Happy New Year to everybody. Did you have a good New Year’s Eve? I didn’t. THEY LEFT ME ON MY OWN! Apparently they had a good time. They spent New Year’s Eve at a small farm, just outside St Helens. Magda made stamppot boerenkool (Curly Cale Hash) for the buffet, and (dressed in her Dutch Read More →

I believe that, when you move to another country, you should adapt to the local traditions. Speak the language, dress the same as the locals and get involved in a local hobby. Not that one can do much different. I can speak Dutch to people, but hardly anybody will understand me if I do. And going Read More →

Did you see the silly Christmas card they made? With me, having a Christmas tree on the gas locker and one on the roof, as well as two sleighs? With ‘funny’ ornaments in the windows, and these horrible lights on top of everything? Making me feel like the Titanic, with all these icebergs around me? Read More →

Yes, but there is one thing missing. So me and Lawrance jump in the car and head for the outskirts of Southport. In the car are also a kilt (and waistcoat and jacket) and a memory stick. The kilt is going to the dry cleaners, on the memory stick is a picture for a personalised mouse Read More →

It’s Tuesday, late afternoon. Lawrance has just put new coal in the stove, and as always the smell of the coal wipes through the boat. The coal is supposed to be smokeless, but when it first heats up, it certainly does smoke. It leaves the chimney in big, dark-grey clouds. Well, it is supposed to Read More →

We have a tiny solid fuel stove, an AX. Or to be precise, an AX 1M-S2. By saying tiny, I mean really tiny. About a quarter (or less) of the size of my downstairs woodstove in Doorwerth. More like a stove for a dolls house. It’s so tiny that we had to buy a new stove Read More →

In general I’m quite happy, living in the UK. I’m now used to driving on the wrong side of the road, sitting at the wrong side of the car. I found a replacement for Andijvie (Cichorum endivia) to make Andijviestamppot, a Dutch dish I absolutely love. And everybody I met so far, is extremely friendly. Just Read More →

It’s a beautiful day The sun is shining I feel good And nothing’s gonna stop me now Well, sort of. We’re fuelled up, topped up with water, emptied the cassette, paid for all the work, ready to rock and roll. If it wasn’t for the gale force wind. Remembering too well what happened to me Read More →

Do you know what BOAT stands for? Bring Out Another Thousand! Well, tomorrow we will know how many T’s we have to bring out. Not that it really matters. All the work so far really improved our life (and WRT’s life, read Oh, I feel like a princess and see some pictures she posted). Starting Read More →

Well, it took some time, but I think I look awsome now! First of all, my front doors are repaired. There is no cat flap anymore. The doors just need a touch-up with varnish, which (I hope) will happen some time next year. I got my new glasses, the ones without a mid-section. (A bit Read More →