Finding Enough

I’m a bit late updating this month, as I’ve been distracted playing with lino printing again, now I have a bit of studio space. There’s a long way to go to have it set up how I want it, but I set myself the challenge of making my own Christmas cards to get me started. This gave me a deadline when it came to last posting dates, and it took priority over blog writing for a week or so. Looking back, we got up to quite a lot in November, both at home and visiting friends in Northumberland.

It has been all change with the farm that neighbours us. The farmer decided to sell his lifetime tenancy as he has no-one to pass it on to. After 3 generations (and 30 years farming it himself) he has passed it back to the landowner who plans to farm it himself (well, his stockman will). There were a lot of livestock movements that we helped out with, as independent valuers cast their eye over the sheep and cows that now have new owners. They all had to be sorted into groups for valuation, so all in all it took a couple of days and the cows were quite vocal about the process.

On the house renovation front we insulated the loft above the 80s living room extension while Wickes had a very good offer on rockwool. We had to drive over an hour to get to our closest store, but it was worth it, as it worked out less than half the price of other options we had priced up online. It is a single story extension and has a very high ceiling, so getting up there was not simple. Luckily the previous owners left an extra long ladder which just reached, but which took some careful manoeuvring to get into position.

We finally got a roofer to come out to fix a fallen slate just under the ridge and took the opportunity to have them repair some cement work and also fit a vent in the roof above the shower room, so we can fit an extractor. When we moved in the shower room (our only shower) had only one small velux for ventilation, and that was painted shut! As the room opens onto an unheated single glazed conservatory link to the main house, you can imagine the condensation in the winter………….We managed to get the velux open soon after moving in, but an extractor will be much more civilised. It does mean getting back up into the loft above the living room again to fit the fan though.

A rather more simple job that was also completed in November, was finally sorting out the task lighting in the kitchen. The ceiling light is behind you as you stand at the Rayburn and worktop next to it, so cooking meant always working in your own shadow. Well not any more! Clever Mr.W has rigged up an old wall spot light, we already had, to fit to the side of a wall cupboard to point at the Rayburn. We also now have new LED under cupboard lights to illuminate the worktop and previously very dark corner under the wall units. My personal favourite part – he also rigged up a sensor so all these lights come on when you wave your hand under the wall cupboards. This last idea was stolen from the fancy new kitchen installed at our favourite house sit in the Yorkshire Dales.

Other developments in November included re-joining the 21st century in terms of services. After months of waiting, the fibre optic cable that had been laid down the road in March was finally connected to our property and activated. We also finally got an appointment from Octopus to fix the smart meter which had never worked since installation. That was 7 months since installation and a whopping 11 months since requesting a smart meter in the first place. We have now been able to switch from economy 7 to a specific EV tariff which drops our overnight energy prices from 13p per KWh to 8.5p, as well as lowering our day time unit price and standing charge. Hurray!

As well as making Christmas cards at home, I got creative at a raffia weaving workshop run by a local maker at a community hub nearby. It is not something I plan to do a lot of, but learning something new is a great way to keep your brain healthy and I love anything creative. There are a lot of artists and makers in this area and a lot of inexpensive workshops running throughout the year as a result. I made a basket which is more or less round and now sits on the desk in my studio with various bits in, which don’t yet have a home. It was a fun morning.

The culmination of a years work for the local beekeepers association that we joined in September, was their annual Honey Show this month. I was able to take part in a small way in the rolled beeswax candle class. I thought I should show willing and always like to learn something new. Unfortunately I made a rookie technical error. Part of the judging is to light the candle, blow it out and re-light it. If you don’t dip the wick in wax (which I didn’t), it burns too fast, making it very difficult to re-light. The judge (a qualified honey judge brought in specially for the occasion, and who had apparently judged the national Scottish Honey Show this year) was focussed on getting the technical things right before she even thought about design, so I was on to a loser this time. Better luck next year.

The judge did spend a lot of time explaining what she was looking for in all classes, so everyone present learned a lot. She did say that we had as many entries in our little local show as were at the national show this year, so that just goes to show what a few organisers who are passionate about the subject can achieve. We are lucky to have experts on our doorstep who are so keen to pass on their knowledge and pro-actively encourage beginners.

Financial Update:

Freedom fund value – £1,358,633 (up £33K on last month)

Expenditure – £2,807.48 (or a 2.5% withdrawal rate) including renovation costs, or £2,414.89 (or a 2.1% withdrawal rate) without renovation costs

Earned income – £0

Another record high for the Freedom Fund this month. Surely this can’t continue? Our net worth figure is getting surprisingly close to £2M – and now I’ve said that, there’s bound to be a pull back before my next update…..

As we approach the end of the year, I am quite looking forward to seeing what the first full year of our new lifestyle will look like in numbers. I am not concerned about our current level of spending, and am keen to make sure we make the most of having the time (and our health) to get out and do some of the things we promised ourselves we would do ‘one day’.

It was a fairly low spend month in November too – especially when you take out the one-off renovation spending (on insulation, a fruit cage that we haven’t erected yet and some outdoor lights).

Energy spending was reduced by £200 this month with a grant from the parish community trust. This is community income from a local wind farm which is divided amongst all residents once a year. We spent a few days with friends in Northumberland, which this time included a trip to the Beamish Outdoor Museum and fish and chips from their coal fired fish and chip shop in the pit village area. It was the first time I had been and it really is an amazing place. They opened a 50s town fairly recently which our friends had not seen. I suspect most visitors aren’t looking at the 18th Century area for decorating tips 🤣

Apart from a small needle felted picture from a local art fair and a reclaimed oak tray from our friend who is an artist and maker, there wasn’t much spending out of the ordinary. This is probably a good thing as December is sure to be more expensive with presents, eating and drinking out over the festive period and increased grocery spending.

Non-financial Goals

Forage something every month – I failed at this in November. I was keeping my eyes peeled for velvet shank mushrooms, which I harvested for the first time at the end of last year, but I’ve not spotted any yet. I did use some hazlenuts I collected at the end of October in some cookies (once we finally found the nut cracker), so maybe that counts?

Wild swim at least once a month in as many different places as possible –

Swimming frequency has dropped a little in November – along with the water temperature. I still managed 3 swims in 2 places. The most memorable of which was at sunset on the coast. It was the first day we had seen the sun for a bout a week and seemed worth celebrating. Another lady from the local swim group agreed and joined me. The photo really doesn’t do the experience justice as the sky seemed to be on fire above us as we swam (but neither of us had brought a waterproof camera case to be able to capture it). It was a magical evening. Perhaps we wouldn’t have appreciated it as much if we had been taking photos of it.

I have been starting to think about what my goals might be for next year, definitely something art and craft related, and possibly something related to learning about beekeeping – although I’ll try not to be too boring for those with very little interest. Stating a goal definitely helps me focus each month on making some progress. That makes it less likely I’ll make it to the end of the year having done nothing but thought about it.

So, what about that Pine Marten? Well, after months of positioning trail cameras in different places and finding what we were pretty sure was pine marten poo in several locations (including our deck), we finally caught one on camera. We have since caught another 2 clips. This is probably the best one. It’s snacking on the last of the apples under one of our apple trees.

A few other images of our November in SW Scotland, with a bit of the Beamish Museum mixed in. Happy Christmas.