It is the most beautiful of days on the island and the sun is glinting off the sea. It is remarkably warm for this time of year and I have been out with the butterflies this morning. They must wonder what is going on to be still flying around in October. As I was up early being a taxi driver for Harry who is on a course this morning I have tried to make the most of my day. Harry is doing his training to be licenced to spray Japanese knotweed. This is a pretty big deal for him and an excellent addition to his CV. It is not easy for us to work with chemicals as we are, essentially, organic gardeners. Japanese Knotweed is in a whole different league and must be dealt with and quickly. When we lived in Derbyshire it had become the curse of every hedgerow as it prevents other, native, plants from growing. It is a fairly recent addition to Arran but now that it is here it must be dealt with. We noticed some by the burn on Hazelbank but as it is near a water course you must have a licence to spray.
I have let my day come to me as there was so many things I wanted to do but my energy levels have taken a slight knock in the last few days. Hedgerow harvesting was high on my plan for the day though as this is a bumper year for the humble blackberry. More berries in the freezer and a crumble for supper. Excellent. I have written an article on free food that I will be sharing on my new site One soul many hearts at the launch on the 11th October. While picking berries this morning I took some time to reflect on how my plan to spend as little money has possible during 2013 had worked out. At the beginning of the year I wrote about the need to spend as little money as possible and to look to other ways to live. I have definitely made progress on this during the year and I was inspired by reading the Moneyless Manifesto written by Mark Boyle. Mark spent three years living without any money and is currently establishing a smallholding in Ireland. Here he hopes to share with others how to live differently including treading lightly on the Earth and leaving behind the smallest of carbon footprints. I will do a full review of his book on my new site in the coming weeks but it is definitely a book for the 21st century.
I have managed to grow more food and cut flowers this year than in previous years and my success has largely been done to mulching the land with seaweed over winter. The growth this year has been able to capitalize on an excellent summer and we are delighted with the harvest. There are always lessons to be learned and things to change for the next year but that is part of the joy of growing. Our very first willow crop is about a month away from its first coppice which will be modest but this is more of a long term project. The red willows are the most exciting and we hope to use them in our wreath and natural Christmas decorations. In time this business will grow and next February will be planting another 200 trees.
Beyond the growing I have stuck to my plan of spending less. The ongoing clear out to charity shops has allowed us to realise just how little we need to live with. I have bought very few clothes and no luxury items at all this year and I don't feel in the least deprived. The only exception to that is a desire for an important looking camera but that is way down the list after all the important birthdays of this year are behind us.
As our central heating runs off oil, which must be gold plated given the price, we rarely put the heating on and rely on the open fire instead. We have 10 acres on the smallholding and a significant part of that is woodland so there is no real excuse not to get the fire going as required.
Probably my biggest expense has been my trip to Eigg but that could never be regretted. So much has developed as a result of that experience that it is very much viewed as an investment. My time on Eigg is firmly in my pocket and will stay there forever. It changed the way I saw my life developing and I will always be grateful.
My biggest change has been to spend more time working for charities and, in that, I appear to have found a natural home. There will always be people that will question this development, particularly as I have been the breadwinner for so long in my family. I am, however, blessed with a wonderful family that is supporting all that I do and Pete, in particular, has been fantastic. He now earns most of the money and this frees me up to concentrate on giving in a different way. We sit for hours discussing the various charity projects we are involved in and, of course, the children all have an input as well. George and Max have worked tirelessly all year helping charities and Harry and Molly are drawn in when their time allows. I have had lots of conversations this week since beginning my latest peace keeping writing role and they have almost all focused on the concept of destiny. If I look back through my adult life it is almost as if all the varied and extensive experience has led me to this point. It is now that I am able to have the biggest impact with the projects I get involved with. International charity work is incredibly demanding and, at times, gruesome to deal with. But it is also, without doubt, the most rewarding thing I have done with my life after being a mum.
So, after long discussions with my family we have decided that this will be the plan moving forward. I will continue to extend my work with charity organisations where we believe I can make a real and lasting difference. I am, effectively, being sponsored by my family to do this but I will continue to run the smallholding as well and contribute to our needs that way. It is a bold step but I think it is the right step. During 2013 I have overwhelmed with the support for my charity work from all of you. From messages of support right through to readers running their own events; it has all been of huge value and I have been humbled by it. As we move into 2014 I know that there is much more to come and much more that needs to be done. At the beginning of the year I could not have known that my writing would become a currency for my charity work but here we are working for an international peace keeping force as a writer. Who saw that coming?
I am also very keen to use One soul many hearts as a vehicle to promote charity work that others are involved in so do let me know if you have anything to share. Also, if you know of a charity that would benefit from an editorial review I would be only too pleased to help.
If you are interested in the notion of a free economy I recommend you joining 'thefreeconomy community - just click on the link and sign up. The forum is a wealth of fabulous ideas and networking opportunities. If you live on Arran we are desperate to promote the freebie Arran site as a way of passing on things we no longer need. Do hit the like button and start posting things that need new homes.
So, not bad for 2013 on the issue of spending less money and finding other ways to live but the girl can always do better. Scottish island mum will continue this pledge into 2014 and beyond and I do hope some of you will join me.
Until tomorrow. xx
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