Back Home

Well everyone,

I have safely returned home. Man, is it simple here. It just feels like simple ol' Apeldoorn.
Anyway, in the last week in Wimpole, there was quite a ruckus.

David stabbed himself in the head with a pointy branch of a tree.

I was invited to dine at Ffanni's home.

I got a little something from the staff+volunteers and a little something from Philip.

I went back home.

Well, to split these things up, we'll start with the stabbing. (ooh, sounds exciting)
We had to chase LBJ (Little Brown Job (The little annoying lamb which ran about on the parterre and in the gardens. Small story short: premature born, yew died, lives on its own) on the parterre on Wednesday morning and suddenly David knelt down and held a hankerchief on his head, which became red. He apparantly stabbed himself in the head with a tree branch, which was sticking out. It looked worse than it actually was so even though it had bled pretty bad, David was up and running in an hour.

That evening, I dined with Ffanni and her husband Marty. This was truly lovely! Their house was stunning! When we drove up the !DRIVEWAY!, I saw the HUGE house and the GREAT garden... Yup, this is a nice place ^^
Anyway, we ended up talking and discussing lots and lots of things, such as astronomy, religion, airplanes (Marty was a pilot), food and Dutch habits. I did not expect it to be such a great evening! Anyway, Ffanni proposed that if I ever came back, I could sleep at their place. Which is a really nice offer so it makes my threshold for going back lower.

On Thursday (my last day @ work), the staff plus the volunteer gave me a little present. They gave me the Wimpole book with a card which the volunteers had signed, each with a little message... That's real nice!

On Friday, I had my last stroll around and Philip gave me Coldfeet Rock (a sort of powdery liqourice) and after they finished working, Philip and Janet gave me a lift to Royston station. We said our goodbyes and there I stood, ready to go home, a little bit depressed, since it was so great...

And yet the adventure had only begun! I arrived at London's King's Cross and I lifted my heavy suitcase up and down some stairs because the elevator (or should I say lift) decided to break down that very moment. When I entered the SUPERHOT underground, a message was announced... Dear God. Sign problems. No possible alternatives to go to Victoria. I'm not gonna bloody walk that whole distance! But I did not need to. The Circle Line regained service and so I went to Victoria. On the wrong coach. Apparantly, I figured out (while in the wrong one) that the metal pipes have actually been coloured to the colour of the line! Ah. So 2 station further, I left the Metropolian line and went on the Circle line. Which was even hotter. Yay.

Finally after half an hour, I arrived at Victoria, drained and soaking with sweat. I walked through the Main Hall and arrived at the Coach Station. Right, now I only need to wait ... maybe... five hours? So there I waited, at some cafe... And then I checked in with Eurolines. Okay, the bus should arrive 20:30, departing 21:00. Fine.

21:00: No Bus.

21:40 Bus, Not ours, but the bus leaving 22:00

21:50 Our bus. We just have to load everything in...

22:00 I load everything in. Too much luggage! I have to bloody pay the man, however, I had to wait until Belgium...

22:20 Finally going! Next to a Papoea talker who talked about work with some bloke and made calls to another bloke.

4:30 Stopping in Belgium. I had to pay the man 5 euro! Ah well, he explained why, and I'll support him XD So no explaination on the Internets!

Around 5:00, when it became light, the Papoea guy stopped talking. I couldn't sleep anymore so I was annoyed. But I was almost home! We were expected to arrive at 8:00, I expected to arrive at 9:15 or something. I arrived at 8:35. Quite good.

So there you are! My interesting trip home! Like I said last year. If you want to experience something truly awkward? Go with Eurolines! If you want to travel better, go with something else, preferably plane!

Thanks for the support and nice things during this time! I'll let people know if I passed the course or not.

Cheers!!

-Joost signing out.

Well, this is truly the final countdown..

Hey people,

This is probably the last time you'll read about me, since next week about this time, I'm running about to pack everything and arranging my lift to the train station. (Philip said he could take me, but you'll never know)

Anyway, my sweetheart will leave me tomorrow. We'll take her to Cambridge Train station and then it's a goodbye to Wimpole for her.

Then I still have to be here for a short week. Sunday Plant Sale (again) and a few days of work left...

