Beau is out of action

About a month ago we noticed that Beau wasn’t moving properly, and after some checking the ladies found out that one of his horseshoes had partly loosened. This was quickly fixed by the blacksmith who fitted new shoes. However, the problem didn’t disappear, and with help of some of the ladies in the stable Beau was put on rest and some medication. Two weeks later the improvement was only minor, and Mary decided to take Beau to the vet. There he got a thorough examination to find the cause of his lameness. It turned out Beau had an infection or irritation in one of his joints, and to cure this an injection was given. Beau was given 4 weeks of restricted movement, limited to two walks of 20 minutes each, and rest inside his box.

After a few days real panic hit, as the caretaker at the stable diagnosed Beau with colic. Unfortunately Mary and the girls were all out, and it was quickly decided to let the vet come. Beau got some medicine, a completely empty box, and no food for 24 hours. Especially the latter is real punishment for him! The cause of this colic (severe intestine cramps) is not really clear, but could be related to lack of movement, or even stress as Beau had a new neighbour in the stable he clearly didn’t like. Now his walks are split up into 4 short 10 minute outings, which is just enough for a loop around the stable. And his box is slowly filled with straw again (he likes to eat it). Luckily his good nature hasn’t suffered too much, and the weather in this everlasting winter is not really inviting for a lot of outdoor riding. Hopefully real spring and full recovery are coincident!

Cape Town

Piet's travels around the world are continuing: for his new project in South Africa he went to Cape Town for 4 days. The aim of the trip was to meet some of the Shell staff in country, combined with a visit to a seismic vessel that was in port. The vessel was acquiring seismic data in the concession Piet is working on, and just finished the job. A number of close-out meetings were held, and Piet had a chance to visit the vessel, the first time after nearly 25 years in the oil industry.

Cape Town is a beautiful city, very pleasant at first glance, but everybody is warning for a high level of violent crime, and ensuring that you don't wander off into a dangerous situation. There is, however, one area that is always safe: the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront, a tasteful development of the old harbour area with many restaurants and shops. The hotel provided a regular shuttle service, so Piet and his colleagues had several meals there.

The weather was great, a welcome chance from the never ending winter back home, with sunshine and temperatures of some 25 degrees. Luckily Piet had the whole Sunday off, and they took the opportunity to walk up to the Table Mountain, the main feature in Cape Town. This was a very nice trail, through Platteklip Gorge, and on the flat top of the mountain. The views were stunning over the city, and also towards the Cape of Good Hope in the south. They descended with the cable car, and got into an open double-decker bus, that took a long detour back to the hotel.
In short: a great trip, and Piet has to go again next week!

View on Cape Town from the seismic vessel

Cape Town Waterfront: restaurants, shops and Table Mountain in the distance

View on Cape Town from Platteklip Gorge

View on Cape Town from Table Mountain

 View towards Cape of Good Hope

 Bo Kaap, a colourful old neighbourhood

A little bit of spring

After the snowy period (see last post) the weather was a bit more pleasant.... for only a day or so. Then temperatures dropped again, with a cold wind, unpleasant snow showers and slippery cycle paths. It turned out to be a real winter that lasted some 5 weeks, and people were starting to get depressed from the continuous cold and lack of sun. Fortunately the past weekend temperatures rose to some 5 degrees, and on Sunday the sun shone all day, so the whole city was outside: it felt like a little bit of spring.

Beau spend most of Sunday in his paddock next to our house, Mary did some gardening, and Piet got his first 100km+ bike ride in. We are  looking for some more of this! 

Paula and Beau walking to our house

 Beau is looking for the pony's in Wapendal

 Beau in his paddock: looking forward to spend a lot of time here!

Winter in The Hague

After the skiing holiday we had 10 days of very mild weather. Then winter struck: it started with some heavy snowfall (15 cm in The Hague) and almost immediately temperatures dropped below zero, and remained there for nearly 2 weeks. The result was that the snow stayed, and froze to a solid layer. In our street and surroundings the roads were not cleaned, so it stayed white, and we had slippery bike rides to reach the main roads that were properly cleared. Due to the snow and wind ice formed slowly, and only Paula went for skating on real “sandpaper” ice. 

The main victim of the weather is Beau. Due to the icy conditions it was impossible to leave the stable. Inside the stable the snow was removed, but the outside paddocks were not useable. So only limited time remained when the inside paddock had to be shared by all owners in between the lessons. And as an alternative the ladies walked Beau for numerous short loops inside the stables. Fortunately this weekend temperatures will rise again, and hopefully Beau can see some different scenery on Monday.

