Shade sails. Again.

Sunny. Verry sunny today. Installed the shade sails. One of the two is badly torn, which we made worse on purpose. These sails catch quite some wind, but hopefully with all these slits not any more. We’ll see. (23° today (23 Feb 2019)!)

But, nope. Doesn’t work. Switching to: polyester.

Settle the dirt

If you have a swimming pool you need a sand filter to filter dirt from the water, and so it becomes dirty instead of the water. But, then you need to wash the sand in the filter, with clean water from your pool. That water is normally disposed of. As we had a LOT of sand in the pool lately, the filter could not cope, so we resorted to a 500 liter settling tank, that we just pumped the dirty water in, directly, bypassing the filter. Let it settle a day or two, and siphon it back. That way we don’t lose water, and no salt. Just the last 30 liters plus sediment we washed away after about 10 settlings.

From now on we won’t dispose of water any more, and always wash the filter this way.

Yet another ingenieur Jansen triumph!

Zoomba tricked

Zoomba escaped twice in three days, despite the 2 meter high fence. But how? No gaps under the fence. Did she use the hibiscus to climb over the fence? The almond tree? The yucca? This one can climb trees you know, especially if there’s a cat up there.

We went outside the gate and made cat noises while calling her. It turned out to be the yucca. Poor Zoomba. Fell for our little trick.

The cut off yucca we planted, of course, as Burke explains.

"Virry hippy, think you virry much", sid thi hippy Yucca iwner.

The folding bear chair

Nearly 25 years old. In the past these red cedar chairs were sort of protected with Weizonol conserveergrond, but that comes off in 25 years. It has survived quite well. Only the horizontal plank at the front needed some aluminium support, because some of the wood was really soft. And, the ends of the lower beam of the backrest needed some aluminium, because they too had become very soft, and could simply be sanded off.

The whole chair was disassembled (dissembled) into parts, that were all coarsely sanded, finely sanded, and very finely sanded. After four coats with tung wood oil and about a week's work I'm almost satisfied.

I'm very happy inox screws were used for the backrest and the seat itself. No rust!

It's sister we had to leave behind in Amersfoort, as it was completely rotten. It had spent many years at the bottom of the patio in Amsterdam, in the shade, and never properly dried up. Sad.

Calefacción solar

It's quite frío in January, the solar heating needs to be reinstalled, and properly this time. Decided to not drill holes in the wall for pipes, but use open windows instead, and simply blow the hot air through the mosquito screens.

Bathroom 2 gets its own heater, as that one has the outlet opening at the back, while the bathroom has a hole in the wall there for a ventilator above the (ex) shower:

Well, who would have thought. This palm tree casts a shadow later in the afternoon. We'll need to cut off the dead leaves, which is long overdue anyway.

And so it happened, with the 4m extendable Wolf telescopic cutter. Not that this is a lot better, shadow wise. Even on a non cloudy day. Oh well.

Ventilatorderster

In http://jansenendewaal.blogspot.com/2018/09/ventilatorderst.html I wrote:

"Eat that, humidity!"

Well yes. And it works. Only, this ventilator is so strong that you cannot close the cellar door any more. It has two 10x10cm ventilation grilles, but that is not enough. So, the door needed to be slightly ajar, with a rubber bandage to keep it as closed as possible. But, never actually closed.

Worse is that the cellar takes its air from the kitchen, so in the evenings, when the heating is on, a lot of warmth was sucked into the cellar. You could see the curtain flap. Added a timer to switch off the ventilator in the evening and at night. At night too, as you could hear the ventilator drone in the distance, as the cellar door was slightly ajar. But, then, in the morning, you could once again smell the cellar slightly, in the kitchen.

Grmbl.

Decided on a new plan. Now the lowest mill cellar is naturally ventilated again by the grille next to the house and the window in the back of the garage there no longer is an absolute need to force the air from our cellar through there. Closed off the hatch to the lowest mill cellar by putting the hatch with the big ventilator in a plastic bin bag. And, re-installed the 15 Watt 230V ventilator on the pipe that goes outside at the top and back of the cellar.

Now the ventilation opening in the door are big enough, so the door can be properly closed. Attached a plastic bag to each of the ventilation openings, so air can only go into the cellar, and not out.

Slightly more humid (5%) than the kitchen, and the outside air.

Yes, freezer bag and gaffa tape.

