back to it

Hello.

After taking well over a year off from this little space, I'm back.

What a difference a year makes

Well

I managed to take nearly a whole year break.

An update then.

We didn't get that land, but we did get the next place we offered on.

And I started a new blog to document this particular adventure, which you can find here.

It's called Woodside Stories, because we live beside a woods but as the adventure continues I can't help wondering if Woodside Farcical would more apt.

I jest.

Because really, this has been the most fun year if my life, and that is saying something.

the long term

So, while we sit and wait for the some land agent in some office some where to decide whether our measly bid is good enough, I thought I would document what the plan/ dream is.

Both Mr Wah and myself rather like the idea of being mortgage free.  We got into this house buying malarkey at a terrifically young age, which on one hand gave us a head start on the property ladder, but also meant we have never experienced adulthood without a mortgage and therefore, debt.

So we came up with a daring plan to change this. 

We would sell what was our dream house and start over again.
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This debt free dream does not come without a price.  I will be truly sad to see this lovely old characterful place go to someone else.  Someone who either has bags of cash to buy it outright, or is willing to work in order to pay a mortgage.

I am very apprehensive. 

I wouldn't want any one to think that I am going into this whole self build thing in a blinkered state.  I have many friends who have done this, in fact Mr Wah has acted as labourer for a couple of them.  I've seen first hand the stress and challenge that this presents.

Never mind a house that will likely be built of straw. 

If the stars align, and we work really hard, we hope to have something like this, only on a smaller scale.

Of course, this isn't the whole plan.  Mr Wah is an Engineer, and he wants to put his skills to use, which means we are going Off Grid.  And this is the bit that really freaks me out. We have friends who live this way, and they seem happy and healthy, but I've been warned that it requires a very different state of mind to what an On Grid person has.

If you'd like to know more from someone actually living the life, then I suggest you watch this video.

weird winter

It's been a weird winter so far.

This time last year we had had snow on the ground for well over a month, and temperatures were dipping well below freezing on a nightly basis.

This winter we have only had a handful of frosts, and my garlic bulbs that I planted in the late Autumn are already sprouting.  I'm assured by some that this is all fine, but I'm worried if it does suddenly, finally turn cold, that my garlic will shrivel and die.

In the horses fields the grass is still growing, which means there may not be a Spring grass sugar rush, and the hay quality for next year may be poor.  The kids are enjoying the milder weather, Eb has been up his tree sketching, although they all lament the lack of snow - of course, this would be the year that we have enough sledges to go round, as well as plenty of waterproofs...

I'm worried about what this all means on a wider scale for the planet, and I feel for those in the South who are experiencing flooding.  When we lived in Wales, our small stream burst it's banks and flooded the stable.  That was traumatic enough, I can't imagine how it feels to have your home underwater.

In other news, I'm about to start a Beekeeping course in February, which I'm nervous about.  This is one of those "face you fears" things, as I was one of those people who would run about like an idiot whenever a bee or wasp came near me.  I managed to get over this - for the most part - over the past two years, so I decided to take it one step further and learn how to actually keep them.  Whether I will ever actually have the nerve to keep them myself remains to be seen.

I've also been having a bash at knitting again, having been inspired by Ginny and her Yarn Along.  I haven't actually taken part in it yet, but I like the idea.  So far this year I have knitted a terrible hat. 

It is really awful.

It has two peaks.  It wasn't supposed to have any peaks.

After getting Mr Wah to model it and crying tears of laughter at what is a sad and tragic example of a hat, I have cast on the stitches for a Pixie Hat for Lb.  I can happily link to this picture, safe in the knowledge that it will look nothing like this when finished. I'm enjoying having something I can take with me out and about, and that is the main thing, I think.

In other news ::

Mb is still very much into everything Harry Potter, and his home made wand and cloak are still his favourite things.  I also found the Pottermore site, which he is enjoying exploring.

I have finally moved ALL the Lego into one room.  It was up in the Attic and bedrooms, which was originally my studio space (ha!) But the boys found it too cold to play in, so I've moved it all in to a downstairs room where the small woodburner is, and it is proving very successful with both my boys and various cousins.  We even sorted all the pieces out into categories, which made me happy.

The big three all attend Bushcraft once a month.  This is very expensive, but so worth it.  It isn't your usual Bushcraft as it is run through home educators, which means that they are learning how to catch and gut fish, tan deer hides, made whistles out of antlers and carve things out of green wood.  When I first saw my nine year old wielding an axe, I had a little panic but he seems to coping just fine.  This Summer there are plans for a 4 night stay in the wild.  Yikes.

