The Farm

It’s April!

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I lost track of time a bit, and am also short on time right now. So short this will be, as well.

April first I went to see Zootopia with Gert. It’s a very good movie. Very well made, good story and a good message as well.

April 2nd, Ikea brought my shelves and Nienke’s dining set. I built mine, and Nienke’s parents picked up her set to deliver to Nienke’s house.

Then on Sunday I went to the farm where we had a work day to get material for our re-enactment camp back in good shape. We fixed existing benches and tables, and also built new ones. In the picture we’re working on the new kitchen workbench. It was a good day to spend outside, and we got a lot done.

The week after saw the voting for the Ukraine-referendum. I voted for the agreement, and am pretty bummed it didn’t pass.

Last Saturday I went to the Farm again, this time for Feije’s birthday. I got him books, as I like to do for small children. An informative book with huge pictures and fold out sheets about animals and a story book about a little kid on a farm with a goat. The kid as drawn looks quite like Feije.

Later this week we’re going to Ikea again. This time to pick up an extra dresser for my bed room. Plus there’s a movie plan for Friday and a Mom birthday this Sunday πŸ™‚

Elfia Arcen

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I had an amazing weekend at Elfia in Arcen. The atmosphere was great, the whole thing looked fantastic and our camp rocked.

Friday morning, Mellien and Bas picked me up and we drove to The Farm. There we packed up the rented van, Harry’s van and Anneke’s car. Bas had to go to work and would join us in the evening. With the whole group, the packing was done quickly, and we were on our way. All together we were ten people and three dogs.

After arrival, we had some trouble finding our designated camping site. With some help of the organisation, we found it. They had moved us to a better spot. We were now across from the main stage behind the line of food carts. So our back was towards that, and we faced a beautiful pond.Β The build of the camp went very smoothly and before long we were ready. The visitors wouldn’t be there until Saturday so we could relax for now.

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The next morning, before the festival opened its doors, Jarig and I went to walk their dog. The park around Arcen Castle is fantastic and very elaborate. The big glass building is a greenhouse that also features a Jurassic Park bit complete with fake dinosaurs.

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When we returned it was time to get the picture going. This meant find something to do all day so you’re useful, while having fun and presenting an interesting and pretty picture for the crowd. I mostly held fire watch where I kept the fire going and watched the food we were cooking. Beyond ourselves, the camp is dressed up with many accessories that make it feel even more alive. When the visitors stop and want to know more, or are impressed, you know you’ve done a good job.

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It’s important that the camp always looks complete and lively. We get the free entrance in return for doing just that. So, during both days we took turns going out for a bit to stroll the festival grounds, take a look at other stands, maybe buy some stuff. Every one has something they can do that is sort of authentic to the middle ages. Julius gives little workshops in blacksmithing. Anneke cooks for all of us. Margreet spins wool, Harry does some wood working. Mellien does little felting workshops. Eva varies but this time around it was needle felting. Jarig, Bas and I don’t really have a niche, so we do whatever needs doing. Bas ended up assisting with the Blacksmithing a lot. And I did fire and tried my hand at some wood working with the small axe on the second day. This was quite fun to do, and I think I want to do that more often.

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The evenings are almost an event on their own. After the visitors have gone, the music has died off, the sky has grown dark. Candles are lit, the fire is still burning. There’s a quietness but all around you hear the different camps still living. The last evening we sat around the fire for quite some time.

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Monday morning we got up fairly early so we could pack up everything without having to hurry. In the afternoon we got back on the road to our Highland. Saying goodbye to Arcen for this year.

The stake I made. It needs some sanding to be nice and smooth and then it will be a gift for Nienke to hunt vampires with.

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Arnie, Joy, Food

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BBQI’ve never been a terminator fan. I’ve never seen any of the movies beyond bits and pieces during channel surfing or online maybe. But after seeing the trailers for the new Terminator Genisys I was intrigued enough that I wanted to see it. So that’s what Gert and I did Wednesday. The movie was fun and entertaining, not particularly special, but I enjoyed it. And I liked seeing Schwarzenegger reprising his role and poking fun at himself and his age.

After that we went on to see Inside Out, which is a really good movie. The themes were really quite heavy, which I wasn’t expecting. It shows well how depression affects a person. The layering is pretty good, in that it has something for both kids and adults, but I would’t directly recommend it for really young children.

Friday I headed over to The Farm for a barbecue with Eva, Mellien, Ingrid and Julius. The food was glorious, the company was great, and the weather fantastic.

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Market DayThen yesterday, we had a market in town. Mom and I took a stroll around. I didn’t really find anything that struck my fancy. Since the weather was still fantastic, Mom and I decided to hit the cafe and get a drink and something tasty. She went for apple pie, the standard snack for cafes, and I picked strawberry tiramisu. It was delish!

Around the World in a Handful of Towns

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20150412_155757Sunday proved to be a day of moderate adventure and great fun πŸ˜€ Eva’s little boy had his birthday earlier this week, and Sunday they were celebrating.

So early in the afternoon I traveled to Groningen. I met up with Mellien on the train, which helped ease the half hour wait for the next train. We then boarded for Grijpskerk where Ingrid picked us up to drive to the farm.

20150412_155915We chatted, drank tea, ate tasty cake and gave presents. I’d bought a couple children’s books in Frisian and Gronings for him. Two for him directly, and one and a audio book first to Eva as he’s not old enough yet. Both parents and boy seemed to like it, so I call it a success πŸ˜€

They had bought a pair of young rabbits the day before, and on Sunday Eva’s brother in law was bringing two more young rabbits as a birthday present. They are very handsome, but turned out to be a weeee bit larger than expected.

