While Noah is still in the second group, playing is on his mind, he starts thinking about the alphabet and all the numbers more and more. Counting is of course something that is a given but recognising the numbers and actually being able to write them down, that is Numbers 201 .....

Noah, is showing more and more interest, so we need to stimulate it up to the moment where he still likes it and doesn't feel pushed. We believe that he needs to learn in his own speed; time enough to learn many MANY things, now it is time to play.

But what if you can combine the two, what if it is fun to learn .... well, all of you probably know about it as you are learning about Crypto a lot and is that not fun ..... if you are a 2017 OG, don't look at the price now ! ! !

So, we are combining: learning numbers, recognising the numbers and playing ——–) BINGO ! ! !

Time to use my beloved PowerPoint again and created random numbers on some cards. The numbers going from 1 to 50; totally random.

Next, printing these cards, TWICE, and laminating half of them. The other half needed for calling the numbers:

These are the finished cards, Numbers written in following order, to learn WHERE the number can be found on the card. We need to cut all these numbers also individually to call them when we start playing. Noah is allowed to make the finishing cut:

Now, we need to create something to cover up the numbers when the number is picked. Searching, searching and more searching and we chose:

The Sun

Noah picked it and liked the finishing product:

NOW ....... it was time to play ..... learning the numbers.

We actually started to call the actual numbers on the little cards: 5 is 5 and 38 is 3 and 8. We did not want to make it too difficult.

Doing this a bit, we noticed it went faster and faster. The 40 numbers always in the last row were found quicker as Noah was not looking for the number on the complete card, no just the last row.

We also started to call the numbers out what they are. You need to know something though, we call the second part first of the number followed by the first part:

What do I mean saying that ? ? ?

41, in English you say: Forty-One in English. In Dutch you would say: One and Forty (translated in English). Noah has a couple children in his class that also speak different languages: German, English, Spanish, Japanese, Farsi, Czech..... many languages.

While playing this game, we also explain this to him. It is fun to play this game and we made it our after diner game. We like to play it with the three of us, shouting the YEEEEEEESSSSSS or NOOOOOOO when the number called is on YOUR card or NOT ! ! !

We are having fun, if you want to create, SOOOO if you want to create a little game yourself ..... go for it, this definitely makes a lot of fun ! ! !

STAY SAFE ! ! !

NO GORD, NO FERDI ! ! !

NO GORD, NO FERDI ! ! !

NO GORD, NO FERDI ! ! !

NO GORD, NO FERDI ! ! !

NO GORD, NO FERDI ! ! !

NO GORD, NO FERDI ! ! !

NO GORD, NO FERDI ! ! !

NO GORD, NO FERDI ! ! !

NO GORD, NO FERDI ! ! !

NO GORD, NO FERDI ! ! !

NO GORD, NO FERDI ! ! !

NO GORD, NO FERDI ! ! !

The economical news has been writing about a couple words / word groups for a couple months now and it has an impact:

1. Recession
2. Quantitative Easing
3. Invest in Gold
4. Invest in Exchange-Traded Funds (ETF)
5. Invest in Low-Cost Index Funds
6. Invest in Crypto Currencies ! ! !

The first two are correlated and the next 4 may be a consequence.

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Quick definitions:

Recession:

In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction when there is a general decline in economic activity. Recessions generally occur when there is a widespread drop in spending (an adverse demand shock). (Source)

Quantitative Easing:

A monetary policy whereby a central bank buys government bonds or other financial assets in order to inject money into the economy to expand economic activity. (Source)

Source

Let's not get into these two terms too much, but what does it to gold, what does it do to industries that are heavily influenced by the gold price.

Gold and Silver are money, the rest is just credit

a famous saying by JP Morgan. You can always fall back on these precious metals in times when the economy is falling, 2 Quarters in a row.

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In the last 100 years, we have seen 18 recessions, an average of 1 every 5 ½ years. Looking a little closer though, we have ONLY seen 2 recessions in the last 20 years; that is an average of 1 in 10 years. Long-term inflationary pressures are tackled during recessions and is needed.

