Pukkelpop 2011 - my experience

Written on 21/08/2011 - modified on 23/08/2011
Here's my story about our first PukkelPop ever.
First of all I want to say that my thoughts go out to the families and friends of the people that got hurt or lost their lives, to all the other people at the festival that experienced this nightmare, and to the people of the PukkelPop-organization and the emergency services that now need to carry this heavy burden.

We arrived at PukkelPop festival around 2.30pm. After driving there for more than an hour, we came near the entrance and there were a lot of people, but the police was taking care of that, making sure they all crossed in large groups so we could pass fluently on our way to the parking.
We 'landed' at parking 8, somewhere in the back of a residential area, in a field.
After walking for about 20 minutes, we arrived at the festival itself. Our tickets were scanned, we received a wristband and our backpack was checked for forbidden stuff.

As we were already late for the comedy part (before we left, we stopped at a store to buy some ponchos), we checked out the map and the program to check what we wanted to see and where we had to go to do that.
The group we were interested in, didn't start for a while yet, so we went to the cash register to buy some food and drinking coupons.
In our search for a bite to eat and some drinks (it was already past 3pm and really hot and sunny), we passed by the PukkelPop merchandising stand. I proudly buy a nice top from PukkelPop (this is my first 'real' festival you know, shame on me)
We find something to eat and drink and finish it while sitting under a big tree in the shadow.

