Reflecting on the lessons of the week… THE SIMPLER WAY It’s not easy, to choose the simpler way. Saying no, when yes is a softer option. Embracing guardrails of focus and valuing less over more. Trusting in possibilities rather than certainty, and rhythm and resonance instead of control. Yielding to seasons and spaciousness, openheartedness, generosity … Read more
There’s a wild honeysuckle growing out of a gorse bush that I see most days. It’s on the path that traverses the hillside fields, home for our male alpacas. Here’s the thing. The gorse can only support it so far. And then, the tendrils need to support each other as they reach for the light. … Read more
When did we last look at the horizon rather than our screens? Pause. See differently. Re-story 🌿 ~ Across the valley the other evening.
Wandering around the valley, having finally finished shearing the alpacas. Grateful that it had gone so well and grateful that it was done for another year. And grateful that the light often appears exceptionally magnificent in these liminal moments. HUMBLE BEAUTY Who would have thought a humble dock leaf could be so stunning, or how … Read more
We tend to think of movement as getting from A to B. Or of getting better, moving away from what was undesirable. Yet here in the valley, water and the unrooted more-than-humans are the only ones who display movement like this. Others demonstrate their aliveness by blossoming like the overnight eruption of white hawthorn flowers … Read more
Years ago, we carefully uprooted several shrubs to create more grazing for the alpacas. Unfortunately, we couldn’t decide where to replant them, so they stayed in their temporary home. And became overgrown. Humbled. Each year I am awed by the resilience of the rose and blessed by their wild beauty. THE OLD ROSE Where does … Read more
Sometimes when we’re searching for meaning or an answer, nothing shows up. Until the light comes in. And then we cannot unsee what the light, or insight, has revealed. It changes everything. And us. Sometimes, we simply have to wait and allow our patience muscles to be stretched and strengthened. Yet it might also be … Read more
Walking back after shearing the alpacas, I was grubby and tired. And then I spied these ferns along the green path… BEAUTIFUL GREENS Layers of green, not competing for attention but simply being their subtle selves, are beautiful and calm evocations to breathe life into desiccated souls. + Sue Heatherington Where do you go for … Read more
Yesterday, these two – Rhoslyn and her daughter Tabitha – looked like Perl on the right. No longer. They’ve had their annual trip to the hairdressers… We’re partway through shearing our 36 alpacas, and it never ceases to amaze me how different they are. As we began 15 years ago with a small starter herd … Read more
The riotous abundance of buttercups on the old paths underneath the old trees expands each year. Re-wilding gives nature a chance to breathe. NATURE’S OFFERING Beautiful spacecreates beautifulspace createslife createscolour createshope. + Sue Heatherington Pause. See differently. Re-story 🌿