Christine and I would like to wish all of you a very happy New Year! As far as we're concerned, 2010 is probably going to be the most exciting year of our lives. We sincerely hope that also you may feel nothing but the overwhelming happiness that we are currently experiencing. And most important of all, we hope that you, your families and loved ones all enjoy a very good health. Because this is the most important asset in life.
This is our last Christmas and New Year's period in Belgium. Now already we are dead certain that we will never return to Belgium for this so-called period of cheer and happiness. Christine and I both don't enjoy the fortune of good family bonds. I haven't spoken to my parents for a long time and also Christine fell out with her sister some time ago. Let's just say that one doesn't get to choose his or her relatives and that the people who we consider to be our real family all live in Italy.
This Christmas period eventually proved this fact for the umpteenth time. Christine and I came once again last on the priority list, even though to us this seemed a once in a lifetime event - our final Christmas in Belgium. Some people didn't consider it that important however and eventually we had to celebrate on our own. It doesn't really matter. We know that our Italian family still knows what a true Christmas spirit is like and we very much look forward to celebrating Christmas 2010 with them.
Merry Christmas to all of you and my apologies if my post sounds a bit too grim. I know that you'll understand...
I've received a few comments on my first draft for the website for our B&B. Generally, it was deemed a bit too "sad" and perhaps a bit too "old fashioned". And I concur. It should be "warmer" and more "inviting". Therefore I thought that I'd perhaps change the lay-out to something more typical for Italy: their beautiful Terracotta. I know, this is rather something typical of Tuscany or the more southern Italian regions. But I personally like this theme a lot and in combination with the pictures and the curls under the title it should turn out allright.
What do you think?
PS: Please bear in mind that this is only the Flash file and that it doesn't fill up the entire screen yet.
Legally speaking, our house was already sold the moment that Christine and I put our signature under the sale's compromise. But last Wednesday the sollicitor's act was signed and let's just say that this makes it official: from now on we'll be (temporarily) renting a house that's no longer ours. It feels a bit awkward because Christine and I've worked so hard to build this house and to turn it into a real home. It's a pity that we'll have to abandon it forever shortly. Then again, and now I'm strictly speaking for myself, I've never quite felt at home in this neighbourhood and often wished that I could find a huge crane to move our house and garden elsewhere. On the other hand, I'm aware that technically speaking it would cause a difficulty or two to move this house to Italy. So buying something new and starting all over again was the only viable option. And at the same time, we're quite convinced that the lovely couple who've bought our house will find nothing but joy and happiness here. We'd like to congratulate Marie-Jeanne and Pierre with their acquisition and wish them many happy years in what I'll from now on refer to as their house.
So we've agreed with the new owners that for the remaining time of the restoration I can stay in this house. But slowly I'm already saying goodbye to it and the fond memories that it carries. As if the sky was also a bit sad for me, it showed the strangest evening colours. Unfortunately I didn't have a decent camera at hand and therefore the picture I took with my mobile is a bit fuzzy. But don't you agree that the colours are lovely?
His estimation didn't include the septical fosset. But more importantly, Danilo failed to mention that our house can't be connected to the sewer because there just isn't any sewer where we live. The solution? Well... just let your waste water run into the woods?... Christine nearly exploded. She doesn't really fancy a foaming forest, even if it's clean because of all the soap residues in our waste water. In that case, the only solution is a bio purification station. Just add it to the bill, Danilo...
Right from the start, Christine and I had a massive amount of confidence in Danilo, our architect. He's a very kind man and he's got a very "down to earth" attitude which we like a lot. It has to be said that in the beginning he helped us a great deal with the realisation of our dream. It was he who convinced the former owners of our house to agree with our maximum price. It was also he who arranged a couple of rooms for Christine to stay during the restoration. Even though those rooms are terribly cold during winter (no central heating, single glazed windows,...) and Danilo's uncle just can't leave Christine alone for five minutes.
But now the corpses start to fall out of the closet, as we say in Flemish. Here's a list of things where Danilo made a mistake or at least totally misinformed us.
