Time to move on............

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well folks - as the old saying goes, nothing good lasts for ever. It is time to move on from the alpaca farm. I have had a great time here, and learnt a lot of things about life in the country/on a farm. However, my host, a small neurotic Scotsman, has made it abundantly clear that I am not welcome here. He feels threatened by my presence in some way. I think he feels that I am doing things he can do (but doesnt) and that he is losing control over his farm and his (ex) partner, who he still controls. Because she is physically handicapped she relies on him, which he enjoys. My presence has reduced that dependency, and he doesnt like it. So after 4 weeks of putting up with his snide remarks and thinly veiled hatred of my presence I have decided to pack my bags and move on.

The good news is that I am moving to a castle in Noirlieu, near Bressuire, about 100km north of here. It is owned by an english couple, and they need lots of help renovating it, as it is a complete ruin. So much so that my accommadation is a caravan nestled between the moat and the castle walls!!! So it will be different. Plus the guy who owns it, a straight talking man from Yorkshire, runs an SEO business and has offered to teach me as much as I want to learn about SEO - which coincidentally is where I would like to go, career wise. So happy days!

I have also decided that I will probably move on to a new assignment every month or so, just to ensure i do not become too involved in anyones lives/business, and to maximise my exposure to differnt cultures/lifestyles/experiences, and get the very most out my time in the land of the volunteer. I have discovered in the short time I have been in France taht a lot of the Brits livinghere are here because they were running away from problems in the UK - be they marital, business, or financial, or all three. So there are some odd characters to say the least.

Re my web design work, I have finished my very first independantly commissioned website, for my current hosts - just needs a few tweaks here and there. But for those of you who are interested, here is the link to it - www.limalongesalpacas.com - if you have a minute or two to spare to have a look at it i would appreciate your feedback/critique. Please let me know the good, the bad, and the ugly, if appropriate. Thanks.

Finally, I thought I would leave you with the above video or Champion Stud Vision mating with the (spitter) Krystine - put your speakers on as the sound has to be heard to be belived. And this went on for around 30 minutes!!!!!

Anyway that s all for now folks - I will update early next week when I am at the castle - but would rerally like some feedback on my first website if you can. Thanks, and catch up soon.

All the best

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Comments

[Michael]

onwards and upwards ...
sorry to hear of the difficulties on the farm Mark - you are so right moving on - life is far too short for that nonsense - all the best and keep us posted!