New year 2018-2019: nonnescheten

I quote Joep Habets: https://ermagwelweerwataf.blogspot.com/2019/12/het-nonnenkontje-is-met-raadselen.html

The nun's ass is shrouded in mystery. According to French culinary literature, the "pet-de-nonne" (nun's pet) is known in the Netherlands as "nonnenvot" (nun's foot) or "nonnenkont" (nun's ass). In Limburg and Belgium, fried pastries are known as "nonnenvot," but the recipe is different.

The translation of "pet-de-nonne" is "nonnenscheet" (nun's fart). The name refers to the rapid swelling of a ball of choux pastry in hot frying oil. At one time, an attempt was made to introduce the more respectable name "soupir-de-nonne," which means "nun's sigh." In vain, because from the perspective of modesty, a nun's sigh is possibly even worse than a nun's fart.

A web of truth and fiction surrounds the "nun's fart." It's a rich subject of culinary myth-making. The fried pastry is said to have been created accidentally by a young novice. She dropped a ball of choux pastry, intended for oven cooking, into the hot fryer. And lo and behold, a pale ball emerged, strikingly resembling a nun's behind. An improbable story, but one Catholic institutions have a knack for. Not only the convent of Baume-les-Dames in Comtois, but also at least three other convents elsewhere boast that the incident took place in their kitchens.

In its simplest form, the pet-de-nonne is a doughnut made from everyday choux pastry. Parisian pastry chef Gaston Lenôtre bakes a refined version, flavored with orange zest and a touch of orange blossom water. A truly fragrant fart.

Nun's Farts (Nun's Pets)
Ingredients for about 24 pieces
1.25 dl water
0.25 dl orange blossom water *
2 tablespoons sugar
0.5 teaspoon salt
75 grams butter
100 grams flour
4 small eggs
the zest of 1 orange
icing
sugar frying oil

Bring 1.25 dl water with two tablespoons sugar, a pinch of salt and 75 grams of butter to the boil. Stir in 100 grams of flour with a wooden spoon. Keep stirring for two to three minutes until the dough comes away from the bottom of the pan as a ball.

Remove the pan from the heat and, using a hand mixer or whisk, beat in four small eggs, one at a time. Only add the next egg once the previous one has been completely incorporated. Stop adding the egg if the dough threatens to come apart. It should form a firm, smooth dough. Stir in 0.2 dl orange blossom water and the zest of the orange peel. Heat the frying oil to 180°C (350°F). Using two spoons dipped in the hot oil, form walnut-sized balls. Fry the balls in small batches until golden brown. The balls will turn over on their own once they have browned on one side. Sometimes a little help is needed; use a slotted spoon for this. Drain the oliebollen on paper towels. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve immediately, before they lose their fluffiness.

* Available in Turkish and Moroccan shops, specialty bakeries, and online.

Of course I didn't do that orange blossom water, we have:

And, Mr. Habets agreed. So. Just 1.5 dl of water and a teaspoon of essence (aroma).

And? Yes, great! They do need to be sweeter, and more orangey. More sugar, more aroma, and more zest. Lemon too? I'm hoping for a sugary crunch.

UPDATE 2019-12-31: indeed, at least double the sugar is much tastier. And vanilla.

It's nice that they're very airy, and not substantial. 100 grams of flour, 75 grams of butter, that's something different than the kilos for olive rolls.

And they do indeed turn over by themselves. Self-turning flour!

Christmas 2018: ravioli

Home made pasta (100g flour, 1 egg, teaspoon salt). Filling: plucked duck leg (Mercadona). Sauce: duck fat, bit of flour, port and red wine, and a pinch 5-spice.

The pasta was more al-dente than I had anticipated. Perhaps because I left the dough in the fridge for a day. The other half we made into tagliatelle yesterday, which was very nice and soft.

Mangos

The spot next to the water tunnel and the garage is where the 3 riego (irrigation) water pipes issue their water into the irrigation channels. They're not too careful with that, and the channels leak, so it's always quite wet there. And nice and green. Apparently mango trees use a lot of water, so that's the spot. Bought two, 16€, var "Sensacion". Well, that sounds promising.

Mango nr. 1 (var "Especiosa")

Mango nr. 2

Original planting hole of mango nr. 1

That is because I underestimated how big a mango can grow. They can, apparently, grow 10-12 m in size. Well, in the tropics. To be sure I dug up mango nr.1 again and replanted it a few meters further on.

Granadas

There's a pomegranate tree at the back of our land that has fruit with dark purple juice. Vrery good to make the Antas cocktail (half pomegranate juice, half tequila, ice cubes). Took some cuttings. (start of November)