- His estimation of the cost of the restoration was more than 20% below the lowest offer we received from the various contractors. Between brackets, it was based on his estimation that we decided on our maximum price for the house. - Furthermore, it turned out that Danilo's list of necessary works did not include the concrete topping for the floors. How are we going to lay our floortiles otherwise? An additional hole of 7.000 in the budget... - His estimation also didn't include the plasterwork for the interior walls. 10.000 please, thank you. - He failed to note that the first floor wasn't strong enough and needed an additional layer in armed concrete. Again thousands of ... - He also failed to note that due to this additional layer of concrete, the window sills are now roughly 10cm too low in order to have the house declared "habitable". This means that we either have to install a railing on all windows, or as we prefer have the windows raised by 10cm. There goes another 1.000... - Last week, the guys from the electricity company finally came to our house to connect us to the electricity network. After Danilo's instructions, our contractor had dug a trench from the street right up to our house. It took 3 days to dig this trench because below a thin layer of soil there is nothing but bone-hard rock. Unfortunately, the guys from the electricity company left again after only five minutes. Apparently the regulations have changed and the electricity connection now needs to be done on the border of our land because the company wants to have access to our meter at all times. It is therefore mandatory to build a small pillar at the border and incarcerate a small plastic box with the meters there. This means that a lot of those 3 days' work were for nothing. This also means that after New Year Christine can't start sawing out the trenches for the electricity cables and water pipes because there won't be any electricity yet.
And I've probably still forgotten a blunder or two. Apart from his plans that were full of wrong measures and distances.
When we decided to buy the house, we were a bit anxious because we were going to pay the absolute maximum that we could afford, keeping the restoration in mind. Danilo laughed with our concerns and told us that he would easily save us an additional 10.000 to 15.000. So we went for it. Just before she returned to Belgium, Christine reminded Danilo about his promise and added that so far she had only seen additional cost in stead of savings. Danilo bluntly replied that he had already "given" us those savings by bringing us into contact with Nesio, our contractor, because he's the cheapest of them all. Can you believe that?
If it were up to me, Danilo will - to his great surprise - suddenly also become the cheapest architect in the whole of Italy because I don't think that we're going to pay his exuberant 7.500 (initial!) bill any time soon. A bill that he also originally claimed was included in his estimation. We'll let him sweat and squirm a bit first...
When I'm writing this, Christine should be flying somewhere high above the North of France. In less than half an hour the aircraft is expected to arrive at Charleroi airport. A friend of hers is going to pick her up and drive her home. And then we'll be together again for two and a half weeks! My whole body is trembling with anticipation. I've missed her so much, although this time it was only four weeks since we last saw eachother. But the burning desire to see her again, to spend the rest of my life close by her side, has taken total control over me. How I long for the moment that I can take her in my arms again.
I've spent all morning getting the house clean. Not that it was dirty as such (I'm trying to be a good househusband ) but with those four crazy furrballs running around, you have to constantly keep on top of things. Little Chloé must know that Christine is coming because this morning she ostentatively pood in the curtains again. Something she hasn't done for over a month. Probably she was just trying to spur me to do an even greater effort in the whole cleaning bit. Last week I also put up the Christmas tree. Christine is very fond of the Christmassy spirit, which is one of her favourite parts of the year. She'll really be surprised because I didn't tell her yet. And then there is my good old friend Mark Deacon, who was so thoughtful that he brought me a special Harrod's Christmas bear when he came over to Brussels two weeks ago. He remembered that Christine collects them, whenever she gets the chance. That too will be a super-surprise for her. Thanks once more, dear Mark!
It goes without saying that every now and then, during a restauration, you run into unexpected difficulties. Or that you have to spend much more than you originally budgeted. Up till now we've always been very well on schedule, or even much ahead of schedule. And budget-wise, we didn't do all that bad either. Even though the bills we receive are consistently higher than what was planned. Without even mentioning the few unpleasant surprises like Danilo's 7.000 bill last week. We can only guess why he charges so much because the plans he made were not very impressive - a small piece of A4 paper on which the plans were drawn with software everyone can download for free. Moreover, the plans are often wrong because the measurements on his paper are not in line with the true measurements of the house. Anyway, we suppose that these 7.000 are there to compensate for his "responsibility"? Even though he hasn't shown up on the building site very often up till now.
