Christmas first. It was a bit of a hectic one, Christmas Eve Bas and I went to his father's house to celebrate which was a lot of fun. There was the three of us plus Bas's sister, Lies (pronounced Lees) and his step-mother, Lieke. Had a very nice dinner with far too much wine (there's a shocker) and lots of giggling. And although I did remember to take my camera I successfully left it in my bag so have no pictures at all!! We stayed overnight there which was nice but very bizarre waking up Christmas morning and having a full continental breakfast spread out. Its something I usually only have when on holiday so that felt kind of weird.
After breakfast myself, Bas and Lies headed back home to get changed and to go through to their Mum's house for Christmas dinner. I was a bit more nervous about this as I knew that there would be a lot more family there. Their oma (grandmother) had paid for the whole family to go out for Christmas dinner to a nearby restaurant. In total there were 9 of us that headed over there. Again a true first for me as Christmas dinner has always been a duck/goose/turkey cooked at home by my Mum, so going out felt really weird. It was a really good meal though, 4 courses which had about an hour inbetween (which meant I actually managed to eat everything) so although we were there at about 7.15 we didn't leave till nearly 11.30. The food was lovely though and it was a really really good evening. Here are a few photos (yes, I actually remembered my camera this time) although I will upload all of them onto photobucket at some point (it takes ages though so don't hold your breath).
Bas's auntie and Mum (Ellen)
Lies and Sofie (cousin)
Ellen
Ger (step-father) and Oma
Then after Christmas dinner we went home for a nice long sleep before starting our trip to England on Boxing Day (which isn't called Boxing Day in Holland, its Second Christmas Day - so I was charged with the task of finding out what Boxing Day meant and apparently in ye olden days when the maids were working over Christmas, on the day after Christmas day there were allowed to take the leftovers and things home in boxes.... hence Boxing Day. There my task is complete). We were getting the ferry over from Europort in Holland to Hull in England. Now the ferry left at 9 in the evening but for some reason you have to be onboard really really early. There was a bus from Rotterdam so we got this at 5 and we were on the ferry before 6. Our cabin on the way over was actually really nice, we had a window and everything! And I have to say, although getting to England takes a LOT longer than flying (we arrived in Hull at 8 the following morning) its so much more relaxed that you don't really feel like you're travelling so have much more energy when you finally get there.
So we watched Happy Feet in the onboard cinema (really nice film if you're 5!) and once that was finished the boat was just leaving Holland. We then went and had dinner with a bottle of wine, didn't realise how late it was and were the last ones in the restauarant until the started hoovering around us and had to ask us to leave! There was a bar and entertainment (which wasn't very good) so we could have a couple of drinks before crashing out. So slept most of the way over which was nice.
Once in England I really did realise how dirty it is compared to The Netherlands. I can't really explain it as its nothing in particular, it just seemed really dirty. We got the train from Hull to Skipton where my Mommy met us together with my cousin Joe (who is essentially my big brother). It was so nice to see them again. I realised that I hadn't seen my Mum since Christmas the year before! We headed into Skipton to go and get breakfast at Wetherspoons where Sally (second youngest sister) was working. So we got to introduce Bas to the delights of the English Breakfast before heading back to Mum's. After lots and lots of chat and banter (including meeting most of the cats - Mum now has 5... she really should get then neutered!!) we had an awesome roast dinner, two ducks which Mum has got rather good at now. There was a lot of wine being drunk and as me and Sally were in the same room things got very very loud. Mum and Lorna (youngest sister) went next door to borrow more chairs and apparently they could hear us through the wall - whoopsie! In total there was 7 of us including Lorna and her boyfriend, John, who is just lovely. After dinner we all joined in a very drunken game of "Who Am I". God only knows what we all looked like sitting there with post-it notes on our heads with names written on them, the look made all the more ridiculous for Bas as his hair kept getting in the way so we tied it up like some sort of turnip top!
Anyway, another small(ish) selection of pics:
My darling baby sister!! (Sally)
Sally me and Lorna
And the three of us with Mommy
Me with one of the many cats (Hermione - yes there is a small Harry Potter obsession in our family)
Me with my man
Lorna with her man
Yes Sally really does have an inability not to pull faces in pics
Christmas Dinner (Joe in the middle)
OMG, I'm so excited to have the worlds largest paperclip!!
The Joys of "Who Am I" with the boys determined not to be phased by the coven that is us lot together :)
The next day we paid a visit to Mr Christopher who is this awesome old man who was a professor in English (not sure where, sure Mommy can help me out here) and is just about the world authority on the Bronte sisters. He just has this house COVER in books and has the most fascinating stories - I think Bas would go back to England just for a chance to chat to him again! This was followed by a visit to my baby (that being Jeremy - the horse) who looks a bit like an overgrown exmoor pony he's got so much hair!! So I proceeded to sit on him in the stable and got shouted at for not having a hat on!! My horse, if I want to sit on him and risk falling on my head then I shall!! And typically I fogot my camera for that too which was very annoying.
