Birthdays

Today we celebrated my great granddaughter Lucy second birthday. What a joy Every year I get more love from my family. I wonder sometimes if it is going to boil over. I can sit home alone and my mind goes all over,and tears of joy come in my eyes. Birthdays in the Netherlands are very special. The whole family comes together for coffee and cake,our a drink[a borrel] I remember a couple of my birthdays. School days when I could bring a treat and you felt very special.Also my19 the. That was Januari 1945. The worst winter of my life.We where still under Hitler ,a cold and bad year. No more food and I wanted my boyfriend to come over. Every thing was blackout.And no one on the street after 8 p.m. So my mother said that Mans, my boyfriend and his two buddys could stay over. Sleeping on the floor in the living room. Al three played music. So in our own way we had fun. I made tarts out of some rusk. Twice baked bread. Made a little pudding on it and topped it with some jam we made without sugar. That was a special treat. I still do not know how my mother made it trough those years 5 kids under 22. How do you feed them and not have anything else than home grown potatos, mixed with some dryed beans. We called it stopverf [putty]It least we got something . In the morning we had brewed flour. Home made flour you put on top of it boiling water and stir. You topped it with beet sugar you made your self. Just like thin syrup.Coming back on birthdays. One nice costum they have is you congratulate every one in the family with the birthday of a kin. Why I like that is that I remember my daughters birth more then they do.Those days are very special to me.