Thankful, Even Though It Took 16 Years!

On November 28, we hopped on a train to Amsterdam to meet Theresa and Kevin, otherwise known as Mainframe and Rambyte or the Bytes for short, who had just finished a two-week river cruise from Budapest to Amsterdam and were finally visiting us. 

The station was still pretty empty compared to a pre-COVID Sunday. 

It was hard to believe that it had been 16 long years since we’d seen them as they’d been out of town on our previous visits to Cary. They have a special spot in our hearts because of their immense impact on our lives, including meeting in their kitchen, finding our house on one of Rambyte’s trails and learning how to scuba dive with them. 

Veronica and Brett, who had arrived the day before, took over cooking duty for our belated Thanksgiving dinner. 

It was his and the Bytes first vegan Thanksgiving...

…and first Hanukkah.

Everything was delicious with the pumpkin pie definitely being the showstopper. 

 

Doggy Paddling...

On November 21, Veronica and I were in for quite a shock when Kati stepped onto what she must have thought was solid ground but ended up in a canal covered in algae instead while attempting to chase a cat; this was extra surprising as she rarely chases cats. We both just stood there frozen yet laughing as she swam across the canal.

Veronica ran around the end of the canal to help Kati out, while I stayed on the original side in case she swam back. It took three tries, but just before a neighbor and Veronica reached her, Kati managed to pull herself out of the canal. All these years we’d wondered what would happen if she fell in, but it never dawned on us that she'd try to walk on water. 

When she got out she was cold and covered in algae, so as soon as we got home she earned herself a bath and then a cuddle on the couch with Veronica.
 

November Hague Hashing...

In early November, Jimmy and I hashed with Hague H3 in Delft, south of the city center, in a lovely nature area. 

Here’s the group gathered at the beer stop.

Afterwards, a few hashers joined us at our new favorite microbrewery: Het Koperen Kat. It was difficult to talk over the very loud heavy metal band that was playing in the small space. 

A few days later I returned to the area for a walk with Terri and Kati.

Two weeks later, we helped hare the Hashgiving Photo Trail since Do Me Moore and Joe Dirt were very busy with the latest addition to their family. 

It was a beautiful fall day...

…although it tipped down hard enough at one point that the runners ducked into doorways to stay dry.

Besides all the great urban art that I posted about when we scouted trail, we also passed this sign in front of a bathroom shop. 

Joe Dirt greeted us at his house with all three of his hash horrors on hand, including little Otto who was only two months old when his crazy parents cooked a COVID-friendly Thanksgiving dinner for 20. 

Emma was thrilled that her parents bought too much aluminum foil, which she played with when not squishing Sanne. Veronica didn’t join us, but babysat the girls two mornings a week for about two months to give Do Me Moore a break. Brett even joined her twice.  
 

Just Call Me Cinderella...

Here is the view looking in from the extension in early September. As you can see there was no back wall at all and there wasn’t one until sometime late in November. Luckily there were no break-ins by either humans or animals. 

While Inga and Reinhardt used power tools to break up the side walls...

…I hauled the falling debris out to the dumpsters. I happily wore a mask for hours to protect myself not from COVID, but from breathing in all that nasty dust. 

One month later, I helped Inga peel paint off the door frames...

…and continued to play Cinderella by hauling debris.

We were honored that they invited us to sign our names for a future generation to discover on the frame of the outer wall...

...to be covered by insulation, waterproofing and bricks.

 

Demolition: Before and During...

After months of being out-bid while trying to buy a home, Reinhardt and Inga finally were successful and became the owners of a house on the same street that we first lived on when we moved to Holland. They knew that they would be completely rebuilding the house which lacked central heat and insulation. In an effort to save some money, they committed to doing most of the demolition themselves and we volunteered to help. Here’s a photo from the sales listing of the rear of the house. 

Reinhardt was injured, so was happy that Jimmy and I could help Inga remove the big rocks and bricks from the ground and pitch them into the old septic tank in late June. Inga was quite the badass with the jackhammer, which she used to level off the top of the tank. 

Our next job was to shovel loads of sand to create a smooth space for the insulation and foundation to be laid for the extension...

…which was still being worked on when we next visited. 

Rather than being situated along the river, their property backs up to a malt factory, which seems fitting for such big beer lovers. Ironically, Reinhardt used to visit the factory when he was young because his uncle was the general manager. One of my tasks on another day was to help catch these giant insulation blocks as Reinhardt handed them over the back fence.

Our next big goal was to remove the ceiling, floors and walls of what was once the living and dining room. 

While Jimmy helped cut the floorboards, I spent the day hauling the boards outside to throw into the huge dumpsters parked in front of the house. 

After removing the floorboards, the cross beams were cut and removed.

As you can see, there was no insulation of any kind below the floor.

The next time I saw the living room about two weeks later, the insulation had been installed with rebar on top in preparation of the cement floor being poured. 

I never saw the kitchen looking like this. The first time I saw it, the appliances and upper cabinets were already gone. 

All of these old bottles were found under the old floor. 

It was a gymnastic feat to get across the kitchen...

…to put the rear door back in so the house could be locked.

Here’s the kitchen floor the next time I saw it one month later. By then the door had been completely removed in preparation to remove the entire back wall to make room for the extension. 

 

Inside Murals...

The artwork inside wasn’t nearly as sophisticated as the murals outside, but at least some of them were entertaining.