Old and New

New Year’s traditions vary throughout the world, but a common theme is, I think, noise. The clocks chime midnight and everyone raises glasses, spirits and voices all together. As I said, noise, lots of it!

However, I find the regional variations are interesting, mainly because some of them are, at best, a little odd. In London, the thing to do is gather around the Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square, jump in the fountains and generally get both inebriated and wet. Why anyone would want to get cold and soggy while celebrating in the middle of winter is beyond strange, isn’t it? But then with my dislike of both (cold and wet stuff, especially combined), I could be considered a bit biased.

Then, in New York, they watch a big ball descend a flagpole in Times Square. It seems this tradition began back in 1907 and has as much reason to it as wallowing in a fountain – in other words none. In Brazil, they don white clothes, go to the beach and jump over seven waves, with each wave representing a wish. Make sense? Sort of, I suppose; about as much as the Spanish tradition of eating 12 grapes at midnight, one grape for each stroke of the hour on the clock. Of course, in Scotland, they do it sensibly and just go to a nice warm pub to celebrate with hearty vigour, but they do sing that wonderfully stirring song Auld Lang Syne.*

What beats me totally, though, is the Dutch tradition, which I’d never encountered until I first came to the country: mass destruction by fireworks. Okay, I know there are organised firework displays in many countries at New Year, but the Dutch take it to a new level as up until this year, it’s been an excuse for everyone to spend thousands of euros on all manner of incendiary devices in the lead-up to 31 December. As for the night itself, known as Old and New or jaarwisseling, I swear war could have broken out over the country and no one would notice. The first time I witnessed a Dutch New Year, I was astonished. It was jaw dropping. We were in a seventh floor flat and were looking out over the city of Rotterdam when the night sky suddenly burst into a blaze of light and colour as far as the eye could see. At the time, I thought it was beautiful, stunning even, and it was, but that was before firework manufacturers invented those dreadful bombs that simply explode with thunderous bangs that make your heart stop, your home shake, and your teeth rattle. Then life in the city just became wretched for the entire Christmas and New Year period. Our animals were, of course, absolutely terrified. Poor Polly, our collie, and then Sindy, were gibbering wrecks hiding behind the toilet or under the bed. For them, it was a nightmare from which they never recovered.

We went away as much as we could for New Year in those early days. Firstly, to the barge in Brussels and later to the Crumbly Cottage. Sadly, even at the latter we weren’t free of the cacophony entirely as our village is still in the Netherlands, but at least it didn’t sound as if we were in the middle of a major assault in a conflict zone, an analogy that’s not unreasonable given the number of injuries, property damage and deaths that have occurred in recent years.

Now, though, at last, the government has listened to pressure from not only the people, but the police, the ambulance services and the hospitals. This year, thank goodness, will be last Old and New when fireworks will be permitted and from 1 January, 2026, they’ll be banned other than at organised and controlled displays.

As for us, we’re aware, like everyone else, that this being so, it is likely to be the worst year ever, so we have escaped even further. My family, and all our animals, are in France where it is blissfully quiet and there’s not even a sparkler in sight.

So, all it remains for me to say now is Happy New Year, allemaal. May 2026 bring you only what you wish for, and I’ll look forward to reading and enjoying your news, blogs and comments in the coming months.

Here’s a wintry photo of what the Dutch do best that I really love. With the current cold spell, we could well be seeing the skaters out and about soon! It’s way too frosty for boats, so this is the next best thing.

*Apologies for the simplistic summing up of Scottish NY. I know there are wonderful celebrations in Edinburgh and other cities, and I adore the pipes!

Happy Christmas

This post is just a Christmas morning quickie to wish all my blogging friends a lovely festive season and a very good new year. We are currently at the Crumbly Cottage Mk 2 and have been delighted by the village Christmas decorations. Unlike what we are used to, they are gorgeous, informal and mostly homemade by the villagers. Trees are outside, not in, and it’s a joy to walk around and see the charming figures they’ve created. I’ve put a selection here for you to see, but we are especially proud of the top one, which is our own contribution.

After seeing the effort the village had gone to, I scouted round in the attic and found some wood to make a ‘tree’ of our own to put outside. After sawing it into shape, we (my daughters and I) painted and decorated our version with baubles and bits we’d bought. Voilà! A permanent tree we can use again. We had so much fun making it too.

