Week 52 Happy New Year

Week 52 This Week In Wijnjewoude

Happy New Year!!

Housekeeping

I'll probably crash the system by mucking around with a new template.

Just a reminder (as much to myself as anyone else) that I started this as something for my kids and grandkids in Australia - based on an idea I had from letters written by my great grandmother in 1895. The Lizzie Letters. She was in Linton, near Ballarat and her husband was in Melbourne trying to find work. She would tell him about the chooks and the kids and some of the locals. Our Grandmother Else is still a toddler in the letters.... Who knows...... If the internet survives maybe some great grandchildren will read this later? That's the theory, anyway. I was determined that it wouldn't be Facebook.

Also, advanced warning that I may start repeating myself - just put that down to the advancing years....
And nothing special to end the year. Janny's parents and then Janny were all laid low with a "24-hour" bug. It finally got me..... and needless to say, mine was much, much worse! 

A little nostalgia

While I was watching the cricket on Friday (from about 0530 hrs) they cut to St. Kilda Beach and then Luna Park... talk about homesick! 

Eldest brother Gerald used to work at Luna Park when he was young... 55 (or more?) years ago! 

Cheryl sent me a series of Melbourne fridge magnets, one of which was the "Skipping Girl". 

Funny how some things get ingrained and conjure up fond childhood memories.
I lived at St. Kilda Fire Station for a while. Saturday mornings at St. Kilda or Sth. Melbourne Market were good times.

Heading in the right direction

We have officially started winter but at least the days are slowly getting longer from now on. I installed an app on my phone that tells me how much extra sunlight we are having each day - up until now, we have had 1 minute longer each day, since the 21st.

The weather has been fairly mild lately. Still cold by Aussie standards....

Around the farm

We're having a week off but still have the refugees and a few kids for (their) holidays. It also gives the parents a bit of respite.
Haven't seen much of our refugees, mainly because I was out of action. We did learn, however, that the Syrian husband had been in the Netherlands for 14 months (his Dutch should be better!) and his family had only arrived about 3 days before they all came together at our place. No wonder they are content to stay inside and simply be "together", after so long.

The Boat

A time lapse video from 2013 (just testing)

Boat Painting Day 1

Boat Painting Day 4

Heading to this....  but a bit darker green. (photo from 2008 Hire Boat trip with Ivan and Louise). This boat was the inspiration to buy ours when we saw it one day - looking sadly neglected but still sound enough underneath.

http://hireboat2008.blogspot.nl/2008/09/july-2008-its-all-in-planning.html

As I mentioned in a previous post, this boat used to be one of a hire boat fleet operating out of Haskerdijken (near Heerenveen), They were all sold to Air BnB in Amsterdam, to be used solely for sleeping accommodation. 

Christmas Shopping

We were doing some food shopping when Janny met an old classmate. They hadn't seen each other for years so they chatted about everyone and everything for about half an hour - in the busiest shopping for the year!

Ina told a story about their trip to America - a road trip from East to West in a camper. Their English wasn't very good but they met people doing the same thing and got on easily. Over here, if someone is a bit depressed or tired it is often said that they are having "a dip" rather than full blown depression. At one of the stops in America, there was a young man sitting by the side of the road at the camp site, looking very down and out. Ina went to him and in broken English, she said, "do you have a little dip?". The guy got very upset at what he thought she had said! 

Anyway, it brightened my shopping experience (a little).

Some of our employees

Some of our employees come to us while they are still studying. For example, they can work a full weekend which counts as 35 hours - and then to school and study during the week. We are too small to offer them full-time employment - the sickness laws don't distinguish between a business with 300 employees or 3 or 4, like us. if one of the 300 is sick, it can presumably be covered, but in our case, we would have to pay the sick person AND employ another.
It happened to us once and we resolved to "never again" be in that position. That's why I think the govt. should make a distinction between large and small businesses, say up to 5 or 6 workers. It could easily bankrupt a small business and then nobody benefits. In our case, the woman was not genuine and we even copped a fine for not offering her retraining or other employment!
Anyway, the point of this story is that we "lose" our workers when they get qualified and move on to larger institutions. Three or 4 of them have gone to a particular organisation that covers the full range of care. ie Same as us and then up to extremely difficult, including people "held at Her/His Majesty's Pleasure".

One of the Senior Managers was recently charged (with negligence?) because eight (8) of the patients/clients had committed suicide within a 12 month period.

From the Newspaper

Bird flu in Friesland

Hundreds of thousands of chickens have had to be destroyed in some areas of Friesland. This is of particular concern to Janny's brother who has chooks for eggs (30,000 a DAY!) and table. It hasn't reached Wijnjewoude yet.

Solar panels on Hospital in Drachten

Drachten hospital plans 7500 solar panels by end of next year. The installation is expected to deliver 2600 megawatts per year, about half of the Hospital's normal consumption.

The travels of Ben

I should have warned him.......he came off his scooter in Bali. How many times does one hear this? My old mate Merv came home one year covered in scabs from head to foot. Luckily, Ben's was not so bad.

He could even get up at 0200 hrs to go for a mountain volcano hike...

Yes, that's Ben. He sent us this as we were rugging up with beanies and coats to celebrate the end of another year!

