The Freckled Soul

Time to relax

11:00

Two weeks ago me and my boyfriend had ourselves a little getaway. The main reason that we wanted to get out of town was that during Ascension Day there was a fair and a “Chiro” party planned in our village. And since we live in the centre of the village that would have meant we would have barely gotten any sleep. So it was an excellent excuse to go and explore to world…
Or maybe not that far. Since it was only going to be a midweek, we decided to stay in Belgium. We booked a gourmet arrangement in Butgenbach. This is a small village in the German-speaking community of Belgium. It originally was a part of Germany. But with the Treaty of Versailles in 1920, Germany had to cede control over this area to Belgium.

We stayed at the Bütgenbacher Hof Hotel which is situated in the centre of the town. It has two buildings, there is the main building and there is the annex building. We were actually staying in this last one. The annex building is more quiet since there are only five rooms. However our room was situated right underneath the roof, which meant it had slanted walls. This was not just a problem for my boyfriend who is quiet tall but also for me. One of the slanted walls was located right at the end of the bed so it meant we needed to be very careful if we had to get up at night to go to the bathroom. Also being located right underneath the room meant that if the sun was out, it became quiet warm in the room.

We mainly stayed in the hotel. We did stop at the Baraque Michel on our way to Butgenbach. But we wanted to take full advantage of the Wellness facilities (fitness centre, gym, sauna, whirlpool, steam bath, hydro-jet massage couch, and a swimming pool). So it really was a relaxation getaway.

The restaurant in the hotel was really nice. We had a four-course meal and a seven-course meal included in our arrangement. The main issue I had, due to the fact that I barely eat meat or fish, there were a few course I had to pass on. But we noticed that other guests had told the staff that they couldn't eat certain products, so their meals were adjusted. so we definitely need to keep that in mind for next time.

But on the whole, we were very satisfied with the arrangement at the hotel. The food was nice, my boyfriend enjoyed finishing the courses I didn't eat. The hotel, both the wellness area as the room, was very clean. The staff was nice. There was a little downside, since the hotel doesn't just focus on Wellness, but it is also a family hotel, on one afternoon the pool was very crowded with little children and there wasn't a lot peace and quiet left.

On our way home we stopped in the German city Aachen to do some shopping and to see a bit of the city. But we were both happy to sleep once again in our own bed!

Have you ever been to Butgenbach?

Book

What's better: Book or movie?

10:00

The answer to this is a question would be for everyone different, but I'm going to give it a try.

When you're reading a book, you have to imagine what the character(s) and/or place(s) would look like. By doing this, you'll create your own interpretation of what the writer has written. On the other side, when you watch a movie, you'll jump in a world that's already interpreted by someone else. So you will need less of you own imagination, and your own contribution is minimized.

Few examples:
- Jurassic Park:
I've had the chance to read the novel written by Michael Crichton, but I had already seen the movie directed by Steven Spielberg. So I've had an idea about what the characters would look like (it's easier to fantasize/visualize when you've already seen the movie . But despite the amazing special effects (the dinosaurs looked almost as if they were alive), the book was better!

- Harry Potter:
Like most of the people I discovered the young wizard Harry, by watching the first 3 movies. But because they were so spectacular, I couldn't wait until the next one was released. So I started reading the books and my opinion is the books were better than the movies.

- Lord of the Rings:
This is the same story like Harry Potter, I discovered it when I saw the first movie in the theatres, but I couldn't wait until the next ones were released. So I started reading the books. There is one thing that I can remember which was very disappointing about the third movie: The part where the 3 heroes (Aragorn, Legolas & Gimli) along with a ghost army are saving the (under siege by the orcs and nearby capitalizing) city of Minas Thirith, was a real page turner in the book. However in the movie this specific scene was disappointing; our heroes arrive with the ghost army and whoosh, bye bye enemies.

Conclusion:
In both cases, you're not sure if the interpretation is correct with the image that the writer has created. But sometimes (for example Harry Potter), the director has to work closely together with the writer to create the image, that the writer had in mind when he or she was writing the story.

All about the money:
Sometimes you notice that it's all about the money when they are making films. A good example is the Hobbit trilogy. I've read the book before the movie and when I heard about the idea of making a movie about it, I was very excited about how they going to do it. But it was not one movie that they wanted to make, but a trilogy. And from that moment I was wondering how they are going to make 3 movies of approximately 1.5 to 2 hours from a book of 300 pages.

Film adaption of a comic:
We all know batman, but it isn’t until 2005, when the movie "Batman Begins"(with Christian Bale) was released that we finally meet the dark mood that's surrounding Batman. And how he has to struggle trying to save everyone even when it's not possible. The mask and cape are not a blessing but a burden that he must carry alone for the legacy of his murdered parents. And that's how the real fans know him from the comic books.
This is the main reason why comic fans are reserved about making a film of their beloved comic book character. But I think that Hollywood now understands to keep the characters like they meant to be.

