It’s that time for my yearly commentary about my little farm in Loksbergen
Eight weeks i was again living the dream. This time even the weather was living the dream. Exotic temperatures were displaying day after day.
At my arrival 5 pallets of concrete,sand and stones were waiting. It was time to pour some concrete. First there was a big clean up of wild flora and a few piles of broken stones that needed to be moved from one side to another.
My front garden, is getting to his end game. A Little bridge connects one side to the other side of the pond. All the little walkways in the front garden are now connected. The entrance of the parking to the garden has now an access of three big steps and only one garden wall still needs to be erected and its just a matter of decking stones and the little gravel stones on the path, and the front garden is completely finished. The only thing that would make the front garden look different every year is the grow of my fruit plants and other plants.
The back garden is still a long way of the finishing touch. And this year there was not much activity going on in the back garden . Except the plants , who are now getting a decent sizes. The only thing that changed was the start of a patio. The resting area in the back garden is been layed out, and the first brick walls has been erected.
All by all, i would say that the garden in my little farm is finished about around 70 %. So i’m quit happy and still in head of my schedule that i placed myself 5 years ago.
One big unexpected project of my holiday in the year of 2018 was the visual connection between my front garden and back garden , the back shed that was dividing my property in two different parts has been reduced to a wall of less then a metre. Now i’m able to see all the way to my back garden to see if Eve has decided to come along and to pick her favourite fruit.
The driveway is now closed to the public. From this day on I'm in my legally right to shoot people trespassing my property, except i’m in the wrong country to do so. The gate in the driveway is a reminder of all the things that were dogged out the dirt during my last summers.
The inside of the house is still a slowly process. Slowly , very slowly, the interior walls are getting treated. A few walls are rendered, but still i’m only on 40% of my schedule inside the house. So the next holiday time , definitely more energy and more money needs to be spend to get the inside going.
But 2018 is an important year. I’m half way of my serious drain of financial means. I’m not counting how many years i’m already paying a decent amount to the bank. but counting how many years i still have to work like a fool to keep the money flowing to the bank.
Again i was travelling back in time, i lost count how many times i travelled back and forward in time. But surprisingly the flight went without problems. even the luggage was were i had to picked it up on my arrival in Brussels. After two days of travelling i was back again on Belgian soil.
This time tradition was broken. my parents were waiting at the airport instead of my sis, to drive me to my little farm . But my my sister and godchild still decided to have a break in their centerparcs holiday and were waiting at the farm.for our arrival.
After a short reunion after a long time being away from home and family and a short dinner ,my sister, godchild and parents left to their own destinations to leave me in peace after the long flight around the world and to recuperate from jet lag in my own little farm.I had only one night, because the next day i was heading to centerparcs. My sister still had a few days in the parc, so i was heading that way to join her.I spend the following couple days enjoying the company of my sister and godchild, who in one year changed from a non verbal child to a child that can’t keep up with his own thoughts to keep us informed.
The holiday is already gone while i’m writing and following up on my blog , on urgent demand of my sister. If i look back , i think where did it go. I have been away for 8 weeks, but where are they. What happened with those weeks.I know that i worked at the farm, but it seems that that was the only thing i did, if i look back.
I remember a beach festival. a night out dancing with friends. I remember that i had a visitor for two weeks named Billy. An English bulldog. was coming to my farm to have a relaxed holiday. No stress around him, just moving from one place to lay down to the other one. Having a walk around the labyrinth of walkways in Euralia. It was great to have a four leg walking around the farm. I always loved dogs and having one now, even if it was only temporary, was a hint of the life i dream of. After Billy,s happy reunion with his family after two weeks Euralia parc, jumping in the family car without looking back and heading to his territory, i kept talking to the dog noticing he wasn’t around anymore. It was easier getting used to having a four legger around then not having one around.My sister and godchild spend several nights in Euralia parc , visiting Billy. and enjoying the heat in eve’s garden . Even my godchild was catching the building microbe and started to help putting a wall together.in the back garden .With a helping hand of parents, sister and godchild work at the little farm made some decent progress. It was the first time that i ever felt that the farm was getting closer to his end design.There is still a lot of work to do.but certain places were close to finish.
And suddenly that time was near again. A plane to catch. But i have to confess, this year was really hard to step on that plane , it becomes harder and harder going trough all those emotions over and over again, you would think it would go easier and easier after all those years of departures, but no. it doesn’t. The land of Oz is still a long way from home, and ten months is a serious time to bridge over.