Whether you like it or not, Gold heavily correlates with the economy. For the investor this is a good thing as there will always be money to invest and there always will be people that want to invest.

What if you are in the jewellery industry, do you like the volatility of gold, the price getting higher, what does this do to your inventory. Buying Gold is getting more expensive on one side, on the other side your inventory will be worth more ! ! !

A dear friend of mine IS in the jewellery business and creates jewellery from gold. As I am in the investing, trading and HODL business, I wanted to know more about “We are using gold in our products” world. My friend Marthje creates predominantly earrings, has her product laying in many stores, wants to grow, shared this many times with me, so I wanted to hear her side of the story.

Buying Gold to Sell Gold ! ! !

Nice expression that fits perfectly. So who is Marthje and what does she do:

XRPTwin:
Hi, can you introduce yourself?

Marthje:
What you see is what you get. Driven, Enthusiastic, Creative, all about Business, Humorous, Loving People and Animals and Passionate about life ! ! !
58 years of age, enjoying every day; together with my husband and our two children. I consider myself a happy person.

My motto: live and let live

I come from an artistic family, my father was a sculptor and my mother worked with textiles. That shaped me creatively and the logical step for me was to go to art academy.

Unfortunately for my parents, I entered the business world and was active for 25 years on a management board level at various Companies. The blood goes where it cannot go and in 2012 the gemstones came into my life and as entrepreneurial as I am, The Jewels by Marthje brand was created. In 2016 I gave up my interim work and devoted myself entirely to this company.

XRPTwin:
Hmmm, a little introduction right there. Let's ask her when she learnt how to tie her shoes and when she learnt how to swim ... then we know EVERYTHING *;–)
*

XRPTwin:
How did you get introduced to the “jewel industry/ world?
Marthje:
Years ago I spent some time in Italy and ran into gemstones, the colours and shapes inspired me to do something with them and that was the moment a brand was born. It started out as a joke, but the enthusiasm when creating attracted my curiosity for more.

XRPTwin:
Where is your inspiration coming from building new creations?
Marthje:
Everything inspires me, the sky, patterns, animals, women, flowers, colors, fashion, the stones themselves, art, travel, Crypto, XRP, DeFi, Spark, BTC etc …..XRPTwin:*
Marthjes answer actually stopped at Travel ...... Yes, yes, I will confess, I added a couple words .....
*

XRPTwin:
Your favourite creation?

Marthje:
If I work with beautiful gemstones, can incorporate beautiful silver or gold elements, then every pair is beautiful. Myself, I often wear a special one though, which is an oval hook with various stones hanging from it, a kind of cluster, those are definitely my favourites.

Source

XRPTwin:
I do have to ask , how familiar with the crypto currency industry are you, what do you know about it?

Marthje:
Probably not as familiar as you are at this moment, but have been “in the game” longer than you, my dear XRPTwin friend ! ! !

2015, my husband, who loves to play field hockey, had a tournament with his friends in the United Kingdom. As we all know, you only drink tea, coffee and soda after the game, cough – cough, he had an interesting conversation with one of the opponents that was mining Bitcoin ..... The details, after six coffee, faded away, but like a month or two after the tournament, he read an article about that same “Bit Coin”. He remembered the discussion in England and started to educate himself and ....... bought .... no mining ! ! ! The rest is just detail, more a longterm investment, nothing more nothing less ........... well, of course we bought some XRP, to keep YOU quiet (I am smiling now) ! ! !

Source 1

Source 2

XRPTwin:
Love the story, so interesting to hear how people get involved in this industry. And eh ....... yes I told Marthje a couple times, she should buy some XRP, forget about it and be surprised in a couple weeks/ months/ years ! ! !

XRPTwin:
Precious Metals, words you see in the news a lot this year, care to say something about it, as you are using it a lot in your creations?