We felt a little stupid. There we were, walking around on a festival, where everyone was wearing flip-flops or small shoes, and we were wearing our hiking boots. There was some rain forecasted, so we just wanted to be prepared as a big field easily turns in to one big pool of mud when it rains.
When we finished our lunch, we went to take a look at the Shelter, the tent where Veara would be starting in about 15min. It's still really hot, so we go into the tent to find a spot out of the sun.
After their show, around 5pm, we start walking up to the Main Stage. Skunk Anansie will be starting there around 5.25pm.
First checking out some promotional stands from the lottery to see if we won something with our wristband (yeey, a hat!) and watch people getting water over their heads with a game at the coca-cola-stand.
We get some earplugs from another stand and quickly go to the toilets near the Main Stage.
By now Skunk Anansie is starting the show. We're at a good spot near the stage and have a great view at Skin and the band.
Once in a while we look back and see the predicted rain clouds getting closer. We're laughing that it's almost certain that we'll need our newly bought ponchos before the end of the show.
During the show we enjoy the music, but keep watching over our shoulder once in a while and see a very dark, green/brown/black cloud coming closer to the festival.
It starts to rain at about 6pm and the wind comes from behind us, towards the stage and is getting stronger and stronger.
It even blows the rain under our poncho so our legs get completely wet. As the poncho now sticks on our legs, the rain just pours into our shoes. (We laugh again, great having these water proof hiking boots, too bad it doesn't count when the rain is running down your legs.)
Luckily, we manage to stay dry more or less.
Unfortunately that doesn't count for everyone. Lots of people didn't think about the rain and are now standing there without raincoats and even often without t-shirt or in bikini-tops.
6.10pm: The wind is now blowing really really hard and leafs and small branches are flying around and on the main stage.
The stage has turned into a massive shower for Skin and the rest of the band. Leafs are flying in their face. Skin shouts that she doesn't know if she can continue like this, but she does anyway.
Larger things like small branches and big leafs are now flying around. It so dark as if it were night! The field is slowly turning into a big lake.
At that moment it's all still 'fun' and we laugh again: "wow now it's getting really bad, they'll have a hard time cleaning the stage for the next band!".
But then the hail starts, it seems like hell is breaking loose and we completely forget the music. (I saw on YouTube afterwards that she announces that she has to stop, but then runs of the stage to take cover without even finishing her sentence, but we weren't listening anymore.)
We take cover by hugging each other with our heads down and we stay put.
After a minute or so, the crowd (including myself) is slightly starting to panic.
'This really hurts!', the hail now had the size of really large marbles (most of them more than 1cm and lots even 1,5 or more).
We get down on our knees to avoid the hail on our bare legs. But it's not easy so we stand up again. It hurts too much so we get down again, together with two other girls that we've never seen before, trying to protect each other at least a little bit.
When the worst is over, the girls run off to a near-by tent to hide. We doubt to follow them, but we stay where we are. "I'm sure there's no more room anyway", I say.
Everywhere we see groups of people, trying to take cover from the hail, also trying to protect each other.
It seemed to take hours while we sat there together.
And then the hail finally stops. We measure our 'damage': a couple of painful bruises on arms and legs.
We're glad it's all over and we laugh: 'wow, this will definitely become a news item tomorrow!'.
We even take some pics of the flooded field and from me jumping into the water that is a couple of cm above the grass everywhere.
After a first attempt, Ken laughs that I have to jump again because it wasn't good. I try again but then give up as my pants are now wet until my waist.
I don't take a 3rd shot although it's still really hot.
At this moment (about 6.30pm) we still don't have a clue of what happened less than 100 meters further on the festival field.
I try to figure out the paper with the line-up that was in my purse that is totally soaked. We can just read that Katy-B is performing on the other side of the terrain in about half an hour.
We assume that Skin won't be back to finish her show and we start wading through the water.
A bit further on our way, we need to cross through a smaller gate and a lot of people are queuing, still a bit shaken by what just happened.
It's only then that we see a huge tree that fell down on one of the promotion stands.
We're quite shocked: because of the heavy rain and hail there must have been lots of people inside the tent. We were also almost in this tent as this was the closest one to where we were standing.
Luckily we already see people of the crew barricading the area to prevent more people getting hurt and people from the 'Flemish Cross' carrying some wounded people over the field.
We try to get out of the stream of walking people and then see that there's more. The Chateau has completely collapsed!
We realize that lots of people must have been hurt as it was quite a big tent that was probably full, because of band that was playing and the heavy rain and hail.
We call our parents. It's about 6.45pm. "Dad, you're probably going to hear about it in the news, but it's just to say that we're ok". I can just hear him respond with something like, 'oh, ok!', and then the line is cut off.
Ken is also able to call his parents (for lots of people this wasn't possible as most mobile services were overloaded).
They are just at our house, feeding the kitten, so they can't immediately put on the TV to watch the news, but at least they know that we're ok.
We walk in the direction of the Chateau where the first aid tent is also located. (Next to the lottery-stand where we were earlier.)
We decide to go and check if we, as Red Cross first aid volunteers can help in any way.
Expecting a “thanks, that's sweet, but we're ok”, but we couldn't have been further from the truth.
