With gale force winds in motion and sand and dirt blowing into every open eye and ear, we marked out the border of the foundation for the house. It worked out about 41 foot by 26. The land is on a significant slope too so lots of levelling is needed to make sure that the […]

Otavalo is famous for its indigenous alpaca wool and crafts market. We were looking for something else, however. Thanks to some very helpful friends we were able to drive to container yards just outside the town. From there, we picked up the container that is going to form the main part of our house. We […]

I few weeks ago I made a mental note to be wary of buying more books. I bought a few today – slightly compulsively and with a decent element of joy so I guess I am upholding a recent promise made to myself. That aside, the wander around my closest home city of Waterford felt […]

I came across an article entitled ‘The Oppressive Gospel of Minimalism’ on the New York Times Magazine recently. Like the real Gospels, too much preaching will turn the choir, or prevent it being formed in the first instance. As Kyle Chayka (article author) writes: It has become an ostentatious ritual of consumerist self-sacrifice; people who […]

I read a post on Walking On Custard about doing stuff compulsively without joy recently. It rang certain bells nice and clearly. Bells that I forgot were there. All manner of things exist that most of us do day in day out, compulsively and often without joy. Social media grazing, junk food guzzling. The news! […]

We are clearing out our house, getting ready to leave it as we prepare to move abroad in a few months. We have kept our stuff while living here to a reasonably small amount. I’m pretty happy with the results so far. Minus clothes, some pots, a few books, and electronics, this is pretty much […]

Just Live Simple (JLS) is a book by James Logan Carey. It gives simple, practical insights and tips into ways life can be simplified, and importantly, avoid complicating it in the first place. It reminded me of the Little Book of Calm, except it is about simplicity. It’s a substantially bigger read than the Little […]

There is much talk these days about what the ‘skills of the future’ may be. Whether it’s learning to code like a desk-bound jedi, incorporating the latest business jargon into your lingo, or just being able to zip between the shifting pillars of technology-driven reality. Very little remains the same, and the rate of change […]

The story of Native Americans, their culture and customs is fascinating. In particular the manner in which the native people of the United States once lived is what captures the imagination – the connectedness they had with the world around them, their free and wild lives on the plains of that continent, and the wisdom […]

An interesting thing happens when you give up something you previously engaged with and enjoyed – be that a possession, habit, or convenience. Given a little time, it becomes clear whether you really enjoyed it, or whether it was something that you felt you enjoyed, but may have in fact been down to a kind […]