Today I am three! ~ Vandaag word ik drie!

Hey!
They say it's my birthday, Happy Birthday to me!
They say I'll have a good time... and I did!

"Hartelijk Gefeliciteerd, lieve Sacha!"
Image copyright, Judith Nijholt-Strong

My humans sang "Lang Zal Ze Leven" ("Long May She Live", the traditional Dutch birthday song) to me. I love that song. :-)

Lang zal ze leven,
Lang zal ze leven,
Lang zal ze leven in de glo-ri-a!
In de glo-ri-a!
In de glo-ri-a!

Here's the sheet music :-) You can play it too!

You can hear "Lang Zal Ze Leven" sung here, on our friend Brenno de Winter's podcast "Laura Speaks Dutch - Birthday Song - they must be celebrating as well today. I wish Laura a very Happy Birthday - Hartelijk Gefelicteerd, Laura!

Here I am enjoying my birthday cake - salmon paté ...
yummy! (lekker)

Image copyright Judith Nijholt-Strong

I had a grand birthday!!!!

Tot ziens,

Sacha

P.S.

Last year, I celebrated with my dear brother Finn. You can read that post here: Wij zijn jarig -It's our birthday.

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Voor Altijd .... For Always

"For always ~ Finn" 2007. Image copyright J. Nijholt-Strong

watercolor & ink on paper, 10" x 10"

"Lieve schat,

Hier in mijn hart

Hou ik een kamer voor je vrij ...

Voor altijd."

- From the song "Voor Altijd", music & lyrics by John Ewbank -

- from album, "De Bestemming" (1998) by famous Dutch singer Marco Borsato-

English translation:

"Dear treasure,

Here in my heart

I keep a room for you free ...

For always."

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In the meantime ... In de tussentijd ...

With Sacha's permission, I am writing this little "in between" post.

Sacha and I had a little talk (yes, we do talk to each other and I can hear your giggles too!). We have decided that we will continue with this blog. We both still miss Finn very much, but we also have enjoyed blogging - not to mention that Sacha likes to have her pictures taken and she has a lot to say about her life here in the Netherlands!

There will be a few small changes made to this blog, but on the whole it will remain the same - stories and pictures of Sacha's adventures in Holland. There might even be a new playmate (kitty companion) for her in the future, but not immediately (although Sacha has been meowing like a little lonely soul since Finn's passing).

Sacha informs me that Finn, having now gone back to planet Cattonia (where all cats are from), sends her messages from time to time (ok, I can see you don't believe me... I'm not bothered). Perhaps she'll let us in on what he's been telling her... if we're lucky.

Now, I'm turning this blog back over to Sacha - it's all about her now (hoo boy! she is getting spoiled!) Let's see what she has up her little cat sleeve - let's just hope it's not that blackbird she's been stalking in the garden. *eek*

Groetjes,

Judy

P.S. I do know the watercolor above of Finn is quite possibly the worst thing I have ever created, but I painted it the day after he died. With every line and brushstroke I applied, there were tons of my tears (probably dropped some on the painting...). I did this as a cathartic excerise for me - I don't know if it helped, but I had to do it and share it.

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