Waving Bye-Bye

We finally got through it. The winter is gone. To be honest, I can’t really complain about the winter this year. We only had one week with snow in January. This week the temperatures will rise up to 18° Celsius. Hurrah! Spring is my favourite season of the year. I love to see everything coming back alive in the nature.
I’m also happy to report I’m back walking after some mild physical discomfort although I still need physiotherapy the next two months. But having an espresso in the afternoon outside cheers me up a lot.

Jimi is back in a good condition. He had a bladder infection for the third time in one year. He was checked thoroughly and found in an excellent health. The problem seems to be he’s having acute stress attacks the last months which are probably the cause of the infections. A lot happened in my house recently; the AC installation, the solar panels installation and some other small works inside. So fingers crossed he stays calm the next months…

One more thing… I rediscovered the Shazam app lately. Shazam is a useful application that can identify music based on a short sample played using the microphone on your phone. I had a few returning songs on my playlist of which I thought were from an American artist. After using Shazam I found out the songs are from Sarah Dawn Finer, a Swedish singer/songwriter and the Hindley Street Country Club, an Australian band. Life can be full of surprises.

Enjoy this beautiful day, my friends, wherever you are. Peace, love and understanding.

How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb

Bomb-disposal expert. Defusing a potentially dangerous situation.

Inspired by Destination Moon, The Adventures of Tintin.

Enjoy this beautiful day, my friends, wherever you are. Peace, love and understanding.

Hello 2024!

Moving on. January always gives me a mixed feeling. I sometimes feel sad to see all the Christmas lights disappear for 11 months. I sometimes feel happy to see the days are getting longer, well kinda. This morning I passed by the Grand Place in my hometown and noticed the technical staff were bringing down all the decorations. Well, life can be unutterably gloomy.

I remembered New Years Eve; I could hear people in the neighbourhood lightning up fireworks and everybody was having a good time. At the same moment I received push messages on my phone telling me Russia launched new strikes on Ukraine. I had a hard time falling asleep.

I don’t have high expectations for 2024. It’s definitely going to be a year filled with unexpected events; good ones, and bad ones. But we need to try to give attention to the positive side. It’s all a matter of balance.

Your lifestyle is also important: you need to exercise, explore nature, eat healthy, be socially active and get enough sleep. Within the limits of reality, you can happily anticipate the good things that are about to happen. And sometimes take a moment to think about the thoughts in your head and distance yourself from them. We should not immediately start doing exotic or extreme things. Drinking a coffee in the sun, spending time with your friends, family or your cat, these are moments to cherish.

Enjoy this beautiful day, my friends, wherever you are. Peace, love and understanding.

Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon

Enjoy this beautiful day, my friends, wherever you are. Peace, love and understanding.

A Happy Ending

A happy ending is hardly important, though we may be glad it’s there. I had to take Jimi to the veterinary hospital last week. There were difficulties in urinating or problems with the bladder. The vet wanted to perform a comprehensive examination because Jimi had these phenomena 6 months ago for the first time. There was a blood test and urine test, an ultrasonography and some other standard tests. Jimi needed sedation because he was too stressful. The first results were positive; they found a mild inflammation, easy to handle. But the blood and urine test results were not good. The level of glucose was much too high. It looked like Jimi needed insulin injections each day for the rest of his life. I was perplexed and almost in shock.

However, the vet suggested to repeat the tests 10 days later after the first symptoms, this time in a stress free environment. The new results came in today and Jimi’s glucose levels are back to normal! It looks like the first results were stress related. We only have to switch to a special diet to correct his slight overweight.

I wasn’t feeling good myself the last days. Thank goodness I got this good news today. All I needed was a happy ending.
I’ve got a feeling this year’s for me and you. Let the bells ring out for Christmas Day.

Enjoy this beautiful day, my friends, wherever you are. Peace, love and understanding.

About Time

Almost December, so it’s about time for another brief update. Jimi is ok, I’m ok although I’m already looking forward to the moment that the days are getting longer. But hey, I woke up with a double rainbow… signs of new beginnings, signs of hope and peace. Well, that’s what I tell myself…

Maybe there’s one minor fact: I have relapsed into an old injury, a foot stress fracture, through my own fault/stupidity, (don’t ask). Unfortunately, my walks are postponed for a few months. 

