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creating vanlife

His and Hers

January 19, 2021

Yes I went there and knitted us matching jumpers. I’m not even sorry.

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Note to self. #poetlife #poetry #weeds #weedsarefl Note to self. #poetlife #poetry #weeds #weedsareflowerstoo #weedsarebeautiful text reads: Pause. do not lecture me - on the world’s faults and I will not lecture you - on your faults only let us sit in the sun’s warmth drink mint tea & marvel at our weeds
Bonnie’s favourite game - chasing down and killi Bonnie’s favourite game - chasing down and killing sticks. Also - she is such an athletic hound, she looks ripped. #lifegoals #100outdoordays day60 #adoptdontshop #rescuehound #whippetx
I did have a good vent the other day 😬 so in th I did have a good vent the other day 😬 so in the name of balance I wanted to celebrate our first eggs since October. And oh my! They were delicious. Our grandson, Arthur, has some pet hens and a happy bi-product of this is the eggs they lay. He’s so delighted with the eggs from his hennies. That means I’m not a strict vegan, and I’m open about this because I feel it’s important that dogma doesn’t take precedent over common sense where anything’s concerned. Does this make me a hypocrite? Perhaps those who’re determined to misunderstand or misrepresent me might say so, but I’m ok with that. I eat these eggs because these hens live a happy life wandering about the farm all day. They’re penned in at night to protect them from foxes. When they get too old to lay they’ll still be here scratching around the yard. Their life isn’t dependent upon their productivity (they don’t live in false conditions that make them lay over winter) and so ethically I’m happy to eat these eggs, and let’s be honest this isn’t a chore as my gods they’re delicious! I suppose for me, it’s about agency as much as animal welfare. It matter to me not just that an animal had a good life, but that an animal was able to enjoy a long life with dignity, mutual respect and love. #intuitiveeating #alternativeliving #eggs #eggsforbreakfast #homefarmeggs #slowfood #ethicallysourced #ethicalliving #ethics #ethicalfood
Caught the last of the snow on today’s hike. Tha Caught the last of the snow on today’s hike. Thanks for the pic @andyrgarside #100outdoordays day60 #walkingthedog #adoptdontshop #snowday
One of the myths about a plant based diet is that One of the myths about a plant based diet is that it’s somehow ‘restrictive’. This is hilarious to us because we’ve never eaten such a wide and varied diet since eschewing animal products. We’ve become a lot more involved with the time & process of cooking good food rather than needing to slap a steak on a plate to make a good meal. This is one of my favourite recipes of Andy’s, he makes it a couple of times a month. The trick is in taking your time over it all. It’s easier to make a big pan that’ll last a few meals. This bolognese was made the day before yesterday & was eaten with spaghetti (Andy) & steamed broccoli (me). Then we ate something else the next day & then, hurrah! A meal all ready in the fridge for today’s tea. This dish is so versatile you can have it many different ways. Today Andy had boiled new potatoes, & I had beetroot & carrot salad with salad leaves & toasted sunflower seeds. (As an aside this is the first bag of salad I’ve bought in months because I’ve totally gone off lettuce - I much prefer steamed broccoli, crispy kale, home-made slaw, or garlicky greens these days.) Anyways I’d highly recommend making this delicious, versatile dish, adding whatever you fancy as you go along. Andy’s vegan bolognese recipe (Makes 4 generous portions) 1x finely chopped red onion 2x large diced carrots 2 handfuls chopped mushrooms (any kind you prefer) 2x minced cloves garlic 6 chopped sundried tomatoes 2x tblsp tomato purée 1tblsp dried órgano Tsp marmite 1x Passata 1x cup green lentils (washed but not cooked) Oil, salt, pepper In a large pan, on a med heat, chuck a good few glugs of olive oil with onions and carrots. Sweat these for about 5mins. Add garlic and mushrooms fry for another 5mins. Add sundried tomatoes fry for another 5mins. Then add tomato purée, oregano, marmite. Cook for another 5mins. The longer and slower you cook this sauce base for, the more flavour will be in your sauce. Season with loads of black pepper, and salt to taste and fry for a few mins. Then add passata, lentils, fill passata jar with water and add. Simmer on low heat for about 45mins until thick sauce and lentils are cooked. Add water as needed.