Marthje:
When we talk about sustainability, the use of sustainable materials is a must, in my opinion ! ! ! I like to make beautiful quality jewellery. In addition, I also want to make affordable jewellery that has a unique and recognisable signature and many people have told me, I succeeded at the recognisable signature. Jewellery remains beautiful for a lifetime.

XRPTwin:
Something interesting you ran into in the past years?

Marthje:
At a meeting with more than 300 women, who were networking, someone asked me what I was doing, what my profession was. I indicated that I make jewellery and apparently that was not very interesting for the lady.

A little later she told me that she only wears jewellery from Jewels by Marthje because she makes such beautiful earrings, you can understand that I had to laugh when I introduced myself. Visualise a lady that turns red in her face, feeling uncomfortable, well, five times more red and you see what I saw at that moment. My little success ! ! !

XRPTwin:
Where do you see your brand going?

Marthje:
The brand has a place in the market as a niche player and the signature is recognisable to many people. The product has a lot of potential and will have to be positioned even more in terms of brand.

the target market are women who dare to distinguish themselves

The Netherlands is too small, so going international is a logical step, we already receive orders from various countries. To scale up we are creating collections and we have various collaborations, creating even more. We will further expand and internationalise the brand.

Source

XRPTwin:
Gold is very volatile, up, down, up, down. With the current economy, under pressure by Quantitative Easing and COVID-19, what do you do different ..... in other words, is the economy part of your “Gold Buying” Decision?

Marthje:
Absolutely ! ! ! We are always scanning the international news what the economy is doing. Regarding gold, we are looking at different sources because the Gold Price is NOT universal. This may surprise people/ you, but we are looking at:

1. Kitco Price
This rate changes throughout the day. When something happens, it is reflected in the price. This shows the prices in both dollars and euros. The price is visible to everyone.

2. Reuters Price
This rate is widely used by larger banks and smelters. This is the leading gold price Not visible to everybody though.

3. London Gold Fixing

A rate adjusted twice a day. This course has been around since 1919 and is determined by the members.

XRPTwin:

Looked up the members: Scotia-Mocatta, Barclays Capital, Deutsche Bank, HSBC and Société Generale.

Source

Do we need to check all these rates, no probably not, but with my business background, I just like to stay up to date and via a third party, we buy the gold needed for the jewellery. They also check the price, what it currently is and more important, what the price is going to do in the (near) future; this determines differs of course every time we buy ! ! !

This is important as we are a commercial business, we need to make profits also. If the price is too high, including our margins, the jewellery gets too expensive, will not sell; so price is VERY important ! ! !

Besides the economy there is also an important other factor: demand by women themselves. Do they want to wear gold or is fashion looking more towards silver or other precious metals. Buying jewellery is not a daily returning activity. You buy jewellery for birthdays, celebrating marriage, baby births and other festivities. Trends change within the industry and that is something we also need to focus on.

XRPTwin:
If you are not busy with Jewels by Marthje, what do you like to do in your spare time?

Marthje:
I enjoy being outside, swimming in the sea, cycling, dining with friends, spending time with my family, visiting museums, events, cities, traveling and discovering new cultures. Actually, I enjoy my freedom the most, something that has some limitations today due to the Covid Virus.

XRPTwin:
Would you like to add something?

Marthje:
Make something beautiful out of every day, do not complain too much about unimportant things and be kind to each other and to nature. Luxury is nice but not a condition for happiness, simply being able to enjoy the little things is something I am very grateful for that my parents gave me. That is why I am a happy satisfied person.

Wow that is an amazing answer and knowing Marthje, she lives like that also; a smile and her free spirit gets her through and it is also contagious.

I had to ask Marthje if I am able to do some kind of giveaway and she agreed to it. I will NOT do this via Coil, but will do this via Twitter in the coming days.

I am looking for a lady in crypto / finance that has a video channel and can show the earrings on her show. I will give a couple names, but urge others to help me finding the perfect lady on video. Let's see where this is heading.

