Just Humans Being...

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

For some strange reason Blogger has decided to censor this lovely quote from James Allen... If anyone out there can tell us why, we would be very grateful.   Cherish your visions;  Cherish your ideals;  Cherish the music that stirs in your heart,  The beauty that forms in your mind,  The loveliness that drapes your purest thoughts,  For out of them will grow all delightful conditions,  All heavenly environment;  O f t hese, if you but remain true to them,  Your world will at last be built. ~ James Allen ~ We have written many posts about how we have always spent time together "scheming an' a dreaming". We still have the book we wrote our list of 101 goals from over 10 years ago and we are always pleasantly surprised when we dig it out that we can tick off a few more! Amongst the completed goals we have: Live by the sea  Own a house in France Live on a mountain Live in a wooden house Grow our own vegetables Recently, we thought again about living in a wood cabin...influen

We celebrated our 33rd wedding anniversary a few weeks ago and while out for a walk on the coast path that afternoon - we spotted this heart shaped sunlight coming through the clouds... And then this pebble on the beach! Our focus for the day was very much on our relationship and our connection to nature. It just goes to show how we can see and hold exactly what we are thinking about!!! We work at focusing on the good in our lives and we let go of the rest. It really does make a difference to how we deal with everything and see the world around us. We also wanted to share this video with you of Dr David Hamilton, speaking in 2018 about kindness, hugs and oxytocin. Being kind is wonderful, it brings joy to the lives of many.  It's not about giving yourself a pat on the back, but feeling the genuine love of doing something spontaneous.  Spend time with humans and animals you adore.  Take time out each day to spend in nature. Find ways to show kindness. Love and kindness makes for gre

New opportunities have presented themselves again and the time has come for us to move on. Since coming to Cornwall in 2002, we have lived in some amazing homes and have promised ourselves over the years that we will continue to stay and live in places with beautiful views. We love the view from the kitchen door here and this will always stay with us...especially early mornings and seeing the sunrise. This year has been quite wonderful for us...being in the right place at the right time.  We have found joy in gardening...preparing beds, growing vegetables and fruit, as well as clearing and weeding.  Enjoying the peace of the Cornish countryside, connecting with nature and continuing to slow down.  We are both absolutely committed to this way of life...living simply and eating well.  With this in mind, we are moving again - staying in Cornwall and becoming the new guardians of a quirky little cabin in a community of lovely folks. We are looking forward to having our own little space wit

The height of summer, with most probably more people than ever in Cornwall.   We are the kind of folks who crave quiet and can always find beautiful places to spend time away from the noise...even on a hot summer's evening.   Oh what joy!  Hope you are all well and finding your own peace. Love Kay and Sime xx

Do you feel like an outsider looking in on the world? We do. We have stopped listening to the news, the radio and stayed away from most social media. We ditched TV many years ago and cancelled a streaming service we were sucked into earlier in the year. Taking a break from all this is quite empowering and instead we are concentrating on eating well and filling our spare time with nice things like reading, educating ourselves (at the moment we have somehow got into studying psychology) and meditating. In September 2001, we were on a camping trip in France with our kidlets, completely unaware of the 9/11 incident in New York. We had noticed lots of folks on the campsite sitting around their radios, but we assumed that it must be an important sporting event...something we have no interest in! Several days later our Dutch neighbours realised that we were the only campers enjoying ourselves and the wife must have drawn the short straw; coming over to announce "New Yo

Please take some time to watch this video. Take some time to look at your life and learn how to live differently. If  you are unhappy, make changes to your life. Find gratitude in each day. Try not to criticise others and instead feel compassion. Enjoy time in nature. Be quiet and calm. There is so much anger and stress surrounding many of you out there at the moment... Take care of yourselves, take time out from the news and stop worrying about how many times your neighbours are venturing out. Occupy yourselves doing something new and interesting instead. Most of our days are spent weeding, planting, cooking and eating. We go to bed earlier than we have done in years, usually aching...pleasantly so though! We are learning about growing vegetables, enjoying playing with soil and it feels good spending lots of time out on the land. Sending you all much love, Kay and Sime xx

