Shopping

Aosem

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Just got back from the theater where I saw Daniel Lohues perform. He has a new album out, Aosem, and he played songs from that, together with choice numbers from earlier albums. Daniel is always good. His songs are great and he is a fantastic storyteller. The only thing that I liked less is that the songs from the older albums were mostly the same ones he did last year when he was touring his previous album. His repertoire is so large, he could’ve easily changed up some more songs for variety.

Mom was supposed to go with me. But there was prediction of real bad weather, so she decided not to go. I said, fuck it, and hopped on the train and went anyway 😀

The weather turned out to be just fine. It rained quite a lot, apparently, but that was while I was inside the Theater. During my moments of transit, everything was peachy.

Thursday, Mom and I went to Appingedam for some shopping. The thrift store there is amazing, I’m in love. It’s huge, spread out over two floors, and has a very large book section. We also walked through town a bit and saw, among other things, the famous hanging kitchens.

 

Elf Fantasy Fair Haarzuilens 2016

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It’s that time of year again, Elf Fantasy Fair. And this year, too, we had a camp throughout the weekend. The weather was real nice, plus we had a good spot along one of the main walkways.

I did some  walking around, checking out the sights and stands. I ate a candy apple, which I’d never had before. Also acquired some new loots. Them being the Star Trek Catan board game, the book Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, and a Mal Reynolds (Firefly) Funko Pop. I’ve had the book and the game on my list for a while now, so I’m pleased I found them here. And very affordable as well, I got a good deal on the game especially.

And! There was a very nice looking TARDIS on the premises as well 😀

 

 

Chairs ❤

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These first few days of my week off have gone rather fast. Did some more sorting of things around the house and such. Sunday it was Easter. So I had Easter brunch and later dinner at Nienke’s. Which was fun. And in between I wandered off to the parents to visit them.

Monday I spent watching movies (Boychoir (good!), Boyhood (quite good!) and Winter’s Tale (mediocre)) and baking a cheesecake with ‘lange vinger’ crust and topping.

Yesterday, Mom and I went to Ikea where I bought some of those ultra small Billy-like things to store my movies. We also ordered a table and chairs-set for Nienke. And of course we got small stuff, because it is impossible to go to Ikea and not buy small stuff.

The furniture will be delivered this Saturday, can’t wait to start building. *bounce*

And, this morning, my chairs came. I’m in love. I’ve been eyeing these Eames-replica chairs for quite some time now. And with having my own dining table, I have space for my own chairs. While the chairs aren’t very expensive, they were too expensive to get all six at once. So I was planning on buying them per two or three. However, when I was at the parents, last Sunday, Mom and I got to talking about the chairs. And she said they would give them to me o.0

I was flabbergasted, and very grateful. We immediately ordered them, so I could finally have a table people can sit at. They came in pieces this morning. The seat is one piece, but the legs I had to build myself. This was a pretty easy job to do, so they we’re up and running standing in no time.

 

Cupboard

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Now that Nienke has moved, the need for a new kitchen cupboard has become rather more urgent. I’ve been scouring Marktplaats for a while now looking for a good match. But I’m pretty picky and hadn’t found anything yet. I wanted a white cupboard, with an open space in the middle, at least two drawers, a shelf with glass in the doors in the top part and tall enough that it sort of matches with the bookcases. Oh, and also affordable and requiring little work 😀

I saw some that matched most of what I wanted but weren’t quite it. I found a gorgeous cupboard that structurally was exactly what I wanted. Except it was of this brand that has the stupid, stupid habit of putting their brand name in flowy letters all over the piece. Why the fuck would I want furniture that says Riviera Maison in giant ass letters! I could sand it off, but then I’d have to repaint probably the whole thing. So, not worth it.

Other cupboards were too short, or had no drawers, or no glass doors at the top, and so on. Eventually, however, I stumbled across one that was perfect. Except it wasn’t white. But, based on the image, it seemed the wood was mostly unvarnished so it should be easy to paint. I mailed back and forth with the seller and he confirmed it wasn’t varnished. If the only thing I had to do was paint, I’m good. So we agreed I would come pick it up Friday Morning.

The night before I went out with Kim to eat at Subway and then see Allegiant. Which is not a very good movie. Taken separately as an independent scifi, it’s okay. As a part of the Divergent series, no. It has veered so far off track it looks nothing like the book. And what they replaced it with…

The next morning my Uncle, whom I ‘d chartered to drive and help, and I headed for the rent-a-trailer place in town. I’d reserved one the day before with a hood on it in case of rain. Once trailered-up, we headed to Friesland to pick up my cupboard. And it is glorious.

