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I sincerely apologize for not writing anything for so long. Life happens, I suppose. The good news is that I have finally upgraded my computer setup to something that isn’t running on hamster power, and I’ll be posting much more often.
In the past few months, I have made an offer on a property on the West Coast of South Africa. It’s one of the bucket list goals that I have had since 1993. What stopped me before was the impossibly high cost of houses in that part of the country. The West Coast towns are either mining communities or the houses are used as vacation properties by wealthy Northern Cape farmers.
However, in July of this year, I found a vacant stand in the town of Koingnaas, which is not only large enough for a backyard farm but priced comfortably within my budget. It’s close to the sea, but not on the part of the coast that gets swamped by humanity every Festive Season. (Icy water!) It’s also far enough from everywhere that I can see stars in the sky, as opposed to just imagining them. The last advantage is the clean, dry air, which should make breathing much, much easier.
The way that I have structured the financing of this property means that I can still live in my apartment until I am ready to kick my job in the proverbial. The loan repayment isn’t much more than what I am already contributing, so it won’t destroy my budget. That’s important.
My current “tiny bites” project is to kill as many expensive little debts as I can, using Dave Ramsey’s “Debt Snowball” method. I have absolutely no intention to suddenly live a life hobbled by the stress of trying to please everyone but myself, but I also don’t need the stress of having to stretch my budget to afford repayments on debt that I never wanted to begin with. So… I shall be looking for alternative sources of income that won’t kill me. Little extra bits to pay into loans and credit card accounts, until I can live without a single cent of debt. That is important to me. Not impossible, but not easy, either.
At the time of writing, the seller must pay off the substantial municipal debt on this property. It’s not much in “real” money, but it’s about a third of the purchase price. (I think he’ll be selling the property at a loss!) After that, the paperwork goes to the deeds office in Kimberley, and the property finally becomes mine.
In plain English, I should have formal possession either at the end of December or somewhere in January 2026, if all goes well.
Setting up for a Permaculture Lifestyle
If you’ve read any of my previous posts, you’ll know that “get me outta here!” and the pursuit of self-sufficiency are consistent themes. I don’t trust my (or any other!) government to have my best interests at heart, so my goal has always been to be as independent from authority as possible.
Koingnaas is remote enough that it shouldn’t be affected by any drama, but the semi-arid climate of Namakwaland will prove a significant challenge. There isn’t much water, and what little I can catch will need to be distributed with care. What they do have a lot of, though, is wind, and they get a decent amount of morning fog in summer. My main priorities, after fencing, are to establish locations for vertical-axis wind turbines and fog catchers, and to set up a compost toilet system. I do have a house plan in mind, but putting up a permanent structure can wait for a while. I would rather spend my first year on the property observing the environment, taking numerous photographs and video clips, learning to fish, and planning and setting up my food forest and kitchen garden. It would be great to finally have my own patch of land to experiment on, although we all know that I shall be standing on the shoulders of all the Permaculture giants who have come before me.
Becoming Qualified
The twist is that after 20 years, I have finally mustered the courage to return to school and formally qualify to be a librarian. I’ll probably still resign after I have the papers in hand, but being officially qualified means that I can work from home part-time and most likely still earn a decent income.
I am also busy with a new novel. Getting to understand Scrivener constitutes a degree course on its own, as the software is much more suited to planners than pantsers, but I am sure that I shall get there in the end.
Well, that’s all for the moment. As soon as there is more news to share, you’ll read it here!