Our house (in the middle) in wintery The Hague

The pony's in Wapendal are searching for food

Arctic scenery on the beach 

 In the dunes, birdwatchers are braving the cold

 Dorien and Beau are doing their rounds around the stables

 The next day: sunshine and temperatures above zero

A lot of snow has dissapeared in a few hours 

A white Christmas

This year we decided again to go skiing during the Christmas holidays. Due to Piet’s leave schedule we left the weekend before and spend the Christmas days just with the 4 of us, on the slopes during the day, and in our house in the evenings. Paula is still working on her cooking skills, and did most of the dinner preparations. Nothing better than a crackling fire, snow outside and a good meal!

We were very lucky this year; early December there was a record snowfall in the village, of about a meter in height. This meant that in Alpe d’Huez, higher above the valley, skiing conditions were perfect for the start of the season. And where we have been unfortunate in the past years (low visibility, little sunshine, very strong winds) the weather was great: sunshine almost every day, temperatures around freezing, and some fresh snow during the week. During this week it was pretty clear that there were 2 groups in the family: a slower, older couple, that like to stop early (with tired legs), and a young couple that wants to ski fast until the last lifts close. Paula and Dorien took morning lessons with the “expert” adults, who turned out to be mainly teenagers like themselves. As their technique is already reasonably good these lessons focused mainly on increasing speed and skiing off-piste. In the afternoons we skied together, and the last days the girls took off by themselves, finally doing the infamous and challenging “Le Tunnel” run, (a first in our 10th winter in Alpe d’Huez), and clocking as many other black runs as possible.
As we had to drive back on the first of January (Piet’s first day back in the office was the 2nd) our New Years Eve was pretty boring. We drank our bottle of champagne the evening before, and went to bed around 10 pm, and woke up at 5 am to drive home. Near Grenoble the good weather ended, and we drove back through the poring rain, arriving in time to visit our lost child Beau in his stable.

The ladies taking a rest at Villard Reculas

Mary and Dorien in the Chalvet chairlift

The girls managed a small snowman with the leftovers in our garden

Dorien arriving on Lievre Blanc, without using her poles

Mary is also making it to Lievre Blanc, an uphill arrival

Paula descends Combe Charbonniere, one of the black runs in Alpe d'Huez

Piet trying to be stylish off-piste

Paula descending the Sarenne slope

Albania

Piet has been working on a project onshore Albania for most of 2012. He visited the office in the capital Tirana twice (see post of 13 October 2012), and had a chance to visit a seismic crew in the hills near the town of Berat. This crew is acquiring data to image the subsurface, which will allow Piet’s team to make estimates about the potential for oil exploration.

For this specific project it works as follows: geologists determine for what area they need more information, and draw a number of lines on a map; across these lines seismic data is acquired. Then a company goes out, scouts the area, and drills a number of holes along these lines, typically 10-20 meters deep, and 40-80 m apart. These drilling rigs are quite small, but very heavy. On this campaign these rigs were mounted on the back of a tractor, for easy accessible terrain, but there were also loose units that had to be moved by helicopter in more difficult areas. After drilling these holes are loaded with dynamite, which is then detonated. This sends a sound wave down into the earth, that bounces off deeper layers and gets recorded by geophones, which are planted at surface. This data can then be processed to create a geological image of the subsurface.

Piet and two colleagues witnessed all these steps, and also had a chance to see the terrain and the logistics, in preparation for a 2013 project. They were impressed; a large number of people and crews were moving round the area, with roads in poor condition and limited daylight hours. Unfortunately, due to a re-organisation within Shell, Piet will leave his team early 2013, and will not have a chance to use the end result of this seismic campaign.

The town of Berat at dawn

Conditions on the main road between Berat and Tirana

A helicopter is moving a drilling rig in the hills near Berat

 Detonating 10 kg of dynamite, to send a sound wave into the earth

A beach race and cycling pictures from the summer

Winter is approaching, and Piet's hours on the bike are decreasing; it is not too much fun getting soaked when it is less than 10 degrees outside. Anyway, he participated for the 3rd time in the Rabobank Beach Challenge, 38 km from Scheveningen to Noordwijk and back. The weather was reasonable, with only a light wind, a minor drizzle and a temperature of 5 degrees. The tide was low, and the sand was quite firm, so Piet rode a personal best of 1 hour 37 minutes, despite suffering from a cold.

There are no photos of him, but last week he got hold of the cycling pictures of last summer, that his sister took on Col d'Ornon and Alpe d'Huez. A nice reminder and something to look forward to!

An impression of the Rabo Beach Challenge

Max and Piet on Col d'Ornon, July 2012

Dorien on Mary's bike, Col d'Ornon

Bart finished first

Bart and Piet cycling up Alpe d'Huez, July 2012

Max, Paula and Marc starting halfway on Alpe d'Huez

Jeroen, Max, Piet, Marc, Paula and Bart on top of Alpe d'Huez

At the entry of Alpe d'Huez, with the 6 finishers of the day