Week 26 Busy, Busy

Too busy, in fact... to do justice to this week...

So, just some photos.

The weather is very good, so we'll be taking the boat back to Heerenveen today...or maybe just to Gorredijk. Then back to Felder's Boskje with the clients during the week...just thinking out loud.

Food Bank Action Day

Janny has had a few hectic days with organising a "24-hours Actie" to raise money for our local Food Bank.

It was supposed to be last year, but that was rained out! So different this year - it was probably too hot! But it went OK and the representative of the Local Government was happy with the contribution.

Work on the Summer House (Simmerhuis, in Frisian)

Our old front door - 15 years later! Insulated cladding coming on the outside...

Ben in China

Just after last week's posting, Ben sent in some more photos and information about his work - and a new adventure!

The photos were for the Winter Collection of a big (yuge) clothing chain in China - "Semir", with more than 4000 stores in China and Dubai. But it was HOT! The Agency had not told Ben what it was about - just "be there". So, it was all very unexpected and "different".

Somebody asked Ben if he was going to Zhangjiajie...so he looked it up and was "sold" on the idea. The client (clothing company boss) even offered to pay for the return flight to Shanghai - just so that Ben would have time to do it.

So, Ben had a sleeper train to get there...

and these photos... He teamed up with a couple of Americans and a Chinese student - who handled the translation.

It is a comparatively remote area and Ben said that lots of people asked him to be in their "selfies"...

Haven't had time to read the paper this week...but I did keep aside a story about "Pauper's Paradise" which is not far from here - a facility set up for poor people, many (100?) years ago. Hopefully next week. And a new initiative from the Marrakrite group... "Mar Buoys" - Mooring buoys set up in remote locations...

Week 25 Asbestos. Solar Panels, et al

In Local News

Sunday Shopping

For years now I have wondered over the religious overtones of Sunday shopping. Janny's parents are fairly religious (and really "good" people, I hasten to add) but I have never understood their opposition to Sunday shopping. Over the years it narrowed down to mainly the local government area of Drachten, at least in our area.
Last week the council met to vote on Sunday shopping; one of the political parties threw in a proposal to remove ALL restrictions and so they voted "yes" to a regime that has more freedom than even Amsterdam or Rotterdam. It was reported that the some of the councillors left shaking their heads with the thought "what did we just vote on"?!.
"The Wild West", "we have reached the deepest point", were some of the comments.

And now, how to put it into action...

...and I only had time to read the paper on ONE day - need to get back into my old routine...

News from Felder's Boskje...

Not many boats coming into the Turf Route - at least, not many stopping at Felder's Boskje. 

The big white boat had a Swiss flag.

I've been sleeping and eating on board now and then, just to get in the mood! I suppose I don't have to try too hard to imagine that I could be "anywhere"...

Meanwhile, back at the farm... (7km from Felder's Boskje).

We've been making window and door frames for the "Summer House". One of our clients used to be a "furniture maker" and has some interesting old machinery that we are slowly getting back in order. He hasn't used a lot of it for about 10 years - it is also heartening to see him getting himself "back in order" with his obvious enthusiasm and know-how.

Asbestos

We've all but committed to the quote for asbestos removal AND a new roof.

I was really stressing out at the thought of removing the internal ceilings (AC sheets, we think). We have a new tenant arriving in August - a woman with two kids - and so I had to get it all done in a hurry - asbestos out and a new ceiling in - Janny's Dad and I did the WHOLE of the plastering out the back - but that was more than 20 years ago!

Anyway, we discovered that the Government compulsory removal edict doesn't apply to the "internal" asbestos. (Not sure why). It does have to be registered so that they will know if we have removed it ourselves - at some later date. I think that they are also scared that people will dump it rather than declare it.

The Insurance companies are also scared that there will be an increase in fires - so insurance premiums have sky-rocketed for buildings with asbestos. (We've been paying increased premiums for more than 20 years, in any case - they are just putting them up even higher).

It did occur to me as I was planning the removal of the internal sheets - that it is probably "safer" to just leave the stuff alone - it's all painted and sealed, after all. 

Suffice to say that I am mightily relieved to not have to do that job - we can save up and get it done properly when the apartment is empty again.

Solar Panels

The Bank suggested that we have a look at Solar Panels while we are at it - they also have a subsidy at the moment.

(I've been waiting for 4 years for our Local Action Group to get something organised...Janny is reluctant to go outside them, but now might be the time).

The Privacy Law

In another act of madness, we have to "get rid" of our locked filing cabinet in the office out the back - where we keep our Client Dossiers - and put it all online on a "secure" website - yeah right.

We're not allowed to have "anything on paper" about our clients, it seems. 

We'll see how that works out - I wouldn't be surprised if these Privacy advocates all have Facebook and/or Twitter accounts...

The Boat Beckons...

Actually, it reminds me of the fire detection system that we had to install about 10 years ago. After a spate of fires, it was decided that places "like ours" just had to have smoke detectors and be connected to an alarm monitoring company (and the Fire Service). They took no notice whatsoever of the fire separation that I had knowingly provided - yes, that still rankles.