My conclusion:
I like to read my books like the old fashion way on paper and my movies in HD quality.

Pink Ambition

Review: Pink Ambition

11:00

Fruit

How to transform your balcony into a delicious jungle

11:00

The sun is shining, the bees are buzzing, the birds are making their nests and that means it's spring!

The perfect time to prepare and clean up the garden for all the delicious fruits and vegetables that summer will give us. But before you can enjoy all these wonders of nature, you'll have to earn them. And by that I mean that you'll have to put the seed and/or little plants into the ground and take care of them.

For those people who don't have a big garden or live on an apartment, I've written this post on how you can transform your city garden or balcony in a delicious jungle.

But before you start, you'll have to be sure that the plants will have enough sun (one of the basic needs of almost every living thing). Also be sure that your plants will have enough water, especially when they are standing the whole day in the sun. Too much water however is also not good. There is a possibility that the roots will start to rot and then the plant will die.

A fine solution is to plant your plants in a pot that's provided with small holes in the bottom. Before you put the potting soil in the pot, you'll have to foresee a layer of small stones to drain the excess water. This layer should be a few centimetres in height.

For a vintage look you can use every pot you'll find, even the old tea cups of your grandmother (but be sure to ask it before you start making holes in them). You can always add a small birdhouse or an insect hotel in the garden (everyone knows the story about the birds and the bees).

My advice:

Start small (don't spend a lot of money if you're not sure that you will carry on with your garden project).
Be creative (you can use every pot, bucket,... you'll find, be sure that there are holes in for the excess water).
Start simple. After a while you gain experience and you can expand or modify your garden.
Try to use as little pesticides as possible, go for organic (Mother Nature will thank you)

So when you've got the hang of it, you can try to cultivate more difficult vegetables or fruit. You can even try to improve your infrastructure (for example a watering system or a small greenery).

Some small tips:

No exotic fruit when you are living in a cold/northern country.
You can cultivate potatoes in big pot or even in a big bag of thick black plastic.
Some plants you can cultivate in hanging baskets (for example strawberries).
Plant some flowers to perk up your garden and to attract bees and butterflies.
Lettuce, radishes, potatoes, tomatoes, carrots (use a pot that is at least 40 centimetres tall), celery and herbs are very easy to cultivate. For fruit you can start with blueberries, strawberries, oranges (only in warm countries).

At this moment, we've got one pot with a blueberry bush on our balcony. It's because apartment is only temporarily and we're looking for our own house with a big garden.

Tell me all about your balcony gardens!0

Life

Bad eye condition

11:00

Some of you may have noticed my absence for the past week on social media, here’s why I had to stay away from my computer.

For the past two weeks I have been suffering with a bad eye condition. About two weeks ago, I woke up with one red eye. It hurt so bad, it itched. This was on a Saturday morning and since my own GP doesn’t work on Saturdays I had to go to the emergency doctor. Let me just paint you a picture before I continue. I have a lot of allergies, I may have already mentioned this before. One of the allergies I have is for preservatives which can be found in most eye drops, eye cream… So this doctor diagnosed me with an infection on my eye and was about to prescribe me some eye drops. When he heard about my allergy, he basically didn’t know what to prescribe to me anymore, and the pharmacist pretty much had to decide on what to give me. The pharmacist was very friendly and helpful and she found some eye drops that didn’t contain the preservative that I get allergic reactions from. And my eye got better. The redness was gone, the pain was gone too… yep for about four days. Then it came back hitting hard.

So last week Monday was when it got to the worst point. I was at work and I just couldn’t handle it anymore. I had to go home from work and called to the eye clinic where I had my eye surgery done. I was lucky to get an appointment that same evening. And there the doctor diagnosed me with a virus, possibly provoked by an allergic reaction to the eye drops the pharmacist had given me. Because of my allergy (and apparently I am also sensitive to Cortisone drops) I got some anti-inflammatory drops. On Tuesday I tried to check my mails and after ten minutes I simply had to stop because it was hurting so bad.

When I went back in to see the doctor at the eye clinic on Thursday, due to the fact that there had been no improvement I got some cortisone drops. After only a day on the drops, I could already feel a big difference. But since I am sensitive to the cortisone drops, I needed to go back to the clinic on Monday to get my eye pressure checked. High eye pressure may cause problems of sight on long term.

I was also given the advice to wash my hands regularly, in order to avoid the virus infecting my other eye. And it basically got me thinking about how hygienic my makeup is or not. I have been researching a bit and I will share with you in my next post how I am sanitizing my makeup. So talk to you in my next post!

Beauty