Being Creative

The view from here

It was ten years ago last month that we first came to live in this little corner of Lincolnshire. Prior to that we had spent eight years in the country, first in a hamlet in mid Devon and latterly on the western fringe of the Snowdonia National Park in North Wales. To say that I didn't want to come here was putting it mildly but we were running out of options if we ever wanted to get a foothold on the property ladder. The cottage we lived in was rented and although the rent was reasonable it really had become too small to house our growing family. Even uninhabitable hovels with trees growing out through the windows and an attic full of bats were beyond our pocket. We tried looking at other rural areas of Britain but the story was always the same; anything with more than a couple of bedrooms and a decent sized garden was priced beyond our reach. If it was in a particularly picturesque part of the country, if it possessed 'period charm' or if it had enough land for at least one horse then the estate agents started adding noughts to the price tag. Things were looking bleak.

Then one day, as I was lamenting our woes to my mum on the phone, she piped up that one of the houses across the road from her was for sale. It had been repossessed and the mortgage company had put an advert in the paper asking for offers. When we had first been thinking of buying, while we lived in Devon, Si had suggested that we would get more for our money if we bought a Victorian terrace in one of the nearby towns. We hadn't long been living in the country - my most cherished ambition - and although we rented there and went on to rent again in Wales, I wasn't prepared to give up on my rural dream without a fight. Eight years later, I was reminded of the Victorian terrace I had vetoed previously when the particulars for the house mum had suggested arrived through the door. It was big - five bedrooms - it had no major structural problems, no shrubbery sprouting from inside and no wildlife in the roof! What's more, if we got it for the guide price it would cost no more per month in mortgage than we currently paid in rent and our council tax would actually be cheaper. We came over to look. There were three floors. In Wales we only had a single story and a bit of boxed in roof space that served as a bedroom for our son, Angus.

The children were keen to move; they would be nearer their beloved Nan and Pops - and all the treats that would entail - but Angus in particular yearned for more varied social activities than our village could provide. He had started secondary school the previous year and had made new friends in other villages but many of these were not served by public transport and he was reliant upon Si' to ferry him around. What he really wanted was some independence. We put in an offer and it was accepted. Given that I'd had to concede that this was ultimately our best option, I told Si' I would only move on the condition that we took an allotment nearby for all my plants. The secretary seemed very pleased to see us and told us we could take our pick from amongst the many vacant plots. Being rather spoilt for choice, I selected one with two fruit trees on it that were currently in blossom. Only later did I find out they were both pears and two different varieties at that. We both got jobs within the first month of moving here, both in schools, but while Si's was forty minutes drive away mine was a fifteen minute walk. I walked the girls to school on my way to work and Angus walked himself to secondary school. After the first term, Carrie joined him at secondary school and they walked there with their respective friends. At first I fretted about moving to a town - about the noise levels, pollution, the proximity of other people and the possiblity of becoming the victims of crime. Gradually though, life settled down and I began to enjoy the benefits that a small town can provide.

The town centre is just a short walk away, likewise the twice-weekly market bringing fresh fruit and veg, some of which comes from other parts of our own county. More than this, the food cost much less than it had in rural Wales, particularly the fresh stuff. I could be on the main rail line to London in twenty minutes and arrive there in under an hour and a half. Previously it was an hours drive to Bangor to catch a train which took over three hours to reach the capital. And that was just one way! Our doctors is within walking distance, the dentist is next door and the vets across the road. Angus got into the school football team and began receiving free weekly guitar tuition. Carrie moved schools to join me after my school was granted Arts College status and went on to play the lead in the annual Christmas production just twelve months later. Lucy made friends with several girls in her class - a novelty for her since in our former village school she had been the only girl in that year's intake. I became involved in charity and fundraising activities both within and beyond my job and Si' became secretary of the allotments. When I gave up full time work eighteen months ago and told people we were downshifting to live more simply, it was widely anticipated that the house would go up for sale and we'd be moving back to the country again. There's not a chance of that now and this is really rather the point of writing this post.

We live in difficult times. We worry about the economic downturn and potential unemployment whilst being simultaneously concerned about the effects that stress, ready meals and long working hours are having on our health. It is easy to see why potential downshifters dream of getting away from it all and that many believe that downshifting and moving to the country are one and the same thing. If you look back to my very first post, Staying Put, it begins with a quote from Polly Ghazi and Judy Jones from their book Downshifting. It suggests that downshifting is primarily a change in how you view the world regardless of where you decide to live. It goes on to say " Life is what you do with where you are, and the resources and strength you can call on". The dream of a rural idyll is currently so powerful that I fear that some people will be disappointed when they can't achieve it and yet others will be disappointed who do. Prices of country property have not really fallen since we were looking ten years ago and so will remain beyond the reach of many.

But I hope this blog illustrates that elements of The Good Life are within the reach of so many more people than those in possession of a country postcode. The magazine Home Farmer, launched last year, hopes to encourage more people  with their maxim "you don't have to live in the country to enjoy the good life" and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall has received an enormous response to his Landshare project, designed to pair up people with land to spare with those willing to cultivate it. Although allotment waiting lists have become over subscribed in many areas, one thing that will guarantee you'll never get one is not to put your name down in the first place.

For those ready and able to make the leap to a rural life, don't go expecting a bed of roses. This is especially so since escaped livestock always make a beeline for your flower beds and seem to have a nose for just those plants you are particularly bothered about. Also remember that the flip side of peace, solitude and getting away from it all is isolation and feeling cut off. There are only eight hours of daylight in the middle of winter which leaves sixteen hours of darkness surrounding you when you have no street lights. Equally, houses snuggling together in urban areas tend to keep each other warm whilst loan country properties can cost more to heat. Many would-be country dwellers are keen on the idea of the greater community spirit of the country, where other people know who you are. By the same token, everyone will know who you are and the minutiae of your life will provide endless hours of entertainment for the local gossips, some of which may reach your ears in a form which bears no resemblance to reality! Further advice I can offer is to buy a sound vehicle and take good care to maintain it. Almost everything will require a journey of some sort - work, school, shopping - and not always in the most clement of weather.

