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| Marjke made me a nice breakfast of fried eggs, raisin bread and a croissant and we said goodbye. Thank you very much for everything, Marjke. |
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| I left Drachten and was on my way to Tynaarlo |
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| Today, I passed many farms and there were many animals so this blog is devoted to them because they are the ones I talk to and visit during the day. |
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| One of many milk producing farms |
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| Many young animals |
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| A huge horse farm |
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| After 80 km of great cycling on a beautiful day, I arrived at the home of Marjke Ketting. |
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| Marjke is 84 and lives alone since the death of her husband 23 years ago. She made me a nice cup of tea and later also a nice supper of salmon, fresh white asparagus and potatoes with yogurt for dessert. |
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| The living room--notice the view from the sliding doors. |
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| A very nice chess board |
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| Marjke in her kitchen |
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| My bedroom--we got internet going and I worked on a few blogs. |
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| The bed was comfortable. |
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| Impressive bathroom |
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| The nicest toilet seat that I have ever seen |
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| Marjke is an artist and has a studio in her upper floor. |
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| Her house is decorated with her art work. |
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| The office area--I showed her how to get into my blog so she can follow my trip. We also looked up the local churches. We had an interesting discussion about religion as I explained to her my beliefs from reading the Bible.There were no local brethren assemblies here so I would continue bicycling the next day and worship alone. |
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| The dunes |
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| Pregnancy |
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| The view from her back yard |
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| The view from the art studio balcony |
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| Her side yard from the art studio balcony--Thank you Marjke for sharing your home with me. |
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| A very nice looking house |
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| There are not very many decorated mail boxes here as there are strict rules about them. |
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| All the farmers are busy since the weather is so nice. |
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| Mother sheep looks tired! |
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| This young sheep was interested in the camera. |
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| Insect houses |
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| A wide canal |
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| Oh ! |
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| First ferry crossing of the day |
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| A very pretty area along the bicycle path |
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| Waiting for the second ferry |
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| Going sailing |
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| Wandelers |
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| The wandelers took my photo. |
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| One of the millions of frogs croaking loudly today. |
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| Inge, a school teacher, came along and helped me find the third ferry location. |
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| We rode together and chatted all the way into Drachten where she teaches.She was out for a long bicycle ride while her boyfriend was playing football (soccer). |
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| My bicycle, Silver is a Specialized and this is the first Specialized store that I see in the Netherlands. |
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| This man helped me find the grocery store in Drachten and I bought some food for the next day and then continued on to find my Friends of the Bicyclers address. |
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| I was up early on May 17. Aly made breakfast for me. She is a former nurse who decided to stay home with her 4 children-2 boys and 2 girls. She likes to go for long walks and will do a 35 km. walk tomorrow.Her husband, Ype is a fisherman. But when the fishing quotas dropped severely in the Netherlands, he and his 3 brothers went to try fishing in Africa. from there they finally finished with 5 fishing boats in Suriname. Aly is home a lot when her husband is away but she gets claustrophobia on boats , so she spends time in her garden. She has one daughter that was in Boston doing social work but she didn't like how many pills that they give to the clients and so she has returned to the Netherlands.Aly visited her there. |
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| The side of the house has a canal there and by the bridge the 11 states skate race goes by there. The bridge and the roof of her house were bombed during the war and had to be rebuilt. |
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| Thank you Aly for a nice visit! |
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| A care farm for people with a handicap to learn skills |
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| Lots of cows |
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| Modern windmills |
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| Farmland |
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| Nice home |
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| A HILL |
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| The old and the new |
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| A house and barn-notice the opening |
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| 1879 |
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| The same 1879 home from the front |
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| My lunch spot by the Slachtedyk |
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| A beautiful day to have lunch by a nice canal |
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| A town in the distance can be spotted by the church steeples |
