Hello, I'm back in a brand new tiny house (not really as it's 200 yrs old :)

My view from my window in my sitting-cum-dinning-cum room :) 

 Hello dear bloggers and followers,

I have been away from internet and blogging for a long time and many many things had happened in my life. One of the great news is, roll the drums please, I bought a tiny old house in a tiny semi-empty hamlet in the countryside of bella Italia, yahooo :)  It's a long story, which I will share one day, but I got the house for very little money; what I paid won't get you a brand new car! Imagine! So, I put all my savings and a dear friend of mine gifted me some money to do some work around the house as it was neglected for many years. I still need to do a lot of work to make it more comfortable but it's fine for the moment. I have a small wood stove, the only source of heating and a tiny gas stove, which I need to replace soon. All the aesthetic work have to wait as I have no money to pay for it :( But I have the tiniest and cutest kitchen in the world :) I promise tons of photos once I manage to buy a new camera as my 10 yrs old camera died few days ago :(

so in this tiny house of mine, I live off the grid, just a small portable solar panel to charge my phone and have a bit of light. I hope to be able to buy a bigger one so I can have a fridge. Yes, I live without a fridge or a washing machine or hot running water and I'm perfectly fine :)  

I don't own a land which is sad but the good news is two lovely neighbours (not really neighbours but have plots not far from me) offered me their plots to cultivate so I'm super excited to start afresh and practice my permaculture skills :)

Oh, I have tons of news to share but I'm using internet from a cafe in the nearby village and I have to walk back home (6 ks going and returning!)

Here are some photos of what I've been doing: preserving food, growing food, having chickens for eggs and overdose of cuteness :) and many more. Will try to share more soon. And hope all of you are doing great :)

My Jungle :)

My jungle of  vegetable garden :) The tomatoes and pumpkin and zucchini are HUGE!

New Life :)

I'm swimming in eggs. in this basket I had 100 eggs! I sold them in the market, yay :)

Well, it has been a long time since I posted! Many many things had happened during those long months.  First, I got very sick and lost about 15 kilos! It took few months to recover and discover what was the problem with me. I found out that I have intolerance to many grains, not only gluten and I have to be on a strict diet. It is a long story and I will post about it in details because I'm sure it might help others too. Now I eat only nuts (grind them at home), rice and lots and lots of veggies and fruit. No sugar, no grains and nothing that comes in a packet (I haven't eaten processed foods in more than 10 years).

Second, I have moved from my place into another place and region! Now I have a huge vegetable garden, 10 chickens, 2 cockerels, 2 turkeys, 2 ducks (all have names of course) 2 chickens are already brooding and also my duck Thumbelina :)  I also have a lovely caravan (I don't live in it yet!) and a treehouse! I'm in the process of buying a small house in a tiny hamlet that is almost empty :(  All the people have left and I hope to populate it with people, as most of the remaining 7 or 8 houses are on sale! It would be lovely to help sell these houses to like-minded people to create a kind of an eco-village or something (prices are so cheap!). I spoke to a lady who owns the land around and she said she is welling to rent or sell. Anyway, this is another story I will share soon.

I don't have internet at the new place but will do so soon-ish. I'm still looking for work, etc, so having internet now is a bit over the budget :(

I really miss visiting and reading my favourite blogs. I would love  to reconnect and keep in touch with some of these bloggers; I'd love to do swaps; sending cards, letters and little crafted gifts :)

Ok, I just have enough time to visit some of my favourite blogs and say hello. I'll do my best to post more and share lots of photos and even videos. 

Good to be back :)

Just to say I'm back with lots of stories to share. I'm so excited. It has been a rough time here, getting very sick and all but I hope I will be well enough to share some nice stories with you.

just to say

Well, it has been a long time since I have posted and the reason is I am unable to access blogger from my Apple Mac! I am trying to sort it out and till I do, I will not be able to post.

I have a lot of news to share, about the house\houses I wanted to buy and my vegetable garden\orto, and many more, like dealing with a new group of stary cats I found in one of the small villages I visited and trying to help these poor cats. It breaks my heart so much to see so many animals suffering and people do not give a damn. :(

Amyway, I hope this problem will be sorted soon so I can resume posting and sharing my stories.
Cyrene

This is NOT a Fashion Post!

