Week 18

- May 08, 2022

Week 18

This made the news over here

(nu.nl)

When Facebook blocked Australian news pages last year in anticipation of new legislation, emergency services pages were no longer accessible. The platform has always said this was unintentional, but former employees now tell The Wall Street Journal that it was just a bargaining tactic.

Facebook blocked Australian news pages early last year because an Australian bill would make the company pay for sharing news content. This also applied to Google, for example.

It soon became apparent that pages of Australian emergency services had also been affected. Facebook pages warning about COVID-19 outbreaks, forest fires and tornadoes no longer worked properly.

Former employees now say the company has deliberately blocked more pages than necessary in order to influence the Australian government. "It was clear that we weren't complying with the law, but we were dealing a blow to social institutions and emergency services in Australia," said an employee involved in the project.

Not much this week....

finishing touches to the vegie garden tunnel - which works surprisingly well. No wonder the Netherlands produces so much food "under glass".

We put the sunshades back....

...and removed blocks of wood preventing the cold draught under the floor...

Back in 1999 we paid an awful lot of money (guldens, then) to have good toilet facilities...it was definitely worth the money as it turned out and they are literally still as good as new - after 20 plus years.

So, it was with some misgiving that I started to dismantle some of it...to make room for Janny's Screen Printing Project. I've even had to start a new line item in the accounting system, so that we can keep track of the costs...it comes under Dagbesteding Activitieten (Workshop Activities) for the clients.

It was extremely well assembled, but we got the hang of it by the second panel. We left the last cubicle as a "wet room" - required for washing out the frames...

It was a Public Holiday on Thursday, so we had another go at burning a screen - our first attempt had failed miserably - with so many variables, it is hard to say what went wrong...

So, we made a note of the process for this one - 3.5 minutes exposure and keeping the frame in the dark (duh). We also soaked the light exposed frame in water for 3 minutes - to soften the part (the design) not exposed to the light - this makes it easier to wash out...

...and it all worked!

Today, we'll try the first actual printing...

"It Giet Oan" refers to a now famous exclamation at the time of the last Elfstedentocht (1997). There had been a great deal of excitement about the ice - was there enough? was it thick enough (for thousands of people)? There were TV reports of truckloads of ice being dumped at several "weak" spots...

But, eventually, the organizer came on TV and said "it giet oan" - Frisian for "it goes on" or "it's going ahead" - much jubilation across the whole country, even though it is a Friesland thing.

We were actually living in a house on the canal at the time, so we had the whole family come and stay with us - mostly sleeping on the floor! Ben was just a baby at the time.

Must have some photos somewhere, but I don't think they have found their way into my Google collection.

Anyway, this is Janny's first frame and it refers this time to the fact that so many things can now "go ahead" after the last 2 pandemic years...

The "wer moai fuort no" means (very loosely) "out and about again"

We picked up some bags of potting mix for the tunnel...

Sometimes it's good to be working on my own - I can potter along at my own pace without having to be "caring" or "inclusive". So, I had a few hours measuring and cutting and laying things out and putting the potting mix in...

We had kids from Friday onwards, so that they could be home for Mother's Day (today).

They set up the trampoline again...

Janny had to "work"...

On Saturday they all went to the village event grounds...

...here playing "kubb"...

Kubb (pronounced [kubː] in Swedish or [kubː] in Gutnish) is a lawn game where the objective is to knock over wooden blocks (kubbar) by throwing wooden batons (kastpinnar) at them. Kubb can be described as a combination of bowling and horseshoes. Play takes place on a small rectangular playing field, known as a "pitch".

(We only have a small version - so there's another project - to make a full size version...)

Gutnish??

The Gutamålsgillet association, which has been working for the preservation and revitalization of Gutnish since 1945, estimates that Gutnish is spoken today by 2,000 to 5,000 people

Boat plans...

Cheryl is planning for next month....? don't yet know how they can manage that..Paul is planning for July for a trip to Rotterdam for the World Police and Fire Games. Frank and Pam will also be sleeping on board at the games - as well as doing first mate and galley duties on the trip down - 5 days??? Then there will be the return trip - via Utrecht, the polder and Blokzijl.

16th of May, the Turf Route is open again, so we'll bring the boat to Wijnjewoude - I want to replace the main hatch - had thought of a koekoek, but decided that it didn't suit the boat after all. I also have to repair some water damage and decide if I want to paint the ceiling white??? (no going back...) The new cushions might also be ready within a few weeks...

Ben is planning to go to Bangkok for 3 months and then on to Australia - so maybe I have to get him on the boat before he leaves...