There are fewer work opportunities in the country and commuting long distances is stressful and time consuming. In the last month I have read that two stalwart country dwellers - pottery designer, Emma Bridgewater and Country Living magazine editor, Suzy Smith - have moved, or are in the process of moving, to more urban areas to cut the time they spend commuting to work. Emma Bridgewater also said that her children - whose ages range from nine to nineteen - "wanted to be nearer the centre of things". Crucially, do not offer an open invitation to friends to visit. They will take you upon it. Frequently. You will get opportunities to sample the life of bed and breakfast proprietors without the benefit of being paid for your troubles! If the last paragraph sounds like an exaggeration, it isn't; it's personal experience. On the other hand, small market towns like ours have so much to offer. All the pictures in this post were taken within ten minutes walk of our house. Within fifteen minutes walk you can be in open countryside on either side of the town centre yet still have facilities right on your doorstep. We may like to think that our heart resides in the country but it doesn't mean that our body has to accompany it!!!

Ten things I've learned since downshifting

 

It's a year this month since I first started writing this blog and I never would have believed, at the outset, exactly how much of a positive difference downshifting would make to our lives. So much so that I have had to think really hard about the things listed below as they have come to be so much a part of my everyday life that I have trouble remembering a time when they were not. This is not just a case of rose-tinted spectacles on my own part; we have had our fair share of troubles - in particular just before and just after Christmas - but we have got through them and lived to tell the tale. We're not bankrupt and we don't hate each other and we're very much looking forward to year number 2. The list below is not exhaustive, and I'm sure that over the coming days and weeks I will remember lots of other things as well, but setting limits often helps to determine that which is most salient.

1. THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE FREE This might sound like a terrible cliche but it's true: sunshine, fresh air, compliments, a smiling face, a hug from your children, good sex with your beloved, the company of family and friends. In fact, if you look at it like that, it makes me wonder why we hanker after what we can actually buy to improve our lives at all!

2. MOST PEOPLE ARE LARGELY UNAWARE OF THE HUGE INFLUENCE THE MARKETING MACHINE HAS OVER ALMOST EVERY ASPECT OF OUR LIVES We are bombarded with images through all types of media that encourage us to spend or aspire to spend. From the soft, persuasive voice of the woman on the M & S telly advert to the toddler on the toilet roll one, they are subtly designed to hook us in and persuade us to part with our cash, sometimes cash we don't actually have. In combatting this, I've found Martin Lewis's maxim to be most helpful, "Do I need it? Can I afford it? Have I checked if it's cheaper anywhere else?" If the answer to any of these is 'no' then don't buy it. It can stop you in your tracks with those impulse purchases, in particular. The same can be said for choosing premium brand goods, the ones in the attractive but excessive packaging. Just remember, fancy packaging and peak time advertising are expensive and someone has to foot the bill. This excess cost does nothing for the quality of the product and just leaves you with additional rubbish to dispose of!

3. DOING IS MUCH MORE FUN THAN HAVING If you think about your fondest memories, how many of them are from things you did or experienced and how many are from buying something you wanted? The trouble with buying things you want is that you then go on to want something else, so nothing in particular stands out in what we remember but memories of things you've done - in particular, successfully - can last a lifetime.

4.LIBRARIES ARE AMAZING PLACES I've relied on mine so much this year and find it incredible that we have such a service (ostensibly, anyway) for free. Books, internet, newspapers, local history, posters advertising what's on - they're all there for our cash-free perusal. Why shell out when so much is free in one place? In cold weather they even heat them well too!!!

5. FOOD REALLY DOES TASTE BETTER IF YOU GROW IT/ MAKE IT YOURSELF It stands to reason that if you're going to the trouble of doing either or both of these you will put effort into making it good: time spent preparing, freshness of ingredients, etc, etc. By and large, those who want to sell the same to you - especially supermarkets - want to make a profit. This is not necessarily compatible with making it good. Enough said.

6. JUST BECAUSE WE ARE DESCRIBED AS A THROWAWAY SOCIETY DOES NOT MEAN WE HAVE TO WASTE SO MUCH There is a lot of satisfacton to be had from finding other uses for things that might otherwise go to landfill. From making meringues with your leftover egg whites, turning your empty pop bottles into mini cloches, through to taking those clothes that don't fit to the charity shop/ Freecycle there are a myriad ways to re-use your rubbish. The good feeling you get is free and is not 'costing the earth'.

7. A TREAT IS A TREAT ONLY IF YOU INDULGE IN IT OCCASIONALLY If you think about it, if you buy yourself little 'treats' all the time they become the rule rather than the exception. They are not savoured as a one-off but accepted as everyday necessities, which rather misses the point, I feel. Save your money for a better treat just once in a while and you value it so much more for its rarity.

8. A WOMAN'S/MAN'S BEST FRIEND IS A DOG You could feel quite put out at this one if you are one half of a dog owning couple but think about it for a moment. Your dog is always pleased to see you; it will probably greet you even if you've just popped out for a paper and will welcome you with all the enthusiasm of a long-lost friend if you've been out for any length of time.It will not have had a bad day, hold a grudge because you forgot a special date or require much of you at all except its tea, a walk and a cuddle. Dogs do unconditional love best - my advice is to let them!

9. LET YOUR LIFE BE YOUR MESSAGE This sounds incredibly high-brow but is really very simple. It's not about talking the talk but walking the walk and is inspired by a quote from Gandhi. We might profess to be very green or very well-informed (or whatever) but do our actions really match our words? Talk is cheap, as they say, and my own thoughts are that if you want to see something happen around you then begin to live it. If you want the people you meet to be more friendly then be more friendly first; the same goes for kindness, generosity and a myriad other things. Too many people spend their time moaning instead of acting. Is that what we want to be remembered for?

10. "Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. To keep our faces toward change and behave like free spirits in the presence of fate is strength undefeatable.” This quote be Helen Keller has always strengthened my resolve at difficult times and it seems particularly poignant in todays uncertain times. It reminds me of a journey. Life can be full of diversions and forks in the road; some of these can cause frustration at times but ultimately the trip is a rewarding one. Or you can stay on the motorway; you're getting somewhere fast (though you're not certain where), the journey is predictable and often monotonous and there are few surprises to add interest. What's more, you miss the scenery! Just over two years ago my life was turned upside down and what started out as dipping my toe in the water, followed by a tentative paddle, now sees me swimming with confident strokes. If you are at a similar crossroads in your life then I would encourage you with the following: come on in, the water's lovely!

