Week 43 Beanie Weather!

Week 43 Beanie Weather

Up and about again this week although still not into walking that much....

Around the farm

Finally getting on with the old hayshed. This is actually a "project" for one of our clients. When he came to us he was living in a caravan, debts were mounting and all-in-all, life was going downhill. His Case Manager found him a proper place to live and a "day-work" place with us. He has only been able to come one day a week while he gets the other stuff sorted out - hence the slow progress on his (future) workshop. He used to be a furniture maker, so he is very handy and has some great tools, which we are also storing for him. We actually get on quite well together and I find that I am enjoying working with him - much better than doing bookkeeping!! More importantly, life is improving for him - a big plus for "The System".

When it's finished, we'll try to make some proper things to sell "From The Care Farm".

Note the changing colour of the leaves. The yellow/red are from the beech trees; the rest are oaks, which are always the last to change.

For my Birthday....

The Cheesecake Challenge

Being Sunday, we'll just do coffee and cake for the whole day as Janny's family feel like dropping in. 

I made my standard lemon cheesecake and Janny was inspired to make one of her own - a Cranberry Cheesecake - and something else...the name escapes me.. Nice to have all the room of the Big Kitchen out the back.

Mine

Janny's, on the lower shelf

And some sausage rolls....

The Neighbours

Our neigbours kids have called Janny "KenJanny" for years now. The parents must have always called us Ken en Janny (en = and). We have always had a laugh about it, but they are probably old enough now to know that there are two of us.

 They always come over to our place to play or knock on the door to show us things - nice family, nice kids.

They came on Saturday to ask if they could blow and rake our leaves! At a price, of course!

(The eldest is not in the photo. They had lots of trouble in achieving the first baby.... and then, suddenly, there were four!)

So, it's not really child labour....

Our Syrians

On Saturday, I took a van load of belongings to their new house in Ureterp - about 8kms away.

They have been given (by the Local Council) new furniture, including fridge, washing machine, microwave, couches, etc., etc.  The full works, so they are almost settled!

I still have to find and fit a door, but that is not urgent. We'll do the last of the moving on Monday - and then send our bill to the Council! We haven't heard anything of another family - by rights, we should have already had two. When they first asked us it was oh, so urgent. In the 12 months(!) that it took to get it organised, the urgency seems to have disappeared.

I put this plaster wall in 

and showed Achmed what he had to do to fill the screw holes. He is 17 and very polite and helpful. They've been in the Netherlands for more than 12 months now and their Dutch should be better. They could all do with a bit of a rocket to get on top of it.

One of our clients came to help

From the News

Just a little snippet that I thought was interesting. A Dutch Documentary looking at "the" election ( a Horror story in the making?) went to New Orleans to look at the poverty and other issues.

People at or below the Poverty Line number at just over 19%

For America in general the number is 14%

In the Netherlands it is 7%

And Ben in Hong Kong...

The Great Gatsby (Party)

(There was a Police Raid at the premises - everybody had to sit still and show their ID cards - Ben doesn't know what it was about - presumably looking for someone).

A visit to Monkey Mountain

Week 42 Think of a number....and Double It

Week 42

Walking

I'm (luckily) hardly ever sick but I came down with Man Flu...... also lucky that it was the end of the week, so I could simply "go to bed".

Around the Farm

Finished the front of the chookshed.

Just in time for Janny's Dad's Birthday prezzie..(the (ex-wine) barrel).

Four Wives!

Some things get lost in translation. I mentioned to one of the Syrian's friends that I had kids and grandkids in Australia - just making conversation. The next day our man Ali came and asked me "you have wife in Australia, yes?" - ah no, an ex-wife and kids and grandkids, etc... He then said "In Damascus, I can have 4 wives - but I have only one". I mumbled something about "one being more than enough" and left it at that.

A couple of other things occurred that made me wonder about the cultural differences...

