Week 39 Our Visit to The White House

Week 39

Our Visit to the White House

It's True, believe me...

Janny's Mum came to ask me where they could go out to eat, as our "local" was booked out. I said, why don't we come with you and we'll drive? Now, The White House at Donkerbroek is the next closest, but I didn't want to go there because of a past unpleasant experience.

It had been renovated, but still smelt of old cooking fat and the food was very ordinary. I have spent the last 6(?) years telling people not to go there - boatie friends who spent the night in Donkerbroek, for example.

Now, the decision was made to go there this time and so I went along for the ride, fingers crossed.

Well, I have to admit that it was a most pleasant surprise. Another lesson in giving people and places a second chance!

From the Newspaper

Just working into my Notsummer Routine. About 0700, off to the back with coffee and newspaper, light the fire, prepare the morning's activities and then head off to pick Lucas up at about 0800. (Reading the newspaper is good exercise for my Dutch; making allowances for "lost in translation").

50-plussers

In Utrecht, there is a yearly 50-plus Fair/Trade Show. The principal organiser says that it has changed remarkably over the last 25 years. 50-plussers are no longer to be seen in the "I'm nearly dead" category. For example, it was not so long ago that Senior's bus trips were organised and had a special nurse on board.

The Fair has changed, with businesses being more involved. It used to be Kidney Foundation, telephones for the blind and other Senior's products. Businesses now offer safaris to Tanzania and no less than 8 automobile manufacturers offer new cars - the 50-plussers are more likely to have the money, after all.

Coffee Shops

Even after 25 years, I quite often make the mistake of suggesting a coffee shop for a cup of coffee. duh!  a "coffee shop" over here is a place to buy and use drugs...
The soft drugs industry in the 3 Northern provinces is quite a problem. It is estimated that they make 90 million Euros a year and more than likely it's run by, or at least involves organised crime. The growing and sales of marijuana, for example, involves a lot of in-between people and this will mean that there are more than likely people from the underworld mixing with those that are more visible. I suppose one aspect of turning a blind eye or accepting the existence of coffee shops or drugs shops is that there's a lot of cash flow and probably taxes aren't being collected as they should be. There's been a research project done by people from Groningen that concludes that the organised crime should be better tackled by the police and other agencies, including the taxation office, small business associations, and local government. The report also suggests that many of the coffee shops are involved, perhaps unknowingly, in the process of whitewashing illegal money. The report lists three types of people that are involved; the small hobby growers, medium professional growers, and large commercial growers with more than 500 plants -  in the three northern provinces (Friesland, Drenthe and Groningen) last year there were 675 illegal nurseries closed. About 11% of the total in the Netherlands. Mostly smaller plantations with less than 100 plants. While in Groningen and Drenthe there are much larger organisations. One that was closed in Groningen had almost 7000 plants! One interesting aspect of the report is that the criminals in the Netherlands are now using mobile plantations (trucks, semi-trailers, wagons), which of course makes them more difficult to detect.

Tinnitus

Now, this one picked my ears up (sorry!). I have it from time to time and I'm sure I'm in the hereditary high-risk category of going deaf - thankfully, it is not yet that bad.

Groningen university hospital is doing a major research project with 7 other countries. It is estimated that 10 to 15 % of the population have problems (with tinnitus) and that 30% of those go on to have loss of hearing.

The Elfstedentocht (11 Cities Skating Race)

"Probably won't happen again", is the current discussion in this week's newspaper. Climate change being the culprit... But it could still happen with just the right combination. 

Temperature, snow, frost.... Statistically, it "could" happen 5 times this century... Except for the climate change thing.

Around the farm...

Walking again...

Breaking down an old outdoor play installation - good afternoon's work!

Jeu de Boule

Enjoying the last of the sunshine - and mowing everything for what may be the last time this year!

Pumpkin Soup...again

Found a nice recipe. I think it is different every time I make it.

Pumpkin
Coconut milk
Maple syrup
Salt, black pepper, cinnamon + nutmeg
Veggie stock
Shallot
Garlic

The kids ate it (so that's something). They also ask me every time for potato cakes! - I've created a monster (but I like them, too).

Asbestos Removal...

I have probably mentioned this before. There is a Government Decree that "all asbestos has to be removed by 2024". I bury my head in the sand because there is simply no way we can afford to take it all off AND replace it all with a new roof.

