Our cosy place =)

Last week Monday our landlord came around to hang up our paintings! Thank you Siegfried! =)

Deciding where to hang our pictures was quite a task since we don’t have that much straight wall space! Most of our walls are skew but we found enough straight parts for most of our pictures. The system that our landlord suggested is a screw which goes into a ceiling panel or cornice, a clear string or wire strung from the screw and a hook on the end of the string. Mum Cross commented that it is like the system used in galleries =) At first we weren’t sure if a little hook would hold some of our pictures but so far so good! The hooks come in different types and vary in the weight they can carry. We used 4 kg and 25 kg hooks and the strings are also quite strong so it should be ok.

On Tuesday we went to ‘look’ at a new TV and came home with one! We chose a 40 inch flat screen Sony Bravia. It just fits into the space allocated to it above the TV cabinet, lol. We are still working out how everything works and finding the channels we like after it programmed itself, lol. But we are enjoying it =) We are looking forward to trying out some of the gizmos and gadgets like using the USB port to plug in the iPad and downloading and watching movies! (We have missed some of the latest animated movies like Rio because they are dubbed into Dutch at the cinema).

We have now ticked off all the things on our settling-in list. Our place is feeling very cosy and homely and we are really enjoying living here =)

We discovered that there is a Summer Carnival on in Rotterdam this weekend! It starts on Friday night with a brass band competition and then there is a float-type parade through the city on Saturday. We hope the rain stays away this weekend!

Otherwise things are going well. Bron's job is going well so far. Today I bought a second hand bike to cycle from the station to the TU and back again which will save some bus and walking time. Justin's is also happy at work and he has a cricket game on Sunday. Shell arrives for a week-long visit on Monday, yay! And Graham joins her next Saturday for a few days. Plans include exploring Delft, Kinderdijk and Amsterdam with some optional extra’s too =)

Hope you are having a good week!

x

PS: There was a typo on the previous post about the Maeslantkering. There are 17 000 km of dykes in the Netherlands, not 1700! Apologies! =)

Our room with a bed in it! Notice the new bedside lamps and the lack of boxes! 

One of the newly hung pictures! 

Some African pics on the wall, a crate of Grolsch and our fridge from home with family pics and other paraphernalia 

One corner of the lounge with an Ikea book case and the painting we bought in Paris.

The other corner of the lounge/dining room with another Ikea bookself and Peeps shell lamps =)

Thanks for the flowers boy boib! 

The kitchen with the Bokke clock! Thanks Mark! We won't forget who we are supporting this September =) 

Stairs leading to the front door and the only place with enough flat wall space for this pic! 

The balcony with Don Quixote from Madrid and an Ikea bookshelf. I see Justin edited out the cricket gear that lives on the balcony, nice. 

The TV area of the lounge and the new TV! Note the African theme and the pics of family and friends =)