It splits up in two pieces and it isn’t very heavy so it was easy to transport and get it inside. I spent the rest of Friday and this weekend painting. So. Much. Painting.

I bought standard white paint for the exterior. I also snagged a jar of deep red base paint from the sale bin. I didn’t know what I would use it on, but I loved the colour. In the end, I decided to use that for the interior of the cupboard. Which turned out to be best decision ever 😀

 

Van Gogh, Books and a Pink Waffle

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After buying another cheap day ticket for the train last month, I suggested to Gert we should go to Amsterdam again. He immediately mentioned he’d never been to the Van Gogh museum. And just like that, we had plans. And yesterday was the day to execute said plans.

We left Grunn early so we would be in Amsterdam somewhat early as well. We arrived at the central station around 10:30 and, priorities, went to Starbucks for a drink. We then got on a tram to the museum square where the Van Gogh Museum is.

When we got out, the sun was shining, the weather was nice (albeit cold) and across the field we could see the museum. As we crossed we saw a lot of people outside the museum. When we got close enough, we saw it was the queue.

20160227_113222And not just a queue to get in the museum, no, the queue to get a ticket. Every minute or so, yellow-jacketed hosts would let another handful of people through to the queue at the door where they could go in to buy their tickets.

We had talked about pre-ordering tickets online but forgot to do so. But it gave us an idea. We checked with a host, and indeed, it would work. So, on Gert’s phone we ordered tickets online. He immediately got them in his mailbox and we could skip the queue and go straight to the entrance 😀

20160227_122441Disappointingly it was not allowed to take pictures in the museum. Not even just flash-less pics, no, not at all. This did not stop us from sneaking in a few phone pictures anyway.

The building has several floors that thematically lead you through Van Gogh’s life. Starting with an Eye to Eye section with nothing but self portraits to his final works before committing suicide. There were sections for his early work after he had decided he wanted to be an artist, leading up to the Potato Eaters, his moving to France where he got in contact with impressionism and such making his work lighter and brighter. Also his Japanese inspired works, his period in the institution, and the brief period after he got out and before he killed himself.

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Our second plan for the day was to hit the book shops. When in Amsterdam we also tend to go to the American Book Center. This time around we decided to add The Book Exchange to the mix. This is a large second-hand bookstore with nothing but English works. Since this shop would close earlier, it became our first stop after we finished in the museum. We got on the tram again, but accidentally picked the one going the wrong way. So we got off again two stops further. Reassessing our priorities, we hit another Starbucks for a drink, and for Gert to charge his phone.

20160228_103309After a well deserved break, we got back on the tram, the right one this time, and headed for the city center. From there it was just a few minutes to get to The Book Exchange. We dove straight into the basement where they keep the scifi and fantasy books. I picked out some Star Trek books and then went around the room alphabetically. I found several books that had been on my list, or are sequels to works I have. I found Elizabeth Bear’s first books (the Jenny Casey trilogy) that I’ve been wanting. I found the follow-up to C.F. Bentley’s Harmony and also the sequels to Robert Sawyer’s Hominids. I’ve been looking for these last two for ages! They also had a fun Stargate book, and two Kim Harrison books that I still needed. And, in a surprise, twist, part four in that trilogy I got at the local thrift store on Wednesday…

20160227_163709A quiet hour later, we both had our arms full of books and decided to call it quits for now. With packed bags we stood outside and quickly agreed to skip the American Book Center for today. We walked back towards the city center. Gert bought himself a pink waffle with sprinkles. (I tasted, it’s ridiculously sweet)
In the morning we had sort of decided to eat Asian for dinner. But after what we spent on books, we decided on cheap food. KFC was our first choice but it was insanely crowded so we skedaddled. McDonalds was close by so we tried that. The first one we found was out of Maestro Burgers so we picked another one just a few hundred yards further. This one did have the Maestro’s, which are glorious.

After eating, we headed back to the station to go home. It was a good day 🙂

Table

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I have acquired a dining table 🙂

With Nienke going away soon, I need some new pieces of furniture. Well, new to me anyway. Priority pieces are a cupboard for my plates and other kitchen stuff, and a dining table and chairs. So, I have been browsing Marktplaats quite frequently lately. A few days ago I stumbled across a beautiful table. Large, massive legs, real wood, in a nice pattern and a good dark colour. I bid on it and nothing much happened for a bit. Then I got outbid in a fairly serious way. I could outbid that person, but I felt she would continue and I might end up paying more than I wanted. So I mailed the seller directly, asking her to sell it to me for her asking price. And she agreed!