I ordered new custom made shoes and shoe soles to speed up my recovery. I will be ok, there are much worse things happening in our world right now. I hope you’ll enjoy the rest of the post and the photographs.

Despite the abundant rainfall, I decided to use some additional savings to order an air conditioning and heat pump installation in combination with 24 solar panels. It was quite a fuss and a complicated process to meet my requirements but eventually everything fell into place.

Jimi was not amused and very scared for a few days due to the hard noise disturbance.

Enjoy this beautiful day, my friends, wherever you are. Peace, love and understanding.

A Message

_{©Tine Van Aerschot}

Enjoy this beautiful day, my friends, wherever you are. Peace, love and understanding.

Almost 5…

Okay, it’s been a long time. I know. Unfortunately, 2023 is not going the way I wanted. But no worries, I’m ok and Jimi is ok. In fact, he’s the reason I have to write a post today. Jimi’s birthday is coming up tomorrow; he turns 5 and his Gotcha Day is just around the corner. I enjoy his company every day although I still miss Mr. Bowie a lot. 

The summer isn’t great in this part of the world but I’m not complaining. We have normal temperatures but a lot of rain. It didn’t hold me back to go outside for a walk and have my meditation exercises in the forest. It helps me weaning off anxiety and sleep medication. And for the first time in my life I am in therapy. I’m feeling really good right now and that was years ago. Knock on wood.

It’s a tradition to invite my friends in July, to have pizza, chocolate cake and coffee. We had to stay inside because of rain but we had a great time. I am blessed with a good circle of friends and a wonderful family. I don’t know what I would do without them.

I recently discovered some new hiking trails in the neighbourhood. It’s so funny to see Jimi checking my boots to see where I’ve been.

I wish he could join me for a walk. But he loves to stay at home and go hunting grasshoppers…

Enjoy this beautiful day, my friends, wherever you are. Peace, love and understanding.

Greetings!

Greetings, planet Earth. We come in peace!

First, let me tell you I’m ok and Jimi is ok. I know it has been quiet on this blog, very quiet. There were some minor health issues and I got infected with Covid-19 early December. I lost my taste and smell for almost 6 weeks so I couldn’t enjoy my espressos and chocolate. What a bummer…
I’m glad we’re heading to spring and we can enjoy the days getting longer. So I won’t start complaining about the 2 days with snow so far… Knock on wood and keep fingers and paws crossed!

A few days ago Jimi received a surprise package from Christine, a dear friend living in Saint Paul, Minneapolis (US of A). Christine is a long time follower of the blog from the early days.

Immediately, Jimi picked the purple ball and it’s still his favourite toy. I loved the Kitty Stardust poster that Christine added to pay tribute to Mr. Bowie. Thank you so much, Christine.

There’s still a lot of misery in the world. And a lot of bad and dramatic things are happening everywhere. So please, try to make this world a better place. Enjoy the little things in your life if possible. Life is too short to be sad or angry.

Enjoy this beautiful day, my friends, wherever you are. Peace, love and understanding.

Casino

Let’s talk about music. But first, let’s talk about something else. I had some busy weeks lately with lot’s of meetings, getting a COVID booster and flu shot, a medical check up, a minor medical issue with Jimi (no worries)… But we’re all doing well.

I had to join my best friend for a meeting with a notary. My friend who owned a publicity agency retired this month and decided to shut down his company. I’ve been a shareholder of the company for many years so I was needed to sign a lot of documents. Afterwards, we went to a local restaurant and had a celebration with delicious pancakes and wine. Later that evening while we were having coffee at his home, my friend showed up with a big box and he said ‘Take it… for services rendered.’ I immediately recognised my favourite dream guitar by the size of the box. What a big surprise!

I’ve been a Beatles fan as long as I can remember. My older sister and brother bought all their albums and I grew up with their music. Last year I watched the Peter Jackson documentary series The Beatles: Get Back 3 times. Get Back received critical acclaim for its coverage of the group’s creative process but I was intrigued by John Lennon’s Epiphone Casino guitar. I immediately started a search to find one but it was almost impossible because this guitar was suddenly hipper and more successful than ever before. After 6 months I gave up the search but my friend kept searching secretly and found one in mint condition on the second hand market. This is the most beautiful gift ever!

