Árdís - 01.01.1964, Page 47

Ársrit Bandalags lúterskra kvenna
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and shining, came in to say good night, give me a warm Dutch
kiss, and say, “Welcome to Holland. Sleep well!” There was a
friendly pat, on the back, from the aunt, who retired with the
children. The rest of us stayed up a little longer, and I asked about
their house, which, although in perfect shape, seemed to have
lasted for a great many years. Everything was highly polished,
and the sturdy hardwood floors, with a thick rug in the centre,
brought to mind certain characteristics of the Dutch people. The
lovely frilly lace curtains, flowers, and paintings added a soft touch
to the “homey”-ness of the room.
Mr. Dikkers opened the sliding door of the living-room, which
contained small carved tables, chairs, stands, but above all the
strangest, sturdiest, and most antique piece of furniture, four hun-
dred years old—a cupboard, or cabinet. This was made of walnut,
shining, without a scratch, and had many, various-sized drawers,
little built-in reflectors with real candles, and at the very top, as
this reached the ceiling, where many-coloured pottery vases made
in their country. Mr. Dikkers explained that this piece of furniture
was an heirloom and had been passed on from generation to gen-
eration. “And it finally reached me!” he said. Later I took several
pictures in front of this cabinet. I might add here that Mr. Dikkers
knows several languages, as the Dutch find this very essential in
their business dealings with other countries.
When retiring for the night Mrs. Dikkers handed me a bed
warmer, as there was no central heating in this, and the older
houses. This proved very comfortable, between the linen sheets
in the quaint wooden bed. Towels, face cloths and soap were fur-
nished lavishly, so now all that remained was to wash up, get into
bed, and close my eyes, for the first time in the “dear little, queer
little, land of the Dutch”, and go to sleep. First, however, I had
to make sure my watch had been moved six hours ahead, as Hol-
land is on central European time. How good it was to rest after
the long trip, and how safe one felt!
Later I discovered that this house, (and likely all others with-
out central heating) had three chimneys. One of these was for the
kitchen coal range, one for the fireplace, which is used whenever
the evenings are cool regardless of season, and the third, must be
for some means of heating the upstairs in winter. A heater could