Failing Stained Glass Class...

I was very excited to take a stained glass class through the AWC. Little did I know that I would be rubbish at cutting glass. It didn’t help that I chose a more complicated pattern than the usual beginner and that the blue glass was harder to cut. The instructor’s daughter cooked us a delicious lunch and it was fun seeing the other ladies’ progress.

My fan-shaped lamp is turning out beautiful, but I wasn’t able to finish it because the instructor ran out of time to cut the glass that I couldn’t manage. For the pieces that were cut, I filed off the rough edges and wrapped them in copper tape. The next step will be to solder the pieces together. After watching the other ladies struggle with the soldering iron, I’ve decided that I’ll bring Jimmy along when I go back to finish the project.

On Thin Ice...

When Jimmy saw some folks coming off of the ice, he assumed it would be a good place to enter the ice as well. Just as a Dutchman warned him, the ice cracked and he found himself up to his waist in icy water. Fortunately, he was fine. Unfortunately, I was too shocked to capture the moment.

Jimmy stayed amazingly calm. He got onto his back in an effort to get more of his body out of the water. Then the Dutchman stretched out his long legs and helped pull Jimmy back to shore. Jimmy wasn’t ready to give up on skating, so he headed to V&D, the department store, to try buying some dry jeans. He couldn’t find any that he liked, so bought a towel instead to try to keep the bus dry on the journey home.

New TV / Old TV...

Just after Christmas, we took the plunge and finally upgraded to a flat screen TV. Of course, it was too big to bring home by bike, so we transported it by tram instead. It’s great that we can now easily connect a computer to be able to view our photos on a bigger screen. It’s also connected to the Internet so we have the thrill of watching even larger YouTube videos.

Rather than tossing away our old TV, I offered it for free on a YahooGroup for expats. I was surprised when a Romanian man arrived with his two-year-old son to pick it by bike. The old bike trailer looked pretty rickety, but he came well prepared with ropes and strapping tape; he contacted me to let me know that he made it home safely.

Frozen Canals in Leiden...

On February 12, we took the bus to Leiden because we wanted to see the canals frozen for the first time since we arrived in Holland in 2005. Jimmy and the girls put on their skates, but I just walked along on the ice behind them.

How cool that one of the cafes set up some chairs on the ice to serve drinks.

Here is Ashlynn hanging off the bridge over the main canal. The water wasn’t frozen under some of the larger bridges, so they’d have to walk around to continue their trek through town.

Skating in Our Neighborhood...

After an unseasonably warm January, it finally got cold enough in early February for ice skating. Along with much of the rest of the country, we hit the sporting good store to buy the girls new skates. Veronica and Jimmy then hit the frozen pond across from town hall. Veronica also went over to Kelly’s house to skate on the canals winding through her neighborhood near Delft.

More on Burns Night...

The dining room was lovely. I was very impressed that we were served on royal china. I know it’s corny, but here I am posing with a piece of royal silver (no, I didn’t bring any home with me). We sat at a table with two other couples from the American Women’s Club. Here we are posing with a photo of Queen Elizabeth at her coronation in 1952.

And here we are with British friends Jane and Mike in front of a portrait of Mary Stuart, the mother of the Mary Stuart that married William of Orange when she was only 9-years-old and went on to become Queen of England.

Burns Night Supper...

This year’s Burns Night Supper was held at the British Ambassador’s residence. We felt very privileged to be able to attend in such a spectacular setting. Like last year, there was an official presentation of the haggis complete with a Dutchman playing the bagpipes. Unlike last year, there was no raffle, so we didn’t win the leftovers.

There was a lot more space for the Scottish Country Dancing this year. I don’t know if the mini-kilt that I bought in Edinburgh gave me good luck or if the dances were easier than last year, but I had a lot more fun dancing this time. Luckily I managed to avoid stepping on the toes of the British Ambassador to the Netherlands when I was partnered with him for a dance.