Christine - Hunters: 1-0!!!

This morning we woke up a bit later than usual. It has been a very hard couple of days on the digestive side. Friday evening we hosted a very copious dinner because we wanted to show our Italian friends that the Belgian cuisine is quality-wise a very good match for the Italian one. And yesterday we were invited for an extensive lunch ourselves. So after two days of hard labour at the table we thought that we could do with a small break. I opened the curtains around ten and was thrilled to see that at least we'd have a white Boxing Day. The past couple of days have been quite warm and a bit rainy so the sight of the snow-covered trees and fields was quite a lovely surprise.

But then came the shock. Christine was raising the curtain at the side window of our bedroom and suddenly screamed that there was a car parked in the middle of our garden! I couldn't believe it at first, but indeed, there it was. Someone had driven by our letterbox and the pillar which will one day hold one part of our entrance gate, made a 180 degree turn through our rose beds and parked his car just there. We immediately sussed that it must be one of those bloody hunters again. I took the camera and went outside to take a couple of pictures as proof, while Christine called the Carabinieri. Who obviously didn't feel like driving half an hour through the snow on a holiday, so they advised us to call the Provincial Police (who's responsible for hunting issues) the next morning. So that was that.

Suddenly, Christine had a brilliant idea. She asked me to go and park our car at the entrance gate in such a way that the stupid idiot wouldn't be able to leave anymore. Which I did right away. That should come down as a shock to that bastard! A bit later we saw him, walking across our field. Again we took a couple of pictures. This man was in breach of the law no less than 4 times:

- Parking on private property

- Walking through a private garden (I'm not even referring to our field because this would be regarded as "agricultural land")

- Hunting in the snow (only allowed to a very select group of special licence holders)

- Hunting less than 100m away from a house

So we prepared ourselves for the confrontation, which obviously wouldn't be far away anymore. It was nearing lunchtime and the guy certainly wouldn't want to miss his hot tortelli. And indeed, Christine shouted at me that the man was headed for his car. Showtime! Just to be on the safe side, I quickly installed a very powerful studio microphone by the window just above the front door. In the not unlikely event that the man was going to utter threats to Christine, he wouldn't be able to get away with it so easily.

But eventually, the man turned out to be very... apologetic.

- "Private property is private property and this should be holy to everyone!", he exclaimed with a big, shining halo above his head. He probably realised that Christine was not the person to mess around with and he certainly didn't fancy walking home several miles through the cold and snow. His tortelli would probably also be cold by then. So he suddenly was the holy pope himself and assured us that he would make it clear to everyone that they're not to come onto our property!

Victory!!! :-)

BTW, if any of you speak Italian and fancy a big laugh, the recorded audio file is available on request in mp3 format! hehehe...

Merry Christmas to you all!!!

With this picture of our first Italian Christmas tree, I'd like to wish all of you a merry Christmas and a very happy New Year. You've all been such a big support to us and you've contributed so much to our survival through this horrible year. Therefore Christine and I would like to say a big "thank you" and we wish you lots of happiness for 2011. May all of your wishes come true!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

Do you remember that you used to love playing in the snow when you were a little kid? Our children seem to love it too! With "children" I obviously mean our cats of course. :-) Especially Blu and Thomas, our two Norwegian rascals, truly live up to their breed and adore rolling and jumping about until they're totally covered in snow. It's so delightful to see them at it. Why does anyone still need a television, we often wonder.

Canelle, our oldest, prefers to stay away from all that juvenile violence and is carefully threading on the big, white carpet, stearing well clear of the other three...

Here's Blu. She's just had a couple of rolls and a big shake to get all the cold snow off her. And then she lays down in the hole she's just made in order to enjoy the warm sunshine which is shining abundantly on her thick fur.

Flora, our Maine Coon kitten and the youngest of the pack, tries to follow Blu's example, be it a little less enthusiastically...

Thomas, on the other hand, doesn't need any convincing to go out in the snow. On the contrary; he just loves it! Just look at him... He can't bury himself deep enough in it! :-)

Flora eventually returns to a spot where she can rest high and dry while she's watching the two Norwegians making havoc.

"I'm the king of the hill", Thomas squeaks. Apart from me he's the only man in the house. Well... err... was apart from me the only man in the house. :-) And indeed, there's nothing "macho" about him. On the contrary, he wants to be friends with everybody - humans excluded because apart from Christine and I he doesn't want to get to know them at all.


Blu quickly follows Thomas onto the "throne" he's just discovered. Isn't she a lovely lady?

So you can see that our cats are absolutely happy in their new home. For Christine and I our new Italian home is a dream, but for our cats it truly must be paradise. So much space to play, so many trees to climb and so many things to discover... They've had a very difficult move from Belgium which must have scared the living wits out of them. And after that they still suffered for months because when they were finally getting used to the small house we rented at first, they had to move again to our new house. But now, if you ask them, they never want to go away from this place anymore. Just like us... ;-)

I'm going to be a teacher!

That's right! A real teacher teaching real students. Well, kids actually, which is probably even worse. Remembering the good old days of my own childhood I know what a cunning horror children may be to a teacher. That being said, poachers make the best forest keepers, so to speak, meaning that my own experience as an inpertinent little brat will certainly have me prepared for a situation in which the tables are turned.

Now, what is this all about? This morning I received a phonecall from the head master of one of the local schools. She's a very friendly lady (well, she sounded very friendly over the phone anyway) and she's very much concerned about the level of English that Italian children are being taught. I already told you the story about that little lad who's had five years of English in primary school and who can't even say something basic and simple like "How are you?". The head master wants to do something about it and heard about me as an "English mothertongue" teacher. Even though the word "mothertongue" is a big exaggeration, I was honoured to receive her request for help and I assured her that it would be a real pleasure to become a part-time teacher at the two schools for which she is responsible. She offered me a contract for 16 hours a week, 8 at each school, and for a very interesting salary too. The details still have to be finalised of course; for the moment she only had to be certain that I was interested. In any case it would be just perfect for me because a part-time job will allow me to make myself useful to the community without (hopefully) overstressing myself. It'd give me enough time to recover and to remain my "normal" self. She'll contact me later this week in order to sit together and discuss all of this a bit better and to share some ideas about a better approach at teaching English. Since I completed this TEFL course I have quite a lot of them, such as games and other fun exercises which will let the children assimilate with the language in a much more pleasant and above all effective way than simply learning words and grammar rules by heart. Oh yes, I'll be very well prepared and motivated! :-)

The lessons should start in March so I'll keep you informed about how well it goes! Oh... I'm so excited! Finally things really seem to be going our way now. I think that we deserved it after all the hard times and I'm sure that you'd agree with me on that. So... on with OUR NEW LIFE IN ITALY!!!

A new home for my mother-in-law

Last week my mother-in-law received dreadful news. She'll be thrown out of the cottage she rents because the owner's daughter cast an eye on it and fancies living there. She has until summer to find a new home.