*I need to vent* It’s the last day of Spanish *I need to vent* It’s the last day of Spanish hunting season, which means that around 100,000 galgos hounds will be shot, abandoned, or sometimes quite brutally murdered because they’re now considered worthless. I’m trying really hard not to turn this into a rant, but fuck, I’ve seen a few things today that have pissed me off so badly. Even though I accept the social structures that cause people to behave cruelly: capitalism reduces every action, every product and every life to € $ £ and in doing so the value of our own lives become so vastly Worth Less. But hang on a minute. We’re able to look to others for guidance when it justifies being a shit - ‘someone else is also being a shit so it’s not just me, therefore I can quite comfortably continue with being a shit.’ This shows that when we want to see outside of our own bubble we absolutely can do. As an aside I saw a meme today that basically justifies going out and eating any old shit meat because they had a photo of a Mongolian hawk hunter wearing furs with the idea that ‘if he’s eating meat then I certainly can too’. MATE, you are not that indigenous man, you are the twat queuing up for THIRTY MINUTES at a shitty Macdonalds drive thru for a Big Mac. Let’s get a bit of perspective here. We’re all a work in progress. I’m trying really hard to remind myself that it’s not my place to dictate anybody’s timeline to learning, and this world is SO FUCKED that even when we’re trying our best there’s always some other way we didn’t even realise we were causing harm. I get that. I accept that we can only do so much. That if we can change the lives of the few people/beings around us by sorting our own shit out and not spewing a load of toxic emotions out into the world then perhaps that is enough. But fuck, if we could definitely REALLY try with just one simple thing AND JUST STOP KILLING EVERYTHING like we have the right to take lives because we are NOT FUCKING SUPERIOR - most of us couldn’t survive for more than 24hrs in the wild in winter (something a tiny sparrow manages every fucking day) which I think proves how unexceptional and unremarkable we really are. **Continued in comments**
Daily hike. Amazing how different just one kilomet Daily hike. Amazing how different just one kilometre uphill makes. There’s a definite line between no-snow and snow. Still freezing cold both at the bottom and the top tho. Back in the van Andy’s making his delicious green lentil bolognese. #100outdoordays day58 - I’ve had to reset it at day 58 as I got a bit mixed up so some of the previous ones aren’t numbered right. I can actually count. I think. #goneforawalk #walkingthedogs #walkingthehounds #snowydays #outdoorlife #worldismygarden
I really wanted to do a post today about my low-wa 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 to create a joy-filled life and has a beautiful family and some lovely friends to share all these things with. This face reflects all of this - so why would I want her to look any different? Anyways! Returning to the hair situation. I’ve been on a super low-wash regime for a couple of years now. Last hair wash with a shampoo bar was NYE and she’s looking pretty healthy. I do a rinse every 10days or so with warm water than has some essential oils dropped in for a bit of lovely aromatic pazazz. Things I’ve noticed on returning to old habits over Xmas - alcohol and a diet heavy in sugar makes my hair greasy. I haven’t drank since NYE and am noticing a marked improvement. Some days are greasier than others regardless of when the hair’s been washed which makes me feel that the key to great low-wash hair is a good vegan straight-edge diet. Which is where I’m at - hurrah! Still working on the sugar tho... #nowashhair #selfie #middleyears #alternativelife #buylesslivemore #lesswastelifestyle #vanlife
A few years ago a Bengali friend came to north Wal A few years ago a Bengali friend came to north Wales to visit. While over she cooked some amazing food for us. Her approach was always so simple and yet utterly delicious. One of the meals was a rice dhal, and yes it’s as simple as it sounds in that you just add a few handfuls of uncooked rice per person (with some additional water) when the red lentils are about halfway cooked. Then let it all simmer until everything’s ready. Moushumi also made an amazing tomato chutney to go with it - unfortunately mine here are shop-bought mango chutney and lime pickle. Moushumi’s original recipes are on the OUTSIDER blog under the food category (link in bio) but in the meantime this was still pretty tasty vegan food. #veganfood #dhal #plantbased #simplefood
Set mealtimes don’t really exist in the van anym 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 the UK you’re from 😂). Anyways - I like sharing our vegan dinners, so here’s two together. Sometimes I love standing in the kitchen for hours creating vegan feasts, others I literally want to eat something filling and delicious that takes no more than 20mins. Both these meals are in the latter category, which is why I wasn’t going to post them as I wasn’t sure if they were ‘chefy’ enough for Insta. Then I got a grip and remembered that this blog is just about sharing how we live in a tiny, low energy consumption home. Yesterday’s tea (swipe left) was fat vegan subs with spicy marinated tempeh and homemade apple coleslaw. Today’s meal was a giant bowl of spaghetti in a super simple sauce of garlicky fresh & sundried tomatoes with herbs. Honestly both were delicious. #plantbased #vankitchen