Time to take stock

 

I always enjoy January. Traditionally - once the excitement of the parties and new year's resolutions has worn off - I know it's often viewed as an anti-climax, what with the cold weather, lack of money after Christmas and those looming credit card bills! However, even when I was earning and spending alongside everyone else, I think what I enjoyed about it was the contrast. It's probably safe to assume that most people are busy in the run-up to the festive period and this has been no less the case for us this year. So, once the last of the decorations are packed away, I like to spend January reviewing our progress over the past year; to see what went well - in the hope of repeating it - and what didn't go quite so well and needs more thought for the year ahead.

One of the things I wasn't prepared for was the bulk of autumn produce. Naturally, I was expecting a steady trickle of seasonal bounty, just not in the quantities that it arrived in. I dare not even hazard a guess as to the number of pounds of pears our two allotment trees produced but it became a race to see how quickly we could find new recipes for them so that they didn't go to waste. We never did find out which variety they are but neither sort keeps for very long and we were picking them and giving them away by the box full. Our processing capabilities were stretched further by the bumper apple harvest and I began to get paranoid about constantly smelling of vinegar from the myriad chutneys we turned them into. Lots of these, along with jams and marmalades, became Christmas presents for our family and friends, so all's well that ends well, but it left me with very little time for anything much else. Whilst I was busy chopping, boiling and potting, though, I gave a lot of thought - if not attention - to this blog. When I first started out I was completely new to 'blog-dom' and struggled initially to set it all up but, like anything, you soon pick it up and it's only with time that you realize the design you've created is not as flexible as you thought. Furthermore, it then takes another lot of struggling before you work out how to put it all right! Needless to say, I spent the first half of this month making some changes to Being Creative that I hope will make it easier for you to navigate and for me to to include new material.

 

Under my original design, my book and recipe pages just ran down in one long list and I was discouraged from adding more because of the amount of 'scrolling down' it involved for both myself and the reader. Both the books and recipes now have their own separate lists so that you can find the recipe you want straight away, or find the section of reading matter that grabs your attention most. I keep finding books and recipes I want to add all the time so this should make it easier all round! On the recipe front, when I first started out I had very firm principles about not giving out recipes that came from books; in hindsight that may have been short-sighted of me. I always credit my sources - where known - for anybody else's intellectual property, be it a quote, an idea or a recipe, so it's not as if I'm trying to pass it off as my own. Secondly, by showing what I consider to be the very best recipes - and only then one or two from each book - I am applauding the author's creative success, recommending that book to you as one worth having and giving  a bit of free advertising to boot. I will still only include recipes I've tried and tested myself and where I provide a link to a recipe on another site, I may direct you via my own thoughts on how to get the best from that recipe. I recently made some medlar jelly (more of that in another post) and the recipe said to boil for 45 minutes to achieve a set; I think it was a typo as it only took 4 to 5 minutes for mine to reach that stage. I think I might have wrecked my jam pan had I left it for the suggested time! I'm also conscious that several of my previous posts promise recipes that never made it to the former Tried and Tested page, so I hope to put this right, too.

If you have visited this blog before and are looking to find the 'Pages' that introduced the various subjects covered within it, they are still in the same place but under the heading 'Beginning to Be Creative'. They are essentially the same, with the book and recipe sections separated out, as I've mentioned. The change is just an operational issue on my part to make the best of my Typepad account.The final change - my, we are really ringing them today - is regarding the photo albums. I have had a lot of positive feedback about my photos and thoroughly enjoy taking them and putting my favourites together. However, a month is not very long to amass an albums worth of good shots, especially during the winter months when there is less growing, the light levels are so low and the day length so short. I've therefore decided to organise my photos, this year, by season. Autumn 2008 is currently available to view and I'm in the process of putting together Winter 08/09. It will mean, of course, that in the other seasons I will hopefully have a plethora of snaps to choose from of which only  the very best will be included.

 

So, if you were to ask me, what would I consider my successes to be for 2008? Well, I set up this blog, not entirely - but almost - without help and with one or two exceptions (attributed to my better half) I have taken all the photographs for it, too, something I thought I'd never have the patience to maintain. Our allotment has blossomed - and fruited - with all the extra care lavished upon it and one of my own personal triumphs was being able to pick my own dahlias (see the Growing section of 'Beginning to Be Creative'). I have learned to make our own bread and bake a couple of loaves each week; Lucy told me only yesterday that she thought mine was "the best bread in the world" so I must be doing something right. One of the things that has surprised me most is how I've learned not only to manage, but to thrive, on a budget. Earlier today I was going through our finances and noticing that through a little price rise here and a little increased direct debit there we will have to do some further belt tightening. Not the most prestigious start to the new year, you may think, but though we might not wallow in wads of cash we have enough to get by. And although we can't manage without money there are so many things that money can't buy you - love, sunny days and an honest opinion are just for starters. I've met a lot of lovely people since I started this blog who have given me some very positive feedback and a lot more at events we've attended, and within our own community, who we now count as friends. Seeing a first patch of snowdrops yesterday reminded me that this time last year I was just embarking on my journey. Thank you for keeping me company along this road less travelled and I look forward to renewing our aquaintance over the coming months. Wishing you - rather belatedly - a happy 2009!

Six months on

Six months have now passed since I gave in my notice at work and committed us to a downshifted way of life. I think that half a year is a suitable juncture at which to look back and review the benefits of our new lifestyle but also to be honest about those aspects that are not quite so positive. Since new people are beginning to read this blog every day, I thought I'd have a quick re-cap on what led us to choose this course of action in the first place. I had been working as the manager of a secondary school library since we moved here nine years ago. I loved working with the books, the children and had made the space bright and colourful. The library became a popular place to be. Over time I took on more roles within the school, including charity fundraising - which I've undertaken wherever I've been - publicity and, since my degree is in drama, the front-of-house role for the annual Christmas production. As these roles had been added over time, I hadn't realised just how much I'd taken on until my father was diagnosed with a serious heart problem in the autumn of 2006, that would require major surgery. As work got busier, my dad got poorlier and I was desperately trying to be all things to all people. Dad was taken into hospital the day before the Christmas play began and for two weeks I was either visiting him or at work. The week before Christmas they operated but my beloved daddy never regained consciousness. There was more wrong with his heart than they could put right and he died three days before Christmas. I had never envisaged this happening and in the numbness that follows shock I tried my best to comfort my mother and my own children.

