[Jackie]

The question you have to ask yourself Ian is can you live with the decision for the next 40 years of NOT going for it?

If the answer to that is 'No' then go for it.

The chances of being completely self sufficient is remote on a smallholding without any other business bringing in income but I know I would rather take a part time job to help finance my dream than work and live in a way I hate.

In your case I would look to see if I could put a manager into the shop to run it for you if you can afford to buy a new place, if not then sell the shop to finance your dream.
Look at other areas besides Wales as the property prices have hiked up in the last few years there, such as Lincolnshire or Scotland.

Have you looked to buy a redundant pub? There are loads on the market and some have huge car parks and beer gardens that can be turned into a smallholding.

If you go for the redundant pub idea then hire a specialist estate agent to look for you as it will save time and invariable money plus you get a better choice than some you could find.

I looked at one in Lincolnshire that could be converted into an 8 bedroomed house quite easily in case my smallholding dropped through. It had a huge car park and garden of approx 1 acre with land around it I perhaps could have bought or rented later.

There are good deals to be made IF you have the imagination.

There are many ways to bring in some cash;
Have you thought of converting a few bedrooms to guest rooms for B&B or perhaps an outbuilding?
You can have 5 touring caravans on any land without planning permission.
Dig a huge pond, stock it and have fishing holidays.
Advertise disabled holidays with a few adaptions to the house.
If its a pretty area advertise painting or photographic holidays for artists.
A walking area? then advertise that.
What about trying to have a boarding kennel business? or small animals, these don't need a licence.

There are many, many ideas to bring in some cash but you have to ask yourself. are you brave enough to live the way you want?

[knightquest]

Wow Jackie, I can see why you do so much in life. What a motivational reply! There sure is a lot to think about there - thank you!

Sorry to have hijacked your thread, please do keep us informed as to your progress with NK. I'm sure lots of people are waiting for updates 

[Jackie]

You are very welcome Ian.
 I just hope I have helped clarify things for you and not made any decision making by you and your wife harder.

As for hijacking the thread, you most certainly have not!
 I have asked people to post their thoughts and welcome people doing so as some times it can feel like Im either boring people to death or people are thinking 'Oh she's up herself!'

So post away. 

[Wizard]

Jackie  I think from the replies we get the few that are bored with us are so easily bored anyway.They have no imagination no motivation now't. I am past it now but I still find things to do although I don't fell and log trees or dig dikes out and all those sorts of things as well as repairing farm machinery as a job.I used to be able to carry a cwt bag of cement on each shoulder and one under each arm for a bet now I struggle with a carrier bag in one hand.Ah well Tempus Fugit and all that.

[knightquest]

What's your story then Jackie? I'm not trying to be nosey and am not looking for more detail than you want to give but I would like to know how you came to be where you are now?

When did the bug bite so to speak? 

Ian

[Jackie]

Ah ok my background, well my family, Grandparents (mums side) have always been farmers but my mum married a lad (dad) in the RAF so I was brought up away from any animals apart from a hamster lol. We used to regularly go to my grandparents and stay for a while so I loved farming and shooting and riding etc. and especially grandads dogs as he was the local unofficial rescue back then. <<<<<<<<< This is where the bug bit!

My dad got demobbed and we came to Melton Mowbray where I married a lad who was brought up in Shepard's Bush London so he knew nothing about farming etc. I left uni where I was doing a degree in Law to support my hubby getting his engineering degree. We went on to have 3 kids always following hubbys career but then I eventually persuaded hubby to go self employed as his job is quite a specialist thing.
In the meantime I stayed mainly at home with the kids but I loved dogs so I set up my own registered kennel at home from which I showed and bread golden retrievers.
The kennel was very successful and without advertising people came from all over the world for one of my dogs. Pedigree Petfoods (Masterfoods) was one of my customers with 2 of my dogs in their show team.
 I only ever had 2 litters from each bitch so I wasn't a prolific breeder but I was very, very careful with the lines and so I had more potential owners than I ever had puppies.

