Monday, February 02, 2009
An End to the Tale?
After two years, a change of computer made me realise that I could no longer remember how to get into blogger, but when I eventually found my way back by signing up to google (did they buy blogger?) I found a couple of comments, and a story of oil theft on Stonehead's blog, that made me think an update was called for.
2007 was spent in something of a daze so far as the smallholding project was concerned - the final round of thefts had taken a large toll on our affection for the house and the area. We still spent most weekend's there in the summer, but were less motivated to put in the work required. Ironically, the thefts reduced in regularity, which felt like a final insult, but was probably just an acknowledgment that there was not much left to take.
By the beginning of 2008, we saw the spiralling inflation in Latvia as a warning of things to come (although we did not guess at the IMF loan to come) and so, like rats, we deserted the sinking ship in the middle of 2008, selling our property just as the market was coming off its peak.
We are now in the UK, living in a tiny rented cottage and deciding what to do with our lives, while accepting that the loss of a plan has probably been the most destructive part of the process.
And that should end this story.
Except we regretted the sale immediately it had gone through. And I miss the Latvian countryside, its huge numbers of trees, its low population density and the wild animals and weather far more than I expected.
So, after we had done with culture shock, got over the depression of being in a country that felt more foreign than the foreign country we had left (just for reference, the last time I lived in England there was a Conservative government in power), settled into our charming house and started to get used to enjoying the fruits of other people's labour (box schemes are excellent), we started to think about the future again.
And now we are, once again, looking at smallholdings for sale in Latvia. This time we are more focussed: we have a list of attributes that our next house must have, as well as a secondary list of desirable attributes. And while we are here, we are earning enough to buy a larger property, that does not need huge capital input, with a relatively (to the UK) small mortgage - one that our UK salaries should be able to pay off very quickly.
It's good to have a plan again.
2007 was spent in something of a daze so far as the smallholding project was concerned - the final round of thefts had taken a large toll on our affection for the house and the area. We still spent most weekend's there in the summer, but were less motivated to put in the work required. Ironically, the thefts reduced in regularity, which felt like a final insult, but was probably just an acknowledgment that there was not much left to take.
By the beginning of 2008, we saw the spiralling inflation in Latvia as a warning of things to come (although we did not guess at the IMF loan to come) and so, like rats, we deserted the sinking ship in the middle of 2008, selling our property just as the market was coming off its peak.
We are now in the UK, living in a tiny rented cottage and deciding what to do with our lives, while accepting that the loss of a plan has probably been the most destructive part of the process.
And that should end this story.
Except we regretted the sale immediately it had gone through. And I miss the Latvian countryside, its huge numbers of trees, its low population density and the wild animals and weather far more than I expected.
So, after we had done with culture shock, got over the depression of being in a country that felt more foreign than the foreign country we had left (just for reference, the last time I lived in England there was a Conservative government in power), settled into our charming house and started to get used to enjoying the fruits of other people's labour (box schemes are excellent), we started to think about the future again.
And now we are, once again, looking at smallholdings for sale in Latvia. This time we are more focussed: we have a list of attributes that our next house must have, as well as a secondary list of desirable attributes. And while we are here, we are earning enough to buy a larger property, that does not need huge capital input, with a relatively (to the UK) small mortgage - one that our UK salaries should be able to pay off very quickly.
It's good to have a plan again.
Comments:
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I'm never without a plan. Or two. Or three.
And yes, I know what you mean about constant thieving wearing you down. As well as the oil theft, the last five years have seen thieves take poultry, vegetables and eggs, attempt to take the Land Rover, and break into outbuildings. I've found people in the buildings, in the pig pens and pawing through "scrap" metal.
I don't even bother with the police most of the time because, while I have a lot of time for some individual police officers, the police as a whole seem more concerned with promoting diversity and collecting statistics than stopping crime.
However, it doesn't put me off as my fatal weakness is a tendency to dig in even more when things get tough. I'm like an old mule!
Good luck with your hunt for another property.
And yes, I know what you mean about constant thieving wearing you down. As well as the oil theft, the last five years have seen thieves take poultry, vegetables and eggs, attempt to take the Land Rover, and break into outbuildings. I've found people in the buildings, in the pig pens and pawing through "scrap" metal.
I don't even bother with the police most of the time because, while I have a lot of time for some individual police officers, the police as a whole seem more concerned with promoting diversity and collecting statistics than stopping crime.
However, it doesn't put me off as my fatal weakness is a tendency to dig in even more when things get tough. I'm like an old mule!
Good luck with your hunt for another property.
# posted by 
: 11:12 pm
: 11:12 pm
Yes, good luck following up that dream - we sold ours in South Africa for similar underlying reasons, and have ended up on an island in the Bass Strait (Australia). People don't seem to lock things much which as flying is at the moment the only way off the island for humans, and 15 kg is the weight allowance, would limit outsider theives - and a small population makes insider theives a lot easier to find. What we did back in SA was to build a secret secure room (door hidden in the back of a cupboard). This might be worth considering if you go back there.
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