Busy Busy Busy

 I've been really horrible about posting lately, and I'm sorry about that.  But in my defense, things have been more than a little busy lately.  In the last week or so, we moved out of our lovely home and into an apartment/hotel in another town near by.  We've come full circle once again, because these are the apartments that we staying in when we first moved to Belgium, 3 very short years ago.  This is a difficult move for me, because as happy as I am to be going back to our friends and family in the states, I'm sad to be leaving the beautiful country of Belgium.  I know the odds of us ever getting to come back here are pretty slim (practically non-existent), so I'm trying to take in and enjoy every last minute that we are here. 

 So here is our last week in a nutshell.  We went to a nice little carnival in Peer.  It looks pretty empty here, but we walked around a lot when it first opened, and the crowds came later in the evening. 

 I paid one last visit to my favorite antique store, Slegers-Heise, with some friends and shared a few laughs.  I really do love this place.  You never know quite what you will find there.  I really wish I knew the history behind this grouping, don't you?  By the way, you'll be very proud to know that I didn't actually buy anything there!  (Of course, the fact that my household goods are shipped and they didn't have any new scales might have helped a bit on that one.) 

 I attended a couple of local weekly markets with friends as well.  I'm going to miss these so much.  It's so much fun to walk around, buy fresh produce and other interesting items, and then have lunch in a small cafe and chat. 

 One last trip to Achel Abbey with friends as well.  Heavy sigh.

 I have started organizing our belongings at the apartment in preparation for our flight out.  I'm sure the airlines won't have a problem with our 700 pounds of stuffed suitcases.  Maybe I need to organize a little more. 

And last, but not least, I've probably gained 10 pounds with all the eating out I've been doing with friends this week.  (There is a waffle buried under all that ice cream and fresh fruit.  The fruit makes it a healthy meal, you know.)  I'm going to add a Belgian waffle maker to my Christmas Wish List.  My booty won't thank me for that, but my heart will.  It will remind me of my time spent here, and that will make me smile.  It's so hard to say goodbye to the friends that I've made here at KB.  There are some really fantastic people stationed here, and they made our Belgian experience just that much better.  One step closer to home.

Achel Abbey And The Lilse Windmill

Achel Abbey sits on the border between Belgium and The Netherlands. It's a great place to have lunch, so that's just what we did.

Plus, it's a cool place to take pictures. Now Nana can say she's stood in two countries at the same time.

And Grandma can say the same.

This church is very close to the Abbey, and it's beautiful as well.

Coming home from lunch, we noticed that the Lilse Windmill was turning. I've never been by it when it was actually turning, so we decided to check it out.

We were excited to find that not only was is open for a little tour, but it's actually a working windmill! How cool is that? The Lilse Windmill is open on the 2nd Saturday and 4th Sunday of each month, from April to October. They are open from 1pm to 5 pm on those days. They said if the blades are turning, then they are open, so stop by.

For a nominal fee, farmers bring their grain in to be ground up to feed their animals. They don't grind up grain to use for people, because that would mean much stricter cleanliness rules that they would have to follow.

This gentleman was absolutely awesome. He took us throughout the entire mill and explained how everything works and what it was used for. He's a volunteer at the windmill. We got to see the mill in action, and that was VERY cool. I've gotten to go inside a windmill before, but never one that was actually working at the time. Here, he's showing us how they repair the grinding stones. It's all done by hand.

I think the Moms got a big kick out of it, as well.

This is where the grain is poured into the grinding stones.

This is a view from on top of the last section that I showed. We got to go all the way into the top of the mill.

After touring the inside, we got to go around the outside and learn how the blades work. They closed off some of the sail because the wind was so strong that day. It works a lot like a sail boat. They can actually turn the blades into the wind for less windy days, and away if the wind is blowing too hard.

Windmills were very important to the community in the past. They were used not only as meeting places, but also as message centers. The position of the blades could send out a message to people far away. One position meant a baby was born, another meant someone had died. The Germans destroyed lots of windmills during the war, because they were afraid that the locals were sending out messages about the soldiers using the position of the blades.

This was probably one of my favorite days in Belgium. I've always loved windmills, and now I have a great appreciation for them, as well as the people of Belgium. Not only did we get an amazing private tour, a young lady stopped by with some delicious cookies and shared them with us. If you ever find yourself near the Lilse Molen, stop by and say hi. You'll be glad you did. I plan on going back soon, and I'll be bringing some friends with me.

Achel Abbey

Sint-Benedictusabdij De Achelse Kluis is quite the mouth full, isn't it? That's why we refer to this place as the Achel Abbey. Why is it important, you ask? If you know anything about beer, you'll know that this place is one of the producers of Trappist Beer, which is beer that is made by monks. Some Trappist beer has to be ordered in advanced, but Achel has a little store on the property, so you can get it right away. The abbey is not open to tours, but you can get a peek of it through the lovely iron gate. One thing that they do have here, is great food and great beer. Lots of people ride their bikes out here and relax over a good meal. We cheated... and drove. Actually, Russ and some of his friends from work rode their bikes out here on Friday, and he knew I'd like to check it out, so he brought me and the kids back today. This is one of the reason's that Russ knew I'd love this place. It sits on the border of Belgium and The Netherlands. I couldn't resist. My kids are in different countries. So close, and yet so far.
Now I'm in two different countries at the same time. I knew that split personality would come in handy some day.