Yet Another 50th!

Turning fifty years old has become one of the more popular things to do at our office. I think everyone saw how much fun it was when Jon hit the half century mark and decided to jump on board. I know I did! The latest and last for a few years in our office to hit this milestone, was Ted. This party actually happened a few months ago and I have probably forgotten some of the details, but here is what I remember. Ted is the producer of my radio programs and he also does training as well as a whole bunch of other things. He is a great guy with a wonderful wife and four kids. He also has a ...hmmm.....would I call it a hobby .....or a passion..... or something else entirely. Let's just say, he really likes fire engines. He has lots of models of Lego firemen and fire engines scattered around his office. So finding a theme for his party was easy! The hard part was trying to surprise the fourth person in about eighteen months. We decided to try a different tactic this time around. We didnt plan a party on his birthday. His wife planned a typical Dutch party which is an open house in their home. Those from the office who could stop by, did so to help keep up the illusion that this was THE party. A couple more days went by before we mostly surprised him with his party. One of our co-workers knows a fireman, so she arranged to borrow an actual fireman's uniform for Ted to wear during the festivities. All who had something red to wear, wore it that day. I made Ted a fire engine birthday cake from some patterns I had seen online. I had to make my own fondant and it was a bit soft, so some of the parts didn't come out exactly as I hoped, but it was a big hit and was delicious and we all enjoyed it immensely. And the no-taste red food coloring really is no-taste. I must admit I was afraid it wouldn't be. We had red balloons and Ted got several fire-themed gifts. We found the perfect thing in a small 'woonen" store in town. Home decor would be the closest translation. It was a lighter that looks like a small fire extinguisher. It was too cute and just perfect! We also had a song for Ted, because it wouldn't be a Dutch party without a song! We also played a fireman game where the participants had to fill their mouths with water from a bowl without using their hands, then run a short distance and spit the water out to try to extinguish a candle flame. It was a bit wet and messy, but lots of fun!

Invaded Again!

Some time ago I wrote about an animal invader in our home. Turned out to be the neighbor's cat. We have stymied her incursions with trim molding around the screening material so she cant push her way in. Problem solved. Then there were the mice we kept getting in the attic/zolder. We kept killing them and it would get cold and more would come in. We bought some what-we-thought was mice killer. For all we know it was mouse attractant. It consisted of a little box and some seeds. The mice made their home in the box and ate the seeds and seemed to be living quite happily in our house. Finally got rid of them with some American bait and glue traps. Unpleasant to do, but can't have those critters in the house. Got more mice, used more stuff. Finally figured they were crawling up the pipes and we found some expanding foam to seal up the areas around the pipes (one hole around a pipe a small cat could have come in through) and we have been joyfully mouseless ever since. This summer we got yet another invader. Weesps ( pronounced vaysps) or wasps. I began to see a few dead ones in the guest room. They were dead or dying and thought maybe the insect screening we had put up wasn't working completely. Kept finding wasps; kept vacuuming them up. There began to be more and more of them. Then I got near a slanted area of the roof and I could hear a whole lot of buzzing in there! I can't imagine the size of the nest if this many wasps are just the ones getting lost on their way into the outside world who happened to end up inside our guest room! Before it was over I had vacuumed up hundreds of wasps within a few weeks. We went to the local garden store and bought a can of wasp spray. It wasn't until we got home that we realized we paid a whopping $14 for that can of insecticide! We could see where the wasps were chewing their way through the wall board of the access panel in the guest room, so we knew where to spray. So we did. With some success. We went outside and saw the wasps escaping out a hole in the roof. This is apparently where they were entering in. We mentioned our wasp problem to a coworker, Ilona, and she said we should call the town hall. They would deal with the problem. Hmmm, interesting, so we call the townhall. Or more accurately we have our Dutch friend, Elly, call them. They are apparently out of the extermination business, but they give her references. We presume the landlord has to handle this problem, but they tell us that the problem is ours and we have to pay to have an exterminator come and rid us of this nest. Then to top it off we find out we are responsible to fix the hole in the roof. What? Seems like a normal maintenance problem to us and in the States when we rented out our home we had to pay for anything and everything that needed fixing, mending, killing, or maintaining. After all we owned the home. That is partly what the rent was for. At this point we take a deep breath and remind ourselves that we are not in Kansas any more. So of course, it isn't going to be the same. It doesn't have to make sense to us, it makes sense to the people here. We cant imagine how much fixing a roof is going to cost. It was about $50.00 for a ten minute job to kill the wasps. Labor costs are high. Then we find there is a reprieve if the hole was pre-existing. Fortunately further exploration of the situation reveals that the hole was there already and the wasps just exploited it, so the landlord is responsible to have it fixed. I suspect it is a costly repair because the landlord did want to argue the point. What shape was the hole, what size was it, etc. ? The treatment seems to have worked and we have been wasp free, but we still have a hole in our roof. I sure hope they fix it soon before somebody else decides to move into it.

