Week 30

- July 28, 2024

Week 30

Kid's weekend again - a bit extended because of school holidays.

I read a lot of Dutch History, mostly boating/naval stuff, I suppose...

This photo caught my attention because Robin, Lyall and I had been there on Jacoba in 2018. Ter Apel was also the registration centre when we had our Golden Years of refugees. It is still the registration centre for refugees and has been much in the news lately due to overcrowding.

...and we go to or through Blokzijl quite a lot - usually eating at the pub by the lock.

This story is about a statue that we have seen there - it stands next to a Michelin Star restaurant - which we have never been to!

In the picturesque Overijssel town of Blokzijl, a small statue of a woman can be found. The statue is located near the Blokzijl lock. According to legend, a woman named Kaatje ran her own inn there in the early eighteenth century. Things went well for Kaatje for a long time, but things eventually turned out badly for her…

After her mother's death, Kaatje moved the inn to the new lock of Blokzijl in 1707. She quickly made a name for herself there. Kaatje did business with merchants of the Dutch East India Company ( VOC ) and, partly because of this, had access to all kinds of foreign herbs and fruits in her inn. Kaatje reportedly made the most delicious dishes. She kept her recipes secret. The innkeeper remained alone all her life, waiting for her childhood sweetheart Hilbert, a merchant navy helmsman and privateer in state service. Hilbert is said to have once sworn not to return to Blokzijl until he had earned a fortune. Thanks to her successful inn, Kaatje managed very well on her own in the meantime. Thanks in part to her cooking skills and hospitality, she was not only a celebrity in Blokzijl but also in many surrounding places and in many cities on the former Zuiderzee.

In September 1732, when Kaatje was sixty years old, disaster struck. The famous resident of Blokzijl was robbed and beaten up so badly that she died of her injuries. The perpetrators, who had also taken Kaatje's recipe books, were never caught. Two weeks after her death, Kaatje's childhood sweetheart returned to Blokzijl. Hilbert had done business in Madagascar for years and was filthy rich, but arrived just too late for the now deceased Kaatje.

Unexpected visitor...

Paul had a bit of time off work and so came for a visit...(he's already hopped in to do some sanding and filling in preparation for painting the architraves and skirting boards!)

...and, of course we went to the pub in Bakkeveen for dinner on Saturday night...

Janny and me on the electric Duofiets...the right hand seat is for people who can't otherwise get around - the able-bodied person does all the steering - a good way to go to the pub!

I was finally able to do some mowing, but in Joure, The Balloon Festival had to be called off because the surrounding farmland was too wet for the balloon recovery vehicles...