Week 34 Beautiful Friesland

Week 34

Beautiful Friesland

I mentioned a while ago about a Newspaper competition to choose the "100 Most Beautiful (things) in Friesland". They are down to their last 10 and readers have to vote to determine No. 1.

http://itmoaistefan.frl/finalisten/

A couple (of the last 10) surprised me, but here are my favorites...

Waterpoort, Sneek

Zeedijk (The sea dike which goes from Stavoren to Lauwersoog)

 Noorderhaven, Harlingen

Now, in 2013, we stayed at a Bed & Breakfast (belonging to one of Janny's Aunties) in Harlingen. I hadn't started this Blog back then, but I did post a few photos on Google + (the poor man's Facebook). And I was able to find them again without any trouble!

Harlingen, Friesland. We stayed in a lovely B&B - De Rode Kers - (The Red Cherry). It is an old warehouse building dating from 1670. There are many more of these buildings around the harbour area. They have been converted to houses, but many of them have kept the original trading name at the front. It seems that the name indicates the principal trading country - eg Java, Sumatra, Brittania, Polen, Rusland, etc. for which the buildings were used.

With a few "boatie" photos thrown in...

Around the Farm

School holidays continue (dragging on a bit this year!)

Jeu de Boule kept them busy for half an hour...

Kenya Care

On Monday we had a visit from a couple who are teaching kids with special needs - somewhere in Kenya. She is originally from Friesland and I think married to the Kenyan chap who was here. They have started a private school for kids with special needs. She had originally been part of a volunteer group operating in Kenya and ended up staying there. Her father still lives in Bakkeveen and suggested that they come and have a look at what we do.
They were impressed and probably a bit overwhelmed in that they both had no idea that Care Farms like ours existed. We are only a small part of a complex system, developed over many years and generations. I said that I could not imagine such a system in Kenya (based on nothing at all). They agreed and went on to explain that even their school doesn't get any government assistance. In fact, they have to pay for permits to operate and are seen purely as "for profit". They said that government assistance is given for deaf and blind teaching, but not for the less obvious autism or otherwise "difficult" kids.
One thing that stuck with me was their observation that "there are just so many" (ie kids with special needs, in Kenya). Without the government support that we are familiar with, there are many parents who are desperate for a place at the school. Unfortunately, all the "special needs" are lumped together and without the appropriate support systems, they simply couldn't cope. Some parents just "lock the door" and leave the child to fend for itself.
As far as what we do, I said that in my own simple way, I try to teach the kids something (anything) that they might be able to use when they grow up... and they do grow up!
We left them with names of other Care Farms and other supporting organisations to follow up. As I think about it, I realise just what a far-reaching network there is here in the Netherlands. I'm afraid that they might have a near-impossible task in front of them, in Kenya. Perhaps the best they can do is remain enthusiastic and measure small successes along the way.

Skûtsje as "Summer House"

In Friesland at the moment the annual "skûtsje zeilen" competition is in full swing. 

(My translation)
In the newspaper of 24th august was a story about an Irish couple living on board a converted skûtsje. (note: a skûtsje hull has the same basic shape as our boat, but they are of a specific size and have sails!). 

John(69) and Winnie(66) found the boat in Toulouse in 2011. They bought it from a Swedish couple who had lived aboard for 5 years. They were not "boat people" but took only one day to decide to buy the boat! They have travelled to new places in the summer months, meeting new people and being the centre of attention, as many people in France had never seen a skûtsje .!
This year, they decided to come to Friesland to discover the history of the skûtsje. They couldn't believe their eyes to see so many of them in perfect condition and in full flight in the sailing competition.

They even found the descendants of the original owners of their ship (built in 1906). The family Zeemans had been turfschippers (peat diggers/transporters).
They are now absolute fans of the skûtsje, watching the competition on YouTube and even carrying their own skûtsje flag.

John and Winnie Eakins in AveSol, Leeuwarden

Picking Blackberries

A few weeks ago there was a minor uproar about the Forestry Commission putting a ban on picking blackberries!. A local botanical expert has declared "nonsense" and argues that people should be encouraged to get out in the "nature" and furthermore, "take the kids". The Forestry Commission argued that there would not be enough left for the birds... Again, "nonsense" says the expert. People only take the biggest and the ripest, leaving more than enough behind.
People would gain a better appreciation of the nature and wildlife if they are encouraged to participate in outdoor activities. For example, who knew that there are more than 40 types of blackberries in Friesland alone?

This weekend there are many activities planned, including "bramenplukken" (blackberry picking).

http://www.brommelsfestijn.nl/programma/?_sft_activity_category=plukken

More Leftovers...