I appreciate everybody's help, thanks for reading and as always:

**STAY SAFE
**

In a previous blog I shared that it was impossible to leave a particular Christmas Puzzle behind in the store and I had some time to finish it. Started a new one, but still wanted to write about it.

The sides were done pretty fast; had some nice specific colours going on and I wanted to take advantage of it ..... blue for the windows, red for the curtains, the distinguished presents in the front and oh well, that horrible tree in the middle ! ! !

First the windows, was pretty easy, done pretty fast:

That is the left part, with the nice little puppy and kitty cat in the front.

And of course .... this is the right side:

Connecting these two, easy easy .... with the presents in the middle:

I was so not looking forward starting with the tree as it was just massive green, and well a lot of the pictures where the same, so showing these three parts, the windows and the presents, makes it clear I was really trying to leave this till the end.

There is no better picture to show my affection for the tree:

As you can see, the tree is not there YET. Took me a couple extra days, but eventually it had to be done. t were the balls that helped me true the green mass:

Once again the picture makes me feel happy. So ready for Christmas. Probably nobody else besides my wife and our son, but still, cannot wait for the happiness. It won't change anything, economy / COVID, all is still there, but just the festivities, looking forward ! ! !

I am so happy the store had three different designs, so I still have things laying on the shelve, I know , I know ... more to come, more to come ! ! !

STAY SAFE ! ! !

Woaw, it has been a crazy week. I have been stressed, raised my voice in moments where I should not have done and I am quickly aggrevated. I stepped on toes, apologized, it has just been stress all around.

Things are just not going as wanted by me, by my family, loved ones and more people. This week is just a flaming bag of doodoo ..... and I stepped on it, not good ! ! !

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I cannot leave it unmentioned, but the elections have left a mark on this week for me. I am not going to dig into this, but the fight, the uncertainty, it is something unheard of and I wished it could all go more smoothly, a utopia. Hopefully it is going to turn out in a way that is suitable for all, I really hope so.

Being a little down, the weekend had to be nice. NO, not cheese fondue, but just fun, together with my wife.Together, as Noah has 2 birthday parties ! ! ! Good thing that a lot of the children at party 1 also went to party 2, soooooo no intervention by parents, those children were going to party 2 directly.

Time off for the parents ! ! !

We took the bikes out as the weather was nice. Little chilly, but sunny:

It was nice being outside, not looking back to check on the little one, just relaxing....

We came across an Action, price fighter store and we decided to buy our first Christmas items; just because we felt like it. We did not go all out .... yet and scored the following ornaments:

Four Christmas Ornaments to start with and eh ..... look at those lights, they could fit in the garden, so I guess it did not stay at just four items ! ! !

Oh and look at that nice jigsaw puzzle, looks nice, let's get that. Noah will like that ——) ALSO ! ! !

So as you understand by now, the bag filled up and we left with more stuff, we initially thought of and we were SO fine with it ! ! !

Coming home, we decided to first do the lights. They needed a couple screws and there you go, looks much better. Probably even better when it is dark, but good for now ! ! !

I had to get something from the car, I got a new little surprise: somebody hit the car without leaving a message ......... Not my week ! ! ! I really cannot stand people driving off after they hit somebody, so I was not too pleased.

Just went back into the house and only thought the following three words:

Jigsaw Puzzle TIME ! ! !

This was the Christmas Puzzle I needed to take home:

Love Santa hanging there on the train, with all the bears in the back. Not going to be the easiest, but hey, little bit of challenge always appreciated.

Starting with the sides, was my first guess, before getting all the red pieces out. Cup of Hot Chocolate out, (Light and no Whipped Cream) and we felt good. Got a couple of pictures from Noah's party, he was on a scavenger hunt and having loads of fun, according to the smile on his face ! ! !

The side pieces, all there:

The beginning is there.

We got a phone call, our friend's wife called that her husband our friend was in the hospital, Corona, wow, did not see that call coming ! ! !

She could not say too much yet, scared, her husband had trouble breathing, headaches, not good as he has had problems with his heart ! ! !

