Haulerwijk
After finding, when Ernst was hospitalised for a fortnight in May 2019 with shingles and meningoencephalitis, that it is annoying to be dependent on others, no matter how well-intentioned, we decided to sell our beautiful house in Sage-Haast and look for something else
- within walking distance of a grocery shop;
- within walking distance of a public transport stop or station;
- with a more manageable garden.
So another move was imminent. In view of the composition of our household contents, we decided not to move in one day, but in smaller, self-determined portions.
To this end, we invested in an as-new tandem trailer, which could be carried behind the Outlander as well as the motorhome.
After several months of searching on line and a few viewings, we made our choice of a young property in Haulerwijk, a village practically at the three-province point Groningen-Drenthe-Friesland. After northern Germany, northern Netherlands seemed right for us.
The house met the three requirements mentioned above and also offered: nearby family doctor with pharmacy, dentist, physiotherapist, hairdresser and cafés. An additional advantage of moving back to the Netherlands was that complex issues and feelings are better communicated in your first mother tongue than in a language acquired later (our view at that time). And, last but not least, broadband FTTH (fiber to the home) will soon be available at this address.
Haulerwijk is a village within the municipality of Ooststellingwerf with a mixed population. Although Stellingwerfs is said to be the predominant dialect in the municipality, there are many in Haulerwijk for whom Frisian is the mother tongue.
Here is a winter snapshot of the ditch opposite our house, which listens to the wide name canal.
Above the garage is an attic where, using the shelving from Sage-Haast, we were able to house my phone collection, among other things.
Since we had ample time before the actual move, we had a number of improvements and embellishments carried out that can be done more easily in an empty house, than in an occupied house.
Front and back of the high-temperature heat pump that should work with the existing central heating radiators.
Heating is supported by three large solar collectors. Those are installed in this picture.
With a minimal energy consumption, water is heated in the storage tank during sunny weather.
On the sloping roof of the garage (south side) there is room for 16 PV panels of 315 Wp each.
For heat pump, solar installation and 5-burner induction hob, the distribution board had to be extended. Fortunately, I have experience in that area. Then the grid operator connected a 3-phase meter without any comment.
The house on a sunny day.
Motek explores the - still empty - kitchen.
The period in which we are moving is also the period of the first COVID-19 pandemic. Since 10 days of quarantine after each border crossing was not an option, we carried out the move in almost complete isolation. There was no opportunity for any social activity (other than on line). So we got to know the immediate neighbours with mouth and nose covering and 1½ m (5') distance. Fortunately very pleasant people on both sides
The living room. The small table will soon be replaced by a larger, glass table.
Dining room with open kitchen.
The sauna from Sage-Haast gets a place in a corner of the bedroom.
A local carpenter builds the side-by-side fridge/freezer in at our request, so that the passage is not completely blocked.
Later, the landscaper reorganises the patch of garden on the west side of the house. Within months, ground covers will take possession of where black earth can now be seen.
After we made a new fence at the back, Motek can enter the garden on his own, without the danger of following his curious nose into the street.
The fibre connection, one of the arguments for choosing this house, is finally being prepared. We could not have guessed that it would take almost another year, before the fibre would be commissioned.
As the existing - wooden - sliding door was starting to show serious age flaws, we ordered a new sliding door. What a relief: one-finger operation!
We have since realised that we felt more at home in Germany than in the Netherlands after all. And again the history of on line searches and a number of viewings repeated itself. Finally, we put our signatures for a house in East Frisia. See the Hesel page.
Moving house also means dismantling and preparing the HF, VHF and UHF antennas for transport.
Unlike the previous move, this time we hired professionals for the big and heavy stuff. Glad we did.
But then we had already moved so much with our own transport that our next home could already be used.