Week 16 King's Day and PFAS eggs


Week 16 Kings Birthday Weekend

It is also Ben's Birthday.

Because it fell on a Sunday - all the markets and other traditional "celebrations" were held on the Saturday

Ben hired a boat in Amsterdam for a group of his friends. (It's also a "thing to do" judging by the other boats).











From NL News

The Dutch infrastructure ministry has secretly commissioned scientists to investigate whether global warming could lead to colder weather in the Netherlands, due to its impact on the Gulf Stream, broadcaster NOS reported on Friday.

(I don't know why it has to be secret, if it is?)


According to the European State of the Climate report published on Tuesday, Europe is the fastest-warming continent with an average temperature last year 2.4° Celsius above pre-industrial times (1850–1900).

Data analysed by Copernicus and the WMO shows that 2024 was the warmest year for Europe, with “a striking east-west contrast in climate conditions”. The east saw “extremely dry and often record-warm conditions”, while the west had “warm but wet conditions”.

Western Europe saw one of the 10 wettest years since 1950, with “the most above-average precipitation observed in France, northern Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Denmark and northern Fennoscandia”.

I had to look up Fennoscandia...

Fennoscandia is different from both Scandinavia and the Nordic countries. Denmark is not in the Scandinavian Peninsula and Karelia and the Kola Peninsula are not a part of the Nordic countries. They are a part of Russia. The geography of Fennoscandia is very mountainous and rough.

In France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Denmark, there were “30-40 more wet days than average”, according to the study.

So, not only wetter, but colder if the Gulf Stream shuts down...

 https://www.arcticiceproject.org/the-looming-threat-what-happens-if-the-gulf-stream-shuts-down/


Around the Farm

Really not much this week - Janny and I have been cleaning (very rough) the house of D - hard to imagine anyone living like that - but maybe it is the Dutch "tolerance" thing that says "if that's what he wants, then OK" . I'm sure I don't know how anything could be forced or enforced, in any case. 

In the grand scheme of things, he's probably very lucky compared to some.

Tjeerd and I took 2 trailer loads to the tip...



We took his dog for a visit last Sunday. Not much improvement then but at least he is in a safe place. 

The GGZ facility in Heerenveen is quite impressive...

GGZ (pronounced Ghey Ghey Zed) stands for Geestelijk Gezondheids Zorg  (Mental Health Care).

We're now a week later and there is quite an improvement in D.

Janny has been to visit a couple of times - to take some personal belongings, mostly. She had a funny story about one of the personnel helping and having quite a good rapport with D. 
Janny was quite impressed with her  work and the visible improvement in D...and she was wearing a hijab and spoke fluent Frisian...

...but it turned out that she was in fact, another inmate of the GGZ! Janny spoke with one of the real personnel about it and they said yeah, but it is still a good thing for D - to have some attention and she does indeed have a "Care" backgound.

The Garden Shed is just about finished - just needs painting - and some racks and hooks for tools.



We bought some potting mix and next week we'll put the cover on the greenhouse. 


Yet another Birthday...and cake! 
Janny's sister, Ankie






We've had some rain in the past week - it had been so dry that the local council workers came to clear the groundball hydrant in our front yard.

The RIVM (National Institute for Public Health and Environment) declared that people should stop eating their own hobby chicken eggs - because of the possibility of PFAS


(translation)Private eggs can contain a lot of PFAS throughout the Netherlands(Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances). This is evident from new research at 60 different locations. The RIVM therefore advises to stop eating private eggs. In the Netherlands, we already ingest a lot of PFAS through other foods and partly through drinking water. The amount that people ingest through private eggs is on top of that. By no longer eating private eggs, a much higher PFAS intake can be avoided. Commercial eggs from a shop or from the market can be eaten.




















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