Moved !

[svandamme]

after 6 long years in the Netherlands,
i finally packed up and moved back to Flanders, Belgium

from the big City to the country side and it's country roads
from a 1 bedroom appartment with tiny balcony, to a freestanding house, bungalow style, double bedroom, decent kitchen living room with fireplace, garage and a garden, and amidst the farm roads of my home town, the same roads used for the 24 hours of Ypres Rally... it's all good!

all in all, an upgrade in more ways then one, i'm happy, the cat is happy, and my Porsche better be happy cause now it sleeps indoors instead of out





it ain't a big mansion, but after 6 years in a tiny apartment, it feels like one
the cat is already well adjusted to the garden, seen here on his first time out



and half an hour later, he returned, having bagged his first kill, a little field mouse
was well proud of the little fella, on his first day out, keeping in mind he had never been outside the apartment... now to train him so he brings back rabbit's, ducks or pheasants, something that can be cooked and eaten

[scottmandue]

Very cool architecture, are you renting or buying?

Your cat looks rather familiar.



I SAID NO PHOTOGRAPHS!

[svandamme]

renting, for now,but i'll try and buy if and when i get the chance

it was built in 73-75 or something, by somebody in the publishing business, current owner bought it as a retirement place, former farmer, it had been empty for 2 years since he passed away and his wife went to the retirement home...(the 3 daughters arranged for it to be put on the rental market)

it's just 5 minutes from Ypres center, my home town, in Langemark, small village, bit rural, but not to much, quiet neighborhood, good access to highway, pretty much the opposite from my place in the Netherlands on all counts

[The Gaijin]

Nice to be home. Congratulations.

[gassy]

Cool place.

[LakeCleElum]

Think I've been thru Flanders, out by the coast isn't it? Close to Brugge? I've had 4 folks here from Belgium for the past 5 days, great guests. You live in a beautiful part of the world...

[craigster59]

Nice move Stijn! Nothing like a complete change of scenery to get the creative juices flowing. Isn't it a little "sedate" for you, or are your hard partying days behind you?

[svandamme]

Originally Posted by LakeCleElum

Think I've been thru Flanders, out by the coast isn't it? Close to Brugge? I've had 4 folks here from Belgium for the past 5 days, great guests. You live in a beautiful part of the world...

yeah Brugge is about 40 km away from here, coast is i think 35
i'm closer to the French Border, Lille

Originally Posted by craigster59

Nice move Stijn! Nothing like a complete change of scenery to get the creative juices flowing. Isn't it a little "sedate" for you, or are your hard partying days behind you?

my days of hard partying are long gone, for now
actually , i stopped partying when i moved to Rotterdam, just didn't like going out there other then the rare occasional thing with the guys from work

besides, there's a discotheque just 800 meter from my doorstep here in the center of the town... the place i started out back when i was 15 driving a moped... it's a rural disco, the occasional weekly fist fight and what not, it's all good fun you know

and here i get Belgian Abbey beers in a pub for less then the price i payed for Dutch Pisch in Rotterdam, sure, it's no fancy designer interior, but who cares, one does not go to the pub for architecture.

[livi]

I am really happy for you, Stijn! I hope we will have the opportunity to visit one another in the future. Things are looking up for both of us - and you really deserve it. As I said when you sent the pics previously, I really dig the interior design and looks like the cat approve of the garden. Finally free wheeling, fresh air and varmints to catch!

[Zeke]

Cool architecture. I'd only have a hard time with the white fireplace, even in a modernistic house. If you can buy the place, you can do anything you like. You may just really like the FP the way it is. You don't need me to tell you.

Congrats on the move. I know how free you must feel.

[dhoward]

Very nice!

[john70t]

The first photo indicates the garage door isn't flush to the outer walls, and the recess will act like a wind trap....so that drifts of snow will build up against it in the wintertime and wash in.

Other than that it is clean, neat, modern, and homely. Very nice!
You need to put a rubber $100 dollar bill on the collar so kitty will bring home the strippers

[svandamme]

snow is not an issue around these parts, if we get one week a year of actual white stuff good enough to have some fun with, i'de count myself lucky

Cat has no collar(ID chip), i don't want to cramp his style, or cause him to get stuck while hunting , and realistically , no strippers around these parts either... even less then snow

[slodave]

Doood, you really need to post some pics of your garage or be banned! BTW, the rest of the house looks very nice. I am always envious when I see European homes.

Dave

[Zef]

Nice...now you can pass some time with the baby in the garage...

[azasadny]

Very nice home, I hope you'll be comfortable there!

[herman maire]

Any pics of the surounding country side?

I bet having your own garage feels GOOD, I cant imagine not having a work shop.

[svandamme]

no pics for the country side, view is limited by a patch of corn that should be harvested soonish,
it's not the most hilly area around Ypres(Passchendale nearby is the start of a hilly ridge, hence the strategic importance and heavy battle during WW1, as the Germans had artillery on it, shelling the Allied trenches from up high, trenches also were in Langemarkt where i am)
but definately not as flat as the Netherlands

500 meters and i'm on tiny tarmac country roads,
or as we call em here, Rally-roads with hairpins and what not, very challenging stuff

google earth pic of the area, i'm the red dot








just finished mowing my lawn for the first time
also prepped a patch of land, so i can plant some soup veggies, leek selery, stuff like that... hate to spend time gardening if all i get is 2 weeks of flowers out of it... i want stuff i can eat

[Zeke]

What's the little brown building? Yours? I love little clubhouses and similar. I spend most of my time (like right now) in an office attached to the garage. I have all kinds of stuff on the walls. What's the inside of the little house look like?

[svandamme]

we call em tuinhuisjes, literally , garden house
shack where the lawnmower and garden tools are
but it's to far from the garage to be of use as engine rebuild shop or something like that, no electricity either

it's not decorated on the inside



some folks have bigger ones, with better interior, as kids that used to be fun part of summer, go to uncle xxx, and camp out in his gardenhouse, he had a one with all bells and whistles