Tuesday 1 - Thursday 10 April, 2014 (diary)

In the 1930s my mother, then in her 20s, went to a Finishing school in Braunlage. It was here that my father courted her and where they fell in love.
Later, during the 1950s and 60s they revisited Braunlage every year for a brief holiday, and encouraged by my parents, Antien and I went their for our honeymoon in the summer of 1963.
On reflection this could be regarded as a nice emotional symmetry or echo : at the place where my parents had found their mutual love for each other, Antien and I confirmed ours, almost 30 years later.

I believe it was in 1969, that my father unexpectedly was confronted by large retrospective tax bill for his company (Martinshof BV). My parents therefore decided not to go on their traditional trip to Braunlage that year.
I was doing quite well at the time during the West Australian Nickel boom, and when I heard about my parents' plight send them the money to go on a holiday anyway.
They accepted and, instead of going to Braunlage that year, they booked a holiday on the Mediterranean island of Mallorca.
My parents absolutely loved it. They took numerous photos of their stay there and my mother pasted them all in a photo album which they send to us in Australia. Several years later, when we visited Europe, mu father returned my favour handsomely.

I have never been to Mallorca myself but, having a few days slack in my itinerary this year, I will stay three days on the island and hope to do at least one of the walks recommended by the Lonely Planet Guide on Mallorca: a 10 km hike from Sóller to Deià. I am very much looking forward to it.

Friday 11 - Sunday 20 April, 2014 (diary)

There is no doubt about it : my father was and (funds permitting) always has been a "stylish, quality dresser".
Perhaps partly inspired by the affluent neighborhood my father grew up in (the Essenlaan, Rotterdam, early 1900s), and probably even more by his own father (my grandfather who died before my parents got married).
My grandfather, when on a picnic, would push a special sharp pint with attached gold hook into a nearby tree to hang his hat on.   He also had a wood crafted box containing hinged gold plated cutlery with ivory handles (we used to marvel at it when shown as kids).

My mother too came from an affluent family, and when they were released as political prisoners from their concentration camps after WW2 (after 3 and 1.5 years respectively) , they had little experience in managing life without any money or possessions at all.
Looking back at it now, it was then (when only 12 year old) that I developed my sense of scrupulous saving and the need for value for money, which have been part of my attitude towards money even since those days !
I would sit in the kitchen and tally up every single expense my mother made on a slate. It showed her how much she had saved or overspent during the week. This control on a strict budget, helped my family (I believe) in living within their means during that difficult time (in the late 1940s early 50s). Perhaps in this sense I have taken after my Grandmother, who always used to manage her expenses very judiciously.

But I have always much appreciated quality that is not opulent or overstated (a Mercedes, not a Jaguar, a BMW not a Harley Davidson, an Omega or Gerard Perigaux not a Rolex, etc.)

Nicon, with its recent offering of the COOLPIX S01, has now finally evolved the digital camera from being a handy piece of technology to a precious object (a piece of art) of undisputed beauty and elegance. I simply could not resist to purchase one online for myself and absolutely love it.

As far as clothes and shoes are concerned I have over the years fluctuated (depending on my financial circumstances) between the cheapest I could stand to wear and affordable quality. These days I am in the happy circumstance to be able to focus on the second category, such as Palmone handcrafted Italian moccasins and Kathmandu leisure wear made from high tech quality materials.

Monday 21 - Wednesday 30 April, 2014 (diary)

We had a most enjoyable Easter Monday at Anne-Marie's place with 17 players attending an afternoon of bridge, champagne, punch and plenty of Easter eggs (chocolate) and finger food.
The environment both inside and out was most inspiring and much appreciated by all.

With our Easter activiy out of the way we are now focussing on the biggest social event of our cbridge club for this year : playing bridge on the sandbar of Fannie Bay which will emerge above water on Sunday May 18.
There are ten players specially flying in from Adelaide and the Sunshine Coast (from my former bridge clubs there) to be part of this 10-table, 40-player event. Much has to be organised and I am quite busy with that already.

Thanks to a large downpour last Sunday I recorded 87 mm of rainfall for this otherwise unusually dry month of April.