So, this Sunday was the Plant Sale which I helped with building up and everything. Halfway the day, I went to the Farm to see the Sheep Dog Demonstrations with Runner Ducks. Rianne helped with that and she got a certificate of that =P But it was not too busy on the Plant Sale, because lots of people were at the Farm and some people did not want to pay 3 pounds to see the plant sale (as well as the rest of the gardens...) But we made 400+ pounds which is nice, but regarding that the restoration costs 80,000 pounds, 400 pounds is just a simple amount. Let's just hope the Plant Sale this Sunday will be better...

The rest of the week, I've been working in the Walled Garden, watering the Tomato plants and taking care of them(which is a task I have to do next week myself since Philip and Janet are 2 days off) but I'll manage myself.

I baked a cake on Monday night and took it with me to afternoon tea on Tuesday. I got some very good compliments foor my baking skills! I made a 'Speculaas' cake with Vanilla icing and chocolate 'Hagelslag XXL' on top of it.

My hay fever has gotten quite worse this week, and I hope it will not last too long..
I still have to see how I can get everything in my suitcase since I have to bring sooo much stuff back to people... And myself included.

I'll guess that this is a sort of goodbye to my stay abroad. Such a shame that I have to leave everything here behind me... Although I can't wait to get home...
It's just that this whole place is 'WIMPOLE' and at home, it's just simple 'Apeldoorn'. I lived on a bloody Estate (although it was a small crappy flat) and I lived near some very beautiful gardens (and still for another week) ...

Thank you for ALL your reactions (yes that was sarcastic) and a genuine thanks for the people who actually did respond or comment on my stories!

I hope to see you guys back home... And I'll keep contact with the Wimpole Gardeners (especially because they want my delicious cake.)

See you all and THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

Cheers and TA,
-Joost

Exciting week! (not)

Another week gone!

We start with Saturday, since it was the STRAWBERRY FESTIVAL! Without strawberries. Yep, makes a lot of sense. Anyway, I bought a sweater and a jacket with old school patterns on it, which I like and we bought some food (yes food, what else.) But other than that, it wasn't too much fun, since every person there was either alternative (wearing dreads, full-coloured clothing and looking like they haven't washed too much (BTW, not saying that every alternative person is like that, it was just the typical stereotype who wandered around that festival) or Caribbean people that tried to sell you their fried chicken. Sorry for the stereotypes, but those were the people to walk around.

This week was rather quiet since we had the Thursday off (Three day weekend!) and since I didn't work on Sunday because of the pouring rain, (no visitors, so no need for Car Parkers), I worked three days this week. And in those three days, I helped putting up two more bamboo wigwams for the bean structures. After that, I put my rage into destroying the bottoms of around 100 pots. Took me about three hours. Ah well, now Janet can use them for the tomato plants.

Anyway, there hasn't happened a lot this week... Bit of a shame really. I worked on some school projects on that Sunday, on Monday, we set up those wigwams and I ruined the tomato pots... Tuesday, we planted some odds and sodds of Dahlias and weeded through the potato fields, and removing last year's potatoes from another field and on Wednesday, we weeded through the entire potato field again.

Well not something really exciting as you can see...

Last full week for Rianne, she'll leave me the 20th of June... =(

Time flies pretty fast now.

Our plan was to take the video camera with us to work the last week (Rianne this week, I next week) to record people and surroundings and whatnot. I think it is a nice souvenir to take home. I just have to think where the bloody hell I am going to fit all that crap I have now ^_^;

See you next week! Last time probably!!

Cheers,
-Joost

It's the FINAL COUNTDOWN (tu tu tuuuu tuuuuuuu....)

Hey people,

Yep, another blog from the gardener...

This week, I've been helping David putting up some hoops with fleeces to protect the crops against pigeons and all sorts of animals which include fazants, rabbits and even small deer.
Anyway, this was a nice week, with really good weather and enjoyable breezes.

On Friday evening, we went out! YAY PARTAY!... However, we sat in two pubs(I almost got barred from one because I wore shorts =S), drank beer and sat again in a DANCECLUB. Yes. Sitting in a danceclub, well, that was mighty good fun.

But during that night, I talked to Richard Morris' fiancée who knew some Dutch words including 'Godverdomme' Well, that's the first thing you need to know!

