Last Post
Dear friends,
This is my last post on Frogsmoke. I've decided to stop this blog for a few reasons.
In a few weeks time I will be moving to my new home, in the middle of my own forest, in the south of France (pic above). It's a dream come true, living in absolute tranquility, with the nearest neighbour at least one kilometer away.
The new owners of my current house will arrive soon, and I'm extremely busy moving and organizing things. In the short term I won't have electricity (and thus no Internet) in my new house, courtesy of the incompetence of the bureaucrats who run the state monopoly on electricity distribution. In the long term I will be a busy forester, taming the growth of 5 hectares (12 acres) of oaks and pines, and (maybe) hunting wild boar and deer.
It was fun writing nearly 4,000 posts on Frogsmoke over the past 2.5 years, and I'm grateful for your visits and comments. Maybe I'll be back after some time, but I'm not making any promises.
I wish you (and those near and dear to you) a healthy and prosperous New Year!
Romke Soldaat
Sun 28-Dec-08 | Permalink | Share
Comments
Comment from The Nag
Time: December 28, 2008, 3:50 pm
I'll miss you! Perhaps you'll be back when things settle down?
Comment from General Pepper
Time: December 28, 2008, 3:52 pm
ditto !
good luck to you, Romke
and thanks for the ride.
Pepper.
Comment from Rhea
Time: December 28, 2008, 4:10 pm
Thank you for Frogsmoke. Enjoy your life.
Comment from ted
Time: December 28, 2008, 5:15 pm
From a longtime lurker, congratulations and thanks for your catalog of la vie française!
Comment from Kim
Time: December 28, 2008, 5:33 pm
I have always enjoyed my visits to your site. It will be missed. Thank you for all your effort. Enjoy your tranquil forest
Comment from Rémy
Time: December 28, 2008, 5:55 pm
Many thanks for the great work you did with this blog. It was one of my favorites and I hope you'll find a way to go on with it after you've moved in your new house.
Comment from Boz
Time: December 28, 2008, 6:37 pm
All the best! Thanks for the daily entertainment, and please come on back if hunting boar gets old.
Josh
Comment from Felipe Cabrera
Time: December 28, 2008, 8:31 pm
Sorry to hear that. This was one of my favorite blogs. Hope you decide to continue it sometime.
Surely I'll miss frogsmoke. Thanks for everything.
Felipe
Dominican Republic
Comment from Bongo
Time: December 28, 2008, 10:48 pm
Thanks for a great blog. Best of luck with your new life
Bongo
Comment from Mitch Guthman
Time: December 29, 2008, 12:40 am
Sorry to hear that you’re giving up the blog. I stumbled on it only recently but I have been enjoying it greatly. I hope that once you are settled in your new home (which, by the way, sounds magnificent) you will perhaps resume posting. Good luck in the New Year!
Comment from keith
Time: December 29, 2008, 12:42 am
Thanks again for your site. Always laughed and wondered where these ideas arise from . Sad to see them go but perhaps a little of the joy of life instrumental
in your blog will stay with us all. bonne chance !
Toronto Ontario
Comment from Susan
Time: December 29, 2008, 1:59 am
Romke, it has been such a delight to read your blog each day! Enjoy your wonderful new home and many thanks for all your wonderful posts. We will miss frogsmoke!!
Comment from G@ttoGiallo
Time: December 29, 2008, 2:22 am
Too bad Romke ! Hope you'll be back one day, when boars will pack to be safe.
Comment from thomas
Time: December 29, 2008, 2:34 am
what an odd thing. i will certainly miss you. i will think of you now and then in your woodsy hideaway. you, on the other hand, don't even know who i am.
Comment from gina
Time: December 29, 2008, 2:37 am
Oh! I'm so sad! I loved coming to your site every day and will miss your wonderful blogging terribly! Congratulations on your dream come true. I wish you the best and just want to say thanks for all of the great posts.
Comment from Willard Preston
Time: December 29, 2008, 6:32 am
Romke, I just discvered this, and I must say I respect you choice to stop, but am profoundly disppaointed that I discovered it when it was over. You've got a good thing going here, and come back whenever you have the energy.
Comment from Nath
Time: December 29, 2008, 9:08 am
French "expat" in the US, I visited your blog daily. I love the US even if sometimes, politics, people and arrogance get on my nerves. I love France even if sometimes, politics, people and arrogance get on my nerves. I enjoyed your blog greatly. Thanks for the pictures, comments, and little details that made me smile, cringe and laugh.
All the best,
Nath
Comment from MaNu
Time: December 29, 2008, 1:44 pm
So sorry, I'll miss frogsmoke.
Best regards from a french guy who loved to read this site.