Maybe the most iconic image of Lennon’s Casino, and perhaps of Lennon himself, is from The Beatles’ legendary rooftop concert on their Apple Corps office building in London. This was also to be the last public performance of The Beatles.
Jimi took a look at the box but decided that the Casino guitar was more interesting.

Enjoy this beautiful day, my friends, wherever you are. Peace, love and understanding.

Almost November

Where do I begin? Maybe I should start my twice a year rant about the DST (Daylight saving time)? We’re setting the clocks back by one hour next weekend. I can already feel my SAD (Seasonal affective disorder) waking up in my mind. I know people say each season has it charmes, and it might be true. But I wish summer lasted for 12 months. Okay, there would be no spring to look forward too…

You can also see in Jimi’s behaviour something is changing outside. He returns back inside to the sofa much earlier now the days are shorter and cooler. A few days ago he was caught in a rain shower and asked me gently for a towel.

The local internet provider offered me a 3 month free subscription for a ton of sport channels. So last week I was watching live the football match (soccer) Liverpool vs Manchester City in the Premier League. Jimi wasn’t interested and fell asleep after a few minutes…

Life can be full of surprises, like opening a little jar of coffee pudding and seeing this drawing on the inside. Does it mean I have to share this dessert with Jimi?

Enjoy this beautiful day, my friends, wherever you are. Peace, love and understanding.

Almost 3 Years

A special day. Tomorrow it’s 3 years ago when Jimi moved into my house. I enjoyed every day and I’m still surprised by the little changes in Jimi’s character, in a positive way. He also became more passionate about his job as a studio technician. And as you probably know, that’s a very heavy task.

I finally bought a Neumann microphone. I wanted one for years but for some reason I never got my hands on one. Accidentally, I found a TLM 103 mic in a shop a few minutes from my home.

As promised in my comments in the previous post, here’s an update on Jos. The little guy has recovered completely and enjoys his outdoor adventures again. Jos doesn’t seems to suffer from his tailless life, thank goodness.

Meanwhile the days are getting shorter. And colder. I’m not happy about this. Spring is my favourite season and I wish I could move to the other side of the globe for the next 6 months. I’m also still very concerned about the situation in Ukraine and that unpredictable irrational madman in Moscow. I’m afraid history doesn’t offer much hope for a happy ending.

Enjoy this beautiful day, my friends, wherever you are. Peace, love and understanding.

August 2022 Update

Time flies. I can’t believe we’re already at the end of August. Time flies so I guess I must be having fun… There were good things and there were bad things. The heat and drought in Europe could be the worst in 500 years. It almost makes me long for the winter. Jimi seems to enjoy these warm and hot days. He refused 3 times to come inside in the evening and spent the night outside, while I was laying awake worrying about him.

Jimi’s birthday is coming up later this week. He turns 4! The next day he’s scheduled for the yearly checkup with his vet. I requested a home visit because Jimi doesn’t like the car rides and I’ll spare you from the nasty details.

But I’ve got also some sad news for you. Jos, the cat from my dear friends got wounded in a fight with another animal and needed surgery. Unfortunately they had to amputate his tail. Jos has recovered well and is doing okay right now.

My neighbours were away for 2 weeks and asked me to take care of a stray cat living in their garden. After a few days the cat was already waiting for me and we almost became friends.

So let’s enjoy this summer and don’t think too much about autumn or all the bad things in the world. And the bloodiness barbaric inhuman Russian army. Enjoy all the little things around you and cherish your family and close friends. Invite them over for a drink. And ice cream.

Enjoy this beautiful day, my friends, wherever you are. Peace, love and understanding.

Summer of 2022 Update

It’s been a while. Europe is suffering from deadly heatwaves and intense wildfires. From India and Pakistan to Tunisia and the US of A, numerous countries have suffered heat waves this year. Sweltering temperatures hit much of Western Europe last week. We’ve recorded the second highest temperature ever. It’s hard to deny there’s something wrong.

