January was a month of huge contrast, as we spent the first 2 weeks at home in Scotland after returning from Christmas and New Year down south, but then the last 2 weeks were spent on our most adventurous house sit to date – in San Diego! We enjoyed the winter sunshine in Majorca last …
As 2025 rolled in, I started crunching the numbers on our second year of ‘retirement’ and reflected on the investment journey that got me here. September 2024 marked 10 years since I made my first investment, so it seems appropriate to consider what is possible in a decade as well as just what we’ve achieved …
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 …
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. …
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 …
Despite being ill for a couple of weeks, I managed to squeeze quite a lot into September. The theme was definitely swimming, as I figured that I could still complete my sport relief 10k challenge in the month if I put my mind to it, even though I was out of the water for 12 …
This may be a briefer than usual update, as September has brought with it a dose of shingles. It is not an experience I would recommend and has rather reduced my stamina for typing, as well as everything else…….. I am hoping that the anti-virals I have been prescribed will reduce my likeness to Worf …
We started the month with a week in the Isle of Man to look after 2 miniature schnauzers called Stanlee (grey) and Gracie (black). Their owners were new to house sitting, but were very welcoming and very organised. We were greeted with glasses of champagne and they cooked us an amazing meal the night we …
Longer days have been lifting our spirits for some time, and June brought the longest day. Up here in Scotland that meant sunset at 10pm. I celebrated the occasion in slightly hippy fashion with an organised sunset solstice swim, but more about that later. It is very easy to lose track of time with long, …
There is no question about the highlight of last month. We were so lucky to be in one of the UKs best dark skies areas to witness the most impressive Aurora Borealis show in 20 years. I still can’t quite believe we got to see this from our garden! Whilst it was much brighter through …
Finding Enough 