Mr Wah is still working extremely (too) hard, and we are both trying not to think about the closing date for the land that is just a few sleeps away.

new year, new challenges...and, well.

We've got some goals for this year.

I want to read twelve classics - one a month.  I'm still finalising a list, but I've started with The Pilgrim's Progress.

Lb wants to be able to read by the end of the year.  He can read already, he just doesn't know it.

We are also going to make sure that this year, with the exception of shoes and underwear, is the year that we don't buy anything new for ourselves.  It's not going well, as Mr Wah needed a new pair of work trousers, and he succumbed to TK Maxx...but it is like a jumble sale, and it is much cheaper so it kind of counts?

Then there is the big change.  The one that has been bubbling along behind the scenes for a while.  I hesitate to even start talking about this one as it is still not official and still might not happened, but if I want to start blogging again, I have too otherwise it will just seem strange.

...and I'm babbling again.

Well.  You know how we moved here in October 2012, and that is a lovely big old house.  Well it is.  It is lovely.  It is big.  It is old.  And with those things come rather hefty heating bills.  We've installed wood burners and fitted secondary glazing where we can, but it hasn't made the huge difference we had hoped for.  We rattled through last Winter, which saw snow on the ground in mid March, and we layered up and kept as warm as we could.

We had a beautiful Summer, and did lots of work to the outside of the house - fixing a leaky roof, sanding layers of paint off of windows and door frames, weeding and planting up the gardening, and felling a huge old tree that was precariously close to the front of the house.

Then we stayed with friends at the end of the Summer who lived completely off grid, and something very odd happened.  It just kind of flicked a switch in me, and, upon talking to Mr Wah I discovered it did very much the same to him.

So we talked.

And talked.

And talked to the kids.

To the point that we were going to sleep talking about it, waking up talking about it and...I think you can get the idea.

We didn't share these conversations with any one.  Not even the friends we stayed with.  Then Mr Wah and I started to look at land websites.

Then we found the perfect piece of land for Mr Wah's hastily sketched but much talked about off grid cabin.  The kids loved it, we all loved it.

We made and offer and we didn't get it.

We saw another plot, and we didn't get that either.

We came home - by now it was approaching Winter again, and we half heartedly looked around but there was nothing that fitted our dreams and budget.

We got brave and before Christmas, we talked to a couple of friends - including those we stayed with - and told them of our possible, maybe-one-day plan.

Then I found some land, and it was the most unsuitable bit of land - it was too big, it was too expensive and we could not afford it.

So we talked - pie in the sky sort of stuff - and day dreamt some more.  Now here is where I fully disclose my hippyness.  I talked about it out loud to the universe.  I asked the universe to show me where we were supposed to be.

Then we did some working out and realised, with quite a bit of sacrifice and some creative financial planning, we might, just might be able to make an offer on that land.

Which is where we are now.  We are about to make an offer.  I hesitated to start blogging our journey at this point, because it would be tidier and neater to start blogging once we had the title deeds to somewhere in our hands, but I want to start at the beginning, and this is it.  We might not get it, we might be outbid at the last minute (yes, that can happen in Scotland, despite what people say to the contrary.)

It means that at some point we will be moving again in the future, back to woods and fields and streams, but still near to where we currently are.  Still in Scotland.  I'm still not sure how I feel about the physical move, but I envisage a slower, creeping move rather than the all or nothingness of the last one.  We will have to build the eco house (ugh...I really hate that term :: Eco house, but this is what it will be, so unless anyone has a better term??)

Once the tiny house is built (it will be tiny because we don't have much in the way of funds) we will put what we need into storage and sell the beautiful big house we are in.  We've given ourselves two years from land purchase date to get everything done....but it took Mr Wah three years to tile a kitchen, so we shall see.  The plan is that once the big house is sold, we will have funds to add an extension on to tiny house.  Then we will be debt free and laughing.  I am aware there is an alternative reality which sees us in debt up to our eyeballs and crying...but I'm spending crazy amounts of energy on the former possibility and ignoring the terrifying alternative.

Here is the thing, good people:

You have one life in the body you are in, and there are many, many things I want to do.  There are probably many, many things you want to do.

So do them.

edinburgh

Before Mr Wah went on his travels, we had a family day trip to the Capital. 

We had heard through neighbours that there is a Christmas Fair held near the train station, and that although the wares are expensive, it is a great day out.

So we went, and we went by train which was probably the most exciting thing ever for a certain small boy.  Honestly, if we had just got there and got back on a train home, he would have been equally happy.

