Tuesday 18th November 2025
The temperature this morning certainly felt crisp and cold, offering the kind of chill that seems to excitedly nip at your fingers, ears and nose. That chill-to-the-bones coldness that wraps itself around you the moment you step outside. A demanding reminder that winter is well and truly on her way. And just to confirm this, there was ice covering the water buckets for the first time this season.
Although the day wasn’t anything special, I felt productive – moving through the day getting one small task done at a time. Of course the outside animal chores are always first on the list, opening up doors to free and feed the chickens and goats, checking for eggs, refilling water buckets, and the cleaning of homes.
I actually really like that time outside, no matter the weather.
It is a time of gentle pottering, and I am often alone with just my thoughts and the animals. It offers me the time to just be. No judgements being made, no human demands on my time, and no expectations to live up to (except the expectation that breakfast will swiftly be delivered!)
This morning as I drifted from coop to stable, I managed to do a little thinking about how I want this new chapter of Lanefolk to look like and feel.
It feels both comforting and exciting to be almost starting over again.
I really feel that I have changed a lot this year, perhaps to a greater degree within the past 6 months or so. I have learnt so much about myself and worked through a great deal personally. The time just feels right to begin again, and having this space – without any paywalls or distractions for readers – sits much better with my soul.
I still haven’t started to sew anything yet. Most of my day was spent reformatting this website and setting up the community space. That feels like a really good use of time, and I just know that had I tried to do anything else there would have been little brain niggles nudging and prodding away, telling me to get that done.
Now I can write each evening, and have a space away from the busy of social media to build a community. I have found myself naturally reducing my social media time, finding the for clicks and views content tiring, the AI posts taking over both terrifying and annoying, and the constant advertising and spam just too much. I miss the human to human interactions and connection. Between AI and bots, stolen content and rage bait, so much of what we see online feels disingenuous.
I am finding that I am naturally leaning towards protecting my time and being intentional with how I spend it. Wanting a space to connect but not be spammed or nagged to spend money is a big reason I am going to try to create a small break away community for like-minded souls.
Late this afternoon I walked Milo, accompanied by the girls. It wasn’t our usual 5km walk as the weather was miserably wet and cold and as Milo ages his tolerance to such conditions lessons. We are definitely noticing a slowing down as he approaches his double digit years. His fur is also greying rather rapidly.
This evening we watched “My Fair Lady” which is one of my favourite musicals, up there with “West Side Story”. I worked on the website whilst the girls read and crafted Christmas decorations.
So upon reflection, it feels like a day of slow pottering and ponderings, gentle new beginnings and simply being here and doing what I can.
And that’s enough.
I am grateful for the space we have here that allows us to live the life we do with the animals we have. I am grateful for the supportive comments on Threads that started me on this beginning again journey. And for the warmth of our home on this ever so chilly day.
If you are reading this, I hope you also found a tiny pocket of calm somewhere in your day, even if it was just a single quiet moment with a warm drink or a slow deep breath by an open door.