"You Scream, I Scream, We All Scream For Ice Cream"
Every year in the Netherlands there is an Ice Cream making competition called the 'Gouden Ijsspatel' (The Golden Ice Cream Scoop). This year the 'Eet'alage' in Haaksbergen was
awarded the 2nd prize out of a field of 53 players. Not Bad!
As the Baby Cloggys and I were at a bit of a loss this afternoon we decided to go and try out the award winning Ice Cream.
Baby Cloggy chose a mouthwatering selection of Lemon, Green Apple and Vanilla flavours whilst the Middle Baby Cloggy opted for a combination of Lemon, Strawberry and Banana. And me........?
I went with a selection of Chocolate, Chocolate and ..... Chocolate Ice Cream. 
Did I mention how Scrummy it was? No?
It was very very VERY Scrummy!
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I was going to be all 'Eco-friendly' and write something like "Organic Home Grown Veggies" as a name for my article, however trying to find a
simple definition of the term 'Organic' on the Internet is a flippin' nightmare. There are countless pages of subject matter available for our viewing at the click of a mouse button and to
be perfectly honest I got bored trawling through it all within 10 minutes. So I opted to change the title of today's blog instead. It's easier!
I could of gone with my own definition of 'Organic' but I am a little afraid one of my 6 readers would write a sarky comment. (Step away from
the comments button Mother!)
Anywawhoo back to the story......
Late this afternoon the neighbour yelled over the hedge for the Baby Cloggys to come give him a hand moving his cows. Footballs, hockey sticks and
bicycles were abandoned as the BC's disappeared into the undergrowth that marks the property boundary in order to assist. Much fun was had and the cows were successfully transplanted from
one field to the other without so much as a raised voice or a kicked shin.
As a reward for their help the BC's were allowed to raid the neighbours veggie plot (which has been grown from 'Organic' seeds and fertilized with poop
from his own barn) and came back with lots of lovely home grown fresh produce for dinner. I contemplated adding one of Cloggys chickens to the menu but as there are only 3 I think he would
have noticed so I settled for the 'other white meat' instead.
The potatoes were scrubbed and sliced, put in a pan and roasted with garlic, fresh rosemary, olive oil and sea salt at 200 C for 30 minutes. The beans
were shelled, boiled in a pan of salted/sugared water with a knob of butter for dressing. The other 'white meat' was caught, butchered and then grilled. (KIDDING - It was unwrapped from the
Albert Hein packing, wiped, seasoned and then grilled).
It was a very tasty dinner. Only downside is that Cloggy has now hatched a plan to build his own veggie plot. The internet has already been heavily abused on the subject and I overheard him
telling the BC's that he's off tomorrow to get railway sleepers and find a good nutricional top soil supplier. 
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Wow!
What a boozy weekend!
We had been invited by friends, who live in Belgium, for a BBQ on Saturday evening and were told that we should "bring our tooth brushes". A
very sound piece of advice as the aforementioned friends have an extensive wine cellar which they always enthusiastically share.
We left home around noon. Oldest Baby Cloggy had opted not to join us in our adventure (He can remember the last time we went to visit these particular friends) and had been given a
list of chores and instructions on how to look after Cloggys chickens for 24 hours. We had also explained to the boy, in great detail, what would happen to him if he had a party in our
absence.
3 hours later we arrived at our destination in fantastic humor as we had been contacted by our real estate agent on route with the news that someone had
made an offer on our old house which has been on the market for over a year with little more than a sparrows fart worth of interest. We accepted the offer and were now in the mood to
celebrate.
Of course because a BBQ had been planned the weather as absolutely
crappy. Cloggy and his friend resorted to lighting the charcoal with the aid of a hairdryer and an umbrella. There
then followed an evening of good food, pleasant company and plenty of wine. At some point the Baby Cloggys decided to dive into the paddling pool so we were also provided with light
entertainment.
All in all it was a great weekend.
Now .... how to get rid of the troop of pygmy clog dancers that have been stomping around inside of my head for the best part of the day?
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A blog entry for Mariska.
Have you ever wondered why there are so many Wind Turbines in the province of Flevoland, Netherlands?
Probably not ...... but I have.