Saturday, we went to walk to the Gothic Tower, I was beautiful! We took our cameras with us and filmed a lot. We walked through the whole park and saw lots of wildlife. Maybe you'll see some pictures later today (otherwise next week, since Rianne has to make them smaller.) In the evening, we went on a Bat Walk with the Forester! It was enjoyable, however, lots of small kids running around, not interested with the bats which we saw (4 species!) The only part was that we had to walk through the whole bloody park again. Ah well, some excercise for us XD

Well, on Sunday, my week begun again. I worked in the Car Park and there was a Countyshow going on in the Arena field (just in front of Wimpole Entrance), so it wasn't too busy in our Car Park... It's so funny to work in the car Park, the blokes there are funny yo talk with and I've learnt some English scolding like 'tossers' and 'c*nts' and several other nice English words. ^_^

After that, Rianne invited me to go over the Countyshow with her, which was really nice. We bought (yes again, I know, but it is rare!) FUDGE (Mars, White Choc, Strawberry Cheesecake, Jack Daniels)... And we ate a Ostrich burger and had a nice refreshing cool drink (not). We bought a "cooled" drink but the bloody thing was lukewarm! Yuck!

Anyway, it was nice that day and we saw some owls and other birds of pray.

This week, there was a program called 'Springwatch' and it tells you all about the life in the countryside which is up and alive now. It was really cute to see all those little chicks grow and fledging their nest...

Well, it was (and still is btw) National Volunteer Week! So we recieved and extra tin of biscuits in the Staff Room XD. Some volunteers celebrated their birthdays, so they brought in several cakes and cheese scones.

I've chatted to some Garden staff about weeding techniques, and apparantly they have a flamethrower for weeding o_O. We talked about every man being mesmerized by flames and fire. They agreed. So luckily, there hasn't been a change in the nature of man over here.

I lost my gloves this week. Couldn't find them, so Andy gave me his hand-me-downs the day after I lost them. But before I got them, I had to weed with my bare hands. Not a problem. That is, until you grab a branch of nettle which is in between the other weeds. Ouch. So my hands burned the rest of the day... Nice. But Andy's gloves were sandy inside, so before I worked, my hands were already very dirty. Sigh. But Philip found my gloves inside a blue pot =S anyway, I've got them now.

Just a quarter after Philip gave me my gloves, I heard David shout at him because it looked like he was rotavating the part where we had planted Dahlias, but he did not, he rotavated just behind them. Then, after 4 minutes or so, David shouted a Phil again, so I did not look up, since I thought David wanted to ask something about a weird weed growing (which was a beetroot from February... But apparantly, Phil fell with the rotavator on its side and Phil did not move a lot. So we ran to him and helped him up, but he was laughing when we reached him, so I guess he was alright. He had some scratches which bled, but he said he was alright. The rotavator didn't start for a while, so we checked it but it had a dead man's switch on it, so the engine just shut itself off.

Today, we went to Tesco again to buy thingies XD We are so bad buying all this delicious food! But then again, they only have it here in the UK! For instance, they have LOADS of different flavours Lay's (Walkers) Baked here! We have THREE! They have around 8+ flavours!
Same with normal crisps! We have the normal Salted and bla bla crap, they have bloody sausage and pickle flavours! Three types of smoked sausage, ham and beef! Prawn Cocktail(not that I like that.) Builder's Breakfast(Egg, buttered toast, sausage and tomato sauce)

Anyway, I'm going to miss those nice flavours... But then again, I cannot wait untill I finally can drive my motorcycle again and play my games! ^^

Tomorrow, we're going to Cambridge again, Rianne needs to speak to the girl who sold us the t-shirts, one shirt was washed but suddenly it got black stains on it... anyway, wel'll see about that.

So this was my report of this week, see you next week! Bye!
If I've forgotten something, I'll update it tomorrow in Cambridge XD

Cheers,
-Joost

Countdown! (As seen in the sidebar!)

Hey people,

Today, after 4 weeks, I'll be in the train back to London to go back to Holland!
Happy days!... Yet it is a shame that I have to leave this beautiful place.
My plan is to take the camera with me in the last week, to record people in the gardens.

Anyway, the last week was nice, we went on a sightseeing tour in Cambridge, which was nice because we heard a lot about Cambridge. For instance:
-There was something like a Pub Race, which made students go past every pub (14) in a street, take an ale in everyone of them and pass (of pass out) the finish line!
Now, there are only 4 pubs left (unfortunately).
Another thing was that the university systems. Apparantly, there was a phylosophy test which had one question on it; 'Why?' And when females were allowed on the university, the guys wore black and hung the flag halfpole, because they thought it would be the death of the university.
The punting tour (small gondel-like boat) was enjoyable as well.

