This week in Wijnjewoude
Not much, actually...
Ben sent this link through - "House" for sale in Amsterdam
Janny is working this weekend, as we have 7 kids.
Two are new, having lost their mother. The father has been struggling and so "the system" found a place for them here.
The elder of the two had me wondering for quite a while...I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but after a few days I realised that he could quite easily be a version of me when I was that age! I think it is the hair, blond and with a wave at the front.
Anyway, it remains special that we can play a role in their care and upbringing. I've already shown him the basics of my little tractor.
The younger one has shown some interest in the kitchen, so we made some bread yesterday and hopefuly we have time to make some banana bread this morning.
All the kids are getting on well together, which makes a big difference to the whole experience. Janny says that it is interesting to see the "pecking order" working itself out.
The weather has been a bit ordinary for the last week - rainy - or as I like to say "a typical Dutch day" - but it keeps the boat afloat!
The kids let out a cheer when it was announced that they were allowed to go swimming at the local outdoor pool in Bakkeveen.
With a little "marketing" we did "Aussie Burgers" for dinner last night. Hamburgers with The Lot - a far cry from what they call a "hamburger"!
Around the Farm
We finished the apartment - carpet in the bedrooms and a few shelves in the kitchen - and a bit of paint in the bathroom.
I think I've had enough of the apartment!
It is now ready for a niece to move in once they get their House Sale finalised. At least they have somewhere to live until they can buy something in Wijnjewoude.
Worksheds
After almost 5 years, one of our clients is nearing completion of his own workshed - out the back behind the hayshed.
He used to be a furniture maker and is very precise in everything he does. He has a lot of tools and machinery left over from "better days" and he is trying to fit it all in and get it working again. We're hoping that he might be able to make some things that the Care Farm can sell - although it is more about giving him a sense of purpose as he gets back on his feet again.
The sight of his workshop improvements inspired us to tidy up the other workshop areas - Peter has a new workspace - he has learnt to do quite a lot - including the bird boxes and the fiddly things for our Christmas packages (for the church).
And my own tools storage area, behind the main workshop.
Coming along, slowly...
The original workbench - installed with Grant in 1998/99
My retreat...
In a slow news week...
...We were very busy - getting the 2nd Quarter bookkeeping finished, the apartment finished, changes to the workshop areas, mowing, walking the dogs (and occasionally the cat!)
Janny has been swimming every day, we're maintaining our "less eating" diet (I'm down to 81.5 after being 95kg 2 years ago!!). And I'm more than a year now without coffee!
Janny's Mum is trying to arrange a "Family Weekend" away - probably at a place where we can take the boat - but the first attempt failed as it is so difficult to find a date that everyone can agree on. Kids, other halves, grandkids and great grandkids...(and dogs and cats and sheep,cows and chickens to be organised!).
With the carona virus changes to our lives, it is good to be back to "normal" again - but we still observe the hand washing and social distancing as best we can.
Taking the cat for a walk...
Managing to do lots of reading - audio books on the tractor mostly. But I finished a boating book by Valerie Poore, which I enjoyed very much. A trip into France via Belgium as an "extra" to their normal lives - I found myself exploring the Belgium route as an option for next year if Frank and Pam can escape from Australia.
It really hadn't registered with me that my own brother was actually writing books!
But I bought his first from Amazon - the paperback version rather than the digital.
I'm in the middlle of about 4 other books at the moment, but looking forward to settling down with this one. There are 4 more in the series with more being worked on!
Leigh says that his writing is based on their many travels to Afghanistan and India - where he could only find cheap detective novels to read - so he made a character Jonathon Prosper - a private detective of some sort - I haven't read it yet!
Ha! A slow news week indeed!
Did you put beetroot on the hamburgers?
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