Photos I have enjoyed taking

The Netherlands isn't known as much for its scenery as it is for its beautiful towns, but there is much about this country to love in terms of its open vistas, numerous canals and reed-lined waterways. This week, I'm just posting a few of my favourite scenes of the last year. I'm a bit busy, so I hope you'll forgive the lack of news this week.

A frosty walk along the creek

The great sea canal near our harbour

Horses in a nearby nature reserve

Stunning light before a storm

Nature reserve horses again

Smallholdings abound in this area

Springtime baby

I love poppies and we have them in profusion

Till soon allemaal and have a good week!

 

What's new in our year

🎉HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL!🎉

The past week has sped by and here we are at the 1st of January, 2023. Incredible! Actually, this is the first time I've written the new year as the date, so I hope I'll get used to it soon. There's nearly always an overlap period when I mistakenly write the old year on invoices and letters, but we've been looking forward to leaving 2022 behind so much, I have a feeling 2023 won't take long to embed itself in my writing mind. 

So what's new so far? Well, we had a lovely time with the new grandpup over Christmas. He is such a sweetheart it's impossible not to be soppy about him (sorry, if you're not a dog person, feel free to skip this part!). He's already settled in and is enjoying family life with my daughter and her boyfriend. Much to our pleasure and surprise, he's getting on very well with Mini, their little cat who was so ill. She's now recovered so well she's twice the size she used to be and seems completely unafraid of puppy Mack, even encouraging him to play with her. 

This, if you remember, is Mini

Mack, chewing Grandpa's toes

Here's Mack fast asleep under the table while we were having Christmas lunch.

And here he is sleeping over the toy bone my daughter crocheted for him. It was so sweet the way he'd play and then suddenly just fall asleep.

In other news, which my readers here are the first to know, we are moving the Vereeniging again. Surprised? Yes! So are we! 

To explain, the mooring in Oudensbosch has been lovely and we've enjoyed being there, but I'm working less and less in Rotterdam and am increasingly working online. As a result, I have only occasional need of an overnight stop on the way to the city, and it is still quite a journey to reach her from the Crumbly Cottage, where I have my office set up. With fuel prices being so unpredictable and train travel costs escalating, keeping her there is becoming a financial burden I could do without. But what to do and where to take her has involved some intensive investigation.

As luck would have it, the answer lay much closer than I ever imagined. We have a historic harbour in Sas van Gent, and after quite a search to find the right person to approach, I applied for a mooring and the Vereeniging has been approved. I am delighted because it will be much more convenient for me (only a short run from the cottage) and it will allow me to spend time on her more easily. She will fit in very nicely, I think, as there are several very lovely sailing barges in the harbour already. Here's a photo of the probable mooring. I love the super safe gangway!

And here are a couple more photos of the resident barges in the harbour. I may have posted them before, but I think they're worth repeating.

So when are we going to be moving? Well, that will depend on the weather to a large degree. My contract at Oudenbosch expires at the end of March, so we'll need to have left by then. It's a trip of around 170 kilometres (I think), so it'll take us a few days. From Rotterdam to Oudenbosch was 85 Kilometres and it took us two full days, so that'll be four given good conditions. The days will also be a little longer in March, which will give us a bit more advantage, but whatever the case, we'll be looking for a good weather window to make the trip. 

As you can imagine, these are exciting times for us as we plan the journey. However, there are also other journeys coming up this year, which I'll write more about later, so for now, allemaal, I'll wish you all a wonderful start to 2023. I sincerely hope this year brings peace (especially in the troubled and war-torn regions of the world) and positive fulfilment for you all. Until next time, have a great week!

Wrapping it up for the year

Here we are again. It's my Christmas post and it's time to wrap up the year as well as the gifts. I won't be sorry to see the back of 2022 (where have I heard that before? Oh yes, here, last year), but then again, the upside is that we've all seen it through and are still here to bravely go where none have gone before...into 2023.

So what has this year seen?

Well, in January, we were still enjoying the novelty of having the Vereeniging in a new location. I wrote posts about the town of Oudenbosch, where she is moored and also about our visit to Roosendaal, a nearby city with an interesting waterways development. We enjoyed our explorations despite the winter weather, although we weren't able to go by boat even though we'd really hoped to do so.