I returned to work at the end of January, gradually increasing the number of hours there but I couldn't cope with full-time work and the doctor signed me off repeatedly through the summer, as I failed to recover. I was desperate to get back to meet the new intake in September and could just about manage a few hours but full-time was more than I could bear. I found that once I returned, most people - apart from those closest to me - thought I was better and assumed I was fit to take up where I'd left off. I'd been having counselling since July and although, on the one hand, I felt a failure for not being able to cope at work, it had helped me to think outside the box and realise that there were, in fact, other options. Long discussions followed, between Si' and myself, about whether we could actually manage on one income and we weighed things up very carefully indeed before taking the plunge. I would strongly advise anyone who is thinking of downshifting themselves to do the same; I see it as creating firm foundations on which to build your new life. Martin Lewis has some excellent advice on all things financial at Money Saving Expert, in the list on the right of this page.

So then, what would I describe as the pros and cons of six months of downshifting? I've decided to list them, in separate paragraphs, so that I don't get carried away. It's very easy to wax lyrical on a lovely sunny day like today as the world buzzes by outside!

We are both feeling so much less stressed. I think this is quite interesting given that Si' continues to do the full-time job he has done for the last nine years, with an hour's commute each way, daily. However, our weekends used to be spent trying to 'get everything done', catching up with washing, shopping and the like, in readiness for the following week. Now I'm at home, these things are taken care of on a daily basis. If it's a nice day, Si' can join me on the allotment for an hour when he get's home from work before we see to the dogs and the evening meal. We feel less rushed now and are less likely to argue as a result.

Food has now become a source of enjoyment and we are eating a much better diet. If I look in the fridge, or freezer, now there is always something to make a meal from. Of course it helps that often I've bought the things with meals in mind in the first place but it was certainly not the case when we did a weekly shop. Today, I've brought fresh feta cheese from the farmer's market, to make a Greek salad, and mushrooms from the regular market to add to some souvlaki. The chicken breasts for the souvlaki were bought on Sunday from Tesco at a massive reduction. We bought six packs and the rest have gone in the freezer. The chicken will marinade while I plant courgettes at the allotment this afternoon! Si' takes a pack-up to work each day and it means that he can eat it when it suits him, rather than having whatever is left in the canteen at the tail end of lunchtime. His lunch box always includes some fresh fruit and something home-made, too, if I've been baking.

We get much more exercise. I always walked the 15-minute journey to work and back each day but now I walk the dogs, individually, each morning and Si' and Lucy walk them at tea time. In addition, I am doing an awful lot of digging on the allotment. As many of our new allotment holders keep reminding me, it's cheaper and much more enjoyable than going to the gym! I only realised a couple of years ago, after having physiotherapy for a badly sprained ankle, that I have very short hamstrings in my legs. This has led me to have repeated back problems but now that I'm able to do stretching exercises for them first thing in the morning, my back (fingers-crossed) has been fine. This is a far cry from leaping out of bed in a rush to get to work and then sitting at a desk for most of the day. Getting such a lot of exercise helps us to sleep really soundly, too, and once again this reduces our tension levels.

I am my own boss! Apart from the regular daily jobs, i.e. dog-walking, washing-up, etc, the jobs I do depend largely on the weather and the season and I plan accordingly. At the moment, if the weather is fine, at least part of each day will be spent on the allotment, digging, sowing seeds, planting out or watering. Wet weather, at any time of year, will see me catching up with things in the house but last Tuesday, when it poured down all day, I made two lots of jam. The first was rhubarb and ginger conserve, to use up some of my bumper rhubarb crop, and the other was blackcurrant. We had actually used up the last of the blackcurrant jam but I was also bearing in mind that I would shortly be needing the freezer space to accomodate this year's crop!

I am enjoying the psychological benefits of downshifting. I now feel I have time to do both a proper job of the tasks I embark upon and to tackle those jobs that I've never had time to start, let alone complete, in the past. In one of my early posts, 'Digging for dahlias', I described how I felt about buying dahlia tubers each year and then never having time to do anything with them. Well, don't tell everyone, but last Friday I planted the first of my dahlias out on the allotment, having first grown them on in pots and hardened them off first. I cannot describe the sense of achievement that this has given me. I get a similar feeling from making provision for the future when I cook jams and chutneys, or when I come to store quantities of food, and other necessities, that I've bought for bargain prices. My husband's pet name for me is Rabbit - because I'm small and like to dig - but perhaps he should change this to Squirrel, given my propensity to hoard things for a future date!

I have less desire to go out and spend money. Wow, that's something I never thougt I'd hear myself saying. I think we have all read the magazine articles that ask " what is missing from your life that you try to make up for it with shopping?"; we must all assume that it doesn't apply to us, as we carry on regardless. For what it's worth, I think the answer is contentment and being able to recognise when you have enough. I used to go on 'cheer-myself-up' shopping trips, armed with my flexible friend, and come back with bags full of 'must-have' lovely things. The high they gave me would last pretty much until I'd unpacked them and put them away. I understand that this I was not alone in this and that it is due largely to the success of the global marketing machine in trying to coax us into buying more to make up for our various shortcomings. Well, I'll always be 'short' and I'm not 'coming' to the shops for recreation now, even if you paid me, so there! To be honest, I actually rather resent the time spent shopping for things other than food, now; I'd much rather be doing something productive instead, like writing this blog. Also, there's nothing I actually need now. Strangely, a lot of my former purchases were along the domestic fantasy line - fabric, books, plants, towels, clothes and small items of useful kitchen equipment were my particular weakness. Perhaps now that I am able to indulge that particular fantasy, the desire to continually purchase has disappeared. It has left me with rather a lot of lovely things, though, and now I have the time to enjoy them. 

