Just Humans Being...

“Wisdom demands a new orientation of science and technology toward the organic, the gentle, the elegant and beautiful.” ~ EF Schumacher ~ Schumacher wrote his book "Small is Beautiful" in 1973 and for us - it is still relevant today.  We haven't had internet at home for nearly a month and it's interesting how we first saw it as a big issue and ventured out daily to get a signal to keep on top of messages, but as time's gone on - we find ourselves not bothering and instead embrace a gentle and quieter life...apart from when digging out old CDs for a bit of music now and again! We realise how wonderful it is to have time away from the world and the little impact the fearmongering propaganda really makes to our lives. We have no interest in news, but unfortunately many people on social media are fully immersed in it's misery and like to shout out about it. Having time away from all this is great.  While technology is moving faster and faster - with AI and the pus...

It was over 10 years ago that we wrote a blog post about nurturing, simplicity and  Slowing Down  and we are happy to say we still feel the same way. We enjoy helping others, being with animals and nature - somehow we have carved out this path. We can manage on a small income with enough money to do what we want...buying decent food is always our priority and  maintaining our car. We do want to go on a road trip down to our house in France and that will happen at some point soon, but for now - we continue to creep and go. We live very frugally, but always feel our world is abundant and believe as a result, we often receive wonderful gifts - things we require often show up when needed...food, clothes, wood and books are always gratefully received. The kindness of others just blows us away.  A few weeks ago we met a couple while out doggy walking. It turned out that we had a connection with this couple - the chap's mother had been the housekeeper for one of the grand p...

  It has been such a treat to have good weather again, especially as we are on another pet sitting assignment. We decided to take a longer route to our destination in Hampshire - taking a more scenic route out of Cornwall, along the Atlantic Highway and a wonderful stopover with our dear friends in Glastonbury. As always, we enjoyed feasting with great company and left with full bellies, feeling relaxed.  We had already travelled from Cornwall, through Devon and into Somerset and the next part of our journey took us slightly north through Wiltshire and West Berkshire before landing over the border in Hampshire. It was a gorgeous sunny journey with little traffic and we thoroughly enjoyed taking our time, soaking up the sights and loving the changing scenery. It seems such a long time since we travelled through this part of the country...Frome, Trowbridge, Avebury, and Marlborough. Seeing delights such as:  Westbury White Horse   Silbury Hill   West Kennet Long B...

This life is perfect for us - spending time with so many beautiful animals, walking, cooking, eating and being idle. We are on another pet sitting assignment...Dartmoor again and it feels like we are truly unwinding.  We are up early, out feeding all the buddies and walking with the furries. There's no rush, no clock watching. We get to start our days gently, enjoying the playfulness of the goats, chatting to the chickens, cuddling the kitties and then walking, talking, laughing. Taking in the beautiful scenery, the wildlife and collecting wood.  Life is simple, we have no desire to fill our days doing stuff and instead we return to base, light the fire, make up big bowls of porridge and take our time to sit and enjoy every spoonful. It feels right to do less in the winter, to rest more and just be. At home we do have to work, but we are always dreaming up plans to make life simpler; for caring people to walk into our lives and take on some of our jobs, allowing us to do somet...

  We work hard at being present, enjoying the moment without thinking about the past or future. It seems to be an easier thing to do in nature – watching the waves crashing over rocks and shorelines, the wind blowing in the trees or looking up at the sky on a clear night...for a few seconds; sometimes minutes we can feel totally immersed and connected to nature, the planet, even the universe. We have a tendency to operate on autopilot - especially if we are doing something mundane and monotonous, but we challenge ourselves to quietly concentrate on what we are doing, observing ourselves doing the task...it’s like a wakeful meditation and it’s not easy to achieve. The beginning of freedom is the realisation that you are not “the thinker.” The moment you start watching the thinker, a higher level of consciousness becomes activated. You then begin to realise that there is a vast realm of intelligence beyond thought, that thought is only a tiny aspect of that intelligence. Yo...

How often do you take time to be thoughtful and quiet? To breathe and be in nature? Do you start your day slowly, even when busy?  We like to spend our mornings gently waking - reading to each other, writing, sometimes singing, making breakfast and taking time to leisurely eat and digest our food before we begin our day. We choose to live in the slow lane, from where we observe others rushing through their days, often stressed and with a need to fill every moment doing what they consider to be meaningful.  We feel no guilt in being lazy and happily sit around chatting instead of doing what we loosely planned to do. You may think it's procrastination, but we prefer to think of it as "going with the flow". There is more to life than filling your days with stuff, working hard, keeping up with your neighbours and it's not until you get off that treadmill that you can see for yourself just how great life can be. Part of the process for us in slowing down ...