Reflections on life at “De Witte Wand”…
"Fuck you, fuck you very, very, mu-u-u-u-uch…"
We had a day out yesterday, visiting a potter friend of ours in Flevoland, and then taking in a rather elaborate garden on the way back.
Gerda Grashuis had an open day at her pottery (Pottenbakkerij GG), which also featured the work of fellow potter Bert Wieman, the sculptures of Loes Kouwenhoven and the paintings of Carolien Kooi.
On the way home, we did a small detour to the village of Teuge in Gelderland, and visited the Levenstuinen van het Groot Hontschoten. Levenstuinen translates as Life Gardens, but I haven’t a clue what Hontschoten means.
I have to confess that what prompted me to visit these gardens was not the fact that the gardens have been planned “according to Zen Principles” and a walk through them will “give much positive energy”. You know that this sort of thing causes much eye-rolling with me. No, what caught my attention was the fact that my gaydar pinged very loudly once I learned that the garden’s owners were two men: Charles van de Nieuwegiessen and Hans IJzerman. Check out their bios on the web site and I suspect that you will agree that my gaydar was probably accurate for once in my life.
In any event, the gardens are certainly worth a visit. They are somewhat like a cross between a spiritual ghost train and a series of stage sets, managing to pack in an amazing number of different vistas into a relatively small space.
wat leuk geoff!!! wij hebben internet!!!
Ha! Eindelijk – welkom bij de 21de eeuw!
We have a couple of ponds in our garden. A large one in the front garden, and a smaller pond abutting the patio at the back of the house. This was how the pond at the back used to look:
This smaller pond had a waterfall, but unfortunately that had a leak somewhere, so whenever it was turned on, the water level in the pond fell over the the course of a few days. The pond itself also seemed to have a slow leak, and the water level would drop to a lower level than we wanted. Earlier this year, Martin had had enough of the problems, and so we decided we would get rid of the whole thing and replace it with a more formal pond.
Rather than tackle this project ourselves, we thought it would be better to get in the professionals. So we contracted the folks at the Watermolen to come in and do the heavy work, once we had drained the pond.
The bit that worried us the most was moving the millstone. The first crane could only just manage to slide it out of the way…
Then the new pond was marked out and excavated…
Part of the area occupied by the old pond was filled in and would become the basis for a new patio.
The guys brought in a bigger crane when the time came to replace the millstone into its new spot in the pond.
And now, several months later, after the new patio and paths were laid, and the lawn resown, this is the result. We are very pleased with it.
‘Wim Kuiper, director of the association for Christian education, is "forcefully recommending cabinet to follow the advise [sic]". He says orthodox schools should be allowed to refuse to employ people who are gay as well as (straight) couples who live together without being married because their "lifestyle does not square with the bible". But he added that only about a hundred of the 2,200 Christian schools abide by that principle. "The Christian mainstream has employed gay teachers for a long time."
Yusuf Altuntas, who represents an umbrella organisation for Islamic schools, announced it is "happy there is finally clarity" on the issue. He says gay teachers can draw their own conclusions. "Judaism, Christianity and Islam disapprove of acting gay (…) If that is what you are, apply at a different school. There are plenty of jobs at non-denominational schools."
Geoff Coupe's Blog 
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