They take us to a small tent nearby, provide us with gloves, some first aid material, aluminium blankets, ... We get started gathering all the 'slightly injured people' and the adrenaline-rush kicks in. It’s about 7pm.
We help out taking care of the light-injured people so that the original first aid tent with more first aid materials and medicins remains available for the heavily injured.
Luckily we're not alone. Next to our colleagues from the Flemish Cross, other people come in to help: nurses, doctors, ... all visitors at the festival but now volunteering to help.
Suddenly we realize that there's another tree that came down, 1m behind the first aid tent! I talk to a Flemish-Cross-colleague and apparently the tree fell when they were holding down their tent with the whole crew, preventing it from collapsing or flying away.
We continue working. Most people already have some bandages on (mostly head injuries), so we mainly just hand out aluminium-blankets to prevent people getting too cold. We also talk to people to see what injuries they have to decide who needs to go to the hospital immediately and who can still wait a bit.
When most people are gone (to the hospital or to a gym nearby where everyone is gathered) they ask us if we can also come to the gym.
We realize that the festival is finished for today anyway, so we agree.
A police-squad quickly takes Ken and me from the field to the gym as most cars already left.
In the gym benches are put next to each other and all injured people have to sit there with their faces turned forward so the people in charge can keep an overview.
Every 'helper' takes one bench and talks to the people that are on it. At this moment it's still the Flemish Cross that is in charge.
Again we do the same as on the field: talking to people as we keep on checking them. We alert the doctor when people are getting worse so they can be taken to the hospital first.
We hand out aluminium blankets to make sure they are not too cold (most of them have wet clothes underneath).
At about 9pm I realize that my cell phone is still in our backpack. I check it for some worried text messages and quickly answer them to say that we're ok.
By now, the Red Cross has taken over mostly, which is normal when emergency plans are set-up.
Around 10pm I'm getting really hungry as we didn't have anything to eat anymore since 3pm.
I feel the energy floating out of my body so I go and take a dextro energy tablet and drink some coca-cola. The adrenaline-rush is over...
We stay with a couple of girls that are all alone, soaking wet and not able to reach their parents.
We talk a lot; let them try calling their parents with our cell phones, and hope together with them that they get here soon to pick them up.
We propose to drive one of the girls home. She can't seem to reach her parents, but doesn't live too far, is not injured and still has her house keys. Luckily her parents did hear one of the voice mail messages and arrives to pick their daughter up.
Around 11.30pm they start to shut down the gym. Everything has been cleaned-up and all the people that are left, are gathered in a smaller room.
Now everyone needs to move to a larger hall in Hasselt, the biggest town near the festival. The red cross and PukkelPop crew are providing a place to sleep and eat there for everyone that no longer has a tent or a way to get home.
After some negotiation, we finally find someone that wants to take us back to the festival-field as we need to get back to our car. (It’s really hard to get there as everything is closed-down by now)
We start walking the 20mins back through the residential area, slowly realizing what we escaped off... Still shaken from what happened, we see lots of trees lying down in the gardens and on the roads, it's absurd.
Happy to have reached the car, and finding it in one piece, we get going, finally!
But then the unthinkable happens: while driving through the field towards the exit, we get stuck in the mud really deep. Ken walks out to find some help, I stay with the car, there are only about 20 cars left on the parking lot, probably of people injured or camping or ..
I see some other rain clouds with lightning and thunder coming closer.
That's it, I 'crash', I just want to get home before we get stuck in another storm.
Luckily, one of the neighbours has a jeep and is already pulling out other cars. Then it’s our turn and he pulls us out.
It's about 1am when we are on the highway, on our way home.
My sister, Anja, sends me a text message: The festival would still be starting again tomorrow morning. I just don't get it. All the damage... No way that they can fix it by the next day. The field looks like a war-zone and even the entrance partially collapsed. Not only the visitors have experienced this nightmare, also the crew and all volunteers where there. I can imagine most of the under-aged girls won’t even be allowed to come to the festival anymore, and how can they have a festival without the crew for food, drinks, ...?
By 2am we're finally home and go to sleep. On Friday we try to recover from the nightmare and are glad that we're ok.
Thanks to skunk Anansie we were at the main stage in an open field, and not in one of the tents that was torn to pieces.
The couple of bruises are nothing compared to what we've seen on the field, and to the people that lost their lives in the storm.
We're also happy to hear the next morning that they decide that the festival is over after all. A brave but correct decision, in respect to the victims.
I also don't get that they are looking at the organization to blame for what happened. This was a storm that couldn't have been predicted.
Now, a couple of days later, we're slowly getting over it. I can finally look at footage from the storm, the field, the festival, ... without starting to cry.
But in silent moments, my head is flooded with images from what happened.
No 'bad images' from people that are hurt, but just the damage on the field, the people that are devastated, unable to reach their loved ones, a tree that just snapped like a little branch, the huge amount of injured people in the gym, ...
I'm sure it will take some time to give this all a place in my head and heart, but I'll never forget it.
And my wristband? I'm keeping it on for a while. I can't take it off, not just yet...!

