Renovations

We have been busy scraping back old paint, filling holes and painting at Emma and Steve's house in Bromley.

The last time I worked on an old house was back in the 1980's when we renovated the house in Henley Beach. I had forgotten about old paintwork, flaking plaster, old ceilings and dust. This house is the same age as the one we owned in Henley Beach as both were built in the 1890's. The only difference is the current house was built for local workers and is relatively small and the house in Henley Beach was a very large villa, which also meant grander problems.

The memories! I remember the termites which ate away a fair bit of the woodwork but left the paint so you were unaware of the damage until you touched it. One problem I solved was to fill in the bay window sill with lots of cement which worked but I hope no one has ever tried to take the window out since then. I remember the huge front enclosed verandah that was very solid, due to being reinforced with railway lines and thick mesh but leaked like a sieve due to the metal swelling and cracking the cement. I remember the ceiling which collapsed one day, again due to the termites having eaten away the woodwork holding it up. It took 9 years to renovate the house and then we sold it. We had lots of very happy times in the villa though, in between renovating.

Back to the house in Bromley where the renovations are very achievable, and it will be a lovely home for Emma, Steve, Jackson and Isabel. In the meantime I have refound the skills of polyfilling (I have used three tubs of polyfiller already) holes and making good the edges and corners. There are no termites to worry about thank goodness so I have kept away from using cement to fill holes!

I love wearing the outfit! Walter enjoying painting the bannisters!

And there is no Ofsted, no targets, no league tables!

40th birthday continued!

Just a few more photos! The speech!

Scott and Lucy with their very happy mother!

Proud parents!
The birthday girls!

Donna's 40th Birthday Party

It was Donna's 40th birthday party last night. It is hard to imagine we now have two children in their 40's. Time has just flown by so quickly.

The party was held in a room in a pub with lots of atmosphere in the suburb of Petts Wood. Scott organised an impressive computerised display of photos taken of Donna over the years. A friend of Donna's took charge of the catering which was very much appreciated by us all. The music was great and well organised by a DJ. We all had a fun time dancing the night away, even me who never quite found the energy to dance when I was working full time. It was lovely to celebrate the occasion with family and friends, although we did miss everyone from 'down under'.

Donna looked absolutely stunning as you will see by the photos. Karen, our neice from NZ, joined us for the occasion.
Kylie came over from Holland for the weekend.

The family line up, minus Darren of course as he has returned to Australia.
Scott looking very grown up and handsome as always. He had dyed his hair for the occasion!
Lucy also looking very grownup and very beautiful. Steve making quite an impression on the dance floor!
Dancing the night away! Fantastic!

Birthdays

Yesterday was Donna and Emma's birthdays. A joint celebration seemed a great idea on the day that Emma was born but trying to organise two separate birthday parties when they were children was always a feat, both in organisation and in cost.

Luckily they are now grown up and happy to share the birthday celebrations. So we had a birthday dinner at home last night - Beef Bourguignon with Yorkshire Puddings, Boeren Kool and fried potatoes. A multicultural meal due to having to buy ingredients in Holland and raid the freezer when home! Steve provided the yummy cakes.

The birthday girls!

Blowing out the candles, with some extra help from Isabel and Lucy.

Lucy and Scott relaxing on the couch.

A little bit of fun!

Bromley, UK

Back home again. The crossing from Hoek van Holland to Harwich on Friday was a little rocky at times due to the very high winds but as it was a large ship with stabilisers the crossing was relatively smooth. There were about 20 cars and 30 people so it was a very quiet voyage.

Since arriving home we visited Emma and Steve's new house to look at the progress and were very impressed with what they have achieved so far.

The view of the street from the front of their house.
The house with the scaffolding still up. The house is a two up, two down house with two extra rooms in the attic and a small extension at the back for the kitchen and bathroom. I guess the house started off as a worker's cottage. It is very close to the shopping centre in Bromley.The back garden.

Up the stairs.

Emma in working clothes surrounded by the admirers. Lucy did take off some old wallpaper though.
A lovely fireplace in the main bedroom.

The new bannisters.

Steve hard at work installing the new kitchen cupboards.

Life in Houten continued

The family have finally moved into their new home. It took seven trips in the car to move everybody and everything from the flat in Utrecht to the house in Houten. Walter became very familiar with the route, which took roughly half an hour each way.

So on the night of Saturday 29th January we all slept in the new house, amongst the dust, renovations and seemingly hundreds of boxes. It was bliss and we all slept late on Sunday morning.

Since then Aaron, Kylie and Walter have worked constantly to get the house in order. I was in charge of food, meals and children so was excused from the job! The two workmen, Aldert and Hans (who is also an estate agent) are doing a grand job on the renovations. There is now a bath in the bathroom - we had to wash in the little basin in the downstairs toilet for four days, and Mia's room (used to be part of the bathroom) is nearly finished.

The loungeroom, minus most of the boxes. The back wall will be extended by 2 1/2 metres.
The kitchen and dining room looking very organised. The lights will be changed!
Mia and Abi are more settled in school now they do not have to travel a huge distance to it each day. They received their first reports and Aaron and Kylie have attended parent/teacher interviews, which were very positive.

The school is now a three minute bike ride away or a seven minute walk. Dropping off and collecting children at the school is so easy. You arrive ten minutes before school starts and take your children in and help with coats etc, then you leave immediately and go to work or home. At hometime you arrive one or two minutes before school finishes (there are no parents there earlier than 5 to 3) and collect the children. It is expected that parents get on with their lives rather than hanging around the school! Bliss from an ex Headteacher's point of view.

The girls forgot their bags one morning and I brought them back half an hour later. I walked into the school and left them by their large cotton school bags. I did not have to report to anyone either. In fact there is no secretary as primary schools in Holland do not have a front office or secretarial staff. The staff room in de Brug school is a servery in the infant area, and you can smell good coffee (Senseo machine) when you enter the school. There are always a few teachers there having coffee and talking to parents at the same time. Het is veel gezillig!

Out of school care is provided by children centres in the community and the children are collected from the school by the staff of the centres. Most of the children also go home for lunch. If children stay at school for lunch, then parents have to pay for them to be look after at school.

I also found that I was not the tallest female in the playground. Many Dutch women (and men) are very tall!

Houten in the mist!

Gezelligheid

Gezelligheid - a very important Dutch word. All is well when it is gezellig! A great feeling when your house is spotlessly clean (including windows), candles are lit, flowers are in vases and you sit back and say 'het is gezellig!'

It is all about cleanliness, order and atmosphere. I also found out on this visit that gezelligheid also includes living together in harmony so tolerance, decorum, consensus are important aspects of Dutch life.

Dutch people are extremely tolerant, except when you try to walk down a platform with a pusher and two children in rush hour or if you walk out in front of a bicycle.

For me, I now understand just a little more about Holland, which means I understand a little bit more about my husband! Walter loved living in Utrecht and Houten during the past two weeks and is looking forward to more extended visits. His Dutch language also improved immensely through constant use. However we are not moving there permanently!

We are eating pancakes in a cafe. It was warm and friendly, with soft lighting and good food. Het was heel gezillig!