ferdi1

It all started on the 25th and now, I am writing my 11th blog regarding the Harry Potter LEGO castle .... It is a nice project and the bonding has been immense. I don't want to make it sound too corny, like I never did something with my son, but the extreme times we have at the moment just gives us more special time and , to be frank, he has NO clue what is going on ! ! !

Today, we also did the bear hunt and it was a lot of fun. More about this, please visit the following page:

Teddy Bear Hunting

So, bag number 16, a small bag but an OOOOO SOOOOO NICE ONE ! ! ! So funny to see that a bag, thinking upfront, can be interesting or not...

We were able to see that we had to create a tower; stickers and it was going into the air. The front of the castle was still a little bit empty, well ..... not anymore .... Many round pieces and pieces showing height. And so it happened:

Two stories high, rotating parts, stickers the whole shabang. Exciting bouncing son next to me .... nice nice nice ! ! !

But it was going higher, more stickers:

Amazing stuff, it is so becoming a ...... a castle :–)

This was the end of March 30, tomorrow is a next day. We are still standing strong, we like it and we are beating the home situation.

Once again, please stay safe, listen to the official bodies and together we will beat Covid-19

It is all over the news, the teddy bear hunt. A book, written more than 30 years ago comes to life. Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury wrote the book We're Going on a Bear Hunt

Children have a tough time staying at home all day as they want to be at school with their friends to play and/ or learn new things and after school want to play tennis, soccer, hockey with each other. At the moment that is not possible due to the lockdown to contain Corona Virus.

The real-life “teddy bear hunt” is a children walk, safely around the neighborhood, trying to spot teddy bears.

Social Media all over the world has spent multiple articles about this phenomenon and many people put a bear in the window.

As the LEGO Harry Potter Castle should not be the only thing we are doing with our son, today we went “bear hunting”. And boy, do a lot of people do that ! ! !

It really went viral, in the Netherlands #berenjacht is used on Twitter, but let me share some pictures:

Overall we were amazed that so many people picked up on it. Seeing it on television, reading about it on internet, social media is one thing, actually placing a bear is another thing.

Mickey Mouse ..... well, that did not totally made the cut, nice tho .... Winnie de Pooh was the overall winner, we saw him more than 5 times and in total we saw 64 bears within 26 minutes, I was very proud.

A special mention does the last animal picture get. A for effort, being an Owl .... F for animal type...... till the owner walked out as he saw me taking the picture. Taking a picture was not the problem, but he needed to explain something. His wife collected owls and she passed away last year. This was her favorite owl and although it needed to be a bear in the window, he wanted to put this particular owl because his wife would have loved this bear/ owl hunt.... he had a tear in his eye and I asked him if I was allowed to mention this story in my blog? He almost insisted , but there was one but; I needed to share the story with him. Well he is going to be the first one ! ! ! Thank you sir.

To all, go bear hunting, put a bear in the window and have fun .... keep your social distance and be safe ! ! !

This morning it did not start too early. Week III of Quarantine, but Week II of LEGO. We first had to get things started besides LEGO, also has to happen and then it was LEGO time.

We still had to finish the end of bag number 13, not much left. The starting picture:

This is the inside of the castle, so we can play inside the castle afterwards. I still cannot believe all the details of the inside of the castle, the windows, the flags, the benches, chairs, wow.

Noah thought his sock would also fit on the picture, showing the outside, so if you thought it was mine ...... eh no ! ! !

Building a little on the roof, making the castle higher. We really did not need to build a lot for this bag, so only a picture left how we finished the bag:

When 13 is done, the next is:

As I wrote, @fredvanleer inspired me to do this with my son, gave him a shoutout on Twitter and he gave a like; that of course, is REALLY cool.

Bag 14, once again, was all about the top roof. Building up, higher and higher. Some views of the Castle:

As you can see, there is a start of a tower in the middle, ready to get a bigger one.

Quiet amazing, where it started, with the little house in the front and now a high castle.

Still having a lot of fun; spending quality time with my son. Quarantine is not nice, needed though, very important, but we are really having fun. I really have the feeling that Noah has no clue he needs to stay inside and is not allowed to go to school, play with his friends and be free.

Bag number 15, the picture showed us, it was all about the tower in the middle. Flying wizards and trees ..... once again detail minded things .....

Starting working on the center tower, building the interior in order to attach the exterior. Noah likes this part as he wants to go faster.