The end result was that they were getting so many false alarms that they started to rethink the idea. So, it is no longer compulsory for us - so we have disconnected from the monitoring service and the Fire Service. The expensive maintenance contract is also no longer required... I still like the idea, so we keep it going for our own use.

The point being, that I wonder if the Privacy Laws will also eventually settle down to some more Common Sense practicalities. Meanwhile, we have to pay to connect to the "secure" system and be properly registered, etc., etc. 

This stuff is much more fun!

Well, maybe not this one - but I do have my audio books...

after...

before...

Ben in China

He's been doing lots of work - and play.

Last week, he had a full day modelling bathrobes! (oh well, someone's gotta do it...)

On Saturday night he had a free ticket to go and see a live show - in a 5-story mansion where the audience had to "follow" the various actors through the different rooms and storylines. He said they actually performed the whole thing 3 times so that the audience could follow a different set of actors each time. He was "locked up" a couple of times and had to interact with the actors. 

He loved it - "different", he said.

On Sunday (today), he had a 7-hour train ride to his next job (starting on Monday).

Up North... (out West from Shanghai)

Jingzhou Railway Station - and then another 90 minutes in a taxi to his hotel!

Week 24 The Zuiderzeewet - The South Sea Act

The Zuiderzeewet - the Act that enabled the building of the Afsluitdijk and the building of the polders, or reclaimed land.

This week marks the 100 Year anniversary of the passing of that Act.

Although it was passed in 1918, the plan had been developing for at least 70 years before the engineer Lely finally had his plan accepted.
It is interesting to read the politics of the day - in 1901, the "water" Minister was not convinced of the technical possibilities of the plan and so it was withdrawn.

Governments came and went and eventually in 1913, Lely himself became a Minister and began the process of implementation.

But then came the First World War in which the Netherlands remained neutral, but not without incurring other priorities - declaring and maintaining neutrality, accepting refugees, and feeding its own people.

It was decided to begin as soon as possible after the war - but the changing nature of warfare itself also had implications for the plan of draining the Zuiderzee. It was soon realised that the centuries-old "Water Line" defences of the Netherlands would no longer have any value. People began to look at coupling the drainage plan with other defence plans - but Lely was able to ensure that his plan was not side-tracked. He argued that the plan should be first carried out and then think about what was needed to protect the country.

And, there was also a disastrous flood in 1916 - this helped the argument that the Zuiderzee should be closed off.



A "trial" dyke was built in 1925, with much being learnt for the 32km long Afsluitdijk, which was started in 1927.

The closing of the Zuiderzee had enormous consequences for the more than 3000 fishing vessels of the time. Whole communities were dependent on fishing, but their protests don't appear to have achieved anything - except a minor compensation of 60 guilders!.

The following video is in Dutch but it does give an idea of conditions at the time - for fishermen and dyke builders...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoSfOsgcSQw&feature=youtu.be

This story first caught my eye not only because of the 100-year celebrations but also because of what was perhaps an unintended consequence. (maybe it was part of the long-term plan, but I haven't read it anywhere - the plan seemed to be more about producing more food to become self-sufficient and to reduce the effects of flooding).

Matthijs Kok, a Professor of Water Security at TU Delft (University) says that the Netherlands has a "rare commodity" in the (now) fresh water of the Ijsselmeer. "Without the Zuiderzee Act we would still be holding back the saltwater - now we have fresh water for the taking" - about 9.66 cubic kilometres.

It is all the more interesting having been through one of the polders at snail's pace with the boat.

More reading (in English) can be found here...

https://www.100jaarzuiderzeewet.com/?lang=en

In other news...

Dorpsfeest 2018 (Ye Olde Village Fair)

Janny takes our clients to the Bingo event...

and snack food lunch back at the farm

What a diet will do... Janny lost 14kgs!

(but this was for the PlayBack Show - something with Zombies)

Fitted insect screens to the boat.

and had a scare with the fridge - but it was just a loose wire caused by me as I added more USB ports. (We have an unlimited data plan from KPN - ideal for the boat! - we have a laptop, 2 tablets and 2 phones connected to it as I write this).

Planning a new table arrangement...

Maybe something like this...

Another winter job to go with sorting out the diesel tank and the ever-present rust spots.

Asbestos Roofing

The BIG NEWS from this week is that we received our first quote on removing our acres of asbestos roofing. Still not sure how it is to be paid for; the "official" government view is that "you have had 30 years to plan for it", notwithstanding the Economic Crisis in between.

The quote is based on removal and replacement - our first reaction was "when can you start?" as it seemed to be reasonable - the company organises the permits, including arranging any subsidies that apply (at least the Government is prepared to help out in this regard).

All our current projects would immediately go on hold. We need to find temporary accommodation for the people in the apartments, maybe stop with work for a couple of weeks; we have also to determine just what work I (we) can do ourselves - new ceilings and painting, for example.

We've been driving around looking at all the buildings with a new roof...this one took our fancy - different colour and metal sheets with a roof tile pattern/shape (instead of the traditional farm building corrugated sheets).

and so, off to work. The first job is to make some room (somewhere???!) to store all the furniture!

Ben has been working again in Guangzhou... doing lots of hours! and they were allowed to have fun on the job!