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Home Made Orange Mead (Melomel)

Home Made Orange Mead (Melomel)

At its most basic, mead is simply fermented honey-water. However, a lot of fun can be had by adding extra flavourings! And if you’re not trying to ‘do it like a Viking’ then the addition of yeast will make the results more consistent. Orange mead has fast become one of our favourites. If you’re a complete beginner we would suggest familiarizing yourself with the basics over at Wine/Cider/Mead…

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Wine/Cider/Mead Making: Basic Equipment and Terms

Wine/Cider/Mead Making: Basic Equipment and Terms

If you’re going to follow any of our wine, cider, or mead recipes then it will be helpful to have some basic equipment. Today we’re going to list the usual basic equipment (including alternatives to the standards) and processes so that you can be familiar with the terminology in recipes and decide what is necessary for you. Let’s dive right in: Equipment Fermentation Vessels This is a…

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Transformative Roots

Transformative Roots is a ‘space for connecting and conscious growth’. Their description “Transformative roots is not a business. You are our guests and we only wish to have your presence.” well matched the feeling I experienced. This is just the kind of setup we’d like to achieve one day – a home, with vegetable gardens, woodland areas, and grass clearings; a space where like-minded individuals…

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Elderflower Cordial

Elderflower is one of our favorite forages. Perfectly timed for a refreshing cordial just when the days are hot enough to want it. It’s super easy to make, and even the time consuming job of removing the flowers is soon forgotten with your first sip. Or even better, get the kids to do that part, they can enjoy the fruits of their labor very quickly so it makes a good project to keep them occupied…

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Foraging Elder (flower and berry)

Foraging Elder (flower and berry)

Elder (Sambucus nigra) was once regarded as one of the most magically powerful of trees, it is a forager’s favorite and its flowers are the scent of summer. We’re lucky to have an abundance of Elder trees growing around us, and making cordial and wine are fast becoming a yearly tradition. Foraging Guidelines When foraging please remember to be safe and respectful. Here are a few pointers: Be…

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Wild Garlic for the Win!

Wild Garlic for the Win!

We’ve been searching for the last month or so for a good spot for foraging wild garlic, and today (following a tip-off, thank you Alan) we finally found one! We spent a few hours wandering around this beautiful place, picking a few leaves here, a few leaves there.. and ended up with enough to make all the things we wanted to! You can check out the following posts for recipes: Wild Garlic…

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Pickled Wild Garlic Buds

Pickled Wild Garlic Buds

These tasty little bursts of garlicky goodness are super easy to make. Pickled Wild Garlic Buds Ingredients Wild Garlic Buds300ml Apple cider vinegar100ml water3 tbsp sugar1/2 tsp mustard seeds1/2 tsp black peppercorns1/2 tsp pink peppercorns Directions Wash buds and fill jars, the amount of pickle made here will fill about 3 small jarsBring vinegar, sugar & spices to a quick boil, just till…

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Wild Garlic Kimchi

If you liked our kimchi recipe, you’ll love this wild garlic version! Ingredients (makes 1l jar) 1kg Wild Garlic Leaves2 Carrots1 small Daikon (or about the same grated amount as the carrot)1 tsp Grated Ginger1-3 tbsp Gochujang Chilli Paste20g (equivalent to 2%) salt Directions Wash, spin, and chop the wild garlic, placing in a bowl and sprinkling with salt every layer or soLeave to stand for…

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Wild Garlic Pesto

Wild garlic is one of our favourite wild foods, we make all kinds of this with it (check out our posts on wild garlic kimchi & pickled wild garlic buds too). Here is the recipe we use for this garlicky, tangy, and super versatile wild garlic pesto. We hope you enjoy it as much as us! Vegan Wild Garlic Pesto (makes 1 small jar) Ingredients 150g Wild Garlic Leaves1/2 cup (65g) Pumpkin Kernels…

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Another week, another road trip… this time to the New Forest to spend some time connecting with trees, horses, deer, and ourselves! This trip was a really good balance of connecting and disconnecting; we had the opportunity to be still, to wander, to wonder, to learn, to let go, to find comfort in nature. Time spent amongst trees is never wasted!

All the Wild Horses... Another week, another road trip... this time to the New Forest to spend some time connecting with trees, horses, deer, and ourselves!

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After being invited to do a little road trip to Yorkshire, we finally decided to get some back seats in the van, it would mean that the others involved wouldn’t have to hire a car and make it easier to travel with more people in the future too. I wanted a bench-type seat that could be used as a bed too and we snapped up an old ambulance bench for next to nothing.

It was located on the east coast and we drove out to pick it up (making the most of the trip by stopping over and visiting Horsey Gap and Somerton Church ruins). It turned out the guy we got it from was into off-grid ventures and van living too, which gave both us and him an extra smile, knowing we would continue the seats legacy of freedom. And as a bonus, he gave us a little sink too.

The trip was just a few days away and we did the refit in under 24 hours. The seats ended up having bracket placement meant for over the opposite wheel arch, so we have temporarily raised it over the arch (we’ll lower it as soon as we get hold of an angle grinder to take that bracket off, which will create the extra width needed for sleeping on it). The old bed was cut down and moved to the other side, and we changed the access to the storage under it from a lift up top to an open side, under here we fit two crates with gear that can be pulled out and placed at the end to create another bed. The space between the seats can sleep another person on the floor, so we can now sleep all 3 of us full length instead of one of us being sideways across the van which was a little short for comfort. The kitchen area was moved to behind the front seats, with an extra long hose to the cooker meaning we can take it outside to cook too. We haven’t taken many pics yet but here’s the result.

