Recipe

Christmas Cake Recipe


Ingredients:

* 2 cups flour
* 1 stick of butter (a US measure that is about 115 grams)
* 1 cup of water
* 1 tsp baking soda
* 1 cup of sugar
* 1 tsp salt
* 1 cup of brown sugar
* Lemon juice
* 4 large eggs

* Nuts
* 2 bottle wine
* 2 cups of dried fruit

Sample the wine to check quality. Take a large bowl, check the
wine again. To be sure it is of the highest quality, pour one level
cup and drink. Repeat. Turn on the electric mixer. Beat one cup of
butter in a large fluffy bowl. Add one teaspoon of sugar. Beat again.
At this point it's best to make sure the wine is still OK. Try another
cup... Just in case. Turn off the mixerer thingy. Break 2 eggs and add
to the bowl and chuck in the cup of dried fruit.

Pick the frigging fruit up off floor. Mix on the turner.. If the
fried druit gets stuck in the beaterers just pry it loose with a
drewscriver. Sample the wine to check for tonsisticity. Next, sift two
cups of salt. Or something. Check the wine. Now shift the lemon juice
and strain your nuts. Add one table. Add a spoon of sugar, or some
fink. Whatever you can find. Greash the oven. Turn the cake tin 360
degrees and try not to fall over. Don't forget to beat off the turner.
Finally, throw the bowl through the window. Finish the wine and wipe
counter with the cat.
Go to Coles and buy cake.

Bingle Jells!
 

We are so not ready for snow and ice!!!

I keep dwelling on photo's like that to postpone the big confrontation with the winter as long as possible haha. Anyhow, I guess I should go and find my skates as soon as we arrive back in the Netherlands. We will see. For now we are still enjoying the great Georgia fall sunshine and temperatures in the 80's !!!!

Good memories last long

Being back in Athens on Saturday night and now being back in Savannah again, we can dwell on many good memories about our sailing trip. Most significant about thesailing was the absolutely fabulous variety of sunsets and sunrise on all the different anchor spots along the Barrier Islands. I never ever saw so many different and beautiful painted skies in a period of two weeks in a row. I just could not withold you all one of the many serene photo's we took from our "La Nina" !
 
Frans

Back in Fernandina

We made it back safe and sound in Fernandina, Florida. The last couple of days were heaven! We had the bright sunshine all days together with winds from the North. The sails were up all day long and after staying the night on Hampton River, off Little St Simon Island, we headed South and anchored along the North shore of Little Cumberland Island. I beached the Island during an amazing sunset. On some point I found myself cornered by a bunch of wild hogs on the beach but they appeared to be friendly so after I took some pictures they just run into the woods. The last day of our sailing was under full sail again. After passing Kings Bay submarine base we headed towards Fernandina harbour where we only had to clean the boat and remember all the fun we had.
 
Frans & Leslie
 
 

St Simons Island

After leaving Savannah on Monday morning, we headed towards Blackbeard Island, just North of Sapelo Island. We sailed into Blackbeard Creek just before the beautiful sunset and anchored a couple of hundred feet East of Neslon's Bluff Dock. Mooring at the dock is not allowed, only putting people on and off your boat that want to visit the island!). We had a very calm overnight anchor (no anchor alarms on my GPS) and early in the morning we rowed our little dingy towards the dock for a hike along the South end of the island. The weather was still good although we could see clouds coming in as the forecasted. Our hike was great. We saw lots of birds, a wild mother hog with three little piglets, a couple of deer and grandpa alligator, a real big old grumpy looking one! In the afternoon we decided to sail a couple of ours up the Sapelo River to find a spot to get some diesel fuel for our boat. We had to deal with 30 knots winds and a choppy sea but Leslie as doing great. No seasickness at all. We moored for the night at a very funky old almost ruined dock at Pelican Point. Too bad the restaurant was closed but in the morning we got our fuel by a commercial hose that weight possibly equil our boat haha. From there on we moved on further South were we sailed into Hampton River that devides Little St Simons Island from St Simons Island. Hampton River Marina is a nice and small marina with all necessities available. We hope to move on further South towards Jekkyl Island tomorrow. We try to keep you posted.
 