In between getting the tower finished, trees trees trees and lights; making it cozy for the wizards, Harry and his friends:

Back to the tower, interesting to see, pink and green is used for the interior. You won't see anything of it when the tower is finished

Besides the tower, we also had to create flying wizards. Lovely picture it makes and we still have a lot of fun together. Bag 15 was a small one. Amazing, we still have 22 bags to go ! ! !

Now it is time to hunt bears ...... More on that topic in my next

blog ! ! !

Indeed well over 1/3 of the way, so we are covered when Quarantine takes 2 more weeks. Enough of that, somebody is inpatient , daddy, number 13 .... a 1 and a 3, I know, I know.

13 showed some interesting parts and it started of VERY interesting. Flags of the houses. Noah knows Gryfindor, I guess we need to work on the other ones.

Look how cute, the little flags :–) And a little sticker with candles on it. The Great Hall looks really nice ! ! ! The detail is so interesting, once again, a person / people thought of this before it actually was transformed into a castle !

We just did a little bit, because I needed to do some work. In the weekends I am helping a restaurant with delivery. They have a tough time; found out delivery is doing very well, so I offered my help. It is going well, and if I can help out .... not even a question.

So I took some photos of how the castle is looking at the moment. Love it, we are getting higher and higher and cannot wait to get more into it. Tomorrow it is going to be Bag 13 – part II. So, for now, a little rain check, thanks

Be safe and we will finish bag 13 and more if the time let's us

Have a good rest of the day, wherever you are ! ! !

Sunday morning, we lost an hour, so in a way it looked pretty well; 08:00 AM , but it was really 07:00 AM, well whatever ... time to get back into it ! ! !

Dolly the stuffed Dolphin also wanted to help, so she took a close look at the Great Hall:

Time to get some more colors in the castle, time to go higher. We put all the pieces of bag 11 on the table and went for it. We were on a roll, all mistakes behind it, let's do it ! ! !

Went really well, mom went for a ride, so music went up again. In the zone again, and before we knew it the castle was looking even better than before. Perfect ! ! !

Ready, 11 bags behind us .... 12 was up.

Green, purple, getting some more colors ... nice nice nice.

Putting the color at work: our first tower looking part is a fact:

I am really appreciative of the bonding with my son. The building, talking together, high fives when something cool is forming, the laughing, the music. Really enjoying it. The long hours sitting at home, I don't have any problem with it, but doing a project like this, really pays of.

Back to the tower, not really sure why there is purple and green inside, as it does not show:

The top had to be put on, no more pink and green. Really nice though, starts to look more and more like the box.

Now to the side, getting some more windows, some more color. Incredible all those details and how “the real world” is copied in this LEGO building:

Once again, love the detail. Finishing back number 12, we decided to goof around a little. We tried to make weird pictures and the winner, good to present is the following picture:

It looks all crooked, makes me think of a Halloween kind of Castle, but we assure you guys we have not been throwing around the castle ...

Now the finishing touches on the 12th bag:

It is shaping nicely .... Break time ...

To Be Continued ...

What is holding back XRP ! ! ! Why are we not seeing anything happen. Why is it not flying with all the good news, all the good potential. Sick and tired of less than a dollar; why oh why ?!? This blog is a wild jumping around about many things that just pop up in my head.

Very legit question, what is holding back XRP, especially for the people that have been since at least 2017 or earlier. I count myself “lucky” to belong to this group, over 2 years investor/ trader and enthusiast.

Yes, I have seen pumps, and YES, I have seen DUMPS. Does it do something to me .... yes it does, but only so much. I am not a person who will scream, oh go to 10 cents, so I can fill my bag even

more ! ! ! We have had a lot of times to fill up and if you have not done it by now, .... hmm I don't know. I had a goal in my mind, have reached it by far, everything else is just extra.

The virus spreading the world at the moment is horrible. Many people are getting infected, many people are dying, many people are loosing their jobs, many people are loosing. It would be amazing, at least for the people invested in XRP, if XRP is going to rise in price. Maybe to an All Time High (ATH), would be appreciated by many, but we just have to be patient.

Myself, I do not believe the international transaction industry is going to be the one that is making you happy. Yes, ODL is very interesting, wrote an article about it before, but On Demand Liquidity needs a lot of transactions, needs a lot of corridors, to make XRP jump to new levels. Don't get me wrong , very nice but no game changer in my book ! ! !

