2024 Week 1
(I've mucked around a little with the theme - one of our boating photos as background)
It is still dark at 0815 hours - the normal time that I leave to pick up Lucas - it begins again tomorrow, after our very welcome break of 2 weeks.
Boeke has learnt to bark when he wants to go outside - which is all very well and good except when it is before 0700hrs! This morning it was cold and very windy - with a layer of snow on the grass and rooftops. Nice to have things to do inside - I'm progressing very nicely with my external wall insulation but I have to rug up just to get to the workshop where I do the cutting.
The builders start again tomorrow - we had to pump out the water from the foundations that they didn't get to pour before the holidays - a cold week is forecast, so we thought it would be better to pump it out rather than have to deal with a huge lump of ice!
The freezing temperatures will continue for the next three days at least, with the temperature during the day remaining below zero. Tuesday and Wednesday in particular will have plenty of winter sunshine but the temperature could drop to around -8° overnight.
Getting some ideas for updating the the Day Activity work area...it will be much later in the year so the design could end up being...anything!
It began life as a Groups' Accommodation for 48 people - we increased the capacity to 120 and then in 1999 it became a bit smaller when we added some walls to make living areas for refugees - a contract for 52 of them, whether they were there or not!
We're now down to about 12 - 15 kids on weekends and about 10 adults during the week.
We've been thinking of it for a while now - we saw something in Melbourne the last time we were there - making a few different areas for eating and playing. The total area would remain "open" as far has the log fire and other heating goes - but should be a bit cosier.
Ideas for partitions
(These "beams" are made of plywood)
Simple woodworking - just have to get some good quality wood.
Actual work this week...
It's hard to imagine the cultural differences that come as a direct result of climate. (I guess not so hard to imagine these days). I have often thought of it in terms of disposable and non-disposable income. Trying to compare "normal" people I know here with similar people in Australia - mostly family. Someone has probably done a meaningful study of it, but my first impression years ago was that the so-called normal Aussies had more disposable income - mostly because of the higher taxes over here, but also including the heating portion of "cost of living". Not to mention the cost of owning and running a car! (Things may have changed in the last 30 years).
Which leads me to my insulation project of this week...bearing in mind that the whole house renovation is based on energy savings.
It has come as an afterthought that it is a good time to tackle the apartment we are now living in - I might even get it finished in time to see a difference in our own heating bill. My first wall is just a trial to see if I can actually do it (thanks to YouTube)... my helper Tjeerd comes back tomorrow - so we will then have to tackle the removal of the heating system - replacing it when the new wall is finished.
The apartment will have 4 bedrooms by the time I am finished - it should be well-insulated and maybe a bit better than the "emergency accommodation" that it has been. They have all been used off and on for more than 20 years now. Even by the Local Government for refugees - so they have largely turned a blind eye to the semi-permanent use - particularly in view of the nationwide housing shortage.
latten
breathble membrane - creating an air gap behind it.
framework for the insulation
insulation
non-breathable membrane
air-tight tape over the seams in the membrane
re-cycled 3-ply sheets as backing for the plaster sheets This seems to be the standard way of doing plaster walls these days.
"trial" wall completed but yet to be painted :-(
The total wall is now 35cm thick!
This entire wall has to be insulated on the inside - about 11 metres. Plus the other half of the front wall.
I made a start on Saturday...but now have to wait until Monday. It used to be a barn for the cows, so even the electrical fittings are "opbouw" (built on rather than in). It looks a bit basic, but at least I don't have to worry about hidden wiring as I'm drilling the holes :-)
Subsidies
Janny has been busy tracking down all the subsidies that are available. The Wijnjewoude Energie Neutraal (WEN) people have made a spreadsheet of everything that might be applicable, including individual appliances such as washing machines and dryer. It's almost like a sport...
We have also been approved to get the €3000,00 on offer from WEN. We had to submit bills and photos on line.
There are other people in the village doing house renovations. We went to look at a floor in one of them - it's a very old (1824) farmouse on the outside but very modern on the inside. They have transformed it over the last 8 years. I'm not sure what work they do, but it looks like a very costly exercise. I manged to put my foot in my mouth by asking "is it just the 2 of you?" - but apparently they can't have any kids - Janny told me later. But our immediate next door neighbours were the same and they now have 4 teenage kids, so I guess things can change.
Anyway, the floor was very interesting...
This is not their floor but rather a photo of something similar - this is the end result that we will be looking for. (It looks to be about the same size as ours with the extended kitchen/living room).
Ours has yet to have the floor heating installed - and then the concrete layer over that - and while it is still wet, a "plaster" layer comes over the top. It is a cheaper end solution than the alternative - the plaster layer also needs a plastic matting embedded to stop future cracking. It will be flat enough that we can do a more traditional floor covering after a couple of years if we want to.
Typical floor heating
We also went to the log fire people to ask about installing a new chimney pipe whilst the chimney is accessible - we're getting a quote for that, but we'll do it in any case - we do miss our fire!
The chimney pipe will be at the end of this beam. New regulations required that the beam be protected with fire resistant cladding - Janny is now investigating to see if we can get it dressed to look like an old oak beam (someone does that work in nearby Bakkeveen).
Flooding
How long before the Netherlands is under water? (2019)
Part 1
Part 2
Current photo from nu.nl
This week
The current water levels provide an unpredictable picture. "We have it under control, but the situation is worrying and very exceptional," the spokesperson said. "This water level happens once every hundred years."
This from waterpeilen.nl (water levels)
The weather situation (on Friday)
Yesterday, about 5 to 10 mm of rain fell in the catchment areas, only the Ruhr catchment area received a little more rain. This rain no longer had much influence on the water levels in the Rhine and the Meuse. Today a low-pressure area will move over the Netherlands, which will once again bring a significant amount of precipitation to the already very wet soil.
The river basins of the Meuse and the Rhine do not receive any rain from this low-pressure area and we should therefore not expect a further increase. This low pressure area is also the last in a long series that started around mid-October and has brought an exceptional amount of rain in 3 months. In the Netherlands, no less than 500 to 600 mm fell, which is more than double what usually falls in 3 months. Never before have three months in a row been so wet in such a large part of the country.
Draining all the water from the flat Netherlands is not easy and causes nuisance in many places. This must be discharged from all regional systems (boezems in the Lower Netherlands and streams in the Upper Netherlands) into the main water system (rivers and the IJsselmeer) and this will not become easier in the coming days if the high water of the Rhine and Meuse main water system will be fully filled.
A pleasant side effect is that the situation offshore has calmed down and the water levels at sea will be much lower during low tide in the coming days. This makes it easy to discharge from the main water system into the Wadden Sea (from the IJsselmeer) and the North Sea (from the Rhine and Meuse). And the end of all the nuisance is also in sight, because little precipitation is expected over the next two weeks, so the enormous abundance of water can be quietly removed.
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