The Good Life, or The Simple Life?

Lots of thinking and re-jigging of ideas is going on here on the farm at the moment. Life is what you make it and we are making it simpler. We are taking the elements we love, keeping them and streamlining everything else, be it ways of thinking or possessions.

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What caused this shift is our perspective? One contributing factor for me was some friends losing everything they owned. While we were away on our little birthday holiday in April their beautiful thatched cottage burnt to the ground, taking with it everything they had worked for years to acquire and held dear. Because they had the good sense to have smoke detectors everywhere in the house, the family and all their pets were safe, their belongings were not. They are now having to re-locate miles from the village while the insurance company oversees the complete re-building of their much loved home.

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But now, just two months later, they have smiles back on their faces, they discovered during this terrible process that have SO many friends in the village. People they barely knew came forward with offers of help, both physical and material.

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Something like that makes you take stock. Well it did me!

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And we have.......

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As I looked around our home I tried to think what would I be most upset to lose, and when it came down to it there wasn't very much. Our photos and important documents have all been moved to metal filing cabinets (just in case), and our insurance documents were checked for adequate cover for our essentials.

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We all go through life acquiring things and looking after them, some things we bestow lots of love on, dusting, polishing, and giving so much care and attention to. Now, I'm not saying it's wrong to love your stuff, just that I have decided I would rather love the folk I'm with and cherish my animals for the love they give me in return.

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So we are in the process of returning to a more simple life.

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We will have the time for nuturing what is right and what is good. We are therefore, paring back on EVERYTHING. You will see at the top of my sidebar on the right, items popping up that I have loved for a while but that I am now hoping will find new homes, homes where they will be appreciated for the lovely things that they are.

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All the other unnecessary bits and pieces are being sold at the Car Boot sales that we are doing over the Summer this year. Some of my books I have listed for sale on Amazon. The things that don't sell by the end of Summer will be donated to the charity shop I used to work at.

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The things we are concentrating on are:

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1. Loving each other

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2. Loving and caring for our animals

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3. Growing our own food.

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4. Taking care of our new streamlined home.

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5. Planning our future.

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6. Spending quality, enjoyable time doing all the above.

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So.......The Good Life or The Simple Life? By this time next year we hope to be living both!!

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Sue xx