20160225_103247Eva had offered to help me get the table so after some contact with both Eva and the seller, Wednesday afternoon was agreed upon. Eva came shortly after I’d gotten home from work. We had a cuppa first and then drove a few towns over to get my baby. The table is one piece and the legs cannot be removed. We had no other options then but to put the table in the back of the van with the legs pointing up. We strapped the legs on one side to the car seats. Then we tied the van doors around the legs on the other side so they’d keep still while driving. The doors couldn’t close, so we drove home gently.

We got back without incident, and with a little help from my Uncle the table was inside in a flash. The cats, notably Monkey, approved. Now to get chairs for it, although that will be a while as the ones I want are not yet in the budget.

20160224_220525We then decided to check out the thrift store and turned the rest of the afternoon in a fun little shopping trip, taking Nienke with us. I almost bought a jacket, but didn’t like the fit enough. I did find a nice wooden decorative box and a reed basket. And books. Because I cannot leave there without books. It’s usually children’s books as they don’t generally have a lot of English works.

Nienke pointed out a Dutch translation Indiana Jones tie-in novel to me which I scooped up as I already have another one in this series. I also found a good, English, copy of Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking glass and what seems like a fun youth book about a 19th century family emigrating to the USA.

Then I came across a rare find, at least for our local thrift store, a complete science fantasy trilogy in English. With them being only 30 cents a book, I got my grabby hands on them and did not let go 😀

Yup, Sofa

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20160210_105642So, today we went back to the furniture store with Dad. After some trying out of both, the decision was made to get the one we chose Wednesday. Except in a different colour.

Mom had been thinking she wanted it in a more blueish colour. The associate got out his samples and he had this pretty blue-grey one (left in the image). In a very smart move, Mom had brought a curtain along to check how it would look with the sofa. She liked the blue and it seemed it was going to be that until she spotted another colour on the sample ring. This was a more green-grey colour (right in the image).

In the middle of the show room I wasn’t too impressed with the colour. It seemed too dark and ill-matched with the curtain. We put everything on a table near a window to check the effect in natural light.  There the green-grey one stood out and really fit with the curtain.

20160210_103830Thus it was decided. After filling out the order form, Mom decided she also wanted a new chair to go with it. In the showroom across from the sofa was a chair she had been eyeing while we were there. It’s a more modern and streamlined shape than the old-fashioned wooden chair they currently have. The covering resembled that of the sofa on display without being too matchy-matchy.

The associate brought out fabric samples for the chair and luckily it came in a grey colour that matched with the one for the sofa. The order form got amended to include the chair, and that concluded our business there. In between I drooled some more over the cabinet I saw last week. It’s still very much out of my budget, but it is so pretty. So I took a picture 🙂

20160210_115800Next stop was the thrift store one town over. As of today Nienke has a new house, so I will need some additional furniture when she moves out. That will still be a few weeks away but we’re in the neighbourhood anyway. The thrift store didn’t have anything that struck my fancy in the furniture department. I checked out the books, and hit the jackpot there. I found both the third part in a three-book series that I’ve been missing. I got the first two parts as a kid and always wanted to get the third to go with it. Here it was, for fifty cents 🙂

Then I found another book I’ve been looking for for years. I read Hadassa as a kid and it always stayed with me. Once I got older, though, I could never find it again. Until now. This book was ten cents. And then it turned out all books were 50% off. So I got both of them for thirty cents total!

wp-1455129929041.jpegWe then made our way over to the town center to check out a few other stores and to have lunch before heading home.

At home I worked on the stairs some more. I got sick of the laminate flooring on the stairs. The metal corners are noisy and sharp, and the way the laminate has been places shortens the treads. Plus, it’s slippery. Last week I pulled off all the metal edges and the front laminate. Today I started taking off the laminate on the treads.

This has proven to be one hell of a job. The previous tenant glued everything on with a cement-like substance. It’s fairly easy to remove on its own, but it’s a bitch to pull the laminate pieces loose. It took me about an hour and a half, two hours to get as far as in the picture. I’m continuing on Friday, but this is gonna be a multi-day project. Once the stairs are all clear I’ll be sanding and painting it and then adding some tread rugs to prevent slipping. I’m still thinking about what colour to paint it.

wp-1455129942237.jpegA little after five Mom picked me up to drop me off at the bike repair shop. I brought my bike in last weekend for repairs and it was ready today. I’d been putting new air in my back tire every morning for weeks now and got sick of it. Beyond that, I also had the guy put on a new back light, move the front light forward and check the chain.