It has been a tough week; still adding up. Hope the rest of the weekend will go better.

Oh and these are the lights in the garden:

Everybody, I hope you will Have a great weekend and you will take it easy also. Be careful and

STAY SAFE ! ! !

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When you write about politics you are like walking on thin ice. Especially if it is not your own politics ! ! ! I only give my opinion, not trying to hurt anybody, but writing about politics will not always be appreciated.

Writing my blog yesterday, I made sure not to pick a side; the piece was NOT to show any political colour as that was not why I wrote it. I do not have a political background, am heavily interested though. My interest is what made me write the blog.

I received a couple reactions that made me re-read my blog, re-think the blog. Yes, I understand it is not nice if I call politics entertaining, but what other word can you use to describe what is happening ? ? ? I am not sure, what to call it. As, I mentioned in the paragraph before, I did not want to choose side, in order not to hurt people, but never thought I would hurt people by writing about it, period ! ! !

Hurting people has never been my intention and truthfully, people should know that about me. It is incredible what is happening at the moment, it still reminds me of a soap what we are witnessing; without being disrespectful. I have been watching some serious hours trying to see the decisive moments. Georgia, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Arizona, still up in the air.

The outcome is definitely going to influence the future, everybody's future, I may have not given this too much thought; still, I feel like writing this, no hurt intended. At the moment of writing, it is 08:15 AM; I wanted to make my point clear(er), making it priority to start the day getting this of my chest, showing no ill intent.

I have lived for a long time in the US, I wish nothing but good for the country. It looks like Joe Biden is going to win but Donald Trump is not going to hand it over just like that. I hope the stress level is going to stay at a minimum and I will light a candle for you America,

STAY HEALTHY

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Probably the whole world, probably the whole universe is looking at what is happening in the US at the moment. They all just make it a big show and it looks ....... it is not over yet, could be, but it may take a couple more days/ weeks.

Once again I am NOT here to show my political colour, I am not writing about being Pro Trump and / or Pro Biden, this is just a helicopter view of what I am seeing ! ! !

Today is going to be an important day though. There are only a couple States left. 253 for Biden at the time of writing and 214 for Trump. Open:

Arizona (11)

Georgia (16)

Nevada (6)

North Carolina (15)

Pennsylvania (20)

Pennsylvania is probably going to be the key State for Joe Biden. If he wins it, it is done. At this moment Donald Trump is still 164.000 ahead, but it will be a close race.

This will not be the endgame though. After all this counting has been done, re-count will be needed. Wisconsin and Georgia will probably be asked to be re-counted as the percentage allows it and the runner-up still wants to come in as the top dog.

Re-count will NEVER be exactly the same, so are you ready for more DRAMA, I *SO* am ! ! !

I absolutely love this, it is a soap, a House of Cards packed in a reality show. Really want to see how this turns out to be. Very interesting situation ! ! !

Living in the Netherlands, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, we do not have this situation. The Kingdom currently consists of four countries: the Netherlands, Aruba, Curaçao (part of the ABC Islands) and Saint Maarten. Although we are in a strict lockdown at the moment (since last night 10:00 PM), we are still allowed to fly to these other countries because the are part of the Kingdom.

The King has NOTHING to say. Yes, about himself and his family but he does not have a lot of power. He is just a figure on top with a lot of tasks, he needs to represent the Netherlands during diplomatic travel but politically, no power ! ! ! Government does this for him/ for us.

The Netherlands is a parliamentary democracy, a constitutional monarchy and a decentralised unified state. The Netherlands is a consensus democracy, where political institutions aim at a broad consensus between political actors.

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We do not have a two party system in our government, we have a lot of them .... in my opinion too many parties. At the moment 14 parties are represented in government. Independents, Democrats, Party for Older People, Christian Parties, Socialist, Labor Parties, Animals Party, Reformed Party, Conservatives Party, Radicals Left and Right; ..... we have parties for everything. You can start your own party, you do have to keep it serious though. Political parties have to be Associations and have to have at least 2 people. It all has to be official, but let's not get too much into that.