One day a friend came for coffee and said "What did you want to do with your life Jackie? I replied "I wanted to be a nurse but its too late now."  BTW I was in my early 40's. She said "You are never to old to do what you want."
So that was it I got myself onto a college course to upgrade my A levels, in fact I caused a problem for the course tutor as she said I coulnd join the course half way through as I would never catch up. I had to go over her head to be allowed to join and I did catch up so I did 4 A Levels in 6 months!!!
I applied to uni and got in, (I got told at the interview I had got in which is very unusual) as they had already heard of me apparently.

I loved uni and nursing but had to leave when my dad died in '07 to take care of my mum as she has dementia. I sobbed and sobbed about my life being over and having to leave nursing to look after my mum but I couldn't leave her to go into a home or hospital as I have seen the care in most places and it ain't good!

Ive been looking after mum for 3 years now and I was very, very bored.

 Luckily hubby won £122k on the lottery two years ago and we stuck it in the bank for 6 months not knowing what to do with it so as not to waste it.
Hubby went away to Scotland on a contract and I spent it all. I bought a house with cash (actually I bought it with my debit card, I was very blase when I did it but stood outside the bank afterwards shaking and holding onto a wall so I didn't collapse lol)then phoned hubby and told him.  I had to hold the phone away from my ear for a whole half an hour while he calmed down. It was no good asking hubby if we should buy the house as he would have said no, so I had to do it that way.

I later learned that paying cash was a daft thing to do but hey ho you learn as you go along and I have never done it since although I bought a few more houses.

That house was the start of making real money. I made £40k profit on it.

Before anyone says "Well its ok for her she got that money from the lottery." Most people have money they don't realise they do, equity in their house or a pension thay could cash in. I did learn a lot eh? You only need a 10% - 30% deposit to buy a house to do up and a really good mortgage broker.

In another post if you don't mind Ill write how to make money from houses.

Hubby was so pleased with what I had done he knew I was aiming for a smallholding but knowing me it had to have 'that little more', he was fine with it all. Les (hubby) actually saw my place on the internet and it had been on the market for over 2 years, just ripe for a good deal!!
The place had run down kennels and cattery plus a circular rabbit house and loads of fenced off areas just ready for pigs etc.

We employed a mortgage broker (couldn't use our 'normal' one cos this was a commercial mortgage we were after) and offered £115k less than it was advertised for, they accepted and we had major problems getting a mortgage.

No bank liked the property and it took a local guy (bank manager) who realised that at £250k its about the price of a 4 bed detached in Melton and he backed us but it took us 8 months to finally get the money.
This is where our mortgage broker came into her own as she kept the vendors sweet and holding onto the deal for us for all that time. She cried with me when a bank pulled out after saying 'yes' to us and she set up more and more deals for us. Employing her cost us £2k but its the best £2k we have ever spent!!!
All in all it cost us £6k in total to value the property for each bank but well worth it.

Contact me for the name of my commercial mortgage people and if you contact them please say I recommended them as Id like them to know how gratefull I am for their help. They really went over and above to help us.

As soon as we get the kennel boarding licence the value of the property will go up £100k so the bank told us! (as if I didn't know )

So there you have it, I now own a smallholding with 5 acres of land plus 30 kennels 18 cage cattery plus room for my farm animals. BTW I am now 53 so its all been done in a short time really. it was a steep learning curve to make enough money but we did it!

[Wizard]

Hello K and all Do not be envious of Jackie at all.I have met Jackie,Les and Mum.I have also been to the New House at N.K.There is a terrific amount of work needed to make the house fit to live in its been allowed to run down The buildings all need repair and the 4/5 acre needs lots of work.She and Les have started and are making a smashing job.They have renovated some of the buildings and have chickens and pigs with some lambs which I can only tell you about secondhand.Kath went on a tour I stayed at the house with Les as I was in a low state with my COPD as I had just been at Brocklesby and been up the drier and was really out of breath.Jackie and Les are where they are by sheer hard work.There is a lot left if you want to go and help I feel sure they would appreciate it.Tree felling some gone mad cypresses would help wouldn't it Jackie.Great big horrid things folk never think how big they can grow if left unattended.It's a wonderful dream that is turning into an even better reality.All the best Jackie and Les we will call again when we are your way.

