Tales of Owlshire (Prelude)

[Ann of Owlshire]

I’m formerly Ann of Vries, often Adventurer and sometimes Ranger. In summary: a 41 year old American emigrated to the UK. Mum of Enting, a 2.5 year old agent of chaos. Kitchen witch, gamer (mostly LARP and TT RPGs), knitter/spinner, writer.

 

On November 17th, my family (finally!) completed an Epic Master Quest—to move from central London to our woodland dream property. Now we’re settling into our new home—dubbed Owlshire—in a beautiful part of the Wye/Dean. 

 

 

 

The Challenge

My goals for the challenge is transitioning from the moving/unpacking phase to settling in to my new environment and the lifestyle changes that come from it.

 

I suppose there’s a milestone in mentioning this is my 1000th post! Seems fitting given change of chapters.

 

WARNING: There will be picspam of Owlshire, surrounding areas, and Enting.

 

Find a daily rhythm for my family 
We’re in a new home in a new place in a new lifestyle—while still under pandemic Lockdown restrictions. This is not your normal relocation situation, and we need to make the best of it and find our rhythm to live our best lives under our circumstances.

 

Continue local explorations
I’ve begun to investigate local footpaths, and I want to continue this. I want to find a footpath route to the farm shop in a neighbouring village and similar route to the shop in our village. As an added difficulty, these routes also need to be toddler-friendly—either with him walking or my being able to carry him. We live on a steep hillside amongst many hills it can get treacherous to manage in places, especially with a toddler along. Some routes are overgrown and unused and—as I’ve been learning—some local routes in use aren’t on the OS maps at all!

 

 

Build my PAI score
I’ve been doing mileage/step goals for a while, but after discovering and discussing PAI with @oromendur, I want to give it a try. (I will still track mileage for my journey to Mordor, it’s just not a specific challenge goal.)

 

My goal for this challenge to build up to a 50 point average. 

 

I want to do this primarily by daily activities: the continuing process of salvaging the grown over garden so we can plant in it next year, leaf removal (so many leaves....), errands/local exploration, housework, etc. 

 

A returning focus to creative activities
2020 has been preoccupied with trying to make this move happen and a living amid a pandemic. Now we’ve moved and are nearing the end of unpacking, I’d like to use some of that “moving” energy to invest in my neglected practices, such as (but not limited to):

• Needlework (knitting, spinning and embroidery) - Pick a project, cast on, get on with it.
• Writing 
  • Interactive fiction - 5 min day/ 3x week                     
  • “Tales of Owlshire” stories 3x a week posted on my thread. (Inspired by @KB Girl‘s storytime.)
• Homecooking: I love making homecooked meals, baking my own bread, etc. but things moved in a more “convenience” direction given the chaos of the last few weeks. 
  • Make at least 1 loaf of bread a week
  • 3x homecooked meals a week (does not include leftovers)

 

So, here is a prelude to what I hope will kickstart a set of challenges in the new year....

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Following for picspam and in turn I will offer support.

[KB Girl]

Sounds like a great way to get settled in and set yourself up for the new year  

I am looking forward to story time!

[fearless 2.0]

Oh this looks like a wonderful place to live in! Im here for it! ❤️

[Elastigirl]

Saw the title and thought who is ANn of Owlshire, then I remembered that you had  planned to move.😀 I love all the pic's! It is such a lovely place. Nerd fitness we do a lot of talking about fitness, but it's fun to see how people achieve other life goals too.

[Rurik Harrgath]

You're living the RPG dream!  - your very own slice of heaven straight out of Tolkien's writing.   

[Ann of Owlshire]

8 minutes ago, Rurik Harrgath said:

You're living the RPG dream!  - your very own slice of heaven straight out of Tolkien's writing.   

 

As came up elsewhere, Tolkien was very inspired by the West Midlands, particularly for the Shire. Technically, I live Southwest England, but the county border that generally defines separation of the two regions is about 10 minutes walk from my house so I figure—

 

Close enough to count.

 

36 minutes ago, Elastigirl said:

Saw the title and thought who is ANn of Owlshire, then I remembered that you had  planned to move.😀 I love all the pic's! It is such a lovely place. Nerd fitness we do a lot of talking about fitness, but it's fun to see how people achieve other life goals too.

 

I figure it’s part of the whole Level Up Your Life thing  

 

50 minutes ago, fearless 2.0 said:

Oh this looks like a wonderful place to live in! Im here for it! ❤️

 

 

It’s been quite lovely, even though we’ve moved in maybe not the best of seasonal periods for it! It was very pretty late autumn when we got here, then went to mist and fog for a few days, and is now just damp and dark XD

 

 

52 minutes ago, KB Girl said:

Sounds like a great way to get settled in and set yourself up for the new year  

I am looking forward to story time!

I’ll try to make story time good!

 

2 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

Following for picspam and in turn I will offer support.