That being said, last week we were really in for a shock. We received the offers from two plumbers we've contacted and... well... they're disastrous. They're at least twice as high as what we planned (which was already a lot of money) and they cast a serious hole in our budget. Up to the point that we're now convinced that finishing the house without an additional mortgage would become impossible. Of course, we are partly to blame in this. We wanted floor heating, which is already more expensive than a "normal" central heating system. And furthermore we wanted a heater on wood pellets in stead of gas. Gas is terribly expensive in Italy because especially in such remote places there is no gas network like there is in Belgium. And propane is only half as efficient as methane, without even mentioning the additional cost for having it delivered to your house by lorry. Wood is a vast natural resource in Italy and pellets are now being promoted as the fuel of the future. Something we surely believe in, also given the fact that we too have lots of wood on our property.
Christine and I are now desperately trying to bring the price down and we may have found a small way out. In stead of a pellets stove, we're now thinking about putting solar panels. These would already save us around 3.000 compared to the heater. It would also mean that we won't have to buy any "fuel" anymore. Pellets may be much cheaper than gas, they don't come for free either. During winter however, these solar panels will not suffice. But we can compensate this by having a connection running through the stove in our living room, something we also already planned. What's more cosy in winter than sitting in front of your fireplace? And what if you can heat the floors of the entire house and produce warm water while you're at it?
This week, Christine will again meet the plumbers and she'll try to bring the price down as much as possible. We've decided to jump into the deep. Staying in Belgium wasn't an option. So now we'll have to swim, one way or the other. It's as simple as that.
Our new home lies at an altitude of 770m. Much higher than the highest point in the whole Benelux, although this is hardly a reference. This means that winters are short, but much more severe than you would at first imagine from Italy. Two weeks ago it already started snowing above an altitude of 1000m. It inspired Christine to make this stunning image of the Monte Cusna (2121m) from our back yard...
And last week the snow came down to our altitude. Christine reported that overnight more than 15cm had fallen. Winter tyres or snow chains certainly aren't a luxury then. Even so, the weather is perhaps cold but yet much more enjoyable than the weather in Flanders, where we always get rain, sleet, more rain and a sharp westerly wind. And in Italy you can be certain of one thing: spring will come soon. Up north you'd be inclined to believe that you get the same horrible weather all year round...
In the beginning, being "lord and master of the house", can be quite enjoyable. Especially when you don't have to go to work anymore and you can live every day just as you please. But after a while this is getting pretty boring and I just can't wait to welcome Christine again, when she'll arrive back on Friday the 18th. It'll be two and a half weeks we're really going to enjoy. And after that, it's just the final effort until the move. We should be able to survive this!
However, being home alone (apart from the cats and the rest of the zoo) doesn't mean that I'm just enjoying the holiday while Christine is doing all of the dirty work. Of course, I can't help her physically as such. But still I try to help her as much as possible with the administrative side. There's not just the administration regarding the move itself we need to think about. There's also the question about banks (see previous message) and insurances. And there are administrative issues with the Belgian social security (given that we're both still on sick leave and that I want to apply for a permanent disability status).
I've also already told you about the work I've been doing on our future website and believe me, this is taking many hours of my time. And if I ever want to make a chance for a (part-time) job as piano teacher, I'd better be ready to wow the academy's principal. Therefore I'm practising at least two hours per day, preferably three. Or until my back is hurting too much. I know that it sounds pretty sloppy compared to chopping off concrete. But believe me that it's very hard work and an additional fixed income will be quite welcome once we've settled.
And then I'm also keeping myself busy with creating things. We're going to advertise our B&B as the ideal place for astronomy or bird watching. With that in mind I've recently bought a pair of giant binoculars. I managed to get a really good deal on them, but wasn't aware that this price had a catch. The binoculars arrived... without a tripod. Considering that you have to be built like the Hulk in order to carry a 7kg pair of binos in front of your eyes, I was quite disappointed. "Oh... you can always order a tripod. It'll just cost you another 160 plus tax and transport!" So I thought... forget it. I'll just go to the local DIY, buy a couple of pieces of wood and a few bolts and I'll make a decent tripod myself. So there you are... the result of weeks of hard work...
