At Home in the Country

Hello lovelies! Welcome to the new home of Under an English Sky’s blog. I’m sure if you have gone looking for me on my blogspot URL, you will find that you have been redirected here. That is because my yarn label which grew out of my homeschooling days, and which bears that name is doing very well as its own little business. I now have my own e-commerce website where I sell my yarns. So, I needed a new home for all things faith, family, home and all the things I used to write about so often. A place where I could feel that I could speak freely and authentically as I always have. A space that I knew people would come to read exactly what they had always come to expect from me without feeling like I had to moderate what I say to be all ‘professional’ for my business side of things (especially when it comes to my Christian faith and values).

I know that people who are here have travelled this homeschooling, blogging journey with me over the years and are kindred spirits. Sisters in Christ who may have homeschooled, who may have spent a season at home as a stay-at-home wife and mother, who love the domesticity of keeping home, raising children, creating with their hands and seeking a quiet life.

So, if you have found yourself here – welcome! I’m so glad so be able to meet up with you once again and I hope to get back to regular blogging and sharing with you all.

I had planned to be here long before now. I thought that once I finished the Bar Practice Course, I would have loads of time to get back to writing. But it hasn’t been the case.

I had to finish my Master’s dissertation which took longer than I had anticipated and then, to be honest, it took me a while to recover from 6 years of studying and being busy and to actually reconnect with who I am and to figure out my ‘what next’.

Part of that reassessment is that there is another big change happening in our lives – a good one that I have yearned for and hoped for a very long time…

A Move Back to the Country

So why are we moving?

Well, for the past 18 months my husband has been working in a town which is an hour and half drive away (each way) from where we live – that’s three hours every day, 5 days a week – more over the festive season because that is the nature of his job which is managing a hotel.

Then there’s the fact that both our daughters have now flown the nest, and a 4-bedroomed house is awfully big for just the two of us. If you have followed my blog and our homeschooling journey for any length of time, you will know that I am a country girl at heart. I love our current house, but it is in the suburbs, and we principally bought it so that our daughters could get to and from university easily and have easy access into Chester to see friends and go out etc

But I knew then that it was never going to be our forever home because I need to be surrounded by nature and rolling countryside. I crave a slower way of life and peace.

As the travelling started to take its toll on my husband, we knew we needed to make a change. We tried looking for jobs closer to where we currently are but after 8 months of intensive looking it became apparent that there was nothing out there that fits the bill. So, the next option was to move, and if we had to move, we were going to make it count and find exactly what we wanted out in the countryside.

Ivy Cottage

It took us about two months to find the beautiful Ivy Cottage (the most common name used to name property in the UK!). It is perfect for us.

It is on the Lancashire/Cumbria border, in a tiny little hamlet in the middle of the countryside. The village green reminds me of the village green written about in Jack Sheffields village “Teacher” books!

Ivy Cottage has a lovely garden that we can really work with, and not one, but two established apple trees (the tree in the right-hand side of the first picture of Ivy Cottage is the apple tree) which were simply ladened with apples this season. There is a wisteria that is romping away and intertwined with Ivy, which arches over the front gate.

Have you ever read The Magic Apple Tree by Susan Hill? It has nothing to do with magic. In the book, the apple tree stands in the garden of Moon Cottage, in the small village of Barley. The book is an account of a year seen from that cottage, in which the author lived with her family for 13 years.

She writes about the changing seasons, the sounds, sights and smells of the country, the weather and wildlife, the growing of vegetables and the keeping of hens, the making of preserves, and the establishing of a garden in the overgrown orchard.

There are people going about their everyday life in a small country community. Then there are the pleasures of Christmas, Easter and the Harvest Festival, the village show, the summer fete and Women’s Institute meetings. It is just the most DELIGHTFUL account of country life!

Ivy Cottage reminds me so much of Moon Cottage with its apple tree in the garden and views sweeping over the countryside (above are the views from our bedroom window, across our neighbours garden and over the surrounding fields). In fact, I think I will write my own account of living in the country through the seasons! I’ve always wanted to write a book so why not write about something that I am living and that is so dear to my heart.

It won’t be long until our move – 4 weeks at the most and there is a LOT going on for us in that time. I have two big 2-day yarn shows that I’m exhibiting at which takes a lot of time to prepare for, plus of course, all the packing.

We have started to pack already so we are currently surrounded by boxes, and I can’t tell you how many runs we have done to the recycling centre! One thing I have discovered about myself is that I am a great collector of things that we don’t need! I am quite shocked with the volume of clothes I’ve donated and kitchen crockery that I have and haven’t touched in all the time we have been in this house.

Clearing out has been rather cathartic and I as a result, I have determined that I will think very carefully about what I purchase or allow into our new home!

Looking Forward to Country Living

I have already conducted research on our local churches, and we are looking forward to visiting them. There is one in particular we are keen to try. My very dear and best friend is also moving to the area (oh my gosh, I’m so excited) and her and her husband have been attending a church in a village just 2 miles from Ivy Cottage. The paster is a long-time friend of theirs and he and his wife also happened to homeschool their now adult children!

Here are a few things I am looking forward to:

• long country walks straight from my front door
• frequent trips into the spectacular Lake District, we are a 20-minute drive from Lake Windemere (Beatrix Potter land)
• the wildlife
• watching the countryside change throughout the season – one of my favourite things to do.
• getting back into the habit of making more, growing more, being more intentional
• Nature journaling
• forming a craft group for my village and becoming part of the community – the current owners of Ivy Cottage told me that there used to be a lovely knitting group but the lady that organised it moved away, and it would be lovely to have it back (she knows I’m a yarn dyer) – enter me!
• Keeping chickens! (I think we may wait to get this project going in the summer)
• Picking my own apples and using them in baking and preserving. Ivy Cottage is situated on an old orchard so there are plenty of fruit trees around.

Well lovelies, that about wraps up this post. I’m so glad to be back here and feeling a bit more like me! I hope that you are all well and enjoying these lovely autumnal days. I’ll be back very soon for another catch up!

Blessings in Christ