I woke up to a dead van battery. It's cold, foggy, and I had a date with my favorite antique warehouse, so I was a tad grumpy about the whole battery thing. Such is life. Luckily, I was going to the warehouse with a friend, so we hopped in her car and things went along as scheduled. I got home a couple of hours later, made myself some lunch, ate, and then plopped down in front of the upstairs computer. Then it happened. I'm typing away, minding my own business, when a man forcefully instructed me to "Turn around now!" I froze. Holy cow. Someone is in my house. All of my fight or flight options were madly running through my head, when the man said something else. "At the roundabout, take the first exit." Wait a minute... Is that you, Thomas? I peeked over the balcony, and sure enough. There is Thomas (my GPS), sitting on the entry table, screen shinning in all his glory, while waiting for me to take the first exit on the next roundabout that I come to. UGH! Now comes the big question. How did Thomas get turned on? I did bring him in from my van this morning and plop him down on the table, but he wasn't on (that I know of). Plus, if he had been turned on the entire time, why didn't he say anything during the 30-45 minutes that I was home before this? This leads me to the only logical explanation....ghosts. I guess I should be grateful that they've been behaving themselves since the last episode with the attic window. *sigh* Well, I guess it goes with the territory. I mean, after all, this is Europe. And it is almost Halloween. I guess I should have expected something like this. But if they ever mess with my van battery again, they will have to find a new home to haunt. I'm just saying.
I've been to 
These aren't little kid sand castles, either. These sculptures are as detailed and intricate as statutes you would find in any museum. Maybe even better. 
There was a great variety of artwork to see. They had everything from castles...to people...to etched drawings of medieval scenery. 
This is a sculpture of 
This was the scene of a great battle.
Next, we step into the kitchen of a great castle. This scene really made me laugh. This artist obviously had a great sense of humor. Jut look at the expressions of some of the people. The lady wringing the neck of the chicken in the front looked a little disgusted by the whole process.
And lets face it...Mr. Shifty Eyes was definitely not looking at this lady's potatoes. 
In a castle as big as this one, kneading bread is a constant job. You can practically hear this lady sighing. 
Around the corner, we get to see the fruits of the cooks' labor in action. There is a great feast/party going on.
I couldn't tell if this fellow was giving out a hearty laugh, or just passed out from all of the alcohol that they were serving. Don't you just love the pig?
This is a replica of 
This is the 
Look at the detail on the tiny fountain in front of the Palace.
They even had a torture chamber. 
This is another view of the battle scene that I showed earlier. 
Finally, the event ends with a Grand Ball. Everyone is fawning over the Queen. 
Everyone is dancing and having a wonderful time. 
Well, maybe not everyone. Teenagers. Wait a minute...is that an 
Sometimes you just need to get outside. Sometimes the day is just so beautiful that it would be a crime to spend it inside, doing laundry and cleaning house. Today was that day. I've been researching windmills online, and decided to just go and check them out in person. With Thomas (my GPS) as my trusty sidekick, I hit the road in search of adventure. To make it a little more challenging, I didn't exactly have an address for any of the windmills that I wanted to see. I just had the names of the towns that they were in. My first stop was in 
I rounded a corner and saw this...a pumpkin patch! How fantastic is this? If this doesn't put you in a Fall mood, I don't know what will! 
I love all of the crazy shapes of the pumpkins, too. 
Apparently, today was pumpkin harvest day. The tractor drove slowly down the side of the field, while the men picked up the pumpkins and put them on the 
When the blue bins were full, they were deposited on the side of the field and replaced with empty ones. Can you just imagine all of the pumpkin pies in their future? 
I went around the corner and took this picture of the front of it over the neighbors fence. Two down and one more to go. I took off again, madly scanning the horizon for windmill blades. 
After driving around 
I walked around for a little bit and admired the architecture, as well as the history, of this beautiful building. As I was getting ready to start for home, I just happened to notice a little sign on the other side of the church. It said "
The 
The double doors under the windmill were open, so I checked out this room as well. 
They had all kinds of interesting pictures on the walls, and diagrams of the different parts of the windmill. As I was walking back out again, an elderly gentleman came up and started speaking 
The 
This is the stone bowl in the mill.
There were narrow, steep ladders leading from one level to another. 
This is at the top of the windmill, and it's the backside of the blades, or wings, of the mill. The mechanism is lubricated with pork fat to keep it running smoothly. 
This is the counter in the very top of the mill. It counts the revolutions of the blades.
After spending quite some time exploring all of the levels of the 
Unless you've been without electricity for an extended period of time, or abducted by aliens, you know who Kris Allen is. If that was your fate, then I'll be happy to share with you the fact that he was the Season 8 winner of American Idol, and singer of the hit song "Live Like We're Dying." 
Kris was here yesterday as part of a USO tour of Europe, and the concert was free for military and their families. He and his band showed up at the kids' school, and put on a great show for us. 
