Week 11

Week 11

Building works.......

With  some good help from our work experience lad.. (Jelmer)

Inching slowly upwards....(oh dear, is that tautology?).

Only took me two weeks!! (and 89kms recorded just walking, working and up and down ladders!)

Ben

At Ben's hotel/residence they organised a "Dare To Taste" night...

with Buffaloworm (larvae of the buffalo beetle), grasshoppers, meelworm (another beetle larvae), frogs legs, snails, haggis?, crocodile and more.

There was also "Hare's blood", which turned out to be beetroot juice. Ben's group won first prize of "VIP treatment at the opening of the new Rooftop (Drinking) Terrace in May".

Local Council Corruption

A councillor came up with the great idea of running a "pilot" program for a "care farm" (like ours) and organised a "grant" from the council of €25000. Sounds ok, except that it was for his wife's care farm and no others were asked. A representative of another political party asked Janny if we had been approached... "no, never heard of it". "Aha, I know enough", came the reply.
Having been exposed, the councillor has stepped down but the "inquiry" continues. I don't know how they work here, but my first question would be "who said yes and why"? (that's two questions). We shall see....
One of our volunteers made the observation" how do they think they can get away with it in this day and age"?.

Our request (Local Council request for us to house refugees) in the local newspaper....

This gives people a certain amount of time to object (and/or) complain.... but at least the wheels are moving.....

Ours is Wijnjewoude - 2 apartments in a Groups Accommodation to be used as temporary housing of "status holders" (i.e. refugees who have achieved resident status in the process) - the "families" part was our request so that we didn't have a whole lot of young people - and it might soften any objections that people might have. The idea is that (hopefully) permanent housing will become available (in our local government area) very soon; and that we will have a turnover of people going through our place. So, only having 2 families means that only 2 houses have to be "found" in the first instance. Public housing vs private or free market is very complex here.... I confess that I have no idea how it works. I hear snippets about "Housing Corporations", for example, but what they actually do......? Then there is the matter of "assistance" - one of our residents was able to claim a benefit that was actually more than what was paid to us in rent. We also had someone come out and measure up one of the apartments to see if it satisfied requirements - ie that it was totally independent and that we weren't rorting the system by living together and still getting single benefits.

(My To Do List just got much BIGGER).

Toilets and other unsavoury matters

From the newspaper:

Groningen hospital are working on a smartphone app for people to test their own faeces. It can be added to a fluid, mixed and then applied to special paper which is then tested with the app.

More than 20 years ago, when I first came here, I was bemused by the toilets with "inspection" surfaces. They seemed to be old-fashioned - we still have quite a few of them here. I have often wondered if the Dutch mastery of water had something to do with it - ie is it more efficient to have the water flowing over the surface for cleaning, for example? I'm having trouble describing it, so maybe a photo will help.... aha! I've even discovered what they are called! a "vlakspoeler" or "surface flusher". (after all these years).

 a "vlakspoeler"

Now, on a serious note. We have to provide two toilets in the new apartment; by special request from Janny's parents, there will be a "vlakspoeler" in the en-suite, for inspection (health) purposes. So, I have been put in my place after all my years of derisory comments about "inspection" WC's.

More from the newspaper 

Mata Hari (from Leeuwarden) jewellery to go on auction in Amsterdam.  Since 1922 it has been "on temporary consignment".  It was originally paid by Mata Hari to an artist who painted her portrait.

Refugees

2015     58,880 people sought asylum in the Netherlands. almost twice as many as 2014. Of those from 2015,  27,700 came from Syria and 8,400 from Eritrea..
Almost a quarter of the requests have come from the Balkans: Albania, Serbia, Kosovo. All seen as "safe" countries by the Netherlands, as are Morocco and Mongolia which are also represented. The requests from "safe" countries will more than likely be rejected.

And more of Ben...