 

I accept this trade XD

[Harriet]

Oh wow, I am so envious of your new surroundings. Also Owlshire and Enting sound impossibly quaint and I feel relaxed just saying them in my mind. Owlshire. Owwwwlshire.

Good luck with the challenge! I wish to read story time and hear about fibre arts. Also, what is a kitchen witch?

[shaar]

Your new home looks absolutely magical!! Congrats on the move and here to cheer you on! ❤️ 

[Ann of Owlshire]

Story Time #1

The Cracks in the Beautiful Painting

 

This thread is likely to involve a lot of idyllic, bucolic wholesomeness, so I thought for my first story time I’d air out the messes behind the scenes:

 

Once we got here I noticed a troubling pattern. I tended to start coughing—quite badly—primarily in the mornings and at bedtime.  And given the pandemic situation, that was concerning. Except, as soon as I went outside I cleared up again and was fine until I went back inside. Then, a few days in, I realized a large contributor—the en suite bathroom I was using had enormous amounts of mold/mildew behind the leaking (!) toilet. That’s bad enough in itself, but I’m allergic to mold.

 

Related to plumbing, I started using another shower in the house after that until we could get a plumber in to look at it and remove the mold. The shower water was always cold. Mr did not have this problem and kept saying I was messing with the dials. Until he ended up with the cold shower. (Hot water was available everywhere else in the house.) When the plumber did come, he said the fixture is whacked and we should just replace it. You know, when we have money again.

 

Another factor in the coughing, I think, is the carpeting in the house. I’m just not a fan of carpeting in the best of times, but because of the chaos of moving in (short version—the seller of our sellers wouldn’t give them access to their new house which caused legal shenanigans and a back-up in them getting moved out of our new house), the house hadn’t really been cleaned before we took it, and because of the boxes and chaos that followed, it wasn’t until yesterday—nearly two weeks after moving in—that I could hoover the carpets.

 

Holy sh—- you guys.  My Dyson has never filled that fast. In. One. Room.

 

Also: I am allergic to dust.

 

Still, once we can afford it we’ll get a new shower fixture for the faulty one and we still have another shower and other toilets to use and I can just keep hoovering as boxes disappear... and maybe this ridiculous coughing will stop.

 

In the meantime, I enjoy the outdoors.

 

Anyway, I wanted to get that bit of moan out to show that it’s not all perfect here. (And that’s just the problems we’ve found so far!)

 

But while it’s not perfect, it’s also pretty amazing, and that’s what I really want to show you.

 

 

[Ann of Owlshire]

40 minutes ago, Harriet said:

Good luck with the challenge! I wish to read story time and hear about fibre arts. Also, what is a kitchen witch?

 

In neo-paganism, a kitchen witch is an informal term for a witch who emphasizes cooking, food, and meal times in their magical practice.

 

[Maigs]

Oh, I feel you on the house woes. We just bought a "new" house out in the country. And while it's adorable, it's 100 years old so we keep finding things. I have a long list of projects which include fixing water pressure and replacing the water heater than can barely last long enough for me to wash my hair. Sometimes I wonder what the hell we got ourselves into, but in the end it will be worth it. 

 

You're pictures are gorgeous by the way. I'm jealous of all the trees and trails. "Country" is my area is gravel roads and cornfields  

[Ann of Owlshire]

2 minutes ago, Maigs said:

Oh, I feel you on the house woes. We just bought a "new" house out in the country. And while it's adorable, it's 100 years old so we keep finding things. I have a long list of projects which include fixing water pressure and replacing the water heater than can barely last long enough for me to wash my hair. Sometimes I wonder what the hell we got ourselves into, but in the end it will be worth it

 

Old houses! We looked at some medieval farm houses and just thought “it’s beautiful but holy cats it’ll be a money sink and endless DIY.”

 

The house we have has an ~1840s cottage at its centre, but funnily enough it’s the 1980s and 2010s extensions on it that we’re having problem with! Granted, the original cottage section now is pretty much just the kitchen (which is all of my period farmhouse kitchen dreams) and a bedroom above it.

 

 

The British countryside is just stunning, but the Wye/Forest of Dean has a particularly magical quality around it. (It’s used in a lot of fantasy films/TV for this reason!)

 

[Harriet]

13 minutes ago, Ann of Owlshire said:

In neo-paganism, a kitchen witch is an informal term for a witch who emphasizes cooking, food, and meal times in their magical practice.

 

You're a witch? Most excellent! I am exploring paganism, as it happens, but I am quite, quite new to it. Do you make foods with special meanings for special occasions? 

[iatetheyeti]

You live in a truly gorgeous place, I have to say! Definitely following along for pic spam! Also, very much here for kitchen witchery and creative projects

 

[Ann of Owlshire]

1 hour ago, Harriet said:

Do you make foods with special meanings for special occasions? 