You haven’t seen what I’ve seen maaaan. Yeah - You haven’t seen what I’ve seen maaaan. Yeah - the face of a hound who rolled in something unimaginably shitty on her walk and so had to have a full outdoor soap-down-shower before being allowed inside. She is NOT amused. #100outdoordays day56 #whippetx #adoptdontshop #walkingthedog #vanlife #therealvanlife #goneforawalk
Such a calm day in the woods. We didn’t finish w Such a calm day in the woods. We didn’t finish walking until 4pm and it was still light! #100outdoordays day56 #goneforawalk #walkingthedogs #reflections #ilovetrees
A poem. #revolution #poem Text reads: Revoluti A poem. #revolution #poem Text reads: Revolution You were born into a world of knives This time heals no wounds Your memory is split-silk folded into darkness Thoughts are ocean waves orating from midnight to noon / noon to midnight Where the mind ribbons Flowers unfold in painful brilliance It was always this way: The altar of the new Crushes the bones of the old You are born and will die Echoing with the cycles of the sun Flowers grow then wither Your heart wakes The land calls Only through this process can we love ourselves Only through these infinite cascading revolutions Can we heal
Like I said yesterday. Filthy days. Also - who els Like I said yesterday. Filthy days. Also - who else has done every possible permutation of loops around every bit of woodland on the doorstep (swipe left). #100outdoordays day55? #goneforawalk #walkingthedog #adoptdontshop #neverleavethedogbehind
Last night’s darning project - the arm in one of 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 and instead watched while they grew into monstrous ladders that became a nightmare to mend (swipe left for progress shots). Figuring out where to begin with this was the tough bit as the ladders were so fiddly and I’ve only been darning for a few years. Anyway - I’m happy with the result, I’ll get a few more years out of this now, and I’m glad I went for a matching yarn with this mend so my wonky stitches aren’t so evident. #mendandmakedo #visiblemending #buylesslivemore #alternativelifestyle #mending #mendingmatters
All I want to do at the moment is be horizontal wh All I want to do at the moment is be horizontal while piling huge forkfuls of spaghetti into my face... well I do have some quite glorious evenings like that... but on days where I’m actually trying to listen to my body and feed her at least some of what she needs I make a pan of greens, butternut squash, mushrooms, celery and other found veg, with herbs and red lentils, topped with toasted seeds and good olive oil. I’m coming to realise how dramatically my cooking changes with each place we’re in. I’m enjoying this feeling of being intuitively connected to the seasons. Can’t remember the last time I bought an avocado. #intuitiveeating #zerofoodwaste #plantbased #campervancooking #vanlifecooking
Hiked about 7-8k in the sludge. It is a filthy day 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 for bodies; third, a very old blanket (not shown here) on the bed while drying off some more; fourth, another less-old-but-still-really-old-double-sided-quilted—blanket-from-IKEA (shown here in beige - the other side is brown and has holes I have yet to darn); fifth an accidentally-slightly-felted-wool-blanket to warm them up (see photo). Hounds were starving the second we returned to the van today so now they’re walked and fed before 4pm - I’m wondering if they’ll still sleep all evening? Answers in the comments. #100outdoordays day54 #rescuehounds #adoptdontshop #deerhoundlurcher #whippetx #snoozinghounds #vanlife #therealvanlife #letsleepingdogslie #homeiswhereyouparkit
We walk the same routes backwards or sidewards, hi We walk the same routes backwards or sidewards, hiking through snowloops or rain-washed hours. To familiarise the unfamiliar, and then to defamiliarise the mundane, is the goal. To know each place in our hearts as ‘home’ as we experience each step with the newfound delight of a child. #100outdoordays day53 #goneforawalk #walkingthedog #walkers #blueish
Wrote this a year ago. Was reminded of it today. 💙💙💙 Yesterday evening we took our boards to the Atlantic and surfed with the sunset. He said, this is the most perfect moment. Laughing in the salt spray of the cold winter ocean, I felt it. The white light of the day gave herself over to panoramic orange skies as I tumbled again and again in love with him. Image text reads: When I think of us You are the mountain And I am the water cycle You hold the ground steady I am called to metamorphose One existing without the other together, we create worlds This is the eco-system of our love #poetlife #lovepoem
Pre-hike-socially-distanced-snowman made with gran Pre-hike-socially-distanced-snowman made with grandson, plus snowball fight. Then 10k hike with hounds. Andy’s now making his quite delicious vegan chilli, I might make a vegan banana peanut butter cake for afters. A rather splendid Sunday. #100outdoordays day52 #grandson #grandsonsarethebest #snowman #itsthesimplethings #makeeverydaycount #snowfall
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