I will try to make this a quick update as I’m hoping to get some more sleep before the night is over having been up since 3.30 with too much on my mind to sleep.

The children and I have been having a wonderful time here on the farm since we arrived 8 days ago. We’ve unexpectedly had back-to-back visitors staying with us or popping over for day trips from their holidays which has made a huge difference to us. Not only have we had the comfort and good company of people who know us well but an additional benefit was having to show people round making the new environment instantly feel like we definitely live here and our friends and family are the new visitors seeing it with new eyes.

Thankfully the weather has been kind to us so despite some very heavy rain showers on the whole the two eldest kids have been out playing with their friends (comprising of other children living here but also the children who are visiting and staying with other residents here), we’ve all been on the beach a fair few times and happily harvesting fresh vegetables for dinners. My littlest child loves being outside to watch the ducks waddle around the courtyard, throw the pigs some tasty pea pods and visit the pet rabbit living in a hutch not far from us.

I keep finding myself signing up to be the chef for the main communal meal which is odd as it was the one thing I was really worried about but I guess you can’t keep a food lover out of the kitchen for long even if it does mean cooking for up to 20 people with an eighteen month old cling to your leg or exploring the contents of the recycling bucket. Last night we cooked ‘rainbow risotto’ with loads of different veg, I made a quick simple tomato pasta for loads of kids one night too. A massive joy of living in such a close community is eating the wonderful food that others cook with great care. On the night we had a utility bonfire to burn hedges trimmings we had such a outdoor feast of really simple but such delicious things – sausages made from the meat of home-reared pigs, macaroni cheese, fresh fresh salad and lovely bright purple beetroot.

The one thing that is totally wrong with the intentional community we have moved to is that my dear husband is not with us (he is sadly chained to his computer in Worcestershire while one of his client’s projects nears completion until the latter part of this week). The children are missing their daddy and keep asking when he will come. Bealers still has the settling in period to go through where I feel my transition to learning how the farm is managed and how the community ticks is well underway. But hopefully he will enjoy a few more summery days when he does finally arrive and enjoy spending relaxed cups of tea on sunny steps having random chats with the people who live here as they pass by as I have done since we got here.