Our excursion of the weekend was to Hoegaarden, home of the famous beers, but in our case we were going to see the show gardens (which claim to have a website here, but it won’t work for me in Firefox). They have set up series of twenty or so themed little gardens in the grounds of the former abbey, one with strongly scented plants, one with poisonous plants, one with roses, one small space dedicated to the memory of King Baudouin, etc etc. More interesting for Anne, really, so I let her wander while supervising the children in the small but entirely adequate playground. And then had a snack in the cafe, including a cool glass of the local brew. There is a note in the guidebook to the effect that the gardens remained in private hands until 1980 when the last owner was murdered by the head gardener. We are assured that they have a different head gardener now. Not very far away, and just the other side of the motorway from Tienen.

I’ve come to an important realisation: my fond hopes of organising grand social events here over the summer are illusory. B’s at her respite care place this weekend, and I’m still so exhausted from work and small people that I can barely move. So organising a party, even with several weeks’ lead-in, is out of the question. Casual visitors are still very welcome, though.