Another modelling job at Wijk aan Zee.  "Neighbourhood on the Sea". (my rough translation)

Seems to be so much more running through my mind... but it IS Sunday morning so that's it for this week!
Oh, there was something - a tragedy in the village. The eldest son of 6 kids killed himself in a motorbike accident. A broken family, with Mum living in Canada with some of the other kids. My reason for including it here is just to make the observation that it is so noticeable in a small village how the people gather around in support. Counselling for kids in his "group", the Church, mourning and arrangements to be made - Mum and a couple of the kids will be staying at our place until the funeral on Tuesday. I mentioned to son Paul - who tells me that there have been more than 25 motorcycle deaths in Victoria alone in January and February this year.

Week 10

Week 10

Photos

Chocolate Ripple Cake

OK, OK...... it's only because I can't get anything like Chocolate Ripple Biscuits..... and the daywork clients loved it...as did the tiler!

Building Works

New fascia boards for rear wall...under the thatch

New tiles in WC. Note the built in reservoir (behind the yellow square). If it ever starts leaking, then the the tiles and timber work will have to be removed.... seems like asking for trouble, to me.

The Technical Installation Complete

They even included two TV cables - one for the lounge room and one for the bedroom.

Decorative "weather boards" going on..... this section of the paving has to be lowered. I'm enjoying doing this... not least because of the huge cost savings!......just takes me a bit longer.

Odd Spot

I noticed that the inventor of email died this week. He was responsible for the @ symbol - which to English speakers makes sense as "soandso "at" xyz.au" for example. BUT, here, they don't recognise it as "at" but rather as a "monkey's tail " so an email address is spoken as "soandso "monkey's tail" xyz.au".
.

Some things just take a while....

There has been an old TV antenna on the rear wall since we moved in... always in the "too hard basket" to remove it. We even did the new thatched roof around it.......!

So, 19 years and 2 hours later.... and a few anxious moments with the angle grinder...

An owl in the garage.... maybe

We have lots of owls around here. Janny found one in the garage when she came home one night last week. Might be nice to have if it decides to nest. It made me think of a project Ben did when he was at Primary School.

We all learned quite a bit in the process. In the photo above, you can see an "uilenbord" (Owl Board), the triangular shape at the top of the roof. These are of Frisian origin and come in different styles for different regions of Friesland. We had to choose the right one for our region - not that I had ever noticed any difference. Ours is purely decorative, but they were originally made with a round hole in them (the white circle in ours) for owls to fly into the roof area. They kept the mice population under control in the barn - even at our place the rear section (thatched) used to be the barn, attached to the small house at the front.

Ben to Hong Kong

Confirmed.... to Hong Kong Baptist University. Coincidentally (or not), a couple of his very good friends will be there at the same time, although in different places.

https://www.facebook.com/HongKongBaptistUniversity/

Ben has also signed up with a German Modelling Agency..

http://www.spinmodelmanagement.com/de/men.html

If you scroll down and then click on Ben's photo.....then comes more Ben.

This photo was used in Ben's School Newspaper....

IKEA kitchen ordered.

Only about 4 weeks before Janny's parents move in. Lots of little things to finish off... and a few BIG things, like sorting out the new driveway and paving.

Week 9

Week 9

Photos

Sunday Walk with Zoey

My usual spot but at 0720hrs (out for a walk).

A new website...

My webhosting people sent me an email about a month ago, saying that PHP 5 was going to be upgraded to PHP 6 and that our website would (probably) have to be updated.

I tried not to think about it even though they sent me several reminders; I mean, I've had enough to think of lately...

The time came and went and I finally checked the site and sure enough, the photos were also giving up error messages. I've no idea what else was wrong. We set it up in 2009 with help from a friend who was in to that sort of thing as a part-time hobby with income. I could barely keep up with it and actually got "inside" probably only twice to update some information. Ben last updated the "NEWS" in 2013! One of the biggest problems for me is getting "in" after wrestling with the computer and then not knowing what to write in any case! (it has to be in Dutch).