Three days to go. Counting down the cold days. Now i remember why i always fly back in the summer to my little farm. I’m like a bird, just following the heat.
The last month the company is working at an install of four camps of 160 people. And all with a time limit. A hectic job.
One donga multiplied by 125. And a donga exist out of four rooms. So that ’s around 500 rooms, not included kitchen, offices, and recreation rooms. Yep, those camps have everything, even satellite and free netflix., pool table, fitness centre.
The last months there was no difference between the days. A Saturday was the same as a Tuesday and a Sunday was the same as a Thursday, or did i mixed it up here, i don’t know it anymore. A day was just a working day. One after the other one. A lot of repetitive work, a bracket has to be made for the air cons. to hold them in their place during the transport. But one donga needed 4 brackets, one individual A/C per room. so i’m not gonna calculate how many brackets i made and installed. i rather sooner forget that number. Hooks to hang the electrical wire on the outside of the building. But again multiplied by the amount of the donga’s.
And let’s talk about the shit that flows trough 4 camp of 160 people. A lot of shit boxes needed to be made.to keep the shit flowing trough the camp.Simply said, The shit flows to a box where a pump pushes it to a another bigger box and then to another container where it’s been recycled and filtered. I never had an idea how complicated it all is when i had a shit myself. The distance that shit travels before it ends up as waste is unbelievable . The shit science is nothing to laugh about.
Day after days just passes by , getting colder and colder, while in Europe a heat wave started. I was more worried about the drought in Europe , will my plants survive then about the efficiency of the shit boxes.
During all those hours i still had the change to upgrade from a little forklift to a bigger one. from this day on i’m capable of moving buildings around with a 7 ton forklift. My so well known forklift seems like a little kids toy now.
And slowly my departure day comes closer. My bag is already made. but there are still a few long days to go.
And finally that day arrived that i could step on that plane direction Euralia.
My dear diary,
It’s been a few months now since i wrote to you. That i informed you of my deepest and precious thoughts. It has been a time of adjustment. Getting used to my new work, mates, payslip and sleeping place.
There is been no time for creativity, i know , dear diary, no time is the most used excuse we use as we see fit. but i ll be honest with you. There is a certain emptiness in me. and i can’t find the leak. I tried different solutions to locate the drain. but with no success . A night out with work mates as a social gathering. ended in a way that i had to pay it of in three weeks time, don’t get me wrong , i was still sober , didn’t gamble. didn’t interfere with the wildlife. But the financial aspects of my present work don’t allow me much playground .
I don’t have much more fighting in me, just a habit to finish the game. , learned in my childhood in the professional world of tennis. The game can change every moment when you keep hitting the ball over the net.
So i keep working long hours, day after day, till my body demands a rest. and causing my hourly nap in a free day extending by three hours.The only creativity that took place in my brain, is my little farm far far away, a place where i live the way i dream of living. Being creative , making sculptures, cartoons and have close people visiting , a dog running around and my godchild making havoc around the place. I have my little farm now in a 3D-program on my running low on memory laptop. So dear Diary, my mind being overly busy at the early mornings and my only interest with the improvements of Euralia, was maybe a way to show me the leak. So i decided that it was that time again to move . The financial aspects of being in Australia weren't no longer interesting .My present work didn’t allow me any personal extras.then just paying those everlasting bills. A one way trip was coming my way.
Spending hours of calculating and noticing that my mathematics weren’t what they used to be., my earliest departure day could be around the end of July. Having looked in ,all scenario’s possible ,my decision was made. I would return to Loksbergen, just before my big 50, as my sister gently said. Save up that precious money for the flight and in case a job doesn’t pop up immediately.
I notified work i would be leaving at the end of July, before they send me to a few days bush. Remember the ranger with his two blue thumbs, that was the place where we would spend a few nights.Palm Valley, The shed i installed a year ago was still standing, so i suppose i could be happy that my welding skills are not to bad. This place is really magic, the track to get there is a one way sandy bush road,crossing dry riverbeds and leading all the way up in the hills. A few house are flanked by the tops of the surrounding hills. We had to install a donga, with patio and handrail.
All the duration of the bush trip , i had my swag outside, every night before my eyes shut down automatically i had the most spectacular view of the endless universe stretching out above me.Damned, i ‘m gonna miss this. The howling dingo’s at night, the shooting stars in the early morning.I really took notice of my surroundings, it was maybe the last time i’ll be able to experience the beauty of untouched nature.and wildlife.
