Can they do it? Yes they can!

A certain yellow helmeted builder has an unexplained hold over young kids. My nephews are no exception. Even hidden at the back of a Morrison's supermarket in Totnes the lure of Bob the Builder is unmistakable. Firing up their imagination, the nephews join Bob for some hardcore building.

Off to the mother country

Since the passing of my grandmother there aren't as many reasons to go to England as before. Being asked by my sister to join her and her family for a week in Devon is therefore an opportunity not to pass over! Squeezed in the back, in between nephews Luca and Matthies, we head off on a rainy Saturday morning.

Don't mention the War!

Us Brits are a nostalgic people. Despite such decades as the Fifties, Sixties or Seventies, the most nostalgic of periods continues to be those years of fighting for freedom against the Hun, heroism & sacrifice, and an Empire on which the sun still would not set. The World War II slogans embodying the calm reserve and stiff upper lip of the besieged Brit have made a resounding comeback.

A classic Dutch winter scene

 

A cold snap brought Holland into a skating frenzy for two weeks. In Amsterdam this produced classic Dutch scenes from yesteryear: people skating on the canals.

Winter in Suriname

 

Leaving Holland just as the frost was setting in, we arrived in Suriname during their coolest period of the year. People were complaining about the temperature, wearing long sleeved sweaters and coats. What are cool temperatures in Suriname?, you may ask. Well, during the day just below 30 degrees and during the night around 23 degrees Celsius!