[Jackie]

There are a few ways to make money on property but this is the way I know.

1 See what cash you can generate from your own property with equity or see how much you can get from your pension if you cash it in. It has to be approx 30 - 40 k

2 Get a really good independant mortgage broker and ask them to lower their charges for you (mine charges £99 for getting a competative domestic mortgage for us.)
Get the promise of a deal, mortgage in principle acts as cash. Get it in writing if you need to show estate agents

3 schlep around every estate agents ONCE PER WEEK. Offer them a sweetie as you eat one so they remember you.   Complement them on their nice perfume etc. but always, always talk to them.
 Tell them you have lots of cash and are looking for a great deal and when its done up you will sell it throught them so they get 2 deals from it. These are the people who can really help you. I get estate agents phoning me with deals that are coming onto the market now before others see them.

Oh and I send a bouquet of flowers to the estate agent every time I buy a house. Costs not a lot but generates loads of goodwill. 

Make sure you can make a profit on the property by looking at the others in the street and seeing how much they sell for.

Use a website to see how much the area is worth and dont over improve or price the house.

Buy the bad house in a good area, not the good house in a bad area.

Study the internet to look for up and coming areas with major investement in as house prices will go up.

Aim to make at least £20k from each house if not more or its not worth it.
See if you can make 4 bedrooms from 3 large bedrooms and if in a univeristy area look to see if you can do a house of multiple occupancy, look up the regs for that but its great money.

4 Go around and look at houses yourself and check the paper, internet and listen out for deals. people will eventually tell you about anutie ?? house going cheap cos shes died or gone into a home etc.

5 Ask around for workment and handy men that are prepared to work weekends, after their own day job or look for people who are unemployed. Test them with a little job at your own house to see how good they are. A lot of people talk a good job! You have to be able to trust these people so make sure you like them and they are trustworthy.

6 Spend some time looking for materials on the internet, usually cheaper. This is how we found a wholesale kitchen supplier that can supply a decent kitchen for £1k. Bathrooms and central heating systems have to be got this way or they will cost you way too much from the high street.
Remember the costs eat into your profit.

7 This is NOT your house, you are selling it so dont add your own taste. Your own taste will cost you money you dont have to spend.
Make the place clean and modern and nuetral To gut a house and start from sratch should cost no more than £15k but if you are clever buy a house that just needs a new kitchen and bathroom plus painting, cheap and simple.

8 Concentrate on getting it done quickly, as quick as you can then go onto the next one.

9 When you sell the house buy 2 with the profit, one to do up to sell and 1 to rent out. Keep doing this and you will have a good stock of houses to cash in altogether when you are ready to buy your smallholding.

So far I havent sold any of my houses but 1 is on the market now and another soon to follow, once its done up lol

Good luck. 

[Jackie]

Thank you George 

Yes there is a humungous amount of work to do and thats why we got a great deal  but the work doesnt worry me (it does worry Less however as he keeps wondering around saying "OH my God what have we done?" but then he always says that when we buy a house to do up lol)

It will take us a while to get the place as I want it and Im already starting to get twitchy about the amount of time its taking cos Les so far hasnt listened to me about getting local people to work for us he keeps bringing our own guys from Melton who can usually only stay for a day or two at most!!!!

Im gonna investigate local workers myself!

Im looking forward to the day I can say to you George "Come see my place its about done" and you will be well enough to look around with me. 

[Jackie]

I went to NK at the weekend and it was sooo relaxing as its the first time just hubby and I have been there. All I wanted to do was sleep lol

We got stuck in traffic driving back to NK and I was really worried about the lambs being still out and foxes. Son had put the chickens away so they were ok. We finally got back at 10pm and thank dog the lambs were all ok but going mad for a bottle.
My lazy son hadnt cleaned or steralized the bottles from the last feed so it took me a bit longer than normal to feed the babies.
Huh! when I leave NK I always leave the milk made up in the fridge for him to feed!!!

