About Me

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Antwerp, Belgium
Welcome to the new, and improved version of Heaven in Belgium. I am Jientje. "Jientje", like the boys name Gene, followed by "chu"? "Gene-chu", that's how you pronounce my name. Yes!!!!That's it!! So now you know huh? I am an addicted blogger. I was born and raised and am still living in Belgium. Yeah, the "this-is- Tuesday-so-this-must-be-Brussels" kind of Belgium .. There, you see? Maybe you couldn't find it on the map, but at least I'm trying to change that a little by sharing lots of pictures. I really love to cook and create new things, like this blog for instance. I am a mother,a grandmothe and a wife too! They say I'm a traveler, and a photographer. Well that's just what they say, I love to make pictures, but I am far from professional ... If my English is not perfect, that would be because it's my second language. I do hope you'll forgive me any possible misspellings or strange vocabulary ... Now, as a result of all of the above, I get way too little sleep and my days are always much too short!

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Heaven is in Belgium

Friday, July 10, 2009

Friday’s Fave Five Blog Heaven

 

 friday fave five 12

 

Friday again, time to share some of the good stuff from the past week. This is one of my favorite meme’s because it makes me look over my shoulder and realize just how happy I really am. I treasure all the good things, big or small.

It’s been a very busy week, I had quite a lot going on here a lot of it related to blogging!

  1. I am writing this post using a new tool, and I love it!! Robynn talked about Windows Live Writer in this  post. Robynn in her turn had read about it here.  I got very curious, so I downloaded it, and gave it a try. It is great, indeed it is! I can add special effects on my pictures, crop them, add a watermark , tilt them if I want to, change them into a black and white or a sepia, anything …  It is AMAZING lightbulb, I already showed some of the features in yesterday’s post.
    Only one click and I can insert emoticons, Wikipedia links, quotes, tables, maps, tags, video’s and all kinds of lovely features. 
    No need to be a geek to be able to work it all out, because it’s very user friendly. If I can do it, so can everyone else!
    I’m in blog heaven. I AM! heart



    fave five  10 juni

  2. On Sunday there was a meet up with some Belgian bloggers. My friend Nana and my sister did one hell of a job organizing a get together and it was a big success. It was great to meet the people behind the blogs and to finally be able to put a face on a nickname. Some of the people I had already met in real life, some of them were new faces. I guess I have known it for a while now but still I find it odd how familiar they all are. It felt like catching up with friends you have known for years but haven’t seen for a while .

  3. Monday evening my sister and I were invited at my blogger friend Nana’s home. Nana and I did some shopping together earlier that day, and spent the rest of the afternoon cooking together.
    We made all kinds of finger food and tapas for us to enjoy with a glass of wine. My sister joined us after work. Three good friends, a giggle and a tear … girl’s stuff. Wonderful.

  4. The Solidago  (Goldenrod)  is finally blooming on my patio. I planted it years ago, but I never seemed to be able to get flowers on it. They always seemed to dry up just before they bloomed, but this time I gave it some extra care, extra water and for the first time in years managed to see them bloom! Maybe it’s because of all the rain we had this week? Mèh! My husband installed a watering sprinkling system for the patio garden because it was so hot lately, and it has been raining ever since. DUH!! I want my sunshine back!

  5. I got four awards since I came back from holiday! I’m getting so behind on them! I’m going to pass two of them on today, and do the other two in tomorrow’s post, so stay tuned!

BellaSinclairAward 2b

This is the Bella Sinclair award Wanda gave me earlier this week.
This award was created by Ces in honor of her dear friend Bella to "celebrate art, inspiration, friendship, sisterhood, sharing and caring".

I’m going to pass this award on to five blogger friends to thank them for their friendship, comments and inspiration. 
 

  • Carletta at Carletta’s captures, she does a wonderful job at her photo blog. Did you know Carletta had a photo blog? Well, you do now, check it out!

