Week 52
This is the length of the days at the moment. It's holidays so we are nice and cosy with the fire going - and too much food!
It won't be long and the construction sites large and small will be starting again in the new year with the lights on - and the kids will be cycling to school and coming home in the dark.
A new (old) house
One of Janny's sisters bought an old house - on our favourite Turf Route canal, no less!
This first photo is the mooring at Felder's Boskje. We went to the opening of it with Andrew & Terry in about 2009. The house is about 200 metres away.
According to Albert (Greethilda's husband) there has been a house here since the 1600's. The current version dates from about 1906 and was nearby a pub, a shop and a shoe maker's residence.
The magnificent beech tree is in the front yard. The last residents were a brother and sister who lived there for 80+ years. The property includes a wood/forest area of a few acres - we walked through it and saw piles of bricks, mounds of (something) under plastic, a few old sheds, pools, lots of various types of trees and things related to gardening.
I remarked to Albert that he is now "like the man with a wheelbarrow" in that he has the work in front of him...
Including the planned work on the house - make one room out of the two small rooms at the front and extend into the barn at the back with a new kitchen and living areas...and all to be insulated in line with todays demanding energy saving needs...
New Year's Eve
We spent New Year's Eve at another of Janny's sister's place...food and drink and a game of Dixit - all very enjoyable...
Some people in the village spend an extraordinary amount of money on fireworks - we just wander outside to have a look - I then walk home and Janny kicks on :-)
I usually just shake my head and wonder - particularly after the news reports of "hospitals preparing themselves" beforehand...
...and then this...the day after
Mad with fireworks
Plastic surgeons have treated 62 fireworks victims so far. That is 8 more than last year, reports the Dutch Society for Plastic Surgery. Of all victims, half were under eighteen years old.
The majority of the victims were treated around New Year's Eve. Only 16 percent had already sustained injuries before December 30. Among other things, five hand amputations were performed. Eighteen fingers and six thumbs were also lost.
"The severity of the injuries remains worrying, with many young victims and serious amputations as a result of illegal fireworks," says plastic surgeon Annekatrien van de Kar.
11 Cities Skating Race
Exactly 28 years after the last Elfstedentocht, the skating event is something we "can only dream of for now", Weeronline reports. The chance that an Elfstedentocht will take place in the coming decades is small, says meteorologist Berend van Straaten.
The chance is not zero, by the way. "Currently, the chance of sufficient winter cold is 8 percent." But the chance of the tour of tours is smaller, because weather conditions such as snowfall can throw a spanner in the works.
In addition, according to the KNMI, the ongoing global warming reduces that chance to 1 percent in 2050. "And at the end of the century, the chances are negligible."
Prepping
Janny actually bought an emergency radio...so I guess I might have to start doing something :-)
The head of the Dutch military security service MIVD has told the Financieele Dagblad in an interview that “it is possible” Russia will start a regional conflict once it is “finished with Ukraine,” with the aim of testing whether the Nato alliance can be broken up.
Peter Reesink, who took over at the helm of the MIVD in February, told the paper that Russia could be ready for an armed conflict with Nato before 2030 and that he is taking an “actual attack” into account.
The Baltic and Scandinavian countries are far better prepared for conflict than the Netherlands because they are closer to Russia and encounter Russian warships on a daily basis, he said.
“We cannot lean back and sleep,” he told the paper. “More than that, the Netherlands and a number of other countries need to wake up. As a society, we have believed for a long time that our companies do business all over the world and our economic links will ensure there is no more conflict. But things don’t work like that.”
Ben in South Africa
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