Quick Refit After being invited to do a little road trip to Yorkshire, we finally decided to get some back seats in the van, it would mean that the others involved wouldn't have to hire a car and make it easier to travel with more people in the future too.

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New year is a time we usually spend together, whatever the weather, whatever the location, whatever the situation. This year we did something a bit different, choosing to prioritize the individual’s needs rather than the group, we each went where we felt we should be – a new endeavour for a new year, in hopes of finding new (hopefully improved) ways to work together.

So this is really a solo post of what I chose to do. It feels strange writing ‘I’ in a place that has represented ‘we’ for so long, but I feel like it is representative of a healthy and important step for us. We have been prioritizing the collective goal for so long that we lost focus on the individuals’ needs – always pushing towards the goal, restricting our own desires to achieve it. We have each suffered effects of these restrictions and allowing each other to ‘do our own thing’ (on a night that for us represents setting the tone for the year) is both a respect we owe each other and a test of our trust in each other – two things we will need to live out the goal we’ve worked so hard toward.

So… what I chose to do was go to Edinburgh for Hogmanay. The first night (30th) I went to see the torchlight procession. It’s quite a sight to see so many people heading in the same direction with a common goal in mind, to make a picture of two people shaking hands (the international sign of friendship).

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The Harbingers. Great samba band!

Hours later there were still people pouring in!

New year’s eve I spent with friends. First we took an underground tour; looking back in history before looking forward to a new year seemed appropriate somehow.

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Then we met with more friends for fireworks, it was a beautiful celebration surrounded by love and joy. Thank you to all who shared it with me!

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On the 1st we all went to the Fire and Light festival where my friends were performing (Mugen Taiko Drummers. Check them out, they are amazing!). I spent the day working on costumes and random crew tasks, and the night watching them perform and wandering around the rest of the festival. A beautiful end to Hogmanay and my trip.

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  Hogmany New year is a time we usually spend together, whatever the weather, whatever the location, whatever the situation.

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The Whangie is a bizarre rock-feature in the Kilpatrick Hills with views towards Loch Lomond, the Highlands and the Campsies. The weather can simply transform this place. On the way there it was grey and wet, but on the way back the sun came out – just look at the difference! Do be careful of horseflies here, they are little biters that will follow you for more.

To visit, park in Queens View car park (55°59’50.2″N 4°23’21.7″W) on the A809, and walk the trail. Bus service 8 also runs north from Milngavie past the car park.

Scotland, West Dunbartonshire: Old Kilpatrick Hills, The Whangie The Whangie is a bizarre rock-feature in the Kilpatrick Hills with views towards Loch Lomond, the Highlands and the Campsies. 

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Staffin’s harbour – known locally as “The Slip” – is regarded with great affection by the community’s residents. The Slipway, built more than a century ago, has effectively been a lifeline for generations of local people with essential supplies being delivered by boat. It is still a source of fish and other seafood, and a key recreational asset for the community and visitors whether for fishing, camping, walking or bird watching.

During our stop here we saw some cormorants, and of course cows… but the surprise was how the gorgeous seaweed colours at low tide really transform this place.

To get here, come off the A855 onto Staffin road, then take the coastal road on the right. Be patient with the cows on the road down, they can be a little stubborn about letting you pass. You can park by An Corran beach (57°38’11.6″N 6°12’16.9″W) or continue to the harbour car park (57°37’59.3″N 6°11’53.4″W) by the slipway.

  Scotland, Isle of Skye: Staffin Harbour Slipway Staffin’s harbour – known locally as “The Slip” – is regarded with great affection by the community’s residents.

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More Wanderlust!

We’re excited to tell you about a new site section in the works. Over the last year, we’ve been slowly reducing our digital workload by shutting down a lot of side projects. As part of this drive, one project will be finding a new home here with us. Pixie is shutting down her travel blog and transferring the content over to this site. So get ready to see lots of pretty places, along with maps and…

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Summer holidays are the perfect opportunity to do a road trip a little farther afield, so this year we took a drive up to Scotland. 1562 miles. no campsites. Just me, my kiddo, my van, and lots of beautiful places. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves:

    Scotland, here we come... Summer holidays are the perfect opportunity to do a road trip a little farther afield, so this year we took a drive up to Scotland.

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That time finally arrived, the first MOT for Neo!

We went for a pre-MOT check with Mass Motors, as they were so helpful with a previous issue, and they gave us a list of things to resolve before taking Neo for the MOT – all relatively minor and usual MOT stuff. However, replacing one of the parts requires the removal of a lot of surrounding parts to access it which would have landed us a hefty labour charge. Luckily, we have a service exchange in place with a friend who is a mechanic (she fixes his dreadlocks, he fixes her van), so we decided to spend the long Easter weekend visiting him, fixing up the bits that needed doing, and learning with him how to do many of the repairs.

Most of the repairs were fairly straight forward: tie rods, anti-roll bar bushes, a couple of brake lines (pipes and hoses) and pads.. the one job that wasn’t so straightforward was the top wishbone ball joints! In the end, due to the lack of a portable press, we had to lower the engine sub-frame to remove the top wishbones so that we could change the ball joints. It was definitely more than we first anticipated, but having done so, we took advantage of the access and replaced a few extra bits while it was out, hopefully avoiding a repeat scenario any time soon!

And the result? Neo has now passed the MOT, hooray!

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We ended up staying longer than expected, but when your friend provides somewhere so pretty to camp out, who could complain? 😉

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MOT Time = Learning Time That time finally arrived, the first MOT for Neo! We went for a pre-MOT check with…