The lambs have eaten all the grass in the small area we had fenced off for them (they are real little eating machines) so we are going to let them eat all the grass and nettles and thistles in the excisting pig area to get it ready for the new pigs in a month. I did suggest we put them in there right from the start but hubby didnt think they would come back to the shed for bed, now he knows different when they stampede for the bottles. 
The lambs are also eating creep by the bucket and they are just about as round as they are tall. lol

I keep meaning to worm the lambs but am worried that I dont know their weight so have suggested to Les that we take scales back to NK this weekend and get the skinny worker to pick them up so we can weight them prior to worming. Hubby, son and I cant do that as we are fat and the scales wont go that high for us plus a lamb I think.
 Im not going to work out the dosage as I do remember working out some meds for our huge pond and the koi and I got it wrong by x10. Thank goodness I checked with Les before I dosed the pond.

The tails have dropped off all the lambs bar 2 now and on the ground they look like those foxes tails you used to see on scooter ariels. If you remember that far back?

I have checked my raised beds and the courgette seeds are showing through and as I planted them 2 to a spot as you should and I cant waste anything I now have about 12 courgette plants. If you know anything about courgettes it means I have enough of them to feed a small third world country lol Ah well I can freeze them or sell them at the gate I suppose.
The pumpkins havent come up  but I think the seeds were maybe too old as I always buy old seeds cos they are much cheaper at 5 pkts for a quid. Some you win, some you lose. but I did wonder if they would come up so I bought 3 pumpkin plants from Melton car boot at 50p each.

The sweetcorn and various sorts of cabbage and kale are doing very well and so are the feral cats cos no rabbit has eaten the crops.
Some of the leeks have been pulled out of the ground by birds so I went around to plant those again.

In the quad area in front of the offices I made a veg bed there, actually Brandon did, and the plants are doing ok, not brilliant as the slugs are active so I must get some egg shells around the plants. I cant use slug pellets cos the dogs are in that area.

The pigs are doing fine and the more I stand and stroke them the more I love having them.
The 2 pigs that were attacked are doing well and the gilt if getting fatter by the day cos the boar is a gentleman and lets her eat first. I have 1 fat gilt and 1 thin boar. lol
In the other pig pen everything is calm and no other attacks. I must have been right that the only non wild boarx is too big to attack.
In this pig pen there isnt a blade of grass to be seen and they are ploughing up the ground beautifully and getting all the nettle roots up lol they look like loads of tangled balls of string all over the place.

Oh which reminds me, where does all this orange/blue/yellow twine come from? Is there are layer under the earth where the dam stuff is sold by earthworms so it can appear in a pig/chicken/lamb pen every day? Theres so much now I could make a peggy rug!!! 

The house next door to us has got rid of their horses or ponies and had a whole barn full of straw/hay mix that we saw a guy with a tipper truck burning!!! Being a chancer that I am I asked if instead of burning it we could have it, so he gave us enough to last over a whole winter!! 3 sheds full and 1 large pile with a tarp over and 1 large pile without a tarp and all animals got fresh thick bedding.  I gave the guy a fresh chicken.

Yes I had to kill a chicken again  and it wasnt any better the second time around, in fact it was a whole lot worse!!!
I bravely went to the checken run to sort out which chicken to kill and 1 pushed its way through the gate so that was the one. I got my work coat on and picked it up and like a fool my hand was over its heart and I could feel it beating. Stupid, stupid me. I should have moved my hand but I didnt 

I picked up the sharp knife we had bought at Tesco with a sharp point (for digging into the neck) and an empty food bag to catch the blood and marched to the barn with the chicken sitting quietly in my arms. I firmly placed her head into my humane killer and pulled fast and hard. Her neck was broken when I took her out of the humane killer but her heart was still beating so I put her back in and did it again thinking I had done it wrong. I was in quite a state by this time and panicking to kill the chicken to get her out of, as I assumed, pain. I then slit her throat with the knife and felt her heart stop beating.

I did make Les check that the machine was set right and it was. Les has tightened it so much now it should take the chickens head off straight away next time, if there is indeed a next time.

