I have just had some wonderfully restorative time off, with my family. Just simple days at home or out walking, and the perfect opportunity to organise my thoughts, which sometimes feel as though they are in a whirl!
I think that when we left Orkney, a part of me felt that our search for a simple life would have to be shelved.
It is after all, a lot harder to imagine a simple life in the middle of a town, than it is in the middle of nowhere, on a tiny island.
It may be harder to imagine, but is it harder to put in into practice?
I’m beginning to realise that it is actually easier, and without any big push, our plans for a simpler life are slipping into place quite organically.
Matt works just two minutes walk from home and as we have excellent train and bus connections right on our doorstep, we have been able to give up our car. We also have the benefit of a network of cycle paths, from home to our favourite areas of coastline and to local woodland. We needed new bikes to take advantage of this, but I have been able to find secondhand bikes for Lark and Wren, within a short walk of home. One was free and the other only £25 and both are in very good condition apart from the tyres. Fortunately, at the back of our garden there is a local mens group, who provide free bicycle servicing and repairs, only charging for any parts that are needed.
Matt has a bike already, so now I just need to find one for me, but in the mean time I can walk and Lark and Wren can wait for me to catch up!
We’re also looking out for a bike trailer, for when we need to pick up larger things, that are a little further from home.
It feels like a really positive change.
Changes are happening in our garden too.
Although I discovered my love of gardening in Orkney, it certainly had its challenges. Especially when we moved to South Ronaldsay, because the site was so exposed to the weather.
What a change then, to find myself with a walled garden and calmer weather.
Even when the wind does blow, the garden is protected by the high wall and the other tall buildings around it. It’s really like a micro-climate in our garden and several degrees warmer than the surrounding area. We rarely get any frost, even when it is really frosty nearby.
With my health back in order, I have been able to turn my attention to the garden again and have been thoroughly enjoying my time spent there.
In amongst the mature trees and shrubs, I have been creating our fruit and vegetable garden.
This feels like a very important contribution that I can make to our family, in a time of high food prices. We have all committed to eating simply and healthily, but the prices of veggies at the supermarket is through the roof!
It’s a modest start this year, because at the start of spring I was recovering from months of ill-health. But as my strength has returned, the garden has grown and we are eating leafy greens from our garden throughout the week.
Strawberries and gooseberries are ripening and some raspberries have been planted ( although I don’t expect any fruit from them this year).
I have also put in a bed of squashes and tomatoes. All of these are being grown vertically, so I built a framework, out of strong saplings that we needed to remove from the garden.
That is perhaps one of the biggest challenges of this garden. It is surrounded by large mature trees, and saplings are continually sprouting. In the years before we moved here, quite a number of these had been left and we are now working to remove them, as they are too close to other properties.
But in the right places, trees are very welcome and I am hoping to introduce some new fruit trees to the far end of the garden, next year.
We might be living on a town high street, but in this sheltered garden the sounds that I hear most are the voices of birds. So many of them, of all shapes and sizes! That is a real joy to me, because it’s one of the things that I loved about Orkney – the sound of myriads of birds, each singing their own little song.
And what about our furry and feathered friends?
They absolutely adore this garden! Our two Ducks, Tonka and Sorrel, travelled down from Orkney with us nearly two years ago and they couldn’t believe their luck! A sheltered, large garden with plenty of opportunity for foraging and a well protected duck house to rest in. Their house is the old brick washhouse, still complete with copper and mangle, which leads right onto the garden.
Meadow, our cat has adapted very quickly to town life. And although she might pop into the high street shops and cafes occasionally, she can usually be found hanging out in our garden or in the graveyard next door. With all of those trees to climb and plenty of shady nooks for a snooze, she is a very contented tabby and loves to help me when I’m busy in the garden.
The ducks are a huge help with keeping on top of garden pests. I really don’t know how I would manage without them, even if they do have a quick nibble on my kale as they walk past!
So I am thinking that I might get a couple of hens next year. That was always the plan in Orkney, but one that never fell into place, as renovations took up a huge amount of time and energy.
There’s plenty of room for a couple more feathered friends, and chickens are brilliant at preparing ground for planting and would provide us with extra manure. The extra eggs would be a big help too.
All of this garden goodness has been providing inspiration for my work lately too. But more than that it has been making me consider the best way forward – something that has eluded me for a while now.
It’s time to simplify things on the work front, this last couple of weeks has given me the thinking time that I needed to figure out some important truths. But I will tell you more about that next time, and I’ll show you what I have been working on as well.
