Spring

Perhaps the most wonderful thing about being in the Netherlands at this time is to be able to experience a real spring again. They don't do it much better than here in Friesland – being a rural province with many small farms and villages and the occasional forest (that they call a wilderness) it has all the ingredients. We have baby lambs, cute little Friesian horses and baby goats. The daffodils were out when I first got here, they are the harbingers, but now we have wild flowers, flowering cherry trees and, of course, lots of tulips! Last week I swear 90% of the trees were still without leaves and now it seems that suddenly they are all completely covered. We have had great weather the last five days which has helped a lot but a cool change is coming this weekend. In the mean time we are sitting on the deck outside our little house in our B&B drinking a Belgian beer and looking out over the green fields to the distant windmill, noticing the next phase of spring – bugs.

Pigs

You can't see them but you know they're there.

Some Progress

Nearly another week and some progress has been made. Maybe we'll be in the water later this coming week but I'm not betting money. As compensation the weather today was gorgeous and spring is really upon us – more of that in another post.

Armida now has new standpipes, which are the pipes that go through the hull for drains, water inlets etc. After 20 years it is good preventative maintenance to replace the ones that are below the waterline because if one breaks the boat sinks - not a good thing. She is very well insulated, which was one of our requirements, but there may be such a thing as too well insulated. Every interior space seems to be filled with foam which makes getting to pipes and gas lines harder than normal. The waste water tank and the toilet have arrived and were going to go in Friday but it now looks like it will be Monday. I noticed today that they ordered 12V pumps but Armida is 24V so they will need to be exchanged. 24V is usual for boats larger than Armida, hence the mistake. We have done tiling in the toilet floor and cleaned and measured for new Vinyl cladding around the windows in the bedroom. We'll put that up this week.

I think we have done almost all the shopping we need to do – things like bedding pillows, kitchen stuff and other things. We won' buy anything more until we have been on board for a while and minimalist is the theme on a boat. No attic to put stuff just in case.

I see all the other boats going past and just want to get on the water but we will be there soon.

Bikes

We all know The Netherlands is the land of bicycles but it is interesting to see it in action in the countryside and the towns. The first thing you notice is that the bike is king! Bikes seem to go where they want and everything else gets out of the way. The second thing is that no one wears helmets! They don't need to as they don't have to worry about Cars. Everything is laid out for the bikes; if you ride between the small towns here the bike path is paved and parallel to the road, when you get to the village, the bike path ends and the sidewalk is for pedestrians, the speed limit for cars drops to 30km/hr, the road paving is reddish and cars and bikes share the road, and bikes have priority. So you may have to drive through the whole village behind a little old lady on a bike – or a four year old. In the towns there are even separate traffic lights for the bike paths. There are even paved bike paths through the woods and well away from the roads, with benches at strategic viewing, and resting places.

Most people ride the solid old style bikes with proper mud-guards and wide handlebars. The only mystery to us is how so many people still manage to ride them in the icy wind and the rain. They sure are hardy people.

Armida came with two great fold up bikes that collapse to nearly nothing. They have small wheels but four gears - perfect for us and for here, maybe not so good for the hilly roads in France. We have already bought wicker baskets for the handle bars to use for shopping and for the dogs when they come. When the weather improves I will have to go for bike rides for exercise as the nearest hills to hike up are 100s of km away.

Friesland

I won't write too often, but when I do I may bla, bla, bla. Right now I'm feeling up and excited so I'm going to gush.

I brought the California weather with me from SLO to SLOten, which is the name of the village we are staying in. Everyday has been sunny and as long as you are not in the northern arctic wind, it's pleasant. Today was 65F! Every man, woman and child was out doing "something" with big smiles on their faces. It's too soon for tulips, but there are zillions of daffodils, blossoms on the trees while the other buds grow fatter every day.

The mixed use of land in each village is quite interesting. There are regular family homes between the older huge house/barn properties from the late 1800's. There are streets and bike path that connect you to every inch of the village and any village miles away. The roads are all well posted and as smooth as a baby's bottom.

We are staying at a B&B which was once a farm. Part of the barn has been converted into rooms. Our back windows look out over a vast grassy expanse with nothing in sight except an old windmill. Out our side windows we can see the working dairy farm next door. They had the cows out only once that we know of and we see few cows grazing. When I went outside to shake a blanket I spooked the cows next to our fence which caused a sort of stampede of the whole herd. They live most of their lives in the barn. It is a law that you must house your stock at night. Horses often wear blankets too. There are two kinds of horses native to Friesland. Big black stocky ones similar to the Clydesdales with long hair at the ankles and fluffy miniature caramel colored ones with long beige manes and tails. They are about the size of a Labrador dog.