fun website

via deze site kwam ik op deze site terecht, echt de moeite waard om mee te spelen!

via this site, I stumbled upon this site. Really worth a try!

spring

2 at once = hard work!

This time I'm able to check off 2 things of my list.
A coin purse and a reusable grocery bag.

2 weeks ago I started working on my grocery bag. Mainly because I actually needed it for school. I didn't have anything anymore to use for big binders and books. So I can use it for both school and shopping.
I had a great fabric in mind from my current collection. All I had to do was to find a contrasting fabric for some accents.
It also turned out I definitely needed a lining as well to make it more firm.
I also made it reversible. And added 2 pockets on each side in the contrasting fabric from some left-overs.

I have to say I really like it. The contrasting fabric is so old and ugly that I think it's great (Ken hates it though...) ;o)
Although I like the other fabric, I don't think I will wear it with that side out too often... I guess it's a bit too colourfull.
The picture is mainly to show the pockets on the other side as well. ;o)

Judge yourself and leave a comment on what you think of it:

The coin purse did come out a bit bigger than first planned.

As I'm using the piramid bag as coin purse, I made this one a bit bigger so that it can hold cards, bus tickets, ... so that I don't have to take my whole purse just to go to the super market for groceries.

The outside is the same fabric as for the grocery shopping bag. The lining is a white silky-ish fabric.

I did learn I need to fix the lining better so that it can't get stuck in the zipper so easily as it does now.

So here it is:

Pyramid Coin Purse

Today I finally found the time to make one of these unbelievably cute pyramid coin purses.

It was also in my "12 in 11-list", so now there's 11 projects to go (in 11 months left of 2011 which is perfectly on track!) ;o)

I used a dutch tutorial but it was translated from this one:
http://sewmesomethinggood.blogspot.com/2010/08/how-to-sew-coin-purse.html

It took me quite some time to finish (3 hours). But that was mostly due to my sewingmachine that was acting difficult and I had to start over parts of the sewing several times.

Anyway... The result is fantastic. I wanted to make another one so that I could give away one or both. But I don't have any zippers left... too bad!

For this one I used:
A simple black zipper (the one I had in my sewing supply box)
A pink silky fabric for the lining 
A blue-turquoise-purple-pink fabric for the outside (which feels a bit like felt or wool, but is a lot thinner)
Turquoise yarn

Here are some pics:

Smoothie

I just wanted to quickly tell you about this delicious smoothie I just made.

It's so easy. Ready in 2 minutes and almost no cleanup needed afterwards.

• 150gr of frozen fruit (I used a mix of red berries)
• 300ml of Fruit Juice (I used a very basic orange juice, the cheapest I could find in the store)
• 1 banana broken in smaller pieces
• optional: some coconut flakes

Put the fruit, orange juice and the banana in a blender (or in a big cup in which a mixer fits)

Mix or blend it all together

Pour your drink into a cocktail glass to make it even more fancy

I added the coconut flakes as a nice 'finishing touch' decoration.

DONE

Now enjoy your drink. Nice and cold, delicious and healthy, what do you want more?

Some pics:

12 creative projects in 2011

I've been following some other creative blogs lately (mostly of people who have lots more experience than me, but also from beginners like myself)
Last month I started seeing these 'lists' appearing on losts of these blogs and I wanted to know all about it.
Turns out there is a project (dutch) to which you can participate by posting a list of 10 creative things to do in 2011 (10 in 11)
Since I couldn't stop anymore, here's my list of 12!!! things to do in 2011: one each month.
1. design a logo/banner for my blog.
I have some ideas on what I want, but it's quite hard to create myself. But the blog is too sober like that I think, so I'll try to pick up my photoshop knowledge and try to create something that's worthy enough to appear on my blog... :o)
2. Making a handbag for myself. I've seen lots of different designs which I liked a lot. I haven't been able to make a definite choice though.

3. Something that is on most of the beginner's lists: making a skirt for myself.
I'm really only at 'starters' level, but I try to learn a lot by trying and starting over and trying again. So I thinks it would be really great if I would manage to make a skirt for myself from scratch.
I don't really have the ideal sizes, so it's hard to find skirts that fit, that I like, that are in the right kind of fabric, the right colour, ...
So I hope I manage to make something that doesn't actually look like it's handmade and that I dare to wear in public. ;o)

4. One of those super cute piramid-purses for myself or to give away. They are the cutest ever, and I've never tried anything with a zip before.

5. A small coin purse. I've bought myself something for coins in Guatemala in 2007, but as I use it every day, it's totaly worn-out. Time for something new!



*oh boy, it's getting difficult to find more projects.

6. Something to crochet. (Still have to learn as right now, I don't get any further than a long chain...)
Not sure what it should be but I'm glad my great (almost ex-)colleague will be able to teach me!
7. A shopping bag with 2 compartments for a bottle. I usually go to the shop by bike or on foot. (and I won't have any choice in the near future) It's not a big deal as it's a small super market, just around the corner.
But plastic bags are usually quite annoying and carrying a fully loaded cardboard box is also quite difficult sometimes.
I don't have a real patten yet, so I might have to improvise.

Again, not sure what to make yet. Maybe a cooking-apron for the oldest as she likes to help mum with the cooking and a stuffed animal or something for the youngest one.