 These are my shoes now, all old and good for working on the farm

When I was living and working in London, I shopped like any girl who worked hard; I wore makeup and spent a lot of money on my hair. Although I splurged on some very expensive shoes and bags and clothes, I'd never run into debt or got myself into financial troubles. I bought those expensive stuff under the pretense of: Oh, I work hard and I need to treat myself. Oh yea, this £500 bag is just a treat for working so hard; this mega expensive dress is just to make me feel better, bla bla. But did I really feel better, good, confident, and happy in those expensive clothes! The answer is: NO. I felt miserable, I was depressed, I suffered from a very low self-esteem, despite the expensive stuff. I was a walking and living misery. Do you want to see some of the stuff I had? See below pic :)

 This is just a sample from what I used to have. Anyway, after I had made the change and left my job and flat in London and moved into a small house on a farm without hot running water or a fridge or a washing machine or a TV or internet or central heating, I learnt my lessons and realized what a pathetic and shallow life I was wallowing in. First thing I did was I got rid of all these expensive stuff, all of them And now I have only old and secondhand stuff.

 And this is the closest I got to wearing some of those expensive shoes and bags before I got rid of them, in my bedroom in front of the mirror. Sad, eh?  Some of those shoes and bags I never wore and just played dress-up with them in my bedroom. But one day: BOOM, I decided that is it. And got rid of them all. Now, I do not own any single expensive or new thing!

This is me now: without any makeup or fancy hair cut or expensive clothes or shoes. I wear secondhand clothes from my dear friend in London or some of my Italian friends here, who find it a bit strange! I do not use any creams or cosmetic products like shampoos or body wash or perfumes or anything. And despite that, I think I look great and healthy and the most important thing: Happy. I've never been happy in my life as I am now wearing old and not so pretty clothes. I'm beaming with confidence and grace and I feel great. I made a vow that I will never buy any thing that is not ethical; I will never step a foot inside a department store or a chain store or buy from any brand. I will never buy or wear any thing while there are One Billion persons in the world who can not have three normal meals like the rest of us. One Billion people! 

Not only I got rid of all the expensive shoes, bags and clothes but also any jewelry I had. Gold and diamonds to me are all blood gold and diamonds. I can never justify to myself wearing a gold or diamond ring while some people died in the process of mining for the gold or diamond! I do not need any gold or diamond to feel good and pretty. All I need is to wear my sincere smile :)

Why I'm telling you all of this? Well,  I just thought to share this with you because I'm sure there are some of you out there who are still struggling with body image and think that expensive clothes or more stuff or makeup will make them happy. Not at all. Happiness comes from simple things in life; happiness is when you think of others not just you. Happiness in not this vicious cycle of expectations but rather the awareness that the more we expect and need the more miserable we become. This has to stop and we have to start living in the moment with what you have. Do not pay attention to what others say (believe me lots of people think I'm crazy to leave my ex comfy life for this hardship but I do not care) and do what your heart and conscious tell you. 

The nasty reality of truffles :(

When I first moved to Italy I lived in this tiny house on a farm; it was badly made, freezing clod in winter and very hot in summer. I suffered a lot in that house; and the landlady was nasty. Well, last week I viewed a similar house on sale near the first house I viewed a week before. :)  Stay tuned for more.

Well, I went to see the house again.... it was another adventure I will tell you about in details later. What I want to say is during this visit I discovered another thing about the area which I did not like at all. The area is a hotspot for truffle and truffle hunters and I hate, hate truffle hunters! You know why? Because they starve their dogs; literally dogs are skins and bones. So please before you buy or eat any truffles, think about all those starving dogs. They are in a such bad situation. Even though it is against the law to do so but all the truffle hunters here are heartless bastards. I got into a fight with one of them long time ago. They are nasty and care only about the money they get from the truffles. The poor dogs live a painful life, hungry all the time and go crazy for truffle because they know they will get a tiny piece for biscuits! It is an excruciating life, so please do not buy or eat truffles.

 This was my kitchen then

Anyway, all I can say is I'm very confused and worried and need to think hard. I also need to go with a builder to check the damages in the small house I liked. Because in my first visit I did not see these new damages; they were at the back of the house which I did not look at.

I made my breakfast on this wood-burning stove and the house was freezing. When my porridge was done, I would pour my coffee, drag the small old bed I made into a sofa, pile books next to me and thick blankets on me and commence eating and reading till 12 pm. It was too cold to move around the house. 

On a different note, today was a good day. I a completed few tasks and canned six jars of organic orange jam! They will be the last patch I do this year. I will take photos and share the recipe. It is so easy and so delicious. Everyone who tasted the first patch I made fell in love with it :) 

Dilemma

Ok, I just came back from viewing a tiny house somewhere in the mountains. Oh my God, it is wonderful. It needs some work, around another 4.000 or 5.000 then it would be perfect. It has its own water, though I need to carry a check to see whether I can drink it or not; there is no electricity but solar panels would be great; it has no land but one can have a big kitchen garden and chickens and  2 goats for milk; there is a place for all that.