A good website is obviously good for business these days and so I finally accepted that I might have to do something...... At a rough estimate, I'm about 16 hours into learning the whole thing over again! I'm counting on Ben being able to translate for me and on being able to post photos now and then - of the articles for sale from our Fair Trade Shop and things made by the clients..... we shall see....

PHP, Xampp, Winampp, SQL, FTP, databases, servers and a raft of other unknown quantities. Our last site was built on Joomla, but this time I'm trying WordPress - both Content Management Systems - it seems more orientated towards blogging (which we don't need) but I think I can set up a "static" page which will be our new web page. As much as I hate the thought of it, Facebook is probably something that can also be used as a business thing..... have to psych myself up for that, too.

A temporary database - and a first attempt.... another 3 hours later.
(this will change until I find a "theme" that does the things I'd like).

wp.detwabuken.nl

.....a long way to go yet, but every successful step seems like a major victory. Only trouble is, I'll be sure to have forgotten by the next time I'll have to do something.

Thursday

Wow, what a lot of running around - my mobile phone record shows that I did 10.5 kms - just around here. I knew I was racking them up. We had the tiler, plasterer, foreman here plus Thomas (school holidays), dayworkers, personnel and an uncle of our Forest Dweller.... and I walked next door to feed their animals! I was looking for my bed by the end of the day! The plasterer's name is Mr Haverchat; I think I got his life story in 5 minutes! But a nice bloke and his work was excellent, so good in fact that we'll be getting him back to do some more work; which will save me some prep work for the painting.
Friday: even more - 11.5kms, but somehow not as tiring.

Preparation for "spak" to be sprayed on the ceilings

The "family" concrete mixer - we've been using it for 19 years.... and it still works! - this time for the tiler.

Crikey, the bureaucratic dance continues....

Re the refugees; the Local Council asked Janny to write a submission to yet another Govt. agency about our needing/wanting changes to allow them to live at our place, albeit temporarily. Janny went cross-eyed for a couple of days and then rang them to say  "YOU (the Council) asked us if we could house them and we said YES and yet WE have to write officialese letters.....?". To be fair, the chap from the Council is coming to our place so that he and Janny can write the letter (and/or fill in the on-line forms). He also said that this is the first time for him, too. So, we wait.......
Edit:  Well, I have to admit I was wrong to be so cynical. Yes, there is another Govt. Dept. but the requests get channeled to the respective Local Councils and our visitor was "our" man. He has been around for a while and has dealt with our permits over the years. He has also dealt with the new "digital" applications for a while now, but had never seen what people have to go through in order to fill them out on line. So, not only did it help us; it gave him an insight from 'the other side". A lovely chap and very helpful.
A couple of things occur to me. That the system is so expertly digitized and nationwide, at that. Janny even had to log in as a "private" citizen with her own (National) Digital ID (I had to register for one as well so that I could get my pension). That it still gets dealt with locally where there is still an (ever diminishing) chance of speaking to a "real" person.
I was also reminded of my old Fire Protection days when it was possible to devise systems that satisfied the intent of the regulations. Pre-programmed Computers won't be able to do that, I suppose. And the "real" people are becoming less empowered to make decisions.

Workers under pressure (from the newspaper)

A survey of 46,000 employees.

Architects, builders, packers, teachers; workers from all sectors.

Despite the economic recovery, workers are experiencing difficult times; longer hours, more pressure to perform, uncertainties about pensions, inability to pay bills, fear of losing their job.

The survey has been recognised as being "valid". A Tilburg University Professor (Work, Health and Well-being) says that the results show a good reflection of the type of economy we have become. Salary growth is slow and poverty is on the rise. We are working intensively but "there should be boundaries". The Professor says we should examine the relationship between high work pressure and "Burn Out, heart problems and depression". The line has to be drawn between "nice and busy" and "unhappy".

Some of my own work

Speaking of which; less stressful than most of the other stuff...

From this....(the red hot water pipe goes to our new bathroom....when I get around to it!).

