Brrr…. Winter has arrived all of a sudden! Don’t know about the rest of the country but up north it’s certainly dropped cold and we do find ourselves wondering whether living in a caravan was such a good idea!
We got through last winter quite easily, but in fairness it was quite a mild one with only a small splattering of snow – in a village that was regularly ‘snowed in’ when I was growing up it takes quite a lot of the white stuff to prevent business as usual!
My resilience was tested last weekend however… Dave was away manning a stall at Yorkshire Wildlife Park while I had the job of looking after the pooch. First task of the day was to defrost and repair the water pipe which had frozen solid (have now decided it may be a better idea to fill tank and roll pipe away rather than leaving it attached as we usually do!!) It was a bitterly cold day but our little gas heater soon gets the place warm and snug. Then in the afternoon of course the gas ran out – as you can guarantee it will do at the worst possible time – and as I wrestled with the wrench in an attempt to change the bottles over I did wonder “what on earth are we playing at?!!”
Thing is though, we have chosen to live this way – as crazy as it might seem sometimes! We have deliberately reduced our income and reviewed our priorities. There are times when life feels really tough but then we spend a few minutes watching a cheeky robin pecking at Blade’s bone a few feet from our window and are reminded how much happier we are on the whole.
Not everyone is so lucky. When we first gave up bricks and mortar we were amazed to discover just how many people in the UK are doing the same… but in most cases it’s not through choice – it’s because they can’t afford to rent. What kind of world are we living in where over a million people are on the waiting list for a council house? I work part-time in a storage facility and see so many customers who are ‘between homes’.
Some of you will have already seen that we auctioned off a Christmas tree earlier this week in aid of a local homeless support project and I came across some shocking statistics. I’m a big fan of Russel Howard and think he sums it up better than I could, so take a look at this:
https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/the_russell_howard_hour/videos/15041/1_in_every_200_people_are_homeless/
So although I might be feeling a bit fed up that I don’t have much money to spend on Christmas this year, that I can’t get my son the latest device he’s been pestering for (not that I would want to buy that anyway lol!) and I won’t be stuffing my face with mince pies and chocolates (every cloud has a silver lining!!)… I will be taking some time to appreciate what we do have and to consider how we can use that to help others less fortunate.
There’s nothing like a walk in the bitter cold to focus the mind and put things in perspective…
We’re winding down now with our last Christmas market coming up this weekend, after which we’re looking forward to spending some quality time with family and friends.
Thank you for reading and for supporting our little business so far. Here’s wishing everyone a peaceful Christmas and let’s see what 2018 has in store!
Jac.x (and Dave!)
PS – I did get the gas bottle changed and the fire going again… much to be said for a stubborn blonde!!
Positive Earth UK 