Who will live in a house like this?

Erm....not me! However, when I looked around the showhome, it was very tempting to drag 21st C Dad along and show him the space...

yes the space....

The four double bedrooms, the kitchen diner AND the office, not to mention the double garage.

I could just see it .... an idyllic lifestyle was sitting there waiting for us, just waiting for the whole family to move in.

Then I woke up to the reality!

When we first moved to Bury St Edmunds nearly 5 years ago, I decided to give up full-time work so that I could bring up the family and have a go at downshifting, getting out of the rat-race and greening up.

Instead of the 9-5 or indeed a regular 10-2 arrangement in the world of traditional work, I have been able to spend time with the children and discover new things along the way, indulging in a new lifestyle that has enabled me to have a "pocket-money" business, develop my writing skills as well as volunteer as a school governor.

Admittedly, my earnings remain well within my personal allowance, so I don't need to pay any tax and I am lucky that this is balanced by the fact that 21st C Dad earns enough to keep us in the lifestyle that we have become used to. Indeed, he earns enough for us to move to this lovely new house, with all that lovely new space.

So why don't we?

Apart from the financial insecurities that lie ahead in this current economic climate, I know that if we made that move, I would need to go back to the office and get a "proper job", to act as a buffer zone and allow us to still pay for family holidays and some of the other things that we enjoy.

Besides, I woke up to the fact that this very large house comes with a tiny garden....and indeed, it's not the space inside that I hanker after, it's the space on the outside, with a garden in which I could get lost, grow our own vegetables and enable the children to enjoy their wonderful array of adventures.

If we bought this house, It would delay our real dream by at least five years.

So, I think it's worth staying in the slow lane for a while longer!

And if you agree with me and indeed want to have a think about it yourself, I can recommend that you visit my mate Tracey Smith's fantastic website. This is a woman who has gone the extra mile in downshifting and has even set up the International Downshifting Week awareness campaign, which this year starts on the 19th April.

So, if you've got 10 minutes, pop over and have a look at how you can take part: www.downshiftingweek.com. And if you fancy having a go, there are lots of ideas and some fabulous inspiration to get you started.

Slowing down

At the moment I am taking some time to chill-0ut after a very busy few weeks (or is that months, even years). I am sat in my living room listening to my mate's radio show, which is broadcast over the internet, all the way from Taunton in Devon. It's called Slow Down, Green Up, with Tracey Smith. If you're reading this before 1pm today, grab a cup of tea, click on the listen now button below and join me.

If you miss it, don't worry it's a weekly programme that can be caught between 10am-1pm every Wednesday, with lots of hints and tips on downshifting and greening up plus loads of great music in between.

Apple AM

This could be life on Moreton Hall

This week, I took a walk down to the Cotton Lane Allotments in Bury St Edmunds.

My visit was prompted by the news that the October edition of the Moreton Hall Directory features a request from the local council for anyone interested allotments in Moreton Hall to get in touch. To support the request, the MHD has printed an article that I submitted which features my childhood memories of helping my family in their kitchen garden and highlights why I am interested in having my own allotment locally.

Allotments are a topical issue. Councils across the country have taken steps to replace allotments with new housing, but with an increasing trend in householders taking an interest in allotments, some councils are beginning to work with developers to feature allotment space on new developments.

For residents in Moreton Hall, it is great news that the council is taking an interest in providing allotment facilities and researching demand in our area. There are so many benefits to owning an allotment and as well as growing low cost produce, benefits for local families include a hands-on learning experience, a healthy outdoor lifestyle and close links with other members of the community.

Living on a new housing development, I was interested in seeing how the Cotton Lane allotments sit alongside the new Hopkins houses that have been built next door. In my opinion, the allotments fit comfortably alongside the new development. It could be argued, in the eyes of the allotment holder, the new development does not sit so comfortably alongside the allotments, but one can understand that view as the allotments were there first.

Personally, I am hoping that allotment space will be provided on the land that has been reserved for leisure use and I hope that there are enough Moreton Hall residents to make this happen.

However to make it happen, interested parties must write to the Town Clerk at Bury St Edmunds Town Council, specifying your interest in renting an allotment in this area.

Bury St Edmunds Town Council
Town Council Offices
18-19 Guildhall Street
Bury St Edmunds
IP33 1QD

The best advice is not to leave it to someone else, thinking that they might write in, as the opportunity may be lost. If you are interested, the best thing to do is to send a letter as soon as you read this. Further advice is available in the Moreton Hall Directory.

