After I completed a Permaculture Design course in 2008, I felt very inspired to give up driving a car and flying and I had a deep yearning to live in a cabin and simplify my life. I did give up flying ~ but have flown twice since then.

My first grandchild was born, and I felt despair at how we as humans were destroying the ecology of planet earth and I felt compelled to do something to contribute to a better world for future generations….

This desire to live in a small cabin also came out of my menopausal transformation …. I felt such a desire to simplify my life and downsize, de-clutter, be closer to nature, and give up a flushing loo.

I was sharing a house with a friend, when out of the blue our landlord said he needed to sell the house. This stirred up some questions for us both, should we rent another house together or go our separate ways? I realised I had a deep longing to live in a wooden cabin and my friend realised she wanted to go travelling.

I felt it was important for me to keep quite contained with my dream for cabin life …. For a while I just quietly and passionately dreamed into what it might feel like to live in a cabin. Then one day I took action ~ I wrote out 5 cards ready to put up on notice boards across the town. The cards read something like this:

‘Professional woman looking for a one-bedroom cabin or annex to live in. Affordable and ecological, within walking distance of town, halfway up a hill (I did not want to live on the top of the hill as it can be too windy and did not want to live at the bottom of the hill because it can be too shady and a bit damp). Date and contact details…..with thanks’.

The very first place I went to put up the card was the wholefood shop. Just as I put the drawing pin in my card, I looked at the notice board and there was a small scrap of paper with a message:

‘Cabin to rent within walking distance of town, Price and phone number. Suit someone ecologically minded.’

The two notes were almost identical, so of course I phoned the person and we arranged to meet later that day. The cabin was an amazing sturdy cabin with a turf roof and a large wood stove. It was nestled in the edge of a woodland, which was on the edge of a street, which was the edge of a small town. The cabin was so amazing and I loved it instantly even though it did need quite a bit of work to brighten it up. There were 2 other cabins nearby and a compost loo which we all shared.

Finding this cabin was so easy and the cabin itself was so amazing, it actually took me a little while to say Yes. Some part of me could not accept that life could be that easy!

I lived in this cabin on the edge of a wood for 4 years and have lived in various other cabins since then. I just felt a deeper level of connection with nature and felt much more in tune with the seasons. Some of what I discovered is in my little book called ‘Nanny Lives in a Woodland Cabin and doesn’t travel far in Winter’.

My dear friend Jaine Rose did the beautiful illustrations for the book which completely bring the book to life… Have a peep in the shop …

If you have any questions or anything you would like me to explore in a blog, please contact me.