This news didn't come totally unexpected. The owner's father had promised my mother-in-law she could live in that cottage for as long as she wanted. But when he came to die two years ago, this promise died with him. My mother-in-law had already picked up some rumours about the daughter wanting the house a couple of months ago. So she wasn't totally unprepared for it. But nevertheless the official announcement came as a total shock which was even aggravated by the blunt, careless and truly arrogant manner in which the owner came to tell her.

He barged into the house with a big cigar, polluting the air with the foul breath he belched forth. Then he asked for a drink. He didn't wait to be offered one, oh no! He wanted a drink.

- "Allright", my mother-in-law said, "I have water or orange juice..."

- "Don't you have anything else?", he asked.

- "Well...", my mother-in-law wittingly replied, "I've still got a bottle of Champagne in the garage."

- "Oh, that'll do nicely!"

And he meant it! Upon which my mother-in-law exploded and asked him whether she should really serve him a bottle of Champagne when he came to tell her he would throw her out of her house.

But there it is. Christine and I have already offered her the room of our B&B, even if it's only temporary. But in the end we believe that she prefers to stay in Flanders where all of her friends are, in stead of moving to a foreign country where she'll be much more isolated and where she doesn't speak the language. Today she's actually living in the same street as her other daughter and her two grandchildren, so that must hurt very much too.

Well, mum, the room's still available if you want it. It's up to you. In any case, Christine and I would like to send you lots of courage and support, even though we're 800 miles away. We're sure that in the end everything will be ok. Remember that we told you that you'll certainly find an even much nicer home? Just like Christine had to do two times in a row. When she left her ex-husband for me, she also had to leave the house of her dreams behind. But then we built an even much more beautiful house together. Which we sold in order to achieve our Italian dream. And now, we're living in this Italian paradise which you visited only two weeks ago. So if we can do it, so can you. Never give up hope. Keep believing in yourself and keep repeating that you've deserved a nice place of your own. And everything will be just fine. Just trust me! :-)

The following picture was taken last September. Do you remember that I told you that Christine had won this private concert from one of Flanders' most renowned artists? Well, here's Christine on the left, Paul Michiels (the famous singer) on her right, then Christine's mother and on the right is Jeroen, Paul's pianist...

Fear of confrontations

What a busy weekend this was with my mother and sister in law staying for a couple of days. Christine and I very much enjoyed this visit and it really was a pity that they had to go back again so soon. But there it is. Back to "normal" life again. Today life really became back to "normal".

Someone knocked on our door this morning. I was a bit surprised because we've had a lot of snowfall last night and you'd have to plough through at least half a metre of snow on foot to reach our house, along a steep uphill entry road of more than 100m long. Not the sort of thing someone would endeavour unless it was absolutely necessary. So I opened the door, curious about who it might be. To my horror it was... the Nasty Little Man. He wanted to know when we'd pay him. I was a bit in shock and luckily Christine immediately came down and took over from me. There was a brief discussion about the origin of the water in our walls. According to him the water now comes from the top of the entry road because from there the slope goes a bit downhill again towards our house. And on the sides there are still a couple of holes from the unfinished ground works which according to him accumulate the water and send it to our house. Christine asked him why the water is not in our kitchen then. Obviously no reply. The Nasty Little Man even said that the drainage behind the house had become obsolete since we've had the wall constructed to stop the hill behind our house from crumbling down. Yes, you read it right: "obsolete". Nonetheless we've had to pay thousands for these drainage works and the Big Bad Wolf still wrote in his letter to court that he had drainage works done around the entire house "to the benefit of the entire structure". This means that he, our so-called "expert geometer" had us pay thousands for "obsolete" drainage works and then afterwards told us we'd need to have a wall built behind the house - yet another five thousand - to stop the hill from falling down. Oh yes, this'll look nice in court! Definitely it will!

Sadly... I can't take it anymore. Last time when the Big Bad Wolf and his Nasty Little Creep paid us a visit to inspect the damage, I already had to hide behind Christine's (very slim) back because I couldn't face those two bastards anymore. I was a total gonner for three days, trembling and totally in shock. I've got a feeling that after today it will not be very different. I can still get my thoughts together and hence I'm still capable of writing this blog post. But at times it feels as if a knife is cutting straight through my heart. My head starts spinning and all I can think of is escape. Escape to a place where noone can ever find me. Especially those irritating voices in my head. They're driving me insane and I wish so hard that I could shut them up forever. Why can't I just leave it be? Why does such a small event, an event that once again clearly demonstrates that we were in the right from the beginning and that we shouldn't pay that ghastly man the rest of his money until all problems with our house have been solved, have such an impact on me? It's even more surprising because especially my former colleagues will remember that I could be very ad rem and assertive during the meetings when I had to defend the interests of my clients. Sometimes even a bit too much... Without the slightest blink of an eye I could tell directors and even state-secretaries what I thought of them. And now, I can't even look a stupid, incompetent builder in the eye anymore. It makes me realise that what I did at work was only a front. A very good acting game, perhaps even worthy an Oscar. It was the enormous firewall that I constructed around me in order to protect my true inner self from the outside world. A true inner self that noone must ever discover. Today, it feels like this firewall has been torn down completely. I can't pretend anymore. All that's left is a shy little boy that just wants to be left in peace. Autism has caught up with me at last. I just have to accept it. Fortunately, Christine won't have me any other way. She's so sweet... I love her so much for that. And at least she takes my defense whenever necessary, like today. I can't thank her enough... She really makes me happy. When I got to know her, it was the first time in my entire life that I enjoyed true happiness. And it's still lasting, strong as ever... :-)

Christmas, Christmas, what a lovely Christmas...

Perhaps a bit early to start singing this lovely carol. But it was the song that immediately sprung to mind when I woke up this morning and opened the curtains...

Up here in the mountains the weather can truly change overnight, can't it? Yesterday we were still having a pleasant sunshine and you could almost walk about in a t-shirt. This morning however, there is 15cm of snow.

It may just be a coincidence, but... Today is also the day that my mother- and sister-in-law arrive. True, it isn't one and a half meter of snow like in March. But I can only conclude that my mother-in-law must have a truly amazing impact on the weather over here. Fortunately, she now already knows where to find the Sheraton airport hotel! Hehehe... :-)

Just kidding, mum,... Welcome to Italy! :-D

A new book

I really must be feeling better lately because I've just started writing a new book. And the good news is... It's like if the book is writing itself! Haven't you ever had this experience when you were writing something... a story, an essay or, why not, a book... and you just couldn't stop because you were having so much inspiration that you thought that you could keep writing for ever? This is exactly what is happening to me right now.

All in all this should not come as a surprise because, like you've certainly already noticed, our Italian adventure has turned out to be just hat - a very big adventure indeed.

The book begins just a short time before the point where my first book ended: buying a new home in Italy. It describes my final years at work and how my autism is slowly getting the better of me. And in the mean time the Italian dream matures and eventually we want to make it come true. With all the highs and lows in between. I'm already extremely happy with the first 25 pages and sincerely hope that my editor will be equally pleased.

