Since I last updated this blog, we have moved 600 miles north from London to the Highlands and sailed over 1000 miles to move the boat from Suffolk "over the top" from the East to the West coast of the UK. Its been busy.... Along the way, I got to experience what it feels like to chuck your old life out of the window and reinvent a new one.

Ahead of time, the planning for the "big event" consumed everything and it wasn't until we dumped our belongings in Scotland and went down to get the boat that the sands started to shift beneath my feet. Rather than putting down new roots in Shieldaig, we found ourselves literally "casting off" from Suffolk into the wide blue yonder. Setting sail on a long journey is an act of faith at the best of times, let alone when you have jettisoned everything you knew about your old life (or that's how it felt anyway). So its fair to say I was feeling uncharacteristically shaky for a few weeks. It seems there are a lot of things that we take for granted that anchor our lives, and give them meaning or purpose. A lot of these are artificial (like comfort blankets), but you find that you were reliant on them anyway - so having stripped it all away and I felt bare and a bit exposed. Intellectually, I knew all this would pass (and it did in a few weeks) - but it was interesting to see how much I like my "structure". I guess I am a shed dwelling animal - take the girl out of the shed for too long and I start thinking someone removed the stabilisers and I am about to fall off or drown. But you don't, so don't let it stop you.... if nothing else, a change in perspective can do you good (remind me of that when I am summoning up the courage to sail to Norway next year).

A few weeks down the road and we are getting used to the view from the kitchen window in the morning... including the occasional white tailed sea eagle. We already have new friends - people are terrifically friendly up here. Truthfully, we are still floundering about a bit with all the freedom, but along the way we have managed to make a few kilos of sausages, about a tonne of blackcurrant jam, and made time for some expeditions. In potting terms, I have come up with new shapes and some understanding about what was causing the cracking earlier in the year. I am still trying to understand how to get all the colours, but the change in sawdust supplier is going to slow that process for a while. The new studio arrives in September.... it will be the last piece in the relocation jigsaw, and I can't wait.

In the meantime, follow your dreams. It might seem terrifying or impossible, but it probably isn't. Its just your structure monkey having a bit of panic!