The first week of Christmas vacation had flown by. Tanja and Nancy had not been bored for a moment.

.

They had helped Sjaak in the garden. He had taken them seriously in their ideas about new plants, more plant beds with flowers, paths in between. Together they had made a drawing of a part of the estate, to start working with that in the spring.

.

In the work shed of Huib they had watched how he had been working on a secretary which he wanted to put in his building in the village, as an example or possibly to sell. Time and again they had expressed their admiration for how he had thought it all up. He had told them how the ideas bubbled up from within, and had asked them to just tell him if they might have ideas of their own.

Nancy had immediately responded and offered him an idea about the drawers. He had looked at her in surprise, "That's it, I had been thinking about it, wondering how I wanted to make those knobs, but I couldn't get an idea. And now you come up with it: simple with a little cut-out edge."

Nancy had beamed, had felt important, and had said so. Huib had looked at her, smiling, and said, "People of all ages are equally important. And if you learn more and more to live from your feelings, from your soul, then your ideas will never be childish or crazy. Maybe they will be different from other people's ideas, but they will be good."

.

Then he had asked them if they would like to come to their home after dinner. "Margreet works on a tapestry almost every free hour. And I sit and fiddle with little wooden animals." The girls had run straight to the guesthouse to ask their parents.

That same evening they had sat at the dining table with Huib and Margreet. Margreet had given them a piece of sturdy linen, because they were so eager to make a tapestry as well. They had made zigzag stitches along the edges and watched Margreet sew patches and threads onto the large piece.

"How do you know which color to take? And whether you want to sew on a piece of cloth or a thread?" had asked Tanja.

Huib had responded, "Feel Tanja, just look at a piece of cloth or a ball of knitting thread or take them in your hands, and feel which one seems best to you."

When they were supposed to go to the guesthouse that evening to have coffee, the girls really didn't feel like it at all.

"Tell you what," Margreet had suggested, "I'll just walk over there. I'll ask your parents what time you can stay here. And if they approve of you staying longer, I'll get cake for the four of us at Annerieke's and we'll have a drink here. Then we'll work nicely in the meantime."

By the end of the evening, of course, the girls hadn't finished their tapestries, but the beginnings had been visible. With the promise that they could continue with it the next evening, Huib had brought the cheerful girls back to the guesthouse, where they had made their parents curious with their stories. They had left their tapestries at Margreet's and Huib's, because they only wanted to show it to their parents when they were completely finished.

.

They had also spent a few hours with Lisa and Sjaak. They had listened to their music, watched Lisa tune the violin and cello and play them.

Lisa had said to them later, that they had been like dry sponges, sucking everything in. Tanja had wondered if that was a good thing.

Lisa had burst into laughter, "Yes indeed, that is wonderful. You girls yearn to explore and try everything. It seems, that you are just looking for what you really like, for what really suits you."

Nancy had wisely noticed Lisa say something about trying out, "Can I try out on that big cello?"

Lisa had helped her to be able to hold it and try out what she could with it. That had disappointed her hard. Tanja had managed it a little better, but had soon stopped because it made her fingers that were supposed to press the strings hurt.

"It's nice when you play on it, but hard to start with," she had said wisely. Lisa had agreed with her, she herself had found it difficult in the beginning.

.

One morning Annerieke had asked the girls if they might like to help bake a cake after breakfast. Rachel had asked her, if she thought it would be convenient to have the girls both there. Annerieke had reassured her, "The kitchen sink is very large, and we also have a large dining table, so there's plenty of room. Come around the corner later, if you feel like it."

And so Robert and Rachel had done. It had touched them how their daughters had been diligently working on dough and making cream.

When they had received a slice of pie that evening, they had proudly told the other guests that their daughters had helped with the baking.

The girls themselves had been at Margreet and Huib's again for handiwork that evening, but the next morning, at breakfast, had received compliments from the other guests.

.

Koos and Olivia had brought their bikes for their vacation. They always liked to cycle during their vacations and they had done so this week. Because of the somewhat hilly area they were glad that they had good bikes with electric assistance.

Koos and Olivia were people who had an eye for detail, who saw not only a field of flowers, but also the individual flowers and the insects on them.

They were both handy with their cameras, and from the first day had shown their beautiful pictures to the others.

That first evening Annerieke had already noticed and had told Huib. Through a cable he had connected their cameras to the laptop he always used for the dance evenings, put the pictures on the laptop and played the series. Everyone could see the photos larger on the screen of the laptop.

Because there were no personal pictures, Koos had immediately offered to leave them on the laptop, so Huib had a series of pictures of the surroundings. Maybe he could use them later for other guests.

With that, he had given Huib the idea to give the laptop a permanent place in the living room and have the series played continuously. He had expressly asked the guests to let him know how they found it, whether it was not disturbing. The reactions were only positive. And every evening Huib had added the new series of pictures of Koos and Olivia to his file on the laptop. After a week it had become a long series of beautiful pictures, pictures you could look at again and again. They would never get boring!

.

The other four guests, the sisters Naomi and Paula with their partners Martijn and Leen, had always gone out together. They had walked, through areas of nature, through villages and towns, and had, by their own admission, had the time of their lives. Being together had strengthened their bond, they had gained new energy, and they had been very grateful for the way in which the Bloemenhof family had been there for them in every way.

.

Now the first week was over, time to say goodbye to six guests. Only few words were needed. They had already expressed their gratitude many times, so the farewell was over quickly.

Koos and Olivia, who had had regular contact with Tanja and Nancy in the meantime, took them aside. They had bought them a little present as a memento. The girls unwrapped it quickly, curious what it would be.

"How nice, how beautiful," Tanja sighed, running her index finger over the details of the wooden house.

"Ooooh, it's the guesthouse! Did Huib make that?" exclaimed Nancy.

Olivia and Koos nodded and Koos explained: "We saw how you enjoyed the people who live and work here. We knew that at first you were not looking forward to this vacation at all, but noticed that you are having a fantastic time here. That gave us the idea to give you a small pension. Huib made them during the hours you were already in bed, so you wouldn't discover it."

Tanja laughed, "Huib's a clever one!"

The girls thanked their vacation friends in an embrace and waved them off exuberantly a moment later.

"Too bad they're gone," Tanja thought.

"Yes, really, they were so sweet to us, so ordinary, as if we had known them for years," thought Nancy, "quite special actually..."

To chapter 225. Chatting with Huib

Or to the Table of contents