The Thatcher

I am a fourth generation Texan. Although,  I don't know how that is counted? I was born here, as was my mother and grandmother. My great grandmother lived most of her adult life in Texas, but was born in Mississippi. I got off of the subject a bit here. I was going to say, that even though I am a long time Texan....I have lived other places. One of those places, was the little village of Wasanaar, in The Netherlands ( late 1970's and early 80's).

 We had the wonderful experience of living in a thatched roofed cottage. I had a Dutch artist do a watercolor of our house, before we moved back to the states (pictured above). Wasanaar, is a idyllic little place near The Hague that borders the North Sea. At that time, several of the foreign Ambassadors had the residences there. I know this place looks huge, but it is actually what we call a duplex. Two homes under one roof. We lived on the right side.

 

To my knowledge, thatched roofs in The Netherlands are protected., and therefore must be replaced by yet another thatched roof. We were fortunate enough to have this happen while we were living in this house. Reeds were brought from the fields and  hand cut, with this device, right in our front yard.

There was not a crew, or any power tools.... but one man who was in my eyes, an artist. He came six days a week, rain or shine, and without power tools, sewed the new thatch onto the roof. One thing I learned, was workmen have a coffee break about 10:30 in the morning. The huisvrouw (that would be me), was expected to serve any workman a cup of coffee and a cookie. So, I would go out with a tray at precisely 10:30, and yell up "Meneer Koffie".

 Notice how fresh the new thatch was. Great memories...

* I was reminded of my experience while reading one of my favorite blogs by Rosemary: Where Five Valleys Meet on Blogspot.I apologize for the copies of such old photos....although some may agree that I haven't improved a whole lot ! :) Janey