 

 

I do, or do things like score my sourdough with a sigil, using herbs in a meal with specific intent.  (I may also spin meaning into my yarns or into something I’m knitting, but not always. Sometimes the sock is just to keep my feet warm! Sometimes I make pizza because pizza is tasty.) I’m pretty low key and mostly follow intuition rather than books or blogs or whatever in my daily spiritual practice. 

 

[GoodDoug]

Glad to be able to follow this new phase of the adventure.

Old house, old problems, new house, new problems. Be patient, but prioritize stuff like mold and plumbing. Know that owning an older house and some land require work, but be reasonable about timeframes for stuff getting done. That backyard garden bed I was supposed to be making got superseded by having to replace a door... stuff like that will always come up, so don't get crazy about self imposed deadlines on stuff that you really want done, but don't _need_ done.

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

I'm glad you are getting the house's shortcomings sorted.

4 hours ago, Ann of Owlshire said:

As came up elsewhere, Tolkien was very inspired by the West Midlands, particularly for the Shire. Technically, I live Southwest England, but the county border that generally defines separation of the two regions is about 10 minutes walk from my house so I figure—

 

Close enough to count.

I've got it. You live in Bree country, like Archet and the Chetwood.

[shaar]

6 hours ago, Ann of Owlshire said:

Story Time #1

The Cracks in the Beautiful Painting

 

This is wonderful writing, I love hearing the nuances of what could be written off as a mundane tale, but you tell it so well! I look forward to more of your stories! (And hope your coughing drops to a dull roar!)  ❤️ 

[Snarkyfishguts]

Indoor allergies are annoying!also plumbing is annoying. I hope you can get everything fixed up so you can enjoy your indoors as much as the outdoors. Previous owners always leave some rude problem, dont they? 
 

i am very excited to be following along with you on these new adventures! 

[Ann of Owlshire]

3 hours ago, Snarkyfishguts said:

Previous owners always leave some rude problem, dont they? 

 

I mean, it’s not as if the house we’re selling doesn’t have “quirks,” too. XD If they stay minor, it’s no big thing and I hold no grudge. The mold is really the biggest issue for me, especially since it’s in the en suite to our bedroom. 

[Ann of Owlshire]

Today began with a short morning outing in the woodland across the lane with my neighbour, who has been making a much appreciated effort to be neighbourly, especially while we are in Lockdown and we are cut off from the meeting more of the community.

 

Lots of activities around the property—sweeping up escaped hay and leaves out of the pole barn, beginning the cleaning of the tack room/workshop (hoping to use it as wool dyeing studio among other things), laundry away, breakfast and lunch and clean-up, laundry on, laundry hanging to dry, doing a walk around the pasture perimeters (“checking the fences”). We try to do the woodland regularly, too, but it’s harder with Enting. He crashed out around 4 (he hadn’t slept well the night before, oddly enough, neither did I!) so I decided to do a bit extra for dinner. Our new bed is arriving tomorrow so this evening we’ve been making room and clearing space for the old bed to go in (with a future as a guest bed/escape bed for the one who can’t handle the co-sleeping toddler that night).

 

Here’s the Enting helping me in the pole barn (that’s our compost). The bracers on those dungarees never want to stay up.

 

And some mushrooms we found out in the far pasture

 

Tonight’s dinner was brought to you by “things that need using”:

• Chicken thighs roasted on a bed of brussels sprouts, parsnip and carrot. Seasoned with rosemary, lemon slices, and pepper.
• Scalloped potatoes in a gruyere cream sauce.

Lots of leftovers, just as I like it. Especially this year when Mr working from home means that we need quick food for lunch, too.

 

Running totals:

 

Homecooked food 

• Week 0: X (goal 3)

Baked bread

• Week 0: - (goal 1)

Fiber arts or other non-writing creativity

• Week 0: I dug out my spinning wheel and some associated accessories. I’ve been looking at patterns and compiling a list of “things to knit” but that means finding the needles and the right yarn and the ball winder.... may be easier just to get spinning and find the rest later.

Writing

Interactive fiction 5 minutes 

• Week 0: - (goal 3)

Story Time 

• Week 0: X (goal 3)

PAI 

• N/A (it’s done on a rolling weekly average so I just need to keep building at this stage).

 

 

[Harriet]

22 hours ago, Ann of Owlshire said:

I do, or do things like score my sourdough with a sigil, using herbs in a meal with specific intent.  (I may also spin meaning into my yarns or into something I’m knitting, but not always. Sometimes the sock is just to keep my feet warm! Sometimes I make pizza because pizza is tasty.) I’m pretty low key and mostly follow intuition rather than books or blogs or whatever in my daily spiritual practice.

Sounds fantastic! I also like the sound of being guided by intuition.

[GoodDoug]

2 hours ago, Ann of Owlshire said:

The bracers on those dungarees never want to stay up.

Safety pin the bracers together right between the shoulder blades. 

[KB Girl]

2 hours ago, Ann of Owlshire said:

escape bed for the one who can’t handle the co-sleeping toddler that night

hahaha, I can 100% relate to this. It does get better