I was in such a state after that I swore I would never do that again, however on looking some information up on the 'net I was told that as the spinal cord was broken by the first pull she would not have felt any pain (pain travells up the spinal cord to the brain, yes I did know this beforehand but was panicking) and the heart does beat for a minute or so. I really dont know if I can do this again and I now have 42 chickens that have reached killing weight just eating the food cos I cant kill them.

I told you that we had 4 feral cats at NK and that the previous owners (HARA charity) was going to supply some cat food for them as they technically are theirs, anyway they arent going to supply food now so we bought a sack of cat biscuits to cut down on the costs but they didnt eat biscuits only tinned food and thats expensive. We have asked the charity to come and collect 2 of the cats and we will keep 2 as that seems fair, and they went on Monday. I hope 2 is enough to keep away the rats and rabbits plus I have 2 pet cats so they will hunt too.

Les and the lads have now sectioned off the bedrooms and we have made 4 bedrooms out of 3 plus a passageway to the extension for when its built. We had a new window put in what will be my mums bedroom as it has room for an easy chair and small coffee table for when it all gets too much for mum downstairs. Plus she has a good walk in wardrobe which all women love.

[Jackie]

The post was too big for more hence a second post. 

The kennels are coming along nicely as the lads have now painted all the walls and ceilings a clean white. They have wire brushed the metal mesh and today will paint it with hammeright. Tomorrow they are putting leveling compound on the floor to seel the cracks in the concrete ready for the floor to be painted grey.

Les has ordered from the internet the feather edged boards we need for the outside walkway. The fence is only going to be 3ft tall with mesh on the top as we want daylight into the kennels.
The bath and shower and sinks have all been connected now and the central heating will be tested when we buy some oil.
 
I have ordered some rolls of vet bed, colour grey, for the dog beds as it washes easy and lasts forever. HARA left about 50 plastic dog beds in various sizes but a lot of them are chewed and so son is going to use an elctric saw to cut off the jaggy bits as we wont get the licence with dangerous dog beds.

Anyway, thats the latest from me and NK. 

Enjoy!

[CameronS]

lasts forever

unless you get a dog that rips bedding, then it disspears so easily 

[knightquest]

I tell you this, if i'd have written those posts, I wouldn't have had time for any work lol

It is nice to read the posts it's almost as though I know the place. Keep the info coming Jackie.

How many hours constitutes a working week for you at the moment?

[Jackie]

lol Thats true Cameron but the boarding dogs will get 1 chance at bedding and if they eat it they go without for the rest of their stay with us. They wont freeze to death even in the winter as the kennels has central heating and the dog beds are on a shelf away from draughts on the floor.

One of my GSD's tried to chew her vet bed but when she got it in her mouth she couldn't chew it as she wanted so now she sucks it like a dummy. Big bold GSD having a dummy!!! 

A friend in America asked me what I do for fun Ian and I couldn't answer him. I work for fun I think and when I'm at NK I tend not to go outside into the real world, except for food shopping. I don't have any hobbies now as I'm generally too busy but I love it.
I'm always promising myself that I will go swimming or join a gym, something that is 'me' time but I haven't.

In fact I'm quite dreading the day when everything is done at NK cos I know I will be looking for other properties to do up, Goxhill and that area looks good to me and around NK is major investment so house prices are going to go up. I once saw a house in GY that was on sale for 4k cos it had had a fire and was very, very tempted even then.

I work, work, work then eventually I have to sleep, normally I wake at 4.30am and go to bed at 12pm. I did most of my uni course with waking at 2am lol so 4.30 is a lie in for me.
 I sort of have a come down when we go on holiday so that I sleep for usually 4 days straight. Hubby's very good and sees when I need a break cos I get migraines or IBS when I'm under too much stress.

[Wizard]

Hello You chaps and chapess's at N.K.You are ok for work for a little while I think.It will soon be harvest and have you made a place to store your straw bales.I said to this chap "Shall you let Jackie have a few" He said "Can she handle 1 ton Heston Bales?"I replied "No but you can if you take em wi a Teleporter"