2016 Week 1

Week 1

Getting older.......Getting Colder

Monday 4 January

Started off the working week by having to go to the dentist - driving in the dark, with snow and minus 2 degrees - only to find that my appointment was an hour later!!

So, I had an hour to fill in. No point in driving home so I went for a walk through Drachten. At 0830 there is still nothing open. It used to be that most shops would have Monday mornings off, because they had been open on Saturday. Shop opening times are slowly starting to relax a bit. We even have a supermarket in Winjewoude/Bakkeveen that is open on Sundays! 

The influence of religion is pretty big in Holland. Even one of the major political parties has "Christian" in it's title. This all seems a little disjointed as I read through it, but these were the thoughts going through my head as I was walking. I even remembered a story from when we first moved to Wijnjewoude. A Sunday night and Janny had gone to get take-away from Bakkeveen.... Janny's Mum rang and I just said she has gone to the shop - the reply was "oh But,,,, Ken, it is Sunday???".  I guess I knew what she was talking about.... I had been "grilled" as to my beliefs early on in my relationship with Janny. I think it was supposed to be non-threatening, with other members of the family sitting around me in a circle. I must have come through it OK, despite my reservations about the whole process. (20 years on and everyone is a bit more relaxed - as are the shop opening times).

So, it could have been a WTF moment, walking around Drachten in the snow..... but I enjoyed it thoroughly and took some great photos...I think I even had a smile on my face at one stage - have to watch that....
..... and the Hema (shop) now opens at 0900 on Mondays - even had people waiting so that they could buy their €2,00 breakfast (coffee, orange juice, croissant, egg and bacon roll).

Jonge Trijntje (A restored Skutje - a cargo ship).

(my photo)

Jonge Trijntje

(internet photo: from the haven opening ceremony in November 2015)

Jonge Trijntje (Risico)

Registratienummer: L 1867 N
Bouwjaar: 1909
Type: Roefschip
Werf: Jan Oebeles van der Werff ('De Nijverheid') in Drachten/ Buitenstvallaat
Opdrachtgever: Jagersma 
Huidige eigenaar: Haiko van der Werff te Drachten
Lengte: 18,71 meterBreedte:3,51 meter
Tonnage: 39,491 ton
Meting: Leeuwarden, 6 jan. 1930Zie ook eerder registratienummer G 1162 N

Derde meting: Harlingen, 4 mei 1934: l 18,65 m / b 3,53 m / t 40,432 ton: G 3851 N

Vorige eigenaar: onbekend te Turnhout (B)
Vorige eigenaar: Jan Haverhoek te Zwolle (2010)
Huidige eigenaar: Haiko van der Werff (vanaf 17 jan. 2011)


The ship was built in 1909 by van der Werff in Drachten/Buitensvallaat (near where we used to have our boat). It has been fully restored more than 100 years later - by the same family business. It was owned by someone from Zwolle and then by someone in Belgium, where it was "found" by a group of Skutje enthusiasts.. "Trijntje" is a girl's name, the "tje" being the diminutive form - so, literally, "Young Little Trijn".

(more of my photos)

The Dunlop Factory

This is a great learning experience for me.... I looked up Dunlop Drachten and discovered that they make..... conveyor belts! (and also linings for fire hoses ..... and pistenbully belts - ok... who knows what they are?).

Tuesday 5 January

Gets a special mention because of the weather... We had to close today because it was too dangerous to go out on the roads. "Levens gevaarlijk" means "life threatening" or "deadly dangerous".... We live in the purple part - near where the three northern provinces meet. Essentially, "don't leave your house unless you absolutely have to". Schools are closed. It might even be dangerous for me to walk down the back for firewood!    (I have had a fall or two over the years!) In England they call it "Black Ice".

And this is an ever present danger here..(this one happened on monday).

Just as an afterthought, I remembered that a firetruck had ended up in one of the many ditches, not that long ago. Most cars carry a small but heavy hammer under the seat, within easy reach, to be used to break a window if the car ends up in the water. I did a search of the news to find the photo below, and was surprised to see just how many cars meet this fate - not just because of snow and ice, but as an every day occurrence. 

Rather embarrassing....fire truck AND ambulance come to grief..... there was also a car which they were going to "rescue"....

Wednesday 6 Jan

Same weather again, so no clients or Wednesday afternoon kids.

They can even skate on the roads...... this is a niece of ours in the village.
Youtube video here

https://youtu.be/GZg9bQMwWVk

My Walk

Thursday 7 Jan

Closed again, due to the icy roads. Not good for business, but at least I'm up to date with the bookkeeping for end of year 2015

Friday 8th

Good news; the building work starts next week, finally.

Snow and ice has disappeared - back to green  brown and wet....

and on Ben

His College/University (Windesheim) asked him to do some publicity photos...... he's not sure yet how they will be used; probably on social media, brochures and posters.

Saturday walk with the kids (in the background - they loved being out and about after the confinement of the past week).....

......after we did some work..