Week 23 A Walk in the Woods

 Week 23 A walk in the woods...

...so peaceful - especially without a podcast or audio book...I'm trying to walk faster (but Boeke slows me down 😉)

From the BBC

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20250609-can-your-walking-speed-reveal-your-brains-rate-of-ageing?at_campaign_type=owned&at_medium=emails&at_objective=awareness&at_ptr_type=email&at_ptr_name=salesforce&at_campaign=healthfix&at_email_send_date=20250611&at_send_id=4383750&at_link_title=https%3a%2f%2fwww.bbc.com%2ffuture%2farticle%2f20250609-can-your-walking-speed-reveal-your-brains-rate-of-ageing&at_bbc_team=crm

The speed at which you walk can reveal profound insights into your brain's rate of ageing – with slower walkers having smaller brains and fundamental differences in crucial structures.


It might seem trivial, but how quickly you can walk from A to B can reveal a great deal about the inner workings of your body and mind. Research has shown that the speed at which you walk to the shops, the local park, or the bus stop, can predict your chance of being hospitalised, suffering a heart attack, and even dying. In fact, a person's gait speed can even be used to reveal their rate of cognitive ageing.

Madeline and friend arriving next week - via the International Hogwarts Express - picking them up from Heerenveen train station next Wednesday

Cleaning up the vegie patch from a few years ago - mostly Tjeerd's work - he just has a knack for it

One of the other clients is trying to work out a steering mechanism for my tools caddy - we're not there yet. In an all too common flashback, I remembered making billy karts more than 65 years ago...we had hills...

Some macro photos of the rapidly growing greenhouse stuff...

Boeke is everybody's favourite...but he (we) are missing Lucas as he is on holidays in Italy...they had it booked before his Mum passed away, so it was probably a good thing just to keep going...

Janny took a few clients fishing at Ken's Corner - must be a good spot - they all caught a few - but they are not yet up to taking them off the hook - that's Janny's job :-)

I managed to get some woodstain on the door frames of the boat - long overdue! Today, some two component varnish...

We had lots of rain at the beginning of the week!...

...but then I could still mow early on Thursday morning - the ground was still dry and hard, the rain having made little or no impression - except to make the grass grow more quickly ! 

The Netherlands recorded its first official tropical day of the year on Thursday as temperatures soared to 31.8° at the De Bilt weather station near Utrecht, setting a new all-time high for 12 June since records began in 1901.

From Friday's newspaper

Migrants needed for elderly care...

(We are so lucky that Janny's Mum is still of sound mind and body - at 92! )

We are in fact, a form of Care for her.

Some takeaways from the article...

1 in 5 Europeans over 65 - rising to 30% by 2050

There is an enormous shortage of personnel - this means that families (mostly women) are having to provide the extra care - unpaid and informal.

About 10% of workers in the sector come from overseas (South America, Africa, Asia). 

A german family was shocked to discover that the Employment Agency took €1800 of the €2800 they paid per month for a Carer.

Many migrants are denied access to social services and have a language barrier to knowing and demanding their rights.

Europeans want a high standard of care but there has been a shift in acceptance of the need for migrants - people born between 1981 and 1992 are more against migration than the previous generation - they are however, more accepting of migrants only from other EU countries or more recently, Ukraine.

The core of the matter is that Europeans are aging and without migrants families will have to provide the care themselves. Care workers, both migrants and locals, have to be better supported and protected.