We are probably in a minority of people who hope that life will never return to the way it was. We hope that people learn to be resilient and stop being materialistic. Stop flying all over the world and stop shopping in supermarkets. We would love to see people support local small businesses, watch their children thrive without government indoctrination, continue to unschool and slow down...is there really any need to work so much? Think about what you want to do with your life and if another pandemic happens in the future - where would you like to be? We can highly recommend living simply, sharing with others in a community.  Learning from each other, helping and supporting each other.  Life really doesn't need to be a struggle - it can be wonderful, just set the intention and if you are living in an unhappy situation, work out a plan to make your life better.  If we can do it...then anyone can! We are very grateful to be here and to have a lovely farm

Bakes are a great way to use up the end of a loaf and any leftover cooked veg. The mixture can be made into patties, sausages and balls, but the laziest easiest way is to bung it all into a tin and bake! We make them a lot because they are easy, tasty and filling... This one has 1 tin of chickpeas, 4oz of our homemade sourdough crumbs, leftover purple sprouting, leeks fried in soy sauce and spices, a blob of tomato puree, wild garlic and nettles. We put all the ingredients together in the food processor...  Then into a loaf tin and bake on a medium heat for 30 minutes. Take out of the oven and leave for 10 minutes before turning out. We had half the bake between us for our second breakfast on Sunday and the leftovers on Monday with bread, salad and pickles. It really is easy to eat simple, healthy vegan dishes and we love it! Hope you are all keeping well. Love Kay and Sime xx

Less traffic in the air and on the roads is making for a much more peaceful life. This area of Cornwall is already pretty quiet and now we are really noticing the difference... Trips to the outside compost toilet can be quite eerie - especially in the evening, but we do admit to loving it...Peace and quiet, clear skies and an increase in birdsong. Last year, we stayed in rural Hampshire near the border of Berkshire and we were genuinely shocked at how noisy it was each and every day. The constant hum of traffic and planes flying over. We wondered whether the lack of quiet was the cause of many people seeming stressed and impatient. This trait we usually see in city people, but it was intriguing to see in the countryside. It is amazing how quickly we become immune to what is going on around us, but do we still feel it subconsciously? The life we lead would not suit most people, but we love it. We were never cut out for life in a city or town and living on a housing estate

We realise just how lucky we are to be living in the countryside. Lockdown for us is quite different and although, like lots of other people, we have lost the majority of our income - we find it easy to adapt and already live very frugally... Our work on the outside world has reduced to one day a week and instead, we are able to help out on the farm in return for rent and some food. We have an organic veg and fruit box still being delivered to supplement what is available here and have no need to venture out to supermarkets or nearby towns. Those of you who know us are probably aware that we are not big supermarket shoppers anyway, so we feel no loss for them.  We don't have a freezer and cook from scratch, often making extra for the next day.  We eat simply...oats for breakfast, homemade sourdough for lunch and usually rice, quinoa or very occasionally pasta for dinner. All served with fresh veggies and pulses. Easy.  We've already dried a jar full of you

How often do you take time to be thoughtful and quiet? To breathe and be in nature? Do you start your day slowly, even when busy?  We like to spend our mornings gently waking - reading to each other, writing, sometimes singing, making breakfast and taking time to leisurely eat and digest our food before we begin our day. We choose to live in the slow lane, from where we observe others rushing through their days, often stressed and with a need to fill every moment doing what they consider to be meaningful.  We feel no guilt in being lazy and happily sit around chatting instead of doing what we loosely planned to do. You may think it's procrastination, but we prefer to think of it as "going with the flow". There is more to life than filling your days with stuff, working hard, keeping up with your neighbours and it's not until you get off that treadmill that you can see for yourself just how great life can be. Part of the process for us in slowing down

Oven baked potatoes with haricot bean hummus, baked tomato and mushrooms and silken tofu pan-fried with kale, onion and lots of crushed garlic. A simple tasty feast...vegan, organic and oil-free. Today's hummus is made with haricot beans, fresh lemon juice, fresh parsley, ground cumin, smoked paprika, a tiny pinch of Cornish sea salt and some crushed peppercorns.  We love baked tomatoes. These have fresh oregano pushed into the centres and a sprinkle of black pepper. We bake them for 30 minutes. Kale, onion and garlic frying in water and soy sauce, turmeric and cumin. We added silken tofu after 10 minutes and fried for another 10.  Sime's plate...piled high, as usual! Since we stopped using oil some years ago, we found that soy sauce, miso and lemon juice are great alternatives, though organic vegetables seem to be naturally more flavoursome, especially oven roasted vegetables. We rarely follow recipes and tend to make up meals wit