Of Mice And Men...

...or more: of what mice supposedly come out of their holes for and what any man will always come out of any hole for... ;)

The mice thing first: Cheeeeeeese!

Many years ago, back in Holland I was in a football team, with guys from my town. One the guys was at the time working at the sales department of a Dutch cheese producer (Vergeer Kaas) in Reeuwijk, a town not too far from mine.

After I moved to Denmark he contacted me at some point to ask me about some info about the Danish market etc etc, as they were considering expanding their export and were looking at Denmark in the process.
I helped him with some names, phone numbers and contact of the big supermarket chains here and thus gave him a first nudge into Denmark. Who knows what it could lead to, right? At the very least some better cheese...

Then last week I saw it! In Netto, of all places!! A beautiful young Gouda cheese, from Vergeer Kaas, Reeuwijk. And I immediately had to think of the above story...

So, this last week I have enjoyed some simple, but fantastic cheese sandwiches, and they taste marvellous! Ahhh, the pleasure of a good cheese!
And please leave me the little dream that I had a bit of a hand it getting that product to Denmark... ;) It's always a nice story to tell, isn't it?

Next one.. Of course let's not forget the men, or more the 'women'... Ohhh, sweet Denmark, with your spring finally here! It is a true pleasure to be walking through Copenhagen these last 2 weeks. Where do they suddenly all come from?
It's great to see everyone suddenly smiling more, being more active and most of all: be outside and enjoying themselves. No more sour winter faces (well, not too many anyway...), and a loooot less layers of clothes ;)
Danes seriously go nuts, as soon as the first sunray of Spring hits... I am still walking around with my winter coat, as the air is quite chilly, but I have seen people in shorts and a t-shirt!! It's 12 degrees for f....s sake!
They are crazy, they really are... :)

Anyway... as 'funny' as the above might be, these last weeks have been quite demanding. As great as the weather is and the fact that winter is over, it is very sad to see my granny in hospital. For 2 weeks already now... I wonder how much longer she will last. She is old, and worn out: next week is her 94th birthday. Let's see...
I'll spare you the details, but we are seriously considering a scathing comment on the utter lack of competence and total lack of proper care she has received and is receiving from that great Danish health care system... what total crap that is!

One thing I am sure of: don't get old here... I have rarely seen such complete waste of resources, absurd procedures and total lack of empathy, competence and basic interest in the subject as in these last 2 weeks...
I felt at times I was living in a Kafka book. Unbelievable!

Well, have had some days off work and although I am scheduled to do some work this Easter, I am mainly relaxing and gathering myself... It is terrible to see her in such pain. It's killing me every time I see her cringe of pain.

Still, it honestly does help on my mood to hear the chatter and tiny voices of all the children playing in the court yard behind the building I'm living in. These days all windows are open, and I love the sounds that are drifting in from outside. The world just gets brighter with them!

Call me a softie and a sucker for children, but having looked at the bitter side of mortality and old age for the last few months I cannot help but have a big smile on my face when I see 3 little girls argue over a toy: "no, you're baaaad, it's MYYY turn..." I wish those were still my only worries!

Welcome to spring... may it lead to a beautiful summer!

(and many more posts! Many changes in my life over the next months, so I'll try to keep you tuned...)