I hope you like the photos, allemaal. Have a lovely week and I’ll catch up with you all in the New Year!

Our own Christmas tree this year

 

Winding down

 The end of the year is almost here and I can hardly believe how fast it's whipped by. I think I'm like many in not being able to grasp the speed at which this year has disappeared, but, in truth, it started like any other in so far as we began with winter, which then morphed into a beautiful spring. After that, though, the weather was anything but normal for our part of the world. We had a beautiful, dry spring and a wonderful hot, dry summer. The only downside was the lack of water in the canals, which limited our faring, as it has done on numerous occasions in the past years. However, what the water shortages resulted in was a particularly lovely slow cruise in September, which Koos and I enjoyed immensely. 

Autumn was also gorgeous with colours the like of which I haven't seen in a long time. We spent some of both October and November in France and were amazed at the beauty of the hues the trees offered us. Since then, though, the world has reverted to its usual seasonal grey murk and both the latter part of November and early December have put us firmly back in our northern European place. Luckily, I've been immersed in work, which has kept me distracted from the gloom. I've also been busy (as you might remember) cramming for my VHF radio exam, which I'm thrilled to say I passed last Thursday. 

So now we've begun the last two weeks of 2025 and before we know it, 2026 will be upon us. Tomorrow, I am going to London to see my family and at the weekend, we'll be heading down to the Crumbly Cottage Mk II to spend the Christmas holiday there. 

I'm hoping I might get to write another blog before the end of the year, but for now, I'll finish this one with a few of the photos I've enjoyed most from this year's highlights.

I'm not giving them captions, but they are in chronological order and reflect how blessed we are to spend time in such beautiful environs in the Netherlands, Belgium and France.

Have a good week allemaal, and I hope I can close the year off with another post before the holiday begins.

The Ups and Downs of internet shopping

We all shop for things online these days, don't we? Like most people, I try and support our local business and shops wherever possible, but they don't always have the specific things I need. 

Just for instance, I needed a locking petrol cap for my little car as it didn't have one and I'd heard reports of people having their fuel stolen from cars without locked fuel flaps – strange, but true. Unfortunately, none of the shops in our area supply such rarely needed goods, but luckily, I managed to find one online and ordered it. Even more luckily, it arrived within a week or so and, to my great delight, it fitted perfectly. Mission accomplished. My fuel supply is safe.

The thing is, though, whenever we order and pay for something on the internet, there's always a risk. I admit it's less so if we use the major online stores, but even then, you can never tell. I've ordered books that haven't arrived after weeks of waiting, but then, having complained and been refunded, the books in question have turned up, which meant, of course, I had to reverse the refund. But even that's not too bad.

What's worse is the situation I'm now in. Zoe is allergic to meat products, so I have to buy vegetarian food for her that's only been available at one particular online store. To my dismay, their supply seems to have dried up, so I went in search of another supplier and this is where I've come unstuck. 

I found a site that looked reliable with a good webshop page, so I decided to go for it. Having ordered and paid for not one, but two sacks of her special food, I fear I've been conned. I've had no confirmation of the order, no response to any of my requests for confirmation and an email I sent to the site yesterday has bounced back with the message that it couldn't be delivered.

This kind of issue is something I've heard about from others but it's never happened to me before, and a pet food company is probably the last sort of business I'd expect to be running any kind of scam, but you live and learn, don't you?

Who knows, though, it might turn up eventually. Meanwhile, I'm going to have to try my precious pooch on something completely different, another risk when you have a dog with allergies, but fingers crossed the new recipe will suit her. 

Not that she cares. The little minx will eat anything she can get her mouth around! She has the tastes and manners of a gutter snipe, and just this morning I had to spend an hour cleaning her up after she'd rolled in something truly disgusting. I just wish her skin and tum were as forgiving as I am!

Here she is with her best pal, Lucy. Butter wouldn't melt, eh?

Have a good week allemaal, and be careful with your internet shopping. I know I should have checked the store out before buying from them, but that's always the way with hindsight, isn't it?

Lock Twenty, This Is Vereeniging....

In my last post, I mentioned some studying I've been doing. Well, hopefully this won't jinx it but as the title reveals, that's what I've been busy with lately. I'm planning on taking the exam to be qualified for using a VHF radio on board so I can register the portable VHF  I've bought for Vereeniging. 