For the middle one, a boy, something with fabric from Thomas the train (or some other fabric he likes at that moment)
Both mums are free to give some tips as well. Luckily I've got some time until mid-march to finish the first presents.


9. Making a present for the mariage of my cousin this summer. If anyone has any idea, please let me know. It's quite difficult as they already live together for quite some time, have kids, a house, ...

10. Baby shoes/slippers from a book 'meet me at mikes' I got as Christmas presents for all the births that are about to happen during the year. (At least 3 as far as I know by now...)
 (+ maybe for each something additional like a stuffed animal or a bib or something)

Question: Is there anyone who knows what to keep in mind while choosing fabrics and so on for stuffed animals or other things for babies? Just to make sure that it's ok for babies to put it in their mouths without being poisoned.
(Might be a silly question, just want to be sure)

I'm just thinking of another one I should definitely put on my list. (to be able to keep my promise)
11. This key chain I made for myself a while ago , but in the shape of a fox instead of an owl.

Oh, and one more: (oh boy...)
12: To 'pimp' a towel, or to make a towel from scratch.

Voila! That seems like a feasible list, I think...

Tips, tricks, advice , encouragements, ideas , ... are always welcome for a beginner like me.

8. A hand-made present for the birthdays of the 3 kids from my to best friends.

Risotto with wild mushrooms and bacon

I tried to make a risotto for the first time today and it turned out really great!

Thanks to all of the tips I found on the internet, and received via facebook.

I made it with wild mushrooms and bacon.

Here's some pictures but I'm not sure if it looks as good on camera, as it looked 'in reality'.

 

Breakfast smoothie

On Sunday the 2nd of January (after all the eating and drinking), I made me and Ken a great, healthy but simple breakfast smoothie to start the day.
The recipe was really easy.
for 1 smoothie:

1 banana
1 hand of cereals/muesli of your choice
1 cup of strawberry yogurt
half a glass of milk (you can add more or less to have a more or less liquid smoothie)
put it all together in the blender and voila, ready!

You can also add some fresh fruit if you'd like. Some fresh strawberries would taste great in t his smoothie!
I didn't take a picture but it looked something like this picture I found on the internet:

Boxes

Here are some boxes I made as presents.

They are really fun and cute, but quite hard to make sometimes, so parts of them don't have the outcome I was hoping for, but so be-it.

I found the pattern on Eloleo's blog site: pattern

Top left is one for myself, I used a yellow fabric for the inside and an old jeans from Ken (dark brown) for the outside. There's also a plastic pocket to hold a label if necessary. It's the first one I did and it turned out quite nice.

Top right is one for my grandmother as a small new-year's-present. (she chose the fabrics herself from my stock)It's terracotta-velours on the outside (a great fabric to work with), and a beige satin-like fabric with flowers for the inside (not such a great fabric to work with)

The bottom one is for my mom. She also wanted one and chose the fabrics as well. It's the same jeans on the outside as mine, and a warm-red fabric on the inside with beige flowers and some gold accents.

I really like them, but it takes quite some time to make them.
That's why I'm not really sad that I only have two left to make for a small present by the end of January.

Anyway, talk to you soon!

Christmas cards

As I’m into handmade stuff these days, I thought it was a nice challenge to make some nice Christmas cards this year. Found some inspiration on a couple of sites and got started.



Ken had some nice ideas as well, and I ended up with a great result.


I’ll be posting a picture after Christmas so that it’s still a bit of a surprise for the people that actually receive one of the cards.


Here’s an example of a card that I made about 2 years ago (or has it been 3 years already?).

I must say that I like this year’s cards a lot better, or at least more original. I even used the sewing machine to make them!

b-day cupcakes

Here are the pics from the cupcakes as promised

Interior design

As we’re currently renovating our house, I’ve been making some designs.


Kitchen, living room, hall way and bathrooms have been drawn into a 3D program (Google Sketchup, free!) The more I use the software, the easier it is to draw details, and the nicer the results are.


