The owner of our residence here in mid Netherlands, is a trouble shooter for a large company and has been "overseas" many years of his life. But, he also has had to learn about what living in the rural country is all about , and believe me it takes a lot of comprehension..
Later in the blog I will relate about our visit with more of Ruth's family in a town near the Neder Rijn River.
Back to the land and some of its idiosyncrasies. I asked many questions of Sjoerd , our host, today. He was willing to respond in his good English which was adequate. If we were looking for a word, he didn't mind my inserting one to see of it fit. He was quick, however with vocabulary.
I started to inquire about the sewage removal and found about ten feet away was a pump that controlled many of the surrounding farms and pumped it into the nearby town (1/2 mile distant across the grassy field), where a sanitary facility took care of it. This was a common approach . Because of the level land the pumps were a necessity. Gray water (runoff) is allowed to reach a series of ditches that slowly makes its way to the sea by a series of kanals and ditches even from this distance some 80 miles from the Ocean.
With the land in this area so level, then, with 7 meters of clay underneath, how is the water kept from flooding in times of wet? They have used for centuries a system of undulating surfaces so the water does not settle in one place, but is moved over the subtle hummocks little by little in times of severe water .here is more to that but that is the general idea.
Roads are another issue. The main roads are maintained by the government agencies nearby, BUT the side roads on your property are your and your neighbor's responsibility, and that means cooperation and a collective monetary effort, so that together the side roads can be maintained. AND I must say they are in great shape. The side roads in most of Holland use small gravel with a slurry like mixture that settles into the gravel making it quite hard . After three years or so, it needs to be reapplied. His part (as he own one long road of about 400 yards or so costs him about $3,000.00 every time it is redone.
The cow farm across the street has 800 cows owned by one family. The out buildings are huge and many. It is a huge industry. We saw many of these especially in Noord Holland. There is a series of buildings I will attempt to photograph tomorrow to add to the photos for you.
Grass is grown as silage for the cows and although I did see some hay bales , it is not the preferred crop. Much fruit is raised in the Netherlands, and here Sjoern has some plums, apples, and pears and some personal use berry bushes, (Gooseberry, currants, and red raspberry). Renate assured us that Ruth would find her 'Fugi' apples here and she did.
There is an owl (Barn) owl in the adjacent part of the building (the barn or 'schuur' ) but we did not see it tonight.
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| Looking toward the town where the sewer crosses the fields from the pump in the yard |
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| The two peaks on the center horizon were all that remained of a 400 foot long barn and stable that was torn down . The silo will be converted to another Apartment. |
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| The main house was also a large barn that housed much of the feed for the animals. There is another smaller barn behind it. Much remodeling wasdone to get this completed. |
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| The guesthouse is 1/2 of a barn. The door is open to it. In it there is a Barn Owl we have been trying to see, but not yet!. |
Visiting the relatives . This time we went east to visit another cousin of Ruth's who lives in Rhenen which is a "stone's throw" from the Neder Rijn (Lower Rhine) River. Of course today , as we knew, was "King's Day" or the Kings birthday (50 years old ) and all the towns were celebrating with parades, and festivals of all kinds. Fortunately the route to the house to visit, was not closed off but in returning we did have to detour some to get back on the road.
But we found the house after 5 turns on the small narrow streets, so that was good .
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| The celebration of flags and the traditional Orange banner |
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| The Imminkhuizens in Rhenen Albert, Gerritt, Bip, Gerson Marinus and wife (Rinus) Ruth, Jim |
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| The Imminkhuizen house in Rhenen. This is a 2 family house and Ruth's family lives in the left side of the residence. Living room and kitchen down, All bedrooms up. The time spent with these folks was very hospitable and informative. Ruth compared notes , and made sure she knew each of them and shared her photos with them that she had brought along.. The men in the family have traditionally been "Chauffeurs", and until recently that has been a good occupation,. Now they are more locally employed and previously travelled all over Europe with their clients. Gea, the wife of Albert offered us the traditional pastries served on the King's Brthday and of course coffee. ( I had to try all three.)They drink a lot of coffee (and beer) in the Netherlands. The visit was filled with laughter and good exchanges in spite of the semi-language barrier. Both daughter's in law are teachers and teach in the pre-school programs in the community. The boys continue the father 's tradition as chauffeurs. or as it is called here "Lorry drivers". It was a good time on this special day of celebration in Holland. Tomorrow is an "off" day so we will do some local sightseeing and visit a forested section of the nearby countryside. Thanks for reading and drop aline if you are enjoying the blogs at crazy4birds2@gmail.com Thanks --Jim 
Dinnie, Ruth and Gert (Gerritt)
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