Road Tolls vs Road Tax?

Whilst in France we passed through many road tolls (probably about €50 in total). We didn't object to any of it because it gave us a good run. There are no tolls in the Netherlands BUT we pay "yuuuge" road tax. So, what is best? We pay for everybody (including visitors from other countries) OR user pays, no matter where you are from? The Dutch do have a road/rail/water transport system to be proud of, not to mention the cycle path network.

Apparently, it was a political decision to do away with toll roads and finance road-building (and lots more!) by the imposition of Road Tax. 

Edit: I did find this...

There are two toll-tunnels in The Netherlands: The Kiltunnel and the Westerscheldetunnel. To travel through the Kiltunnel at Dordrecht it costs €2.00 for a car or €1.45 if paying by card. The cost of driving through the Westerscheldetunnel is €5 for cars or €3.80 if you have an electronic tag. If you are driving in larger vehicle, such as a bigger camper van or towing a caravan, the cost rises to €7.45 without a tag.

Black Russians

Pam had some delightful Black Russians in France, this year.

I'm not usually that fond of our home-grown tomatoes, but I thought I'd give these a try next year.

And this year's offerings, to date...

Week 33

Week 33 Back to Normal (again)

Things I forgot from last week...

Frank lent me a book to read.

The Hunger Winter

Henri A. van der Zee
1982
Occupied Holland 1944-1945

About parts of the Netherlands not having enough food towards the end of WWII. Again, very moving. I mentioned it to Janny's Mum. She thinks she may have read it, but in any case she remembers that they always had enough food (10 kids!!) because they were on a dairy farm.

The last paragraph of the book tells of the author's older brother returning (fit and healthy) from Friesland, where he had been sent at the start of the war. The author was aged 10 during that last year.

More reading here...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_famine_of_1944%E2%80%9345

Language Problems

Having spent a week being able to speak English with friends made me think about language and communication. I found myself speaking Dutch to some French people simply because I knew it couldn't be English! duh! 

I found an article by a Portuguese woman, living in Holland and writing in English. It could have been written by me - it wasn't, but it expresses so well the struggle I have had over the years. She is far better at languages - I'm sure it is an ability or aptitude that some people have and some people don't - just like any other.

Things like the absence of friends and family might automatically pop into your mind, or the missing of certain foods, your hometown, the weather, or a type of human warmth very specific to where you come from. Personally, the following sentence immediately banged in my head:

Will I ever get used to making mistakes in almost every single sentence, or group of sentences I articulate?

The biggest challenge I face as an expat is the fact that I am not able to express myself the way I could back in Portugal (Australia). When confronted with limitations, one becomes especially aware of how it feels not to have them. And it seems like a miracle to me now how one’s native language flows within. How you effortlessly communicate what you want in your language, the way you want, without giving it much conscious thought.

Meanwhile, back at the farm...

We drove from Le Havre on Monday and on Tuesday we were back in the midst of on-going school holidays.  

We might grumble a bit and wilt under pressure, but Janny and I sometimes just have to acknowledge how lucky we are to be doing what we do. 

Major Projects

Our Major Projects Department has a few jobs on the go;

Anneke's apartment needs a new roof. Now, the work itself should be easy enough - the hardest part for me will be wrestling through the Local Council Building approval process so that I can replace the old flat roof with good old Aussie corrugated iron.

Complete Outdoor Facilities Block  Only about 8 years waiting to finish it off!

A New Bathroom in the Main House (ours!!). With the advent of Janny's parents' apartment, we lost part of our bathroom. So, the new bathroom has also been almost 2 years in the planning!. Luckily, I did do some preparation with drainage and access to hot and cold water, so this too is going to be relatively easy to do!

Janny's IKEA inspiration...the "industrial look". Even I should be able to manage that!

The Compost Toilet for the Boat

Ah, yes, another set of problems to solve! It needs a flue for ventilation - which means cutting a hole in the roof and sealing it against leaks. The flue has a fan which needs 12 volt power. The urine will have to be collected (under the toilet in the wooden boxed-in section - or to the left of the bowl, in which case I'll have to make a new boxed-in section). The urine will then have to be pumped up to the drain pipe on the left (with a non-return valve) - the outside water level is too high to allow for gravity. That's a "thing" with flat bottom boats...

12 volt urine pump

Outside water level is at the black flexible hose

In doing the research on Compost Toilets (used a bit on privately owned Narrowboats in England), I found some interesting ideas. Including using urine as a fertilizer in the home garden. It's a bit too late for us to start cultivating (oops, sorry) that idea around here. On the boat, all I need is to drain it overboard.