An interesting feature in the waterside
at Roosendaal

Locally, February brought us a triple whammy of dreadful storms. In quick succession, we had Dudley, Eunice and Franklin, all of which inflicted considerable damage in the flatlands and had us haring around trying to prevent damage to the Vereeniging when flooding increased the levels in the river to (rope) stretching point. I've never had to paddle to my barge before, but on that occasion, we had to wade through the water to reach her and release the over-taut ropes that were causing her to list alarmingly. On an international level, it was, as we all know, the beginning of the tragedy that is the Ukraine war. I'm sure we all believed in February that it would be over by now. As usual, our optimism that peace would prevail was misplaced. 

High water on the river

March was a most peculiar month. Not only did we have our first severe frost, but we were also plagued by dust storms from the Sahara. The year was throwing more than a few weatherly tantrums. I think everyone in Europe was complaining about the red skies and sandy dust that found its way into every nook, cranny and crack, as well as onto every surface. The Vereeniging and the Hennie H both changed colour over night. And it wasn't just a one-off incident either. We had repeat performances of the Sahara sensation over the whole week. I wrote a blog about it here.

In April, I finally managed to visit my family for the first time since Covid struck us. I hadn't been to the UK since December 2019, so it was a real joy to fly to England without being subjected to restrictions. Although I stayed with my sister, our family reunion took place at the beautiful village of Lechlade on Thames where we had lunch overlooking the river and enjoyed a glorious walk along the narrowboat-lined banks. The trip was definitely one of the highlights of my year. Later in the month, we had the Hennie H lifted out and inspected; much to our relief, she passed with flying colours.

The following month of May was one of mixed blessings, or should I say curses? On the upside, the weather was beautiful and I had the pleasure of exploring the gorgeous city of Middelburg with my daughter in hot sunshine. The city was at its best with the trees in full leaf and bloom. The downside was  our increasing awareness that we had a serious problem with the Hennie H's engine, a problem that reared its head when we came back from our inspection and that was to persist until July.

Middelburg

Middelburg

Looking back through my blogs, I notice I didn't post much in June, mainly because I was very busy with work, but the first post I wrote focused on the fun we experienced when the bridge over the canal at Sas van Gent was closed for maintenance, the fun part being that we had to take a ferry across. For more than a week, I made a point of going to Sas every day just so I could enjoy a daily boat trip while we were stuck in harbour with the engine problem. 

The ferry with cyclists boarding

During June, Koos also took a break to make a trip to Hungary, a short and much needed holiday. Then, following his return, most of July was spent testing the Hennie H's engine, which continued to give us problems until eventually, the company that sold it to us supplied us with an electric fuel pump, which, thankfully, solved the problem. However, as they say, when one door opens, another closes. We approached the end of the month full of optimism that we would be off on holiday within a week, but the fates had other ideas for us.

In the last week of July, Koos started getting pain in his arms, an alarming signal we both knew well. This meant his heart was acting up, or at least the blood wasn't circulating through his heart properly. He'd had two previous attacks like this, both of which resulted in surgery to insert stents. Sadly, this was a repeat performance, but it took some time and three ambulance calls to persuade the medics that it was serious. This was the post I wrote about it after a week of constant to'ing and fro'ing to doctors and hospitals.

Eventually, though, he and we were fit to go and go we did. We had the most wonderful month faring  through Belgium and northern France making magical memories again. I wasn't able to blog while we were away, so all my travel blogs were written in September and October. You can find them here, here, here and here.

The most peaceful of French canals at Tupigny

Going through the Historic lifts at La Louvière

We were back in our home port of Sas van Gent on September the 10th, however. This urgency was because we had another lift out organised; this time with the Vereeniging, which was also being inspected. Again, much to our relief, she passed and we enjoyed a lovely short cruise to and from the yard. I blogged about this in October as well.

October itself saw my return to work and routine life. We cat sat for a week for my daughter and enjoyed having furry friends in the house again. I also spent time doing up some old kists (blanket chests), which is something I have always enjoyed. Both cats and kists are in this post.