He called this morning when we were in the car to discuss the front light. It turned out it was full of water and the dynamo was fried. He suggested replacing all that with a battery powered light which would be a lot cheaper than replacing dynamo and regular light. I’m all for cheaper, so I agreed.

When I got there he walked me through what he did to the bike. Beyond the discussed things he also replaced a broken spoke and tightened the brakes. The chain was rusty so he cleaned it and he re-aligned the front wheel also to better deal with the weight of the crate I have in front. I’m really satisfied with what the dude did, and how he did it.

Sofa

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My parents are probably buying a new sofa set.

20160206_142440Saturday Mom and I went grocery shopping. While underway, she said she also wanted to check out the furniture store. The current sofa set they have isn’t very comfortable and some of the stitching is getting loose. Mom’s been thinking about getting one sofa and two recliners so she wanted to check it out.

At the store we wandered around and looked at everything, taking our sweet time. We tried out various recliners and sofa’s with no particular intent to actually pick something. I drooled over a particularly pretty kitchen cupboard that is way out of my budget range and a likewise pretty cabinet that was even more out of my range.

Eventually we stumbled across a pretty brown sectional. It was comfortable to sit on and Mom really liked the colour. A sectional won’t fit in my parent’s living room, but it also comes as separate sofas. We filed it away in our mind and continued our round.

20160206_145607Later on, we stumbled on another sectional. This one a different shade of brown with the stitching in a contrasting lighter colour. This one was also comfortable, and also available as separate sofas.

By now we had made a full round so we tried out both sofas and compared. In the end both Mom and I preferred the lighter one. It was more comfortable to sit on and looked less massive. Especially since it’s available with thinner arm rests.

After some more discussing sofa versus recliner, Mom realised Dad would not be happy with a chair. He just wants to be able to lie on his side when napping. With that squared away, the choice almost made itself.

What with Dad being at home, Mom couldn’t make the decision then and there. We’re returning on Wednesday with Dad to sit on it some more and decide. But I’m pretty sure this’ll be it. 🙂

Spotlight

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Yesterday being a Wednesday meant only half a day of work so lots of time for fun things! I’d planned to meet up with Gert and see two movies. I was in the city centre a bit before him so I browsed the market square and then headed for the News Café to have a drink. Gert met up with me there. We chose our movies and headed on the way to the cinema. However, we had some time left so we decided on some clothes shopping. This turned out to take more time than we thought as there were sales going on at several stores. I managed to score a pair of pants and a belt for under €20 and then another pair of pants elsewhere for about €10. Score!

After this, we were too late to make our first movie so we amended our plans. We decided to take the early Spotlight and then go for dinner after. Spotlight is a great movie. It tells the tale of how the large scale sexual abuse of children by Catholic Priests in the Boston area was uncovered by the investigative journalism team of the Boston Globe. It features, among others, Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton and Rachel McAdams. It shows how they, mostly accidentally, stumble upon data that doesn’t add up. As they do their research it becomes clear that something has been going on for a long time. And that people had tried to bring this to light earlier, only to get ignored or shut down. The team speaks with victims, who are often reluctant to come forward, as well as with suspected perpetrators and their higher ups who want the lid to stay on.

I found it to be an impressive film. The story is tight, no frills and unnecessary extra drama. The narrative as-is, is more than compelling enough and the acting is great. I definitely recommend.

After Spotlight we hit Subway for dinner and parted ways. Then today, after work, it was time for the regular dinner with friends. Hitching a ride with Ingrid, we headed to Mellien’s for great food, and great company 🙂

 

Ice, Joe

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After getting my bike padlock frozen I borrowed Mom’s bike to use until I had time to look at the lock. Tuesday went fine, but Wednesday morning, the ice got the better of me, again. This time when I went around the corner near the Chinese restaurant. There, too, it was slippery. Luckily I was, again, not going very fast so there was no damage to me or the bike.

When I got home I returned the bike to Mom’s and set to work on my busted lock. After some wiggling, the key slid in and it just opened… Stupid lock.

Yesterday after work I hit the city with Kim. The temple of her glasses broke so she wanted to get that fixed and maybe get new ones. Unfortunately they couldn’t fix the temple as they didn’t have that particular size and hinge mechanism anymore. They also had no time anymore to fit her in for a measuring for a new pair so we left with nothing except an invitation to come back the next day.

We were now pretty hungry so it was Pappa Joe’s for dinner. I decided on nachos instead of  a burger and had some bread and herb butter to go with it. Afterwards we walked down the main shopping street to browse and get some stuff. Kim wanted gloves, and she found a pair she liked. I checked out the book outlet and found two graphic novels I liked. So score for the both of us!