In any case, let's see first whether my first book will become a success. I guess that if it has to be pulped my editor will not be jumping to the moon from joy when I present her the sequel... :-D

Getting prepared for winter

The winters up here in the mountains are usually short but can be quite severe, as you'll probably remember from the images I posted in March. One and a half a meter of snow! My mother in law and I believed we had arrived in Greenland rather than in Italy! It was so bad that Christine couldn't make it to the airport to pick us up because her car had been totally snowed in. So we had to spend the night at the airport Sheraton. But now we're not in the least bit worried that we'll freeze to death. :-) Last week two strong and friendly men came to cut the enormous pile of wood that came from the various trees Christine had cut down in order to give our house a bit more air. In just two hours all of the logs and branches were cut to a size that will easily fit the wood stove we've ordered...

It was very hard work but absolutely worth it. Now we'll probably have enough wood to heat up the house for years. In fact, the toughest job is to collect all the pieces and logs and stack them in the small adjacent building on our property. This used to be a pig stable, hen house and typical outdoors oven but nowadays it's in a pretty derilict state. Nonetheless, it has enough space for all of our wood and at least it will be dry. Just a couple of days more work and it will be done... Phew!

For the moment we're still heating on (expensive) gas, although we're astonished how little effort our heating system must do in order to make the entire house snug and warm. The special state-of-the-art floor heating system we've chosen will eventually save us a lot of money. Even though our garage now more resembles the boiler room of a steamboat... :-)

But the mortgage should be finalised by mid-December and then we'll finally be able to have the wood stove installed in our living room. As it will be connected to the central boiler, the wood will be the main source for heating and hot water. The boiler is insulated so well that it can keep the water at temperature for 24 hours!

And we'll certainly not be on our own this winter. A couple of days ago, in early morning, a family of roe deers came to visit us. Aren't they just lovely?

Halt! Private property!

When we bought our house and the generous plot of land that came with it, we were hoping to find some tranquility at last. But this tranquility is currently far away at times. I already told you about hunters some time ago. And today I'd like to have another go at them because I'm slowly getting fed up with their arrogant and uneducated ways. Before you ask, I'm a carnivore and since humanity has survived primarily on meat and fish for the last three million years I see no need why I should change. But there are limits and hunters should learn to respect not only animal rights but also the rights of the people who live in their "recreational area". In brief, the hunters over here show absolutely no respect at all for private property. Yes, they have the law at their side. In Italy you have to enclose your land with a fence of at least 1,20m high if you want to keep hunters out. Otherwise they have the right to roam as they like. This right, however, is not absolute. They are not to come within 100m from houses and domestic animals. Meaning that, technically speaking, they're not allowed to come into our field. Fence or not.

Unfortunately, as I already mentioned, I have to conclude that Italian hunters seem to have failed to evolve since the dawn of the neolithicum. It's temping to generalise but really, I still have to meet the first educated hunter. All the ones I've come across so far are careless, arrogant, rude and have a serious portion of raving insanity over them. Some even seem that old that it would surprise me if they'd still see the difference between a deer and a man at 100m anyway.

My problem now is that they don't care about the chains with the "private property" signs through which I've closed off every entry to our house and field. They just do as they please. They even pass right in front of our house! Through our terrace! And then there are the excuses...

- "But we're not doing any harm to anyone"

- "Our guns are still bagged up"

- "I'm just going downhill"

- "We haven't got any dogs"

or the following hilarious quote:

- "I didn't know that anyone lived here" (strange if you've just passed the new letterbox that Christine made, ignored the "private property" sign and you're standing in front of a restored house with curtains, terrace furniture and the whole lot.)

To my opinion, hunting should be left to professionals. People who know what they are doing and who only hunt in order to maintain the natural balance, given that there aren't enough natural predators anymore. But who am I of course...

On the optimist side, we haven't had as much trouble with hunters lately as at the start of the hunting season. Hopefully they're slowly beginning to understand that they have to keep away. Obviously, if you only have one braincell... Perhaps we should give them a bit more time... :-)

The colours of autumn

One more "picture of the day", taken from our bedroom window this morning. On moments like these, we realise that it has all been worth it...

Two unexpected visitors

Knock knock knock knock!!! I just came out of the shower when I heard someone banging on our front door. Christine was downstairs and she took the honours of opening it in order to see who came to disturb us during this lazy Tuesday afternoon. I immediately recognised two voices. They were two men whom I had hoped never to see again in my entire life: the Big Bad Wolf in person with the Nasty Little Man right behind him (hiding in his shade). They came to inspect this "so-called" water damage. Christine was more than happy to show them the moist inner walls. But as could be expected, they weren't impressed at all.

- "Of course there is water in your walls", the Big Bad Wolf said in his usual arrogant way, "it's the sub-floor that needs to dry. You'll see that it will disappear in no time."

- "The sub-floor???", Christine answered in astonishment, "But that was laid last July! How do you explain that this water has only appeared after the heavy rains we had four weeks ago? And how come we only have it in our corridor and not in the rest of our house?"

Silence.

- "Who laid these floor tiles?", the Nasty Little Man interrupted.

- "A very good expert", Christine said.

- "Well, it's obvious. The water from the subfloor can't get through the pointing of the pavement. So it has to go through the walls."

- "What??? Water can't get through the pointing???"

- "That's right!"

- "Besides", the Big Bad Wolf continued, "there is no standing water behind the house at all!"

- "I tell you there is..."

- "Listen, I've got my idea about this water and you've got yours. I just wanted to see it so that I'd know what to reply."

And away they went. Afterwards I went round the house because after two days of rain I'd have been surprised not to find any standing water there. And indeed, at first sight there wasn't any. The pool of water was covered in leaves.

We'll see whether his explanation about the sub-floor will still hold up in court... :-)

P.S.: This sub-floor was dry after a day already (meaning you could already walk on it) and was exposed to the summer heat for weeks. The tiles and windows weren't installed until weeks later. It's so obvious that again he is trying to intimidate us.

P.P.S: Oh... I almost forgot to mention the juiciest detail! The Big Bad Wolf literally said that it wasn't his responsibility anyway because Christine had sacked him in February while the drainage works hadn't been completed until months later. But... dear Mr. Big Bad Wolf... You did have your sollicitor write in his accusation that you had resigned yourself in April and that the works you had executed included "proper drainage around the house to the benefit of the entire structure". It's one of the most important items which contribute to your exuberant €13.000,- claim. So... How do you explain that???

Out... out with the telescope!

It's been more than four months since I moved to Italy. To a place where the sky is still virtually unpolluted by useless streetlights. Where I live, the Milky Way is still a clear and soft veil across the night's sky. Isn't it a real shame then that I've never bothered to put my telescope together again to take it out for a night's observing? Last week I finally did it! I really must be feeling better... :-)

The things I saw were just amazing. You can't believe what a difference a decent sky makes compared to the wishy-washy, dirty orange-glowing smog we get in Flanders (and I suppose in most of the rest of Europe too)? The faint nebulae were so much brighter... starclusters so much more scintillating... Jupiter showed so much more detail...

