Living lightly?

It's just four and a half days until we get our motorhome! We've been idling here at “The Sidings”, enjoying the time with my sister and her Wayne and doing the research needed to make our new lifestyle plan a do-able one. Also…… we've had an offer accepted on the little house we viewed before we came up north. So, that's another piece of the jigsaw falling into place.  

My youngest, Owen, seems especially happy with the prospect of us buying the place in question, possibly because it isn't far from him and he sees the advantage of having child-minding facilities on his doorstep, or he's glad that his strange mother is now putting money back into bricks and mortar. As far as being a convenient grandchildren drop off is concerned, that is at least a couple of years off, as we intend putting a tenant in as soon as possible. 

A niggle in the back of my mind is that my attraction to the property is in fact, because of its proximity to Owen, Jess and the children. I can't deny that an alternative retirement dream of mine was of a future with grandkids coming to tea, helping me plant flowers, make cakes and having a stay-over room just for them. I’ve wrestled with these conflicting desires and know that when travelling I will miss the regular and close contact I have had with the little ones, Reuben and Ivy. However, now that we are relieved of the chores of running a BnB and have a home to carry on our backs, I might also get to spend a bit more time with Richard, Libby, Seb and Margot. 

I remember the wonderful feeling that came with the arrival of Sebastian, my first grandchild. I'd had to make all sorts of care arrangements for my (now dear departed) mother in order to get to see him and hold him. We are four grandchildren in now, and lives being so busy, regular visits to and between my sons’ families have become more difficult. Now that Gareth and I have un-busied ourselves though and put our home on wheels we can ‘live local’ wherever we want! ….. but only if we have a tenanted property providing us with some income. 

I'm hoping, of course, that things work out in such a way that I'll also be able to visit my far-away-in-Canada son, William and Izzy, his lady. They have cats instead of children, and while Skype is a great facility, it isn't the same as a proper visit. We can't, unfortunately, stretch to getting an amphibious motorhome in order to get out to family across the Pond and beyond so flying out is the only option and then we’d have to kennel the dogs.

Dogs. Last night we compiled an order from Amazon (yes, I know! convenience and price wins over ethics…..again!). It's for stuff to equip the motorhome and includes a rather expensive rechargeable vacuum cleaner. Why an expensive one? Well, our two springer spaniels shed like mad and with blown air heating I don't fancy having dog hair drifting in our air like dandelion fluff. The next issue is how to restrain them while travelling and how to keep them from getting underfoot. Then, how do we de-muddy them after soggy walks without having to redecorate each time? This will be fun 🙄. As I say, the success of this venture depends very much on how it works out with the dogs.

As I sit here writing this at past 9.00 am, Gareth languishes in bed still, and the dogs wait patiently for him to take them out. I could take them out myself, as I often do, but I prefer to write when the mood takes me and in any case they are HIS dogs! Ok, I love them too, but I do get irritated by the intrusion of their needs into ours. Nevertheless, I believe that having a pet is to have it for life, and one way or another, they will be accommodated.

And speaking of ethics (was I?), I have been pondering how this plan of ours fits with my wish to live more lightly on this earth. I do all of the usual things, like recycling and up-cycling where I can. However, I am painfully aware of the need we all have to do more; to question the provenance of the things we buy, to reduce our waste and our use of plastics, but, Gareth and I are about to spend lots of time travelling about in an aluminium box spewing diesel fumes into the countryside and consuming fossil fuel to keep us warm. I console myself that it is at least a second-hand vehicle (is it therefore recycled?) with a solar panel and that the little house we are buying is also old (it could be about 150 years old), so also recycled…..in a way.

Anyway, there’s the question: How do we find a way to reduce our carbon footprint while living this little dream of ours? All sensible suggestions welcome.