UKATANI

Sure miss all the lovely wholegrain breads and rolls available fresh everyday from the local supermarkets...most of the Aldi and Lidl stores have a fresh bakery right up front of the store.  You can't walk in and walk past the fresh breads. But, back home on Abaco now and making/baking whole grain bread from a Canadian whole grain flour and my trusty Magic Chef bread machine. Not the same as the locally milled flour around Ukatani. The local mills operate on Saturdays and grind grain. Vaarseveld,  'De Engel ', grinding, milling, on a Saturday morning.

There are still a lot of remains and artifacts from WW2, as well as from the Romans. The Dutch are very respectful of all war memorial sites and even now, 70 years later,  celebrate and honour all those who died on their soil. Maarten was exploring our area on his Ebike and discovered this memorial in a woody area quite close to Ukatani. See the poppy wreath some one hung on 'poppy day'

The basement has six window wells, three on each side  They are covered by old oak benches and screens to keep out rain, leaves and yard debris Before After clean up,+  cat door for 'Fleur' Maarten has been busy.  The wells are white vinyl or polypropylene boxes, with drains in bottom.  They cleaned up nicely and now admit more light. He is also painting the walls and laying laminate flooring in his living quarters. The basement is bone dry and maintains an even temperature of about 15° at this time of year.

At the back of Ukatani there is an unfinished addition, large enclosed verandah, entry from outside. Marjolein has claimed it....for studio/plant room/tea house/potting area... Hatch access through floor to get large objects into the cellar/man cave At this moment it is unfinished, but, the planning is in progress....

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/may/19/floods-dutch-britain-netherlands-climatechange https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/may/19/floods-dutch-britain-netherlands-climatechange

In de train, 0715, 03 December. Have WiFi and bags have own compartment Loonnng flight to Atlanta.....10 hrs Dutch farms, adjoining dunes on N Sea.  They restrict the first 5 kms or so for flooding and storms.  No building in that area....it prevents disasters like they have in the states from coastal flooding.  No building in this coastal areas. Green areas are dunes Protected from N Sea storms.

All the leaves are gone and the sky is grey....02 December All the leaves are green in summer.....

 Girls in the window on a rainy Sunday ( Maarten came with cat, 'Fleur', she is deaf)

......and is merrily grinding away on a Saturday afternoon, new paint job on the sails See various millstones outside. 'De Engel' is smack in the middle of our closest town, 'Vaarseveld', 3 km, where we do most of our daily shopping...Aldi - Co Op etc.  Getting to know to our neighbors Bought so much stuff at 'Action '....had to buy some bungee cords to strap it on 'Sir Walter Raleigh' (Me E-bike)

 Marjo with her mum.  She shows her pics of her children frequently so Elly does not forget. Elly's is a fashion plate and loves to dress up, sometimes in other peoples clothes.

Luxury, it's 'luxurus' 'serus' (Inside joke, Linda) Warm floor, warm water, warm seat, various wash and rinse patterns, blow dry.... A warm bum is a happy bum @ 52° N

Weekly table tennis in the cellar, it will take a while to make it a real mancave A friend comes over from Arnhem to play on Wednesday evenings