I've had a lot of fun in the car park on Sunday and Monday. Monday was quite busy because of the Bank Holiday Monday (Damn! It looks like they just fling them around in the year!)
But the weather was enjoyable...

The Medieval Merriment wasn't that impressive, it was just a bunch of tents, one show, and 5 shots of the longbow for £3. EXPENSIVE.

This week, I've been planting Dahlias again, yet we did something else from Tuesday afternoon onwards. We started planting Salvias and Geraniums in the Parterre, but because I worked quite hard on them, I created a blister on my right hand.
Thursdays, I burnt my left hand with hot water (just off the boil) when I wanted to pour in some for tea.
Then, after a few hours, when helping putting up a metal frame, I stabbed myself in the place of my blister, so yesterday was not my day... Today, the weather is really nice and we'll go out tonight! Tomorrow, we'll visit the Gothic Tower/Folly and go on a twilight Bat Walk with the Forester.

It feels a bit depressing to go back to Holland because I had such a great time here, but it fills me with joy that I'll be here for another 4 weeks (exactly). And I can always come back to Wimpole... It's a shame I have to miss out the Tomato Festival! Apparantly, they grow 60-something varieties of tomatoes! Black ones, white ones, red ones with yellow stripes! And you can taste them all! Such a shame. But it is nice that the people here want to send photos of all the things I've done and I will miss.

Well, this was an interesting week and I'll see you next week! With three more weeks to go!
(Some photos of this week will be uploaded! Probably some pics of Rianne with her 'babies' -_- Ah well. In the pictures, you can also see Ginger, the garden cat ^^ She just wanders around... I think I told you before about her...)

Cheers!
-Joost

(And Thomas, TA for your response!)

...
(TA is slang here for Thanks or Thanks A lot)

Apple Store (I don't count it anymore...)

Hey people,

Yet again, I'm in Cambridge, we'll probably go on a punting tour ^^ Something we did not do last year!

Today and tomorrow is the ' Medieval Merriment'  at Wimpole, so it is a big festival thingy right now.

We'll go and pick up the shirts Rianne ordered. She is part of a video which some Work Experience girls made on the farm... She milked the goat on the beat of the music.... Dear God. So check her blog to see the horror. (No need to remind you that her blog is www.rianne-wimpolefarm.blogspot.com...)

I'll return my microphone for my iPod. The guys here at the Apple store told me it would work with my iPod Touch. It doesn't. 

So I'll talk to you guys on Friday again!

(BTW, Happy Birthday Janneke! And you too Reinder, on Monday!)

Cheers,

Joost

Hey people,

Yet again another week has passed. I'm halfway through! Yippee!I like the fact that I will be home after the amount of time I've already spent here, but then again,it's a shame that I have to leave this place. It is just so magical.

Anyway.

Saturday we went to Cambridge again, you probably noticed =POn sunday, I worked in the car park. It rained and it was so busy that we stood there for two hours and left after that. XD
Monday I worked in the gardens again and we planted Dahlias... Yup, big surprise =P
But I've been working with David a lot, which is really enjoyable because he is such a nice bloke.
Tuesday I've been working with David again, planting Dahlias and we enjoyed our afternoon tea after some speed planting with the dahlias...
It's quite funny that I've been part of the 'Dahlia Team' since a few weeks and that David has been treating me as a colleague. (By the way, David is the bloke on the pictures, tieing up the bamboo structure XD)
On Wednesday, we started lifting potatoes from an area. Last year's potatoes that is.Apparantly, they forgot to lift most of the tubers, which resulted in them growing again.During the lifting, there was a bloke who came onto the field and wanted to take some photos of volunteers. So he took some photos of me ^^ while I was posing for him, and doing my job. I told him about why I came here and sorts. Apparantly, it does not get published. =( Unfortunately. But I'm probably in a magazine, so I'll bring it back when we get it!
Thursday, we planted Dahlias again. This time however, we had to prepare a whole border, rotavate it with a rotavator and think of a planting scheme. So we did that and it was quite hard work. When I showered, I noticed I somehow got a bit of a tan XD
And today, we're internetting, we'll maybe go to the Gothic Tower (since the weather is quite enjoyable).
Saturday going to Cambridge again! (have to pick up soe t-shirts for Rianne...)Sunday working in the Car Park as well as Monday! (Bank Holiday Monday! Again.)

I'll be back next week, probably updating tomorrow again...

Cheers!

-Joost