Getting up for work can be difficult, especially on cold dark mornings. However, one sight that always invigorates me is looking out our windows and watching the city come alive below me. I love to see other commuters already heading down into the metro, to watch the garbage collectors trundle down the street, to spot the dog-walkers with their pets in the park and the shop keepers dragging out their tables for the day.

The buzz of the city gives me energy; it wakes me up and encourages me to join the hive of activity. Within a few moments of waking up, I already feel as if my day has begun, and the Bruxellois are inviting me to step out and join them.

We have a full house at the moment – me and Adrian, Pepper and Mint, my sister Amy, as well as my mum and her partner Josef.

While mum and Josef were sleeping in, Adrian, Amy, and I got up early to see the Brussels Flower Carpet. Most postcards of Brussels’ Grand Place show it decked out in a magnificent floral display of nearly a million flowers. However, if one was to turn up to the Grand Place on any random day, on would only have a 0.4% chance of seeing it like that, as the Bloementapijt / Tapis de Fleurs is only present for three days every two years.

Happily, today is one of those days. While Adrian complained about the position of the sun in the sky and other such things, we climbed up the stairs of the Town Hall to view the carpet from above. This year the theme celebrates Belgium’s presidency of the EU (even though we haven’t had a government ourselves for months). We spotted the emblem of the city (an iris), the patron saint (the archangel Michael slaying a demon), and the letters “EU” woven into the display. A cute little fountain also spurted out from the centre.

It was a gorgeous morning with a bright blue sky, the sun bring out the colours of the begonias and sparkling in the water. We then celebrated our accomplishments with waffles at the secret Waffle Express hidden under the stairs at Central Station.

While the kittens are too scampery and noisy to be permitted in the bedroom during the night, as soon as we wake up Adrian opens the door and they run in to greet us. Pepper (front) is much more of a morning kitten, so she sits on my belly and purrs loudly as she gets ear scratches. Mint (back) is more subdued, and sits on the edge of the bed watching us start our day. She prefers her pats in the evening, when I am at the computer and she can sit on my lap.