Here are a few relevant articles and examples of projects where allotments have been planned for or already integrated into new developments.

There's Life in the Allotment (The Times)
Plans for Midwinter begin to take shape (an example of a development plans in Cheltenham)
Allerton Bywater Millennium Community (an example of a development in Leeds)

And the next move....I hope to see you at the vegetable plot. You'll recognise me. I'll be the green allotmenteer grasping for advice!

On the buses

Blimey, our local bus service seems to have improved beneath my very nose and that's a turn up for the books, if ever I've seen one.

Having experienced untoward aches and pains from a walk into Bury St Edmunds and back again, (which I did yesterday with my poppet of a pre-schooler), I decided that today I would maintain my burst of fitness to overcome said aches and walk into town once more to attend a creative content meeting with my local writing mentor, friend and colleague...

I'd ruled out the bike because I also needed to do some market shopping and too many groceries in the bike basket knocks my balance (in other words, makes me wobbly)..so in a determined effort to keep the car at home, the only option was Shanks' Pony.

I psyched myself up for the walk into town, gathered my books and shopping basket and off I trot...

...until two minutes later, as I turned the corner of the street and saw the beautiful sight of a bus... driving in my direction...towards town.

Sorry folks, out went the determination to take advantage of a grand opportunity to get fit and in came an over-riding desire for a flirtation with a bus ride.

£3 paid and 20 minutes later I knocked at my mentor's door to find her in a state of "unexpectation". How unfair of me.

However, it feels great to have used our local bus service and I was fortunate to have co-ordinated arrangements for me also to enjoy the return journey home. I was prepared for the 50 minute walk home with my leeks and spring onions, but had a pleasant ride home instead.

It's great that I have accidentally discovered this extended service, as it means many more adventures with the little one.

Of course, it's not only he who can have the fun. I could have got off the bus earlier, but for the hell of it and for the novelty I stayed on to go around the roundabout and back again. Yee-aah!

Downshifting the 21st CM Way

A few days ago, I gave a little nod towards the subject of downshifting and regular readers will have already seen a few related links appearing in the side-bar.

Downshifting can mean different things to different people, but the Wikipedia definition describes it as the act of moving from a lifestyle of greater consumption towards a lifestyle based on voluntary simplicity. One of the best sites to find out more is www.downshiftingweek.com which was set up by Tracey Smith. Tracey also has a video on YouTube about Sustainable Living and wraps it up in a nutshell, where she describes herself as a "Contented Downshifter" where the less money she spends the more time she has to spend with the people she loves. Consequently, the less money she has to earn.

If you're new to the concept of downshifting, you might be mistaken that it's not relevant to you and is a bit "new-agey", but that's not true at all and, as an example, Tracey's website has a list of things that an individual can do easily to change their lifestyle, without having to change their character or profile.

I would describe myself as a "downhill-shifter", someone who is on the way but not yet fully there, but who wants to commit more to the principles. I try to be more sustainable and cycle wherever I can in my local area. I belong to a local bartering group. I make jewellery for friends instead of buying presents (which saves a lot of money). When we have a family day out, we tend to enjoy the great outdoors away from commercial temptations. We have a compost bin in our garden as well as a water butt and try to incorporate edible plants into our small suburban garden. Here's a tour of our little patch of land:

Here you can see our potatoes which we planted in a tub. You might even be able to make out the black compost bin behind. Next is the well-disguised non-intrusive water butt (honestly it is there, behind the bay tree). Against the fence is our blackberry plant and further along you'll see the rhubarb.

You don't need a greenhouse to grow tomatoes and here is our seedling tray on our windowsill, followed by tomatoes grown in a pot outdoors. We have a bay-tree hedge as well as herbs in pots.

We even have a grapevine, which only has two bunches of grapes, but it's a start.

On the expenditure front, it has taken me quite a while to try and get used to not shopping so much and I go through bursts of enthusiasm, which is why I am still only a "downhill-shifter". But I am going to try harder. I might even be brave and put an "expenditure meter" on this site.

I am trying my hand at more and more home-made food. My latest achievement is my recipe for a semi-burnt quiche (here are the "before and after" shots):

One thing that is for certain, by having given up traditional work, I get to spend more time with my children and I also have more time to volunteer in community projects. I also earn pocket money from doing fun things instead of serious stuff.

Even though I don't have time for an allotment or space for chickens, I hope that one day in the future we will be able to organise this. In the meantime, I would love to get involved in a chicken co-op (excuse the pun), if there is such a thing, where I could help out in exchange for some fresh eggs.

