Autumn is in full swing now and despite the best efforts of storm Ashley, the continuing mild weather has meant that the beautiful autumnal leaves have stayed on the trees for a little longer. Apart from a weekend dash down to Shropshire for a friend’s birthday party, we have been at home all month enjoying watching the season, and the wildlife, changing. The swallows have left and been replaced with fieldfares and redwings feasting on rowan and haw berries. We have started to hear the prehistoric shriek of jays again (not sure where they disappear to in the summer). Rut season has brought occasional roaring red deer in the evenings, culminating in spotting the silhouette of a red deer stag in the field behind the house one evening. We even spotted our first red squirrel running along the wall at the back of the ruined barn.
We have been mainly chasing quotes and trying to organise contractors this month rather than actively working on the house. Now we have a scaffolding tower, I have made a start on removing plastic paint higher up on the problematic gable end wall. This will be a case of chipping away little and often for some time. As the unseasonably warm weather towards the end of the month has been most accompanied by mist and drizzle, the conditions haven’t really been conducive to working outside that often.
Mr Wombat has been very busy boarding out the inside of the new workshop, and I have been organising a studio space in the converted barn. I have joined a local group of artists and makers, partly to meet new people, but also to motivate me to start being creative again. The concentration of artists and makers was part of the appeal of moving to this area and a part of the post-FIRE plan eventually.
We have also joined the local beekeepers association this month. We have talked about keeping bees in the future, and came across a stand at the agricultural show in August. After a bit of a chat at the show we discovered there is an active group very local to us. Not only to they support existing beekeepers, but they also pro-actively involve those considering the hobby before they actually have bees. They run an annual beginners weekend course and monthly apiary visits in the summer. If you decide to move forwards, they then allocate you a mentor. We have been told there has been a small honey farm at our house in the past, so it will be interesting to see how suitable it is already.
We have been to a couple of meetings and they certainly seem like a nice friendly bunch. The annual subscription of £15 seems more than reasonable to learn more, and decide if beekeeping is for us. there is certainly more to it than we initially imagined, but I suppose that is true of most things.
A birthday this month was the excuse we needed to finally take advantage of the Belfast ferry being so accessible. Stena Line are doing a £20 foot passenger day trip offer, so we caught the first ferry out and the last one back and had a lovely day exploring the city. Our plan to visit the Titanic Experience was thwarted when the earliest ticket we could get was 3.30pm, just when we were booked in for a posh afternoon tea at the Merchant Hotel (highly recommended). There is a marked route from the city centre called the Titanic trail which follows the edge of the docks past a number of art installations, so it wasn’t a completely wasted walk.
Unexpectedly left with a few hours to kill, we headed for the botanic garden and palm house, and took advantage of our proximity to civilisation and did a bit of shopping.
Belfast is a very nice city with public art seemingly on every street as well as some fantastic illuminated Halloween decorations when we were there. It was dead easy to park at the port and get the bus at the other end, so it’s probably easier to get to than Glasgow for the rare occasions when we want to venture out of our rural hideaway. We’ll have to go back for the Titanic Experience at some point – maybe next time we have visitors. We’ll definitely book ahead next time.
October was a month when we always seemed to be busy, but looking back, it was a lot of small achievements rather than any big projects. I hadn’t paid any attention to the markets, so wasn’t sure what to expect when updating our freedom fund spreadsheet.
Financial Update:
Freedom fund value – £1,325,442 (up almost £13K on last month)
Expenditure – £4,389.78 (or a 4% withdrawal rate) including renovation costs, or £3,222.84 (or a 2.9% withdrawal rate) without renovation costs
Earned income – £0
The uptick in Freedom Fund value this month was more to do with an increase in the valuation of one of Mr Wombat’s old employer pensions than market movement or additional investment. The pension in question is not accessible online, and so the value is updated far less often than other accounts. I think it is fair to say that all other accounts were either more or less the same as last month or slightly down.
October was an above average month for expenditure. This was partly due to renovation activity (paying the Structural Engineer who came out in September & the materials for boarding out the garage) and partly because a lot of other annual expenses fell this month. The insurance and MOT for the van were paid this month (£414 & £56), as was a service and MOT for the car (£167 combined). We were invited back the the Isle of Man for a repeat house sit, so spent £346 on booking the ferry for next summer.
Now we have the garage / workshop space, I have been able to free up one side of the converted barn to be a studio space for me, so bought an antique oak roll top desk to furnish it. £100 on Facebook marketplace was an absolute bargain and miraculously it was only a 40min drive away to collect it. It is a mystery to me why anyone would buy new furniture on a budget. I’m not sure I could have found a new desk for £100 full stop, certainly not a solid wood, let alone a beautifully crafted hardwood one.
Non-Financial Goals:
Forage something every month – October was more mushrooms – I found hedgehog and amethyst deceiver varieties locally last month. When researching and checking identification of different edible funghi, I only really bother with varieties that are considered tasty rather than just ‘edible’. There is definitely an element of different mushrooms tasting different different people. From what I have read in books and on forums, hedgehogs are some of the most tasty wild mushrooms around, whilst the amethyst deceivers are more for adding to dishes rather than being the star of the show. I found it to be the other way around. Perhaps where they grow affects flavour?
One thing I can say for sure is that having harvested wild mushrooms for the last few months, the supermarket variety are now a huge disappointment.
Wild swim at least once a month in as many different places as possible
After spending what seemed like half of September swimming outdoors, October brought a relaxed change of pace. I still managed 5 swims in 2 places (neither of them new), but there was more emphasis on enjoying company or the surrounding nature than ensuring distance. The shorter days mean I am out nearer dawn and sunset than in the summer, which often means the wind drops (why hot air balloon rides are nearly always scheduled for early or late in the day). It also means some lovely light and reflections on the water.
Some other highlights of the month included:
Feeding the coos (Scottish cows 😉) while our farmer neighbour was sunning himself in Lanzarote, taking part in a willow wreath workshop with the artist and makers group and another fine show from the northern lights. The last photo was taken out of my bedroom window!
Finding Enough 