Here are some ‘sneak previews”. (they are just some ideas, not the final designs of course)

Sushi

A different cooking thing that is keeping me busy these days is sushi. I like it a lot as it is so easy, tastes great, and looks nice.
Here’s an example of a meal I made a while ago when Ken wasn’t at home (he does like it, but not for a full diner)

Soon, I’m going to make something for Christmas that will be looking something like this:

On Christmas day, we’re having a family party where everyone needs to bring something to eat, so that our grandmother doesn’t need to prepare the whole meal for the whole family. There’s even a little competition included as that is ‘hot’ these days where everyone’s food will be assessed on taste and presentation ;o)


Last Sunday we also had a family gathering for my parents and aunt and uncle’s 35th anniversary. Here also everyone was asked not to bring a present, but to bring something to eat. I really like that as you get to taste lots of different stuff, and the people organizing the party don’t end up with unusable presents and lots of work to prepare a meal for so many people.


Sushi again seemed a great thing to do as it’s not that much work and lots of different combinations can be made.


I prepared 3 kinds of sushi on Sunday morning. One roll with omelet, carrots and zucchini, one roll with smoked salmon, carrots and zucchini, and 2 rolls with fresh salmon, carrots and zucchini.


They looked great on a big plate and I enjoyed tasting some other things that other guests prepared.

Cupcakes

Making cupcakes from scratch is quite hard with a temporary kitchen like mine, especially as I don’t have an oven. Decorating cupcakes on the other hand IS something I can do. From the ‘Cake-fairy’ (a shop with baking stuff) I also got some advice to by it in a specific store (Hema, it’s Dutch I believe). They are a bit bigger but flat on top, so you can decorate them easier.



I did a first attempt a while ago. I tried with sugar-icing. Easy to make (just mix some powder-sugar with a couple of drops of water) and you can colour it as well with the liquid food colouring you can buy at the supermarket. Made a couple of different colours, put it on the cupcakes, decorated it with little pearls, nuts, ... and done!

As a second attempt, I wanted to take it a step further. We took all the materials and supplies on our trip to France, at the end of October, to be able to have something to do on a rainy afternoon. It was so much fun. I had bought some sugar paste in different colours, some cut-out shapes and a couple of different toppings. After baking the cupcakes ourselves, we were surprised about the very nice results.

For birthdays, it’s always the habit to bring some food to the office, and to the Red Cross meetings as well. I couldn’t just buy something, so I made cupcakes for a 3rd attempt. Bought 36 cupcakes from Hema, bought some colouring gel and some white sugar paste. (you can’t use the regular colouring liquids to colour sugar past, it needs to be a colouring gel) After a full night of decorating cupcakes (thanks to the internet for some inspiration), I was really pleased with the result.


(I’ll put some pics on soon, but haven’t loaded them from my camera yet)


Soon I will again be decorating cupcakes, but that’s something that needs to stay a secret for now!

Key Chain Holder

Time to use my sewing machine for a first real project. Via Elinemien’s blog, I ended up on some other blogs. That’s where I found this tutorial for a super cute key chain holder in the shape of an owl. I just had to try it!


First went off to find some nice fabrics with the right pattern and colour. Big thanks to Els, Nele and my mom. And again a big thanks to Els for the advice and the materials. I also based by ‘Banier’, a crafts shop in Mechelen, and the 2nd hand store in the same street. I now have quite a variety of fabrics, patterns and colours available for some future sewing projects.

After quite some messing-up, starting over, the occasional curse, ... I ended up with this, and I’m quite pleased with it, if I may say so myself! ;o)

  

Planckendael

We went on a trip to Planckendael last weekend. Somewhere in spring there was a day to celebrate all Flemish Red Cross Volunteers. But we couldn’t enjoy it as much as it was in Muizen, our ‘field of operations’ (not sure if that’s the right way to say it). So we had to ‘work’ on our own day.



Because of that they gave us a ticket to go visit the park at some other day. As it was only valid until the end of 2010, we thought it would be nice to go out on a cold, snowy day to see the animals in a different setting…


And the result was quite nice! We had a great day, and I ended up with some nice pics!

Ice flowers on a big window

Cheetah in the snow

Ice waterfall

Ice waterfall Close-up

Small panda in the snow

Mom and baby-monkey playing

4 lion cubs in a row,
daddy in the background

Giant-shake-face

mini-shake-face





This is what happens if you pose for the camera instead of paying attention

 

GOTCHA!