For example, did you know that in nineteenth century London, people sold their urine for a penny per bucket for fixing dye? And that numerous cultures have drunk human urine for ceremonial or health purposes? Clearly, there's a lot to learn about plain old pee.


How Much Urine Does One Person Produce?

A range of 6.7 to 182 grams (.23 to 6.4 oz) of nitrogen-containing constituents is excreted by one person in 24 hours. Many studies give the average daily output for a healthy adult at 11 grams.

The average northern European adult produces about 40.6 fluid ounces (1.2 liters) of urine and 20.3 fluid ounces (0.6 liters) of feces daily. In one year, the same person produces 155.8 gallons (589.77 liters) of urine and 57.9 gallons (219.18 l) of feces. Just one person!

Flixbus in Drachten

Last year I mentioned that Drachten was getting a new Bus Depot in conjunction with a new Bus Operator, Flixbus.

Ben and I are planning to go to Hamburg to see the grave of an uncle who was shot down during the war. At €17,00 one-way, it should be OK to try, at least once.

For two people to go to Berlin (& return) it would be €111,00 total - leaving at 2130 hrs and traveling for just over 8 hours - I wonder about sleeping...?

Pam is training for the Berlin Marathon, so maybe, just maybe...

Adventures of Ben

Ben is still working at the Lowlands Music Festival. It has been going for 25 years now. In 1993 the tickets cost 34 Guilders? - this year a ticket costs €175,00 - if you can get one! Ben gets in free, of course!

Ben's "office"... they have a couple of scooters to get around.

Weeks 31 & 32

Week 31

Preparing for holidays! Heading off to see Frank & Pam again, at Saint-Georges-Motel in Normandy, France.

Week 32

Now, this is difficult, trying to gather my thoughts.... So, I have decided to take the easy way out and just shove up a lot of pictures and see what I can remember...

First stop, Ypres

We waited for the (daily!) Memorial Service at 2000hrs - very moving, as were the names on all the walls! Janny was surprised at the number of Australians who died and/or were involved - obviously not included in Dutch history lessons. We told Janny's Mum when we got home and she said - "yes, the Dutch stayed "neutral" in WWI and had hoped for the same in WWII, but....

Sunday at Saint-Georges-Motel

Host and tour guide, Frank. - ably assisted by Pam. 

Our familiar spot in the sun... (but we didn't have as much, this year)

Bill, the dog... (who gave us a good barking to until we went to meet the owners).

BBQ at the neighbours... (French Style eating has a certain "protocol", even for BBQ's - remember last year when we brought White Sausages - horrors!! mon dieu!? Well we did it again this year just as a joke).

The house of Patrick and Dani used to be the English High Commissioner's Summer House - it is just perfect and has GREEN grass because he has his own well/spring - people otherwise are not allowed to water their lawns due to water restrictions.

The entree/aperitif course...

The "cheese" course...of course.

We were also getting a bit blurry by this stage... it was a mixture of French, Dutch and English but I don't think we stopped laughing all night.

Walls, walls everywhere...

I think I mentioned it last year. All the houses are enclosed with high walls and gates.

The French equivalent of "An Englishman's home is his castle" might well be " What goes on behind my walls... is none of your business".

These are just a few.... including an old one depicting how they used to be built.

Frank assured us that "everyone" was away for the August Holidays - but we didn't see many people last year, either!

I didn't do as much walking this year, but I did manage to find the remnants of yet another wall, or at least a gate, in the middle of the forest. For no apparent reason that I could see - a relic of the past.

Tuesday, 8th of August. A visit to Vaux le Vicomte Castle

Shamelessly stolen from Wikipedia:

(perhaps the most interesting bit is the arrest).

History

Fouquet

Once a small château between the royal residences of Vincennes and Fontainebleau, the estate of Vaux-le-Vicomte was purchased in 1641 by Nicolas Fouquet, an ambitious 26-year-old member of the Parlement of Paris. Fouquet was an avid patron of the arts, attracting many artists with his generosity.

When Fouquet became King Louis XIV's superintendant of finances in 1657, he commissioned Le Vau, Le Brun and Le Nôtre to renovate his estate and garden to match his grand ambition. Fouquet’s artistic and cultivated personality subsequently brought out the best in the three.

To secure the necessary grounds for the elaborate plans for Vaux-le-Vicomte’s garden and castle, Fouquet purchased and demolished three villages. The displaced villagers were then employed in the upkeep and maintenance of the gardens. It was said to have employed 18 thousand workers and cost as much as 16 million livres.