We had someone come to the door and ask how much (roof) we have and can we get a subsidy AND can we get solar panels on the roof to generate electricity for ourselves and the village? This has been talked about for years in Wijnjewoude and someone was supposed "to come round and talk to us". Meanwhile, three years later.... a lot of things seem to go like that, here. Anyway, the person at the door this time was from somewhere else, so I can well imagine another three years before I hear anything.

We have about 1200m2.

Asbestos has been banned since 1994 and I just read that there are no subsidies for "private people" ie "us", but only for farmers! Even though ours was built as a farm... the argument goes that "people have had long enough to think about how they are going to pay for it". Yeah, right! As though we have had nothing else to think of through the economic crisis.

The further adventures of Ben

Bank card "skimming".

We had a phone call from Ben last Sunday, to say that his bank card was not working. He had contacted the bank and they said they had blocked it because "somebody had used it in Indonesia". He had been there last January - the bank requires us to advise them if we are going to non-European countries.

Further discussions with the Rabobank (Fraud Desk) revealed that someone had "skimmed" his PIN code and had used it to purchase something worth €76,00.

The bank will pay the money back and Ben had to organise a replacement card and code.

Ben had to work at a Niel Diamond concert during the week. My first question was "is he still alive"?

Ben is working on his final project for Journalism - we think about some aspects of "Couch Surfing". (He used it a few times on his travels).

https://www.couchsurfing.com/

Week 37 Even more Rain!

Week 37

September Storms

13 September saw us preparing for a heavy storm - code orange in Friesland. September (early autumn) storms are rare. The worst was 7 September 1944 and two in September 1935, the 2nd of which claimed the lives of 4 hobby fishermen.
We have had a lot of rain in the last 2 weeks with some areas recording up to 110mm.
The Friesland record for September is 232mm in 2001.
The most in one day was 65.4mm in 1993. Daily totals (September) above 50mm have occurred 6 times since 1951. It appears to be occurring more frequently but 20 years is too short to provide reliable statistics.
I have yet to see it referred to as such, but my idea is that Friesland is like a big sponge... They have been operating extra pumps in order to lower the water levels - in anticipation of even more rain to come.

A tree in Bertha's backyard (Janny's sister).

Het historische Woudagemaal bij Lemmer in Friesland wordt vandaag ingeschakeld om het overtollige water af te voeren. Dat is bijzonder; volgens Hilda Boesjes, directeur van het bezoekerscentrum bij het gemaal, gebeurt dat ongeveer eens per twee jaar. Er komen naar verwachting veel mensen op af.

Sunday 10 September 2017.The historic Woudagemaal (steam pump) at Lemmer was brought into action to try to cope with the excess rainwater in Friesland. This is very rare, says the Director of the Visitor's Centre. It would normally be expected once every two years. They are expecting a lot of visitors.

The Woudagemaal is the largest working steam pump in Europe. It was built between 1916 and 1920 and has been on the Unesco World Heritage list since 1989. It is tested a couple of times each year with visitors having to queue for many hours to get in.

And continuing the watery theme...

The Wadden Islands

We have visited all the Frisian Islands - Texel, Schiermonnikoog, Ameland, Terschelling, and Vlieland. but there are many more islands forming the Wadden Archipelago, including German and Danish islands.

A new group of young researchers is engaged in a cultural and scientific debate about the Wadden area.
Specifically, the rising sea levels.
Whether you have your eyes closed or your head in the sand, one thing is certain: the water is coming.
A lot of thought has gone into the need to raise the dykes. A German Wadden specialist says that we have to think differently; the water pressure will simply be too much. Therefore, we just have to prepare for a watery future with tidal reserves, floating fields and houses on poles. The world without dykes.
Technicians and water experts do not necessarily have the biggest ideas! Artists and creative people are (better at?) thinking of creative solutions.
Another professor of Management Philosophy suggests that other solutions have to be considered - but it is not yet clear what those alternatives might be. We have to keep watching and thinking...

Last Sunday in Beetsterzwaag

Bourgondisch Beetsterzwaag beleeft op zaterdag 9 en zondag 10 september haar derde editie. In het Lycklamapark worden de zintuigen van duizenden bezoekers weer geprikkeld door lokale smaakmakers, foodtrucks, muzikanten en theatermakers.

For the third time,  the "Bourgondisch Beetsterzwaag" festival was held in the gardens behind our local government offices in Beetsterzwaag. Thousands of visitors, local restaurants, food trucks, live music, and street theatre.