Back to my little living place at the work yard, the next countdown started, i lost the amount of countdowns i already had in my life. Sixty-four days my calendar was showing. One of the days after, i checked my accounts, and i noticed a big difference. It seems they have given me a big pay rise. The next morning , the boss came to me , and verified what i noticed the night before. A pay rise and lower rent for my little donga. It changes everything again. It was not a rise of a few dollars.more, but a rise that changed all my plans again. Didn’t i say that i wouldn’t make any plans anymore in one of my last blogs. So one way ticket changed to a return ticket. One more year would make a big difference and the life that i wanna live closer.
But still, my dear diary, the call from Euralia gets louder and louder.
Amazing, you would think you would get used to 180 degree turns in life in a blink of an eye, but you don’t. Especially when they are not voluntary.
My career is over with Ross engineering. A Monday morning i wake up , looking forward to the last working week of the year and to a well earned week off between Xmas and old year. Meaning, sitting in a pool with my favourite drink. Do i have a pool? Yep , i do. I got the chance to house sitting for the coming three weeks. But after the toolbox meeting that Monday morning, i was called for a private meeting. They had to let me go , was there explanation. A fancy way to say you are fucking fired. The company is struggling with hard times, and the casual people are the first one on the black list they look for. They cost nothing to kick them out. And i was one of them. So my ten years of building up a career, reputation and a higher payslip are down to the drain. After wishing them a really fucking x-mas , i walked for the last time to the gate of a ten years life.
Straight to the pool, to re memorises what just happened. It was not that i was fired , but the realty that becomes dreams again that hurt the most. I just had a good plan for the next 5 years and had made peace with it.
Being threw away couldn’t come to me at a better time. X-mas and a invoice to insulate the farm far far away were coming my way. Finding a job in those happy times where a mayor priority. Luckily i was in a small outback time, and work is always available. The second place i went to would let me start in two weeks. The new place i would go to work to was NT-link, on the outer skirts of the town. One thing less to worry about. Xmas and old year just slowly went by. A swimming pool, three dogs . two lizards and a TV screen the size of a window and netflix made sure of that. 2018, a new start , a hike with the bike for 40 minutes to go to work, and back another 50 minutes after a work day in 43 degrees. But being cast away a few times in life you learn to deal with situations and hang on to the positive side of things. The ride with the bike was the first thing i had to try to cast away myself. Luckily i started working with a company specialised in demountables and they had a few empty ones in the yard. So two weeks after, i moved in one of them. 40 minutes where reduced to 45 seconds. One problem solved. The next problem would be a bit harder. Starting again at the bottom of the financial ladder is not a problem you solve overnight Financial plans , calculations where the only thing on my mind. The good thing about working at my previous work was the financial aspect, the dream to be able to finish my little farm from the other side of the globe. That financial luxury gone , i had to reconsider all my priorities.
And the magic 50 was coming nearby and surely i felt this in every bone in my body. My mind was able somehow to stop ageing when i was 29 , but i didnt’ found the trick to do the same with my body. Working around 60 a 70 hours a week in a heat wave around 40 degrees and above is not ideal to keep the body moving in a comfortable way. Not talking about the social aspects involved of those many hours and always being in a male environment. I ‘m starting to wonder how a woman looks like, and i will certainly not talk about how a woman would feel like, and the hope to be abducted by an alien ship full of desperate woman who’s world was abandoned by male species, is a dream i let go a few years back. Definitely the scale of existence changed that day i walked into that office on that Monday morning. Another good thing that happened during those festival times was, my farm was getting insulated on the outside, and daily i could follow up the progress of the work.Trying not to think about the invoice that would follow shortly afterwards. The house was completely protected against the harsh environment of the country side in the marginal triangle of Limburg.
I’m a few weeks further now in my new life, new job and new sleeping place but what i noticed was that my mind struggles with the peak of 50. Days seems to be longer and rest less, but in reality it was the way around. Painkillers were a must in my bush kit and the heat was taking me out more then it used to be. And the urge to settle down , having an easy 40 hour week, coming home and having a play with the dog, doing a little bit of garden work, having on occasion a night out in my favourite club, or a weekend seeing my godchild annoying his mother are feeling more and more like heaven to me. But i’m determent not to make any plans now, or to think to far ahead.
Who knows which news i will be receiving after another toolbox meeting .