The château and its patron became for a short time a focus for fine feasts, literature and arts. The poet Jean de La Fontaine and the playwright Molière were among the artists close to Fouquet. At the inauguration of Vaux-le-Vicomte, a Molière play was performed, along with a dinner event organized by François Vatel and an impressive firework show.

Fête and arrest[

Colbert

The château was lavish, refined and dazzling to behold, but those characteristics proved tragic for its owner: the king had Fouquet arrested shortly after a famous fête that took place on 17 August 1661, where Molière's play 'Les Fâcheux' debuted. The celebration had been too impressive and the superintendent's home too luxurious. Fouquet's intentions were to flatter the king: part of Vaux-le-Vicomte was actually constructed specifically for the king, but Fouquet's plan backfired. Jean-Baptiste Colbert led the king to believe that his minister's magnificence was funded by the misappropriation of public funds. Colbert, who then replaced Fouquet as superintendent of finances, arrested him. Later, Voltaire was to sum up the famous fête: "On 17 August, at six in the evening Fouquet was the King of France: at two in the morning he was nobody." La Fontaine wrote describing the fête and shortly afterwards penned his Elégie aux nymphes de Vaux.

After Fouquet

After Fouquet was arrested and imprisoned for life and his wife exiled, Vaux-le-Vicomte was placed under sequestration. The king seized, confiscated or purchased 120 tapestries, the statues and all the orange trees from Vaux-le-Vicomte. He then sent the team of artists (Le Vau, Le Nôtre and Le Brun) to design what would be a much larger project than Vaux-le-Vicomte, the palace and gardens of Versailles.

Madame Fouquet recovered her property 10 years later and retired there with her eldest son. In 1705, after the death of her husband and son, she decided to put Vaux-le-Vicomte up for sale.

And so to the present day. It is owned privately and funded by allowing visitors - 600,000 a year at present.

A visitor...

The workers quarters and stables...

The kitchen staff dining room

We hired a cart to get around the gardens...

My notes on the day...

Very grand, and included the thrill seekers drive through some outskirts of Paris, enhanced by a heavy downpour. Some 90 minutes drive from the peaceful village of Saint-Georges-Motel. All three passengers remained outwardly calm so as not to further upset the driver. She deserved a medal, or at least a cold beer, at the end of the day.

Our preferred French beer

Wednesday 9th of August

A quiet day, collecting blackberries...(I'm sure we did some shopping, eating and drinking as well).

Thursday,10th of August

Vernon (on the Seine River)

Fortresses on both sides of the river to stop the invaders coming up the river to Paris (30kms away).

Even a "Make Giverny Great Again" Poster

Fortress on the other side...

An old mill, restored by the town. The bridge used to be sited here.

Frank (aka Fronck in these parts) performed his magic with fish in batter and potato cakes. The locals like them too, apparently.

Friday, 11th of August...
A visit to a local sailing club. Our tour guide was trying to provide a "boating" theme...

And in the afternoon, we tried Jeu de Boule...after a pie for lunch!

Then out for a real French Restaurant meal in Dreux.

Saturday, 12th of August

We had so enjoyed the Jeu de Boule, that we did it again and then some more shopping, eating and drinking!

Sunday, 13th of August

And then, suddenly, it was time to go...

After a totally relaxing week...

Somehow, I managed to book a night in a hotel at Port en Bessin.....for a week later! No harm done, except to my ego. Although it went unsaid, I think we both knew it was time to head for home. A step closer and sure to have hotel room we headed for Le Havre and found a reasonable hotel and underground car park near the docks.

During the day and on the way to Port en Bessin, we had driven along the D-Day beaches of Normandy. It really was a moving experience for us. At this time of the year, it was overrun with tourists (like us!). The highlight was the 360-degree movie show at Arromanches-les-Bains.

http://www.arromanches360.com/visit/360deg-cinema

We both came away in tears, trying not to be too obvious behind the hankies.

Le Havre impressed me as a place that I would like to see more of. They are celebrating 500 years of existence at the moment. Maybe that will be our first stop next year - hoping we get an invitation, of course!!

The further travels of Ben

While we were doing that, he was doing this....

(Interrail Through The Balkans) with long-time friend Elianne.

https://trips.lonelyplanet.com/s/txm4re

 He finished up in Hamburg and is now back at work at this year's Lowlands (Music) Festival, as I write!

My Pumpkins and Zoey...

and of course, the boat...

...but that belongs in next week's not-to-be-missed edition about installing a Compost Toilet!