Stepping Off

We have just had a couple of days away camping and climbed Flinter Gill above the village of Dent in the Yorkshire Dales.

The view from Flinter Gill with toposcope

At the top is a Toposcope(!) pointing to the various peaks and fells that may be seen but also bearing a poem – “Smiling Along” by Kathleen Partridge.  The poem says so much that we believe in at Stepping Off, about getting away from the frenetic 21st century pace of life… and I thought I would be able to find it on the internet, but no! So I only have the middle verse which I can read from a photo…

“A good wholesome breeze sweeps the frown from my forehead,
Here is simplicity, fragrant and free;
It is enough to be living this minute,
To feel and to hear, to think and to see”

Kathleen Partridge Poem Smiling Along

If anyone knows the poem, please let me know, or I will have to climb Flinter Gill again!

Thanks to Julia Hall who found a picture of the whole toposcope on the web… here is the poem in full:

“Roaming the byways outside the great city
The sky seems to large for my little concerns
Worries are lost in the green of the landscape
A sense of wellbeing and wonder returns

“A good wholesome breeze sweeps the frown from my forehead,
Here is simplicity, fragrant and free;
It is enough to be living this minute,
To feel and to hear, to think and to see

“My values of living take on a fresh aspect,
With every green leaf that I notice unfurled,
Roaming the byways is good as a tonic,
I come home renewed to the work a day world”

I love the summer.  Well if you can call this summer!  Though June was lovely even up here on the top of the fells in Cumbria!

Why do I love it – it is because you see all your work come to fruition. 

Today I have been picking blackcurrants and redcurrants. The bushes are heavy with berries this year.  I wanted to do something different with the fruit – I still have jam from last year.  So this year I have decided to make blackcurrant liqueur – Cassis.  It is lovely in the bottom of a glass topped up with sparkling white wine, Cava, Prosecco or if you are celebrating champagne!

It is so easy to make -

Crush the currents and fill a jar 3/4 full.  Add 150gms of sugar for each pint of liquid that the jar holds.  Fill the jar (leave a gap at the top as the liquid expands) with gin.  Let it stand until all the sugar is dissolved (I will  keep mine until Christmas). Strain the liquid through muslin and pour the juice into a bottle. Simple!

It makes for good Xmas presents or just enjoy it yourself as a treat.  It is really yummy and we convince ourselves that it goes towards one of our five a day!

How wonderful to have the time to do these things – just think I would have been sitting in commuter traffic  or still at the office at this time (20.30) if I was still living my old life!

Just before the Vitality Show we got back from the most wonderful trip to Sri Lanka, land of Jo’s (and her Mother’s) birth!  She’d not been back since she was eight, I have no idea why – it is an amazing country.

Curiously we have been slightly unsettled… we upped sticks leaving jobs and home in the south ten years ago… are we ready for a move abroad..?  I think we need a Stepping Off course to check on our priorities, values, aspirations and limiting beliefs and then to plan the next steps!

Like most visitors to Sri Lanka we had a chauffeur/guide for the first part of the holiday.  His name was Jally – Hafiz Jaleel, and he absolutely made our holiday!  I promised I would link to his website so I hope you will forgive a little plug for him  He used to work for Kuoni, but  “Stepped Off” and went solo last year.  He has a good fan base on Tripadvisor – but links aren’t allowed.  He helped with all Jo’s strange requests tracing her roots – searching out  old family home and church and her Father’s office at the old brewery.  Her Father and Grandfather ran the Ceylon Brewery between them from the 1920’s to the the 1960’s and it was her Father who started brewing Lion Lager (and Lion stout)  which is still going strong today.  We raised many a glass to her old man as we negotiated the hills, beaches, kitchens and other wonders of  Sri Lanka.  Who would have thought that an island the size of Ireland would have seven – yes, SEVEN World Heritage Sites?

If you are thinking of a trip to Sri Lanka – and why wouldn’t you? – we would be delighted to talk to anyone considering asking Jally to accompany them.  We cannot recommend him too highly; but being one of the best he can get booked up months in advance – just make sure he is available before you book your flights!

May be we will see you there, running a cinnamon farm or a guest house… or downshifting courses…

Return to Stepping Off website.

Remember how hard we worked at Easter ploughing a furrow and preparing the ground for our raspberry plants?

Wild raspberries growing nearby

Well having nurtured them all summer – watering and feeding them and trying to protect them from the Shap weather (!) they are finally bearing fruit.  Not many as yet – as this is the first year.  Also they were  present from our lovely neighbour Alexand she bought us three varieties – which all bear fruit at different times of the season.  Some early and some later in the year.

Molly and I with our first raspberry!

Also with the raspberries we transplanted two gooseberry bushes and two blackcurrant bushes and a redcurrant bush.  These are growing well but no fruit yet.

Raspberries with leeks planted in between!

In addition we were also given a few leeks to bring on so I popped them in the ground – in between the raspberries and right at the end where I had about a square metre I planted some seed potatoes and a parsnip!!!   I am new to this and just thought I would have a little fun and see what happens.

Potatoes and parsnip doing very well – very exciting!

Here we are on the TV again – this time on ITV’s ‘This Morning’ with Phil and Fern!

We are a little bit anxious – but I hope it will make good viewing and show how our lives have changed so much for the better.  With a little bit of courage and a bit of ‘throwing caution to the wind’ we have created a really interesting and fulfilling life full of variety and based on quality of life rather than working 75 hours a week to earn lots of money.

Do I sound smug?  Well OK, I might do – but I make no apology for it – I think we have a great life and I am proud of it – and it is out there for anyone to do when the time is right for them.

All helped of course as we are experiencing the most glorious weather.  Blue skies, warm sun and no wind (rare for those of us living on top of the fells in Cumbria) and of course the most amazing views.

 The view we wake up to every morning!

Another great day out of the rat race.  This time I was out in the garden with a couple of helpers – Alexandra and Dale – to help.  I had been given a load of raspberry canes by our lovely neighbour – Alex – for my birthday in the autumn and have been nurturing them until the ground was ready for planting.

We had cheated a little by asking our friend Alan if he would pop a plough on the back of one of his old tractors and plough me a couple of furrows for the veg and fruit.  This he did but the ground then needed to be dug over, all the weeds and roots removed and fed with compost.

And so the work began…

Back breaking work - but a beautiful sunny day.

The great thing about downshifting is that if you get it right it does give you more time – the holy grail of course – but if you work at it – with a little discipline you can get the work life balance right.  Of course this is work of sorts – we grow the raspberries to make jam for breakfast  for our B&B guests.  We also give  jars away as gifts and George is thinking about making rhubarb and raspberry jam this year! (notice the absence of George in any of our photos!)

Still at it!

Interesting that this is of course work but in the old days this sort of thing had to be done at the weekend when all you wanted to do was recover from a hard week in the office.  Now we  have got off the treadmill – it is just a part of the day – and a joy.  Hard work – yes certainly – but 3 hours later the planting began and it all seemed worth while!

Nougat is there to help

I am not sure that I have planted then sufficiently apart – but they all seem to be trying hard to sprout!

Molly - playing foreman!

We will keep you posted with the progress and of course the jam and wine making.

I love this life in the slow lane!