Finding Enough

The flip side of long summer days in this part of the world are the short winter ones. On the shortest day, the sun didn’t rise until 08.40, and it set at 15.51. That meant a lot of sunset walks, as time got away from us and we rushed out before it got dark. Some sunsets were well worth the effort.

It has been a busy start to 2025, so I am a bit behind where I wanted to be with my review of 2024 post. I have started crunching the numbers, and plan to publish it before it’s time to review January spending.

Most of December was mild and wet, which meant quite a few atmospheric misty mornings (see the photos at the end), but also more time spent inside. Now I have a bit of studio space, I wanted to give myself a reason to start making again, and Christmas cards seemed like the obvious goal. There’s nothing like a deadline to focus the mind, and the last posting dates were a very real one. I still have limited storage space for materials, but did have everything I needed to do a little lino printing, apart from the actual cards and envelopes. A quick Amazon order soon resolved that problem.

Like our living room, the only heating in the small converted barn studio is a wood burner. Unlike the living room, the stove in there is more form than function, so it takes ages to heat the space and the concrete floors and high ceilings make it quite chilly. Once I got into the flow, I didn’t really notice. I think a lot of artists in this part of the world work in hats and coats. I wanted to do something inspired by local wildlife and thought the most appropriate for 2024 was a festive hare to reflect the many that wander close to the house. I think it worked out fairly well for a first attempt in quite a while.

I have already been to a couple of events in 2025 through the local artists network I joined last year. They are all very helpful and encouraging, and full of useful tips. I sat next to a retired head of art from the local academy at one, and he was sure to tell me all about the summer exhibition and how he expected to see me submit something. Once a teacher, always I teacher. I will do my best not to disappoint.

We also went along to the local beekeepers association Christmas lunch, partly because it was at a restaurant we wanted to try out (it was excellent). Another friendly bunch of people made for an enjoyable event and we may have made a useful connection with someone looking for space for more hives. Certainly in the first instance, it would be great to have a hive or two here that belongs to someone else. All the opportunities of learning without the financial outlay sounds great, and he might even bung us a pot of honey every now and then. Hopefully we’re not to far from his base to make it unattractive for him.

We did make a little progress on the house, when the landscaping around the new garage was finally finished. The local sawmill (who built it) had been waiting for their mini-digger to be repaired. They finally gave up waiting, and a very skilled operator managed to get up the track and navigated all the narrow openings in drystone walls in a massive full size digger! Rather him than me, but he did an excellent job and we even have a little stone left for running repairs on the track. The very helpful chap also levelled the ground to the right of the garage, where we plan to erect a polytunnel – eventually.

On the 18th Dec we embarked on our latest grand tour of England to visit both families, as well as a lot of Christmas catch ups with friends. This year that included a school friend who to moved to Canada after graduating. She was back visiting family for the holidays and we managed to find a mutually convenient lunchtime for a catch up. We did seem to have a large number of friends who had gone abroad for Christmas this year, but who are we to talk after we did exactly that last year.

I did something quite brave in December. After nearly 30 years of procrastinating, I got a tattoo. I know this isn’t for everyone, but it is something I have been considering since I was about 18. I have always been to scared to get it wrong. Years of parental warnings of regret were so ingrained that it took me until now to just get on and do it. That, and the fact I was in the right area to make an appointment with a recommended artist used by a good friend many times. I liked the idea of marking the transition to a new life with a design that represents nature and water. It is only small and monochromatic, but I am very pleased with how it has turned out. I’ll leave you guessing where it is 🤫.

A lot of people talk about becoming more cautious as they get older. Perhaps that is still to come, but so far retirement / financial independence has made me more adventurous. If not now, then when? Having a financial cushion definitely makes it easier to take a chance. I am looking forward to seeing what opportunities 2025 throws my way. While the freedom fund numbers hold up, it is easy to think this way. It will be interesting to see how the next (inevitable) down turn affects my thinking.

December brought an end to a run of 3 consecutive monthly all time highs for the freedom fund, with a 1.3% drop overall. This year has still been a phenomenal year for growth, but more of that later in my review of 2024.

Freedom fund value – £1,341,690 (down nearly £17k on last month’s record high)

Expenditure – £3,277 (or a 2.9% withdrawal rate) including renovation costs, or £2,431 (or a 2.2% withdrawal rate) without renovation costs

Earned income – £0

As expected, December expenses were at the high end of normal for us, with travel, car charging away from home, presents and a lot more eating and drinking out as well as increased grocery costs, not to mention paying for the roof repairs mentioned last month (£582). We also spotted a good deal on a decent second hand infrared camera on Ebay, that we had been looking out for. £220 later and we have a great tool for spotting cold spots around the house that need attention. We will need to refill the oil tank in January, so that will push up next month’s total as well.

Non-financial Goals

Forage something every month – I found my first oyster mushrooms this month, but forgot to take a photo. It was only a small cluster of grey oysters, but they tend to have repeat flushes in the same place, so I’ll keep an eye on that spot. I found them the day before we were due to set off down south for Christmas, so I just had them on the side of what we were having for dinner that night, so as to use them up and not let them go to waste. I’ll try an be more creative next time.

I have plans to try making rowan bud syrup and liqueur in 2025, as I was too late this year, but otherwise I think I now have enough knowledge of local edibles to keep me going for now. I might return to the topic, but I won’t specifically challenge myself to collect something new each month going forwards.

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

Despite being away for half of December and missing the winter solstice sunrise swim (I don’t think they actually got to see the sun at any point), I did manage to notch up 2 swims in December. Being part of a swimming group is definitely beneficial in the winter. It is harder to motivate yourself when it is cold, but having other nutters hardy souls to meet up with makes it an event, and someone nearly always brings cake for afterwards.

The start of the month even gave the opportunity to swim in a new spot. The reduced flow of water and woodland location means it is a bit stagnant in the summer, but perfect for a winter dip. One of my swimming friends claims there is an underwater stream that feeds it straight from the arctic, but I didn’t find it any colder than anywhere else in December – i.e. REALLY cold! The extreme temperature seems to enhance the post-swim feel good factor and a hot drink once changed is heaven.

The second swim was to celebrate a birthday, so cake was plentiful. Loch Trool is always stunning no matter what the weather and actually the reduced weed in winter makes it easier to negotiate.

Other highlights of the month included meeting our friends’ new puppy, although being a Rottie cross, she is 30kg already at 6 months, and creating some beautiful floral artwork with my 5 year old niece. I was also amused wandering round a well known department store in Hertfordshire, when I found that their customers apparently aspire to decorating their Christmas tree with stacks of money! Whilst I enjoy chocolate coins as much as the next person, This seems a bit crass, especially in the current economic climate, but there it is……………….there was also a corgi wearing a crown for the royalists.

Happy New Year! I hope you are ready to grasp whatever opportunities come your way in 2025 🙂