Seasonal changes

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I think it’s pretty common for people to feel down once the weather changes. In fact even our pets can suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder (aptly shortened to SAD).

The NHS describes it as a lack of interest in things that would normally excite you and feeling in a low mood.

Don’t get me wrong – autumn is my favourite season! I love the temperature, the ability to wrap up cosy on dog walks and also lighting the fire in the evening. However, waking up whilst it is dark outside never seems to get any easier.

Especially as this year I have the most perfect toddler waking me up at all hours of the night (teething – yay!).

It’s also a nightmare for keeping the house clean. I struggle when it’s completely dry outside as we don’t have a porch or boot room – we only have the main door that goes straight into the dining room. Which makes everything feel nice and open but also mucky. Think muddy farm wellies, work boots, dirty paws and mucky pram wheels.

So if you’re like me – living your best farm life and working on your dream homestead but also a little bit demotivated with the grey skies and dark mornings – you’re not alone. Keep going – it all starts to change again on the 21st December!

What I appreciate now I’m older

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What do you think gets better with age?

The one thing I now appreciate more than I ever used to is a cosy home.

I like to spend time cleaning it, making it practical yet homely, rearranging decor and burning candles/wax melts.

I like the smell of the bread maker baking our latest loaf, or the clink of the glass milk bottles rather than plastic ones.

I like putting my money aside now to save for our home improvements. For example, over the next few years we will be investing in projects that help our home become self sufficient.

To briefly explain, my family and I live in a farmhouse that the previous owners extended into a horseshoe shape around a courtyard. So we have a big but awkward home. There are 8 bedrooms in total and 9 bathrooms. However, my family lives in the original farmhouse that makes up the left side of the horseshoe. We have 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. We have separated our house with a lockable door so we are at no risk of people wandering in.

The entire house is run on one oil boiler that is temperamental to say the least. We also only have one hot water tank that’s enough for 2 normal showers.

This year’s investment is to open up the chimney and replace our small, non-efficient open fire with a wood burning stove. In theory we will go from about 30% efficiency to 80% efficiency with our investment!

Also, now that I’m working from home and Bertie will be home on the days I’m not working, we need to ensure the house is warm. Something that it never seems to be!

Next year or maybe the year after, we plan to separate our house with its very own heating system. We have solar panels so think that an electric boiler could be the way forward. As we do this we will also replace our upstairs bathroom and have an electric shower put in.

So, as I age I have started to appreciate how making a house a home is time consuming and costly. But it’s also so worth it.

The importance of our dining room

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I am sat at the dining table in the dining room helping my little boy by feeding him his lunch and passing his water bottle every now and then.

The layout of our house means the dining room is the central hub of activity. With the front door leading into the coat area just to the side, this room is the entrance to our home. This is where we have home date nights, where we host friends and family, where me and Bertie sit daily for breakfast, lunch and dinner whilst Dan is out at work.

Here our dog relaxes in one of her two comfortable beds. Here there are pictures on the wall showing memories and there is a mirror above the coat hooks.

We exist around our dining room and I’m so glad we do. So often you see the dining room as a dusty space devoid of character, only used for ‘special occasions’, and often for family birthdays or holiday celebrations.

Ours is well used – not as clean as it should be (typical farmhouse!), and we have a secondhand table with 3/4 chairs remaining. Bertie’s highchair dominates the head of the table and you will often find the dog snooping for crumbs of his meals left behind. But it’s perfect for us.

I’m fully embracing slow living. It’s an adjustment that I’m working on and one of the most recent changes is to connect my calming Spotify playlist to the Bluetooth speaker that is often just set to play the radio.

Having calming music playing over mealtimes just seems to make me naturally slow down and enjoy the food. Also, to enjoy the experience of sharing a meal time with my baby boy.

I hosted a dinner party last Friday evening (slow cooker chilli followed by a rhubarb crumble) and I got to dress the dining room table up a little bit for the event! Nice glasses, a candle, tablecloth, that kind of thing.

There’s a time for relaxing with food in front of the TV but for me, the dining room is where we get to communicate and make memories.