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Good morning from Our Little House,
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This one might be a little shorter than usual.
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The children are on their midterm break, my husband has taken the week off work, and I've been trying — with varying degrees of success 😂 — to take a bit of a break myself. We've been away for a few days, everyone is home this week, and life has been moving at a slightly slower pace.
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But I didn't really want to let Friday morning pass without popping in to say hello.
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And what a change there has been in the seasons since we last spoke.
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The clocks went back here in Ireland last weekend, so it was almost strangely bright when I came downstairs at 7am this morning. After weeks of getting up in the dark, there was daylight everywhere.
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That won't last long. Within another week or two the darkness will have caught up with us again.
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But this morning was beautiful.
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I'm sitting at the kitchen table writing this and the sunrise has been casting the most incredible pink and orange light across the sky. The hedgerows and trees have properly changed colour now, and for a few minutes everything outside had this extraordinary golden glow. Even as I sat watching it, it was disappearing. Ten minutes later and it was almost gone. I'm just glad I noticed it.
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A few days away — sort of 😂
We escaped to the west of Ireland for a few days over the weekend.
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Some of you will remember me writing from Mayo before. My mum is from there and my parents have a house near the Atlantic, overlooking Clew Bay and the mountains. I spent some time there during the summer with my eldest and their best friend, and I'd really been looking forward to going back with the whole family for the midterm break.
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There was just one slight problem.
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We've had a run of fairly wild weather here recently, including back-to-back storms and weather warnings, and we managed to drive west in the little gap between two of them.
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I had been determined to pack lightly, but somehow found myself adding a camping stove, gas canisters, batteries, candles and various other emergency supplies to the car.
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Alfie came, as he usually does, and because the weather was going to be particularly bad, Cookie the cat came too. The pony stayed safely at home being well looked after, and our lovely neighbours kept an eye on the rabbit and ducks.
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The weather was, quite frankly, atrocious.
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There was so much wind and rain that we barely left the house. We managed to escape twice for some gorgeous food — involving a certain amount of watching for a break in the rain and then making a dash for it — but otherwise we stayed put.
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We read. We watched television. There was gaming. We ate. We talked. The fire was going. Nobody had anywhere they needed to be. We did almost nothing. And perhaps that was exactly what we needed.
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We drove the four-plus hours home again on Tuesday through torrential rain and hailstones, and since then the weather has completely changed. We've had sunshine, blue skies and surprisingly mild days.
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Irish weather likes to keep us guessing.
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Home again
Yesterday I had the house largely to myself, and it was one of those ordinary days that somehow felt particularly lovely.
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I wasn't actually going to decorate for Halloween this year. We didn't last year and I thought perhaps we'd moved on from it a little. Then the kids asked if I was going to. So obviously Halloween has now vomited all over the house. 😂
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There's a Halloween table, the front porch is decorated, candles and pumpkins have appeared everywhere, and I have thoroughly enjoyed myself.
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The funny thing is that I decorated for Halloween long before I ever had children, so I'm not entirely sure who I thought I was fooling.
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I pottered around the house, got bits and pieces done and made the most gorgeous chicken and vegetable pie with puff pastry and mashed potatoes for dinner — if I may say so myself. Pure comfort food, and even better, I made enough that we're having it again tonight.
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Then last night a very good friend came over for a glass of wine. We've known each other since we were students and worked together for years. We don't see each other nearly as often as we once did, although lately we're beginning to get better at it. We sat down for a chat. And suddenly it was midnight. We had quite literally talked the ears off each other. 😂
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It was one of those conversations I didn't realise how much I needed until I was in the middle of it. Nothing particularly dramatic. Just two old friends talking about life and family and work and all the things in between.
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And somewhere in that conversation we started talking about routines.
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She said something along the lines of, "You've always liked having structure to your day."
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Coming back to rhythm
I've always been a morning person, but since I've been working from home, that little bit of structure has become even more important to me. I get up before everybody else. I make tea or coffee. I read. I write. I have that quiet hour before lunches and school bags and animals and all the ordinary morning activity begins. My friend couldn't quite understand why I'd voluntarily get up an hour before I needed to. 😂
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But I explained that it's really no different from arriving at work early enough to settle yourself before the working day begins. I'm just doing it at home. I'm not particularly interested in squeezing every ounce of productivity from my day. I don't want my life to feel like one enormous efficiency exercise.
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I like having a shape to my days.
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And I've realised over the past few years that I need that even more as we move into the darker months. Perhaps that's why coming home after a few days away always feels so good too. I love going away. And I love coming home and finding my rhythm again.
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A little change coming
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There's going to be a slight change to that rhythm for me over the next while.
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As you know, I've been doing a little substitute teaching here and there during my career break, and in the coming weeks I'm going back into the classroom three days a week for a slightly longer stretch. And I'm really looking forward to it.
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For years I used to say that my ideal working arrangement would probably have been three or four days a week. But as a deputy principal, that simply wasn't practical, and I never wanted to give up a role I'd worked hard for just to work part-time.
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For now, though, I've stepped away from that role while I'm on my career break.
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Which means I can simply go in and teach.
