Just Humans Being...

  More pics of our wild garden. We are going with the flow and creating little pockets of growing areas without getting concerned about timings; happy to just see what happens. Sweetpeas along the path to the cabin. We have around 30 tomato plants, which we have repotted for now and they continue to live in the workshop until the posts for the polytunnel/greenhouse come to us...which they will! Creating another no dig area. We have lots of fruit vines, which we are gradually getting tied up. The bees are loving the wild flowers, so we are leaving them in place. Floober Toobs overseeing everything in his most regal way. Not easy to see on this photo, but the Globe Artichoke is looking quite magnificent and is already over 6 feet tall.  We have lots of raspberries and red campions fast taking over the chard and kale area, but we seem to be still getting some nice edible greens, so we are happy. Yesterday was very hot and having a south facing garden means there is only shade ear...

It is important to have some quiet time each day, to turn off TVs, radios, devices and just enjoy the peace. We see how addicted people are to technology and the information they are constantly receiving – it is very clear that these things are having a huge impact on their lives. This unhealthy habit is being encouraged and it almost feels like an obligation to stay “tuned in” and up-to-date with everything that is going on in the world. We are also bombarded with messages about the past - world events to acknowledge, shows to commemorate and documentaries keeping us fixated on a time gone by. Even social media pushes photographic memories. Why do we need to keep dwelling on the past? And then of course, there is “the future” – we must worry about what is coming next... Ask yourself this question: What would happen if you switched everything off for a few hours? Well, this planet we call Earth will continue it’s journey around the sun and the huge machine dishing out it’s sl...

  We often wonder when this mindless merry-go-round of consumerism will end. When people suddenly realise that they don’t need to keep buying the next best thing, to fill their homes with chain store tat and their wardrobes with clothes they rarely wear. Why is there so much importance put on stuff? How did the human race get persuaded to spend huge amounts of money on winter religious festivals? The whole crazy buying thing is quite bizarre to us. If you are a consumer – do you look into where your stuff comes from before you make your purchase? Does it concern you that your fellow humans are being paid peanuts to make some of the items you buy, or that there is still slavery in the world? Large corporations continue to exploit people because they can and will do so until they are found out and they will no doubt blame “customer demand” for pushing them to make things cheaper. What would happen if we all stopped? If we found a local person to make something for us and instead ...

  We work hard at being present, enjoying the moment without thinking about the past or future. It seems to be an easier thing to do in nature – watching the waves crashing over rocks and shorelines, the wind blowing in the trees or looking up at the sky on a clear night...for a few seconds; sometimes minutes we can feel totally immersed and connected to nature, the planet, even the universe. We have a tendency to operate on autopilot - especially if we are doing something mundane and monotonous, but we challenge ourselves to quietly concentrate on what we are doing, observing ourselves doing the task...it’s like a wakeful meditation and it’s not easy to achieve. The beginning of freedom is the realisation that you are not “the thinker.” The moment you start watching the thinker, a higher level of consciousness becomes activated. You then begin to realise that there is a vast realm of intelligence beyond thought, that thought is only a tiny aspect of that intelligence. Yo...

  Six weeks have passed now since we moved into the cabin and we adore this little place. We have experienced quite a lot of stormy weather, with huge amounts of rain and some very blustery nights. We have held our breath on a couple of occasions, half expecting the roof to be ripped off, but have been pleasantly surprised and will be ever grateful to Scot, who built this amazingly resilient house. We also love our second-hand wood stove, which easily kicks in - warming the cabin, keeping our furry friends and us happy! We’ve even been through a little cold snap and while there was frost outside a couple of weeks ago – we were toasty and snug inside. There is an abundance of birds around us and when the mornings are calm and mild, the birdsong is absolutely wonderful. We are situated at the top of a beautiful wooded valley, so the climate is almost rainforest-like. We see the sun rising and setting, the clouds forming and moving across the sky, the rain coming in and the mi...

There is real joy to be found when life takes you on interesting paths and you suddenly realise you are now doing that very thing you dreamed about. When you think back to those first ideas many moons ago, you had no way of knowing how to get there, so you either gave up or worked hard to make it happen. As most of you know...we don’t work hard! Striving for something doesn’t always seem healthy, it can become an obsession and will eventually separate you from the now...from connecting with life in the present moment. We prefer a much more pleasant journey, exploring the little winding lanes which lead us in different directions and make life more interesting...the destination is set in our minds and we know that we’ll get there eventually! This is how we live and travel - we always end up having little adventures on the way...it’s what life should be all about. Our dreams take shape from ideas and then long discussions (we can easily talk for hours and hours). We both get ...

  It’s 3 weeks since we finally moved into the cabin. We are still upside down...well that’s not quite true, there is now some space and order to where our things live and we are gradually making the cabin our home. We are also getting closer to realising a dream we first had over 30 years ago - to live off-grid and have our own power supply. At the moment, we are reliant on mains electricity for our fridge, lighting, radio and a few kitchen appliances...blenders, grinders, etc, as well as charging devices. We don’t have internet and thought we’d see how we get on without it in the cabin and instead just continue to use a communal area on the farm to catch up with the outside world. We don’t have a phone signal in or outside the cabin either, which means we do feel a bit cut off, but pleasantly so. I’m pretty sure we have written before on the blog about our desire to live off-grid...we are planning to have solar panels and I’m pushing for a small wind turbine. The cabin ...

We are in the middle of moving house. Our move is fairly simple as we gave away most of our big furniture when we left Meadowcroft...nearly 4 years ago! We don't need a van or a company to help pack. We are just getting on and doing it gradually...no rush, just a slow move. As always, we make time to sit still, take in the views, breathe and remain eternally calm. Life can be this simple. So why do many people make it complicated? Try to enjoy some quiet time each day, it's such a lovely thing to do. Love Kay and Sime xx