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pricey
Joined: 28 Feb 2005 Posts: 6444
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catalyst
Joined: 03 May 2005 Posts: 6
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Posted: Sun Jul 22, 07 1:19 pm Post subject: |
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hi everyone
i am andy, husband of sophe (pureportugal).
we live in central portugal on a smallholding that is about to double in size, when we buy the land next door.
our website about us is now: www.portugalsmallholding.org
and we also run a site advertising property here, specialising in smallholdings and farms for the downsizer:
www.pureportugal.co.uk
i also still help people setting up co-ops and communities in the uk:
www.catalystcollective.org
we have horses, chickens, geese, ducks, bees, cats, dogs... and grow most of our own veg, as well as offering info and advice to anyone seeking to downsize and do the good life thing. i have read a lot about peak oil lately, as well as info about what our oil-based economy is doing to our landbases, and so spend a fair bit of time telling people how bad things are, and how we can make a difference by changing our lifestyles...
Last edited by catalyst on Sun Jul 22, 07 5:01 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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pricey
Joined: 28 Feb 2005 Posts: 6444
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keithatbeaugut
Joined: 14 Oct 2007 Posts: 16 Location: Puy-De-Dôme, Auvergne, France
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tahir
Joined: 28 Oct 2004 Posts: 45661 Location: Essex
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Bobkitten
Joined: 09 Nov 2007 Posts: 4 Location: Pas de Calais, France
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judith
Joined: 16 Dec 2004 Posts: 22789 Location: Montgomeryshire
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pricey
Joined: 28 Feb 2005 Posts: 6444
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Green Rosie
Joined: 13 May 2007 Posts: 10498 Location: Calvados, France
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jan66
Joined: 03 Jan 2007 Posts: 4
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Posted: Sat Nov 10, 07 9:44 am Post subject: |
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Hello everyone, my name is Janet. As a little girl I lived in Colchester, Kilmarnock and then spent the rest of my childhood in the Hague Holland where I met an Australian. We moved to Australia, back to Holland and finally settled in Ostfriesland in Germany.
We bought an old farm with 10.000 m2 of land and have just finished our first year of downsizing. It has been a very exciting but also difficult year and there is still so far to go. We do love living here, the neighbours are brilliant, the country side beautiful and living off the land is better than I anticipated. So no complaints there. BUT on the other hand, the house is cold, old, damp. It needs lots of work and there is never the money or the time.
Then you think back of your warm, insulated terrace house that you left behind where all the work had virtually been done. The house I could not wait to get out of but that did look nice and that was comfortable and warm. Where your washing would dry overnight instead of the 4 days it takes and then still needs to go into the dryer to finish it off.
We have 4 boys 13, 11, 10 and 5 who are all in different schools here. One goes to the regular high school, one to a Steiner / Waldorf school, one to primary and one to kindergarten. It keeps you pretty busy all round. Getting kids to school buses (the first one leaves before 7 the last drop off is 8.30), looking after animals and the garden, processing food.
My husband works 3 days a week in Holland. I give courses 3 evenings a week and occasionally work free lance for an interior design firm.
I have been reading here for quite a while now and really enjoy the posts, we learn from them, they inspire us and at times help you through insecurities. |
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Bobkitten
Joined: 09 Nov 2007 Posts: 4 Location: Pas de Calais, France
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ChrisUhu
Joined: 12 Nov 2007 Posts: 71 Location: Northern Germany
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Posted: Mon Nov 12, 07 1:26 pm Post subject: |
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Hi everyone, my name is Christina, I am new to the forum having stumbled across it on my husband's laptop - so you are the guys he's been talking to .
I am the OH to Kevin who told you all about moving to Niedersachsen at the beginning of 2006. I work in the automotive industry which is cut-throat and horrible, making me appreciate coming home to our house and garden, in the midst of one of the valleys of the Weserbergland, all the more
After 20 years in Norn Irn, living in Germany (again, in my case, as I grew up near Paderborn and left when I finished school) has come as quite a shock.
Germany is still in the dark ages as far as providing good, fresh food (never mind organic!) to the general public is concerned, and I can't wait for next summer when we will hopefully get our first home-grown fruit and veg in. I MISS the wonderful farm shop in Northern Ireland I used to go to!
The good thing, however, about moving to Germany is that it has given us the opportunity to start downsizing - one job instead of two, living in the lovely green countryside instead of town, the kids running wild in the woods and fields, stuffing themselves full of fruit, nuts and berries instead of having to be kept indoors for fear of being mown down by traffic...
I enjoy reading the posts on this forum and will "pop in" during my lunch break whenever I can. |
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tim_and_nicky
Joined: 28 Nov 2008 Posts: 261 Location: Beautiful Galicia, NW Spain
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jamanda Downsizer Moderator
Joined: 22 Oct 2006 Posts: 35057 Location: Devon
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Went
Joined: 19 Mar 2006 Posts: 6968
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