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So when my principal asked me, I really didn't have to think about it for very long. Then I put all the dates into the calendar. And immediately started thinking: Right. So I'll teach those three days... and then I'll fit all the writing here... and the blog there... and I'll move this to that day... and perhaps if I...
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This is exactly what I've been trying to get away from. I don't have to take something I'm looking forward to and then exhaust myself trying to make sure absolutely everything else remains exactly the same around it. The rhythm can change. I'll figure it out. Some things might happen less often. Some things might move around. I can prepare a little in advance. And perhaps I'll discover that I really enjoy having those few days outside the house again.
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I'm actually quite curious to see what this new rhythm feels like.
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30 Ways to Winter Well
And all of this brings me rather nicely to this month's calendar.
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November's Slow Living Calendar is called 30 Ways to Winter Well. But really, you could use this one throughout any of the winter months.
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When I talk about wintering well, I don't mean creating some perfect cosy version of winter where we're all sitting beside roaring fires in beautiful knitwear drinking something cinnamon-scented. Lovely as that sounds.
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I mean paying attention to what we need when the season changes.
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Fresh air when we can get it.
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A little structure to the darker days.
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Things to look forward to.
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Knowing when to go out and knowing when to stay home.
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And perhaps allowing our rhythms to change rather than expecting ourselves to operate exactly as we did in June.
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The calendar has 30 little ideas for doing just that. As always, it isn't a challenge and there is absolutely no expectation that you work your way through all 30.
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Use it in November, December, January or February.
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It's simply there if it helps.
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And now, back to my week off...
As I write this, everyone else in the house is still in bed.
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I have Pilates shortly, which after several days of storm-induced inactivity and rather lovely food may finish me off entirely. 😂 I missed my class earlier in the week while we were away, and I can definitely feel it.
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After that, I intend to return to my very demanding midterm schedule of pottering around, eating leftover chicken pie and enjoying having everybody home.
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I genuinely don't know how that happened.
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September through December is probably my favourite stretch of the entire year. I love the return of routines in September, autumn properly arriving in October, the darker quieter days of November, and then all the anticipation of December.
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I've been filling in our family calendar for the next couple of months and there are some lovely little things appearing on it — dinners with friends, festive plans, family things. Nothing enormous. Just things I'm looking forward to.
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And perhaps that's enough.
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A little rhythm to our days.
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A few things on the calendar that make us smile.
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And enough space around them to actually enjoy them.
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Happy Halloween, if you're celebrating tomorrow. 🎃
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I'll chat to you again in a fortnight.
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P.S. If you're heading into the darker months too, I'd love to know what helps you winter well. I always love hearing how these seasonal shifts look in different corners of the world.
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Stay in touch – I’d genuinely love to hear from you — This little letter is very much a two-way conversation. If something here resonates, if you have a thought to share, or if there’s something you’d love to see in a future newsletter, blog post, or printable, I’d really love to hear from you.You can simply reply directly to this email, send a message via the contact form on the blog, email me at hello@ourlittlehouseinthecountry.com, or say hello over on Instagram — whatever feels easiest.
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Comments on the blog or Instagram are always welcome too. I read every single one.Thank you, as always, for being here and for taking the time to read along.
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Here are some Halloween themed articles from the Our Little House archive:
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Halloween began in Ireland as Samhain — a festival of fire, harvest, and remembrance. In this post, we explore the simple magic of Halloween: its Celtic roots, quirky traditions, superstitions, and foods, plus timeless games and rituals you can bring into your home today. An intentional, cosy guide to celebrating Halloween with meaning.
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Halloween once meant apple bobbing, ghost stories, and quirky fortune-telling games. Here are 10 forgotten Halloween games worth reviving this year.
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Did you know Halloween began in Ireland? Here are 13 traditional Irish Halloween customs — from barmbrack to bonfires — and how to enjoy them today.
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Knowing When You’ve Done Enough
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There is always something else we could be doing. Another improvement, another plan, another thing to organise. But what if we've already done enough? A personal reflection on perfectionism, getting older, letting go of unnecessary pressure and learning to enjoy the life we've worked so hard to create.
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What Are You Filling Your Life With?
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What are we filling our lives with? A reflection on attention, ordinary goodness and learning to notice what deserves more room in the lives we're already living.
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A Slower Life, Right in the Middle of a Full One
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Slow living doesn't necessarily mean having a slow life. An autumn reflection on intentional living, seasonal rhythms, full family days and learning to notice the life that's already happening around us.
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Slow October: 31 Simple Ways to Cosy Up Your Days This October
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Welcome to Slow October — 31 gentle invitations to notice the season, find little moments of comfort and connection, and enjoy the heart of autumn. Download the free illustrated and large-text October calendars plus the October Journaling Reflections page.
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When the Days Feel Like Themselves Again
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There’s something lovely about summer days losing their edges. But as autumn returns, I’m rediscovering the quiet comfort of the week finding its shape again — Friday feeling like Friday, Sunday feeling like Sunday, and ordinary life settling back into its familiar rhythm.
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Not Everything Ripens at the Same Time
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On a soft, drizzly September morning, the apples, pears and blackberries offered a quiet reminder: not everything ripens at the same time. A seasonal reflection on change, readiness and learning to let life unfold in its own time.
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