  • Kirsti at Mi Vida Ocupada, because of the wonderful job she does with the Photo Scavenger Hunt.
  • Terri at Ways I see the World because of the inspiring photography, and because she has become a wonderful friend.
  • Thom at Thom’s Place for Whatever, well … speaking of friends … he is a dear one, always ready to help me, and because I FINALLY have a chance to pass on an award he has not given to me first!
  • Jacki at Moving at the Speed of Light she cooks, she travels, she photographs, she gives wonderful comments and she always has something interesting going on on her blog.


    humanity-award1

Next up is an award I received from Thom, the Humane Award:

“The Humane Award is in order to honor certain bloggers that I feel are kindhearted individuals. They regularly take part in my blog and always leave the sweetest comments. If it wasn’t for them, my site would just be an ordinary blog. Their blogs are also amazing and are tastefully done on a daily basis. I thank them and look forward to our growing friendships through the blog world.” Recipients of this award should write a post about it, linking to the person gifted the award, along with ten of their own nominees.”

 

Ten nominees! This is always the hard part! Thom has selected his entire blog roll  smile_thinking so it’s going to be hard to find ten people who did not already get this one! If you’ve already got it, well … I guess you deserved it twice? So here we go!

  • Korie , AKA Lilacspecs: it’s because I “met”her I started blogging in English in the first place!
  • Christine: Momentarily writing on the John Braun’s page of her husband to report on John’s recovery. She was one of the first friends I met in this blogosphere.
  • Kim at Frogpondsrock: another friend since the beginning. She’s a great ceramist, she has a great sense of humor and her posts always come straight from the heart. She lives in beautiful Tasmania. Unfortunately has just lost her mother and this causes her immense pain. Hugs, Kim. xxx
  • Melissa at Sunbonnet Cottage has just recently started a new blog called Summer Pudding, and I’m very much looking forward to reading her stories.
  • Alida at Here we go again: another friend from the very beginning, sharing glimpses from her life, her kids and her family through her stories and her photo’s.
  • Evelyn from Musings from the Redbellfarm: We “met” by accident because she found a picture on my blog of the house in Goult she had stayed in in Provence. What are the odds huh? We both share a love for Goult, Provence and France.
  • Robynn at Robynn’s Ravings: I love her great sense of humor and she was the one introducing me to Windows Live Writer I talked about earlier.
  • Wanda from Moments of mine: She lives in a little corner of paradise and I love visiting her blog and go out on walks with her, see and hear the things that she sees through the pictures and the videos she shares on her beautiful blog.
  • Violetsky at Sightlines, again a beautiful blog in words and images.
  • And finally, Libby from Neas’ Nuttiness: because just like mine, her days are always too short too!

So there, phewwww! I think I made it!
There is more where that came from! 

Find more Fave Five participants at Living to Tell the Story.
Have a great week!

32 comments:

Bientje said...

Pfieuwwwww! I can read this blog again without problems! And give comments when I feel like it! It sure feels good! And our week was good aswell wasn't it sis?
Big hug,
your little sister

Geert said...

Ik kan dat hier ook perfekt lezen en zien, in IE6 !! Problemen zijn er om opgelost te worden, ik plooi nog niet te rap !!

moneythoughts said...

The black background works real nice with the color photos, but the white text causes my mind to adjust. I like the pink and purple lettering too. Bottom line, your blog is beautiful and always interesting to look at and read.

Suburban Girl said...

Thanks for sharing that #1 - I am going to check it out. Your blog is always so captivating thus all the awards! Keep up the good work.

Marie Reed said...

That's so neat that you met up with a group of fellow bloggers! I agree completely!

Unknown said...

All those people got to meet you .. how lucky they are.

nana said...

A happy feeling isn't always far away. Big hug!

Jientje said...

@ Bientje: Life is so much easier now, isn't it?
@ Geert: Ik ben blij dat je er iets op gevonden hebt Geert, altijd welkom hier of op Facebook!
@ Moneythoughts: Thank you, you know I made some slight adjustments.
@ Rebecca: Thank you, I will!
@ Marie Reed: That was fun, we're going to have more meetings in the future!
@ Lou: Aaah, but so will you. Looking forward to meeting you too.
@ Nana: Hugging you right back my friend. You're never far, that's right!

