A mini-break at Rowthorne Lodge, Derbyshire

Just a week ago we headed off on a mini-break to celebrate our wedding anniversary, the end of term, retiring from teaching and the fact that it's summer and with the easing of lockdown we're now allowed to go on holiday. I was as excited as Bridget Jones and the fact that we were the property's first occupants since March felt quite special. We chose to venture just an hour away to Derbyshire to a beautiful one bedroomed lodge in the grounds of Hardwick Hall which is owned by the National trust. It was a beautiful property. Let me show you around...

The clutter free and spotless interior was perfect for unwinding and the 2,500 acre estate gave us plenty of scope for exercise and exploring. For anyone who's not visited before, Hardwick Hall is an Elizabethan country house and was first built by Bess of Hardwick (see a statue of her below), a noblewoman and ambitious builder. The hall was eminently impressive  and it was such a shame that due to Covid we couldn't go inside and get to look out at the estate from the magnificent windows for which it's famous.

However, the gardens near the house were a source of pure joy for me. Such great planting involving gorgeous and unusual plants and artistically thought out colour schemes. These are just a few of the vistas that caught my eye. Boy, have I got so many planting ideas to try in my tiny garden and in our community garden. 

I've had trouble putting this post together as it's been so long since I blogged at length but really these photos are wasted sitting on my phone. Just a few more to go, I promise. 

Can you tell, we had a truly relaxing break. It wasn't perfect as we had quite mixed weather and a power failure on our last day which was time consuming to remedy but we had lots of time to enjoy reading, walking, eating simple but delicious food and a blessing... no wi fi to distract us. Just a few more photos and I think I'll have recorded enough memories of a wonderful four night break.

I hope you enjoyed this post. Take care, my friends xo

Life Changes

So this is where I'm at. I've retired early from teaching. On Friday I left my full-time teaching post after six happy years at a wonderful primary school. I've had various roles there including three years as a full-time class teacher. And, like a lot of other teachers I haven't seen or taught my Year 3 class since March 20th. However, I've been in school every week since then and have seen about a third of my class during lockdown. I've had communication with the rest of my class via email and phone calls but this wasn't how I anticipated ending my teaching career. My decision to leave was made before coronavirus and I handed my notice in during February so I felt under no pressure to change my mind. Teaching nowadays is full-on and exhausting and was not working for me or my family.

It's been a very strange end to my teaching career but a decision I know I won't regret. A simpler life beckons...

Easter 2020

There's been no shortage of chocolate, sunshine and beautiful spring flowers this Easter break. Also, there's been no shortage of time since March 19th when schools in the UK closed and I've been at home apart from one day a week when I'm on duty at school to look after key workers children and vulnerable children. There has been home learning to organise plus other teaching tasks to complete but it's been a very light workload compared to my normal teaching duties. And so a chance to update my blog of which I'm still very fond of despite its hiatus.

Scrolling through photos on my phone there's so much I could write about and lots of lovely images I could share with you from the last year but that world seems like a hazy sepia dream from decades ago and not just last year. My archive of photos are an eerie reminder of why we need to stay safe and stay at home. I'm sure I'm not alone in wanting those carefree days back but also realise that life will never be exactly the same again and it will take time to adjust when restrictions on lockdown begin to be lifted. Also, I hope that we learn lessons from this worldwide emergency and that in the future we don't take for granted the fragility of our health or economy. We may need to reassess our priorities in life.

I do hope you're well and are finding time to enjoy some simple pleasures in this topsy-turvy world we find ourselves in this year. Whether it's a walk around the neighbourhood, a phone call or zoom meeting with family or friends, home-cooked meals, gardening or generally enjoying a slower pace of life these all have the power to lift our spirits and ease away anxiety. The future seems even more uncertain than ever so I'll leave you with this thought.

Hi there!

Hi there guys! It's been ages, I know, but I just couldn't resist the urge to revisit this space and wish you all a wonderful Christmas. So, how are you? Still reading blogs, still striving to lead a simpler, more balanced and minimalist life? Me too, although it's been challenging this year. Life has been very unpredictable with Mum's rapid health decline and my sporadic supply teaching but both situations have settled down as we reach the end of 2018. Mum has Alzheimer's and vascular dementia and since October has been living permanently in a care home which is less than a ten minute drive from here. This is a situation which I never would have imagined happening but she is happy and settled and has little memory of her family home and so is not distressed. I'm adjusting to losing my mum as she is now a shadow of her previous self and I often feel sad and frustrated that I can't make life more enjoyable and less confusing for her. Since September I have been teaching full-time at the school which I left in 2017 - I feel very fortunate to have a permanent full-time teaching job again and the stability, familiarity and structure it provides is just what I need. Yes, it's hard work and full-on but I've worked hard to improve my organisation, focus and perspective and it's been a good term.

