Jill Of Arc

 There is only one reason for today's blog, but it's an important one.

Our dear friends, Gary and Jill, are celebrating their 57th anniversary. 

I don't know how Sainte Jill has managed to stay sane while married to Gary/Sven/Fudd/Ned/Andy/Arnie etc. for so long.  It's incredible!

Very best wishes to two fine friends!

Day Of Mourning

 Mardi and I spent a few hours at the greenhouse today.  I was moving soil skids around with the fork lift, while she was helping to wind Passion Flower vines on their wire frames.

But the most significant part of the day was the Theatre Aquarius show "Maggie" which we attended tonight.

Maggie

April 19 – May 6, 2023

Music by Johnny Reid, Matt Murray & Bob Foster
Book & Lyrics by Johnny Reid and Matt Murray
Direction & Dramaturgy by Mary Francis Moore
Musical Direction & Supervision by Bob Foster 

World Première 

Meet Maggie, a Scottish single mother of three boys. Set between 1954 and 1976, MAGGIE tells the inspirational tale of a fiery school cleaner living in the mining town of Lanarkshire Scotland. After suffering an unthinkable loss, Maggie must rely on her strength, sense of humour and fiercely loyal group of friends to raise her boys and protect them from the harsh and ever-changing world around them. Based on a true story, MAGGIE features a soul-stirring score by award-winning recording artist Johnny Reid. A tribute to Johnny’s Granny and the people of an almost forgotten generation, this exciting new musical is a celebration of family, community and the joy and laughter that can be found, even in the darkest of times.  

She lost her husband to a mine disaster and raised her three boys, the last of whom was born after her husband's death, on her own.

It was a coincidence that we saw the play on the WSIB Day of Mourning, but that made it all the more poignant for me.  Our mom raised the four of us, the last of whom (Judy) was born after dad's death, on her own as well.

A wet face evening!

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Stay well.

Golf Season Is Here

Headed out this morning with some trepidation.  The golf course advised that there would be about an hour and a half frost delay.  So, we bundled up.

Once we got going, the weather turned out to be surprisingly good.   Lots of sun, no wind.  Half way through the round we were shedding layers.

I was able to celebrate my first Dog Meat of the year.  Now $4 richer!

But, more importantly, Matt had the first birdie, which we had to celebrate.

Following the round, we enjoyed a libation - on the deck outside!

Just a great day.  And I broke 100 (only by a stroke, but what the heck, it's a start).

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Tomorrow is the WSIB Day of Mourning, in honour of those who were killed on the job.  Will think of our dad, who died a horrible death 71 years ago this past February.  Stop for a moment to give it a thought please.

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Till next time.

Netherlands River Cruise

Preamble

My computer, which had been slow in Florida, returned to normal speeds back in Stoney Creek.  But, here on the boat it has been virtually useless.  Downloading pictures is impossible.  Every action takes minutes (took me about five minutes to access the blog just now, and the boat is virtually empty so it's not because of a heavy load of activity).  It has been a frustrating experience!  So, I'm hoping that my memory will cooperate as I construct this travelogue upon my return. 

Day One - Thursday, March 30

We were picked up by Bonnie and Steve at 1:15 p.m.  Then drove to Mississauga to pick up their son Roy, who drove us to the airport.  Had a couple of hours wait in a comfortable spot.

Our flight got away late, due to the crew being held up in Toronto traffic.  We arrived in Dublin at 1 a.m. EST.  Then had a four hour layover before boarding our flight to Amsterdam, from a remote terminal at the airport.

Day Two - Friday, March 31

We arrived to dreary, wet weather.  Met the Gate 1 contact who took us to the Executive Taxi service booth where we were welcomed with a bottle of beer.  As you can see, we were pretty exhausted.

And then we were driven to the dock for our river adventure.

The Monarch Queen is a beautiful, music themed, ship.  Our accommodations are spacious and classy, with patio doors that open to a French balcony.

Separate tub and shower even!

Had a nice dinner of John Dory (a pickerel-like taste) with appetizer, soup, dessert and an unlimited supply of wine.  After that, plus 36 hours with only a short nap, I staggered to bed.

Day Three - Saturday, April 1

We arrived in Antwerp at about 10 a.m., earlier than the daily program had forecast.

The weather was chilly and damp when we arrived in Antwerp.

This was a prison back when Antwerp was a walled city.  The stub wall at the left is one of the few remaining pieces of the original fortification wall of the city centre.

Cobble stone is ever present in these old cities.

This sculpture regards a Belgian fable of a boy and his dog who froze to death and were found in this embrace.

Lots of incredibly beautiful buildings, hundreds of years old........

.......filled with beautiful paintings, including Reubens' Elevation of the Cross.