Around midnight the moon rose above the horizon which meant the end of a wonderful evening under the stars. I just can't wait for the next clear night! Apparently they've forcast fair weather for the next couple of days... :-D

Hurray! We've got water in our walls!

To normal people, this would be a disastrous discovery. But to us, it is like a gift from heaven!

We've had quite a bit of rain during the 2 previous weekends. Probably, the water in the foundation of our house has already accumulated for months. But a week ago, it became apparent in all of the walls of our central corridor. At first we were afraid that our floor heating system would have a leak. But the pressure in the tubes hasn't gone down, even after we had closed off the circuit for days. So it has to come from outside. Probably from the drainage tube behind our house. Christine recalled that the men who constructed the wall behind the house had found this tube when they dug a trench for the foundation. And they had warned her that it had been put there in a way that violated all the rules of a decent drainage. The guys have tried to mend it for as much as they could. But obviously not enough.

So, why is this good news, you might ask? It's Danilo's first big mistake! He, who never bothered to show up at the construction site but nevertheless charged us €11.000,- just for being "director of works". He, and his buddy Nezio who did the actual work, will now have to answer for this major cock-up. We're very well aware that in the end we'll probably have to make a compromise with him regarding the lawsuit and the amount we still ought to pay him. After all, the works on our house have been completed, even if he is a big con who's brought us in so much trouble. But with this, we'll see how fast he'll be willing to settle...

Realistically, Danilo is far too arrogant and will probably not want to abandon the courtcase or settle for a reasonable amount. But now we're sure that he'll be digging his own grave in that case. Our new (and very good) sollicitor was very clear about that! She's going to send Danilo and Nezio a very juicy registered letter about the damage to our house. We can't wait for their reply!

Picture of the day

After rain comes sunshine. Proverbially and literally. The last couple of days were filled with rain and low clouds. But this evening the sky cleared up and revealed a magnificent landscape, with snow covering the hills in front of us. Autumn is such a beautiful season, isn't it?

Floating between hope and despair

It's truly amazing how my emotions can change from one minute to the other. From total exhilaration after the news about the mortgage to utter depression when the thought of the courtcase the Big Bad Wolf started against us took over again. Why can't I just be happy that our financial worries may be over and live one day to the next? Why must brain constantly process worst-case scenarios? It deprives me of a good night's sleep and keeps me on the brink of anxiety all day long. And for what? I was doing exactly the same thing when I was worrying about the loan and that turned out allright, didn't it? It just seems stronger than me and there's absolutely noone or nothing that can cheer me up. Hopefully our sollicitor can do so next Thursday, when we're having another appointment. She's very good at what she does and she gave us renewed hope that our arguments aren't as void as the "famous" sollicitor we previously consulted tried to make us believe. All of a sudden. It's quite unnerving that now also our new geometer seems to be making a 180° turn. Christine could barely convince him to join us for the appointment. The Big Bad Wolf is a very powerful man in this area and probably has a lot of influence everywhere. It feels like David against Goliath.

But in the end, David won, didn't he?

There is a light

I want to be very careful with this. But Christine called the bank this morning and... they said that our mortgage will be approved!!! We just can't believe it! It's the most wonderful news we've heard in a very long time, perhaps apart from my book. At last we will be able to start enjoying our Italian dream!!! :-D

But like I said, we're not jumping about in total euphoria yet. It was just a spoken promise and we still haven't seen anything on paper. But we have absolutely no reason to believe that the lady from the bank would be leading us on. She's always seemed very honest and never made us any false promises. Unlike most of the other bank managers we've encountered. She said that they'll still have to look into the precice details, such as the timeframe (20 or 25 years) and whether it will be an additional mortgage on top of the one we already received in June, or if the old one will be closed and we'll receive a new one for the total amount we've originally requested. And they're also going to send an expert to ouor house to value it. Well, he'll be more than welcome. Our house is worth at least three times than what we're asking for. So no worries there. The only problem we're still facing is having to tell all of the workers that they'll have to wait another month or so before they'll see their money. We're feeling very much ashamed about this because they've done such a wonderful job and under normal circumstances we would have paid them right away. Then again, at least they'll see their money in the end. And in these days of crisis this already means a lot, don't you agree?

Tomorrow's the day

Tomorrow we'll know whether our request for a mortgage will be accepted or not. It's our final chance. Not really according to Christine though. She says that if we receive a "no" tomorrow, that she'll mail all of the people we still owe money to to explain the situation and to ask for a bit more patience. Where she gets the courage is beyond me. Last Friday she drove 400km to see the most renowned Italian professor specialising in the chronic fatigue syndrome. He told her that (at first sight) she only seemed a mild case. Well, what does he know? Christine collapsed yesterday when she was merely painting a cupboard. She had been feeling a strong dizziness for some days now. Today she couldn't leave her chair and she looked as pale as a sheet. But like I said, even in this condition she still finds the courage to continue fighting a seemingly hopeless fight. If tomorrow the answer is "no", I don't know what to do anymore. This morning the guy who laid the floor tiles came to visit us, asking why we hadn't paid him yet. I explained that we were still waiting for the reply from the bank. My answer was true, but must have sounded like a pretty lame excuse. He reminded me about all the favours he's done to us and that he had even sacrificed two days of his vacation because of us. I felt so terribly guilty. I wanted to explain all that had happened to us; about the Big Bad Wolf and all the rest. But that's not his problem, is it? He's got a family to feed too. And debts to pay. And he's not the only person we still owe money to. We're really wondering what we've got ourselves into. It's such a mess and so far away from the dream we were pursuing. Is it our fault? Certainly not. With the right people we would have made our dream come true. It's all "ifs"...

And that's not all. Yesterday I noticed that a couple of our (new) internal walls were moist at the bottom. First we were afraid that our floor heating was leaking, but we soon found out that it's not losing any pressure. The moisture comes from the outside, from behind our house.

And to round it off, this morning one of our bathroom windows exploded. Well, it didn't blast out of its frame. But it did make a big bang and now it has a crack from top to bottom on the inside. Probably a construction error...

Well, we're not too worried about these last two things. In fact, we're not too unhappy about our internal walls sucking up moisture. It proves (like was already pointed out to us by another worker) that the Nasty Little Man has made a mess of the necessary drainage pipes behind the house. And who's the person bearing all of the responsibility, you might think? Yes! It's the Big Bad Wolf himself! So if any sollicitor is still asking (with a smirk on his face) whether we're pleased with the house, we'll tell him: "definitely not"! Apart from abusing our trust, throwing the geometers' ethical code out of the window, ignoring nearly every building law in existence and forging Christine's signature, we now also have a big structural error to hold against him. And Christine just found the perfect sollicitor for it. A woman and... a real pitbull. Christine can't wait until January.

Personally I just hope that we'll survive tomorrow...

Thomas, the mountaineer

Cats have an adveturous nature. Sometimes a bit too adventurous. So Christine and I always call all of our cats inside in the evening so we can rest assured that they won't get into trouble in the middle of the night. Especially Flora and Thomas, our little ones. They're still too unexperienced to be left outdoors the entire night. Even if they wouldn't really mind themselves; on the contrary...

