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Going wilder in 2018: 18 countryside activities

In January’s edition of Countryfile magazine, Maria Hodson shares her wish list of 50 outdoor wishes to be accomplished in the countryside.

This inspired me to write my own (shorter!) countryside list for 2018.

  1. Pick up rubbish 
  2. Love our garden 
  3. Go wild swimming in freshwater
  4. Learn to identify five new butterflies (to be honest, I’m not sure how many I can identify now – embarrassingly probably not many)
  5. Learn to identify five new birds – see above comment
  6. Learn to identify five new trees – as above!
  7. Read more nature books, specifically from the library IMG_3549
  8. Climb a fell
  9. Go camping
  10. See a live badger (I’m currently reading Badgerlands by Patrick Barkham and discovering how seeing badgers in the wild might be more difficult than I first thought involving patience, disguise and staying awake at night – which is kind of obvious really!)badger-2030975_1920
  11. Go for a walk near a viaduct (this was Small Boy’s contribution, probably inspired by a Go Jetters episode) 
  12. Walk on a beach – and pick up rubbishplastic-bottle-606881_1920
  13. Take photos of our local neighbourhood 
  14. Be a Nature Detective with the Woodland Trust
  15. Have a tour round Church Farm (this is where our meat and vegetables come from)
  16. Use the National Trust’s 50 things to do before you’re 11 ¾ activity list
  17. Read BBC Wildlife magazine (as with Countryfile magazine, I used Tesco vouchers to buy a year’s subscription)
  18. Look at the stars in a dark sky, maybe as part of the Dark Skies Festival (this is Mr Pilgrim’s contribution)

Happy New Year! x

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Today I flew a kite

I flew a kite today for the first time in over 20 years. 

I noticed it was exceptionally windy this morning when I went outside to the recycling, so when Mr Pilgrim asked what we should do today, I replied: ‘let’s go and fly our kite!’

I’d spontaneously bought it for £2.99 from Oxfam in the summer, confident Small Boy and Little Miss would want one someday. 

The morning reminded me of afternoons on French beaches with Grand-père; the kite spending more time on the ground than in the air. 

But occasionally we got it: the colourful diamond dancing and swirling and circling with its long blue tail twisting and turning through the air.

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In these moments, I almost held my breath with joy and wonder. It was the same when I went sailing earlier this year. Again, it didn’t happen often but every now and then, I’d position the boat correctly with the wind in the sails and we would pick up speed. My muscles and mind remained tense as I concentrated on the boat but inside there was deep exhilaration and joy.

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My instructor was able to look at the lake and determine where the wind was and then position the boat ready for the gusts. I don’t know much about meteorology, sailing or kite-flying but I wonder if this is what journeying with God could be like. We wait, we watch and then together we move in a divine partnership. 

We sing a song at church called ‘Jesus, Be the Centre’ which contains the line ‘Be the wind in these sails’. (It’s a beautiful song, if you have a moment, you can listen here) 

So that’s my prayer for 2018: Jesus, be the centre. Be the wind in these sails. 

Waiting, watching, sailing, soaring.

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Happy Christmas, Mr P!

Here is a little thank you to my husband, Mr Pilgrim, as a (zero-waste!) Christmas present:

This time last year I had no intention of pursuing a more sustainable lifestyle. To be honest, I thought we did quite well. We recycled, we cycled and we had fair trade wedding rings. Yet, as I read and reflected, I realised how much we could change and should change – for the sake of the world and those who live in it.

Mr Pilgrim has encouraged me every step of the way. Always building me up and offering his support. Not always agreeing with me; sometimes gently questioning and challenging. Yet often helping me stay on track when I was tempted to wander!

He has embraced our vegetable boxes and cooked some amazing meals which have been a pleasure to share with him. He tackled our parsnip glut creatively by making awesome ginger and parsnip soup as well as parsnip crisps. He has researched ethical cycling shorts, made the switch to using cloth nappies for Little Miss and wrapped up my Christmas present in an old map. He has accompanied me to charity shops, bought me fair trade chocolates as a treat and built this brilliant bug hotel with Small Boy.

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He’s even eaten kale and chard.

I returned to work on 1 September and I haven’t bought sandwiches from a shop at all during this time – saving money AND avoiding single use plastic! Every day I have had homemade sandwiches with Mr P’s homemade bread (from the pre-loved bread machine – his idea!). One lunchtime they were hand-delivered still warm to my desk.

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He’s never once laughed at me, dismissed what I’m trying to do as a ‘fad’ or been critical.

Thank you, Mr P, for being my fellow-pilgrim and for championing me, listening to me and encouraging me to be the best version of myself. I love you. Happy Christmas.

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Meat, feet and retreat

Meat

Since we’ve started living more sustainably, Family Pilgrim has made some changes to what we eat and drink. Mr P and I have become much more aware of both the provenance of our food and the impact on climate change of eating meat, particularly red meat.

I‘ve realised that animal welfare is something that matters: I know that sounds obvious but how often do we think about who made our clothes or where the components of our smart phones came from or how the animals we eat were treated?

I need to ask questions about where the food on my plate comes from.

We’ve been buying vegetables, meat and fruit from Church Farm for about six months now. I’ve recently stopped purchasing all meat products from the supermarket and bought Quorn for the first time. If it’s good enough for Mo Farah, it’s good enough for Family Pilgrim! 

I’m becoming more intentional about choosing vegetarian options when eating out. Tonight I had chestnut roast at my work Christmas dinner.

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Currently, I’m not planning to become vegetarian but I do want to continue reducing our meat-intake. 

Feet

My Charity Shop Purchase of 2017 has to be these £15 green DMs from my local HomeStart shop.

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I’d been chatting to someone about how I’d like to get some Doc Martens and how I had loved them as a teenager. And then three days later when Small Boy and I were shopping, we spotted these. I was fairly sure they wouldn’t be in my size, but they were! 

They’re definitely an ice-breaker and Small Boy and Little Miss love delighting in fighting taking turns in putting them on!

The large purple hippo (a Christmas present for Little Miss) was runner-up in my Charity Shop Purchase of 2017 Award!

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Retreat

I’ve been feeling emotionally and mentally tired recently and my mind has been racing. A conversation with a friend prompted me to have a break from my phone and computer for 24 hours. I told a few people so they’d know to contact Mr P if there was an urgent problem and then put my phone on airplane mode from sunset to sunset. I think I might make this a regular thing as it definitely helped me switch off.

I’m also aiming to leave my phone downstairs at night-time and relying on an old alarm clock to wake me up in the mornings.

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Although to be fair most mornings Small Boy is a very effective alarm clock! 

Posted on by didopilgrim

Less/More

Less/More

Less Facebook

Less internet

Less radio

Less television

Less noise

Less light

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More peace

More presence

More purpose