Issue #7 The Miscellaneous Adventures Digest
Happy New Year! Cold water Christmas dips, holiday projects and preparing for new beginnings.
Firstly, Happy New Year! Whatever you’ve been up to over the festive season we hope you’re feeling restored, rejuvenated and ready for another revolution around our earth’s closest star.
It’s been a busy couple of weeks for us, what with wrapping up things during my final days at work and getting ready for new beginnings, combined with Christmas festivities which included travelling back down to Sussex to visit family over New Year.
Christmas itself was spent just the three of us in our new home, interspersed with a few short local hikes during the brighter spells. Boxing Day dawned cold and the hills had a covering of snow; even though it wasn’t a true white Christmas it was lovely to see a touch of winter weather. We took a Boxing Day dip in Wastwater and bathed in the majesty of the mountain scenery, invigorated and renewed by the icy water. These short dips during the colder seasons are a tonic for the spirit, awakening all the senses to create a sense of having achieved something more wonderful than the simple act of entering the water would suggest.
It was lovely to see family over New Year, but strange to be back in Sussex. It’s interesting how quickly we have come to feel at home in the Lake District and despite being so close to our old woodland home we felt no sadness or urge to visit. I guess this is a happy reassurance that we made the right decision to make the move north, although there are obviously many things we miss.
During my last week at work, Pete, the woodsman on the estate gave me one of his old billhooks as a leaving gift. Pete has been a kind and generous mentor in all things wood related during my short time on the estate team so I’m glad I have something physical to remember him by as I move on. I like tools and objects that have connections and meaning. Even more, I like tools that I’ve restored or fettled with. Although perfectly usable, the handle of the billhook had a slight crack so I decided to replace it and hand carved one to fit from a chunk of seasoned oak.
I took the billhook and handle down south with me and fitted it with some help from my Dad in his workshop. Not being able to work on projects with Dad is something I definitely miss since we moved, so this was a welcome opportunity to work on something together; with a bit of drilling, chiselling, fire and smoke we got the handle fitted perfectly.
New Year is always a time of reflection, but this year it is especially so for us as it marks one year since we drove away from the woods to embark upon on our new life up north. It can be hard to find time to reflect properly, so I think we’ll make a point of doing so by recording a new conversation for our podcast; we hope we’ll be ready to share it with you in a couple of weeks time.
So, we come to the end of the holidays and are gearing up again for new beginnings and fresh starts; I have new work opportunities lined up (more details on that soon) and we’re busy refreshing our website and thinking about who we are and how we can continue to scrape a living doing the things we love.
We hope you get some time to reflect and to look ahead to what the New Year might bring; whatever your plans we wish you much peace, happiness and time spent outside enjoying Nature’s goodness.
Andrew, Emma & Benji
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Great to hear reflections of your first Christmas in the Lakes. It’s also comforting to know how much at home you all feel living there after such a short space of time. It was such a blessing to see you all over the holiday period and as ever I wish you much joy and prosperity as you all embark on a new year and a new beginning. Also love the tool made by Andrew and his Dad. True passion and craftsmanship very evident! 👌💚