I really wanted to do a post today about my low-wash hair, I spent ages taking different selfies and hated all of them: my face is too round, I have lines and wrinkles, my skin isn’t smooth, blah blah blah… and then I remembered that I turn 45 in just over a week and live the life of my dreams. I reminded myself that this body can surf waves, hike & bike mountains, write poems; this person has worked hard…
I’ve been really enjoying the Reels function on Instagram recently. Here’s a couple of short clips made of snow-fun-times, soundtracked by Kate Bush’s 50 Words for Snow as I have that on loop every winter until spring. You can find more on my Instagram Reels. View this post on Instagram A post shared by OUTSIDER [Sophie McKeand] (@sophiemckeand_outsider) View this post on Instagram A post shared by OUTSIDER [Sophie McKeand] (@sophiemckeand_outsider) View this post on Instagram A post shared by…
Set mealtimes don’t really exist in the van anymore – neither do weekends to a certain degree. We’ve both been self-employed for about 12 yrs (living full time in the van for over 3yrs) and are used to the fluctuations between working like crazy and fallow time.Meals have kinda shifted so that we tend to eat a later breakfast then a second meal that’s somewhere between dinner and tea (or lunch and dinner depending upon how much further south in…
Last night’s darning project – the arm in one of my thermal vests. I called my sister and was like – oh gawds I’m here drinking tea mending my thermal vest HOW OLD AM I? ?? I’ve had this vest years, it’s a merino wool blend from trusty M&S.All I could think of last night was the old adage, A Stitch In Time Saves Nine. This is because I didn’t mend this months ago when the first tiny holes appeared…
Hiked about 7-8k in the sludge. It is a filthy day. All the melting snow leaking out across the muddy landscape.We have a specific system for getting the hounds back into the van after a muddy walk: first, hose down feet and bellies outside using a small hand-pump garden pressure wash that also doubles as our outdoor shower in warmer weather; second, a two towel system in the van to get them as dry as possible, one for feet, one…
One day I wake and my child is a grown woman with two children of her own. Just standing in the yard chatting is the simplest and yet most splendid thing in these strange times. Family is a work-in-progress, we grow a bright future from the fertile soil of our friendship. So grateful that this woman is part of my female lineage, with her tenacity, intelligence and kindness.I knitted this poncho for her a few years ago when she said…
Does everyone have what I call ‘The Pot Luck dinner’? It’s the meal you make when you’re going food shopping the next day and so this dinner is basically all the veggies you have left in a pot.The magic formula (in my opinion) is to sweat your base veg for ages – in this case red onion, celery, carrots… then add garlic with another veg – I diced a couple of purple potatoes, but sweet potatoes or squash, or even…
A poem to start the week. text reads The Gathering you are weary stripped of bark you have been shedding leaves resolve is blossom snatched by the wind sometimes it is too much to know you have been hacked & pruned fashioned into furniture oiled & shaped for utility (or fantasy) your heart is not inanimate she is the tree whose roots run rich with connection when you are felled the Earth grieves with the heat of the sun still,…
Andy’s been getting creative in the van kitchen more lately. He used to do a dish of egg fried rice with spicy tuna and peas. Then we went veggie and he had to sub the tuna, then we went vegan and he had to sub the eggs. Finally he realised it was time to just reinvent the dish. Which I’m delighted with as this is what’s it’s evolved into (photo of last night’s meal). This is his spicy, sticky, sweet…