So that brings me up to November, a special month that had me taking a trip to Leiden to see the older of my two daughters graduate, an event that resulted in two blog posts: one about the graduation ceremony and the other about the city of Leiden, a beautiful and ancient seat of learning.

And now, here we are in December. To even the balance, my last post was about my other daughter's achievements as a karter, a sport she has embraced since being here in the Netherlands. However, something I haven't written about this year has been the two very sad losses we've had in the family. Both girls lost their beloved dogs to sudden and fatal illnesses, neither of which can be explained. They were devastated and I too was deeply saddened about losing my beloved grandpups, Charlie and Luna. They were such important members of our family.

But now Mo has a new spaniel puppy who is doing his best to fill the space. The delightful Mack has joined their household, and last weekend, Koos and I puppy-sat for Mo and her boyfriend while they attended a previously arranged commitment. He was an absolute delight; so sweet and so affectionate. An adorable bundle of wiggling, piddling joy 😊

Needless to say, he will also be joining us this weekend at the crumbly cottage and will be very welcome. It seems fitting that the new year will begin with such a charming addition to our lives.

Welcome to little Mack

So to end this endless post, allemaal, here's wishing you all a lovely festive season, a blessed Christmas (if you celebrate it) and a peaceful and positive new year. Look after yourselves and I'll see you in 2023.

A great track record

Apologies for my recent absence here. It's the time of year, I'm afraid, and work has kept me from my blogging, reading and writing activities just recently. However, this is a blog I've been wanting to write for a long time so since it's the festive season, this would seem to be the time to celebrate another success. Be warned, though; it's another mother's pride post. 😊

A few weeks ago, I wrote a post about my elder daughter's graduation for her Master's degree in Historical Linguistics. My younger daughter has also gained a title this year, but in quite a different area. I should say up front that she has academic qualifications aplenty, but I am so proud of her for what she has achieved as a kart racer.

Until she took up the sport, I really knew nothing about karting, other than taking both girls to the sandy outdoor track near Krugersdorp in SA, where karts were of the pedalling variety and bore little resemblance to the sport as it is really done. Correction, I did know that most of the current Formula 1 drivers started out as karters, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen to name two. But that was all I knew, so when Mo and her boyfriend Stephan started getting involved, I became quite interested and even did it once myself with them on an indoor track.

What I didn't anticipate was how seriously they would get into the sport and to what lengths Mo would go to set up her own kart, do all the mechanics for it herself and even outstrip many other male karters with her knowledge and technical skills. Not only that, she soon proved to be an excellent racer, giving many boys more than half her age a run for their money, as evidenced by the photo below.

Back in May, I went to an outdoor circuit to watch her race seriously for the first time and I was so impressed. To my surprise, I found it tremendous fun despite the awful weather. I'll admit to being a long-time F1 fan (since childhood when my father used to listen to the racing on the radio), but I can honestly say going in person opened my eyes to the skill needed to drive these little rockets on wheels successfully on a wet, outdoor track. Mo had been karting for several years already, but this was real racing.

The day was extremely wet, and it was quite a watery baptism for my daughter. We watched while she prepared her kart for the conditions and, with Stephan, wheeled it out to the track ready for her laps. 

Family support in place

Preparing the kart for racing

Almost ready to go

Her race was fast and exciting and she came in third place out of (around) ten participants, a couple of whom didn't finish. The track was horrendous: rain-soaked and covered in debris from the various mishaps.

Taking the inside of the bend away from 
the debris

It really was quite something to be there and to watch my girl screaming around the circuit in hot pursuit of the much more experienced male participants. The spray flew off the surface, but she held her corners and only lost a place by spinning off once. It was a thrilling experience with, for me, all the nail-biting excitement of a mini Formula 1.

Chasing the front runner

And here she is on the podium after coming third in her race

Mo and Stephan are also part of a team, all of whom are friends they have made while karting. Earlier in the year, they took part in an endurance event that involved each member of the team driving some mind-boggling number of laps over several hours. I forget how long theirs was, but endurance races can be anything between 4 and 24 hours and I think this one was closer to the upper end of the time scale.