So a couple of nights back, I went outside to call our cats when it was time to go to bed. Flora, Canelle and Blu quickly responded to my call and happily entered our house in search of a late supper. Thomas, however, was nowhere to be found. I called and I called... and suddenly, I heard a faint "meow" coming from the northerly border of our field. I called again and once more I heard Thomas replying. His "meow" sounded a bit afraid. Oh no, what's he been up to this time? I took a torch and went into our field. It was utterly dark. But the "meow" got louder. Yes, it definitely came from the edge of our field, by those oak trees on the border. There's a well over there so maybe he went for a late-night swim? It wouldn't be the first time he came back in a wet suit. But what made me anxious was that he didn't seem to come any closer himself. As if he were trapped somewhere. Slowly I came nearer to the trees and his cries definitely came from over there. Cats... trees... I understood that he had climbed in one of them and didn't want to come down anymore. Thomas is a very good climber and I had already seen him go up and down trees before. His "meow" also sounded very close by so he couldn't be all that high. Or could he? I pointed my torch upwards, hoping to find the reflection in his eyes soon. He had to be right above my head somewhere. So why couldn't I see him?

And then... finally, I saw the reflection. My mouth fell open wide. As I said, I've seen him climb a tree before. A couple of metres and back. But what I saw then filled me with horror. He was somewhere near the top of that tree! Christine had also arrived in the mean time and while she kept calling Thomas, hoping that he would still come down on his own, I went back to the house to get our ladder. Although I wasn't very optimistic. Our ladder consists of three parts and reaches about 5,5-6m high. My impression was that Thomas had climbed a whole lot higher than that.

It wasn't all that easy to install the ladder against the tree with all of those branches in the way. But I managed to put it more or less stable against the main trunk. And up I went. Higher and higher in the direction of the twinkling eyes and the desperate cries. Obviously the ladder wasn't big enough. Trembling of fear, I climbed so high that my feet were standing on the penultimate spoke and my left arm was holding the trunk very tightly. Fortunately there wasn't a lot of wind because the slightest breeze made the trunk swing. Way too much to my liking. But there I was. And Thomas... was still about 2m above my head. I kept calling him and eventually he carefully tried to come down. He extended his paws towards me. He twisted and turned his body around the branch he was sitting on. Finally he managed to turn himself in such a way that he could climb down with his bottom first. Until he arrived at the branches right above me, but still too far away for me to be able to grab him. And when he saw my arms reaching out at him, he fled further and further away from me again, onto those branches which were not very thick at all. Nothing seemed to work anymore and I climbed down in despair, hoping that Thomas would follow my example.

Fortunately there was still Christine. She had gone back to the house to get some tuna. Thomas is a very good eater - to say the least - and a bit of tuna would certainly attract his attention. So I went back up, with some tuna in my hand. And indeed, it didn't take long to get his interest. I put the tuna on a fork right above me on a place where I hoped to be able to grab him. And after some hesitation, Thomas moved back towards the safety of the trunk. Finally I managed to grab him, albeit only just and not without danger of falling myself. Thomas clenched the branches with every claw he had so I had to use considerable force to drag him off and hold him close to my chest. But at last I had him. I climbed down again very carefully and under protest from Thomas who tried to grab every branch within his reach. But eventually, after having tried for about an hour, we were both back on the ground, safe and sound.

In the house, Thomas received a very nice treat under the form of a big plate of tuna. And afterwards he came to thank me with a lot of purrs and friendly gestures. We hope that he's learnt his lesson because when I went back the following day to look at that tree, to see where exactly Thomas and I had been... no... please... not again... :-)

The return of Dopey Dwarf

At last!!! Our central heating system has arrived!!! After a 3-month wait, Dopey Dwarf finally knocked on our door with our new boiler and state of the art gas heater. He's done everything in his power to stall delivery as much as possible. Probably hoping that in the mean time we'd be freezing cold in our house.

- "Oh, you want that boiler?"

or

- "Sorry, but I'll be away on holiday then."

or

- "I've just called the factory, but they can't deliver until October." (this he said in September, meaning that he failed to order it in July)

Tough luck for him, but we're already feeling the benefits of the materials we've chosen for the restoration right now, such as a sub-floor in terracotta. Even at night the house still seems to keep a pleasant temperature. These materials were much more expensive than ordinary plaster or concrete. But we're already certain that we'll win this investment back in no time.

But then Dopey suddenly said:

- "But... you are living here?"

As if he didn't know that. Or perhaps it was his twin brother who installed the temporary gas heater about a month ago.

- "Yes, of course. Why do you ask?"

- "You realise that you'll be without hot water for at least three days, don't you?"

I was shocked by this announcement but didn't twitch the smallest of my facial muscles. I didn't want to give him the satisfaction. I replied:

- "Well, that's allright. We're already used to camping here anyway."

And I left him to it. His assistant later assured me that we'd have hot water again by Friday afternoon. Certainly before the weekend. So that's ok by us. If Dopey believes that he can lower our spirit with such childish trivialities, he's sadly mistaking. We'll see who'll be the last to laugh. When he'll have to wait a couple of months for his money, or something.

- "Oh, you want that money?"

or

- "Sorry, but we were away on holiday so didn't make it to the bank."

or

- "We've just called our Belgian bank in order to transfer the funds to Italy. But they won't be able to do it until next year." :-)

Heartache

Hello!!! Welcome to my new blog! :-) For those of you who're still visiting me on my personal website (whyamime.com), I'd like to advise you to visit me on

http://understandautism.blogspot.com/

because whyamime.com will be closed soon.

Anyway... I know that I have been neglecting my blog a bit over the past weeks. The reason is that things aren't going all that well. Even though we're now living in our own house and we're slowly constructing our new lives here. It feels as if the sword of Damocles his hanging right above our heads and that the last little threads that are still holding it are breaking off. The tension is rising. Debts are growing. Lawsuits are becoming bigger uncertainties. And both of us are feeling tired. Very tired indeed. Last week I started wondering whether it would not be better to just sell everything and try to find a smaller and less expensive house. I just can't cope with this financial pressure anymore. And all that because of one man: Danilo. Yes, I know, I also lost a great deal of money by taking too many risks on the stock market. But if Danilo hadn't put us in this dire position in the first place, I would never have tried to find alternative ways to make a lot of money in a very short timeframe. When we were going through our documents in order to prepare the courtcase, we were shocked to find that the price we eventually had to pay for just the structural works was 67% (!) higher than Danilo's original estimate. The estimate which seemed pretty complete at the time and through which he lured us into this adventure because otherwise we would have looked for another house. Probably one with less work to be done and hence less money for him to be made. The things he "forgot" to mention... The wrong estimates he made... It's just incredible. And then they say: "But technically speaking everything's fine with your house, isn't it?" Yes. Technically speaking our house hasn't collapsed yet. And we won't know whether it is technically ok until it collapses. But what about "a person of trust"? "Transparency"? "Honesty"? These are all words which can be found throughout the official Code of Conduct for geometers. Don't they mean anything then?