Nessa said...

I'm trying to use Live Writer. I tried to put a watermark on a photo and the function did not function. i hope i get time this weekend. It does look fun though.

Libby's Library said...

Jientje,

Thank you so much for this award (you know how much I love getting them)! I'm gonna go straight to my place and post it proudly. Then I'm going to check out Window's Live Writer.

I'm so glad that I found you, and hope that our friendship will continue to grow. I've learned so much from you, and am so very grateful to the lessons that you've taught me.

Sending love and [[[hugs]]]
Libby

Kathy said...

Hi Jientje, what a wonderful week you had, meeting fellow bloggers is such fun, congratulations on your awards and to all your recipients, happy weekend, Kathy.

Wanda..... said...

Thank you Jientje...an award from you is special to me...and I was late to arrive here today...went out to pick blackberries very early...blackberry crisp for dessert...wish I could share it with you...Thanks again for the Humane Award Jientje...

Brenda said...

What a fun week to be able to get together with fellow bloggers, I always enjoy that so much.

A highlight for me is seeing your picture colage, I just love the way you that each week.

VioletSky said...

Ah, Jientje, dank u wel!!
Your enthusiasm is always so infectious - it helps me get out and try to be more creative.

Jerralea said...

What a great week! Thanks for sharing about Windows Live Writer. I'll look into that.

Carletta said...

Thanks Jientje!
I've read your blog for so long and you always find something new.
Thanks much for the award - especially since it's my photoblog. That means a lot. :)

quilly said...

I so much want to try Live Writer when I get home to my own computer.

I loved the photo collage from your blogger meet-up. How cool to have such a party.

And -- I can't help but giggle that you gave a sisterhood award to Thom. When he passes it on, should he wear a muumuu and lipstick? :0

Dr.John said...

Congratulations on your awards.
I loved your pictures for the week.
I have to take a look at Windows Live Writer.

Anonymous said...

What a great FFF. A blogger meet up...nothing better than to get to know the peeps that you know on line :) Glad your Goldenrod is finally blooming. Sounds like you had such a good time with your sister. I'm glad she got to come by and stay for a while. Thanks for the award. I do appreciate it. That was very kind of you and your nominees are great as well. Quilly best watch out...she gave me an idea on this one already ... be prepared :)

Anonymous said...

Oh but first I have to get my left sidebar back :) LOL. I messed it up this morning. And Great FFF by the way :)

Unknown said...

Wow! That really sounds exciting! And easy to use too! Wow! Wow! Meeting bloggers is always fun! And congrats on all your yummy awards!!

Terri said...

Thank you dear friend, that means so much! And aren't sisters just the BEST?!

Robynn's Ravings said...

I'm so surprised!! I haven't seen this award. What fun and I thank you so much for your friendship and very kind words. And I'm SOO GLAD you love WLW as much as I do!

Barbara H. said...

Congratulations on the awards! How fun it must be to meet up with other bloggers! So far I haven't met any that I didn't already know beforehand.

annies home said...

congrats on awards and sounds like and looks like you have been having a ball

Bill ~ {The Old Fart} said...

Congrats on the Award Jentje, your blog is a joy to visit. Well deserved of the award.

frogpondsrock said...

Thankyou my friend, thankyou very much.

Susanne said...

Congrats on your awards. A nice surprise for when you got home.

So fun meeting up with blogging friends.

I am off to check out that cool program!

Willow said...

New program, huh? Hmmmm. Looks great!

I read about your US trip. Are you flying through Los Angeles??? I live about an hour's drive from LAX.

Pamela said...

Great post! Thanks for the information on Windows Live Writer - I'm going to check it out now. Congratulations on your awards!

Kristi @ Mi Vida Ocupada said...

Thanks for the award! Glad you like my Photo Hunt Challenges. Your photos are all so beautiful, especially the macro shots!

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