New Year's Eve is never a typical one for us and this year was to be no exception! At 7.00am I had a date with a scanner at one of the local hospitals and by 7.30am we found ourselves back at the car wondering what to do next. It could only be one thing, breakfast of course!
We went to one of our favourite cafés in Ghent, Le Pain Quotidien and sat at the long communal table to enjoy our 'special' breakfast. Orange juice, boiled eggs, smoked salmon, cheese, ham, sugar and raisin rolls, different breads and all topped off with a double cappuccino! The expression 'breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, supper like a pauper' springs to mind! A delicious and leisurely 2 hours were spent eating, drinking, reading the newspapers and even a little studying for our forthcoming beekeepers exam!
What is always very special about Le Pain is that it's just that little bit different. This year as part of their Christmas decorations they invited everyone to 'Speak Pain Quotidien'.
Special little notepads were left on the tables for you to write your messages which with tiny wooden pegs you then attached to dangling red ribbons. Many lovely goodwill wishes from all ages and continents were pegged!
Not only are you able to eat and drink in the café but you can also buy the most wonderful breads, pastries and other goodies from their pantry.
Our personal favourites are their 'real' olive breads and notenfluitjes (nutty bread flutes).
Now I'm always very careful and respectful as to when, where and how I take photographs. I always look for the 'no photographs allowed' sign and try never to use the flash so as not to invade the privacy of others. Luckily, my happy snappy, a Fuji FinePix F50fd, performs extremely well in low light conditions.
With no signs apparent and after having already taken a lot of photos, to my dismay, one of the lovely waitresses asked me to stop taking anymore shots of the bakery. Apparently the café area is fine. Their reasoning, to prevent industrial sabotage!
This reminded me of the time when I tried to take a photograph of these unusual and creative lighting fixtures I'd spotted in the clothing shop Oilily in Antwerp. Again I was asked to stop because of the possibility that I might be a spy!
However the same fixtures were in their windows so I managed to take a much clearer shot......
The shade covers are simply made of crochet motifs joined together. The globes are then in turn joined with knitted ribbed tubes. As to the rest of the fixture, I have no idea....
On New Year's Eve we usually go to the cinema. We love it. It's virtually the only time of the year we go. With only a handful of people in the auditorium, it is always very quiet and the atmosphere very special.
However this year was different. There was nothing being screened that we both wanted to see. So plan B had to be put into action. A 2000 piece jigsaw!
It's been years and years since we each did a jigsaw and interestingly, we've never done one together. This called for one or two ground rules. First the inside and then the edging pieces.
We had such fun. Although it wasn't always easy. We had a few little helpers along the way, who in the end found it a little too much waiting for the Bells!
with love
Flame Lily xx
