Battery low - will be down by the pool!

All of us arrived safely to our new home. The past weeks have been quite exhausting & exciting, so I still need few more days to sort all those things out in my head. But there will be some kind of an account over my last week in the Netherlands & arrival to Tanzania for sure. Not just quite yet. First I'll need to reload those batteries down by the pool.

See you soon!

Last waltz, and off they go!

A time to look back. Our last walk on Dutch soil fell in rain. Maybe even the sky was feeling bit sentimental.

An hour later it was time for the game of boxes again.

All went well, and off they went, our furry family. Safe trip & see you there!

Vet check: check!

Today was a big day: last vet check for the furry ones. Only manageable with the help of our dear friend and her daughter. But still I was so stressed that I was totally soaked from sweat - catching five cats and taking them and the dog to the vet isn't something I do everyday!

The two sisters, Tuli and Liekki, who are missing from this photo, are the easy ones. I just have to pick them up & put them into the transport box. But these three... Not so much! Although Ruis, in the middle, is nowadays actually much easier than he used to be. There were times when it took two hours & immense amounts of sweat, tears and adrenaline; sometimes even cancelled vet appointments and once a re-scheduled transport from Finland to Ethiopia... ;) Today I used the surprise tactics, as he was sleeping. He didn't quite notice what happened before he was already in the box!

Hilja, on the right, is the shy one, and that's why it is difficult with her. But still it went quite well today. Lured her with some sweet words & cuddles, then a quick grip from the neck & into the box she went.

The last one, Pilvi, on the left, was once again the most difficult one. By the time I got to her she had of course noticed, that something was going on, and managed to hide under our bed, where I could not quite reach her. So running back & forth from one side of the bed to the other, trying to call & bribe her, which of course had no effect whatsoever. Finally there was no other choice than to open the door, close all other doors and then make some noice so that she left the room. Door closed behind us, and she had just the stairs to ground floor and the hall. Where I finally managed to catch her! 

The drive to the vet was the usual concert of miaows. At the vet it is never a problem with them, they are quite cooperative & friendly, unlike many other cats. Everything was in order, the necessary stamps are in their passports and so we are all good to go! Now we are already back home & everything is almost back to normality, chilling in the sunshine.

Not looking forward to Monday though, when I have to do this game of cats & boxes all over again. And then I even have to pack the dog in her crate as well!

(Almost) ready to go

My passport with the visa arrived this morning (actually the DHL guy woke me up... ;) )! Also the kitties & dog got their import permits.

After quite some hassle with a lost parcel, my new t-shirts also finally arrived this afternoon. Even the offer for the removal of our goods arrived today.  It seems that we are slowly getting there!

At least these two seem to be ready to go. I just have to gently break to them that they need a different kind of box for the flight...

Farewell or Friends Forever

On Friday was a day to remember. It was Reiner's last day in the Netherlands. So our beloved group of friends wanted to wish us farewell in style, including party hats, leis and all. What a day it was! We started with typical Dutch fare, "kroketten" at Vegetarisch Traiteur.

Our next step was a boot tour on the channels of Amsterdam. A dream come true! On a flower adorned boat with bubbels and pink "tompouces", another typical Dutch (not the colour though!) dessert dish. The bubbels were imported from France (oh la la!), the tompouces were purchased at Koffie ende Koeck.

The day ended at a friend's house boat (another typical Dutch invention. When the land is scarce, let's live on water instead!), where we had a potluck dinner with faux gras, sausages, potato and couscous salads, cheeses, mercimek köfte, spring rolls, lettuce soup, cheese and chocolade cakes... I am sure I am forgetting something!

Even the dogs had their share of the fun. Essi and myself we were still totally exhausted the following day!

What a day, what a bunch of wonderful friends! I cannot even start to show my gratitude for having met these people. Thank you all (you know who you are!) for making this already in itself special day oh SO very special to us! We feel so blessed to have you in our lives. Luckily this was not a goodbye forever. Because some people will never leave you, even if you are far apart.

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Photo credits except for the very first and very last one: Meta and Rosalie (because in all the excitement I had forgotten to take my camera with me. Stupid me!). Thank you also for these!