I believe the Decentralized Finance Products are going to be far more important/ profitable for Ripple/ XRP. That market is so big and blockchain, specifically XRP can open up that business. Businesses are in a very far stage in DeFi, so that is a matter of time. I am very much looking forward.

Getting back to XRP of today .... Can it safe the world? Is it going to safe up the world? What about the crisis at the moment. The currency pumping in the world, in the USA? All the de-valuation, all the AAARGH, I want to scream: WHY NOT FREEING UP NOSTRO AND/ OR VOSTRO.... Well, it is not going to help immediately. Yes, it opens the world to billions of dollars, but these things cost time. Banks would love to get rid of their “Sleeping Money” but isn't done over night. Let's work on Regulation first.

Regulations, what do you mean? Well, the world is waiting for the USA to declare XRP not a security. A lot of pros it is NOT a security, but no ruling yet. I suspect this has more to do with the running court case but I believe TAX is more important. If you get a lot of profits ... the IRS wants a lot of profits .... They are coming but it has to be official.

It is still going to take some time. Once again, Corona does not help, printing money does not help, but the market choking on all the bad stuff that is happening, still has space to grow in particular corners.

We do not know everything. Ripple has been quiet, not sure what they should be talking about, maybe BOfA, but only when all parties are ready to share, it will be shared. The closed doors are still VERY closed. Yes, a lot of talks behind those doors, but guessing, speculating only turns into disappointment. Things are happening; if it will show in 2020, don't know, if it shows in 2021, don't know, but if I had to guess, 2020 is still going to be an okay year for XRP and XRP Holders. April may be the month, but because of what all is happening, this might take a little longer.

I am still positive and I am extremely patient. Well at least for the short term, because I have a project together with my son and I am enjoying every single second, Check it out on the following page:

https://coil.com/p/Ferdi/LEGO-Harry-Potter-Hogwarts-Castle/GOQfyHjXx

I wish everybody what they are going for, I am not a financial advisor, but know what you want and go for it. Never loose that out of sight and you will be happy about your investment.

Most important though, health ..... If you are invested, just HODL, if you can and spend time with your family / friends, but be careful, it is a dangerous time .....

Stay safe

Noah, was so sad, I had to get that smile back in the morning .... getting the castle back , where we actually were, one difference though, no more mistake. Little tired, BUT was thinking about that smile.

Probably every LEGO builder went through this stage .... seeing a little mistake at the wrong moment. Well at the moment it is 00:00 AM and this is what I had to start with:

But most of ALL:

Really interesting to see how much faster a second time building the castle. It is like IKEA, if you have build a closet, you built them all :–)

How fast things can change .... looks much better again. The stained glass windows are back and there is another layer visible again:

I do miss the little man goofing around next to me, but it does work a little faster. His face in the morning: but, but ...... priceless ..... hopefully.

Some impressions how the castle is looking at the beginning of March 29th 2020:

It is erecting well. Let's see what Sunday brings. Will post this later tomor... I mean later today.

Stay safe ! ! !

First weekend of the LEGO Project, but not the first early wake up call. Today it was not 05.30 AM, so that was quiet okay. That was the good news, the bad news, it was 06.37 AM, but it is alright. The joy, the fun, the excitement reading in his eyes, makes me want to GO GO GO ! ! !

Going downstairs, coffee and bag nummer 8 ! ! ! !

Lot's of brown, gray, yellowish, I was thinking rocks again...

Bag 8 was the beginning of Book number 2 and bag number 8 was the first bag of a new group, bag 8 through 11: the surroundings and the lower level of the Castle... We were both excited. Also, because Mama was going out, so music was going to be loud, dancing and a lot of fun ..... The guys together. Started out though , the three of us starting with the number 8 bag:

We started out well, BUT first little booboo. Two pieces were together, that shouldn't be together. The nails did not do the job, so the LEGO ladies and LEGO gentlemen in Denmark gave us a tool and boy does it work ! ! !

We were seeing parts of the castle appear, very cool, that tower , that tower, look at that tower, somebody was screaming...

Mom, put all the piece neatly together, I read the pieces we had to get and the search, build and mouth drop came from the little man; he loves it, well, if you did not figure that one out by now ;–)

Of Daddy would not be Daddy if he did not play around a little with the small parts ... no further questions your honor ! ! ! :

The castle was really forming already .... layer by layer we were building it up. Once again, no clue about all the things “behind” the walls, but it is an immense building “behind” the outer wall; both still amazed about “the snake pit”

Finishing up bag number 8 the progress showed as following:

Bag number 9 had to be opened and we were going to create the great hall, later more ! ! !

