The Darkness

This week we got a rather unpleasant reminder of what winter is like. The sun barely came out at all. Lots of rain and wind. Sure makes the tomatoes unhappy! Me too. Did manage to get a bit of rest though. And I finished writing the novel. I think. Time for some editing again. I gave up on the pond. I think it is leaking due to a bad design on the part of the original builders - something with the connection between the lowest pond and the cistern. I don't want to dig everything out to redo it though. Maybe the best solution is just to divert some rainwater from the roof to make up for the leak.

The girls had their first swimming lesson on Friday. Ninety minutes. They did not do well enough. Apparently to get into the program they need to be able to jump in from the side, dunk their heads under, and float on their backs and their tummies. Would have been nice to know that beforehand. They are given a second chance next Friday because we didn't know, but this weekend we have been practicing. If they still don't get in, we may have to wait until next year, or do some 45 minute lessons on Saturdays. Either way, it will cost us about 1400 euro just to get their first diploma. Then they need a second one. The third is optional, from what I gather.

Work is getting a bit depressing. The management continues to allow chaos to govern the school. Mostly because decisions just don't get made. When they do, they can be a bit strange - like putting the whiteboards in the back of the classrooms. I offered to move one of mine to the front, and was told this wasn't allowed. Why? They also won't put computers in the PBL rooms for the teachers. As if we can do everything with an iPad. What a joke. They also don't want to ban phones from the classroom, but then one team leader went around to different classes, took phones that were out (even some that were being used properly, approved by the teacher) and gave them to the principal, telling the teacher that they had to pick the phone up from the principal, explain why it was out, and return it to the student. They hired a new team leader who will be my boss. We have a negative past history together - she taught at the school in Apeldoorn where Naomi teaches and I used to teach. Naomi is thrilled that she is leaving and I am dreading her arrival.

The girls had a lot of fun playing at a friend's house on Tuesday. One girl is Abigail's best friend, from her class, and the other is a couple years older, but somehow Amélie is friends with her too.

Wiped out after trying their best in the pool.

Sick House

Now that the initial transition phase is over, everyone in this house has been a bit sick this week. Colder, rainy weather hasn't helped much either. Today will probably be the last really warm day of the year - I hope the tomatoes soak it up!

Next week the girls are going to start swimming lessons. Friday afternoons for an hour and a half until April. Costs almost 1400 euro. Ouch. I hope they have the energy for it - a lot of kids don't. At least it is a small group. We will just try it out and see how it goes.

The pond is still not draining properly into the cistern. We are losing a lot of water. Yesterday I tried making a new filter. Didn't seem to help. I will try cleaning out the pipe today, and if that doesn't do it, I really don't know what is wrong...

On Friday morning I had a beautiful commute to work. It was pretty chilly, and the river turned Zutphen into a bowl of fog. You could just make out the top of the tallest tower backlit with the morning sun.

First dance lesson - scared and hiding behind the teacher. Second one was no problem.

Week Two

Naomi had a rough time adjusting to our new routine this week. The girls have the same problem, so they are difficult, and that makes things worse. My time at school is a bit annoying, because most of my lessons are in this new building, so it feels like I am teaching at a different school. The rooms don't even have a beamer or a TV yet, so trying to go through the powerpoints with the kids doesn't work too well.

Other than that things seem to be working out pretty well though so far. I had a talk with the director about my team leader this past week. She has been causing a lot of problems for me and for the project based learning program I have been trying to set up. Thankfully, the conversation went well, and the director seems to be supportive of me and what we want to do with the program. We get a new team leader in a couple weeks anyway, so that should be fixed as well.

Really nice to be able to enjoy the pond project now. Too bad it is still leaking water though. Must be in the part that I didn't tear up, because I don't think my part is losing much. Really annoying, but at least it is not losing as much as before. Got a chance to go to the skate park again yesterday with Abigail - she is getting better!

Nervous about the first dance lessons!

Enjoying the sofa swing by the ponds.

Back to School

This first week of school was pretty intense. We got a new building which is a ten minute walk from the old one. I need to go back a forth a bit, and that can be annoying. It also doesn't have much of anything we need to teach - no computers or beamers, no tools, nothing other than desks and chairs. Makes things difficult.

We switched from 45 minute periods to 80 minute periods though. This is really nice, except it means that math students went from three periods per week down to one or two. This will make it difficult to cover what they are supposed to learn.

I really needed at least another week of vacation to finish up the ponds and get some rest. The girls were ready for school though. The ponds are looking pretty good. They sound great! Naomi will put the finishing touches on them with some smaller stones and such, but all the big stuff is done. Just need to add a couple more plants and some fish.

Finishing up the digging.

Soft fabric to prevent holes.

The liner. 200 euros well spent.

Water sucks in all the waves in the liner and makes them skinny folds. Fun to watch.

We got some tomatoes! They are delicious.

The girls celebrated their 5th birthday at school and had a couple friends over.

Abigail's hangover the morning after. Lulled to sleep by the sofa swing and the three waterfalls.

It works!! No more catastrophic leaking. Almost a closed loop.

The Pond(s)

This week we had to say goodbye to Grandma. Luckily, our first tomato ripened up enough to try at her last dinner here! It was tasty. Lots more turning colors now. Yesterday was the last hot day for a while at least though, so those poor tomatoes will have to shift gears.

We have a pond in our garden that is connected to a stream when the pump is turned on. The problem is, the stream is leaky. Badly designed. So we stopped using it for the most part and it just got overgrown.

I got the idea in my head this week to fix the problem, which meant tearing up the concrete to get to the plastic underneath. Once that was done, I figured I might as well improve the situation by turning the stream into a couple ponds. That way it looks nice even when we aren't using the pump.

I have worked on it morning and afternoon since Tuesday, so five days in a row. I now have a tan and some sore muscles, but it has been fun. If all goes well, I should be able to fit the new liner today. It will be fun to see how the water behaves once inside!

Our first tomato!

Bye, bye Grandma. Amélie got up really early to take her to the train.

Put in a garden new path.

A visit to the Nijntje museum - A Dutch cartoon character.

Making a raised bed to hold the dirt from the ponds.

Digging and building.