This is a "street" in the old city.

Did you know that beer is a very powerful driving force?  These guys circled past us a couple of times, obviously having a great time!

Belgian beer goes as high as 16% alcohol, so that may have played a part.

Back aboard for dinner and subsequent entertainment.  The jazz band was excellent and interacted with the audience.  Lots of fun!

Their final song was "My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean" and there were three Bonnies in the audience.  But ours was the prettiest!

A great way to end our day!

Day four - Sunday, April 2

We signed up for the optional tour to Bruges, the Venice of the north.

Bruges started in Julius Ceasar's time and became a major trading city 1,000 years ago.  The cobble streets have been recognized by Unesco.

Nice canals as well.   Bruges is a canal city, protected by waterways rather than fortifications.

Lace making is still an art in Bruges.

One of the things we noticed in the low countries was the cropped poplar trees.  They make a nice shade wall in the summer.

After two weeks seeing so much, I don't remember what the old wooden structure between  the two buildings was for.  I think it had to do with city tax collection hundreds of years ago.

Built to impress (scare) visitors a few hundred years ago.

Day five - Monday, April 3

Another optional tour this morning, to the Delta Works, thirteen installations intended to prevent the catastrophic flooding experienced in 1953.

A pretty monumentally awesome (and expensive) project!  The last project to be completed was this storm surge section at the delta of the Rhine, Maas, and Scheldt rivers.  It is open most of the time, but a couple of times a year when the storms come down from the North Sea it is closed to keep the ocean out where it belongs.  By doing this, rather than a closed dike, they were able to preserve the salt water fishery that exists on this inland side of the gates.

Lunch aboard ship and then on to another tour, this time to Dorndecht which was founded in 1210.  It's the oldest city in Holland, but not the oldest in the Netherlands.

We didn't tour the city itself, but the Kinderdijk windmills.  Mardi modelled one of her toques.

For some reason, the Dutch liked to live below sea level and create land from marshes, peat bogs and swamps.  They dug ditches and canals to drain the soil.  The channel behind Mardi goes for 200 miles to the ocean.  Dug by hand hundreds of years ago!  Incredible!  The soil that was removed was used to create dikes.

But, after it dried, the peat started to compress and sink.  So, they opened up the dikes to let some water come back in.  But, not surprisingly, that led to occasional flooding.

Their solution was to build windmills to pump the excess water back out of the area.  The one below was built in 1630, and is still operational.

In 1738 a series of windmills were built along a canal.

They were built of brick.  Still occupied and operated today.

But, a rival group thought that those brick windmills would sink into the ground (didn't happen), so they built a competing line of mills on an adjacent canal in 1740.

They had a brick base, but wooden construction.  They also continue to operate today.

It was a noisy place to live, with the machinery inside clanking away.

Mardi's new phone is much faster than my camera.  She caught the wheel above as if it wasn't moving.

We had a short boat tour of the canals..........

...........and then enjoyed a beer from the area...............

...........................which was 7.2% alcohol.  Nice😋.
But some people do get silly when they drink😉.

Day five - Tuesday, April 4

I didn't participate in today's tour.  My nerve damaged right leg was complaining, so I stayed on board for the day to recover.  Mardi worked on her "toques for the homeless" project.

Lots of new style windmills in this country as well.

And old ships.

Day six - Wednesday, April 5.

This morning we visited the Vaandam area.  The soil is perfect for growing bulbs...miles of tulip and other bulb fields.

We toured the Keukenhof Gardens - 32 hectares of dazzling floral displays.

Inside the buildings the displays were awesome!  And, tulips have a special meaning for Holland and Canada.

On 12 May 1940, during the invasion of the Netherlands by Germany in the Second World War, Prince Bernhard and Princess Juliana were evacuated to the United Kingdom to be followed the following day by Queen Wilhelmina and the Dutch Government, who set up a government in exile. The princess remained there for a month before taking the children to Ottawa, the capital of Canada, where she resided at Stornoway in the suburb of Rockcliffe Park. Her mother and husband remained in Britain with the Dutch government-in-exile.^[5]

