Weeks 8 & 9

Cold, Warm, Wet

Cold enough in the mornings, but it has also been a very warm and wet February...

February 2020 will go on record as the wettest February since formal records began in 1901, according to weather bureau Weeronline. So far this month, an average of 142 millimetres of rain has hit the Netherlands, nearly three times the February average of 55 mm. The previous record – 138.6 mm – dates from 1946. Hoogwoud, Apeldoorn and Helmond have been the wettest places in the country, with 180 mm so far. Zeeland has been the driest, with between 70 and 100 mm. However, with more rain forecast for the next two days, the total in the south western province is likely to top 100 mm, Weeronline said. February 2020 is also the second warmest on record, averaging 7.2 Celsius so far – compared with just 3.3 Celsius in an average February. The warmest February on record was in 1990, with an average temperature of 7.6 Celsius. It has also been particularly windy this month, with four official storms, three of which hit on a Sunday.

Again, I had to clear our new drain...

This is opposite the restaurant down the road - there has never been this much water here.

Meanwhile, Boeke remained oblivious to it all...

Robin and Joy arrived from Portugal - next week the 2 boats go into the workshed for painting and other works.

They saw some interesting boat havens in France on the way up - one of which had a boat like ours...(I imagine that it was from the same builder - there must have been at least 15 of them - as ours was #15 in the hire fleet).

Nesting Boxes

Our bird nesting boxes were picked up. Other places have also been making them - because the particular birds that use them are also the predators of the Oak Processionary Caterpillar.

The oak processionary (Thaumetopoea processionea) is a moth whose caterpillars can be found in oak forests, where they feed on oak leaves, causing significant damage. They travel in nose-to-tail processions (hence their name), often arrow-headed, with a leader followed by rows of several caterpillars abreast. They are a human irritant because of their venomous setae (hairs), which can cause skin irritation and asthma. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758.

The moths are widely distributed in central and southern Europe, and are occasionally found as far north as Sweden. In the southern countries of Europe the populations are controlled by natural predators, but these predators are not present in northern Europe. Their range is expanding northward, possibly or partly as a result of global warming. 

Ben in Cape Town

He had another "burglary" in his room. Again, the thief used a stick to reach through the barred window... he managed to snag Ben's (empty) North Face backpack. Ben reported it to the police - for insurance purposes. The thief was caught on video (but not his face) ... he just sauntered in with stick in hand and then out again with the backpack...calm as you like - I'm sure I could almost hear him whistling...

Ben had a visit to the Cape of Good Hope - and saw the penguins up close (not like our last disappointing visit to the Penguin Parade at Philip Island). He finished his last shoot on Saturday and returns to Amsterdam on Tuesday - already planning his next trip...

"you lookin' at me?"