A Boerenhofstede 15 kilometers from the center of Amsterdam and 25 kilometers from Schiphol Airport.

Unfortunately that includes the Randstad noises of an airplane high in the sky, cars on the provincial road, a passing train, although we no longer hear the latter….

But also the wonderful sounds of the adjacent nature reserve Het Naardermeer, with the meadow birds, the owls of Fort Uitermeer, and the beautiful song of the blackbirds, pigeons and cuckoos in the garden. We take the roaring cows in the evening for granted.

And of course from this moment on, as it starts to get a little warmer: the croaking of all the frogs in the ditches around us. The colleagues drew my attention to the request of the b&b guest who asked at this time last year if we could not fish the frogs out of the ditch with a scoop net, as they were making so much noise. He couldn’t sleep at night because of it. We fortunately have earplugs for those awake to the sounds of the Randstad farm.