To this

I also have more work to do in continuing the black weatherboards to the rear of the existing house..... I just need it to stop bloody raining!!

Decisions, decisions...

We have been "caring" for a young boy almost full time for a few months now. His parents came to the end of their abilities and in consultation with various responsible people, they decided that he should live in institutionalised care. This was to be another Care Farm like ours but with a full time residential function; BUT they have now said that the financial package is insufficient - Local Govt. have only recently taken over the management/payment role and are trying to do it as cheaply as possible - almost to the point of "cheap and nasty". So, the new people are making a statement, but in the meantime poor Thomas is left in the lurch; he can't help but feel unwanted and unloved. Not that he knows about this latest development, but we now have to continue with our "temporary" solution until something is resolved. (This also costs us money if we employ personnel and is very tiring if we do it ourselves; but we have done it for Thomas as he has been one of "ours" for a few years now). Difficult......

Week 8

Week 8

Building Works (Not much else happening, really)

A new roof! Could have been thatch or tiles but I rather liked the idea of corrugated iron - a much more familiar building material in Australia than here. In fact, over the 20 plus years of living here, I don't think I have ever seen a house with it. Our own old hay shed at the back has it and I think I have seen only a handful of other (out) buildings with it. Strangely, the most common question so far has been "what about the noise"?. (ie. of the rain, presumably). I'm pretty sure it won't bother me - even if I could hear it!

Our fake poles made waterproof. Traditionally, the four corner poles support the basic construction of a hay shed - with a "floating" roof in some cases. A wooden "condom", for want of a better word, will slide over the top, to give the same appearance as the fake pole underneath the roof line.

And the end result.....

Who knows what you might find.....?

The rainwater down pipes have to be connected to this. While we're at it, I'll be trying to connect a few other things that should have been connected 20 (or more? ) years ago... I'm definitely getting too old for this !!. Some of the old pipes were made of asbestos (see later).

And the end result...

2024 Asbestos Legislation

As I understand it (always a proviso with me), there is legislation declaring that by 2024 "asbestos is illegal if it is still in use" - or words to that effect. All of the farms around here and presumably throughout the Netherlands have huge roof areas of asbestos. Apparently, farmers will get some assistance (along with all their other subsidies) to replace it. Ours is an ex-farm and therefore doesn't rate the same assistance. One estimate for the whole of the country is in the order of €20 Billion with subsidies "for the private sector"(us) at €295Million this year.  A few people I have spoken to, have said that they "simply don't (or won't ) have the money so "what are "they" (the authorities) going to do"? A bit more worrisome in our case, as the removal of the "Certificate of Occupancy" would be the end of the matter, business-wise.

Automobile, the Cash Cow (apologies in advance for the heavy reading)

A while ago, I bemoaned the very existence of the Special Private Automobile Tax (BPM). In fact, I've been bemoaning it for more than 20 years, more in terms of "why do people just shrug their shoulders and accept it"? Cost of car + 45% and THEN BTW (GST, VAT) on TOP of that! (at 21.5% and the only country in the EU that has it. 

I've been reading up on it a bit and it now seems a bit different.

The EU told the Netherlands that they had to remove it in order to be in line with the rest of the EU (Again, my limited understanding).

If you are liable for the payment of bpm the level of the bpm amount is:

for a passenger car determined by the CO2 emission of the passenger car in grams per kilometre. 

For a delivery van, campervan and motorcycle determined by the net list price.

Just quickly, for a petrol car with emissions of 140 gms/kilometre, the BPM is €6728 (remember before GST is calculated).
But that's not all....

The Diesel Surcharge

The Government site gives an example based on a diesel car with emissions of 200gms/km ie, more than the example for petrol, above.

So, in this case the Diesel Surcharge is €11,495 ON TOP of the amount calculated for a petrol car with the same emmissions!!

So there it is; around €19000 extra before GST is calculated.

But, it's all in a good cause, right? reducing pollution....?

