More From Our Travels

Some more sights from our travels. It's nice to share and see them here. It took some time before I could even look through the photographs (see previous post). Both Dan (my husband) and I have found it quite painful. Life has been such a whirlwind since we returned. We have been forced to make lots of quick decisions in order to provide for our children and return to some sort of rhythm.

Many good things came from our travels of course, so I don't want to sound like it's all doom and gloom around here! It is more the 'what could have been' that is hardest for us at the moment as we try and get into the swing of life back in the UK.

Travelling made us really appreciate the simple things in life and value them more than we ever had before. We have always tried to live consciously; buying from ethical, independent shops, eating local and organic produce etc... But when you have to live with so little, you very quickly learn to appreciate the important things - experiences, connection, taking life at a slower pace, to name a few.

Spending most of our time outdoors, being active and riding our bikes, all that wonderful Vitamin D and the abundance that is Mother Earth, won over anything in the material world! Water and electricity were not an everyday luxury for us. We had a solar panel on the van, which powered our leisure battery and the water tank needed to to be filled regularly, so we learned to be frugal with both as we couldn't always find electric hook ups (and didn't want to) and there were many times when we had to prioritise water to drink and wash dishes with over washing ourselves! Eek!

'Simple living' is quite a hot topic at the moment, and rightly so! It's time for us all to look at how we live and how it is impacting on this earth of ours. The earth we are responsible for, not just in the present, but for our children, their children and so on... There are so many 'more is more' attitudes out there. It is quite sickening to witness this never-ending greed and hunger for more of everything. What ever happened to 'just enough' and being contented with what you do have?

Anyway, I hope you don't mind my honesty. It feels good to write some of this down and think about how we can be better humans in this rather broken world.

I'll be sharing more about our unschooling journey here too, with some recommended reading for anyone curious.

Thanks for reading.

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Back

It has been a long time since I have posted here. Instagram is so much easier these days, but it feels like time to share some images from what has become my 'second' camera.

A lot has happened over the past year and coming here is actually quite hard and strange. I had intended to turn this blog into a travel diary as back in August, we changed our life completely. Sold lots of our stuff, put the remainder into storage, bought an old Hymer van, moved into it - us and our three children. It all felt a bit crazy, but extremely exciting.

We left the UK on a ferry to Spain, travelled the Basque Country and the French and Spanish Pyrenees. We headed south to Barcelona, taking in three months of the most breathtaking views we had ever seen. We felt free, we felt like we were doing something good for our family. Together, living consciously - mostly offgrid with very low outgoings. But...

But then it was over in a flash. It's a long story, but the basics are that our income comes from Seventy Tree and we left the sending of orders in the hands of a company that completely messed up. So badly, we had no choice but to return, pick up the pieces (literally) and be forced back into the life we had put everything into leaving behind us. Of course there are some kind of nice things about returning. It's nice to be back near to family and friends again, to make yet another nest for our family in a new area which we really like. Maisie understandably missed her friends. She's 15 now, so leaving them behind and spending 24/7 with her two younger brothers and parents was always going to be a bit of a challenge...However, she got so much from our travels and I'm really proud of her. I'm proud of us all, but I'm also sad that it didn't work out. Sad that we tried to break out of 'the norm' and then 'the norm' sucked us back in. I don't like that at all.

So our plan now is to recoup, recharge and continue with Seventy Tree as before. Being together as much as we can be is still our priority. Lots of people have asked if/when the children are going back to school, but we're not sending them back. We never intended to. This feels right for us and our children. To be led by their passions, creativity and curiosity. To give them freedom and trust in them to blossom into happy human beings (we hope!) with the confidence to achieve whatever they want in life.

I could go on, but that's enough for now. I'll post some more pictures soon as looking at the photos from our trip, the place names are fading from my memory and I don't like that.

See you soon.

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Wild Meadow

Some pictures from our recent trip to Wild Meadow in Wales for Dan's Birthday. An absolutely beautiful spot - I would go back in a flash. I am certain Wales has the best sunsets and golden light. Our boys loved it too - exploring bare foot, eating food cooked over a fire and generally being the feral little humans they naturally are!

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Camping

Trying to do a bit of blogging here and there, purely so I have a record of my growing children! It’s nice to look back on what we were doing at certain times, so that’s what I’ll be sporadically posting!
These pictures go back to the end of summer 2014 when we were camping on Exmoor. I love the light at dusk - toasting marshmallows, pyjamas on...the slow pace of the campsite.

Have a nice weekend.

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How Quickly A year Passes

Otto is now a year old. This has actually been the fastest year of my life! I took these pictures a month or so ago, when he refused to have his nappy put back on, so we played ‘will he or won’t he pee (or worse) on the floor?’ Fortunately, I won. Anyway, it was getting dark but despite fighting the light, I really like how these turned out. So to summarise one year of knowing Otto - He is the best - such a happy boy. He wakes up happy, loves his family, he loves feeding from me, sleeping next to me, his bother’s toys, and Marmite. He started walking just after he turned ten months, so he is very steady on his feet, despite being a dinky little chap. I’m looking forward to year two, my little friend!

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Our Home

A few months ago, our home and a little interview with me was featured in the wonderful 91 Mag. With everything else going on in life, I was rather quiet about it, but noticed that Bertie’s bedroom has been pinned many times, which is nice! It was lovely to be ask to share some corners of our home (awful carpets and all!). Please be assured that our home is very ‘lived in’ and I really did work around the chaos to get some decent shots! Since I took these pictures, we’ve made a few changes and there are more to come, so one day, I’ll share those too.

Have a nice day :)

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Dorset

So I’m trying to get back to updating a bit more here......These pictures go back to late August, when we took the boys camping in Dorset. This is beautiful Lulworth Cove in all its summery glory.

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Growing Up

Just catching up on the old, neglected blog. Here is my Bertie, aged 4 3/4 years. The day he started school last month - well, sort of school. Kindergarten. We opted out of mainstream education and he is attending our local Steiner Waldorf school (very fortunate that a state Steiner school opened in Exeter a year ago). So far, so good. He seems to really like it, as do we :)

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Summer

We’ve had some great summer days - water play is always a winner for these boys, who are really starting to interact well together. Otto is almost 10 months now - I can’t believe it!

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Wales

Long time no post!!

Back in May half term, Dan, myself and the boys (yes Bertie did come with us, but I can barely get a picture of him these days!) took a trip to beautiful West Wales. We stayed at the Manorafon Camp, which is part of Fforest - visit the website for details. This is a truly magical place and we can’t wait to return. Stunning scenery, beautiful beaches, sunshine, sunsets.....wild and free. Perfect.

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More Cornwall

Some more pictures from our week in Cornwall. If you visit St Ives, you really must go to the Barbara Hepworth Museum (preferably without a whining four year old....!). I was utterly mesmerised, peering into her studio. What a woman!

Trebah Garden, close to Helford Passage (also a must with a great pub) is beautiful. There's a lovely little beach, where Bertie spent ages seeking out various sea creatures I don't know the names of! The views around the garden are quite breathtaking. We really enjoyed ourselves. 

It's not always easy trying to please a teenager and two young'ns, but this worked out ok!

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