Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Alligator Mail


Yesterday there was mail for me and my owner.
There was an alligator on the envelope!


It turned out to be really cool swag from Delilah S. Dawson. We have pre-ordered her upcoming Young Adult book Servants of the Storm, so she sent us this swag to thank us.


There was also a dried clover in the envelope for luck, but the mailmen must have mistreated the envelope, because the clover was in pieces.


Isn't this bookplate awesome!
It has an alligator on it as well.

I can't wait for my copy of Servants of the Storm to arrive, so I can put my cool bookplate in it, and then use the bookmark when I read the book :-D

Thanks Delilah!


Tuesday, July 29, 2014

A trip to a Museum

Yesterday we went on a trip to Leiden to visit The Dutch National Museum of Antiquities.


There was lots of rain when we arrived in Leiden, so before we went in search of the museum we had a box of pasta with pesto sauce and mozzarella.

Then we braved the rain and walked to the museum.


In the hall of the museum there was an Egyptian temple.


How cool!


This is a really big sarcophagus.


They had a really cool Egyptian exhibition.
This is a small funeral boat.


This was the grave of an Egyptian farmer I think.


I spotted a hippo on the wall of a small shrine.


This is the statue of Hatshepsut, a female Pharaoh

After the Egyptian Exhibition we also visited a special Medieval exhibition and the permanent exhibition.


This is the grave of a hunting dog. He was buried with his collars.


Very old pottery.


There were lots of interesting things to see and we had a great day at the museum.


At the end of the afternoon we left the museum and went back to the train station to take a train to Utrecht.


We went to our favorite Indian restaurant to have dinner.


And a nice refreshing drink.


After dinner we went for a walk in Utrecht to see the Dom tower and the canals before taking a train back to Groningen.

It was a wonderful day!


Monday, July 28, 2014

A Picnic, More Food and Lots of Books


Last week it was lovely weather so we went on another picnic.


The insects also thought the weather was nice.
Can you see them?


We had a cool campfire as well.


I hope we get more sunny days so we can go on a picnic again soon.

---

Yesterday we got a visit from Aurian and Maia!

They came bearing gifts, and we had a great afternoon talking about books, the convention in Berlin they visited, and more. In the evening we went out for dinner.


We went to my favorite restaurant: Ni Hao.


We had lots of yummy food, including my favorite sweet and sour soup.

After dinner they started on their journey back home, and it was time for me to drool over the goodies they brought.


Just look at all the books and swag.
And I also got a cool purple bag from the Berlin convention!


They also met up with Patricia Briggs, and not only did they get her to sign my copy of Fair Game, they also got a magnet and a cool badge for me!


And in Berlin they had Nalini Singh sign two books for me as well!

There were lots of other cool books as well, including Zombies vs Unicorns, and a book about a pig. Keep an eye on my review blog, because I will certainly review those books there.


Thanks, Aurian and Maia for all the goodies and for a really fun day!


Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Golfing and Food


We went miniature golfing with our colleagues this weekend.
It was fun, even though my owner wasn't very good at it.


After we golfed there was a picnic.
I didn't like my owner's choice in food though...

So I had to get something else:


This is more like it!


Yesterday evening we went on a picnic ourselves:


Not the tiniest bit of ham or other pork in sight, luckily enough. And cider! Yum.


Saturday, July 19, 2014

Cider and Music

Yesterday evening we went to O'Ceallaigh, an Irish Pub in Groningen, because Nikki and her band were going to play there that evening. We met Nikki in Brighton last year, so we had to meet up of course.


When we got to the Irish Pub I ordered a bottle of chilled cider. It had been a hot day, so that cider tasted heavenly.


Then Nikki and the other members of the band, Battenkill Ramblers, arrived. We talked for a bit and then they started their show.


I think they're really good, and they were even missing two band members.





After the Battenkill Ramblers there was another band: the Corn Potato String Band. They were really good as well.





We also talked some more with Nikki of course, and I drank more cider. It was a fun evening, and it was cool to see Nikki again. I hope we get to meet up again somewhere in the future.

Monday, July 14, 2014

A Trip to Schiermonnikoog - Day 3


The last day we were on Schiermonnikoog I had a lazy morning. It was a nice sunny day, so I got a large strawberry sorbet.


In the afternoon we went to visit the Visitor's Center where the pictures of my owner's OtherHalf were displayed.


But before looking at the pictures we first had a look at the bird display.




I wouldn't want to be hunted by that bird.


One of the picture displays of my owner's OtherHalf.


Taking a closer look.


I think these pictures are amazing!


I hope other people will love them as well, and maybe even buy some of them.


There were also other pictures besides those from my owner's OtherHalf. I really love this one.


And this one is really cool as well.


I feel like I'm part of the picture.


Next it was time to relax some more. I had a nice glass of Calvados.


At the end of the afternoon we went for a bike-ride and enjoyed the weather and the beautiful surroundings.






Then it was time to go home.
Here I'm looking out over the sea, on the boat back to the bus that would bring us to Groningen again.