Most weeks I have to drive to Almere (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almere). Straight down the A1 for
100kms until I have to turn off on to the A27 for the last part of my journey. After approx 5km's you drive over the Gooimeer lake and there stretching out as far as the eye can
see are Wind Turbines. Its a bit of a surreal sight especially if there's a dark stormy sky behind them as there was today.
It wasn't so long ago that this part of the Netherlands was totally reclaimed from the water. Now, I know the Dutch are famous for their dikes
but I can't help but wonder if there is something else that is assisting in keeping this part of the world from sinking back into the Zuider Sea? It is after all a huge area of land.
Then today it hit me!
Those aren't Wind Turbines generating kW's of clean energy I was looking at ... Oh No...... They are helicopter's (cunningly disguised of course). Almere
wasn't reclaimed from the Zuider Sea using a brilliant feat of Dutch Dike Engineering alone ...... NO ...... NO .......NO!'
ALMERE IS HOVERING ABOVE SEA LEVEL THANKS TO THE BIG WHITE
HELICOPTER THINGYS.
You watch ... there is always a few Wind Turbines (aka helicopter's) spinning frantically somewhere on the outskirts of the city! If they all stop at once theres' going to be one hell of an
almighty SPLASH as Almere crashes back into the Zuider Sea and the resulting tidal wave will take out Amsterdam!
Being caught up in the Friday afternoon traffic jams on the A1 does strange things to your mind. 
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Due to the crappy weather not much has been going on in the Cloggy household over the last few days. Blog subject matter was beginning to get pretty thin ..... until this afternoon that is.
At precisely 15.10 I heard an almighty crash from the front of the house. I ran out of the kitchen to the front door to find
my mailbox had been uprooted and lying in the middle of the lavender. Tree carnage was everywhere with no obvious
reason as to what had occurred. I walked into the lane and just caught sight of a tractor and trailer going like a bat out of hell shedding branches, leaves and bits of mailbox. The tractor then
literally performed a handbrake turn and managed to disappear into the field at the end of the lane.
"Thats something you don't see everyday", I thought and then, me being me, went back inside to get my camera so I could record the event. I took photo's of everything
and then walked down to the field and took photo's of the now driver-less tractor and trailer with its newly acquired leafy decorations.
When I returned to the scene of the accident I noticed that the neighbours mailbox and trees had also suffered. I knocked on his door and explained what had happened. He thought at first it must
of been one of the many farming contractors who are very busy at the moment but after a few phone calls and a bit of in depth Twente style investigation it was discovered that the demon tractor
driving offender was actually the German guy who lives at the end of the lane.
Now ...... our neighbour is very laid back, so much so that most of the time its difficult to tell whether he has a pulse or not. But on discovering the identity of the tree and mailbox
molester he blew a gasket. Apparently there has been a long running feud between them. Mainly because the German dude drives too fast in the lane and keeps running over chickens.
The Police were called and duly arrived. (Remember this is a sleepy farming community so acts
of tractor mishandling are taken very seriously)
Oldest Baby Cloggy had just come home. Not knowing what had just happened, he saw the arrival of the Police van and immediately 'fessed up' that he had been stopped, whilst riding his
bicycle home from a party a while back, and that he had been breathalyzed but had been let off with a warning. "HONEST MUM!" (I'll be speaking to the boy about that little incident later this
evening!)
The long and short of the story is this;
- German Dude denied all knowledge of the accident and had managed to hide all of the incriminating evidence before the police arrived.
- The Police took copies of ALL of my photograph's and my statement.
- My immediate neighbour has lodged a formal complaint. (That's his Mrs. in the photo)
The feud continues .....
Why did I call this article "Hot Fuzz"? ....... Cause the investigating Policeman was the hottest young-man in a uniform I have seen since the movie 'Top Gun' was released!
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Pink Cloudy Cocktail Recipe
Ingrediants
3 Oz White Rum
2 Oz Vodka
1 Oz Tequila
1/2 Oz Grenadine Syrup
3 Oz Pina Colada Mix
2 Oz Sweet And Sour Mix
1 Oz Margarita Mix
3 - 4 Cups Ice
Recipe Instructions
Pour All Ingredients Into A Blender, Add 3 - 4 Cups Of Ice And Blend Until All Ice Is Chopped Fine. Should Be The Consistentency Of A Daiquiri Or Colada.
