Paulette's walk and picnic in Huizingen on June 28th 2010

Our famous annual walk and picnic took finally place on a gorgeous day in the lovely surroundings of the Provincial Domein of Huizingen. After many adventures because of road works on the Ring, 15 of us arrived equipped with everything you need for a picnic and above all delicious savouries and desserts.

After an energetic walk through the woods of this wonderful park, the group met with Sheila (thank you for holding the seats for us, Sheila). The sun was so strong that we started to look around for some shade. In no time at all 4 of our very strong and courageous members moved one big wooden table into the shade! How nice to sit on the grass like the nice old days when we were girl guides. The mood was very good indeed and the picnic a real feast

Afterwards 5 of us enjoyed visiting the lovely terrassed gardens in the centre of the park. And we thought we surely would like to come back maybe not for a picnic (it is nice to change location each year) but to see the plants and flowers in the spring.

Joan's walk in Leefdaal

Ten ladies joined today's walk in Leefdaal. We set off from the church and went by Leefdaal Castle. We walked along the River Voer and posed for a photograph in front of the lake. The walk continued up and over farmland . We ended the walk at the Trulleshoeve Cafe.

Remembering Last Year's Annual Picnic

Dear Walkers,
I am remembering with great fondness last year's annual WIC Walkers' picnic, the great turn out and delicious foods provided by so many of you. I hope the weather improves for you to have another one at this year's new location, too. I'll be checking the blog for the photos. Since the weather here in Sandy Springs has been in the 90's (F)/30's (C) for the past 2 weeks it is hard for me to think of anything cooler right now ... but I'm trying with all of my imagination! Sandy

Paulette's walk in the Foret de Soignes on June 18th 2010

Looking at these photographs, you would never believe that we walked fast and regularly for 2 hours in the Foret de Soignes. And yet…!!! The story is that the scheduled walk in Beersel was cancelled, but there was a lot of last minute interest in a walk, so we met up near the Barbizonso and I invited all these lovely ladies to my house for a coffee and some niceties. They really deserve it but as it was an invitation on the spur of the moment, everybody had to give a hand. I had forgotten my camera…again, so I asked my husband Craig to play the role of photographer for us. We laughed a lot as Lydia first showed us how to measure a foot and soon had everyone in contorsions trying to put their foot on their forearm! Then she tried to prove that men were unable to do an exercise involving balance that she had tried with her friends. Craig was so relieved to pass the test….. So the mood was very jolly but we did really walk, you know, we walked for 2 hours at a good pace and after the traditional “photo de famille” everybody went away satisfied with their day.

You can enlarge any of the pictures by clicking on them!

Monday 14 June 2010 -Margaret's walk - Grez Doiceau

This time we had a marvellous new walk out by Grez-Doiceau. The weather was great and the countryside round there is really stunning. We walked by picturesque cottages with roses round the doorway and lovely gardens as well as old beautifully converted properties with streams running by them. The woods provided some welcome shade from the open fields and when we climbed to the top of the hill the view was superb.

There has been no stopping Paulette since she came back from holiday. Must be something to do with the sun in southern Spain. She just took-off up the hill...

Margaret just checking the map to make sure we were on the right track. We wouldn't want to miss the Brasserie d'Edouard...

And here we are ready for some well deserved refreshments. There were some pancakes around but this time tarte Tatin and creme brulée were added to the list of after-walk deserts. This is the life... Thanks once again to Margaret for a most enjoyable walk.

Dolphine's walk at Chateau de la Hulpe

Sixteen walkers met on this beautiful Friday afternoon for Dolphine's walk in the grounds of Chateau de la Hulpe.

You can enlarge any of the pictures by clicking on them!

Dolphine had certainly done her homework and she led us expertly through the woods with scarcely a glance at her map!

The paths through the trees were wonderfully cool and shady.

Towards the end of our walk we saw two familiar figures as we turned a corner in the path.....

It took some time to get everyone lined up for our traditional group picture...

...but at last they all faced the camera!

We enjoyed our refreshments under the shady trees on the terrace of the Cafe L'Homme Bleu.

... and here is the view from the other end of the table.

On our way back to our cars, we paused to look at the new fountain which had appeared since our last visit.

What a great afternoon! Thank you Dolphine for leading this beautiful walk, and especially for arranging such perfect weather!

Jane's Elderberry Champagne Recipe

Elderberry Flower Drink

20 big clusters of flowers
1 1/2 litres of cold water
2 kg (or less) granulated sugar
25 g citric acid (or lemon/lime juice) you can buy it from the chemist

Remove as many stalks as possible.
In a large bowl or bucket (!) cover the flowers with the water and
the sugar and leave it 2 or 3 days stirring occasionally.
Strain the contents through a sieve.
Add to the liquid the citric acid which has been dissolved in a little
hot water.
Bottle the liquid, and cork it. When opened it should be kept in the
fridge. Actually I keep all my bottles in the fridge for fear of them
exploding(!)

Jane Geers

Tervuren to Sterrebeek and back

Here is today's walk. I started from the Elephant car park opposite the museum, down on the bottom right of the map. We did 9.5km in 2 hours and 12 minutes - I didn't count the time we spent in the cafe. We used 510 calories, which may or may not have cancelled out the ice creams. I won't name names, you know who you are!

Sue's Sterrebeek walk

22 walkers met today for Sue's brand new walk through the fields and woods between Tervuren and Sterrebeek. We were especially pleased to welcome two new walkers to our group!

It was sunny and warm as we walked through the fields edged with wild flowers.

Three-quarters of the way through the walk we were all happy to sit down on the comfortable chairs of "The Yearling" restaurant for our refreshments.

We continued our conversations long after our drinks were finished.....

..... then Sue reminded us of the way back to our cars!

Thank you Sue for organising such an enjoyable Monday afternoon for us - we hope you will lead this lovely walk for us again in the future!