Juliana with her husband and daughters in Ottawa in 1943

When her third child, Princess Margriet, was born on 19 January 1943, Governor General Lord Athlone granted royal assent to a special law declaring Princess Juliana's rooms at the Ottawa Civic Hospital to be extraterritorial in order that the infant would have exclusively Dutch, not dual nationality.^[6] Had these arrangements not been made, Princess Margriet would not be in the line of succession. The Canadian government flew the Dutch tricolour flag on parliament's Peace Tower while its carillon rang out with Dutch music at the news of Princess Margriet's birth. Prince Bernhard, who had remained in London to assist his mother in law Queen Wilhelmina and the government with operating in exile, was able to visit his family in Canada and be there for Margriet's birth. Princess Juliana's genuine warmth and the gestures of her Canadian hosts created a lasting bond, which was reinforced when Canadian soldiers fought and died by the thousands in 1944 and 1945 to liberate the Netherlands from the Nazis. She returned with Queen Wilhelmina by a military transport plane to the liberated part of the Netherlands on 2 May 1945, rushing to Breda to set up a temporary Dutch government. Once home, she expressed her gratitude to Canada by sending the city of Ottawa 100,000 tulip bulbs. Juliana erected a wooden lectern and brass plaque which is dedicated in thanks to the St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church (Ottawa) for their hospitality during her residence in Ottawa.

Juliana meets RAF pilot Kees van Eendenburg at Deanland in 1944

On 24 June 1945, she sailed on the RMS Queen Elizabeth from Gourock, Scotland, to the United States, listing her last permanent residence as London, England. The following year (1946), Juliana donated another 20,500 bulbs, with the request that a portion of these be planted at the grounds of the Ottawa Civic Hospital where she had given birth to Margriet. At the same time, she promised Ottawa an annual gift of tulips during her lifetime to show her lasting appreciation for Canada's war-time hospitality. Each year Ottawa hosts the Canadian Tulip Festival in celebration of this gift.

On 2 May 1945, Princess Juliana was returned with her mother to Dutch soil. Initially they lived in temporary quarters at Anneville just south of Breda. Juliana took part in the post-war relief operation for the people in the northern part of the country who had suffered through starvation during the Hunger Winter of 1944–1945, which had taken the lives of many of her countrymen. She was very active as the president of the Dutch Red Cross and worked closely with the National Reconstruction organization. Her down-to-earth manner endeared her to her people so much that a majority of the Dutch people would soon want Queen Wilhelmina to abdicate in favour of her daughter. In the spring of 1946 Princess Juliana and Prince Bernhard visited the countries that had helped the Netherlands during the occupation.

And they had a house full of Orchids as well.

They limit attendance to 30,000 people per day for the few weeks that they are open.  Quite a show!

Day seven - Thursday, April 6.

We started with a canal cruise.

The "dancing houses" were a feature.  They started to sink and lean on each other.  But the floors have been adjusted so that they are level despite the lean - must be a bit eerie to look out the windows from inside.

Houseboats line every canal.

This ugly beast recently sold for 1.7 million Euros!

Cars and bicycles park alongside the canals.  About 50 cars a year end up in the canals, as do thousands of bikes!

The advice is - if you are in your car and it falls into a canal, stay with it, it will be considered a rescue.  If you leave the car then it's considered abandonment and you will have to pay to get it out.

You will notice from the picture below that some of the buildings lean out over the street.  They have a block and tackle near the roof.  It's easier to get furniture to the top floors through an upstairs window than to carry them up flights of stairs.

And a highlight of the day for me - the Anne Frank house.  

And a second highlight of the day.  As daughter Jo-Ann says, I celebrated with a flare!

The cake was delicious!

Day eight - Friday, April 7

Time to leave the ship.  We'll be in an Amsterdam hotel for three nights.

But first, a visit to the Rijksmuseum, to view the works of Rembrandt and Vermeer.

A library of ancient books.

Doll houses (all kinds of interesting stuff!).

Afterwards, we did a walking tour on our own.

Day nine - Saturday, April 8

There are more bikes in Amsterdam than people.  They're everywhere.

Bicycles have the right-of-way.....................if you don't keep a constant watch you'll be run down.

They even have parking garages for bicycles!

Surf and turf for lunch - a salmon burger and a beef burger.

A Canadian tourist?

The water market - these are floating barges along a canal.

Day ten - Sunday, April 9

We made one more excursion into the city today.  Wanted to see Grand Central Station, which is a beautiful building.

Trains run through it, ferry boats on the other side, trams on this side (left of picture) and a bike garage underneath that holds 50,000 bicycles!

We visited the Monkey Bar where the seamen congregated in the old days.

And then, the red light district.

Some very beautiful young ladies, but a 95 Euro fine for taking pictures of them.  Sorry fellas!

And, there's a fine for this too!

Lunch in the district.

And dinner to celebrate our trip.

Day eleven - Monday, April 10

And then it was time to head home.  A nice omen.  Welcome to Ireland!

The weather was usually chilly on our trip, as was the hotel in
Amsterdam, presumably a result of the energy shortage caused by the Russian invasion of the Ukraine.

But, it was a great trip nonetheless, enjoyed with good friends.  

We are richer for having made the voyage.

Till next time.