Once a year I invite my close friends and family for a low profile garden party. Unfortunately, we had to stay inside because it was raining the whole day, (the only day with rain since months). Jimi was not amused because he thinks “two’s company, three’s a crowd”. Thank goodness the chocolate cakes, ice cream and fresh fruit was delicious!

The next day Jimi had a great time outside chasing butterflies and drinking rain water. But it’s always disappointing when you just have to deal with a setback: no leftovers from the chocolate cakes…

Enjoy this beautiful day, my friends, wherever you are. Peace, love and understanding.

Hottest Day

Hottest day of the year again for third day in a row. The hottest day of the year so far has been recorded, with temperatures exceeding 34º C (93,2º F). So we have to stay cool and hydrated. Water is essential for keeping you cool during hot weather. And ice cream.

Enjoy this beautiful day, my friends, wherever you are. Peace, love and understanding.

The Gentle Art

The gentle art of making music. My studio technician Jimi wanted a new computer because the current 8-year-old Intel iMac was too slow and couldn’t run the recent music apps and heavy sample libraries smoothly. So with some reluctance I went shopping at the Apple Store and bought a Mac Studio (Max) computer and a 27″ Studio Display. Getting everything back to work took a long time, almost 20 h. After using the Migration Assistant app, checking and updating a lot of stuff and solving some compatibility issues, I was back in business.

I was also pleasantly surprised by Jimi a few days ago. After ignoring Mr. Bowie’s cat bed for almost 3 years, he finally decided it was time to sleep in this comfortable king size luxurious bed. It seems everybody is very happy right now.

I’ve just started reading The Gentle Art of Tramping by Stephen Graham, originally published in 1926. Stephen Graham was a British journalist, travel-writer, essayist and novelist. The Gentle Art of Tramping is a guide for anyone who has dreamed of taking to the road with nothing more than a bag full of essentials and big ideas. It gives guidance on walking, being open to discovery and being kind – advice as relevant now as it was then. ‘The adventure is not the getting there, it is the on-the-way. It is not the expected; it is the surprise; not the fulfilment of prophecy but the providence of something better than prophesied.’ Tramping is a way of approach, to nature, to your fellow-man, to a nation, to beauty, to life itself.

Enjoy this beautiful day, my friends, wherever you are. Peace, love and understanding.

Stratocaster

Keep on rockin’ in the free world. Despite living in a world of electronic music with synthesizers, samplers, computers, trying out new things, tweaking knobs and pushing buttons on vintage analog machinery and high-tech equipment, I have always dreamed of owning a real Fender Stratocaster guitar one day. Just bought an almost 50 year old vintage 70’s USA Mocha Brown Maple Fender Stratocaster! The guitar belonged to a good friend and member of the LNE collective, a group of musicians, singers, artists and one comeback electronic musician.

Jimi H (the cat) wonders if he can set the guitar on fire to honour the historic night when Jimi Hendrix sets his Fender Stratocaster guitar on fire at the Monterey Pop Festival (1967). The burned guitar would later sell for more than $380,000 at an auction. It was definitely time to show Jimi the way out to the garden. And let’s all unite to kick the barbaric and inhuman Russian army out of Ukraine.

Enjoy this beautiful day, my friends, wherever you are. Peace, love and understanding.

How to Enjoy Spring

Spring is finally here! The spring weather brings forth renewal and rebirth just as the promise of Easter brings you chocolate eggs. One more thing: don’t forget to brush and feed your cat.

Enjoy this beautiful day, my friends, wherever you are. Peace, love and understanding.

Fixing a Hole

Wild is the wind. I just realised I didn’t write a post this month. Shame on me… So here’s a quick note. I’m ok, and Jimi’s ok. We’re both enjoying the first warm sunny days in spring. Unfortunately, snow is predicted for tomorrow and it’s no April Fool’s joke.

“I’m fixing a hole where the rain gets in. And stops my mind from wandering. Where it will go…” – The Beatles

In February two storms passed over Europe, Eunice and Franklin. I had some minor damage on the roof and a few weeks ago a team of experienced roofers came to fix the problem. Thank goodness we had a devoted supervisor on the site.

Enjoy this beautiful day, my friends, wherever you are. Peace, love and understanding.