To my shame, she's never had her own VHF and, quite against the regulations, when we brought her down here to Zeeland, we used the Hennie Ha's. It was only when we were preparing to leave that I realised we didn't have one for Vereeniging. Strictly speaking, it isn't required for a boat under 20 metres in the Netherlands, but it is in Belgium. We'd never been to Belgium on her before, so it was one of those 'oops' moments. At the last minute, we decided to take the Hennie Ha's VHF just in case we needed it, praying no one would question that the name registered to that device was not Vereeniging. Luckily, most of the locks we used were reached by mobile phone and not VHF, so we got by quite well but it made me realise that now I would definitely have to get one. Anywhere we go from our current home port means faring through Belgium and rules is rules!

Anyway, having bought a brand new handheld device, I was faced with the next obstacle. I couldn't register it with the authorities without the qualification, so there were two options: either ask Koos to register it for me, or take the exam myself. Well, I decided to give it a try. After all, what else do I have to do on cold winter evenings? No, don't answer that one. Anyway, for the last month or so, I've been swotting over the course book every night and doing practice tests along the way. 

I was a bit (no, a lot) surprised at how much there was to learn. Someone who shall remain nameless told me all I needed to know was the international radio alphabet and a 'few other things'. I'd be fine, someone said. Wrong! I happen to know that alphabet by heart as I've been teaching it to students for two decades, but if a question comes up in the exam where I'll need to use it, I'll eat my hat. There's heaps of other stuff to know and I am far from confident I'll be able to achieve the necessary minimum of 35 points out of a possible 50 to pass the test.

Still, on the plus side, I did a test exam last night and passed it with 39 points. I even got a certificate to say so, which was quite a thrill and very encouraging, so I'll keep at it. Hopefully, I can do the exam in the next few weeks before I forget everything! I'm just relieved that once I've got it, that will be it. I'll never have to take it again.  Will I or won't I make it? That is the question...

Meanwhile, it was Zoe's birthday yesterday. She is now a grown-up pup at four years old, but she is just as adorable as ever and can behave like a proper little minx at times just to belie any impression of maturity. Just this morning she roared off into a field where there'd been a recent harvesting of sugar beet. The remains of a beet that she found then had to be paraded around like a trophy until I could catch her and remove it from her jaws, by which time she was filthy, but totally without remorse. 

Of course we laughed, and of course she will do it again. Here's a photo of her looking as good as gold, which she rarely is. 

Anyway, that's it for this week. Wish me luck with my studies, allemaal, and I'll keep you posted as and when I get to take the test. If all else fails, there's still Koos to register the VHF!

A Picture Post for November

I don't often write much about the nature of my work other than the fact I still teach and coach students to help them with their academic writing. What I haven't mentioned so much is that I do all my work online these days, so it doesn't matter where I am as long as I have a decent internet connection. This month is for some reason, the busiest work month I've had since the spring. Mostly, that would keep me at home, but since we now have internet at the CC Mk2, I have now been able to spend this last week in France and continue with my teaching. I must say it's quite odd talking to students in Rotterdam as if I were just down the road, but since it makes no difference to them, I don't even mention that I'm 600 km away.

Anyway, what it also means is I haven't had time to do anything much else, which is a shame. It's been lovely down here, but apart from taking Zoe for walks, I've had to keep my head down. What has been a great pleasure and surprise, though, is that our canal is back in operation again, so since I have nothing else to report or show, I'm keeping this blog short and will simply show some photos of the boats I've seen when walking along the towpath. Of course I had to watch them going through the locks too, time-consuming though it is to stand and stare, but it's definitely good for the soul

These first three were of a boat I saw on our first morning here when it was very foggy. I didn't have my camera or phone with me so when I got home, Koos rushed off to catch them. We were so excited to see a boat after so many months of an empty canal, and this one was rather special. According to my source of all village news, Collette, they are on their way to Turkey (yes, she knew all about them!). Apparently, it is a Chaland de Loire. There's an article about them here, which Google will translate for you if you ask it nicely.

Isn't it fascinating? The boat is totally wooden and is of the type
built for the Loire

The photos below are of another interesting craft. Evidently a former passenger boat, it seems to have been converted to a private liveaboard. It was moving very slowly and I was able to keep well ahead of it as I walked with Zoe along the canal.

And all is peaceful again. 

Have a good weekend allemaal.  My next post will be about some studying I've been doing that has also kept me busy. Intrigued? Don’t forget to watch this space.😄