Thinking about the United States, it is pretty interesting you have two parties fighting each other (let's leave the independents out at the moment, sorry “60.000 votes” Kanye). This was the first year, I noticed all the mud throwing by Joe and Donald.

COVID-19 versus Pro Life, it is incredible. Yes, I understand that COVID-19 is a horrible thing, but please stay at your own party, stay at your own program. Do know that if YOU win, whether your name is Joe or Donald, you still have to work your butt off for all Americans not for Democrats, not for Republicans, but for every American out there.

Let's see where this is heading, but I am pretty sure, this week we will not know who is going to be the US Presidents for the next 4 years ! ! ! We may know who it is, but re-count is, in my opinion, ......... unstoppable ! ! !

Well ...... not quite. If Biden wins Pennsylvania, a re-count in Georgia and Wisconsin won't matter anymore. But there a lot of different ways leading to the White House, let's just see how it is going to work out ! ! !

Good luck Mr. Biden, Good luck Mr. Trump, make it a great battle, honour each other, but go for it. Your voters deserve it ! ! !

I see one very important WIN and that is the level of voting ..... I think it is amazing how many people voted this year. Early Voting, on Election Day, it is amazing. People used their right to vote.

STAY SAFE ! ! !

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I have not played Mariah Carey yet, but this just triggered a lot:

https://twitter.com/MariahCarey/status/1322920395754917889?s=20

Too funny and it was for me the sign to go to a Garden Center here in the area. I had heard they already have their X-Mas Wonderland up and I needed to be there.

As I had my weight loosing challenge Blog yesterday I could not post it yet, BUT, it also gave me some additional Christmas Feeling ..... as Riley gave it to us:

Decorating For Christmas #GettheLeadOut

[](https://coil.com/p/RileyQ/Decorating-For-Christmas-GettheLeadOut/OdZy56jW7)

In my childhood, December 6 used to be the kick-off day for the family. December 5 is another party day here in Europe, the Netherlands, what can be seen as the Dutch Christmas Day; we also celebrate Christmas though. This 5th of December got some political setbacks and Christmas has becoming more important. This political debate, of course, is strengthened by the commercialisation of Christmas. The “big bigger biggest” attitude can be viewed now in all the stores and this year I like it even more.

I am ready for the happiness that Christmas brings, the music, the scents, the smiles. I understand Christmas is not a happy time for everybody, but we may need these smile and happy moments even more at the moment. This year has been tough, we have been tested and we need happiness. I hope this blog will give a smile on your face:

This is how it starts, you get inside and are welcomed with this warm setting ! ! !

How does this not say: Buy me Buy me ! ! ! I did NOT buy yet ! ! !

You walk through the store, plants trees and other paraphernalia used in the garden. I am not really a person that can be found in the garden a lot, yes, I like my tomato plant, bell pepper and I like to grow some stuff, but only like it, if I see stuff grow .... and Christmas ! ! !

This is the official entry to the Wonderland:

Trees trees trees:

I really get happy seeing all these trees. It gives us some ideas how to do it but with the Christmas tunes on the background, this is just pure fun and not too many people as we do have to think about our health ! ! !

TREES TREES TREES ! ! !

All the lights, the did try to darken the room in order for the lights to turn out even more beautiful.

Even a car used in the displays

The big man himself

Hey Olaf

All kinds of animals; it is a happy place

Big Bigger Biggest .... all the colours, all the ornaments, this is a lot of fun, forgetting for a moment what is out there ....

Santa in an airplane, showing merry Christmas in the propellor.

Cozy enough ? ? ?

Trains, and a little mountain view

This may not be Christmas, but love the picture; yes it is silk, but BEAUTIFUL TOGETHER ! ! !

Just walked out, without any product, but a lot of happiness in my head. Loved it and when I get home, I will play Mariah Carey .... I am so ready ..... My time of year

STAY SAFE