Leslie & Frans
 
 

Isle of Hope, Savannah

Right now I am hanging on the outside hatch of the main cabine on our boat as the WiFi signal is weak here. Over the last 5 days we enjoyed great sailing. The weather was unbelievable great. Nice 10 knots winds, smooth seas, great anchorspots and spectacular fire red sunsets. Leslie is doing great. No seasickness and already capable of handling the boat so I can do inside jobs now and than. There are no mosquito's out anymore which makes exploring the Barrier Islands heaven. We loved Jekkyl Island, had a privat tour on Sapelo Island, anchored out off St Simons and St Catherins and anchored up Wassaw Creek last night where we enjoyed a great hike this morning. We will stay here till Sunday after wich we must return South back to Fernandina. Tonight the grandchildren might come on board to stay the night and tomorrow Leslie's brother will join us for a daysail out. Saty happy, healthy and ............... in touch!
 
tata
 
Frans & Leslie

Jekkyl Island

Today we experienced the first true sailing experience when it comes to weather and seastate. During our anchoring overnight the wind picked up again and when I went out this morning there was a 15 knots wind from the North (our direction we are heading towards!). I was impressed by Leslie's skills related to heaving the anchor up manually while I kept the boat positioned. As soon as the anchor was secured we went on our route along Kings Bay Nuclear Submarine base. Out in the harbour there was one Wolf class submarine docked that just came in yesterday. There were warning signs everywhereand also the waters were pretty good guarded by little boats to keep "visitors" out. From there we navigated the Intercoastal Waterway towards the North. At Cumberland River and specially on Jekyll Sound the wind went nasty with over 25 knots and waves around 6 feet! It really was a test for the boat and the crew but although Leslie did not feel too good, she did good in stearing when necessary. The Approach on Jekkyl from the South was heaven as soon as we cleared the sound. In mirrorflat waters we docked at the Jekkyl Harbour Marina with great food, clean and hot showers, apool, a jacuzzi  and a great sunset with friendly people everywhere. We intend to stay here tomorrow and maybe at the end of the day go a little bit more North to find a cool anchorspot for the night. Stay with us on our Georgia Island trip!
 
tata
 
Frans & Leslie

Cumberland Island

This morning we started off from Fernandina with a bit lesser wind than yesterday although it still was about 20 knots. After a one hour explanation on the boat by Tone, Leslie and I were on our own and off towards Cumberland Creek at the West side of Cumberland Island. We docked at Dungeness Dock (only space for one boats so I guess we were lucky) and than went on a hike towards the Dungeness ruines and a beautifull pristine beach. We saw several wild horses, a realy neat Armadillo and ot to forget a couple of buzzards and wild turkeys. We walke back by passing Camp Creek Docks before returning at our boat "La Nina". Late in the afternoon I sailed half a mile more North were we found good anchorground for the night. I even picked up a wireless internet signal so I could snet this message out. Outside there are a zillion stars and at the horizon we can see the may lights from Kings Bay nuclear submarine base!

Fernandina, Florida

Last night we embarked on our sailboat "La Nina" downtown Fernandina. The weather yesterday really was not all that great. We had lots of rain and there is a strong wind that rocks the boat constantly (not too bad though). It's a neat boat and we guess that being it our home for the next two weeks should be no problem. Today we will get a full explanation but also we will put up a brandnew mainsail as well. Right now the wind is still kind of strong with gusts up to 25 knots. The sky however this morning is clear so that is kind of promissing. In a moment we will walk downtown to have a good breakfast. After that we need to go shopping for supplies before the owner of the boat comes over to explain it all and gives us a little testride! We hope to be online nbow and then so we would like to hear from you.
 