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Hop Hop Hynke, Frisian rhymes and songs

Instead of about the same size as the others, they’re about double that. Which made the cage that was supposed to be their home for a day or two rather on the small side.

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Sikko kleedt zich aan/trekt zuk aan, about a goat who wants clothes

We left at the end of the afternoon as Ingrid, who had come from Leeuwarden, had to go back there as well. However, as saying goodbye is wont to do, it took a while before we set out. We then had the bad luck of finding the bridge open, which resulted in Mellien and I missing the train.

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In Nije Stjer, a Frisian tale of the Three Wise Men

After comparing options, we decided to ride with Ingrid to Buitenpost to grab the train there. This was more fun, because more time with Ingrid, and left us a half hour wait in Buitenpost as opposed to waiting an hour in Grijpskerk.

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De Bruorren Liuwehert, and audio book version of the Astrid Lindgren book by theater company Tryater

Fortunately the weather was fairly nice so the wait was easy. And once back in Groningen, I treated myself to a milkshake to pass the half hour wait there for the train home. So, quite a trip, but it was worth it!

 

In a Mine! In a Mine! Where a Million Diamonds Shine!

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20141026_000544I bought this book recently, but didn’t get around to actually using it until today. The point of the book is to carry it with you while you turn your normal daily life into a scavenger hunt to find the items listed in the book. And when you have found one of the items, you turn around the book and flip to a random page. The edge of the page then tells you what to do with the item you’ve found and then, after you’ve done that, you can register it in the book.

20141026_000602Yesterday I joined Ingrid in going to The Farm to celebrate Julius’ birthday. It was a really fun day with good people and tasty food (they had made a wide assortment of cakes, tea and candies). While walking around checking out the new goats I found a magnificent white feather. And today I realised the book had a feather on the list πŸ˜€

As you can see, it has a space to note the time and date and how and where I found it. I wrote in the corner what I was supposed to do with it (Play) and since that isn’t something you can really show, I described it around the feather. And to keep it festive, I taped it to the page with fabric tape.

20141025_213358I also spent some time, yesterday, building my new Warcraft Lego Set. It consists of a Goblin on a rocket and a Night Elf on a sabercat (aka “Barren’s Chase”).

On Friday, Gert and I went to see Pride. This is an historical film taking place in England during the miner’s strike of 1984-85. The movie opens in London during a march for LGBT rights. After the march, a group of friends meet up in the bookstore of one of them and discuss politics. As they get to the strike, they realise that the plight of the miner’s is not unlike theirs. Both are not seen very positively in the public eye and garner a lot of abuse.

The group decides to band together to raise money for the miners. Raising money is very much needed as the union’s funds are getting depleted and social security is limited, so the miners are short on money and necessities.

Thus the Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners organisation is formed. It doesn’t always go well, but eventually they have raised a fair amount and go about looking for a way to get it to the needy. They contact the National Union of Miners, but they refuse the donation, not wanting to be associated with the LGSM. At first discouraged, the group decide not to give up and start looking for a town to give their money to. They find the Welsh town of Onllwyn and are ecstatic when they accept the money.

Pride_posterThey pile into their van and travel to Wales to hand over the money. Once there, the atmosphere is awkward at first, as the town had not quite understood they were a gay group. However over the course of the movie, the continued support and interactions show most of the town that the LGSM are people, too, and they gain a mutual understanding of each other that is paid back after the strike ends.

I loved this movie. It takes place in the same time period as The Normal Heart, and touches on some of the same topics (acceptance, gay rights, AIDS) but mostly this is a heartwarming story in a difficult time, whereas The Normal Heart is heartbreaking.

Hulk Move Boxes

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april5Yesterday was moving day for Eva and Jarig so I went over there to help. I took the 8:00 train to Groningen where Eva picked me up and drove us to their old place. We packed a lot of boxes and moved them into the rental truck. We then took that first load to their new house. I rode along with Eva and the zoo in the car (her, me, the kid, the dog and two cats) to wrangle the cats. Snoes, the old-lady cat, was in a carrier, but we had none for Briek, the other cat, so she was leashed and on my lap. It actually went surprisingly well, Briek seemed interested in the goings-on outside the car so behaved nicely.

Once at The Farm we put the cats in the dog bench so they wouldn’t escape and run off in the general chaos of a move. After unpacking I headed back to the city with the other guys and the truck to get another load. When we got that back at the farm, I spent some time setting up the computer so it would work, built stuff and moved things. Then there was more unpacking when the truck came back for the third time.

Along the way we had Β a lot of fun with the whole crowd, especially watching Hidde (the dog) run around like crazy because People! Awesome! New Stuff! Awesome! and Feije entertaining us by just being his own two-year-old self. Although we did forget about the poor cats for a bit o.0 After a few hours of working Eva and I were back in the bedroom where the cats were. I went to see them and suddenly realised we had put them in there without food or water. So we quickly got that settled, I think they forgave us πŸ™‚

Around dinner time, Eva had to drop Mellien and Bas off at the train station, so we piled the four of us into the car. Along the way, she dropped me off at the snack bar to get us all food while she drove on to the station. The snack bar was surprisingly quick, cause when Eva returned, I was already sitting with our completed order waiting for her. Back at The Farm, we ate, then did some more last minute things and one by one most people Β left. Eva was kind enough to drive me back to the station in Groningen so I was home at a really decent hour.

I did skip Pilates this morning. I figure that with yesterday, I’ve done enough excercising πŸ˜€ And the sore muscles I was expecting today were a lot less. I’m only feeling my arms really, the rest is pretty much fine. Yay me πŸ™‚