(Edit, I'm really struggling with the Oxford Comma - fancy having gone so many years thinking that I knew how to make a list without the comma preceding the conjunction of the last item! I'll probably spend too much time worrying about it now. I notice that it isn't used in the (Dutch) article, above. I'll have to ask Ben about normal Dutch usage).

My Photos

 Janny & Anneke

Around the farm...

...raining!

We had a visit from a foster parent - of one of "our" boys of a few years ago. They do a wonderful job and also have new kids from time to time. They now have 9-year-old twins and have asked us if we can have them full-time for a month next year, over the school holidays.

Janny has to assess how difficult they are and if our personnel will be able to manage.

The process made me think again about the system here. These particular foster parents live in a fairly modest house and have kids of their own, and yet make the effort to care for other kids in need, as well. 

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that we were told that "some kids in Kenya are just locked up and left at home" for want of any alternative. It seems that the new twins were "saved" or removed from a similar situation, here in the Netherlands! So, it might be tough indeed to have them in care for a full month!

I asked the Mum about our boy - he is now 18 or 19 - but unfortunately, he has "gone off the rails" and they have little contact. His background is troubling, to say the least. His natural mother committed suicide and a couple of years later his stepmother and sister murdered his father! (One can only wonder what the father must have been like).

They all have a place in our hearts, so we hope that he comes out OK in the end.

I was just reminded of our current twins - with this weather, we struggle to find things for them to do. One of them complained during the week that "we aren't allowed to do anything dangerous when we're at the farm"!. You know, like using the chainsaw or some of the other tools in the workshed!.

A new favourite pumpkin!

The Sweet Grey F1 - some seeds from our Dutch seed company. It's probably called something else?

I think I mentioned it last year. The Sunflower Action. Every year, we get a visit from a care organization. They give us a bunch of flowers "in appreciation of the fact that we work in the care sector". Just a small thing, but it always strikes me as being very worthwhile - and appreciated.

Ben at the Bijenkorf

https://www.debijenkorf.nl/amsterdam

Week 36 The NotSummer

Week 36

The Notsummer

An 8 month season I have created in my mind to match this week's feelings... last weekend out on the boat and this week rain, rain and more rain. (38mm on Friday night alone). And the heaters on for the first time since May. We've booked the chimney sweep for next week and my thoughts are already gathering to get the boat "winterised". 

Plenty of time to do the planning for next year's Big Trip.

Friesland to Maastricht - and back again, probably, maybe...

Meanwhile, back at the farm...

One of our volunteers turned 50!

The kids find things to do inside!

A few weeks ago, I started making potato cakes (aka scallops in some parts of Oz) for the kids. Frank and Pam have been perfecting the art over many years and showed us how it is done. I've had a few attempts (for the kids!) and this weekend's result was a big success.

It's funny seeing the kids' reactions. Without exception, they all enjoyed them. Even the personnel liked them! Imagine not even knowing what a potato cake is...? 

(I even told them my story of how we used to go to the swimming pool in Ringwood (now a Freeway) on Sunday mornings and we were allowed to take 2 shillings to buy chips and potato cakes on the way home - 1 shilling bought 8 potato cakes back then!).

The last of my coloured carrots

Must be the weather...I'm really struggling this week. It might also mean that I didn't do much!

From the newspaper...

ATM machines

2016: 79 machines blown up. / robbed. But only 2 criminals have been tried.
The police believe that the robberies are the work of a large gang of Moroccan background. But those (few) that have been caught do not actually fit that profile.
In 2016, the police held 40 suspects who were also involved in German robberies. There, the ATM's are not so well protected (says the story). It is common practice in Germany that high-speed getaway cars are used. The Netherlands police do not want to carry out high-speed car chases for safety reasons.
One new strategy is for the police to watch and follow the suspects - more than 300 in Utrecht, Amsterdam and Rotterdam. ("we're watching you").
In 2013, there were 129 ATM robberies.

Week 35 Otters

Week 35

Otters and other animals

Monday. Janny and one of our clients saw a dead otter on the freeway near the Oude Diep. We reported it (to whom?). They are apparently making a strong comeback in the wild. The "experts" came to our place to pick the otter up - Peter had gone back to get it from the side of the road. It was a young female - and the 10th found dead by the side of the road this year (19 in total last year). 

This was the first on the new freeway, which was constructed with tunnels for otters and other animals. The young ones can still find "the wrong way to go". They estimate that there are (only) 40 otters in the wild in Friesland. It was therefore very "noteworthy" that there are young - even though it had come to grief on the freeway. The discussion also revealed that they can live in the forest - as long as there is water nearby. We have enough of both near our place.