Pour Into A Pitcher Ready To Serve.
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It hasn't stopped raining today either so the Baby Cloggys went off to the Gamma again and this time came home with pink and green spray paint.
Here is a picture of the piece of artwork. The Baby Cloggys have asked me to mention that this remains a work in progress. (translation - they haven't used up all the spray paint yet).
If you are wondering what colour the bike was to start with ...... light pink and blue with pretty flowers.
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What with all the rain yesterday and my staunch refusal to play Monopoly the Baby Cloggys were left to their own devices. They took off to the Gama and came back an hour later with masking tape,
sand paper, 4 cans of spray paint and disappeared into the garage firmly shutting the door behind them.
A few hours later they had still not emerged so I sneaked a quick look to see what they were up to.
The Baby Cloggys had decided to pimp their old bicycles and were in the process of spay painting them black and white.
Bless!
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Today's weather forecast looked like this:-
Tuesday
07/07/2009
Hi: 21°
Lo: 14°
Widely scattered thunderstorms. There is a 30% chance of precipitation. Cloudy. Mild. Temperature of 21°C. Winds SW 28km. Humidity will be 59% with a dew-point of 12° and feels-like temperature
of 21°C.
By 30% chance of rain I am guessing they meant a 30% chance that it would rain pretty much ALL DAY, if so the weather guru's were spot on! Even the cows
have stayed under cover of the tree's.
Thankfully the Baby Cloggys (BC's) didn't emerge from their sleeping pits until after 1pm so I was able to catch up on email, laundry and boring chores.
After lunch (or breakfast) we got out the Monopoly and I was the victim of a vicious tag team assault by the BC's which resulted in a major arse-kickin' and all of my properties being
mortgaged.
I had forgotten that the BC's play Monopoly with all the fanaticism of Cloggy whose approach to
the board game is much the same as a property developer during the 90's boom period.
The highlight of the day came when Cloggys chickens decided that Dumbass Dogs food bowl was for their personal use and started to peck at the few tiny crumbs that he had left.
Unbeknown to the chickens (or me) the BC's had chosen that particular moment to play football with the dogs in the back field. Dumbass took one look at the feathered critters pecking away at
his food bowl and then all hell broke loose.
I have to say that Cloggys chickens can fly really well when there's a brown four legged locally renowned poultry murderer on their tails. Luckily nobody (chicken, hound or human) was injured in
the onslaught, although it took quite some time to round up the chickens from their various hiding places, but ..... I am expecting the egg yield for the next few days to be fairly
non-existent.
I took this picture before I realised that the dogs were loose ...... if I had only known ..........!
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We had a bit of a lazy start to the Summer Vacation today. The Baby Cloggys informed that as they had worked hard at school they should be entitled to a morning in their pyjama's lounging around
in front of the TV. It was after all "our vacation Mum!"
Fair enough I couldn't argue with that. There followed a very lazy morning of pottering around the house clearing up the debris created by the weekend. After lunch the kids decided that we should
hitch up the dogs and have a bit of a cycle. Water bottles were filled, snacks were packed into saddlebags and off we went..
This is the route that we took. It was a distance of roughly 11 kms which took us 2 and a half hours, mainly because DumbAss dog's tendency for chasing bunnies and stopping to mark his
territory every 20 meters (which adds up to one heck of a lot of marking!). At one point he dived into the undergrowth and came back out 5 minutes later with a hip bone. He carried it
for about 3 km's, stopping every now and again to have a quick chew. It was too gross to take a photo.
On the way round we met various groups of Scouts who were taking part in a cycling day and as you can see from the photo they were having a few problems with which way up the map shoud be
held.
We met this group of boys on 3 seperate occasions. 
I sure hope they managed to find their way back to the camp
site in time for dinner.
The Baby Cloggys really enjoyed themselves so we are now thinking about making a 3 day cycling trip with our camping gear when the weather forecast is a bit more decent. There's thunder rumbling
around as I write!
Cloggy hasn't got his summer vacation yet so he will have to stay at home and pretend to be nice to the cats.
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