I was in their apartment where they have non-stop Arabic on the TV - via  a tablet and You Tube sent to the TV via wifi. There was a film about  Abdul Nasser and the crowd scenes were what I think of as so very typical - not a woman in sight!. So I asked Ali - why are there no women in the streets? - "Ah, no, no, at home, in the kitchen!". He had a smile, but I don't think he was joking.

I listen to the Economist every week, time permitting. One story that struck a nerve this week was about sex-education for migrants - ie young men. Even showing them how to put on a condom rated a mention as it was the source of much nervous tittering. As older teens and young men, they are not permitted to talk to the young women - so even that "norm" has to be taught here. The best line was when they were shown photos of women in fancy clothes - they have to learn that it is "simply a means of self-expression, not an invitation".

Hunting for Vintage

We're probably too late now, because it is very much the "in" thing......resulting in the "think of a number....and double it" ....to arrive at the price!

Janny dragged me out of bed and we had a look, anyway. A lot of the stuff seemed to come out of old Russian or Chechoslovakian factories......Eastern Bloc, at least. Good luck to them; they have obviously gone to a lot of trouble to collect it all....but oh!, those prices!

Meanwhile, Ben's Study

They had another typhoon warning, which gave Ben an extra day to study for an exam. Yes, he is managing to squeeze in some schoolwork...

This one resulted in a lot of rain. The following "dedication to one's daily coffee" photo went viral - the chap drinking his coffee despite the place being flooded!

Not much worse than that according to Ben, and the following day back to normal. His group went to dinner at this restaurant.

Inside the restaurant....

Oh, by the way, "I'm going to Tokyo........"

Week 41 The Passion Flower

Week 41 The Passion Flower

Walking

Bad week, too much bookkeeping! (End of 3rd Quarter)

Around The Farm

Haven't done much this week - mostly due to the bookkeeping. I've had to learn some new entries so that we can claim some of the GST back. This has changed since we have had the apartments. All too complicated for me (doubly so in Double Dutch) but all I have to do is present it in a form useable by the accountant.

With the warmer weather, the "passiebloem" (Passion Flower) has been thriving.

The Chook shed.....

has never looked so good. With Passion Flowers and new spouting. The roofing sheets were too long and I was quite happy to let the water just run off without spouting. But Janny's Dad kept asking me when was I "going to do the spouting?". It required more thinking about "how?" rather than the actual doing... and I finally came up with this solution..

Our Syrians have a new "home" or house, at least.

They'll probably be like me and always "Call Australia  Syria Home".

I did ask them about their house in Damascus - they said it was bigger than their new house but it was "damaged". I'm slowly getting little bits of information, but only if they want to talk about it - and still only with "hands and feet" talking.

To my mind, the house is fairly typical of a normal but old-style (Dutch) house. One of a row of houses with 3 bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs. Living/dining room, kitchen, laundry and toilet downstairs. I remember now that one of the very first things we did at our place was to put an extra bathroom and toilet upstairs - but we had the room for it.

They have already knocked out a section of a wall from the hallway entrance into the living room - so that they can close the opening that goes directly from the kitchen. This is to prevent the cooking smells from going into the living/lounge room. The previous owner had done the reverse, and so they are only restoring it to it's original layout. I have to close up the opening on Sunday morning, so that it is ready for them to move in on Wednesday. A few of their "countrymen" knocked the wall out and did a pretty good job of it. They borrowed my tools and we all had a good laugh later on. I have to say that I felt really moved by how open and friendly they all were.

Back to Work

Janny and I had to work with some kids again - first time in quite a while. Saturday and our normal personnel had other things to do. So, I cooked my standard fare - lasagne - which the kids love, by the way!

Just 3 kids. one new girl who is 20 but sadly so much younger in capabilities. And our twins who have been with us for 6 or so years - they're getting older now - 15 in November - and I struggle to think what the future might hold. Tough on the parents, of course, but so gratifying to know we are helping in some way.

More on Ben

Another Boat Party......

Nice quiet place for studying..........

And finally, 

On Boating........