Week 27 Balls Hanging Differently

Week 27

The boat continues its epic voyage, safely and soundly!

Having spent a couple of nights at Blokzijl, Robin and crew left for Giethoorn (very touristy).

They stayed overnight at Belt-Schutsloot.

Note the new arrangement of our "Big Balls". Robin has rigged up a far more practical use of our large fenders. They would sometimes "bounce" us off where we intended to be - and so we were at the point of removing them altogether.

After a couple more nights at Giethoorn, they pressed on to Echtenerbrug, after pausing at Driewegsluis. (The red dot is Robin's phone).

Echtenerbrug

Our Chemical Toilet vs Compost Toilet

Thinking about a compost toilet for the boat - and for the farm!

Since 2009, the rules have changed regarding being able to release toilet waste into the water. Our boat is old enough that the new rules didn't apply, but we decided to weld the toilet opening closed and go with a "temporary" chemical toilet. For our rather short periods on the boat, it has been OK, but now with extended use, the shortcomings are more obvious.

My exam mate Willem showed me his "Compost Toilet" a couple of years ago, but I didn't follow it up.

They say that there is NO SMELL, so it has to be a winner. As usual, the research is interesting.

Meanwhile, around the farm.....

It seems that a local (ish) Care Farm has closed, so we are getting quite a number of new enquiries. I already have 3 or 4 new faces to get used to and if all the enquiries result in new kids, then I'll really have my hands full. Not to mention all the new paperwork!

We're using three different systems now to record everybody - when that all settles down to one new system, the plan is that I take it over - mostly online computer entries. Old dog, new tricks?... oh well, we shall see.

On another note, my Work Experience lad is leaving. It's a good thing for him - but we I shall sorely miss him. I had misgivings in the beginning, but he has grown in his capabilities in the two years that we have had him here.

Fortunately, Janny has arranged for a new 14-year-old to begin after September.

One of Jelmer's last jobs is to "get all the skelters in good working order".

Almost there....

A Pleasant Saturday Afternoon in Sneek

(pronounced "Snake" in Dutch and "Snits" in Frisian)

Robin had found a lovely mooring on Friday afternoon, only a couple of hundred metres from the Sneek Waterpoort - a National Monument.

By Saturday afternoon, boats were searching for a spot, as we laid back and just enjoyed "being there".

Late in the afternoon, an old chap (he must have been at least as old as me!) wandered out of his 1785 house and started fishing at the front of our boat. He caught a few and chucked them back, explaining that he was "waiting for the heron". Sure enough, the heron flew in and waited in turn for a feed....

Robin and Joy, contemplating "life on a boat"...(when Joy retires in 2 years time).

A "Wedding Boat" went past.....

Robin did some work to impress me with how clean the boat is (It is, and I am impressed!)...

....and Therese did her best impression of being the ship's figurehead.

A rough calculation of distance travelled by Robin and Joy (Google My Maps) turned out to be the nice round figure of 200kms!!

From the Newspaper

I was interested to read that cigarette vending machines are to be banned from public places and in pubs, bars and restaurants, from 2022. And from 2019, cigarettes will not be permitted to be on display in shops and supermarkets (except for licenced tobacco shops). Some supermarkets have already begun to remove the displays.
The story went on to celebrate just how much has been done in "one generation", ie the last 20 years.
I was reminded that I have been here for longer than that and I distinctly remember just how shocked I was that so many people here still smoked - back then - including Janny's own family. Australia, or at least Melbourne had had anti-smoking campaigns for many years, including bans on advertising at major sporting events.

March, 2017
Dutch cancer-fighting association KWF is suing four major tobacco companies for aggravated assault resulting in death - and forgery (of test results). According to the Association the tobacco companies deliberately incorrectly inform smokers about the damage smoking actually causes.

More on the Wallabies...
(one of my granddaughters asked)
(Google Translate)

2010 AMSTERDAM - For the first time in the Netherlands there is a group of wild wallabies with a young (Joey?). It could be the beginning of a population of wallabies living in the wild. That is what the Mammalian Society reports on Tuesday.
Previously, adult wallabies have already been discovered in the wild, but so far no young have been seen.

The group of five mammals with a young was observed in Friesland. About four years ago, these kangaroos escaped from a Makkinga family, reports Natuurbericht.nl

Forrester Kees van Son from Staatsbosbeheer has for some years seen wallabies in the area. The municipality of Ooststellingerwerf and Staatsbosbeheer indicate that the animals will not be retrieved because they do not cause any damage.

Escaped

For years, wallabies living in the Netherlands in the wild have been reported. It is about escaped animals. Over the past five years, several places in North Brabant, North Holland, Gelderland, Overijssel and Groningen / Friesland wallabies were spotted.


The little kangaroos seem to be well here. They come from the temperate regions of Australia. As a result, the climate in the Netherlands is not too cold for the animals.