And a bit of good news

Just to end on a happy note...

This morning, the expert that Nasty Little Nezio had hired to take a look at the damages to our house came to pay us a visit. He was a very kind man who didn't really examine all of the problems in detail. The first glance probably already told him more than enough. So it was probably with a lot of reluctance and embarassment that he delivered the latest explanation from his client regarding the drainage... and you're gonna love it... :-)

"The drainage was only temporary. It should have been replaced with a definitive one later on."

When you've stopped laughing, you'll realise that Nezio knows all too well that he's gone terribly in the wrong and that he's most afraid about going to court. That's another thing the expert told us in a covert way because he stressed the problems with the Italian judicial system and that it would be better for all to swallow our pride and try to come to an agreement. Not! We'll have Nezio's private parts on a plate and our solicitor is going to take care of that. Two down, only Big Bad Danilo to go...   We can't wait!

A bit of sad news

Living in the middle of nature is just great. It's like feeling connected to the environment, to be one with nature, feeling whole. It's an experience I've been searching for for all of my life and I could recommend it to anyone. Life just takes a different pace, a much slower one. And I daresay a more satisfying one. Sometimes I reproach some of the mountain folk around here that they're not grasping this at all. When they see a tree, they think about "stove". When they see a deer, they think about "shooting it". It's so terribly wrong. They should appreciate a bit more how fortunate they are that they can live here instead of nagging all the time about their petty little problems.

But sometimes, nature can be cruel as well. Two days ago, late afternoon, we lost our cockerel, two of our three hens and one of our little chicks to a fox. It all happened in a flash. Normally when they're in some sort of distress our hens shout very loudly and in a way that leaves no reason for doubt that they're in trouble. Not this time. They're capable of flying onto our roof, 6m high. But again, not this time. All that was left was a bunch of feathers and the corpse of one of our hens which the fox hadn't been able to take with it in time. Christine and I were devastated. We already lost all of the hens Christine had driven from Belgium to a fox in September, after they'd been here for only six days. This time we thought we'd do better and we always kept our hens under strict surveillance. But even that was not enough. The only thing we can still try is building a strong fence and keep the hens within the enclosure. It's something we were reluctant to do because our hens were so happy because they could walk about as they pleased. Perhaps we were too naive about this and it was only a matter of time before we had to pay the price for it.

Anyway, that's that. We're not angry at the fox at all. It's got cubs to feed too and it's a very useful animal, no matter what some stupid people may say. Our attitude towards them hasn't changed a bit. It was our own fault. Later in the evening, the devious fox even walked straight past the big window of our living room and even looked inside. It's got such a cute muzzle and friendly eyes that one may wonder how such an animal can be this cruel. Then again, the same can be said about our cats as well when they return home with a mouse, lizzard, bird or even rabbit. Sometimes even still alive, just to have something to play with. It's just the way nature is. We humans should be a bit more humble and finally admit that we can't change it, and the times we did try always ended in disaster. We should rather become a part of it again. But try to explain that to most part of the world...  

Some news from the legal front

Three weeks ago, the court had called both parties in the Danilo-case for a first hearing. Christine and I were not present there in person, but, Sabrina, our brilliant solicitor defended our interests. Not a lot was said, but according to Sabrina, the judge must have spotted immediately that the official documents, such as the building permit, seismic study etc. were backdated and issued long after Christine had already given Danilo the sack. He's now summoned both Christine and Danilo in person for further inquiry. Which Christine obviously looks forward to a lot. If the judge already has doubts now about the authenticity of all of these documents, the forged signatures will undoubtedly also come to light during the next session. Given that Italians generally tend to be very much concerned about their bad, "mafiosi" image abroad, it's very likely that the judge will not be mild on Danilo for having stained the image of Italy even more with ignorant foreigners. Counterfeit is a major crime and hopefully Danilo won't find any rock to crawl under anymore.

BTW, I should also mention here that nasty little Nezio has all of a sudden also agreed to an independent expert who'll come to take a look at the damages somewhere next week. Didn't he say earlier that he'd go to court right away or something?...

All of this is yet again a sign that things are looking up for Christine and I. You'll remember that last year Christine contacted two different solicitors, among whom a very famous one, in the hope that they would take our case seriously. Unfortunately, both of them suggested that we should pay the bastard and said that we didn't stand a chance in court. Now, we're no longer talking about paying Danilo. Oh no! Now we're talking about tens of thousands of Euros in damages that he should pay us! I won't be too optimistic here because if fate can turn so quickly to our advantage, it may well turn again in the opposite direction just as fast. But all things considered... I'd say we have both of them by the B... :-) 

The TV show

It's been a couple of very difficult weeks for me, but I'll give you an update one step at a time. :-)

So, two weeks ago I got invited for an interview on the popular talkshow "Goedele" on the Flemish commercial television. Needless to say that I was thrilled about it, moreover because all of my travel arrangements were paid, airport pick-up and drop-off were included and I received a hotelroom for the night. They had sent me a list of no less than 15 questions, to which they wanted my answers already beforehand, probably in order to be able to plan the timing of the show. Of course, I was not the main act, but I was only asked to support Thomas, the autistic boy I told you about. Which I gladly did because I admire that boy a lot.

- "You are my inspiration!", Thomas shouted at me when we first met in the TV station's dressing rooms. How about that? It made me feel inside like a chocolate toffee in the hot, summer sunshine. My heart melted away... I could only smile and replied that he had done it all by himself. Shortly the minister of education will come to visit him personally, so that's quite an achievement, isn't it? Anyway, Thomas insisted that I'd sit next to him during the show and so it happened. In the mean time we've become close friends and now I know truly everything about Minecraft, his favourite computer game. :-) After a brief rehearsal and make up, we were accompanied to our chairs at the big, centre table in the studio, surrounded by a live audience of about a hundred people. Then Goedele, the talkshow host, entered the stage and she immediately tried to reassure little Thomas and... probably anticipated on some unexpected remarks that he might give. The table was in fact a bit wobbly...

- "Yes, I know that it's only plastic and not real wood, but that'll remain our little secret, ok? Don't say that out loud!"

And she made a similar comment on her false eyelashes too. :-)  

Then the recording of our part of the programme started. It was only ten minutes and out of the 15 questions I'd had to prepare, in the end I only got asked 2 or 3. But I think I did rather well, which was confirmed later by the many, very positive reactions I received. My message apparently came through very well and that was the most important bit.

I still haven't seen the show on TV yet; the TV station was going to send me a copy on DVD which I'm yet to receive. So I'm very curious... :-)

In the end, all of the publicity I get for my book through newspapers and now this TV appearance is starting to bear fruit. After a rather sloppy start of the booksale, things are now running like a train and according to my editor already 900 copies have been sold in these 3 or 4 weeks and orders are still pouring in daily. The sloppy start was mainly due to a kind of boycot from the biggest chain of bookstores in Flanders. They're not really interested in new, unknown authors and only buy books from the established ones. But after all of this publicity they've changed their minds and now offer my book in their shops too. So I'm very happy indeed.

I've also been asked to write a few columns for the newsletters of the Flemish Autism Association, which I'll gladly do... later, because for the moment I think I need a lie-down... :-)

The chicks!

And... for those of you who're wondering how our 5 little chicks are doing, here a couple of photos. I haven't got much time right now (just returned from Belgium for this TV interview and in a few hours I'll be off to the annual Star party of my astronomy internet forum). But expect more news from me after the weekend!