Cycling & Molens

We never know when we go to bed just what kind of weather we'll find the next day. Oh, there's a forecast, but it seems to have little relationship to what actually happens. Much to our surprise, today turned sunny with scattered clouds. It was nice enough to finally take the bicycles out for a spin near Zevenhuizen.

These mills are the last group for lifting water in the Netherlands which still exist as the whole group. The mill on the right is the lowest and lifts water from the polder to the middle mill, then the left mill lifts it to the canal on the right. Finally the mill in the upper photo lifts it to the larger canal.

 

The bike path goes past a nature reserve that was teeming with waterfowl.

A couple of shots of the town of Zevenhuizen.

 

The site of our apartment. The dormer on the right is the dining room of our apartment.

Some flowers blooming on the grounds of the apartment.

  

The tulips in our dining room window sure liked the bright sunshine. Ten minutes after this was taken it was raining hard!

The afternoon was spent at the molen in Tienhoven where Jennette van Garderen, my great-grandmother, was born in 1857. Her father became the miller at this watermolen in 1846. The mill is named de Trouwe Wachter - The Faithful Watchman - because the mill was used in World War II to signal persons in hiding as to whether the area was safe. No one in hiding was captured in this area because of these signals. Here are some photos of the mill and the area around it.

 

 

The Verbiest family are the current tenants of the mill, which belongs to a nature preserve. They are wonderful hosts who welcomed us into their home for the afternoon.

An incredibly special gift from the Verbiest's is this book which they assembled to commemorate the rebuilding of the mill's upper structure and mechanism this past year. The boatman on the cover is Arie van Garderen, the last full-time miller who tended the molen. The book is titled "The Faithful Watchman running again..."