told me she would not be seen dead after dark there...it is a notorious cruising spot for folk up to no good.

But on this Sunday afternoon it was tranquil, as was the water. And here our hiking boots came in handy, as we could take the more adventurous trail.

The last quarter took us along the beach; empty now save for a bunch of enthusiastic dogs chasing sticks and balls. Part of this beach is a designated nude area; this made me pause for thought. How on earth does this work? I must go back in summer and see this for myself - I can image women in headscarves and long sleeves next to women with bare boobs&bums...or rather, I cannot.

We took in one of the nice citizen initiatives: the Kralingse Botanical Garden. It is tiny. But very full of lovely shrubs, flowers and trees all the same. Lysanne apologized for the appearance of everything, dying down, but my botanical knowledge is good enough to be able to imagine how it must have looked when everything was in bloom.

I really like this plant, Giant Gunnera, even now when it was all brown with holes in the leaves.It is our Wetland equivalent of jungle plant, being more than man high. I have its tiny brother near my house, and it is the first thing that blooms at the end of winter, with cheerful little yellow marigold-like flowers which appear way before the leaves shoot up.

The nitty-gritty:

I took 15.638 steps, boiling down to 10,18 km.

It was sunny, with temperatures reaching a high of 20 degrees at 2 pm, rather unusual for October!

The Kralingse Plas is famous for the Dutch Woodstock (The Holland Pop Festival in 1970); look up the documentary about it called Stamping Ground. I desperately wanted to go, but as I was only 12 at the time my parents successfully vetoed!

And it is also famous for the first official gay "meeting" area.

You can reach Kralingen by both metro, tram and bus.

Old Japanese Printing Technique

Hi there,

Contrary to what I've been blogging about lately (cats, hiking, books, more cats) I actually do have other interests. Unfortunately they are all sedentary ones, that is to say I sit on my butt whilst I indulge them.

Because my guitar playing isn't good enough to share, and I have no garden to show you that comes up to my standards (I rent...need I say more?), I have decided to let you in on my other secret hobby: messing around with paints and whathaveyou.

Now, intelligent pragmatic that I am, I thought to combine the two: get off my butt (read: go out into the wild as it is around my wetlands and search for interesting 'stuff') and  experimenting with paints in order to produce a Gyotaku print.
A what? Yes: Gyo = fish, taku = rub in Japanese. And so far there were no fish harmed in the process! Not that I aim to harm any fish, ever.

Today I tried my hand at rubbing two types of garden fern and some ivy. The result is...
Well, you judge.
I need A LOT of practice yet!

Viggo's Blog - I Swear That Vet Has Added 2 Balls!

Hiya fans, Viggo here.

Did you feel sorry for sweet little Bowie, when I told you he had to have an operation?
Silly you!

I know castration is said to change us toms into placid, overweight, fussy, neutered (need I go on?) so-and-so's, but I have to admit this did not work for our Bowie!
Within one day he was tearing around the place again, and getting into trouble. Business as usual!
I am SO fed up with that brat! He jumps on me all the time, he tries to eat my food as well as his own at the same time, he claims the woman's lap for his own, he is a nuisance!

The vet told my woman to keep him inside for 10 days, 'cause 'he needed the rest,in order to heal'.
WHaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Never heard such bollocks in all my life! My woman told the young woman her jaw dropped when she was told this hogwash. She's grown up in the country, you see, where pigs and horses are neutered and turned straight out into the meadow again after. Sure, she gave Bowie the antibiotics as she believes this did him some good (and he loves the stuff, silly brat!), but she took a good look between his hind paws after a day, declared the nonexistent balls healed and opened the door to the back garden. Needless to say, Bowie was out there in a flash. Thank Frith.
Now, me and the mates had a long talk about his energy levels, and we've decided that they are not normal.

AND he's growing...