The Chit Chat Chit Chat Thread

[Songbird76]

The general design of the central area looked more like a church. Is that design prevalent in castles and royalty "homes" in your country?
I know that every country as its own style.

I suppose it depends on when it was built and by whom. I haven't seen a whole lot of castles here, but the ones I've seen were mostly older. This one was basically rebuilt from scratch in the late 1800s. The furniture is all the heavy, carved wood like you would see in middle ages castles, but things like the kitchen are really modern. It DID have stained glass windows though, I think....and the statues around the banister...that does seem more like a cathedral than a castle, but I couldn't tell you how prevalent it is. It certainly wasn't like that in Castle Doornenburg, but that was way older and was more based on defense than on luxury. Does that make sense?

 

[StarWarsGirl]

She's getting moved in a minute.

 

[Figgy1]

lol. I just assumed when you said it was 'somebody's Homecoming you were speaking of your youngest manchild...couldn't wrap my brain around him asking you to get a haircut.

LOL I do have a bag of pink rollers for when he gives me lip. @Mr Ferret 88 doesn't call me Beverly for nothing

 

[Figgy1]

What are you going to eat?

I put some of the beans aside and the mac and cheese if gf/df. I have salad(assorted chopped veggies) and one of the loaves of corn bread is vegan/gf and if the boys get near my food I'm going on strike!

 

[Figgy1]

No, but that's very common here. When I can get veggies in a restaurant, I'm pretty happy. There is a Greek restaurant in Arnhem that I love, just for the fact that you get veggies with your main! And you can order more if you want. I love my vegetables, and it's so rare to get an actual portion of them over here.

The like is for finding a place you like

 

[Figgy1]

Nope....I don't like anything pickled. At least not that I have tried. My mom used to make zucchini pickles that were very popular, and I think I'm the only person I ever knew who DIDN'T like them. Everyone else always raved about them. But pickled beets, dill pickles, sweet pickles, saurkraut, pretty much anything pickled is a no no for me. I've never had beets prepared in a way that I could stomach them. They are very "in" right now. I don't know about other places, but here in Europe, at this particular moment, they are EVERYWHERE. Most vegetarian dishes are going to be centered around beets. Last weekend, one of the appetizers at the restaurant that I wouldn't eat was beet hummus. One of the sandwiches at lunch this past Friday was beet and goat cheese. (Goat cheese is also incredibly "in" at the moment) Everything seems to have beets or cucumbers.

Sympathy like

 

[Figgy1]

She's getting moved in a minute.
View attachment 318941

Why, she looks very comfy!

 

[StarWarsGirl]

Why, she looks very comfy!

I was going to do some maintenance on the computer. Now I'm thinking of taking a couch nap with Belle.

 

[Cesar R M]

Does that make sense?

It does, most castles moved to luxury living places by the late 1500's I guess. gunpowder made most castles useless and started the era of Forts instead of castles.

 

[Figgy1]

I was going to do some maintenance on the computer. Now I'm thinking of taking a couch nap with Belle.

a couch nap would make for 2 happy kitties

 

[Songbird76]

Barons are supposed to be the lowest of the nobility right?
Surprising they had this huge castle.

Hrmmm....yes, I think so, but I'm no expert on nobility and rank. But I think that's the thing...the Baron had no money...it was all gone. The baroness was the one with the purse, and she had inherited the money from her rich family. I think she was actually English? But she was rich already before she married the Baron and therefore gained the title "Baroness". And she was the one who had it furnished so lavishly. If it was up to the baron, the castle would still be in ruins. He would never have been able to restore it, much less to the standard it was done in without his wife's money.
A lot of European nobility/royalty is interrelated. One of the things we learned this past weekend on the city walking tour was that Queen Elizabeth and a lot of other European monarchs are all from the Family of Orange, which is the Dutch royal family. There was a king who who realized he couldn't rule the entire country himself, so he appointed a regent. The regent was crowned and had some festival in his honor for which he dressed in armor. But the boat he was in capsized or something and he fell into the water, and you don't float in a suit of armor. So one day after he was crowned, he drowned. But, back then, titles were inherited, so if you were a stateholder (not sure what that's actually equivalent to in English) then your son would receive that title upon your death. So the guy's wife was pregnant and when she gave birth, it was a son, so even though his father was already passed, he inherited the title of stateholder. He couldn't do the job as a baby, so his mother acted as regent in his stead until he reached the age of 18. And it was from that line that most of the modern royalty in Europe is apparently decended. They are all distant cousins. And there was one guy, I don't remember who the guide said it was, but someone was so inbred from intermarrying, that he was handicapped both physically and mentally, but he was a male heir, so he had to be given the throne.