There is a lot to be said for slowing down in the way that I have and I am a lot more relaxed about things these days. If you are interested in having a go your own way, a great start is the free e-book on Tracey Smith's site. Also, have a look at some of the new links in my sidebar. Make sure that you don't miss Melanie Rimmer's Bean-sprouts site. It is very inspiring.

The book which started me off on this journey was "Downshifting: the bestselling guide to happier and simpler living". I picked it up in Borders in 1998, when I worked just off Oxford Street in London. It planted a huge seed in my mind, that there could be more to life than heavy commuting and the push, push, push of career development. Coupled with later ideas about portfolio working, I was well on the way to laying the foundations for what is now our family life in the 21st Century.

Who would have guessed that we would be in beautiful Suffolk, as a family of four, enjoying a slower pace of life (with me becoming the not-so-perfect housewife). All we need now is for me to spend less and less money, my husband to give up his very responsible job and allow him to indulge in his passions too...so where will we be in ten years time I wonder? Isn't the future unbelievably exciting?!

One empty raincoat and a fat portfolio to boot

In 1999 a colleague introduced me to Charles Handy's "The Empty Raincoat". At the time I was building my career in London, working in the music copyright industry, but not sure what to do next. Suddenly, I discovered the advantages of a portfolio lifestyle, presented by Handy as the future of working. Promises of great opportunities lay ahead, as Handy described a portfolio lifestyle as one where instead of working for one employer, people would become occupied in a multitude of applications ranging from unpaid work to paid work. Most importantly, according to Handy, people who applied themselves in this way would be happier as they could break free from the chains that tied themselves to the traditional workplace.

How idyllic I thought, surrounding myself with daydream images of buttercups, happy smiles, rainbows, sipping cappuccinos, etc. So, filled with thoughts of happiness I guessed I'd give it a go. Somehow or other I turned my full-time job into a part-time job, working for the same company but as a consultant. I also got a contract working with a former employer and committed to one full day a week, volunteering as a classroom assistant in a local school. I quickly found my unpaid work more fulfilling than my paid work. I got the bug and also volunteered as a weekend information assistant at a papermaking factory which was emerging as a national tourist attraction and education centre.

However, the reality soon hit home that I needed more income to pay for our mortgage in the expensive Hertfordshire commuterland and when I was headhunted to set up a research department in London, my flirtation with a portfolio lifestyle came to an end and I got back onto the treadmill.

Having since left my profession to focus on having children and raising my young family (now in beautiful Suffolk), I haven't given much thought to the portfolio lifestyle after which I once hankered. I've just got on with bringing up the children and supporting my husband in his work.

That said, I have my own interests which have developed over the last few years. I volunteer at my son's primary school and I sometimes write for a local magazine. I love creative stuff and I really enjoy teaching others and have set up a number of income-generating workshops along the way. It's what I would call a pocket-money business rather than anything else. Having halved our income, by giving up "proper work" I was keen to develop and relaunch a local bartering system (LETS) to share resources with our local community.

It's only when I recently read an article called "Making our own way" in Juno (a family magazine) and became immersed in the author's representation of her own portfolio lifestyle, did I realise that she was referring to my type of lifestyle that I now enjoy.

I feel very lucky to be in the position of enjoying a bit of dibble-dabbling. Last year I registered as self-employed so that I can declare properly my part-time earnings. However, it's not necessarily the money that I find rewarding. Instead it's the range of experiences that come with it and the flexibility it offers to be with my family at the right time that now float my boat, so to speak.

As my history shows, it is a difficult task to get off the treadmill when you are ensconsed in a full-time job or have a big mortgage. What worked for us was for me to be brave encough not to go back to work after having a baby and having the opportunity to relocate away from commuterville shortly afterwards.

At the time, we couldn't afford for me not to work but we took out a short-term overdraft and looked for ways of changing our lifestyle to enable me to be at home with the children. Many people take out car-loans for a new car. This was just the same, but instead we were committing to a lifestyle of downshifting. We bought a smaller house than we felt we needed (wanted) but have since benefited from a couple of rises in my husband's pay-packet. This has meant that the risk that we took has paid off and we can still lead a comfortable and more enjoyable lifestyle that suits us.

I am still tempted by the odd four bedroom house with a conservatory, but when I sway from my goals my husband shows me the recruitment pages in the Sunday papers. That's enough to send me back to my dibbling and dabbling on the two days a week that I have reserved for such excitement!