Ode to the Scottish

We loved our time in Scotland. The country is so beautiful and the people are

great! When I came across this video I had to post it.

Classic Scotland!  Enjoy

One Happy Daddy

There is another love in my life.

She was born November 5, 2010

She was 21inches and 8lbs 9oz.

For future blogs we will call her Louis. There is a story behind this nickname. When we first told my parents that we were having a baby I told my dad that we were going to name her Louis L'Amour. That is his favorite author and ever since then she has been called Louis by her Grandpa

Our Mystery Grandchild has Arrived!

Our 4th grandchild arrived yesterday!

And we didn't know if we were getting a boy baby or a girl baby.

Tell me what you think?

If you guessed a girl, then you're right.

Look at those cheeks!  

 Very proud papa!  I can't believe my baby has a baby!!

 I love you too.

 Holding hands.

 I think he has fallen in love with another girl!

 Here's that one that did all the hard work.

Doesn't she look great for just having had a baby?

We are so proud and happy at how well this tiny mama did

with her very big baby!  8 pounds 9 ounces!

 When our daughter went to check out her new niece and was looking at her in the nursery, there was another family looking at another baby.  Their teenage son saw our new baby and said, "Look an Asian baby."  That made our daughter laugh. The baby has so much hair though, we think she looks like an Eskimoo or Indian baby.

Our daughter said the wee one has a great set of lungs on her!

We can't wait to meet her!

Basterdsuiker

Basterdsuiker, which when translated means

Bastard Sugar!

Most of us will recognize it as brown sugar.

This is light bastard sugar; they also sell dark bastard sugar.

I am not sure why the Dutch call their brown sugar bastard sugar,

but I know I will never look at brown sugar that same!

The Horse-Drawn Funeral Procession

One day, we were in the Hague and saw a funeral procession.  According to the locals, the deceased person must have been wealthy because a funeral of this type is expensive.

 All of the horses were solid black.  They were covered with blankets.

 The carriage on the right is for the casket. 
The carriage on the left is for the family.

 The horses were all very tall--16 hands or more and black.  Beautiful animals.

 The horse handlers and the carriage drivers.

 Checking the last minute details.  Look at the shiny hooves on the horses.

 The hearse.

 The funeral procession.

 Check out the horses head ornaments.

 The funeral hearse with the attendees and the driver.

 Two horse carriage.

The funeral procession headed down the street.

Some People and Their Pets!

I have heard of some people who go to great lengths for their pets!

They want them to happy and comfortable and content . . .

but buying them their own Tesla for a napping spot?

 This is our neighbor's beautiful green (electric) sports car.

He's so nice to let his kitty snooze on his very expensive car!

Update - Delft and the Thursday Market.

I had an earlier post about Delft and the Thursday Market.  In the post I mentioned this piece of Royal Delftware, not knowing how much it cost. I speculated that it could cost 3-4 figures.  I had the opportunity to be in Delft this weekend and thought to check out the price tag.

€9,500!

Any takers?