Edit: I looked up otters and found that in the Netherlands as a whole, "they had died out by 1988 - and between 2002 and 2008, 33 otters were released in Overijssel and South-west Friesland". A national research project is in place to try to determine how far they have spread.

A similar project is in place for beavers!

Squirrels (eekhoorns)

Janny also spotted a squirrel in our trees "out the back". The same trees that we put the bird boxes in, earlier in the year. I used to see squirrels quite often, in the forest over the road, but not for the last 8 - 10 years.

Edit. I just looked it up and found that "it has not been going well for squirrels" since 2006!

Eekhoorns in Friesland

The article says that the "squirrel-counters" have reported few sightings and empty nests. We can also report our sighting so that they can try to get some idea of where they are.

3 April, 2006


Het lijkt niet goed te gaan met de eekhoorns in Fryslân. Bij het monitoren van eekhoorns, wat gebeurd aan de hand van het tellen van eekhoornnesten, worden volgens alle deelnemende tellers van eekhoornnesten steeds minder of helemaal geen bewoonde nesten meer gevonden. En eekhoorns worden ook al heel weinig meer gezien.

Bij de Vereniging voor Veldbiologie KNNV afdeling Drachten is dit ook besproken en daar is het initiatief vandaan gekomen om losse waarnemingen te registreren zodat we na verloop van tijd (voorlopig 1 jaar) in ieder geval nog weten of ze en waar ze in Fryslân nog voorkomen.

U kunt de waarnemingen doorgeven met de waarnemingskaart of stuur een e-mail met uw naam, adres en telefoonnummer en zo nauwkeurig mogelijk de plek van de waarneming aan: drachten@knnv.nl

Snakes

In 25 years I have only seen 2 snakes in all my wanderings through the forest near our place - and they were both in the same (very dry) year.

It was mentioned on Facebook (!) that a local dog had been bitten by a snake - not lethal, at least.

Around the farm...

Limited success with the pumpkins. The cucumbers and multi-coloured carrots have been the best!

A quick weekend away...

We had a weekend free of other people's ideas of how we should spend our time! Well, not really, we still had some kids coming but Janny managed that and a few other loose ends, so that we could get away on the boat.

Just across to Boornzwaag, about 2.5 hours away by boat and only 10kms "as the crow flies".

The green line is 20.9kms. The return trip red line is just 20kms - but took us much longer because we went slowly, just to enjoy "being there". I even had time to take some photos.

From the terrace of the restaurant at Boornzwaag.

Our little boat is out there amongst the palm trees... even though they needed to put the terrace heaters on for us!

From the newspaper...

Wed 30th august newspaper
In 2004, the then director of the Central Planning Bureau (CPB) observed that the "feeling" of most Netherlanders was that "it's going OK with me, but not so good for us". Now, 13 years later, the situation is reversed. That is to say that people are positive about the economy but are more negative about their own situation.
In short, since the turn of the century, the economy has grown by 12%, but disposable income has declined by 3%. Wages and salaries are lagging behind the economic growth.
The article goes on to talk about the growth of the "share of the pie" that goes to shareholders compared with that which goes to employees. In 2013, it was calculated that employees should receive about 78 cents from every Euro. In 2016, this share had decreased to 73 cents. The French economist, Thomas Piketty, is one of the strongest in declaring that shareholders and multinationals are having much more power and workers much less.
A Dutch economist (with the unlikely name of Van Mulligen!) declares that Multinationals are seeking to pay lower wages and lower taxes and that "therefore Dutch workers are competing with workers in China. This is also true for other industrialised countries."
The article concludes by saying that there doesn't appear to be much chance of salary increases. Unions have to become stronger and focus more on salary increases rather than the many smaller side issues.

Infrastucture

I am often amazed at how the infrastructure "just keeps going", even throughout the downturn in the economy. There is a project closer to home, due to be finished early in 2018.

The Joure Roundabout. When I first came here there were two that I heard people talk about - Knooppunt Heerenveen and Knooppunt Joure ( a knoop is a knot - or in other words a meeting of several roads requiring complicated roundabouts or other traffic solutions. Heerenveen was dealt with years ago, and they continued to "tweak" Joure, but it has always remained a problem as far as traffic jams and hold ups.

Pen was put to paper 10 years ago and the works are now progressing.

This live webcam gives a fairly good impression.

http://www.directbeeld.nl/knooppuntjoure/fullscreen/index.php