Let us walk through the archway at the end of the street I showed in my previous post and see what we see…
… I have edited all my Leuven photos and got them in some sort of order.
So now am able to share more detail about the places I mentioned my in Leuven diary with you.
Do you have a special request from the places that I visited in Leuven?
8 Comments CherryPie on Jul 9th 2015
During my visit to the M Museum in Leuven I noticed these poppies through a museum window. They reminded me of the poppies in the moat at the Tower of London. When I got home I looked up the website that was advertised to find out more about them:
Poppies for Peace is based on an initiative taken by ceramic artist Anita Huybens (1949-2008):
“For quite a while I wanted to do something dealing with amputation and the loss of one’s abilities as a consequence. Losing a part of your body and learning how to live that way … is painful and difficult, I know. An encounter helped to enable me to, as well as dare to, work on this theme. On one of my Raku-firing days Mic Billet told me about his Apopo-project. A group of ‘inspirators’ worked on developing a method using rats to track and deactivate landmines in former warzones. Thus, it was possible to prevent the trackers and the local residents from having more limbs torn off. This story coincided with the amputation project which had been in the back of my mind for a long time. It emerged as the image of a field full of poppies.
Poppies remind us of the battlefields in WWI during which the bodies of so many were shot to pieces. Poppies remind us of the symbolic meaning which the British attached to them in order to make sure that the dead would not disappear into oblivion. Poppies remind me of my childhood, when I gathered a bunch of them for my grandmother who accepted them as a great present. Because of all these intense experiences, I grew towards the decision to make a field of 1000 ceramic poppies…it’s as if I feel compelled to do this …now, in this life I can still live.
Apopo is an initiative of researchers in Belgium and Tanzania. They developed a totally new method to train giant pouched rats and involve them in the tracking of landmines. The rats are first trained in order to recognise the scent of explosives in order to later detect mines in fields.
At present Apopo is active in Mozambique. Since the operations started, 280 hectares have been cleared of landmines. 280 hectares of farmlands, villages and roads can again be accessed by the locals.
Spending the funds:
‘vzw Klaprozen voor Vrede’- ‘Poppies for Peace non profit’ collected enough funds in the past years to finance a first bushcutter. This appliance is first used to free up the overgrown areas after which the rats can do the tracking. In later years a second bushcutter could be purchased. At present, the funds raised by selling the ceramic poppies are spent on the intensive training of the rats and their supervisors. A realistic figure : €5000 is needed for the training of one single rat which is the revenue of selling 100 poppies.
The photo quality suffers a little because I had to photograph the poppies through a glass window.
16 Comments CherryPie on Jul 8th 2015
After my fresh start after Easter I have been making slow but steady progress in losing my excess baggage. My Belgian holiday put a small blip in my weight loss but I was back on track with a downward trend the following week. One of the lovely ladies made this heart plaque which is bound to keep me motivated. All I need is a new hook so I can hang it with the other hearts in my collection.
15 Comments CherryPie on Jul 7th 2015
On Saturday we took my Mum out to choose some wallpaper and ended up with a television and a cordless vacuum cleaner but no wallpaper. We were unable to find the required wallpaper book and the wallpaper expert wasn’t in so we left the details so she could hunt it down on her return to work.
Then we went to look at televisions because hers is showing its age. We looked and she ordered one. When she had finished making her purchase she said would like to look at the cordless vacuum cleaners so we went up stairs to find them. As we were looking the Dyson rep appeared out of nowhere and proceeded to tell us all about them and which one would be best for her needs. I am not quite sure how it happened (I am not an impulse buyer) but I came away with one!! When I got home I found out how much easier and convenient it is to use than the upright one I had previously been using.
Tomorrow my car goes in for some repairs. Last Monday as I was reversing out of a car park space at work I heard a clunk and I felt something shift. Initially I thought it was something in the boot but every time I went over a bump there was a c lunk. When I got home I checked it over but couldn’t see anything untoward. It was still doing it the next day and then I heard a metallic ring as something fell off the bottom of the car. I couldn’t see anything so concluded it was a small object.
At lunch time the following day I was able to take it into the garage for them to check it over to see if it was safe. Unfortunately I couldn’t have the afternoon off as planned because too many other people were already on leave that afternoon. This meant I was under pressure to get back to work within a reasonable time frame. The problem turned out to be a broken suspension spring and they also noticed that my air conditioning isn’t working and that I need two new tyres…
6 Comments CherryPie on Jul 6th 2015
Knowing that their past actions may try to overwhelm them, the devotees must be prepared to combat them. God will give them the strength: His Name will be an impenetrable armor.
Swami Brahmananda
8 Comments CherryPie on Jul 5th 2015
Once again we were offered Champagne for breakfast although on this occasion there were no strawberries so I opted for mixed fresh fruit instead. We had packed our cases before breakfast but before returning to our room to collect them we asked the hotel receptionist if he would book a taxi to take us to the train station at 2 pm. As we walked away from reception back to our hotel room I glanced out of the windows and commented that I thought it was going to rain today:
Mr C – No it isn’t.
Me (as we arrived in the room) – It Is going to rain today.
Mr C – No it isn’t.
Me – The weather has other ideas, look behind you!
Whereupon he looked behind and noticed the sudden sharp downpour much to the amusement of both of us. We took our bags to hotel reception (left luggage) so that we could enjoy the morning in Leuven and as we left the reception desk, the receptionist amusingly quipped ‘Enjoy our Summer’. Luckily it stopped raining and the sun started shining just as we were leaving the hotel.
We eventually (Mr C ignored my three tried and tested route directions) arrived at the Large Beguinage which Mr C missed whilst on his adventures in Waterloo. When he had finished exploring the Beguinage it was time to make our way back the Grote Market for an early lunch. I chose a waffle with fruit and when it arrived I pleased to see it was the waffle of the week, it was covered with mixed fresh fruit. It was delicious! After lunch we still had a little time to spare before we had to return to the hotel to catch our Taxi, so we returned to the botanical gardens for a short walk, enjoying the tranquil setting and the sunshine.
Once back at the hotel our Taxi was a little late arriving but it got us to the station in plenty of time to catch our connecting train to the the Eurostar in Brussels. On this occasion there were no delays, the Eurostar trains were running on time. During our journey we were served with a late lunch of lightly poached salmon followed by a chocolate dessert which I suspect was rather calorific and I regretted eating.
When we arrived at London station and looked at our tickets back to Stafford Mr noticed that they were first class tickets. He had forgotten he had booked them at a cheap price due to advanced booking. A first class ticket guarantees a seat and more luggage space, it also meant we were entitled to a meal which after breakfast and two lunches we did not need. We need not have worried because we soon found out that the meal option was a ‘Sunday Snack Service’. A box was placed in front of us and we were asked ‘would you like an apple’. On opening the box we found; a tiny bag of pretzels, a tiny bag of crisps, two half size crackers, a small foil wrapped soft cheese and a bite size chocolate crisp bar. Welcome to England!
As the train was cruising into Stafford station Mr C received a text message saying that our Taxi had arrived. We found it little odd that our Taxi had arrived at the station before we had. When we arrived home we quickly unpacked our cases and freshened up before walking round the corner for a late evening meal with Mr C’s Mum and Dad. The meal was delicious; beef casserole, cabbage and mashed potato followed by creme brulee. There was a cheese course but I declined.
Now back to my diet 
12 Comments CherryPie on Jul 4th 2015
