9 years on Hive, 9 years of life...

Today is a special day for me...

I just got notified that it's my Hive anniversary.

Although I knew it was coming up, I didn't know the exact date.

I do now :^)

One more year and I will have spent a decade on here. This means ten years of, connecting with people all over the world, making friends on most continents and even getting together with the love of my life - @clareartista - almost two years ago.

Not too shabby, if you ask me.

In these 9 years, I became an uncle 4 more times. I have 8 nieces and nephews now, the latest addition was born two days ago. I lost my father in 2022, after a long sickbed.

I moved countries twice ( to Portugal in 2018 and then Italy in 2024 ). In Portugal, I bought - and later sold - my first house. And in Italia, I bought my first plot of land (over a hectare in size ) with a building on it, less than a year ago.

If you have been keeping up to date with Clare and me on here, you might be aware of the fact that we are now in the process of acquiring our neighbor's land and building too. A building that is way nicer than the one we got with our first plot of land here.

This new property finally makes us feel like we are starting to get things together. That there's a way out of all the chaos.

And believe me, it has been plenty chaotic and stressful for us, since we first got together, in September 2024.

Clare and I have probably spent more days camping in a tent on our own land than we have slept inside the building on it, due to the state of the house. It is more of a storage space.

We have had to deal with a leaking roof, every time it rains.

We had a landslide, a couple of months ago that seriously affected our olive grove.

We had a terrible experience in a rental house, last Autumn/Winter and a similarly bad experience, previously, in a rental house in Portugal, in the Autumn/Winter of 2024/25.

Since we acquired our land, we have hardly had funds to improve our situation and have been struggling to sell Clare's other house, located in a city two and a half hours from here. A place where we don't feel very good at all, which brings up strong emotions, every time we visit it.

This house is still for sale.

Despite financial struggles, being two creatives who did not fit in the system at all ( which is a huge understatement ), we managed to survive, up till now, thanks to crypto currency.

Last year, I spent most of my remaining bitcoin on our land though and the current bearmarket has made things very challenging.

I am blessed though with a generous mother who is willing to help out (more than) a bit financially and who likes to share her wealth with us, whilst she is still around.

What's more beautiful than that?

It also helps that both Clare and I are super creative and resourceful.

We are ~~almost~~ always willing to do the work and we don't give up easily.

In 2017, when I started out on Hive, I was a filmmaker. I then turned writer ( self published two books ). And more recently, since last year, I am a farmer/homesteader, building my own house ( with Clare ).

Especially the latter must have come as a surprise to those who know me well, as I am known for my two left hands. Clare on the other hand has done up her house ( the one that is for sale ) almost entirely by herself. A labourious process of many, many years ( starting in 2011 ).

We are a funny couple but we also complement each other very well.