A MOVE ...

A NEW SETTING FOR THE STORIES?

Dear reader,

For several years, we put a lot of time and energy into finding a new house. The old house in Amsterdam was too small to live there any longer, and for my changing health it was better to leave the city behind and find a place in more rural, green surroundings. We were always aware that this is no easy task in this day and age. Needless to say, the supply of houses is tight and the rise in prices seems to have no limit. Nevertheless, we adopted the motto 'the one who perseveres wins' and nurtured confidence in a successful outcome.

After a period of fruitless searching, in order to give things more momentum, we sold the house in Amsterdam and temporarily rented in Dalfsen. That seemed the perfect base for a further quest in the east and north of the country. But despite all the effort we put into the search, we failed to find a new house we could afford. It is a strange sensation to realise that we cannot continue in the Netherlands.

In the last few months, we took steps to swap the Netherlands for Portugal, my partner Raquel's country. We found a piece of land, with a simple house, which will be rebuilt. As it stands, we will move there next spring, and take on the challenge of building a new life in Portugal, with all that entails.

Although I have little idea whether the Eight is More than a Thousand articles are read and appreciated, I have enjoyed writing about them for the past year and a half. In the coming months, I will try to continue doing so unflinchingly and with regularity. Most of the pieces I have published so far have the landscape and history of the area around Dalfsen as their background. There is more than enough material to fill all the remaining chapters with this. Time will tell how far I will get with that in the months before our move. And whether after our move, the remainder of the stories will have a similar Portuguese setting.

I hope the upcoming contributions to Eight is More than a Thousand can continue to pique your interest.

kind regards, Peter