We have both developed an ability for lateral thinking. It's amazing, when you're short of cash, just how quickly you begin to see alternative uses, or cost-cutting measures, for almost everything. A surplus wooden pallet becomes your next compost bin or garden bench, a discarded wool carpet is a useful weed suppressant and empty pop bottles are potential mini-cloches to germinate courgette seeds under and to protect them from slugs. Before we buy almost anything now we ask ourselves if we could make it, or get it cheaper, or even, for free. We've applied the same principle to holidays and instead of travelling abroad twice a year, we spent the cost of a years holidays on a little touring caravan instead. Now we don't need to worry about the cost of kennels, airport parking or even bikini waxes! Last year we took it to Norfolk, North Yorkshire and even to Cornwall and although it's in for a little TLC at the moment, we plan to make full use of it this year, with both of our 'boys' in tow. I have lots I want to write about it in the future, so watch this space.

Ok, I hear you say, so there are lots of positives but what about the things that haven't gone so well? There are a couple of things that, while they have not put us off, I feel are important to mention.

Be prepared for the unexpected. Although we were very careful in working out a budget that took most things into account, I think it is important to have a contingency fund for the unexpected things. Although we put money into a motoring 'pot' each month, there was not actually enough in the pot at the time when the car needed two new tyres and we had to 'borrow' the money from elsewhere. This is not so bad if it's a one-off, but the financial side of things could easily become stretched if several things like this happened at once. I read somewhere that when you calculate your original figure for a contingency fund, you should then double it, just to be on the safe side.

Some people assume that you have nothing to do all day. Despite the fact that I get up earlier than I did when I worked full-time, go to bed later, and work physically harder than I've probably ever done, there are those people who assume that I have lots of time on my hands! They drop in without warning and pretend to be - or actually are - oblivious to the fact that I am in the middle of something. By the time they've left - to resume their very busy lives - you have metaphorically torn out your hair or given up what you'd started as a bad job. Someone once told me about a friend of theirs who always put on her coat before she answered the door. She was then at liberty to say that she was just going out, or just coming in, depending upon whether she wanted to invite the caller in or not. I think I shall just have to stick a sign on my front door that reads, 'Blogging - do not disturb!' and hope that it puts them off. Or perhaps I will just have to work on my ability to say a firm 'no'.

With hindsight, one of the very best things to have happened to me since downshifting is writing this blog. Looking back now, I can see exactly how far I've come, and how much I've achieved, both in my own words and in pictures. I always knew that I would never make the time to keep a paper diary on a regular basis so this blog has given me opportunities I thought I would never have: to distill and record my thoughts, to learn to take photographs digitally and to make new friends, both in this country and abroad. Today, I've been buzzing with new ideas for posts so perhaps it's just as well that showers are forecast for tomorrow. One of the things that most prompted us to downshift now was that none of us knows what is just around the corner in our lives and, therefore, that we do not have the luxury of tomorrow, only today, in which to put our dreams into action. My father's untimely death has spurred both my sister and myself into more positive ways of living; it just makes us rather sad to think that he's no longer here to enjoy our new-found freedom with us. What a wonderful legacy he has left us, though!

The 30th post competition finishes at midnight, tonight. You don't have to create an account or sign in to leave a comment, just enter your name and e-mail address, along with your comment and click 'post'. You could win an 8" by 10" print of one of four of my photographs (scroll down to the bottom of the post, 'A dog's dinner', for details). Remember to state which photo you would like to win, along with your comment.

 

Catching up

The last couple of weeks seem to have gone by in a complete whirl of busy activity and I find that I have been almost totally occupied with the urgent - getting things going on the allotment - to the detriment of the important - this blog! The time that I would normally devote to blogging - first thing in the morning - has been replaced with the cleaning and tidying before dog walking, thus releasing me for an afternoon of digging and sowing. The cold wind, that blew almost constantly in April, deterred me from getting started with the allotment then and now there are lots of tasks all clamouring equally loudly for attention. I have ideas for posts coming out of my ears at this, my most treasured, time of year but they are having to wait politely - in an orderly queue - to gain a place on these pages as time allows. National Compost Week is already upon us, I have been thinking long and hard about the recognised benefits of allotment-holding and Hector has developed a phobia about having his hair brushed. All part of my busy downshifting day! I'm aware that this last statement might strike you as something of an oxymoron. "Surely," you might reason," this downshifting lark should be about taking things more slowly instead of rushing about like the fly with the proverbial blue bottom!" For me, the list of things I try to do each day has grown considerably longer, particularly now that things I would formerly have bought in - such as greetings cards and biscuits - are being produced 'in-house'. What has changed is that I am now the architect of my own day. If I want to go out and take photos at 7.30 in the morning - as I did yesterday, while the light was good and there was no brezze - and catch up with my e-mails at 11.00 at night, then, within reason, I can. What has gone, for me, is the sense of running round endlessly on a stress-inducing hamster wheel, trying to do several tasks at once for no appreciable benefit. This can be especially so if you work for someone else and their idea of what is a priority in your working day differs from your own. So I like to think of myself as 'intensively occupied', rather than performing the dance of the decapitated hen!

For all our toil, there is not much to see on the allotment yet, apart from our annual rhubarb glut. I weeded the patch in March, gave it a generous sprinkling of pelleted chicken manure and 'voila!', we have enough rhubarb to supply a small shop. Everyone else is in the same boat, so I cannot understand the audacity of the major supermarkets, who still insist on charging £1.99 for four rather piddling little sticks. We spent our Bank Holiday strimming both of our own allotments and that of an elderly neighbour. The strength of the sun increased as the day progressed but I was lulled into a false sense of security by the steady breeze that cooled me as I raked up the grass and carried it to the compost bin. It was only towards tea time that I noticed the tell-tale itching of sunburn on my exposed and unprotected skin. By the time I'd had my bath in the evening, it was rather red and sore and, though I've spared you a photograph, I am now musing that it was not unlike the colour of the rhubarb, pictured above! The BBC weather forecast is predicting a UV index of five for the next three days so do take care. My own recovery has involved staying inside during the hottest part of the day but since Si' has taken some more holiday to act as Under Gardener today, I shall be wearing my rather fetching straw hat with a nice wide brim to shade my neck!

