During the working weekend on 15 and 16 November, many tasks, both small and large, were accomplished. The first day started off with the yearly routine of emptying most wells and water reservoirs. This is done to prevent the pipes inserted into the water from being damaged if the water freezes and expands.

Besides drowning the grass with all this well water, the ‘boederijpomp’ next to the Crete windmill was repaired for a second time. Earlier, the pump had already been repaired, with the seals and some screws on the piston being replaced. But when the top section was again placed on the base, the mounting flange broke, preventing the top and base from being sealed together. The solution to this problem was to make a new seal with two rubber rings and a metal ring. These were made by grinding metal and cutting rubber. The only problem with this ‘fix’ is that the pump is now mounted 90 degrees off from the basin. A ‘beunhazen’ solution was to use a bicycle inner tube to guide the water into the basin.

Last on this day, the attic was cleaned. This cleaning spree consisted mostly of sweeping up a kilogram of dust, throwing away unused materials and random junk, and moving important documents downstairs to the office. Notably, amid all the mess in the attic, we found an old projector with a lot of old projector slides. So when it turned dark in the evening, we all sat together to watch these old projector slides, and it was really cool to see this time capsule of the WOT from years ago.

The next day, the decision was made to repair and replace the water pump in front of the office. The wooden parts of this pump were completely rotten through, and the pump had already broken earlier this year. Repairing the pump consisted of two parts: the pump’s metalwork and the pump’s woodwork. Starting with the pump’s metalwork, layers of old paint were stripped away from the metal body, which revealed the pump’s long and well-worn history. After welding several holes in the pipe shut, the pump was given a fresh coat of green paint, which hopefully will protect it for many years to come. For the woodworks, the wooden handle and supporting structure were replaced with new, higher-quality wood, which should last a lot longer than the old pump

Last but not least, a shelf in the kitchen cupboard had been replaced, and the newly created ‘suggestion box’ was painted.