Jacopo Tintorett's Origin Of The Milky Way

Breast Milk & The Creation Of The Universe, a story in which I am naked on the couch under the softest of blankets with two males tucked up against me at three in the morning on a cold and snowy winters night as I recount the story of the creation of the Milky Way.

Read the whole story here.

Sissi WiFi dog

If you are in Maastricht and trying to find a wifi point to connect to and see one in your sweep list “SissiMiFi”, I suggest that you look around you because somewhere within thirty meters of you is a Golden Retriever guide dog at work.

One perennial problem for Judith, deaf and now partly sighted as she is, has been keeping in touch when out and about. This took on new urgency and increased complexity after the injury that damaged her eyesight. Her wonderfully inventive father has once again come to the rescue with a combination of devices that fit into Judith’s guide dog Sissi’s saddle bags./

Read more here.

Sissi’s web page here.

Author: Nina.

Carnival Breasts

Nina and I had been out to collect Hilke from her physical therapy appointment. Hilke has spina bifida and every few weeks we have a physical therapist work with her to help her develop her walking and attend to any movement problems she has. It is a pretty tough couple of hours for her but productive so afterwards we told her she would not have to go back to school but instead we would do what she wanted to do for the afternoon. Her wish was to go shopping for Carnival things.

Read on……..

The US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was created as part of the Aviation and Transportation Security Actpassed by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by PresidentChimpanzee Bush on November 19, 2001. The agency is responsible for security in all modes of transportation and given the idiocy of it’s employees the travelling American public should be scared witless.

At the Bakersfield airport in California USA, TSA authorities recently shut down the entire airport after finding what they thought was a container of liquid explosives. Luggage screeners discovered five Gatorade bottles full of an “amber” liquid. TSA agents then opened the bottles and complained they smelled “a strong chemical odor.” They then complained of nausea and were rushed by paramedics to the local hospital for treatment. Then the whole “security” apparatus swung into action as County Sheriffs deputies, fire crews, FBI agents and members of a joint terrorism task force responded to the scene and spent the day questioning a farmer, Mr Ramirez before further tests showed that the liquid was natural, unprocessed HONEY.

Read more here………

Author; Nonke

Gelukkig nieuwjaar aan alle Geelse lezers - Happy new year to all our readers!

What a wonderful way to start a new year……..

This morning at 08.30 CET Nina gave birth to a baby boy here at her home amongst her family. Baby is fit and well at 3284 grams, 50.7cm long. His name is most likely to be Joost Karl van der Roos, though this has not been fixed yet ! His birth was faultless and he nursed within a couple of minutes of emerging. Birth mother Nina is also well, displaying few signs of having given birth only this morning, she is in all ways a professional ! Two hours after delivering baby she was playing Monopoly with Nicholas, Hilke and grandparents.

Mother Judith has spent most of the day holding baby Joost, unable to talk without crying for much of the day, overwhelmed by the truly wonderful gift of her own child that Nina has made her. She has been a picture of utter contentment, and perhaps still a little overwhelmed. This afternoon exhaustion finally overcame them and their children and we got everyone to bed for a long afternoon nap.

I doubt that I could ever properly express how immensely proud we are of Nina, and how happy we are that she has so firmly established the family she wanted, and in doing so brought such happiness to our beloved Judith, but we are.

Author: Tyjardia.

It is hard to believe that it is Christmas already, the last couple of weeks have really rushed by and now here it is, the big day.

Last night we had a wonderful Christmas Eve Night having spent most of the day at Nina & Judith’s home where there was a full house crammed with four generations as well as god children, friends, guide dogs and several cats (one of which is theirs). As usual we were all well fed with some incredible treats springing from Judith’s kitchen, including a nougat ice cream that was d-e-v-i-n-e. Our adopted daughter Mia ate so much of the home made nougat that she was sick which slowed her down, but only very briefly. I also noticed that when our boys slipped out to go and meet their friends at the fair many of those sweet treats found their way into their pockets, no doubt to delight some young female friends ! We are of course waiting for the latest addition to our extended family but Nina appears to be laying down on the job, or at least her womb is ! For those thinking she would be having a Christmas baby I regret to report that it looks unlikely.

For all of our little group this last year has been difficult but it does seem to be finishing up on positive notes for us and we hope that all of you may be as fortunate as well. Where ever you are please accept our best wishes to you, may your Christmas day be spent in good company with people who care and love you.

Kindest Regards & Love from Willothewisp.

Author: Nonke

Pregnant Me

We are still waiting for the appearance of our new little one. I say “still” because I am now past my due date by a few days, but one should always takes due-dates with a large pinch of salt. I am now most certainly feeling “Great with child” and fit to burst, and for the first time I have some back ache which I had managed to escape until now. Baby turned yesterday and now appears to be bouncing it’s head on top of my bladder as a result I am in the wc every five minutes. My breasts are like a pair of spurting rocks strapped to my chest and I feel like a super milking mama already - as soon as baby is born they will settle down into their routine but right now they as tense as I am !

It looks like we are set for a white Christmas (Hooray !) with the whole of Limburg blanketed in snow, ice and temperatures so far below zero that the rivers, ponds and lakes have frozen enough to skate on. Do not worry, I am not skating on them though I did skate on the ice ring on the Vrijthof (the city square) here in Maastricht at the winter fair. It was rather nice to see the other skaters giving me space as I glided past like an over filled river barge.

At this late stage in my pregnancy I thought a few thoughts about the life of a gravid woman were in order:

• Pregnancy Massage: A partner who knows how to do proper Pregnancy Massage. If you are pregnant and have never had a real pregnancy massage then go send your spouse off on a massage course, you will not regret it.
• Pregnancy Corset: I LOVE my  hand made Lycia corsets, they should be given free to all pregnant women. They support your stomach muscles, take the strain off your pelvic floor and keep your skin from going all wrinkled. They work post-partum as well. Three weeks after having Mariaske my stomach was back to flat and three more weeks the muscles had fully regained their original tone – cool eh ! It is during pregnancy that they really help the most and can be supplemented by an adjustable support band under your belly bump.
• My bidet: Honestly I do not understand how the world outside Europe functions when they do not have bidets, I have spoken to some American women who have actually never seen a bidet let alone experienced the cleansing joy of using one ! How can any woman actually feel she has a properly clean undercarriage when she does not have access to a bidet ? A bidet comes into their own when we are menstruating but they really, really come into the < Absolutely Essential > category when you are knocked up.
• Pregnancy Sex, you cannot beat it, loved up on pregnancy hormones and an increased blood supply below the navel that puts everything there on a hair trigger all combined with a partner who really knows her way around the female body - Heaven !
• Digestive Enzymes: Any pregnant woman will tell you of experiencing heart burn of such strength that it can melt steel plate. Most will take  antacids or ranitidine, neither of which are very good for you . Digestive enzymes are a natural solution that actually work and treat the problem at it’s route, they are also cheap.

So we will continue to wait.

Read More Here

Author : Nina