And Look!  I even have picture evidence:

The Big Wheel 

The Santa Train that went round the Christmas Tree Maze....which was a bit of a let down to be honest.  We were in and out in less than five minutes, at the cost of £24.

Ice Skating.

This was Lb's first attempt at ice skating without a penguin to hold on to.  When I say penguin, I mean the plastic ones you can hire from ice rinks, not an actual penguin.  Did I need to specify here?  I wasn't sure.

After a festive day out such as this, we were all in the mood to put up the tree and make things.  I've been looking about, and found The Artful Parent has 11 Christmas Crafts which are good for all ages.  I just need to locate the large bag of lolly sticks I bought in the Summer and we will be good to go.

a bit like buses.

Funny how it happens.  I've been neglecting this space for so long and now I find I have a pocket of time to sit down and write something.

Mr Wah is away on his travels. The girl is away doing horsey things, the younger two are having some Dr Who role playing time and Eb has gone off ice skating with a friend.

There are, of course, a million and one things I should or could be doing.  There is (still!) wood to be chopped, and a bathroom that really needs a deep clean, I'm sure I could do some washing up and I know there are two big baskets of clothes that need putting away. 

But I also know that all those things will still be there later on, so I've decided to spend a few minutes sitting here to think, and write, about the Festive Season, and what it looks like these days.

It has changed over the years.  I find that this year I am letting go and going with the flow a lot more.  We are still doing a few traditional things like the local Panto.  We went last night and on the whole, it was good.  The Dame was very funny but both myself and Mr Wah felt that the first Act was a bit hard to follow. It wasn't just us as Od asked me quite seriously after the first fifteen minutes whether we were watching 'Puss in Boots' or 'Jack and the Beanstalk'.  They outdid themselves in the finale though - indoor fireworks, party poppers and fake snow.  Never mind the real snow that had been falling outside throughout the performance.  Not enough for sledging, but enough to look pretty.

Another tradition that I'm still doing it purchasing an Advent Candle and never lighting it.  It is still sitting on the mantelpiece in the kitchen, all wrapped up.  I shall probably get round to it on Christmas Eve.

We are still regarded as the Scrooge's of the family, because we don't do the big present buying for our children.  As I'm sure many home educators will affirm; our kids get things throughout the year as and when they are needed.  We still get them things at Christmas, just not the magnificent piles that others may get.  I think the kids are OK with this.  To be honest, when list writing this year, three of them struggled to think of more than four things they actually wanted, and Lb has only three requirements: A remote control car, a football and a surprise.  I think we can manage that.  Mb is keen for a sonic screwdriver, a Harry Potter lego set (and of course, Harry Potter is no longer in production, so I've had to go some searching for this!) and Moshi Monsters.  I hate Moshi Monsters.  They are on a par with Lego for pain when you stand on them.  Eb wants some complicated construction sets - I think they are Lego Technic....can you tell I'm not very good at this sort of thing?  And Od needs a new riding hat, new riding boots and a wood carving set.  None of those are particularly cheap but I've managed to track down some bargains.  

We are introducing a new tradition this year.  This will see each child make a stocking for another, with a budget of £10 each.  They can make things and buy things, and it's been really fun seeing them all hiding in corners making things for each other.  Eb has created a Marauders Map for his Harry Potter loving brother, Od has made a miniature bow and arrow set, and Lb insisted on blowing all his cash on £10's worth of Bon-bons and a pair of magic gloves for his sister....so we are having to be creative with the making part as he has no cash left!  We are cheating slightly and using ingredients we already have to make some home made horse treats, and he is also sewing (with help) and small bag for her to wear when she is out hacking to store things. 

We still have no central heating.  The outside temperature is -6 at nights, and not much above freezing during the day.  People are shocked and horrified by this, but we do have some heating.  We have two great big woodburners that chuck out the heat and keep downstairs quite toasty.  We have a storage heater in the hallway that takes the chill off, and if anyone is playing in a bedroom we have a couple of portable heaters that can go on.  They tend to play downstairs anyway, so this rarely happens.  Everyone has a hot water bottle at night, and warm flannel pyjama's as well as bed socks if they need them.  All the duvets are high quality, and everyone has a spare thinner duvet at the bottom of their bed if they get cold in the night.  So far I've had no complaints, and I fuss....I really fuss.  I think the words "Were you cold last night?" are the first thing I say every morning. 

I have some stunning pictures of ice, snow and ponies frolicking that I need to upload.  I think I will get round that doing that over the weekend.  In between seeing the town lights get switched on and ordering the last of the Christmas gifts.