The endurance champions

And then the moment when she came third in the Club Championship. Who says women cannot compete against men successfully? I was so chuffed for her. She started karting some years ago now, but most of the men have been doing it since they were kids. She's also said goodbye to her thirties; a terrific achievement, don't you think?

A proud and happy moment

And lastly, I'm very touched to know that her kart is called 'The flying V' after me, but also inspired by Stephan's mother, Vera, and the Dutch word vrouwen (women). 

The Flying V

Mo with Stephan (on the right) and a team mate

So, bragging aside, I hope you've enjoyed the story of Mo's speedy hobby. When I think that Max Verstappen's mother was a top karter and Susie Wolff (the wife of F1 Mercedes boss) was a karter and racing driver, I know it's not unheard of, but they both stopped before Mo even started. It just goes to show it's never to late to give it a go ;)

Enjoy the last weeks before the festive season, allemaal, and I hope I can fit in a blog or two before the end of the year.

By the way, the cover for my latest book is entered in a competition. If you like my design and feel inclined to vote for me, do feel free to click on the link below. I'd be really so grateful as I'm through to the second round now:

https://allauthor.com/cover-of-the-month/14363/

 

More of a picture post

I thought I'd catch up with a few photos I've taken lately that I haven't used in other posts. Firstly, though, I thought readers here might like to see the finished kist (blanket chest) I started working on some weeks back. It's been much more work than I anticipated and it's still not as good as I'd like it to be, but I can't afford to spend more time on it now. The scratches on the top were already there and try as I might, I cannot smooth them out, so I'm just calling it character. Here it is ready to be hauled into my bedroom.

Apart from the kist, I've also been assisting Koos with a project to enlarge our loo on the Hennie H. It's been an annoyance for years because it was so small, there wasn't even room to swing a mouse in it, let alone a cat, so Koos took the initiative, bit all sorts of bullets and started dismantling the part that needed expanding. We don't have much room on the HH as it is, but the extra thirty odd centimetres will give us significantly more standing room.

The photo above was stage one with the back and side walls removed. That was a phenomenal job in itself as the construction was fit for a load-bearing wall in a house. Seeing as this is the smallest room on a boat, it seemed a bit extreme. The back wall had not one, but three layers, two of which were on each side of a frame sturdy enough to hold the entire roof up. Luckily, it didn't or we might have had second thoughts. The tongue-and-groove ceiling also had to come out and we found two layers there as well. Rest assured, the new model will be far less complicated, and I'll post some photos of the new construction soon. It's halfway there.

In other news, I went for a real grey November walk the other day and came across this delightful sight.

It's a row of little bee and insect hotels built by the locals along the edge of a field where they're trying to encourage wild flowers to grow as well. Apologies for the dreary skies, but aren't the tiny houses delightful? Seeing them there made my day and I'm so pleased to see our village folk getting involved in projects to nurture insect life. 

Talking of insects, I saw my first giant Asian hornet the other day. It flew into the room where I was working on the kist, landed on my sander and then flew out again. It seemed very dopey, and I should probably have despatched it but I was so shocked it didn't occur to me. In truth, I didn't know what it was but when I looked it up, I realised they are definitely undesirable here. I hope we're not going to have a plague of them next year.

And then last Friday, we did a bit of a diversion on our way to spend a few days on Vereeniging. I'd been nosing around to see if there's somewhere new to take her and had read about a small historic harbour at Kamperland off the Veersemeer in Zeeland. It's probably too far off the beaten track there for practical purposes, but we enjoyed our visit very much. The barges were gorgeously graceful and the environs were lovely. It could be tempting. Some of my readers here have seen the photos below on Facebook and a couple on Twitter, but I wanted to add them here as well.

The first three are of tjalks, the most commonly seen Dutch sailing barges here in the Netherlands. The last one is of motor barge. Lovely, aren't they? I never get tired of seeing these beautiful craft.

And my last photo offerings for this week are of my beautiful old lady. We had to fill up the water tanks and turn her around, which of course was the perfect excuse for a short 'spuddle' to the end of the river arm and back.

There's only one photo left on my phone that I haven't shared, but I'll save that one for next time because it will mark a rather special event for our family. For now, though, I'll say have a great week allemaal. Keep warm if you're in the north; stay cool for all you down south :)