I already elaborated extensively on the problems Christine and I had with the banks, both in Belgium and in Italy. Finding a Belgian bridge loan and an Italian mortgage has given us quite a few difficulties, up to the point that we've now decided to do without a mortgage for the time being and see how far we can go. Since I will probably be entitled to a life-long pension (ref. my post on autism), we'll have a fixed income from the start so we don't need to hold on to some financial reserves for the first couple of years. Even though this income will undoubtedly be quite limited, it will certainly be sufficient to live, given that we won't have any financial obligations such as mortgages etc.
With that problem out of the way, I've started browsing the web in search for the Italian bank with the best conditions for a normal account. Unfortunately - again - I was up for a couple of surprises. And I hope that my Italian friends will forgive me my words, but the Italian banks seem to have a totally different philosophy than the banks in the rest of Europe. The main principle of banking in Europe is that you put your money on a bank account. This means that you in fact "lend" your money to the bank. The bank then invests this money or plays on the stock exchange with it and makes a considerable profit out of it. In return for your generosity, the bank will reward you with a meagre couple of percent's interest.
Not so in Italy, however. In Italy you have to pay the bank considerable money for the "privilege" of having an account with them. Yes, of course this is also the case for most of the bigger banks in the rest of Europe. But not only is the amount you pay much higher (the cheapest bank I found will cost us roughly 70-80 per year, just for having an account!), there isn't any interest either! So you do not only lend all of your money to the bank, which generates them billions of profit. No, you still have to pay them a yearly 80 on top of that! And no interest! You can only try to minimise the expenses by not using one of the counters in the bank office but use internet banking in stead. Or by only using your own bank's cash terminals. Or by not wanting any credit cards. Or by automatically forwarding your salaries to the bank. Etc. One could actually wonder why the Italians don't hide their money under their mattresses because this is absolutely proposterous.
Although it isn't all bad. The internet banks have also known a considerable growth in Italy and they offer considerably better conditions, comparable to the rest of Europe. Since we've since long mostly reverted to internet banking, I think that this might be the best option for us.
Again my apologies to the Italian readers. But you know that perfection doesn't exist, otherwise Italy would be a pretty boring country to live in. It's already paradise to us, so what else would we want? Asking for more would be greed!
I suppose that you're all thinking... "This Peter's got it all worked out well! Letting his wife do all the hard labour and letting her live in a cold "dump" during winter while he's living in luxury and just has to take care of the cats..."
Well. I'll show you now how wrong you are! In a next post I'll elaborate on all of my current activities. But in this particular one I'd like to present my first draft for the future website of our B&B. The name of our B&B will be "La Stella" ("The Star"). Christine thought that it goes well with our cosy little hamlet. It further indicates that our guests will receive a star-treatment and as a bonus it also refers to my passion for looking at the stars. So please note already the link I just purchased! It's not active yet because in order to register an ".it" domain you need to fill out a bit of paperwork with the Italian authorities. So I'm still waiting for the official "go" before I'm allowed access to my website management portal.
www.bb-lastella.it
Nevertheless I'd already like to present the Flash file that I've designed for the index page. There's still no clickable buttons or anything. I was until now absolutely not familiar with working in Flash so it took me some time to create all of this. I hope you like it, though. It's just the title page, including a small slideshow I made to show that this particular B&B truly lies in the middle of paradise! Your opinion would be highly appreciated. Christine also hasn't been able to review my work yet and obviously the special Christine's Evaluation and Approval Task Force (in short: the CEATF) will need to have its say. But I'm sure that she'll very much appreciate the Art-Nouveau background...
Oh... and please don't mind the poor quality of the text. This must be caused by this blog's website (perhaps trying to "stretch" the file into a full window). If possible, you should try to play it in Macromedia's Flash Player...
below the lowest offer we received from the various contractors. Between brackets, it was based on his estimation that we decided on our maximum price for the house. 
Last week I also put up the Christmas tree. Christine is very fond of the Christmassy spirit, which is one of her favourite parts of the year. She'll really be surprised because I didn't tell her yet. And then there is my good old friend Mark Deacon, who was so thoughtful that he brought me a special Harrod's Christmas bear when he came over to Brussels two weeks ago. He remembered that Christine collects them, whenever she gets the chance. That too will be a super-surprise for her. Thanks once more, dear Mark!
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