Building Completed

Quite a long time ago, perhaps as long as two years ago, I wrote a blog about a new building that was going up near where we lived. The foundation sat for a very long time - over a year. We would see some supports for what looked like they might be stairs. We would wonder at its unusual shape. We made guesses as to what it would be when it was finished. As time went by we made guesses as to whether it would be finished at all. Suddenly work began in earnest on the foundation and the new building began to take shape. A large picture was erected on the property and we could see that it was going to be a theater. Hmmmm, but what kind. In the Netherlands a cinema is called a "bioscoop" and that is not what the sign said. So we wondered. Then when the building was nearly finished they put posters in the windows and it looked like it was going to be a cinema. Closer inspection revealed that no one was going to watch movies in this theater, but that it would be for the performance of plays. It struck me as strange that our town, which is relatively small, would play host to an actual theater. Something more commonly associated with cities, and often cities of some size and especially in light of the fact that there is no movie theater within 10 or 15 miles of here. We wondered whether the government decided the theater should be here or whether it was done to help bring in business to the town. Seems to me more people would go see movies, than would watch plays, but perhaps here that isn't the case. Anyway, I thought those of you who read that original post all that time ago, might like to see what it finally became. For those of you who missed the original blog, I have copied it below. NEW BUILDING They are putting in a new building near our home. We heard about it before we saw it. No, we didn't hear about it via the grapevine. We woke one morning to hear the steady drum of a pile driver in the distance and from this we knew a new building was going up. We think it may be a school since the other buildings in this area are all schools, but we are only guessing. It does provide the opportunity to show you what a Dutch foundation looks like. Holland is basically an extensive delta for several major rivers of Europe. So the soil is very sandy. Most of the country is at or below sea level which has been reclaimed through dikes and other engineering projects. We live in the high country at the lofty altitude of 3 1/2 feet above sea level. A high water table and the sandy soil make traditional foundations impossible, so buildings from our little home to the Queen's palace are built on pilings. I once read how many pilings the Queen's house sits on, but cant remember. I think it was over 70,000. They've been driving pilings for a couple of weeks and they also have a pump working to get the water out, although from where and into what I don't have a clue. It would seem as futile as trying to empty the ocean.

We went to the Naar Buiten again this year. Many things were the same.

The tent city of stores..... ....all kinds of things for the kids to play on. And some of the activities in the ring were the same as well, but there were some suprises as well. This year they had a parade of old tractors. This isn't particularly old, but it is so typically Dutch to see a vehicle decorated for a special event - a parade or a wedding - with a bouquet of flowers. It is especially charming when it is on utilitarian vehicles like semi-trailer trucks and this tractor. We enjoyed watching the falconry demonstration in the ring again this year. They added some new birds to the show . This South African bird with enormously long legs which normally hunt snakes and some turkey vultures which hopped along the ground looking for bits of food they had dropped for it. The snake is a fake, but when the bird pecked at it, they would drop a bite of food as a reward. They let these birds get up and close and personal with the crowd. This owl was just a few feet away from us. Often the birds take a slight detour before coming back to their handlers. This one liked the view from the top of one of the tents. They even let the kids wear falconers gloves then lured a small owl from glove to glove around the whole ring. They also invited the children into the ring so they could take turns having a very small falcon land on their heads. The highlight or what should have been was a very large eagle. I had been waiting the whole show to see what this beauty could do. I heard the announcer say that this eagle is found all over Europe, but not in the Netherlands. He was let loose and he flew off out of sight. The falconer calling did not bring it back. Dont know if it is gone for good. Mabye now there is at least one living in the Netherlands. They also did a demonstration of police dogs in the ring. The dogs are amazing and their ability to react in an intelligent manner is amazing. I wondered if they would show the dog attacking a person. I wasn't sure how the Dutch would view such a thing. As you can see they had no compunction about showing all that these incredible dogs can do. They had the "bad guy" try several things. He had a stick and the dog attacked, but when the man dropped the stick, the dog stopped. They chased him on a bicycle. They attacked him when he shot off a pop gun. They chased and attacked him when he tried to flee after being in custody and also when he turned to attack the police officer. I couldnt understand all that was said, but at least one of the dogs was from America, perhaps both since they both wore a kerchief with the stars and strips on it.

There were some aesthetic changes this time -

Interesting topiaries A marvelous sand sculpture of the "castle" on the grounds.

We also got to see some old-fashioned crafts being done with a slightly modern twist.

This is a booth where the man is using machines to rough out the shape for wooden shoes. This booth had elaborate wickerware for sale. Yes that is a motorcyle made entirely of wicker. Here is where they boiled the switches and then used this machine to strip off the bark. There are some traditional things demonstrated too. Like winnowing wheat by beating the stalks with flails. Looked like a whole lot of work. And doing laundry with a tub of soapy water and a high-tech ringer to get the excess water from the clothes. That was a real laborsaving device in its day. And there was a parade of fancy farm wagons. I wonder if these are the ones the farmers drove to church on Sunday. This was new too - the kiddies had the chance to try their hand at milking an inflatable cow. We watched and the milk did squirt out like a real udder. Got to get those kids started early. The next generation is going to need cheese too!