So back to last week. Christine and I had a frank conversation about giving up and selling everything again. Some time ago I wrote about having reached the point where some of the people who share the same dream would give up and where we were still full of courage to continue. At that time I thought things couldn't get much worse. But they can. And now we are on the brink of giving up. Christine had to shed a few tears, mostly because of everything she has left behind. Her garden for starters. Although I'm sure that she exaggerates the good bits. Yes, our old house was lovely and the garden was just about to grow into its full splendour. But there were also a lot of bad times. And we've never really felt "at home" there. When things get bad, you tend to idealise the things you don't have anymore.

But the last couple of days, Christine changed. She said that suddenly she had received the firm conviction that things will get better from now on. Yes, she said that suddenly she was dead-certain of it and that she could feel it strongly within. And with her, also I started to get a grip on my feelings again. We're entitled to a bit of good news. Let's say that my book was already a start. Last week, our cooker finally arrived (be it with a small and nasty surprise, but nothing so serious that it would make us lose spirit). From now on, we should receive more good news. I'm so terribly convinced that we deserve it after all that we've been through, and especially Christine. If I don't deserve it, then at least she does. That our mortgage request is being accepted, for example. That would truly fill us with joy. Christine's worked her socks of at making a business plan for our B&B. Truly a great piece of work which must make the bank very impressed. We keep on fighting then. We must keep the faith...

Sorry... Moving to yet another website... :-o - 03 Oct 2010

Yes... my book is going to be published in May next year by one of the biggest and most renowned publishers in Flanders: www.houtekiet.com Unfortunately, this means that I will have to close down my website. The contract firmly states that I have to hand over all the rights to my work - something which is only logical. Rights which also include the English translation and the Italian version which two of my dear Italian friends are working on.

But for you, loyal readers of my blog, there's absolutely nothing to be worried about. From now on you can follow my adventures on the original site:

http://understandautism.blogspot.com/

I preferred to have everything on my personal website so that I could earn a bit of extra cash through the advertisments. But there it is. I hope to see you all on the other side. And the good thing is... Blogspot is in English so no more problems for English speakers if they want to leave a comment... :-)

The noble sport of hunting - 23 Sep 2010

Moving to a different country is always some kind of a culture shock, even if it's a reasonably nearby and by all means European country like Italy. And I apologise to my dear Italian friends, but there is one aspect where Italy still hasn't made it to the civilised world... and that is hunting.
In Italy, a hunter is almost omnipotent. He doesn't need to undergo any psychological or technical exam prior to being given a license. He's merely "supposed" to know the rules. And there are very few rules. In fact, as far as Italy is concerned, the situation is not far off of being a Far West. Not suprisingly, in this country there's an average of over 50 mortal incidents each hunting season. The number of injuries is of course much higher. Hunters can happily enter private land and shoot as they like. They only have to maintain a distance of 100m to houses. But what is 100m of course. If you want to keep hunters away from your property, you need to close it off by a fence of at least 1,20m high and put visible "private property" signs on regular intervals. Meaning, to close let's say a 100m perimeter you're easily in for a 300-400€ expense without the poles. If, like in our situation, you have to enclose 2 hectares, this is as good as impossible. Just putting signs or putting a plastic rope or chain isn't good enough. Obviously the Italian legislator has made it so difficult for private house owners that they'll usually give up and let the hunters have their way.

Last Sunday the hunting season started. Christine and I were still in bed when we heard a shotgun fire really close by. A bit later when we were outside, in front of our house, we suddenly saw a hunter fire at a partridge in the middle of our field. Roughly 60m away from us! He came barging into our field and I went to meet him because I wouldn't have that. I was still only 20m away from him when he suddenly raised his gun and fired in the air at another partridge. The argument that followed wasn't pleasant at all. Especially when his dogs suddenly entered our garden and started chasing our hens. Christine and I chased them away of course. But this made the hunter even more furious. Up to the point that he started making hidden threats. He went back uphill, to his mate who was standing there, laughing. And then they just stood there, observing us. Every now and then they took their binoculars to look at Christine and I and when they noticed we were still there, they made angry gestures. Fortunately, after half an hour or so, they went away.

In the mean time I've already put "no hunting" signs everywhere. And I've dug a little deeper into the Italian hunting law. In fact, it seems to make a difference between a private garden and private land for agricultural purposes. Because under no circumstances a hunter is allowed to enter a garden. It's the "private agricultural land" that has to be closed off by a fence. And there is more. A hunter also has to remain at least 100m away from domestic animals. Which includes the normal cats and dogs but also horses, cows and... hens! :-) So I've put the new henhouse at such a distance from our house that basically no hunter can still come into our field. I've also been thinking to put our old, plastic garden furniture towards the far end, to really make it look like a "garden".

I can understand that the hunters must really be frustrated. Our field is the perfect hunting ground because from the field above you can take a very nice pop shot into ours. Our house has been abandoned for forty years so there has never been anything in their way. But as from now, they're technically no longer allowed to come, let alone hunt, in our field. And on top of that also a large portion of the field above has become off limits due to its less than 100m distance to our house.

Christine and I don't care in the least. On the other hand, we're very much afraid because it's clear that there are a lot of cowboys among these hunters who don't give a toss about the rules. A good advice a friend gave us is to keep a camera nearby. So whenever a demented hunter tries something illegal, we'll have a picture as proof to the authorities. And hopefully they'll listen...

Moving in at last!!! - 23 Sep 2010

Sorry... this post is a bit late; my apologies. But since Tuesday of the previous week we're living in our own house!!! This is actually one of the reasons why I couldn't write any earlier. Moving in is one thing. Creating some sort of order is another... :-)



But slowly we're getting there. The house already looks a whole lot tidier now. Even though we're still more or less camping. There is no running water on the ground floor, simply because we haven't got any sink there yet. This is mainly Dopey Dwarf's fault because he put the taps too low and had to send one of his assistants, an even more stupid dwarf, to mend it. The even more stupid dwarf came, put the taps where they should be but left a big mess. "You can repair it any way you like", he said. And left in a big hurry. Well, we're not going to let it ruin our good spirit, are we? The cooker... was supposedly sent but then again not. A simple inquiry with the courier confirmed that there's nothing being sent to us. This means that we have no other option than to inform the "Postal Police" which is responsible for internet fraud. Hopefully they can eventually talk some sense into that ghastly woman. Fortunately there's a very friendly English family nearby who were happy to lend us their camping cooker. It does its job more than well.

On the other hand, we do have a toilet at last. You may remember that the one we got turned out to be broken underneath and had to be replaced. It took some time and a week's survival on a camping toilet (again many thanks to our English friends) but now we can at least go to the loo properly.

So this is more or less where we are at the moment. One thing's for sure: the cats love it here! We were so confident that we left our two oldest ones, Canelle and Blu already outside after two days. And without any problem. They simply ador these surroundings full of bushes, trees and a view you only get in travel magazines. Thomas and Flora will still have to wait a bit. They're less experienced and more likely to get into trouble. Perhaps we'll try a guided walk this afternoon. After all, the weather's just superb today...

