[kevkev57]

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

[sheila]

well! After such a long absence it's good to hear from you again. Sorry to hear all your tale of woe but you know what they say, "What doesn't kill you will make you stronger" It sounds about par for the course. When one thing goes wrong you can be sure it will be followed by another! Anyway I hope the new year will be better for you. keep smiling!.

[Hilarysmum]

  Nice to see you back, hope 2011 is far far better than 2010  for you

[Rosemary]

Hope 2011 is a good year for you.

[JulieS]

Welcome back and I hope 2011 is a good one for you.
 

[morri2]

Wow!  What a catalogue of disasters!!  Really hope all goes well for you from now on.  Very interesting to hear how things are progressing abroad.  Incidently, we purchased a Kubota last summer - its great, but if you're on sloping land make sure you put weights on the front of the tractor when towing anything as they are very liable to tip.  Also, try and get a four wheel drive model if you can.  All the best. 

[RUSTYME]

Hello Kev,
          sorry to hear all the bad bits ....if it don't rain it pours, eh ? I really hope things ease up a bit for you out there . At least spring is nearer now , and that will at least 'seem' to make things feel better  . 
 This year is the year things are going to hit home here for many people too I fear.   Most seem to be plodding along semi unaffected by things ... I really think that will change very soon !!
 Heating oil will follow the cost of transport fuel , so get plenty in, if and when you can  !!!, maybe even grow some oil seed rape or sunflowers for fuel +cooking oil . Or plant some willow for solid fuel if you have the ground to spare ?
 Bartering will re appear here too before long , as many people are cutting back on spending , and as soon as they can't cut back anymore , well it will have to come into play.
 I hope your boy continues to be ok , after what must have been a very scary time for him and for you and your wife.
 On the bartering front , think of things that you can swap, as things plunge into 'whatever' ?? .
 Yes you can swap gold and silver ...who can afford that ? food is the obvious answer , but there are others . One is a very obvious one .
 I hope you have a better  year than last , and that your expanded veggie plans come to fruition ( or should that be vegition ?). 

cheers

Russ
 

[The Woodsiders]

Hi from a Newbie, sorry to hear of your woes, someone told me once, smile it could be worse, so I smiled and blow me it was.

Having about the same luck as you at the moment, trying to keep our chins up,double one in my case!!!!!!!

[kevkev57]

Thanks everyone for the welcome back.

With regard to the Kubota, I will get a 4x4 as we have some sloping land.

Russ, yeah barter gold...  I dont even have a gold filling and if I did I would
 not fancy pulling that for a bag of carrots......

Calm day today here in the Ardennes. 

Kevin

[Hilarysmum]

Hi Kev, you live in France, nothing is so bad that the paperwork and bureaucracy wont make it worse.  My OH was made redundant last May.  Because of bureaucracy didnt get any unemployment (and work was impossible to find) until Nov.  We struggled, borrowed, starved.  But we survived.  So now the health care people want to know how we lived on nothing from May to Nov.  You have to l augh   

[kevkev57]

Hi Hilarysmum , no we live in Belgium ardennes, but same paperwork and hassle....thank Napoleon for that.  The reason they cannot understand how you survived is because they could not do it themselves, so judge accordingly.

Cheers Kevin