Well - I've joined the Transition Helston group this morning at the farmers' market. Met a few interesting people, and will hopefully get quite involved. I've no idea yet specifically what I'll be doing, but apparently there's lots of things going on so hopefully I'll find some things that excite me. They have 2 sub-groups at the moment - food and energy. I can see me on the food group and Anthony on the energy one.

We've planned our growing for next year as well. There's some work to do before we can start - clearing out and reinforcing an old kennel shed & run to convert it into a chicken run instead, digging out and fencing in the veg area, building a polytunnel etc etc. All good fun though - we're hoping to be really ready to start doing things in february sometime, so we've got til then to do the preparation work.

Christmas preparations are underway - while walking the dog I'm taking note of the nice evergreen sources to make my wreath and garlands. I'm really looking forward to it this year.

Sonia

A progress update

I've just sat and read through what's on here so far - and it's all about the negative things we're trying to escape, and very little about the positive things we're actually doing. There are a couple of things I can't post about yet - but I thought I'd put an update on what we're getting on with.



I think it's safe to say that we've been in a planning phase since we moved in September. And suddenly, it feels like some of those plans are coming to fruition. With fingers and toes crossed, and the wind in the right direction, there is a real possibility we are on the edge of a fairly significant change in our lifestyle to become the way we want it. It's small steps for now - but that's probably the best way.



So - the bits I can tell you about for now. We absolutely love this cottage. Long term we want our own land so we can be proper smallholders - but apart from the land this place is just perfect. If the landlord lets us we'd like to stay here until we can actually do the full land thing (maybe 2 or 3 years). However we do know someone only 3 miles away who has land. That land was a smallholding until personal circumstances changed for the owners, and is currently pretty much unused. However we are now planning a bit of a co-operative operation. The owner would love to restart doing things on a small scale but is unable to cope with it on her own. So we're going to do it together! We're off up there on Sunday to have a day of of planning - where the veg patch will be, what we're going to grow, do we need a polytunnel, how do we get the chicken run set up etc etc. It's really exciting.



Plus our dog gets on really well with hers (all 4 of them!) and they can run round together in the fields and use up some of that endless energy - a definite bonus!



I've discovered that helston is a newly set up Transition Town. I'm hoping to get involved with that as well, once certain other things have fallen into place. In my ideal world I'll be quite a key member but we'll wait and see about that - I'll tell you more when I can. Positive vibes for Monday afternoon would be good though... ;-) If that idea doesn't come off I'll certainly get involved in some way anyway.



That's enough waffle for now - but I thought I should post and let people know that the dream continues even though we're not online as often now. Our ultimate goals haven't changed - and we're definitely moving forwards right now.



Sonia x

Here's Blue

Just for you Kath!!

His left eye is a normal brown colour - his right is a piercing blue colour. He had his 2nd jabs today so in a week we can get out and about with him properly - and run off some of that energy!! (phew!)

We're here!

I can't believe it's 3 months since we last put anything on here! Still - a lot has happened in that time. We have moved into the lovely cottage mentioned below. It's gorgeous. We're in a place that feels really 'real' - the cottage is amazing and the village we're in is so friendly. We already feel like we're part of a community here - everyone is so friendly. Life is significantly better already.

Since we moved obviously we've been caught up in the process of the move itself, and the settling in etc - but we've done a few other things as well. We've acquired ourselves a lovely new dog - Blue - who is an 11 week old border collie - very bouncy but with an amazing temprament as well. I'll get some pics up here soon.

We've planted a few things in pots - broad beans and spinach for starters - and are hoping to get more done when the weather improves.

Sonia x

Here are a couple of pics of the new house. The front is straight onto a road, but it's a tiny crescent in a small village so really not an issue.

The living room has a real fire, and spot the beams. It's small but got such a nice feel to it - it feels cosy not cramped. The people who viewed it after us probably weren't too happy we signed the paperwork then and there!

Another step

Another big step achieved today - we've found the place we're going to live in next (pending the necessary paperwork of course). It is only a stepping stone - no significant acreage at this stage! - but it's lovely and in the right place. It's a little old stone cottage in a tiny village just outside Helston. The landlord is happy with pets being there, it's got a proper fire, it's got a woodshed and it's also got a garage that will become Anthony's workshop. A pub in the village would make it 10/10 but we'll settle for 9/10 for now!

The worms are doing OK - I don't think we're overfeeding them but it's a little hard to tell at times - worms aren't great communicators really.

Everything else is just sort of on hold at the moment - we're in complete limbo but we've got an end in sight now so we're doing OK. There's plenty to organise - I've got a load of furniture to get rid of before we move!

Sonia.

Mini update

We don't seem to be very efficient at updating this! Never mind. Just a quick general update.

The worms are settling in nicely - apparently we need to make sure we don't overfeed them for the first 3 months or so, so we're being quite careful. They seem particularly fond of tea bags though - which is definitely useful!

I've finally got round to sorting out some techy stuff and putting a link up to let you see some of Anthony's work (on the right hand side of this page). I should say at the moment it's not complete - there's loads more! Also any queries or problems with the site just leave a comment here or email me. Feedback is always welcome!

We're waiting to confirm dates for the house sale at the moment - once we know that then it's all systems go to find somewhere else! We have spotted one place that's coming up to rent soon - although not sure yet whether it'll be soon enough. Hopefully usefully it's with the same agent as is doing the house sale - I'm going to call them tomorrow and see what they say. We'll keep you posted.

Sonia.