Tata 

Heading South

Today we will leave Savannah to move over more South towards Fernandina at the North-Eastern tip of Florida to get to our rented sailboat. The boat is a Hunter 28 and I think it is gonne be fun to sail the Intercoastel Waterway all the way from Fernandina towards Savannah. The whole trip is about 130 Nautical Miles (and back) but we have two weeks to explore the area. We might be able to be online in some of the marinas that we might go in to supply the boat but we have to see how that works. Anyhow, if we can get online we will stay in touch with the outside world! The photo that is attached was taken yesterday morning when Leslie and I had to bring Isobel and Miles to school while their mom was in the hospital. She, however, will come home again today after which she has to recover for some weeks. Stay happy, healty and....in touch!

Savannah

Since Mondaynight we are in Savannah at Dominiques place. It has been rather busy and hectic here as Dominique today had to go to the hospital for surgery after which she needs to recover for about 4 to 6 weeks! She and Mark left the house this morning so we are in charge of Miles, Isobel and Kyle for this day. At the same time we are also preparing for our sailtrip that will start on Friday. We need to be in Fernandina (Florida) tomorrow afternoon. Right now I am packing all kinds of stuff for the trip that Mark was so nice lending to us. The weather here is a bit overcast at the moment but the temperatures in the daytime are still good. The forecast for next week is good at this time with lots of sunshine and temperatures around 20 degrees Celcius (70 Fahrenheit). As a good memory on Halloween we posted this photo from some real cool robots that we run into downtown Athens during the big Halloween party. Live long and prosper. We keep you all posted.
 
Leslie and Frans
 
 

Halloween

Last night we went out downtown Athens to enjoy a good Halloween experience. We had so much fun and were amazed about what people come up with on dressing up for the occasion. We (Lizzy, Leslie and me) went as a fancy Pirat, an original witch and Vampdawg (vampire with Georgian bulldog vampire face). Obviously Halloween is a big thing here and there is no escape from it. Today Leslie had to figure out lots of stuff related to moms house. Tomorrow the plan is to drive over to Savannah for staying a few days with Dominique and family before we will go over to Fernandina in Florida on Thursday for our 2 weeks sailingtrip along the Georgian coast. We will keep you posted. 

Uneventfull travels

Yesterday we both flew over from the Netherlands towards the USA. Everything during the whole travel went smooth and fast. We had a record arrival time being it 1.10 PM and after that we had a record "get your bags from the carousel" so that we actually where driving off the airport already at 2.30 PM. During the first couple of days we stay with Pat and Joe who live close tomom's house in Athens. This Saturday Leslie has to figure out stuff in mon's house while I can prepare a bit for our sailingtrip along the Georgian coast next week. We keep you posted about our whereabouts!

Intended moves

We hope everybody reading this is in good health and spirit. Very soon (from the end of October) we will enjoy a holliday in the US. We will fly over to Atlanta on October the 29th. The first weekend it is our plan to stay in Athens for family buseness. After the weekend we will drive to Savannah to visit Dominique and Adam and family. From November the 4th we will go to Fernandino in Florida where we rented a 28 feet sailboat for a period of 2 weeks. During this period we will explore the so-called barrier islands along the georgian coast. In practice we will try to sail from Fernandino to Savannah and back visiting many beuatiful islands like Cumberland, Jekkyl, Osawa and many more. Of course we hope for great weather and favourable winds! The last week we will attend Kelly's wedding and also we will celebrate thanksgiving during this week. On November 27th we hope to be back in the Netherlands. We will try to keep you posted about some of our adventures and of course we also hope to hear from you during our trip. By the way, the attached photo is our hired boat "La Ninja" that we hope keeps us safe during the voyage!

Training in the Belgian Ardennes

Last week I went to the Belgian Ardennes for the last of a series of six trainings for the Fuji firebrigade. This time I had to train a mixed group; males and females, Dutch and Polish. The weather was very cooperative for the beginniong of September. We had basicly dry weather and sleeping in the little tents at night caused no problem at all. Activities involved hiking, navigation, communication, sensitivity, canoeing and rock climbing. That all was combined with lots of laughter, fun, good food and of course a good drink in the evening!