Given that my wings have been temporarily clipped since Monday, I've noticed a furious lot of tweeting and much fluttering about in the back garden this week. Since their numbers are apparently on the decline, we count ourselves lucky to have a pair of resident house sparrows that nest in a gap above next door's central heating flue, just beyond our bedroom window. In fact we are privy to all the comings and goings of Spadger and his wife as we can watch them whilst drinking our morning cuppa in bed. They have thoughtfully chosen this week to fledge their babies and, since there are high walls on all sides, they inevitably end up in our garden. In previous years I have worried about the welfare of those babies and their exposure to visiting cats. Now I have my own threat in the form of one lurcher with an incredible nose for a scent. Needless to say, his visits to the garden just now are strictly on an 'escort-only' basis. I caught glimpses of the fledgelings, scuttling for cover, as I was hanging out washing on Tuesday but as I was preparing to go out to the market, I noticed this one balancing on top of the gate, outside the kitchen window. I moved away, very gingerly, to fetch my camera and was delighted to be rewarded with these pictures.

I couldn't see any sign of her fluffy little self by yesterday evening so am hoping that she has flown and that we have done our bit to help house sparrow numbers. By Tuesday evening there was screeching to add to the general avian melee to mark the annual arrival of our swift population. They make their nests each year in the eaves of this late Victorian terrace and zoom fearlessly about in the early evening catching flies at high speed. They are always very welcome and their arrival makes me think that summer is well and truly on the way. The height of the houses on our particular road seems to bounce the birdsong around so that sometimes I am unsure as to whether it's coming from the front, or the back, of the house, especially when it's very still outside. When we first arrived, I was frequently spooked by the pigeons who would sit on our chimney pots and coo loudly, as the sound was transferred down the chimneys like a funnel. The big tree in the vet's garden is coming into leaf now and in the summer it can feel as if sitting in our upstairs sitting room is like being amongst it's swaying branches.

Finally, on Friday of last week I had an email from Cally, a regular reader of this blog, to say that I had won the book pictured above in a draw, after leaving comments on her own blog. Cally is a qualified surveyor and runs her own property finding business for people looking to relocate to her home county of Wiltshire. Her own blog is full of excellent information on all aspects of home-ownership, be it acquisition, renovation or reclamation. With years more downshifting experience under her belt than me, we share an enjoyment of allotmenting, photography and being 'keen greens'! The timing of the draw couldn't have been better as it was held on the day before my birthday. It's arrival coincided with a parcel from my sister, so it was just like getting an additional present!

It was only when I started writing this post this morning that I realised just what an important part of my life this blog has become and how much I have missed doing it recently. I have met some truly lovely people, several of whom have left such encouraging comments and, having never kept a diary before, it is wonderful to be able to look back and see exactly how much I have achieved over the last three months. The icing on my cake this week was a comment from a friend, who is a professional photographer. We went to the launch of his current exhibition last week and Si' mentioned that I'd been taking photographs for this blog. After looking at it he said that he thought I had "a real eye and talent for taking pictures" and that they were "so colourful and bright!" Isn't it strange that something that started as just a means to an end can result in something that earns praise in it's own right? Please do let me know which photos you like the best; I am going through something of a tulip phase at the moment, particularly the orange ones I've grown this year. More from me soon. Enjoy that weekend sunshine!

Down but not out

Although I had made some rather grand plans for International Downshifting Week, in actual fact it turned out to be a bit of a wash out. I had planned to try out several of the Downshifting Week website's Top Tips for (Downshifting) Success but became increasingly frustrated as the week went by, once Sod's Law had dictated that I devote my time to other things. Sometimes that's just the way it is, I suppose, but it did leave me feeling somewhat 'digalon' - a wonderfully emotive word we picked up in Wales, meaning 'downhearted'. From early on the Sunday morning, I spent my week initially looking after poorly people and most of the rest catching up with all those mundane, but nonetheless essential, tasks that I had neglected whilst looking after said poorly folk. Apart from a happy hour spent capturing my tulips on camera between downpours on Wednesday, the week had whizzed by before I knew it with seemingly little to show for it and even less to blog about! Having said that, my mum and I had had a really good chat about family and local history whilst travelling to Reighton the week before (the idea behind Tip 9) and we scored a double whammy on Friday, when Si' took the day off from work (Tip 10) to help me dig the allotment (sort of 5). We didn't get anything planted that we could eat but we did add to our compost heap, dig out a lot of dandelions and come home with some of our first rhubarb of the year. To be fair, virtually all of my cards have been handmade (Tip 8) since February and those that haven't have come from those I've stockpiled in the past, rather than bought for the occasion. Equally, it was analyzing our time and finance budgets originally (Tip 1) that encouraged us to cut up our credit cards (Tip 2) and downshift in the first place. So in many ways now, rather than "dipping our toes" into downshifting, we are already in it up to our necks but with the most positive of connotations!

The lining of my cloud, however, wasn't blue but silver and some very nice things happened last week, too. On Thursday, Carrie - one of the poorly ones - came round for a bit of TLC, just as I was taking a batch of ginger biscuits out of the oven. If ever one dreamed of a 'domestic goddess' moment, then that was it! While she was here, I showed her my tulip photographs, the dogs followed and I was able to take the precious picture of Carrie and Hector having a cuddle that's at the top of this post. Si' usually has more luck than me in photographing the dogs so both Carrie and I are delighted with this one. We let two more allotments to two lovely couples, who seem very keen and Ivy, of Lemon Cake fame, sent a jar of home-made lemon curd and a lemon cake. We reciprocated with a jar of pink grapefruit marmalade, which I've yet to write about. I have a James Martin recipe for lemon syllabub - from his book, Desserts - in which I plan to use the lemon curd. Happily, I have a profusion of mint, growing on the allotment, for the garnish! In addition to the tulips, I photographed some of the Spring greenery that suddenly seems to be bursting forth. My phography skills are still very much at the 'point and shoot' stage so I was pleasantly surprised at how well they turned out.

Yesterday evening, not long after we'd got back from the allotment, we had the most amazing thunderstorm. The torrential downpour that ensued began with hailstones before turning to rain that made a river of the road outside. I was sorry that we hadn't had enough time to repair the guttering on our allotment shed; we could have filled our water barrels several times over, I should think. This morning, I went up to the allotment to check for damage but all was fine, if unbelievably soggy. The water, in addition to the recent warmth, had brought the bluebells right out and the rhubarb appeared to have doubled in size overnight. Looks like we are set for another glut! This reminds me of Julie, of the inspirational blog, Little Cotton Rabbits, who has very kindly added me to her blog roll and who mentions cold rhubarb crumble as being one of her favourite things to eat. If you have not already visited her site, I have put a link in, and I'd like to welcome all those people who have found their way to Being Creative from her blog. I don't do a lot of knitting myself but I do have some very nice recipes - that are only featured after being tested personally - on the Recipes page. Those and an awful lot of rhubarb!!!