Now, in the aftermath of the Volkswagen scandal, someone here has taken what I can only describe as an "enlightened" view of this imposition. (BTW, that's why the Volkswagen thing is so important here, because of the tax revenue that the Government has missed out on).

Again, in my own words and with my own probably limited understanding of it, the new argument goes like this. IF the Government is truly committed to reducing pollution then wouldn't it make sense to make cars more affordable for "normal" people and so have everyone driving vehicles which produce less pollution? Hand in hand with this could be increased road taxes (yes, there is that as well!!) for vehicles over say, three years old.

Manure, another quirky tax thing

Owning a Milk Quota was always a big deal, particularly around here, the home of the Frisian Cow, after all. Dairy Farmers could only produce according to their Quota; such is the way of producing milk. With totally NO research whatsover, I can only relate what has happened in Janny's family. One of the brothers had a fairly large Quota which he sold (for a considerable amount of money) in order to become a Chicken Farmer. They now produce more than 30,000 eggs per day! 

For the past 31 years, the European Union has had quotas, or limits, on how much milk farmers can produce.

The rules were put in place so farmers wouldn't make too much but would also get a fair price.

But now those quotas have been lifted so with no limits farmers are being allowed to produce as much milk as they want.

At this point I did do a little research but couldn't find what I was looking for - and that is that, in the Netherlands at least, there is (what amounts to) a tax on how much manure can be disposed of. We're actually storing some for a nephew; it helps that we can be on his list.

I obviously need to do some more work on this, but my first thought was, yeah, that'd be right..."if they don't get you one way (paying for the Quota) they'll get you another  (paying for the manure)".

On Ben...

Much better to finish on a brighter note.... it looks like Ben is planning to go to Hong Kong for some of his further studies. He has found it extremely difficult to get back in to study mode after his work experience and living in Amsterdam. Understandable, I guess.....

Week 7

Week 7

Photo of the Week

Same place, same time.... the sun is slowly creeping northwards...to the left....

Building Works

Floor heating

Our "normal" heating has always been a central heating system pumping water through pipes and radiators throughout the whole house. The boiler unit also provides hot water on demand - this type of installation is known as a Combi-ketel (kettle). In our case, we have 7 such installations, one for each apartment and 2 in the large accommodation area - one for the living area and one for the bedrooms. They all need to be kept running for most of the year (hence our huge gas bills!). One year we had an electrical fault overnight AND Minus 20 degree temperatures and so a couple of pipes froze and burst. Of course, this type of heating was new to me when I first came here, but over the years I have learnt how to keep them in operation, adding water, bleeding radiators and even adding to the system with DIY stuff.

Normal system - pipes and radiators - usually placed under windows. (a warm place for the cat!).

In the new apartment, we have gone for the new "in-floor" heating system which is almost certainly much more efficient. It is attached via a manifold to a Combi-Ketel, referred to above. 

Photo shows hot and cold water pipes and the yellow gas pipe. The white plastic hose is fixed with wire to the mesh and a layer of concrete (special mix?) is poured over the lot. In our case there will be multiple circuits that can be regulated independently. ie. so the bedroom can be turned off, for example.

This top layer is a dry mix concrete (sand/cement) with just a little water and small fibres for binding. It is mixed and pumped through a rigid plastic hose. 

Country Women's Association Cooking Club

I think I have mentioned this before......? every couple of months a Cooking Club come to use our big kitchen out the back. Part of the arrangement is that we get fed as well! Last night we had...

Rucola Salad with figs and Goat Cheese

Goulash Soup

Brussel Sprouts Stampot (Casserole with Mashed Potatoes)

Pears and Ice Cream with an Almond Sauce (It looked so good it was gone before I remembered to take a photo!).

From the newspaper...

Cost of Smoking in The Netherlands

Estimated to be €43.2 Billion!

Someone has made a model where the costs can be calculated in monetary terms for ease of comparison and also to fully recognise just what it does cost.