Ben will be coming home in a week. Time to think about the future,,, he goes back to Amsterdam (to live) to finish off his studies. If he continues studying, he probably stays under the Govt. assistance program without having to pay it back. If he stops then he will have to get a job...... decisions, decisions....

Week 51 The Highlights Reel

This Week In Wijnjewoude

Week 51 a few highlights

Struggling with translation

I had written something "political" here, but on Mum's advice, I removed it. It was more about how International news on Dutch TV is  "filtered" - not in a malicious way like Fake News but purely because it has been translated and trimmed to fit into a few minutes of a 30 minute news show. I suspect that some of my "circle" didn't "get" the full message of anti-Semitism, racism, xenophobia, misogyny, voter suppression and outright LIES.
Similarly, I also have to admit that, as hard as I may try, I'll never understand the Dutch Politics, either. Too much history and nuance...and too much translation required. 

One's inbuilt BS meter has to work so much harder when translation is involved.

Next time, I'll heed Mum's advice and never talk Politics or Religion.......(Saviours of a different sort?).

Around the farm

New refugees. A family from Syria. Mum, Dad and 4 kids. Dad came on Thursday with a brother, a nephew and a friend who was visiting from Hamburg. "Mo" from Hamburg is also a refugee - he had good English and said that he is still going to school with 2 classes - for language, and "How to be a Better German" (his words!). He doesn't like it much but presumably falls under the rule of remaining in the first country they arrive in.

Edit.
The rest of the family arrived late on Friday evening - getting dark at 1630 hrs. Dad has a few words of Dutch - the rest not one single word! (and no English, either). The eldest daughter seems to be a bit "reserved", but I was able to get on OK with the eldest son by asking him to help me with some things like sorting out some furniture and getting an extra fridge - all with sign language! The two younger boys, 4 and 2, were quite content to play with their dinosaurs whilst sitting/standing on top of the table!
Early (0600hrs) Saturday morning as I write. I checked on them last night. Mum and daughter had mopped the whole floor with disinfectant! and were making their way in the kitchen. Dad was walking around in his undies..... I uttered a quiet "alles goed"?, gave the universal sleeping gesture and made a discreet withdrawal.
Later today we'll need to make sure they have enough food - at least for a couple of days while the shops are closed for Christmas. I'll also have to make sure the TV is working. Our minimalist internet connection is sure taking a pounding these days! Almost all my TV comes via the internet in the form of Netflix - I'll now be competing with Syrian and Eritrean You Tube!  Luckily, I know the "Systems Manager"!

Further edit. They have a super smart TV - but it is just out of range of the wifi - the systems manager will have to put in another extender! In the meantime, they can watch Dutch TV via the satellite - and maybe it is better to learn by in any case.
I also learnt that they come from Aleppo and that Dad is/was an electrician. "Boom, Boom" was the reason they left!
They were also keen to put up curtains in the kitchen - so that nobody can look in and see the women without their head coverings! Janny is now going to put up some stick-on plastic sheeting so that we don't have the curtains near the gas cooking!

End of year lunch with the "day" clients.

We now have a week "off" during Christmas and New Year.

The NOT Christmas Party

Nearly all of Janny's family came together at our place on Saturday. Much food and drink and a lot of fun playing games. I had found some old videos dating from 1993 to 1997 when we first moved to the farm. Everyone was pleased to relive those, especially the nieces and nephews who all featured when they were young. I can remember that it was all new to me at the time and it shows in the videos. They even include the last Elfstedentocht (11 cities skating race) going past the back of our previous house in Birdaard. I need to do some editing and put them up on You Tube. 

Highlights

New apartment: it just "fits" - looks like it's been there forever.

Every time we go there for a talk or a cuppa, I get a  "comfortable, cosy" feeling. It really is fantastic for Janny's parents. It helps, of course, that they are still fairly fit and healthy. Hendrik helped here a lot when we were starting out - and he's still at it -  as much as he can, at least. Not forgetting that they started out here as a young couple as well.

Boating
Not much!

Trip to Blokzijl for Sipke's 60th

Edit.

As I write the boat is out of the water and about to be repaired and painted. The repairs in the form of a few windows being taken out and the rust being treated prior to the new paint. Antique Green and Antique White are the new colours. Totally unimaginative, as they are the colours I use around the farm!

Catching up with Frank - ex- MFB

Frank and Pam came to us first - which led to us heading off to France for a wonderful holiday.

Friesland

Saint-Georges-Motel

Catching up with Robin - ex-NTFS

After his marathon motorbike ride across Russia. I tempted him with the old fogies' snail's pace boat thing..... and we struck a nerve! We just have to see if Joy also likes the idea - we're planning that during the summer. Unlike those of us who still have to work, they can at least follow the sun a little by heading south. (They are in Portugal as I write!).

Ben in Hong Kong (and a lot of other places!).

Hong Kong 2006

Currently in Bali - house with swimming pool

Speaking of Retirement....

I get an automatic email every week with "House on Water" listings - just because the idea appeals to me so much. This one was in this week's list - In Grou - a real watersport town in Friesland.

Room enough for Motortjalk Australia......