At one time, not being able to achieve what I set out to do - like my plans for Downshifting Week - would have caused me a lot of stress and anxiety. Now I'm learning to accept that following the sign that reads 'Diversion' , far from being a source of frustration, can be an adventure in itself. I might have been down but I'm nowhere near out and am already back on my feet and ready for the next round. Ding, ding!

The edited highlights

This week I was all set to devote my attention to International Downshifting Week, which runs until Friday. I had promised the Country Living readers that I would be experimenting with the Top 10 Tips for (Downshifting) Success and then reporting back here with the results. But isn't it strange that you spend time planning for something like this, and then when you come to do it, the script has changed? Not so much changed but late additions to it have been made, and you can find yourself wondering how exactly you will fit it all in. Also, I had envisaged tackling one of the tips each day but, as it turns out, they've rather tended to merge into each other. So here I am presenting the 'edited highlights' of Tip 6. With all the rushing about over the last three days, the thing I have been short of is time to write it about it. Just a touch ironic for a downshifter, don't you think?

Tip 6: Cook a meal using seasonal, local ingredients, preferably organic

On Saturday morning, we had made our plans to go to Retford Farmer's Market. Whilst I was writing Saturday's post, I had a phone call from my son, Adz, and we made one of those 'spur of the moment' decisions for him to visit for the weekend, and for us to meet him at Retford station, since we were going anyway. We usually take one or other of the dogs to the farmer's market with us because we feel it's good for them to get used to being among larger numbers of people. Since we are trying to get Hector more accustomed to travelling in the car, it was his turn. Retford Farmer's market is only small but the town has a bigger weekly market than our own, which makes it worth the trip. Lincolnshire Poacher Cheese ( favourite of the chef, James Martin) has a stall, as does Tuxford Windmill, who were featured in the April issue of Country Living, on the 'Made in Britain' regional food pages. The reason I haven't included the windmill on my Sustainable Shopping typelist, is that they don't do mail order at the present time. The chap told me that what they produce currently is met by demand from within a ten mile radius so I was delighted to hear that they were doing well. The stall we particularly go to Retford for is the mushroom one. Their stock changes each month, presumably because certain varieties are in season and by the time we got there, at just after eleven, they had almost sold out. We bought 100g of shiitake, another 100g of eryngi and a mixed box full of weird and wonderful types. If you are mycologically inclined, you may be able to identify them from the picture. The total cost was £4.90, for enough to feed the two of us. At first I was concerned that I'd spent a bit much but even with the bread and additional items, like the lemons, it still cost less than fish and chips twice and was undoubtedly better for our health! Next time, I think I would make it go further with some of the cheaper button or flat mushrooms. We cooked them according to Nigel Slater's recipe, 'Pan-Fried Mushrooms', on page 57 of The Thirty-Minute Cook. He says you can use any sort of mushrooms and it will taste delicious. Ours certainly did, particularly so with chopped parsley and lemon juice sprinkled over as they were served up with crusty bread! Interestingly, Adz - who doesn't like mushrooms - had a frozen pizza, cooked in the oven and our mushroom dish was served up on the table at the same time as his. Which just goes to show that cooking from scratch can be as quick as ready meals, if you choose the right recipe. If you want to grow your own mushrooms, The Organic Gardening Catalogue has a good selection.

I almost forgot to mention the pudding - raspberry muffins - and Adz did like those! The recipe is on the recipe page and purely in the interests of research (rather than greediness) I've now tried making them with blueberries, blackberries and raspberries, all of which were yummy! If anyone out there tries the strawberry ones, please let me know how they turned out?

A gentle bit of chit-chat

What an absolutely glorious day it is today. The sun is shining, the horribly cold wind that we have been having here recently has gone and I have my fingers crossed that Spring has arrived at last. Of all the days to start sniffing, coughing and sneezing it just had to be today! To be fair, it has been coming on for a few days but I am very intolerant of cold bugs - both in myself and in my family - and I thought that if I ignored it it would go away. Yesterday, although the weather was lovely, I wrapped myself up in hat, scarf and fleece and sowed two rows of broad beans on the allotment, thinking the fresh air would do me good. By bedtime it had not done the trick and this morning I was not at my best. So I have declared today a 'dog and blog' day. The boys had nice walks in the sunshine earlier and now that they are sleepily ensconced on their respective sofas, I am able to sit in the warmth of our south-facing sitting room and type away at the keyboard to my heart's content.

With the wind being so bitter last week, I tended to hurry with any activity that involved being out of the house. Consequently, I didn't see many people to talk to and it got me thinking that I would like to get to know more people, more specifically, others who have downshifted like myself. Being a long term reader of Country Living magazine, I put a post on their website forum, and I have been really heartened by the response. Not only have I had encouraging replies - thank you so much, emjay53, juliey and Gilly FB - but the number of people visiting my blog has mushroomed. I'm even getting listed on Google now. Wow! Do please feel free to leave comments on what you think of it. It's not nearly so rewarding if I think I am only talking to myself! It's a funny feeling knowing that so many people are reading my blog. It's rather like expecting visitors at home where you whizz round with the hoover and want your house to look at it's best. I will be casting a very critical eye over my punctuation on all my existing posts and pages later, whilst wearing my 'best' fleece to type my entries! Gilly FB, the violas at the top of the page are for you, so that you know that I am thinking of you.

Although Saturday dawned bright and breezy it rained heavily in the afternoon, so I used the time to make three banana and walnut loaves. I'd bought the bananas in a big bag for a pound at the market on Tuesday and still have a lot of walnuts left from those I collected last autumn. Once the loaves were cooked, I found there wasn't really enough room in the freezer to get two of them in, so, having removed a box of blackcurrants to make space, I made a batch of jam. In case anyone is worried that I am setting myself up as some sort of superwoman, it did take me until nine at night to get everything finished, washed up and put away.

