Week 40 The leaves do fall, but it is still Autumn

October 11, 2025

Week 40

A quiet week with time to spend with visitors...

(It's Autumn)

Fall, leaves, fall;

Die, flowers, away; Lengthen night and shorten day; Every leaf speaks bliss to me Fluttering from the autumn tree. I shall smile when wreaths of snow Blossom where the rose should grow; I shall sing when night’s decay Ushers in a drearier day.

-- Emily Bronte

We watched Jane Goodall on Netflix on Monday night

When Ellen was here earlier this year, she put me on to an Australian site for current affairs...including some Australian area news that I would otherwise miss. US and Europe keep me quite alarmed enough as it is.

https://johnmenadue.com/

This one about the world water crisis caught my attention...

https://johnmenadue.com/post/2025/10/world-water-in-crisis/?utm_source=Pearls+%26+Irritations&utm_campaign=96c0c5549f-Daily&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_0c6b037ecb-96c0c5549f-745124476

I've written here before about both the abundance of water here...and the glaring lack of water storage. OK, it was obviously never thought necessary by the world's Great Water Managers, but coming from the "world's driest continent", I have often wondered about the lack of dams.

Now, I wonder about our monthly bills for water supply and treatment.

Almost two-thirds of the world’s rivers are in a dire condition, either drying up or supercharged with floodwaters, according to the latest report on the emerging global water crisis by the World Meteorological Organisation.

Hydrogen vehicles

(we had a talk about hydrogen vehicles - as Paul is an EV enthusiast - and this story popped up in a Dutch site that I look at).

(but it remains a long way off, we think; all the progress at the moment seems to be based on subsidies rather than viability - but that's what they're trying to determine)

More hydrogen filling stations will be added in the Netherlands by the end of 2027. An additional 192 heavy-duty vehicles, 10 passenger vans, and 9 small delivery vans will also be hydrogen-powered. This is thanks to the Hydrogen in Mobility (SWIM) scheme. You can apply for this subsidy again in 2025.

In this first round, a total of nine partnerships will receive funding. The budget for the Hydrogen in Mobility (SWIM) subsidy scheme was increased by €6 million in December 2024.

https://nationaalwaterstofprogramma.nl/actueel/nieuws/2954289.aspx

Tjeerd had a day off - so I didn't have as much work to do :-)

And Paul and Ros arrived for a stopover on their way to Ros' brother in France - which also sounds like a good place to visit! (It's a B&B)

https://www.domainedecugnac.com/

We seemed to have hours of talking and reminiscing, lots of food and a few day trips. We had to fit in a bit of work along the way, but all in all it has been very relaxing.

A trip to Giethoorn and the inescapable boat hire...(amongst the zillions of tourists)