In our world turned upside down by changing climate, we began the year with a cold, wet ‘summer’, and have ended it with a warm sunny autumn. Strolling around in a t-shirt in November is definitely not normal here in Northern Ireland, but we (and our tomatoes – they are still growing) aren’t complaining.

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After all the excitement of the summer, we’ve taken the time to prepare for winter, should it eventually arrive, by drying, bottling, pickling and freezing all the produce we possibly can. This as I’ve mentioned before is definitely the hard part of smallholding – not only persuading food to continue to grow into the cold months, but to preserve some to see us through the winter and early spring.

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One of our themes for this year was ‘winterising’ the cottage – replacing the old, draughty single glazing with new double glazed units.  A big investment for us, but now all the external windows are properly fitting, double glazed units, and our doors have seals around them.  Don’t underestimate how cold draughts can make a building feel. It can be as well insulated as you like, but if you have wind blowing through it somewhere, the heat isn’t going to hang around long.

We’re now utilising spare energy from the new wind turbine to heat the place (and reduce our wood fuel consumption);and other improvements include tweaking the solar hot water, and changing our old radiators. We fixed up a covered drying area with a clear roof too, so that washing can be hung out in any weather.  The focus has been  very much on looking forward and finding ways to make life easier.

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It is heartening to continue to receive lots of messages from people who are interested in doing this for themselves, and to make links with others who are already on the same path. We love having visitors, but it has been great to go on an expedition to help a pioneer of the off grid life, away in Donegal.

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The owner arrived in the early 1970’s, and the cottage is hidden away in the fields, the only real clue to its location being a little wind turbine sticking up. There is no running water – just a well in the field, no electric light or appliances, and just a couple of sockets powered by a couple of solar panels and the currently defunct wind turbine. Certainly by comparison, our off grid life is relatively modernised, and there are some elements that I wouldn’t choose, but I love the simplicity of the setting, and have deep admiration for anyone living there into their seventies.

Our mission was to go and get the power working after it having been down for two years. Two visits and a set of batteries later, and things are looking better, but we will be returning to fit a new controller to the turbine, after which the place should have an abundance of energy.