Well its been a while. A belated ' happy new year ' to you all, and hello newbies.
I can honestly say that 2010 will go down as one of the least favourable years here ' chez Kevin ' A series of disasters , health scares, money issues ( read BROKE ) and a general air of decay and worry.
I will not, dear readers distress you or bore you with all the details or lists of problems, suffice to say you have probably all been there and done that, probably not in 365 days though.
We have now had snow and solid ice on the ground for over four weeks. Over Christmas I could just get of the property and on to the track that takes us to town.That is with a Toyota Hilux with proper tyres for the job. Our heating oil ran out on the 14th December and the truck still cannot get to us. so i used my reserve up, and then set off to town to buy several 20 litre cans worth.
We lost every chicken, over 60 to a disease. I introduced six new chickens to the flock. I didnt quarantine them as I usually do. Result ? All dead within ten days. I have reported it and am waiting for a lab report.
Enough of the gloom. Despite and probably because of the miserable 2010 , I am trying to be extra confident and positive for 2011. I am setting out a new plan to cut back on our outgoings. I sense that fuel prices are going to go up high again. I have now cut back shopping trips to once every ten days. Our food storage and rotation is working smoothly and so it should after 10 years of trying to get it right...
The veg plans for 2011 are a little grander than usual. I will have four largish polley tunnels in place. I have twenty pallet board crates I made. They contain hay and manure. That is where I will grow all the pumpkins , marrows etc. We had a superb crop for 2010.
I have sold our second car, and will use the cash to buy a decent compact tractor+ rotovator. Our old tractor is less suited for this job. I fancy a Iseki or Kubota.
On the family front, our oldest son ( 23 ) went out to Cambodia for several months on aid work. He had money saved. It all went well , he met a girl there and life was fine until he got mugged in a market. He resisted three local lads, and paid the price. He is strong but not for three. He ended up with two light knife wounds, severe bruising and a broken nose. He was enroute at the time to another aid camp. They took everything. All he had left was his clothes on him + flip flops. He was taken to hospital, in which time a nurse stole his flip flops... His wounds were not attended to very well and an infection got in. I ended up getting him back to Belgium for treatment.
Now he is better. He just announced last night that he is going back to Cambodia to finish his work ( teaching music and English ) I thought dear wife was going to faint.
Life, eh ?
My de clutter mission is going well. The house seems bigger now. I also know where most stuff is again. A sort of rediscovering mission.
I have noticed that here in the Ardennes a new culture of bartering is evolving. Some small shops have signs saying ' gold/silver accepted ' and one, a clothes shop had a sign saying ' good cuts of game meat accepted " There is no doubt that its going to get even tougher here. Economy wise its a joke. Jobwise its a disaster. As a family we are just trying to be as self sufficient as possible. True self sufficiency in my opinion does not exist. Everything is a compromise.
Best wishes to you all
Kevin
Belgian Ardennes, Wallonia