Photo albums

As you miy have seen, we put specific photo albums on the list underneath our profile. The albums date back for 3 years (until 2007). The older albums you can still view by clicking the link at the downside of the right bar on our BLOG. At the same time there are a few people that automaticly recieve our updates by mail. If you one of them and you don't want these updates, please tell me and I will remove the automatic e-mail sender to your e-mail address.

Climbing adventures

During the last two weeks I spent my time in guiding a team of ten colleages and friends into the Italian, French and Swiss Alps with the main target being the summit of Mont Blanc. This ultimate target was not achieved due to bad weather conditions and therefore many deadly accidents. As the experience level in the group was not too high, we decided to keep things safe. Although the Mont Blanc was not reached, we did climb the Gran paradiso (4061 meter) and the breithorn (4160 meter). The climb to the Breithorn was doen in spectacular beautiful weather and also the complete team reached the summit on Wednesday, August the 25th at 09.30 AM (see photo).

Summer update

Many things happened since my last message here. In May, my aunt died unexpectacly when we were on family visit in the USA. I came back to Holland to take care of a lot of funeral arrangements while Leslie stayed in het mom's house to take care of a daily routine there. After the funeral I was invited to go sailing to England with my friend for a week. While on board, I got a message from leslie that her mom unexpectatly died as well. So from the bow of the sailboat and just a mobile phone in my hand, I arranged an ASAP flight towards the USA again where I did arrive in time for the funeral and the already planned family reunion that still went on. So I can sincerely say that the months May and June were "kind of hectic". I flwe back to Holland at the end of June and Leslie came back just after independance day at the 5th of July. July was a month to relax as much as possible next to our jobs and now, next week I will go with a group of people from work towards the Italian and French Alps to climb Mont Blanc! Over the months, I did train a lot for this as I do realise that I am over 50 already haha. Anyhow, the group is very motivated and I think it should be a fun trip with hopefully some highligt at 4810 meter! For the time being there is a specific BLOG about our adventures, so if you are interested....(The BLOG is in Dutch, but the photo's are still kind of cool):

www.montblancavontuur2010.blogspot.com

Hope to hear from you soon

Frans

Back in the USA

Right now we both are in the USA for family visits. I will stay for about 2 weeks while Lelsie will return to Holland at the beginning of July. Last week we stayed with Leslie daughter and her family in Savannah. During that stay I went sailing with Dominiques husband for 4 days and we really had a blast. I discovered the beauty of the Georgian coast lays in the undeveloped island of the coast. We stayed for 2 nights of the shores of Blacbeard's Island (where he supposingly did his "banking") and it was like heaven. Totally unspoiled islands, immense sandy beaches, palmtrees and nobody there! After 4 days it seemed as if I was away for a month! After the first week we changed our home from Savannah to Athens were we now stay with Leslies mom to take care of her. Last two days we stayed a night at Leslies sister Lakehouse at Lake Hartwell wich was very beautifull as well. I hope everybody out there is happy and healthy. Stay in touch,

Love

Leslie and Frans

Snow in Holland

We would like you to share some of the beautifull shots from the snowy low land. We did not have a winter like this for many years so I guess the skaters and the snowball fight fans did get spoiled haha!

It has been a while

I am sorry for being so lazy not to write on this BLOG for such a long time. We are doing fine but life has been a bit hectic lately with my aunt in the hospital and my uncle not be able to take care for him selve at home (they are 90 and 91 years old !!!). So we are running from work to the hospital, from the hospital to my uncle and from my uncle to our home just to find ourselves going to work next. Not the most quiet and relaxed life I would say. But we know there is a good reason to go into this effort and that is because they are two very sweet people who deserved some people to take care for them as they do not have children. So say some prayers that things work out for them.

---

SMS "HOTMAIL" naar 3010 en ontvang gratis de juiste instellingen voor Hotmail op je mobiele telefoon