The Pradarena adventure - 13 Sep 2010

One thing I try to escape from the ghosts in my head, is taking my Vespa for a spin. For me there's no better way to get rid of all the worries (for a few minutes) than to ride along the winding mountain roads and enjoy the magnificent landscapes that await you behind every bend.

The day before yesterday I was feeling so down that I definitely needed a slightly bigger adventure to get my mind off things. It was around four 'o clock in the afternoon and the weather was just perfect. So I decided to make one of my dreams come true, which is riding my Vespa all the way up the Pradarena pass (1575m). It's only about 20km away from our house, so there I went.

Initially the road takes you along the valleys towards the town of Ligonchio. No problem there whatsoever. But then the climb gets steeper. Much steeper. Over 10% steep. Not the sort of thing my Vespa was keen on. After all, it was designed as a city vehicle; certainly not well-adapted for mountain-goat adventures. At times its maximum speed dropped below 20kph and I almost felt like getting off and give it a push. Very embarassing, you know, when motorbikes are zooming past; the riders of which obviously thinking that I must be bonking mad. But I let them mock me. My brave companion eventually made it to the top!!! Here's the living proof: the sign which told me that I was leaving the province of Reggio Emilia and entering the province of Lucca, in Tuscany:

Obviously I wanted to enjoy this moment a bit. It's a pity that at the top of the pass the view isn't all that superb. It's closed in by mountainsides and forests. And I hadn't had enough at all. I wanted more... and higher. Much higher. So I continued on foot, through the forest leading to the nearest mountaintop.

Hey! Look at these big mushrooms! But you better no eat those...

The forest got thinner and thinner. Eventually I arrived at the tree limit and to my great joy I could see the mountaintop. Well, at least I thought I could see it...

Much to my disappointment, the mountaintop was a lot higher still. Oh... my poor old legs... :-) But I would not give in! I would make it to the top, even if I'd collapse. Then I saw this weird pile of stones. Would that perhaps be the top?

No! Not in the least! I had to climb about another 50m still. But then... tadaaaa... the big moment...

WOOOOOOWWW!!! Just look at that!!! The following picture was taken in northeasterly direction. You can see the Bismantova rock in the far distance, with to its left the town of Castelnovo ne' Monti. And all the way against the horizon (not very clear on the picture) I could make out the outskirts of the city of Reggio Emilia, which must be about 60km away!

To the east, the majestic mount Cusna, the highest mountain in the Reggian Appenines...

And then... hold your breath for this panorama which ranges from south to northwest.

On the left (south) you can see the sharp outlines of the Alpi Apuane in Tuscany. Then the panorama goes through the southwest (sun), past the Alpe di Succiso (also over 2000m), then nearby Mount Cavalbianco (+/-1850m) and to the northwest Mount Ventasso (on the last picture). I absolutely haven't got the faintest idea how the mountain that I was standing on is called (couldn't find it on any map) but it must not be much lower than Mount Cavalbianco as you can see for yourself. Unfortunately the mountain I stood on just wasn't high enough to be able to see the Tyrrhanean Sea. But it was a spectacular view nonetheless.

After half an hour or so I climbed down again. Here's a picture of me and my loyal ride on the top of the pass, with Mount Cavalbianco on the background...

One last glance at Tuscany before I'd drive back...

Look, mama, that's how high I've been!!!...

Almost home. The Bismantova Rock in the evening light. Just a few more bends and I'd be home...

Sundown over the Alpe di Succiso...


The end. :-)

I wish I could fly - 13 Sep 2010

Being autistic means i.a. that I'm much more sensible to emotions. Good ones, but also bad ones. How hard I try to keep on smiling and to laugh at the problems we're still facing, I can't hide my innermost feelings any longer. Tears are rolling off my cheeks nearly every day now. In spite of the good news I received about my book and our house being habitable now.

Financially we're still in a lot of trouble and also Danilo decided he'd be his old stupid self and went to court to ask another €13.000,- from us. Even though he messed up completely, "forgot" to order the seismic study and to ask for a building permit and last but not least forged Christine's signature on an official document to make it seem like he did his job. So that's courtcase number two.

Courtcase number three is also well on its way. We bought a beautiful cooker through eBay and at a very sharp price too. Unfortunately, the lady of the eBay shop also messed up and had the cooker sent to my address of residence (still in Belgium at the time) in stead of my primary shipping address (in Italy of course). The discussion is already going on for over a month because she doesn't want to admit that she made a mistake. "I sent it to the address as mentioned in eBay", by which she means "residence" in stead of "shipping". And then she says it's all my fault and that I have to sort things out myself. Three courtcases in three months... I had imagined things a bit differently...

I also fell out with a hunter who came barging through our land with his dogs, regardless if it is a private property or not. I've put "no entry" signs everywhere but that didn't seem to bother him. He even warned me that if I tried to stop his dogs one more time... I asked: "Is that a threat?" "No", he replied "but I'd see what would happen otherwise".

Then, last week there was a terrible tragedy in the family about which I will not elaborate here.

And so on and so on...

I'm feeling empty... chased by dark shadows which have come to haunt me. I can't find any peace anywhere because they always know where I'm hiding. At times I take a seat on our terrace and try to enjoy the warm sunshine. To no avail. My heart keeps beating restlessly. The pain is throbbing in my chest. The slightests of sounds blasts through my ears even harder than usual. Do you remember when you were really startled once? That's how I'm feeling all of the time now. As if my poor old heart could give up any minute. No... please... leave me alone!!! All I want is just sit here quietly on my terrace and be left in peace. Why is that so difficult?

Italian light - 08 Sep 2010

Did I already mention that the light in Italy is just fabulous? Every day the shades are different. Every day the picture changes. Remember the story I told you about that man who believed he was the richest man in the world because he lived in a castle with an ever-changing mosaic ceiling (which turned out to be the clouds)? Well, that's exactly how we feel. Very very rich and fortunate indeed. Here are a couple of pictures I took over the last couple of days. According to me they're not the best ever and they don't even come close to really being there. But I still hope you enjoy them...


This is the valley of the river Secchia, just a couple of miles away from our house and taken from the road that leads to Castelnovo ne' Monti, the main town in the area...





The following picture was taken yesterday morning. The town of Sologno was still covered by the clouds, but from our driveway the view was just spectacular. Being at an altitude of nearly 800m means that at once you can be "overwhelmed" by clouds. When I was having breakfast outdoors in Sologno, all of a sudden the clouds invaded the town and took away all sunshine. It was as if someone blew them in with an enormous smoke-machine. A bit scary, actually... just like in these horror-movies :-)




The following picture was taken from our bedroom window, yesterday evening. Just stunning colours...



And now for something completely different... How do you like our new dining room? :-) I hope that Christine will be pleased with my cleaning job when she gets back from Flanders... You can see the space where later on there will be a built-in cupboard. It's one of the few pieces of furniture that we'll recover from the original house. Obvioulsy the woodwork still needs a serious polish and a couple of layers of protective paint so we can't install it yet. But the old windows are just lovely. It will make a beautiful display for our finest crystal glasses.