And the price is ridiculous; I've never imaged that I can find a place with such a price in Italy. There is another house attached to it but it is well maintained and the owner lives in another city and comes only once a year to throw a hunting party! yuck, I do not like hunters but I can put up with him for few days per year. The friend who took me there said it is so tiny, so I was imaging a tiny tiny place but what a surprise for me. It was not tiny at all. In the entrance there is a huge fireplace, then a bathroom on the right, then a big kitchen-sitting room, then a small bed room. Then, there are other two big rooms below  that you access from outside and can be used as a store, chicken coop, etc. Or one for guests, etc.

Now, what is the problem?

Well, the place is very very isolated and as I do not have a car, it would be so difficult living there. The bus doesn't pass there at all and the road is so bad that in winter one can remain blocked for weeks! 

I do not know what to do? I'm torn between reserving it to buy it later when I can get the money (my best friend in London would lend me a bit of money and my brother would send me some too but that would take some time), then I move to a nearby city or town and get a job or even relocate to Britain and work for few years and save up, then return, do the work and live there. But still, even I will not be having any bills (as I intend to have solar panels; no bill for water too or for rubbish collecting, as there is none, plus I do not generate any rubbish, etc), but still I need to have a sort of income to pay for living: the stuff I do not grow, feeding for the animals, wood for heating, etc. 

I do not know what to do and scared that someone would buy this little house and then I will never have such a chance. And in the same time, I'm worried if I give a word to reserve it, then I have to buy it or lose the deposit if I change my mind later. The good thing it is not through a state agency but direct through the owner (and the friend of friend of friend who is the link between us and the owner).

If you are in my position, what shall you do? Be honest please. 

Spring and others

It seems Spring has finally arrived. We have been having very warm days lately, though weather forecast says from tomorrow rain and clod would arrive! I have been sitting outside my house in the sun after lunch for more than a week now. Sadly I couldn't drag my old sleeping bag and sleep on the grass as we have been invaded by ticks! Yuck, yuck. They make me so sick, seeing them and I just do not know what to do to get rid them of them? Any chemical-free tips, please? We have lots of deer in this region and I saw families of them sleeping outside my door early in the morning. So ticks come with them. I try to cut down the grass near the house but we are surrounded by bushes and it is so steep, there is no way I can cut that grass. 

 I said in an earlier post that I will not plant a lot of veggies this year but before I made that decision I have sowed lots of seeds, tomatoes (different types), aubergines, chili, and red pepper. The good thing is I collected these seeds from vegetables I grew last year or got from friends from their farms. They have grown so well, I'm so amazed. The picture above is from last year; I will photo them soon. They are sitting in two huge craters on my windowsill inside the house and when it is hot out, I leave them out for hours. I just can't understand people who spend money on seeds while they can get them for free! Especially the ones easily obtained, like tomatoes, pepper, aubergines, etc.

 Last year in Autumn I got about 10 kilos of onions from a local organic farmers, and when some of them sprouted (very few) I planted them to get spring green onions. Sadly a vole (many of them it seems) ate them :(  I managed to save those but see the bites on the roots! They are monsters!

 I have this succulent plant in front of my house (it's one of three) and it started to bloom! The bees are so happy :) I've even left a dish of water for them.

And finally, here is Luna sporting one of her cute looks :) She is so cute and I cannot stop kissing her, sometimes, hehe.

Updates:

The email is working now, yaya; I didn't do anything; 2 days ago I logged in and it just worked! What a relief!

The move: Well, next week there will be some news; I do not know yet if things will be ok or not; I will tell you more when I know, hopefully by Thursday. Keep your fingers crossed please :)

Changes and new plans

Well, I have been quiet for  while because there will be some changes and new plans. After some serious thinking, I have decided to move out from here within a year or a year and half to a place where I can set roots and call home. It will be very difficult as I have no money at the moment but I'm determined to make it. 

The thing is I have been working on a project for a while and I decided to give it a go and try to finish it, and see if I can make a living from it. I haven't spoken about the project before and I will keep it private till I am finished. I'm not sure if I will be able to make a living from it but if I do not try, I will not know, right?

I will not be planting a lot of veggies this year but rather getting them from local and small organic farms here, and I won't plant the berries garden or any fruit trees. I will just wait till I can have my own place. I think I will need to move into another country, as prices here in Italy are so high and there is no way I can afford to buy anything. It will be difficult and I'm very worried and scared of this new move but I have to do it.  It will be into one of the ex Communist east European countries, as prices of rural houses with land are so cheap (just 3000 or 4000 euros!) Then I will look into renting a room or two for tourists and maybe doing some tours too; cooking for them organic food grown by me, etc. We shall see.

I will keep blogging about my sustainable life here and my new plans. 

Please wish me luck :)