Comment from Lauren Chen
Time: December 29, 2008, 5:45 pm
so sorry to hear about the last thread thing
enjoy your new life , man
hoping u'll be back and bring us more fun soon ~
Comment from Castigator
Time: December 29, 2008, 7:54 pm
Thank you Romke, your blog was full of insight and good humor and I'll miss it. Merci bien!
Comment from tomfrog
Time: December 29, 2008, 11:03 pm
C'est la vie… good luck to you, I'll miss your blog !
Comment from dveej
Time: December 30, 2008, 2:35 am
dommage…i miss reading your posts already. good luck and much fun in your new digs – you have made a lot of folks, including moi, laugh and think. Thanks.
Comment from patricia
Time: December 30, 2008, 3:04 am
oh merde! c'est pas un cadeau de noel ça!
;-) Bonne vie à vous et peut-être un petit retour dans quelques mois…..
Heureuse année 2009
Comment from Jeroen
Time: December 30, 2008, 3:56 pm
Jammer dat je stopt, ik heb je verhalen met veel plezier gelezen.
Het ga je goed!
Comment from JG
Time: December 30, 2008, 10:25 pm
Desperately sorry that you've opted for an early bath. Have enjoyed the blog enormously. Essential daily reading. When your settled, please reconsider. All the best.
And thanks.
Comment from Margaret
Time: December 31, 2008, 12:22 am
Your blog has given me so much pleasure – thank you. Good luck with your future plans. xx
Comment from Don
Time: December 31, 2008, 11:30 am
You had the most interesting site on France with varying viewpoints. You were intellectually honest about many topics. When I saw the photo where you are going to live, it reminded me of many I had seen of the Big Sur region of California on the Pacific coast. I can only envy your new lifestyle. The best to you and your family. (And I hope you will miss your website enough to start it up again in a few years! :-) ) Thanks for many pleasant sessions on the Web.
Comment from Thomas
Time: December 31, 2008, 12:45 pm
Sorry to see you go. Good luck to you and thank you for the terrific posts.
Does that mean that we gotta quit smoking now?
Comment from Ben
Time: January 1, 2009, 1:51 am
Thanks for the many wonderful posts.
Comment from Rulfer
Time: January 1, 2009, 2:53 am
Thanks for mixing up one of the best sites — if not the best — on France & the French. And good luck with your new life where you'll go on logging, albeit in a markedly wooden manner. Tot ziens and bedankt!
Comment from Jenrathy
Time: January 1, 2009, 5:20 am
Bonne chance !
Comment from PetitSuisse
Time: January 1, 2009, 12:36 pm
les années passent et les priorités changent.. Un grand merci pour ces 2 ans de petits instants, de petites choses qui me rappelaient la France.
Bon vent!
Comment from bernie
Time: January 1, 2009, 2:56 pm
we're the 1st of january, not april!
oh, it isn't a joke is it?
and who will track frogsmokers??
bonne continuation en tout cas :)
Comment from jerome
Time: January 3, 2009, 1:12 am
Dommage.
Bon courage.
Meilleurs voeux.
Comment from Anonymous
Time: January 3, 2009, 12:54 pm
Thank you for your site & good luck with your new ventures & undertakings in life !
Comment from maitresse
Time: January 3, 2009, 6:53 pm
OH NO!!! so sad to see you stop.
Some of your info was so good– how did you come by it? what do I need to add to my rss feeds?
Comment from Jamski
Time: January 4, 2009, 5:34 pm
Romke
This was an everyday thing for me, looking and enjoying since the beginning. This blog will be very sadly missed.
Good luck in your new ventures do pop back from time to time, I will be checking in to see if any new news ( better than the dailys) hasbeen posted. Sounds like you have got an ideal situation down there.
Good Luck,
Jamie.
Comment from Tudor
Time: January 5, 2009, 7:47 pm
Good luck with all your future endeavors. I will check back from time to time …
Comment from Markku N.
Time: January 5, 2009, 8:58 pm
Thank you for everything. This was a brilliant blog! Wishing you all the best for the future.
Comment from charlie
Time: January 8, 2009, 12:53 am
A light has gone out in our world, and I fear it will be not be relit in our time
Comment from JM MUYL
Time: January 8, 2009, 2:57 pm
I used to come and visit almost everyday, and learnt so many things about my own country.
I'm gonna feel like an orphan.
Have a nice time in your new house.
Et merci encore !
Comment from Flora
Time: January 9, 2009, 8:21 am
Hi, very sad too!
I am frogsmoker exiled in Japan. I used to read your blog to keep updated on what was going on in my old homecountry. Like your humour.
Gook luck!!
Comment from Tina
Time: December 28, 2008, 2:53 pm
I am saddened by this, as it was the second website I went to every day. I understand that your life is going forward and I wish you the best of luck. Thank you for your wonderful posts.