Hanging out in Breda



Spring in Breda
These past few days have been so restful after our previously busy and sleepless ones. We've been staying with a lovely friend of Josh's - Klaske - who was been a wonderful mother figure to Josh through his childhood. She is the mother of Daniel - Josh's best friend in Holland.
Klaske lives in Breda (pronounced Bray-daa) which is in the south of Holland. It's about an hour by train from Amsterdam.
It's been wonderful watching Klaske and Josh reconnect after many years of not seeing each other - and Klaske has taken up right where she left off - taking care of us all so well. Her house is very cosy and modern - a three-story apartment type house in a maze of similar buildings which have that typical dutch look.
Eating lunch today in Klaske's lounge

Spring is well and truly on its way here with all the roadsides and verges (of which there are many) are lush, green and flourishing. There are many little creeks and canals everywhere amongst the houses which are prolific with wildlife. Today Esmae and I negotiated our way through the local maze to the supermarket and came across many nesting ducks and geese and saw sweet little ducklings and goslings too.
A beautiful house a few mins away from Klaske's
house.












Yesterday we had a family outing with Klaske and her two sons (Daniel and Mael) and their partners, (Glencora and Ellie), Jella (Klaske's grandson) and Debbie (Josh's mum). It was Daniel and Glencora's idea to have a belated birthday celebration for Klaske at a beautiful setting for 'high tea'.






On our walk through the beautiful forest yesterday. That's Debbie
and Daniel in the front with Jella in the pushchair

Today Josh went to pick up our campervan! It was an exciting moment seeing it for the first time!
It looks pretty old-school. I'll get you some photos once we've settled in. It was a bit grubby on the inside and the outside could do with a water blast. But we'll get it looking nice hopefully. The girls are keen to get it all set up and have ideas with what they will do with their little room they'll share at the top. (The younger three that is.)
So this afternoon I spent scrubbing all the inside surfaces with jiff and detol and it's looking better already. I'm looking forward to buying some nice plates, and pots and bedding to make it feel like home. I might even find a spot for a pot plant or two.
Our campervan
So tomorrow we will head to Den Bosch to stay in the camper at Daniel and Glencora's. It's feeling quite good to make these changes in our life a little bit at a time. First Australia - different but with enough familiarity, then Holland, - different but safe because we're staying in a cosy house and with people we know, then in the van and again with people we know and a shower close by!

Oh and I never did tell you what happened with the luggage. It was really perfect actually - God had it all sorted of course. It was delivered to our door the following day! Which worked our much better than if we'd had to cart it everywhere from Amsterdam airport! So it couldn't have been better really!

Comments

  1. Unknown30 April 2018 at 13:35

    What stunning picts to go along with your beautiful story line, Tamsin XXX


    ReplyDelete
  2. Sally Anne2 May 2018 at 00:05

    That sounds wonderful Tamsin. I’m so pleased you are having a great time over there. When you can meet up with family and friends in another country , it makes all the difference to your holiday.....a big thank you to Klaske from me.🌹

    ReplyDelete
  3. Jeff3 May 2018 at 03:13

    Great to see you all together, Daniel, Glencora and their son and also Feb and Klaske together again. A big hi to all. Breda remains a beutiful city. Lovely pics of the Mastbos??Lovely write ups Tamsin ..so much happening...hope the camper doesn't turn in to a Dennis Abigail adventure = from one petrol station to the next filling up a leaking radiator all the way from Wellington to Auckland. LOL No I'm sure it will all b fine...enjoy! Dad

    ReplyDelete
  4. Jeff3 May 2018 at 03:15

    I meant Deb and Klaske.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Unknown4 May 2018 at 12:23

    Thank you for the compliments and sweet words Tams. It was very nice to have you all at my place

    ReplyDelete

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