Then we headed back across to The Netherlands which was pretty much the same as the crossing to England, although there was slightly more movement in the sea which after you've had a couple of drinks makes you feel a lot drunker than you actually are!!
We got back on 29 December and on 30 December I started my new job with Marlies van Soest (http://www.mvsstables.com/) Now there are going to be many horsey comments in this bit so I apologise to anyone who gets a bit lost :)
Well, my first day started off as a disaster!! I managed to go the complete wrong way and ended up in Breda which is about 40km off course!! So although I set off in plenty of time as it took me 2 hours to do the 40 minute drive I ended up being pretty late. But once there everything went really well and I'm been in on time every day since which is a relief! I have discoved that muscles actually hate me now that I'm using them again and the early mornings are getting to me a bit but its about pushing through it, once I'm fitter it will all become much easier.
The job is really good though, its very hands on working closely with the horses so I'm not shovelling shit everyday!! I've spent my first week pulling all the manes and clipping out most of them which was a really good idea as I've really got to know the horses already. We've got the three girls, Versace, Gucci (Caluna Z on the website) and Indiana. Versace is a bit of a pain, pretends to be all sweet and cuddly but then tried to kick me when I was clipping her legs (which I've never done before but have done so many this week that I'm now an expert) and she can be a bit of a mare, you know... OMG, have you seen that leaf, its about to attack me! Gucci I think is one of my favourites, she's currently jumping about 1.35m so is in the highest class out of them all and when you go near her stable she pulls the most horrible faces but give her a cuddle and scratch her withers and she's actually a big softy. And you can do anything with her, so I like her. Indiana is a bit of a funny mare as well, sometimes she'll be fine with things and then other times if she's in a bad mood she is a nightmare - tried to stand up when I was clipping her ears (well you know what they say about chestnut mares).
The geldings are much easier to cope with. Valentino (yes, most of her horses are named after designers) is a huge chestnut gelding who's going to be my project. Although he's 7 he thinks the world is out to get him and everything is scary. But he's such a sweety and gives kisses so you can't help loving him. Massie (Mazerati - MTC Carrera Z on the website) is a funny one, he's jumping about 1.25m classes and loves people but he's got such sensitive skin that you have to be so careful with him. We had to sedate and twitch him to clip him (oh and getting the twitch on involves backing him into a corner and having two of you hang onto his headcollar as he tried to stand up on his back legs!). But you can't hate him as he's got the cutest face ever!
Then lastly there is Vitalis who is the stallion. He's such a handsome boy (and he knows it of course) and he's the first stallion that I've worked with. But he's actually quite easy. He's very noisey and has to shout at 'his' mares whenever they come back in from being worked and he has to put EVERYTHING in his mouth - including your hair, fingers etc which is irritating, but he doesn't stand up, doesn't kick and is actually a big softy who likes cuddles.
OK, I've finished talking about horses now the rest of you can tune back in again!
New Years Eve! Bas was working as there was a huge party at his work which meant that me and Lies got free tickets worth about €40 and as much free drink as we could want. Bas went to work with the car about 9 and we left the flat at about 10.30 intending to get a tram and be there at about 11. Well Rotterdam had other ideas and the bloody trams weren't running. Once we realised this it started to rain accompanied by wind at which point I realised that the skirt I was wearing wasn't very heavy and if I didn't hold down the back and the front the whole of Rotterdam would be treated to a view of my knickers!! So we started to walk in the right direction with a view to getting a taxi. To cut a long story short it took us about 45mins to find a taxi by which time my lovely straight hair was drenched and I could no longer feel my knees (yes I should have worn tights). I then proclaimed my undying love for the taxi driver and we got to the party with about 20 minutes to spare. Bas met us at the door which meant we didn't need to queue (good job as I hate queing) and got us a drink and a bottle of champagne. The turn of the new year was a bit weird as they didn't actually do a count down but we got to watch all the fireworks over the city (Cruise Terminal Rotterdam, where we were, is right on the river). I proceeded to drink most of the champagne as Bas was working and Lies doesn't really like it. We had a really good time, music was OK (for house) and there were pole dancers which were very cool. Unfortunately I got totally wasted as I cannot keep up with Lies (who says that she is a lightweight and I am therefore a featherweight) and by 2.30 I was ready for home! So I got a taxi home and proceeded to tell the taxi driver that "ik heb en lekker kontje" which he then agreed with as I got out of the taxi.
Once again I forgot my camera so only got pictures of me and Lies just after we'd got ready (which is probably just as well as god only knows what my hair was doing after all the rain).