Dopey Dwarf - 05 Sep 2010

The plan was to move into our new home last Wednesday. But this plan was thwarted by Dopey Dwarf - who happens to be a plumber and loyal servant of the Big Bad Wolf. He was already supposed to install the heater in July. In August he happened to be on holiday. And last week he finally returned to... start installing the water taps. Something which we could've easily done ourselves. The heater, you might ask? Or what about the pump for the rainwater container? No!!! Not important at all! And now he told us that the heater is out of stock until the beginning of October... WHAT??? Oh yes, he's going to help us out for the time being by installing a temporary, second-hand heater. Guess who'll have to pay for that! Oh no!!! Then he doesn't know us yet! I've contacted the supplier of our new heater to inquire how long it would take to order one. And apparently most of these suppliers have their own people who can install one if you like. Dopey Dwarf better weren't lying or he'll end up the same way as the Big Bad Wolf and the Nasty Little Man!

So here we are. In a house that's as good as finished. Apart from having water running out of our taps; not to mention hot water and central heating. Well, that last bit isn't all that urgent. It's still summer over here (although there were a couple of thunderstorms this evening) and the temperature is just perfect... What a life... Pity that my skin burns so easily because otherwise I could stay in the gentle sunshine forever.

Today Christine returned to Belgium. She has an appointment at the Chronic Fatigue Centre, at the Leuven University. And most important of all, she has to collect our hens and a whole trailer full of plants which didn't make it with the movers due to not enough room in the lorry. When I write this, she's already arrived at her mother's. Tired, but happy. Very happy, in fact. Why, you might ask? Well... she has a little surprise in store for her mother. Last week, she heard that there was a competition going on on the Flemish radio. The person having the best arguments would win a private living-room concert of one of Flanders' most famous artists (Paul Michiels, for the connoisseurs...). Under the pretext of not having to lose anything she participated and wrote about our Italian adventure and that she therefore had to leave her mother behind; all alone. Guess what? The day before yesterday she received a phonecall from the radio, with the message that... SHE HAD WON!!! Next Saturday Paul Michiels will visit her mother for the private concert. This evening the winner will be announced on the radio. Christine made her mother believe that they're going to play a special request record on the radio, just to make sure that she's going to turn it on. I wish I could be there to see her face... :-)

My book's going to be published!!! - 30 Aug 2010

I've just received the most wonderful news! One of Flanders' biggest publishing companies is going to publish my book!!! I can hardly believe it... It's like a distant dream come true... Next week they're going to offer me a contract. Then, the text is going to be revised by a language expert and the publishing date is set for May 2011. Yes... It sounds so long and I'm so thrilled that I can hardly wait. But it will be here sooner than I think. It's like when Christine and I said goodbye to eachother exactly one year ago. She was going to remain in Italy while I had to return to Belgium. Eventually those 10 months went by in a flash. Oh... I'm having tears in my eyes of pure joy... Sorry, folks, but I have to stop writing...

10 Do's and Don'ts when moving to Italy - 27 Aug 2010

1. Never ever buy (Italian) real-estate through a real-estate agent. And especially not through these websites designed for foreigners looking for property. The prices on these websites are 30% to 50% (!) higher than the seller's asking price. Ideally, you should try to find out who are the owners yourself or via a local friend. Most sellers would be happy to bypass the agency (if at all possible) and sell to you directly. After all, they have to pay the commission.

2. Often, with the purchase of a house comes a local geometer. A man (or woman) who turns up unexpectedly when the sollicitor's act is signed and who promises he'll arrange everything for you. In 99% of the cases, this geometer is an imposter whose only concern is to try to gain your confidence and then to rip you off. Christine and I got rid of our geometer just in time. An English family who moved here a couple of years ago wasn't so lucky. Our advice: After you've purchased your property and you want to restore it, look for your own geometer or architect. Compare prices and never trust anyone who doesn't want to put a price on paper. In Italy there are official fees which every geometer should adhere to. If not... he or she's no good.

3. Study the geometer's estimate for the restoration carefully. It is almost a given that it will be far from complete. What about sewers? What about the seismic study? What about the "law 10" concerning insulation standards?

4. Be aware of builders or any other workers presented to you by your geometer. It is likely that they have to pay the geometer a commission for having received the job through him. In some cases (like ours), this may go up to 20%! In the end, YOU will have to pay this commission. Ask around. Find your own contractor, plumber etc., preferably in another town (the further the better - hence there is a smaller risk that this person is connected to your geometer) and compare prices with the contractor presented to you by the geometer. This will most probably make your geometer very upset. Not surprisingly because you're about to sink his plans for a new and fancy car. Tough luck for him.

5. Be aware of supplements. Many workers will only present an "estimate" of the work to be done. Often they will claim that more work or material was needed to do a certain job and they'll happily charge you for it. No matter what price was agreed in the "estimate". Don't agree on a job to be done unless you have the final price black and white on paper. This will avoid unnecessary discussion afterwards.

6. This is very important: No matter how difficult this must be, please please make sure that you (or a friend you trust) is always present at the building site when work is carried out. And make sure that the site is closed when no work is being done. The house of the English family I just told you about was literally STRIPPED by the builder. Wooden floors were removed ("they were rotten anyway") etc etc. This family lost in total about 100.000€!!! With "total" I mean being overcharged by geometer, overcharged by the builder, materials gone etc etc. In any case, being present will also prevent you from finding some nasty surprises when you come to visit your newly finished dreamhouse. Hey... where's the water tap I needed here? And look at the floor! It's laid upside down! And who decided on these tiles?...

7. Budget. When you've received the geometer's estimate about all the works to be done etc. and you've made all the financial calculations about your project: DOUBLE IT! You can rest assured that you'll run into "unexpected expenses". Either they'll discover that the foundations are in a worse state than expected, they'll tell you that the house needs an additional supporting wall, they'll inform you that certain works were not included in the contract, and so on and so on... Believe me: DOUBLE IT! Of course, this only refers to the works to be done and excludes the purchase price.

8. Administration. Italy is a country keen on its paper tradition. Be prepared to have to drive to the capital of your province at least a couple of times (driver's license, car license plate,...), to the main town nearby ("tessera sanitaria"; the social security card, and so on) and to your local commune administration.

9. Continuing on the paper tradition, make sure that - if there's any doubt - you have the person in question write it down on paper. For example: If your geometer tells you: "The law 10 doesn't apply here so you don't need a thermal study", you reply: "Allright. Put it in writing for me then". Or: If your builder tells you: "Just a bit of extra concrete and this crack in the wall will not get any bigger", you reply: "Really? In that case you wouldn't mind writing that down for me?"...
10. And finally: expect the unexpected. :-)

I know, all of this sounds a bit negative. I should indeed mention that there are lots of honest and hard-working people in Italy. And that it is a fantastic place to live in. But I thought I could better warn you in case you were starting to have similar plans after reading my blog. It's better to be prepared. This will make it much more likely that your venture will eventually succeed. Because on the telly they'll only show you success stories. Not the stories of people who lost everything because of their dream.