Mum's illness has a silver lining as it's brought the family closer together and I feel very supported by my family. It's also woken me up to realising that life is for living and that self-care is something that I want to work on. For the first year ever I'm actually looking forward to the new year more than Christmas as I'm feeling keen and brave enough to make some changes. This year has been draining in so many ways and I feel that I need to stream more calm into my life and those around me. Which brings me to a thought that's been bubbling away in my brain: that blogging is one of the quietest but most powerful platforms out there. I'm so grateful to those who still blog and those that read blogs. I hope to blog when I can in 2019.

Wishing you all a restful Christmas and I hope to see you here in 2019. Thanks for the Christmas messages from friends made through this blog - you know who you are. Love to you all xo

What's New?

Hello lovely readers! I thought it's about time that I put pen to paper, bare my soul a little and get on with my blog.

You see, Just a little less has been on hold again, which is fine, but I would like to give it some new energy and explore some different areas with you. 

I doubt if I'll be writing about minimalism very often from now on because whilst it's been an amazing tool in my life – namely in giving me much needed freedom from the traps of consumerism, in helping me to downsize my house and career and in enabling me to reclaim my well being – minimalism is also, to be honest, a very restrictive subject to write about. I think I've put enough 'How to...' minimalism posts out there already and quite frankly I've got nothing new to say on the subject. 

Now I'm ready to write about the rest of my life post-minimalism: how I struggle with perfectionism; ageing joyfully; juggling different roles; learning new roles; my interest in self-improvement and self-care; how to stay motivated and organised; and discovering passions to fill my hard-won time. 

I've been dissatisfied lately with blogging, both my own, and the fact that many of my old favourites have disappeared. I've found YouTube to be more engaging, honest and uplifting and have found some fantastic inspiration on a variety of topics and from vloggers as young as sixteen. It's the intimacy, honesty and personality that draw me in but I don't want to become a vlogger. 

Instead, I wonder if this intimacy can be recreated in the written word. I hope so, because it's how I feel I best communicate and writing is the perfect creative outlet for me. 

I'm very reluctant to close this blog right now because my instinct is that it's still an important part of my life – but I've got to reflect on why it's not inspiring me and make changes to address this. 

So, today I'm testing the water. 

I'm very much looking forward to writing fresh posts and exchanging ideas on all manner of topics in the near future. I aim to keep inspired about my content whilst not having to devote too much time to it or feel that it's a chore. I'm sure that's why many blogs close.

That's a challenge. But I love a challenge!

It'd be great to have your support. 

Thanks for reading and take care xo

Hi!

Well hello! I thought I'd return where I left off with a few glorious photos of Lyme Regis. It was a much needed break - unlike my last blogging break which I wish had not been so long. I could blame many things: new working patterns; a virus infested computer; digital overload; caring for parents whilst managing offspring from afar; perfectionism; 50 plus hormone changes; and the list goes on. In truth, it's been a mix of all these things but today my little red laptop returned home and I had the urge to write a blog post (and then I had to remember how to write one). Yes, it's been that long! But I did it. How have you been? xo

Back to Blogging and Life Lately

Hello - I hope you've had a great summer. I've spent the six week school holidays relaxing and recuperating after a year of full-time teaching. There's still been a lot going on. We celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary with a night away in Warwickshire, a day at Womad festival and a short hotel break in Mousehole, Cornwall. It was a great start to the holidays.

We've also had A level results for our youngest son; he secured his first choice at Reading uni to study architecture (I may get a tiny home one day) and we celebrated with a family meal and a trip to the cinema (A Ghost Story starring Casey Affleck) before he went camping with his friends in Cornwall over the Bank Holiday weekend (best weather of August - jammy, I know).

I've gradually been catching up with friends and beginning to make plans for life after the school holidays. From September (tomorrow-eek) I'm returning to supply teaching so that I can restore the work-life balance that I had two years ago (until I agreed to cover a teacher on sick leave and then take on her job permanently). It's all been a bit topsy turvy job wise and home life has suffered. However, I've gained not only valuable teaching experience but also a greater understanding of myself and a recognition of what I need and what others need from me, and how these two things can be incompatible. 'Live to work' is my new mantra and whilst on the last day of term I was feeling very torn about leaving lovely colleagues and children, I now feel very happy with my decision. September is a quiet month for supply work so I'm not anticipating much work - in fact I'm taking Mum away next week for three nights and hubs and I are off to Crete later in the month.

So, I've been thinking about getting reacquainted with blogging now that I've got the headspace for it. There's been a little tinkering with the design of the blog - it's still work in progress but I hope you like it. And there'll be more frequent posts with some essay type posts as well as the diary type posts. Plus lots of photos, of course. And decluttering, that's always work in progress.

Womad pretty much sums up my summer. Not perfect weather but a jolly good time. I'll leave you with some photos of our day there. Look out for the unicorn wellington.

Highlights of Womad were: seeing Ska Vengers playing on the BBC stage (yes that's Cerys Matthews); Noureddine Khourchid and the Whirling Dervishes of Damascus - hypnotising; !!! (Chk Chk Chk), an American dance band - fabulous fun; and the mellifluous Nick Mulvey. All worth checking out.

Until tomorrow when I'll post some Happy Friday Links.

It's good to be back.
Claire xo