2024 roundup

Well here we are on the last Monday of the year. Since I didn't manage a pre-Christmas post, I thought I'd better finish off the year in style and do a final fling for 2024 before giving you all my New Year's good wishes. It's actually as much for my benefit as yours as it helps me remember what we've done this year; otherwise, I'd be at a loss.

So, starting with January, the big event in my life was having to say goodbye to my beloved little Daihatsu Cuore, Buttons. That hurt a lot and I'm still not sure if taking her to the scrapyard was the right thing to do. But more about that later. January was also the month I, with the help of my daughters and some cement mixing from Koos, installed the French drain along the side wall of the house to help alleviate the damp problem in the Crumbly Cottage's kitchen wall. We also had a spell of very cold weather, which was a first for Zoe. If she'd ever seen frost before, it was from the doors of a kennel cage, so she was fascinated by it.

In February, I met up with my sister's daughter and her husband in Dordrecht. We had a lovely lunch and walk around the city, which I enjoyed tremendously. Zoe had a visit to the poodle parlour, which she absolutely did not enjoy (look at that face) and I bought a new car at the end of the month. Bobby the Panda joined the fleet. I bought him from a garage not too far away after having first bought a Kia, which I'd had to return as the electrics were faulty. Luckily, I was given a full refund, but I had to go searching again. It was then that I regretted getting rid of Buttons, but so far, Bobby's proved to be reliable.

Dordrecht with my niece

Bobby the Panda

What a miserable little face.
"Mummy, you've betrayed me!"

In March, the first highlight was a walk on the beach with my daughters, Mo and Jo, Mo's partner and his daughter, along with all the dogs. Then, Jo and I had an interesting walk along the big locks at Terneuzen (well, the dogs found it interesting, anyway (I did to!)), after which Koos and I took a trip down to the Haute Marne and discovered the beauties of the canal and river Marne valley south of Joinville. 

A walk along the locks in Terneuzen
looking out to the estuary

The quayside at Froncles on the Canal between
Champagne and Burgundy

An aqueduct over the Marne River

As we all know, April comes with sunshine and showers, so there is always a sudden burst of growth and green. Babies are born in the animal world and I was able to start maintenance work on Vereeniging again. Nothing dramatic or interesting, but such a relief after the short, cold, winter days. Zoe, of course, featured large in most of this. She finds the animals fascinating and often sits watching the horses, sheep and chickens that populate our environs.

May was distinguished as the month I built the wainscoting in the kitchen at the Crumbly Cottage. We were also able to spend more time on board Vereeniging and even managed a spuddle on the Hennie H, which felt quite triumphant after the months of being harbour bound.

Just ready for painting

View from the hatches

Zelzate: the extent of our spuddle

In June, despite the evidence of my photos, it seemed to rain constantly, so we contented ourselves with planning our summer trip and enjoying the garden whenever it was possible.  Nevertheless, nature kept on doing its thing and we had some beautiful blooms in the garden and along the roadside. The poppies were glorious. We also had a festival in the village which featured a vintage car festival. I was instantly attracted to the Karmann Ghia shown below as I used to have one of them and loved it. In fact, it's my favourite car of all time.

Stormy skies from the garden

Glorious poppies galore

We'd really hoped to get away in July, but again, the weather gods refused to cooperate. Not only that, there were a few appointments that needed to be kept, so Koos made a foray into France, unfortunately during the first heatwave of the year, while I finally finished the wainscoting, renovated the kitchen floor and repainted the stairs. It was extremely hot for more than a week, but at least it gave me courage our holiday.

Wainscoting painted

Beautiful meadow flowers

re-vamped staircase

At last, in August, we were on our way, this year to Belgium only. We'd originally planned to go to Calais along the canal parallel to the coast and then back east, but the lock at Dunkirk was out of use, so we had to remain in Belgium. As it happened, we had a wonderful time, going instead to the border village of Roesbrugge on the Ijzer and then to Ieper (Ypres) and Diksmuide (Dixmude). The weather was stupendous and we thoroughly enjoyed our relaxed trip, finishing up in Lokeren on the Moervaart to the east of Ghent. At the end of August, we had a visit from a long-time friend from South Africa, which was really lovely. We hadn't seen Bobs (as I call her) for years, but it was as if we'd never been apart.

Faring around Brugge (Bruges)

Moored up in Veurne

On the upper Ijzer going to Roesbrugge

On the Plassendale to Nieuwpoort Canal

Lokeren

L to R, daughter 1, Jodie and Bobs

September came and the good weather remained. I made a trip up to the small fortified town of Willemstad for a shanty choir festival. I met my daughter 2, Mo, and we enjoyed the singing as well as a glorious walk around the fortifications. Koos and I then spent a few days back in our now beloved Haute Marne. In fact, the sun shone the entire time we were away and it was really quite beautiful.

Willemstad

Lafferté-sur-Aube in the Haute Marne

October saw a return to my university work and a winding down from the summer. We felt so fortunate we'd had several weeks of sun, heat and dry days. The weather became changeable again and although I enjoyed a beautiful, warm day in Rotterdam – ostensibly to go to the dentist – but also to see some friends, Koos's subsequent visit to Slovakia left me doing chores at home because it was too wet to work outside most of the time. To compound the sense of reality biting, Zoe developed a nasty ulcer and needed antibiotics, but luckily, she recovered quickly. When he came home, Koos took us on another spuddle on the Hennie H, this time round to Vereeniging's harbour, so I could do some maintenance, using the HH as a pontoon. She's very handy for that :)

October morning skies

October afternoon. The same view!

Rotterdam's Leuvenhaven

A spuddle to Vereeniging's harbour

November? Well, what can one say about November. It followed its reputation and we had rain, mist, storms and high winds on the menu, but to brighten up a typically dreary month, Sinterklaas, a Spanish bishop turned benefactor of all good children, arrived in our harbour, as he does every year. This event meant moving Vereeniging to make way for his Lordship who needed my gangplank to disembark. The day we moved was wonderfully calm, but very gloomy. The return was sunny, but with high winds. Guess which trip was easiest in a barge with no bow thruster? (A bow thruster is a helper propellor set into the bow, which assists the skipper when manoeuvring). Koos took these photos of the great man's arrival on November the 16th,

Sinterklaas arrives in our Historic Harbour

So that brings us up to date in December. Today is the 30th, and in the last month, it's been by turns, very cold, very wet and very stormy. We had one last spuddle with the Hennie H early in the month, again to Vereeniging's mooring to do some maintenance, but on both boats this time. With the inclement conditions, we didn't stay too long, but it was great to be out on the water again. Other than that, I've had work commitments to finish up and, as mentioned in an earlier post this month, I sent my latest travel memoir into the world.

Christmas was a lovely get together with family and we were seven around our little table at the Crumbly Cottage, plus three dogs. In the days since, we've been relaxing and pottering about, awaiting the moment we can celebrate the dawn of 2025 and look forward to spring, with its longer days, new growth and frothy blossoms. I can imagine those of you in the northern hemisphere are looking forward to it as much as I am! All you summer souls in the south? Well, maybe you're looking forward to cooler days?

In the meantime, Happy New Year allemaal!

The December cruise

Christmas pups