Our Philosophy

It is not something that formed overnight, it evolved over years and continues to do so. It is in constant change as life changes and gives us new challenges and experiences.
We used to be asked often about our lifestyle choices. But that has greatly changed over the last few years as the economy worsens. What was once alternative is now moving mainstream. People congratulate us now and delight in an invitation of dinner and homebrew.

My hubby was in his late twenties when he was diagnosed with cancer. We had two children then ages 2years and a six month old. This experience changed everything for us. It made us question everything and every choice we had made. That was a very good thing. While we did the whole smallholding thing previous; I was from a farming family, hubby and I kept hens, veg garden, horses, milking goats and pigs prior and during his treatments, we were living a stressful life called the career race. We were busy people, kids, careers, big house and big cars, just as society produces.
We had purchased a few years earlier a cottage that was next door to my father's farm. It had not been lived in for a long time and the floor boards and roofing had rotten through. We had intended for it to be a holiday home but we then decided to renovate it with the intention of it being our family home. A brave decision. moving from 2000+ sq ft  to 900sq ft cottage. We were able to renovate it using savings and although we had a small mortgage for the site purchase, we kept our debts levels very low.

While our cottage is now finished, there are still plenty of jobs to be done outside. And they will be done as time and money allow.
Some people felt that we moved down in the world and indeed we did by societies standards. But using our values as a measure, our standard of living has sky rocketed.

We have so much freedom and choice now. We no longer need two incomes to live comfortably.  At the moment hubby is working full time and prior to baby girls arrival, we both worked part time. This is such a wonderful freedom and means work is enjoyable as it is choice and not a chore.

We can eat very well while spending very little. It is not our goal to be self sufficient or eat only what we produce at home but rather the freedom to eat better than what we could otherwise have afforded for the quality.

The health of our family has increased, no stress, very strong emotional bonds, great food and plenty of outdoor activities.
We have plenty of leisure time, to pursue hobbies, read books and cook good food. We have invested in what really matters to us and that is family!
Our house is our home, we are homemakers.