September was mainly a month of settling the dog in and visiting family down south, but there was also time to focus on some artwork. It seems when I spend more time on creative pursuits, I feel less like sitting down and writing this blog. Maybe I switch on a different part of my brain, but whenever I thought about getting the laptop out, I was never quite in the right frame of mind to order my thoughts and string cohesive sentences together. Storm Boelo has been battering us for the last 24hrs or so (and took the power away overnight), so I am much less inclined to head outside to my studio space and instead I’m hunkering down in front of the woodburner, watching the horizontal rain battering the windows from the comfort of the living room.
The creative burst this month was prompted by a couple of opportunities locally that I challenged myself to take advantage of, rather than leaving it to someone else more experienced. We all have to start somewhere, so I told myself to stop procrastinating and just make a start. One of the reasons we chose SW Scotland as our new home was the creative community. This corner of Scotland is home to the Scotland’s National Book Town and the National Artists Town. The former hosts a book festival every autumn, where for a couple of weeks, people you have actually heard of arrive to talk about (and sell signed copies of) their latest books. I had a fun night with some wild swimming friends watching Lucy Porter introduce her book ‘Middle Aged Women Get Sh*t Done’, which was hilarious. It was followed up with a drink in the ‘pop up bar’, which is essentially someone’s upstairs reception room in a large house. It is transformed with tables and chairs and fairy lights up the stairs, every year for the 2 weeks of the festival. There is always a great atmosphere and it is incredible value – but cash only.
As well as the book events, this year there was an arts trail to celebrate the centenary of the birth of a local poet. Artists were invited to interpret a word from a list inspired his poems. My take on ‘pirouette’ involving swooping and twisting swallows leaving trails in ink, was displayed in one of the bookshops in the town. The festival company offered to pay for work as part of the application process. I was in it more for the challenge of creating something others would see, so only asked for enough to cover the cost of materials and the frame. As they required an invoice, I decided on a whim to set up a small business account. It’ll be a while before I have enough work to venture on to an exhibition or craft fair, but I am now all set up to do so, if I choose.
As well as the book festival, a couple of local art friends encouraged me to take a look at the classes in the annual village show that happens every year at the start of September. I had a rummage around and finished off a couple of things I was working on, and ended up with 10 entries – in mostly art classes with some jam and preserves for good measure. When I arrived in the afternoon, with childish excitement to see if I’d won anything, the hall was packed. It was a really lovely thing to be involved with and an I am very glad I was persuaded to take part. There were classes for everything from vegetables and fruit to flower arranging, creative writing, art and crafts. For a small village in a Scottish backwater, the standard was incredibly high – especially when it comes to knitting, crochet, jam and baking. I got a third for my rhubarb and ginger jam, which I was very pleased with considering there were 17 entries. I probably wouldn’t have entered if I had realised what I would be up against. I managed four 1st places, a 2nd and a 3rd out of 10 entries, but I also won the prize for best art exhibit. I now have a commemorative wooden coaster and a years custody of a big shiny silver plate with my name engraved on the back! Hardly international acclaim, but a confidence boost none the less.
Following the death of my mum last year, we made a donation to the RNLI in her memory in return for having her name on the livery of a new lifeboat. Mum has always been a big RNLI supporter. In fact I recently found a photo of me aged about 3, ‘helping’ in the kitchen. I was wearing an RNLI apron. The middle of the month was the launch event for the lifeboat in question. There were limited tickets available, but I managed to secure 3, so I could go with Dad and my brother. It was down in Poole, so this was what prompted planning a trip to visit family and friends.
Of course, venturing south of the border meant we were obliged to visit lots of people, so it became another circumnavigation of the country for a couple of weeks. We had only had the dog for a couple of weeks at this point, but she was great in the car and seemed to take most things in her stride. She learnt 2 new houses, met 6 dogs belonging to friends (5 of them at the same time!), met my niece and nephew (6 and 3), went to a (very noisy) steam fair and a pub for dinner. I had forgotten how many people stop to talk to you when you have a dog out and about. We certainly met a lot of new people.
Tragically, while we were away we learnt of the death of a good friend. He was half of a couple that we have been holidaying with for about 25 years. Mr Wombat rented a room at university in the same house, and I first met them just before their wedding 27 years ago. We saw them in July when we went to Glasgow for a few days. It was all a bit of a shock, and particularly tragic, as it was suicide. He struggled with his mental health over the years, but it was always difficult to reconcile that knowledge with the cheerful, smiley man we knew. We always saw the highs on holidays and trips, and meeting for meals out at weekends. When I think of him, I picture him smiling and laughing, which is nice, but as is always the case with suicide, those left behind are left wondering if they could have done more / something differently.
The last time I saw him, he asked me what tattoo I was getting next. I hadn’t even considered another, but he assured me that one is never enough, so I am thinking now that small tribute might be in order. There was no question that we would make the trip down to the south coast for the funeral, which meant planning another 850 mile round trip 3 weeks after the last. Probably another reason this post is a bit late.
We were certainly not focussing on financial performance in September, but things muddled along just fine with no attention from us (which was always the plan).
Freedom fund value – £1,605,053 (up £7k on last month)
Expenditure – £2,561.85 (or a 1.92% withdrawal rate) including renovation costs, or £2,509.97 (or a 1.88% withdrawal rate) without renovation costs
Earned income – £0 (technically I earned £50 for my book festival piece, but as that is more or less what it cost for materials and the large frame, I haven’t counted it. I can at least re-se the frame.)
Another fairly flat month for the freedom fund, and a pretty average month for expenses too. There were only a few electrical bits in the renovation category totalling £51.88, as Mr Wombat worked on making ‘island mode’ possible for our batteries, so we can use them as backup power for essentials in a power cut. More about that next month, but it turns out he got it done just in time for the first real-world test of the Scottish storm season.
The biggest expenses outside of the normal utility and grocery bills in September were £392.37 to renew the van insurance, £119.12 on takeaways while travelling (including one for the family), £103 for charging the car away from home at premium prices, and £54.85 for the van MOT.
All this travelling with a rather large hound, has us considering an uncharacteristic splashing of cash. Our current car has plenty of space on the back seat for the dog, but the boot is quite small. Longer trips are a bit tight for space with the dog and luggage, and it is difficult to give others a lift when we have the dog with us. We are seriously thinking about upgrading in October / November once the current car as been serviced and MOTd. It is a purchase that would improve our lives, and surely that is what money is for. Especially as we now have a dog that travels well, so we are likely to go away more.
The other large expense which it goig to start hitting us soon are architect’s fees. Excitingly, we have found someone local to work with and have set the ball rolling on knocking down the disintegrating wooden conservatory and replacing it with a modern kitchen diner. As is often the way round here, we got in contact with the guy in question, when I got talking to his mother in law while I was stewarding an art exhibition in July! He and his wife have recently re-located from Edinburgh and he has set up on his own, so was looking for his first projects to establish himself in the area. A bit of online research showed us past projects at the trendy Edinburgh outfit he used to work for, and even a few university projects and prizes. We liked what we saw and when talking to him, he said the right things about integrating the modern with traditional buildings and materials. So far so good, but lets see how it goes.
As always, here is a little flavour of our September:
