Xmas letter from the Algarve December 2009
It's been a very strange year. I now understand what the Chinese mean
by that curse: May you live in interesting times.
Things are so interesting that you dont know what is happening, where
you are going, or what the future holds; and we seem to be beset with
opposites.
Here we are in a depression, and yet we are told that we have come out
of a recession, and all will be well. That's seems to me to be utter
rot, but leads to the next problem of living in interesting times:
paradoxes are everywhere; and that's being polite.
We need to cope with the results of a decade of too much debt. What is
the answer to this problem? Our politicians seem to think the answer
lies in piling up more debt. That way lies even more trouble. One is
tempted to question the reality, and the descriptions. Does one equal
the other?
Another politician gets a peace prize, and what's his next move? He
increases troop positions in various countries where his armies
shouldn't be in the first place. One is tempted to ask the fundamental
question: what is peace supposed to be?
No matter where I turn I find people ready to tell me that black is
white, and top is bottom.
In my own area; real estate; most people dont know whether they're up
or they're down. It is all very confusing. We live in a world where
currencies are crashing, and interest rates have never been lower.
Money creation has become the latest craze. Classical economic theory
tells us that this can only lead to inflation. But we are also living
in a deflationary environment. Look at Japan: 20 years of printing
money and they've had twenty years of deflation! Wow! Are we about to
follow suit? So, is the value of money going to go down, or going to go
up?
Interest rates are on the floor so folks are getting no return on their
cash savings. Yet, those of us who are lending out cash are getting
super returns because the banks aren't lending, so we are, and we are
being paid handsomely for it. Opposites, opposites. Interesting times.
So on mondays, wednesdays, and fridays we're worried about inflation.
On tuesdays, thursdays and saturdays we're worried about deflation. On
sundays, we aren't sure.
On monday's, wednesdays, and fridays we think we ought to sell all our
houses. On tuesdays, thursdays and saturdays we think we ought to be
out buying more. On sunday, we just cant make up our minds.
Interesting times..... bloody interesting times!
I've been doing a lot of writing. I've finally finished my Spanish
book. Thanks to all of you who have written in saying how much you like
the book. I shall be seeking a publisher for it in the new year. So if
any more of you want to say nice things about it please do, and I'll
include some critiques of the book when I send off the manuscript.
I've also finished (only last week) volume 6 of my autobiography, which
is a series I am just preparing to go off to publishers. And I'm doing
the final re-writes of the Algarve book. So it has been a busy year.
The music has been on the back boiler for most of this year, but I've
finally re-erected the chalet, and that will be the recording studio
when I've put in a floor and tarted it up. I also need to upgrade the
recording gear. I think I shall be fully mobile by the end of january.
With the aid of some neat technology I can carry my recording studio
around with me.
I'm also trying to completely re-write all my web sites, which is a
major operation. I've got Nick coming down to stay with me and help me
with that. He thinks he can do it much faster than I can, but we shall
see. If he can do all the database coding quicker than I can that will
be wonderful.
Now I've got the chalet up I have a clear space in front of the house
where I can at last plant my garden. We have just started on that. I am
also planting a lawn by the swimming pool. Behind the house I am
constructing my outdoor dining room, which consists of a pergola with
bougainvillia climbing up the poles, and a supporting wall at the back
with benches built into it using local tiles. Rain stopped play last
week, but another couple of weekends on that should see it finished.
At the end of summer I did an interesting trip. I decided to attend the
vendage celebrations at one of our associate vineyards in Provence. You
will remember I am a shareholder in a vineyard in the Duras. We drove
to Provence for the celebrations, and then drove across to the vineyard
in the Duras, collected some rather fine bottles of wine, and then
motored down to the Spanish border, and across to the Serra de Estrela
in Portugal, where I visited Amelia, my Portuguese partner in property.
A beautiful area, intriguing property deals, and somewhere I must
return to. Have a look at my travelogue on the web.
http://www.property.org.uk//unique/travel-diary/index.html
Then click on European trip Summer
2009.
The other special trip was a visit to a fabulous hotel just outside
Seville. This is affiliated to El Bulli up near Rosas. They serve meals
that are taken from the original El Bulli restaurant, and produced
under the direction of Ferren Adria. I photographed all the dishes, but
I didn't have a flashlight attached to my machine. (You can follow
through the meal by clicking on El
Bulli from the same url quoted above.) In fact most of the
diners spent rather a lot of time with their cameras.
I'm busy trying to make quince jelly. I'm also curing a bucket of
olives. Last year's crop came out well, and I've been grinding some of
the olives into tapenard. I'm going to add peppers to the next lot. The
oranges and tangerines are now getting sweet. I only wish I could get
the rest of the land cultivated. I have about five acres, and at the
moment it is down to fruit or grass, nothing more. But I simply dont
have the time.
My next project is an album of satirical songs. I've finished four, and
got another four already written, so that should be ready by easter if
all goes well. I shall also be filming them. I've already filmed two of
them, which are up on You-Tube, but I think I can do better.
The weather here is not too bad. It's relatively mild, and I only light
a fire occasionally. Some days it's pretty grey and dull; others, it is
beautifully warm and springlike, without a cloud in the sky, with large
butterflies dodging about, and the spring flowers are beginning to come
out.
The jonquils are out, and smell gorgeous. I must pick a bunch for the
sitting room.
And so to another year. Have a look at my Christmas page on the web:
http://www.property.org.uk/unique/xmas09.html
And do come up and see me sometime.
john
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