Yesterday, we celebrated our seventeenth wedding aniversary. When we got married we lived in a hamlet in mid-Devon and Carrie, my eldest daughter, wore a little turquoise dress with a straw hat and carried a tiny basket full of wild primroses we'd collected from the hedgerows. The photo above was taken at the cemetery where my dad is buried and I'm really pleased to see that the staff who tend it are allowing these wild plants to flourish and multiply. We also had our annual general meeting for our allotment association yesterday and Si' and myself have taken on the secretary and treasurer's roles jointly for the forthcoming year. It makes sense for us as I am about more during the day to show prospective plot holders round, etc. Si' has been tremendously effective at letting our vacant allotments in the last year and our aim is to let the remaining ones in the next twelve months. We are getting to have a good mix of older and younger plot holders now and and it is developing into a nice little community with a shared interest in common.

I want to end this post by going back to it's title. When I was really busy with my former job, I would see people I might not have seen for ages in the street and apologise, as I passed them, for not having time for a chat. We were always going to catch up at some unspecified time in the future. It's a sad fact of life, then, that those opportunities are missed so, knowing that I would be finishing work, I made 'making time to chat' my New Year's resolution for this year. I'm happy to say that I am still sticking to it; even the dogs will lie down beside me on the pavement if they sense that the conversation will last more than a few minutes! We always made fun of my dad for bending people's ears but, my goodness, I've lost count of the number of people who tell me how much they miss those chats now. Me, included!

Staying Put

"But don't believe all you read about rural idylls, because they don't exist. If anyone tells you that downshifting is only about moving out to the country, don't believe a word of it. It's a state of mind, a change of attitude and perspective that may or may not cause you to move house, down the road, to another part of the country. Or stay put."  Downshifting - The Bestselling Guide to Happy, Simpler Living Polly Ghazi and Judy Jones (p. xii)

Many people, it would seem, decide to downshift by moving house. More specifically, to the country. This may be to find somewhere in a less expensive area, perhaps somewhere bigger/smaller or with more land. Or for a change of scene. For us that was never really a consideration. We bought our big, Victorian terrace house very cheaply, before prices began to rise here, and although there has been a big jump in the cost of local property since, it is still some of the cheapest in the country. According to Country Homes and Interiors magazine, (September 2007), "Lincolnshire......Is the only county in the UK with an average price for a detached family house below £200,000." The size of our house suits us, too,and we would have to pay an awful lot more for a five-bedroomed house in the country, even in Lincolnshire.

Our daughter, Lucy, attends a school within walking distance of home, my mother lives across the road and most of our local facilities are very close at hand. Within a stone's throw of our house we have a newsagents, our dentist, our vet (very handy for the 'boys'), an excellent fish and chip shop and a Chinese takeaway. We are within a short walk of Tesco and the centre of town, with its twice-weekly market, a greengrocer selling local free-range eggs, the town library, our doctors and no less than five charity shops! My decision to shop locally, wherever possible, and to buy anything else online was confirmed last week when we travelled to Lincoln and spent the best part of two hours trying to find somewhere to park and travelling between the centre and the out-of-town stores we'd gone for. For a small town we are lucky to have our own Arts Centre, which shows films and hosts live performances, two swimming pools and leisure centres, a medieval manor house and four different allotment groups with plots to spare. I can be at my allotment just over five minutes after leaving my front door and in open countryside in ten minutes.

Before moving here we lived in the country for eight years, six of them on a smallholding with hens and a flock of sheep. Although, in many ways, it provided an idyllic environment for our (then) young family there were also many drawbacks. For us they were the physical isolation, the time and cost spent travelling and, if you live in the Welsh uplands, the weather. At 600 feet above sea level on the slopes of Snowdonia, you could be enveloped by a dense mist for two or three days at a time and that was in the summer! I always found the word 'waterproof' to be a misnomer with regard to outer layers and the local weather. Persistent drizzle could find it's way through all of them and you just had to have a selection to choose from ; one to wear and one to drip itself dry in the outside loo!

If you are reading this and you are hell-bent on moving to the country then this will not deter you - and so it shouldn't - but I always think any awareness of potential pitfalls helps you to be prepared, at least psychologically, should they have the misfortune to happen to you.

I do miss the skippy little lambs, and even the lack of sleep that was the norm for us at this time of year but there are many skills that I first learned whilst living there, such as making preserves and being self reliant, that have stood me in good stead ever since. Others, like splitting logs with a nine pound axe, will be invaluable for feeding the woodburning stove we plan to install as a way of reducing our heating costs. I have often thought what an excellent tag-line Country Living magazine has: “WHEN YOUR HEART IS IN THE COUNTRY”. I think many readers like myself are not looking to physically move there but are looking for a simpler, more traditional lifestyle that living in the country is seen to embrace. When I'm on my allotment weeding the blackcurrants in the sunshine this afternoon I shall truly feel that in staying put I can have the best of both worlds!

From there to here

With hindsight, the signs were all there for anyone to see. Anyone, that is, except me. I had been running a secondary school library for seven and a half years and I had added to my role over time because, quite simply, I enjoyed the variety and the challenge. Over time, though, I began to feel that I was always behind at home, always chasing my tail, so that home wasn't a refuge to return to at the end of the day but a new set of tasks akin to the ones I had been tackling all day at work. Getting a dog was our attempt to step back and put our respective jobs into perspective, as just one aspect of our lives, but a puppy in the house quickly added to the problem as my dad was diagnosed in the autumn with a serious heart problem which would require major surgery. His condition worsened rapidly and at the beginning of December 2006 he was admitted to hospital. His operation, just before Christmas, was technically successful but the unthinkable happened and he died.I went back to work after about a month and gradually built up my hours to full time again but I couldn't seem to function properly. Anything that had to be done in a hurry brought on symptoms of panic and I went from confident multi-tasking to forgetting anything and everything which only added to my stress levels. In April the doctor signed me off work with depression and I asked to see a counsellor to help me come to terms with my dad's death. Together we explored this and other issues and I felt I was making progress but when I couldn't hack full-time hours again in September I realised that the bottom line was my job. I was still reluctant to accept this but my counsellor reminded me of a very important fact, that STRESS KILLS!That was really my wake up call and I wondered if it was all worth it. I had several long discussions with my husband, during which we did the sums and decided it wasn't.

I handed in my notice at work.