Spring-cleaning

Why I should stop recycling. So glad to enjoy this sunny Sunday right now. Just had my first espresso outside in the garden. Ok, I was wearing  a coat and my roof needs some minor repairs after the 2 storms from last weekend. But I can feel spring is near. And it makes me happy.

I started the spring-cleaning and decided to recycle some of the big boxes a kept aside. It was clear from the start this was not going to be easy…

One more thing: I’m always trying to avoid talking about awkward political situations or controversial topics on my blog. But this week a lot of us woke up in shock after a barbaric dictator launched a full-scale invasion on Ukraine. Figuratively speaking this is happening in my backyard. This action is definitely a war crime. Can’t stop wondering what’s next… Invasion of Poland? Finland? Lithuania? Latvia? Estonia?

Poisoning opposition leaders, murdering journalists, suppress populations, invading Ukraine, violently breaking up peaceful demonstrations… Welcome to the world of a pathological liar, dictator and war criminal.

Enjoy this beautiful day, my friends, wherever you are. Peace, love and understanding.

It’s There!

No Jimi, I’m afraid I can’t believe you… Spring isn’t just around the corner. It’s still far, far away, to my great regret. Dark and cold days lie still ahead of us. The weather forecast predicts snow. Yes, snow! The horror… the horror!

Enjoy this beautiful day, my friends, wherever you are. Peace, love and understanding.

Run for Your Life

Lighting up your life. As the end of the year is coming closer, we’d like to say thank you for your trust in our blog. We look forward to many interesting posts in 2022. We wish you a happy end of the year.
To be honest, I didn’t liked this year. I didn’t liked previous year either. I can sum up various reasons but I’m not going to bother you. And I realise a lot of us are going through troubled times in multiple ways.

There’s plenty of good in the world, we just have to look for it. Putting up Christmas lights is probably a good way to bring more joy in your life. It’s a difficult task but it’s a lot easier with the help of a furry friend.

I bought some extra lights after decorating the studio. Jimi wanted a Christmas tree in his room. But I think he preferred a bigger tree…

Last week, a funny but scary thing happened to me while I was walking in the nature. I’m always staying on the trails because every hiker has a responsibility to preserve nature while hiking. And I’m keeping my distance when I’m encountering forest critters. But this time I had to run for my life after an encounter with some polar bears. We’re all beginning to suffer the consequences of climate change.

Enjoy this beautiful day, my friends, wherever you are. Peace, love and understanding.

Light Up My Life

You light up my life like an espresso in the morning. Turning the synth corner of the studio in to a cosy place. Keep in mind, the sun is on its way back, and the days will officially start getting longer soon. Well, more or less…

Meanwhile we are enjoying the wonderful documentary The Beatles: Get Back, directed and produced by Peter Jackson.

Enjoy this beautiful day, my friends, wherever you are. Peace, love and understanding.

Sunday Evening Somewhere in Outer Space

Slow Sunday. As the search for alien life heats up, Jimi’s still looking for signals from alien cats in outer space. Unfortunately with no luck. Maybe alien cats are taking a break from their everyday life and folding space during the week.

Meanwhile I’m waiting to get my Star Trek transporter device back from the repair shop. I bought it some time ago on eBay, but it never worked. It looks like they conned me or is this a conspiracy from the alien cats?

Enjoy this beautiful day, my friends, wherever you are. Peace, love and understanding. 

Hail to the Sleeper!

What an unparalleled viewing experience! I love to watch movies. I love to watch movies in the best possible circumstances. That’s why I stopped going to the theatres and installed a very good home cinema system. So goodbye to the distracting noises of nasty people around me.

Last night I watched ‘Black Hawk Down’, a 2001 war film directed by Ridley Scott, in UHD 4K Dolby Atmos. What a superior way to watch a movie. I was very impressed and didn’t lose focus for a second. But cats look at this in a completely different way…

Mr. Bowie didn’t like watching movies with me. He always disappeared after a few minutes and went to the studio or bedroom upstairs. Jimi prefers to keep me company and sit out the movie. Well, kinda…

Enjoy this beautiful day, my friends, wherever you are. Peace, love and understanding.