The people are very friendly, most speak English and they have a good sense of humor. They like to make jokes whenever they can in a conversation. Rarely will you pass a person who doesn't acknowledge you with a greeting or nod. Today we had lunch at a café on the main canal. It was busy of course as it's the first spectacular Sunday of the year. We sat facing the little old fairy tale bike and pedestrian bridge over the canal of this most attractive small village, people watching. We saw at least five men we guessed to be over 6'8". Lots of women over 6'. I have yet to see one person who is overweight. Tall, lean, blonde, handsome healthy people. Very different than home.

Every structure is in tip top shape; perfect paint, lovely flowery manicured gardens and always an outdoor seating area. Unlike home where you can drive a neighborhood and not see one single person, these village people are out all the time. Rob said no matter what the weather. If you know them you stop to chat, if not they raise their hand. Not a wave more like the Indians saying "How". Bikes are a major mode of transportation. It's not that they are being trendy or "green", it's a way of life. There're always kids playing outside. That's a concept. Being Sunday if they weren't working on the house, garden or boat, they are walking or riding a bike. Whole families, three generations, out and about - Babies in strollers, 4-8 years old on wheels. I think today over 50% of the bike riders were probably over 60. Come to think about it, we didn't see many teenagers- Strange.

I couldn't sleep this morning and woke just before dawn, 5:30AM. I put on my warm coat with a hood and walked outside in the absolute quiet. Remember, there are no planes flying here, anywhere. There is nothing up there except birds. Sooooooo quiet. The old windmill looked magical standing out in the mist with a touch of golden glow on the horizon. First sound was a rooster crowing. He woke all the other critters so shortly all the birds started yakking - lots of birds here. Then a rabbit came out from a bush to eat a wild flower in the grass. My god it was like I was the only person on earth until I turned to the farm to the west and all the barn lights were on. Milking time.

Our village is within 6 miles of three other villages; within 20 miles of a few more. They each have a grocery store, maybe two restaurants and possibly a few various small shops. Eleven miles away is our closest town. It has a main street that has the canal running down the middle. Lamp posts, benches, bike racks, potted flowers and people fill the cobble street. But no leaves on the trees. For about three city blocks, both sides of the canal are lined with 200 year old row houses that are narrow and three stories high. The architecture is, in a word, charming. One side is all still private homes. On the other there are still a few private homes, but most have been turned the ground floor into a business. It may be a small town, but the variety and choices are very big city. I think one could find everything they would need here. Paint, flooring, bike shop, boat shop, drug store, nice clothing stores, children' clothing, toys, shoes, hardware, appliances, lawn mowers and much more. Each store is beautifully done. No slouches. Only a few of each thing is out so there is room for a big selection. I suppose they don't do a big volume of sales. We had to have the light fixed on one of the bikes off the boat. The guy who waited on us had his picture on the wall with three other men before him. They are his father, grandfather and great grandfather. The shop has been in the family since 1887. We're replacing the ugly grey and blue curtains in the cabin for some simple cheery yellow- gold ones so we checked out a place with fabric in the window. From the front this place looks like a nice little design shop. Once inside you see that it's actually two of the buildings and it goes way, way back. It was an 8,000 square foot high end design center. The woman who helped us look at fabric is the owner. Her husband's family has owned the store since 1954, they being the third generation. While there, her beautiful daughter came in with the three grandchildren. Of course she works there too three days a week and, yes, one day will run the store.

It's all so perfect that it almost feels like we are living in a Hallmark TV show, a Mave Binchey book or an alternative universe. Yesterday we even passed a small group of 12 year old boys riding their bikes with their fishing poles just like the old movies except they are modern rods.

Wish you all could be here. You would love it too.

Sloten, NL

Terry has just arrived so the adventure has officially begun, just not on the boat yet.

Armida is now in the shed in the boat yard to have a few things done that the seller needed to complete and a few things that we want to have done to make her safe and reliable for the next two years. I have been here for two weeks getting to know her better, including all the details of her bottm as I scrape and sand for a new coat of anti-fouling. I am learning that a boat is like an old house, there is always something more you want to do.

She had a smooth trip down the 25km from Terherne to Sloten along the Princess Margariet Canal, the main water highway in Friesland, and impressed me with her quietness and responsive handling but I found out that the tricky part is lining up the dock, particularly in the winds that blow in this part of the world. Just as well Reinier, the broker was along to help.

Sloten is a very cute little town; as cute as it is little.

People here are saying that that weather is nice, but they have very different standards from California. In the end the Californians will have to adjust.