The study includes chronic sickness (the cost to the Health Care System), poorer quality of life, and even the cost of the pauses during a working day (this part is estimated to be €12.1 Billion).

It is argued that smokers do less in their spare time and therefore spend less and they are inevitably less productive due to poor health.

The model gives 3 scenarios for calculating the costs. The least critical still comes out at €21.2 Billion and the middle of the road version at €33 Billion.

Footnote; In 1993, when I first came here, I couldn't believe how many people were "still smoking", having been part of the Anti-Smoking Campaigns in Melbourne. It is only in very recent years that it has been banned in pubs and restaurants; and still the anti-smoking efforts come nowhere near what I saw way back then in Australia. Oh well, some people still take their dogs in to restaurants over here..... still can't get used to that one..... so, it's just different, I guess.

Week 6

Building Works

Some windows in and the plaster walls on the inside. And rain, rain and more rain.... We have to walk and drive "the long way around" until we get a new driveway and paths sorted out. I get to walk even more kilometres in a day, but I think it is wearing a bit thin for everyone else.

Beech Marten trap...

I still have to figure out how I'm going to get it into the roof space..

Open at both ends, with food in the middle..

Sprung,  both ends closed...

From the Care Farm

Busy weekend. On Friday I found myself cooking in 3 different kitchens... Lasagne in the big kitchen for 6 kids and 2 leaders. Macaroni in the day workers area for our Wilderness Client (see below) and our own kitchen for Ben and I.... one of those "all in a day's work" things.

Our Wilderness Client. (He quite often sleeps in the forest and knows quite a lot about it, including which mushrooms to eat!). I guess the "system" acknowledges that this is his lot in life and supports him as part of the society he was born to. I don't think he could ever hold down a meaningful job.

One of our long-term clients, he  came back this week. He has a court order requiring him to take his medicine but always feels so good that he ends up thinking he doesn't need it any more. . of course it inevitably ends badly. He was locked up over Christmas and had his dog impounded. He is again "feeling" better and came back to us as a safe haven. We do our best as a small part of the "system" but it is sad to see his decline over the years. 

Janny had to be one of the "leaders" for Friday night. One of the boys wanted to go home and would not be persuaded otherwise. Janny rang his Mum who said "NO - you just have to strong arm him in to bed.....". So, Janny did that, literally, accompanied by much screaming and funny looks from the other kids. Next morning he was as good as gold and just laughed it off saying that "sometimes I get like that". He's about 8 and normally quite good; he also loves coming here. Again, "all in a day's work"......

Refugees. 

The local govt. Organizer rang to say that the Council. ie. The councilors themselves, approved in principle that the refugees could come to us. We need to get a temporary change to our certificate of occupancy reflecting permanent residency. We also asked for some relief from the cost of maintaining our no longer "required" smoke detector system. Always a problem when you feel you are being "ripped off". We have an "In principle" agreement from the fire service... If we can find someone to do it cheaper. Basically, it requires about 2 hours to do a physical test of each detector and then about 6 hours writing exactly what they wrote last year... Tick boxes, anyone? About 1400 euros, if you don't mind.

Building, boating and other stuff

I'm including a picture of the boat here.... just to help me with my focus... (from 2015 with Ivan and Louise)

We have to finish the building works by May (aka Boating Season), which still sounds far off.... but kitchens, tiling, painting, paving and moving are all going to take time and a few of them will be happening in the same time period. ie. I can't get a head start on any of it, until the builders have finished. Anyway, I have had to postpone my 2 weeks work on the boat... the best laid plans... etc. It occurs to me that it may well be a good thing that I don't yet have to sort out the refugee's accommodation, but then again, they might spring that on me in the middle of a painting and tiling week.. ha! 

Odd Spot

We came here almost 23 years ago and in all that time I have NOT been able to find anything remotely like Chocolate Ripple Biscuits - so I could make a Chocolate Ripple Cake! So, a big thanks to whoever in my family thought to include a packet in my goodies parcel with Anneke!