The first thing we noticed , we had to complete much more color to the castle, exciting ! ! !

Second thing we noticed: WE WERE TOGETHER NOW, SOOOOOO:

Three arrows:

Left Top: Noah Dancing

Right Top: Blah Blah Blah by Armin Van Buuren

Bottom: FULL BLAST

We enjoyed the music a lot and I will give a little playlist

(so you can enjoy it ALSO ...... we hope, ..... BUT WE DID ! ! ! ):

Armin van Buuren – Blah Blah Blah (Noah's favorite)

Calvin Harris – My Way

David Guetta Feat. Kid Cudi – Memories

John Newman – Love Me Again (Noah's favorite)

Gareth Emery feat. Christina Novelli – Concrete Angel

Calvin Harris – Outside ft. Ellie Goulding

Tame Impala – Let It Happen

Editors – Papillon

Calvin Harris – We'll Be Coming Back ft. Example

Well, you got a good impression how we were enjoying the moment Maybe we should not have enjoyed the music, dancing so much ......

So, we were really busy creating the great hall and if you have seen Harry Potter and the Sorcerer Stone, you absolutely will know the scene with the Sorting Hat. We were creating the hall and I looked up a picture for Noah:

How cool is the part on top, the great hall, just like the movie. I see HeadMaster Dumbledore sitting in the big chair, the new students at the big tables, waiting to be “house” chosen by the Sorting hat:

I am looking forward watching the movie with my son, not sure if he would enjoy it as much now; there are enough scary scenes for a 4.5 year old.

Just a little impression of the bottom part of the castle. It is heavy, already has a lot of parts and show like this from the bottom:

Looks more like a Star Wars Spaceship, but it IS Hogwarts.

10 had to be done:

Many windows were visible, the castle was showing like a ..... like a real castle ! ! ! :–)

Noah like the big hall a lot with all it's color, the chairs, benches and it also had doors, and you were able to look through it, like you were there. A little bit too big, but still fun:

More details, and even, YES EVEN the first tower....

It went pretty fast, we already advanced to picture 218 in the workbook... it is going fast, still a lot to go, but already at 218 ! ! !

Yes even stained glass windows, looked amazing:

BUT THEN:

The horror, the absolute nightmare .... an open space, we forgot, or did not place the part in the right place. Well, than we have to tear down some walls ..... NO NO , I don't want that .... and then the sadness came:

Tears came down, when the walls were taken down. It knocked us back to picture 185; a loss of well over 30 steps and I had to step out for a bit, so I could not finish anything today anymore ..... I felt the pain:

This was the only thing Noah saw:

He did not want daddy to leave and work on the castle, but I had to leave. I am helping out a friend with his restaurant and promised him to help in this difficult time for him.

I was home at 09.00 PM, too late for the little man. My plan, that he is not aware of:

1. Writing my blog today
2. Re-building the castle, up to the point where we were
3. Getting a huge smile

Will keep you guys up to date. Can beat myself on the head not catching the error, but will make it up. It is 11:30 PM right now (almost 12.30 AM, as the time is moving tomorrow ! ! !

I better get crackin' .... a day full of emotions ! ! !

Be safe

So 5 bags gone, bag number 6 on the table and 31 bags un-touched. It is a feast, a mess on the table with all that plastic, but organised as we know exactly how, where and what bag number ....

So bag, number 6 had to be opened, I was ready pushing my luck ... I want to take it slow, so the project lasts, but those sad puppy eyes, daddy ..... 1 more bag .....

Not the biggest bag, but a nice little one. I still think it is amazing how LEGO is doing it, getting the whole castle divided in 37 bags ...

While looking at all the different pieces, I am thinking about the Harry Potter movies. I still see Harry taking the little boat to Hogwarts and see all those rocks around the castle. All those rocks we are creating at the moment. And 6 is no different, more rocks to create. The castle, well surroundings are forming more and more and it is really fun to see.

I did see my son had some distractions and that was for the first time. I played some dance music on my computer and he was checking out the screen. If you know the video Hello by Martin Solveig & Dragonette (you can find it on YouTube), you know the tennis match distracts and is fun to watch (if you are into tennis).

