Waste-Not-Want-Not

Welcome rays of sunshine have arrived in Haarlem. We’ve had the first dry days since our return from the UK at Christmas; the bikes have been retrieved from the shed and are back in their racks. It probably seems alien to those back in the UK that although we don’t have any car parking for our house, we do have our own personal bike rack.

I’m still in awe of this whole Dutch cycling phenomenon. Yesterday, I spotted a snaking line of young cyclists all in matching fluorescent jackets up ahead. It was a school trip – teachers and pupils all out on their bikes together. It would be unheard of anywhere else but here. I really don’t think my teenager (wants to) believes me when I tell her if she lived with us she’d be off on her bike to go clubbing every Saturday night.

The unexpected sunshine has heralded a few days of hectic activity. I’ve been feeling particularly creative. I made my own soup for lunch and even baked a cake – that’s a first for many months, and definitely the first since we arrived in the Netherlands. The urge to bake came on very rapidly and required a quick dash to the supermarket. When it comes to grocery shopping not knowing the language is not such a problem as I first envisaged. I managed to work out the Dutch for caster sugar is fijne kristalsuike – pretty simple - and as for self-raising flour, that was even easier to find - it’s self-raising flour. In typical Dutch fashion the cake came out of the oven a great deal more sturdier and solid than it does back home, but it’s a start. 

Perhaps Dutch frugality is starting to rub off on me.  I can shrug off consumerism and commercialism and head back to basics.  There are several what I would call old fashioned haberdashery shops in town, catering for those who like to make their own things. A couple of months ago there was an entire Sunday morning market dedicated to sewing and upholstery. It was positively inspiring – I wanted a sewing machine; I wanted to buy reams of fancy fabric, colourful buttons and paper patterns. Fortunately the urge soon passed, but I'm seriously contemplating knitting after I spotted a kit for making woollen cupcakes - seriously, the baking and the knitting sorted in one go. (Do you follow a recipe or a pattern???)

Here, people make do and mend. When  your  shoes wear out  - you take them straight to the cobblers. This is not a throw-away-society – in fact  it’s a hassle to throw anything away at all. The local council don't provide a bin collection service.   We have to take our general household rubbish to an underground bunker in the next street which can only be opened by a personal swipe card. Presumably this is to monitor how much each household wastes, and to encourage re-cycling, although our  re-cyling point – for glass, plastic and cardboard is a further five minute walk away.  It's a definite deterrent. I’m already thinking some sort of water-collection device for plastic bottles,  wine-bottle garden art, and perhaps a sort of giant cardboard/papier-mache Wendy house for the summer. Who knew after all these years I'd finally get my chance to become a budding Blue Peter presenter?