 

[Songbird76]

@Songbird76 thank you for sharing I found it all very interesting and loved the pink bedroom, Herbie and a kitchen large enough for my needs. I'm sorry the tea stunk and hope tonight's dinner was much better

Tonight's dinner was FANTASTIC!! Worth the wait!

 

[MinnieM123]

@Songbird76 , I really enjoyed your photos. You went to some very interesting places recently. My favorite picture was the one of the impressive red and white doors. I love that photo--the design/colors of the doors were a big surprise. Never expected to find doors like that in a castle.

 

[Songbird76]

I'm full of DD coffee and slightly calmer now that the prep work is well under way. The butt has been rubbed, the beans are assembled except for the bacon and onions, all the baking items are together for the corn bread, the eggs are boiled for the potato salad and the water is coming to a boil for the mac for the mac and cheese.

Sounds like you are having a busy day!! What are YOU going to eat?

 

[Songbird76]

She's getting moved in a minute.
View attachment 318941

If looks could kill! She is giving you a death stare....she knows you will make her move and she is not happy about it!

 

[Songbird76]

It does, most castles moved to luxury living places by the late 1500's I guess. gunpowder made most castles useless and started the era of Forts instead of castles.

Yeah, most of the really old castles are more like fortresses, whereas the newer versions are more like mansions. This one just happened to have been originally the fortress type, but was rebuilt in the mansion style when it was restored. I hadn't really thought about it until you mentioned it, but yeah....definitely different in style. But I really haven't seen many castles...there are a bunch on my list to see, though.

 

[MySmallWorldof4]

I put some of the beans aside and the mac and cheese if gf/df. I have salad(assorted chopped veggies) and one of the loaves of corn bread is vegan/gf and if the boys get near my food I'm going on strike!

What not cheese cheese recipe do you use? With or without cashews?

 

[StarWarsGirl]

If looks could kill! She is giving you a death stare....she knows you will make her move and she is not happy about it!

Well, I was also holding Belle and they were staring each other down. So that was part of it.

 

[Songbird76]

@Songbird76 , I really enjoyed your photos. You went to some very interesting places recently. My favorite picture was the one of the impressive red and white doors. I love that photo--the design/colors of the doors were a big surprise. Never expected to find doors like that in a castle.

Yes, I'm very lucky living over here to get to see a LOT of historical places. I love that. It's so fascinating to me to learn how other people lived and why they did what they did. If I'm thinking of the right picture, that is the port that leads into the actual castle grounds rather than into the castle itself. But if it's the wrought iron doors at the top of a stairway lined with a deep red carpet, that's the entrance to the castle itself and wouldn't have looked like in the original structure.

But, this is Doornenburg Castle....and you can see the drawbridge over the moat and the red and white doors into the castle....


And this is the port that leads to those castle grounds:


And they had similar doors in the port. So those were more....defensive? Like....those were actually from the wall around the castle, and then the actual castle had the moat and drawbridge, and then heavy doors. By the time Haar Castle was rebuilt in the 1800s, there was no need for castle defenses anymore, so then everything just became purely decorative.

 

[Figgy1]

What not cheese cheese recipe do you use? With or without cashews?

I was lazy and used daiya. It's going in the smoker so it's not worth using the good stuff. I don't have a problem with cashews but have subbed in walnuts &/or almonds depending what's in the house