So this is the picture how finished when we cleared bag number 6. You can already detect a tower on the left front, and in the other side all kinds of rocks, not showing here ! Also the snake entry on the right.

Bag number 7 had to be done immediately because it was the final bag of Book 1 (3 books to go):

A little bag, so would not take to much

No we had to create some fundamentals for the first ceiling although my son was sure that we created the walls for little wizard rooms. We were trying to explain Harry Potter to him and I was already amazed he remembered the whole wizard stuff but was more amazed he was able to tell me the name Gryffindor, what I had mentioned yesterday, but he still knew today ! ! ! Many things of those young kids amaze me. Not my son, but just in general, all those things that form at the young age, magical to see.

No Noah, you need to turn that around, no no, don't look at the screen, you wanted to play LEGO, you want to stop little man... it is okay if ...... NO NO NO , it is fine daddy, I want to do LEGO, oh sorry, you are right , daddy thought it had to go there, but you are right ! ! !

The structure of the interior was forming, we just had to keep it symmetric:

This black monster went in the middle of the building and shows like this:

Having all these things done , the next step is always to cover it up. It is like all the things that are behind the walls in your house. There is electricity, water works, all kinds of things, same in this castle. Nice you have to create all these things, it is always covered with big plates, so the next picture will not show all the work that had to be done before it shows like this:

AND

It really is starting to view and if you lift this, it is HEAVY. Noah is very proud and I am proud of the little guy, because Step 1 has been done:

Book 1 is no more, we have done all the pictures and no parts left ... all have been used (couple doubles).

Tomorrow, the weekend we are going to seriously unpack some bags. Noah has a lot of fun, I have a lot of fun. I had to work late today, so my wife left me a little video of Noah asking when his daddy was coming home. He wanted to open some bags .... My heart broke and tomorrow we are continueing our quest completing the castle. I will share all the steps and the castle will be finished ! ! !

See you tomorrow in my newest blog

Stay Safe and have fun with the people you are locked up with, enjoy ! ! !

That is what happened this morning. Little footsteps in the room, I heard him, what if I keep my eyes closed, he want know. Daddy, wake up, it is LEGO time. We need to open up bag number 5 ..... you want to LEGO also ! ! !

Keep them shut, keep them shut ..... No I cannot do it ..... Good morning buddy, what do you mean, bag number 5? LEGO, daddy, you know ..... the castle :–) oh, I love the little man ! ! !

05.30 AM, pretty early, but it is okay .... I already hear Noah bouncing like a little elephant down the stairs, screaming for joy, number 5, number 5, number 5. I gave my wife a kiss and went downstairs. Entering the living room, I saw bag number 5 laying on the table and a little dude moving on his chair.

First coffee ! ! !

Rocks, daddy, we are going to do rocks ! ! ! Love it, he is so into it, I am too, more than 30 bags to go and I am already fearing the last one .....

The snake we made yesterday was getting a whole entrance with four snakes on the side; what of course got the extra attention and a lot of hissing in my ears; accompanied with a loud laugh, please stay innocent ! ! !

While creating all this, I practised the different colors with my son in English. We like him to start early with an extra language, so all the colors we are working with, no problem whatsoever. Interesting that he mentioned there was no Purpul in the castle. You mean Purple (sounds a little different)? No daddy, Purpul .....

Rock formation – we had to create the rocks that surround the castle. We may have a bit of the cellar, the foundation, but now we had to concentrate on the surroundings. Not the easiest, because little parts had to go in different position, eye for detail was tested here. Maybe that is why it says 16+ on the box and not 4.5+.

Getting bigger and bigger, we went all around the castle. Part by part, the whole building, that is not there yet, got some rocks.

Can you imagine, that somebody looks at Alnwick Castle, Northumberland, England and thinks about it the LEGO way. All the little parts to use in this gigantic building ... for us it is going to take a long time (we are stretching it, so the lockdown period is made easier), but it must have taken a long time for the creators to think of the right parts.

How cool would that job be:

hey, what do you do for work? Well, I develop new LEGO projects. Really .... N I C E ! ! !

So end of bag number 5, a lot of rocks, precise work putting them in the right place, eye for detail.

So five was done, not too late yet, so number 6 had to be opened. But first schoolwork, tennis, maybe a little bit of working, so I will be back.

To be continued ! ! !