Week 31

 

Week 31

Sunday

We bought some shade cloth and magnets for the boat a couple of years ago - to provide shade on the few days that it gets too hot...we normally throw a sheet or two over the sides...

...and finally got around to cutting it last Sunday morning - without the Bft. 6 winds of the day before

This looks a lot neater...

2022 near Biddinghuizen

Monday

We were doing some tidying up when Tjeerd noticed the sewage pump warning light was on...

so we had to open up the pit to have a look - Tjeerd did his back in and so I had to do the heavy lifting - everything is much heavier these days :-)

We placed this pump in 1999 as part of the requirements for our Building Permit to expand the Groups Accommodation . it cost 17,000 guilders at the time, but I can't complain now - as it is still working! The pump is guided onto a bracket near the bottom of the pit and that connects to the pressure pipe that we also had to install - connecting to the local sewer system - about 700 metres away. It was all very timely as that was about when we started with the (up to) 52 refugees.

...but it can't take too much extraneous "matter"  - so Janny sent a reminder to the apartment dwellers...

The Fencing Project begins...

On Monday afternoon, we started pulling out the old fence at the front. 

In 1997, this was one of the first jobs I had done - Janny's Dad said I had to come and help him repair the fencing so he could keep his sheep there...I was on a steep learning curve at the time - with all the building works still to come...and I was mixing it up with minding Ben when Janny was at work - still working at the swimming pool in Burgum.

Again, the fencing has stood the test of time - most of the poles will still be useable, even after about 30 years.

The grass had grown through the bottom of the mesh , so we had to pull it out with the tractor...

On Tuesday...

The first "new" corner pole...

The fencing has to be done two poles at a time, because the rails slide into the slots in the poles - there is no point in doing all the poles first - the rails are 5 metres long and have to meet exactly in the middle of every 2nd pole - the measuring and boring have to be accurate!

We're very pleased with how it is going to look...It is almost 20 years since I first put it in out the back - I did most of it on my own but I had some great help from Ivan in 2008 - we've nearly finished painting it all black, but we have found that many of the rails have twisted and so it is going to be very difficult to get them back through the poles. I may yet have to cut them to 2.5 metres and hold them in place with screws.

I discovered that I have something broken on the tractor - my own fault for using it as a battering ram to get some stumps out! I'll have to take better care of it as it becomes due for a 20 year Long Service Medal.

Needs to be rewelded...

So, we have a Kid's Weekend and no tractor!

With holidays and Tjeerd's crook back, we decided to close the business on Thursday...it was nice to have a day off :-)

On Friday, we went to Amsterdam to see Cheryl and Ben. Cheryl is meeting Madeline in Turkey and Ben is heading off to Kyrgistan for an exciting hiking trip. Cheryl will then come  back to Amsterdam to have a couple of days with her son Alexander. Piper and Georgia are also both in Europe somewhere - hard to keep track of them all! Four of the eight grand children all in Europe at the same time - but all travelling independently.

Cheryl and Alexander will head up our way (hopefully together) by next Thursday. It would be so good to have them both on board the boat, at least for a couple of days before Alexander goes hiking in Corsica. (I guess I'm always hoping for a convert - ie. someone else who loves it as much as I do). Janny will have some taxi work to do to keep up with the comings and goings...

Lunch in Oosterpark, Amsterdam...

(spotted on the way)

Saturday morning

I had a couple of the boys (brothers) to help - so we put in another 10 metres of fencing - they were actually quite a help and I tried to make it a "learning" process for them - they are getting ever closer to finding the path for their future, even though they don't know it yet - we found out that they already have a part-time boat cleaning job at our boat haven - with the smaller boats of one of the charter businesses (Dennis).

The others played a game outside - before they all went to the swimming pool for the afternoon.

One of our workers was unavailable (a crook back from lifting a patient at her normal work) - so Janny had to work from Saturday afternoon until Sunday afternoon. Just have to keep them busy -  then eating, a bit of gaming and TV, sleep-in and swimming this afternoon - luckily good weather again - expected to be hot by Tuesday - hope it stays good for the boat trip :-)

One of our Day Activity clients turned 70!  (Sake with the red shirt)...more cake for the rest of us!

I grumbled a few weeks ago about one of "our" clients who had to go somewhere else...oh well, it turns out that he wasn't at all happy and "ran away" five times - as a form of protest. So, something had to be done to change the situation and it seems that we have now found another place for him to live - and hopefully he will come back to us for his Day Activity "work". Still not 100% certain yet, but we are hopeful that he will come back. It really was a shame what they did to him.

The weather is changing quickly! The leaves are starting to fall as I'm walking through the forest - and it is just that little bit more damp early in the mornings - I usually have to light the fire in September - only a few weeks away...

Cheryl has put in a request for a meal when we're on the boat...it will be a far more elaborate shopping list this time...Janny and I mostly just do salad PLUS these days...and our krentebollen met kaas as we're travelling (fruit bun with cheese). (and eating out).

Thai Curry Chicken Meatballs.