The Touchwood Project

I just finished watching a film about a woman who spends a year cooking her way through every single recipe in Julia Child’s cookbook, then blogs about it. It got me to thinking, what would I enjoy doing that much? What would I like sharing with people? What do I get passionate about? Things that make me feel joyful, delighted, happy. Sharing them with you sounds like a project worth doing, though I know… Read the rest of this article >>

Nothing like a bit of inspiration to start the day, so I’m posting a wonderful video talk we were introduced to last night by our two Couchsurfers, Jessica and Julie. It’s a talk given at TED (an inspiring conference featuring big name presenters) from a neuroanatomist who had a stroke and was aware of what was happening to her the entire time. I love how this woman, Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, is so clearly being… Read the rest of this article >>

My first experiment with dyeing and spinning has given me another opportunity to understand what it is to have enough. It’s thrown down the challenge: how do you enjoy life just as it is? It starts with a tapestry. The Coming Storm tapestry As I mentioned previously, I wanted to knit a tapestry based on a photograph I took of our view. It was my first time working with dyes, carding wool, and spinning. I… Read the rest of this article >>

This morning shone brightly, bringing the feeling of spring and all its energy and enthusiasm with it. The problem was, so many things weighed on my mind I couldn’t seem to start on a single one. I felt restless, cranky, worried in that intangible way that happens when I have too many things in my head and doubts that I’ll ever manage to get them all done. When I get like this, Malcolm and I sit down for a… Read the rest of this article >>

“We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams.” That’s the phrase circling around my head this morning as I watch another thrilling gust of snow sweep past the kitchen window. I’m thinking about the often delightful responsibility of being a dreamer, a storyteller, and how you tell a story that’s both honest and worth telling. A good story starts with the improbable or downright impossible I think… Read the rest of this article >>

“If I didn’t care what people thought, I’d…” I’d write on the blog about what I’m thinking about with Touchwood and life. I’d share this North Star stuff, the ever-changing plans and dreams, different projects I’m working on. The above sentences are from my notebook as part of an exercise from the book Finding Your Own North Star: Claiming the life you were meant to live. There are a series of… Read the rest of this article >>

When I was a kid I was amazed how many people assumed you needed to buy the game to play it, not realising that often you just need pencil and paper. They’d rather buy some tacky plastic game or watch TV than make their own fun! I’m of the play-it-on-paper or build-your-own-game tribe. Since the Power Off Weekend is just around the corner, here are 101 things to do with your friends and loved ones — all… Read the rest of this article >>

Lately I’m getting some concerned emails from my family in the US who worry I’m sacrificing myself for the planet, huddling miserably around a single light bulb, icicles forming on my nose. Ha. I assure you, I’m far too lazy to make all these changes for some distant noble cause. Nope, I’m doing it first and foremost because I’m enjoying myself, a point which a little adventure reminded me of recently. I’ll… Read the rest of this article >>

We’re taking the plunge. Malcolm and I are selling the car and going car-free. Bring on the circus bikes! Going car-free in a rural location Unlike when I lived in Washington DC you didn’t really need a car, not having one on Orkney is highly unusual. Pretty much everyone drives…. Read the rest of this article >>