How do you fill your cup?

I am so privileged to have a winter all to myself.
A winter in a place of my choice, in a cottage I rented all by myself where I get up when I want, eat what I want, watch what I want and go to bed when I want.
I haven't lived like this in many years and I'm thoroughly enjoying it.

And yet I can feel a little weird about it at times.
Am I selfish?
Should I do more?
Should I do more for others?

But then I remind myself that you can't pour from an empty cup, and that even though my cup doesn't feel empty, it definitely doesn't feel as full as I'd like it to be.
So this time is my time to make sure I can do more and give more of myself in the future.
I have lots of plans and ideas but just not enough energy right now, so it seems.
And that's ok.

I'm taking this time to nourish my body (drinking big glasses of water all day long, remembering to take my supplements, sleeping in as long as my body needs, cooking plant-based meals with lots of colours and flavours ... )
as well as my mind which really really thrives when learning new things. (more about that later I'm sure)

It's not always easy to motivate myself to get out and move every day but a membership at the pool (and sauna!) helps, as well as my camera - my loyal companion on all my walks.

I also find leaving my yogamat out so I step over it on my way to the fridge is super helpful to actually get on it on a regular basis! 😂

I've made a list of things that make my soul happy, and I'm making sure to include at least a couple of those in every day. 💜

One thing I love for example is going through old photos.
I take so many pictures!
They don't necessarily tell a story and often don't make it onto instagram and just occupy space on my external hard drive ... which definitely doesn't make my soul happy, so from now on they will get more space right here!

What makes your soul happy?

xxx

Aina

And so it is

And so it is that I find myself back on the island of my heart.

The place that's been calling me ever since I left.

Where the air smells like home.

A perfect place to reflect.

To rest.

To reconnect.

There's no place like home, they say.

And I can only agree.

The Orion-Hub - a low emission house.

It's a cool but also a slightly strange feeling.

Mum's house is famous!

I'm pretty sure that the text in the images is impossible to read even if you happen to speak French so let me give you the summary:

Mum built a new house. 

It's pretty darn amazing and fits perfectly in between our 4 treehouses and our natural swimming pool.

"Bioclimatique" means that because of the building techniques used the house is extremely energy efficient.

As I lived in this house during the entire summer of 2019 (including 2 heatwaves) I can witness that it stays nice and cool even during the hottest days without any airconditioning, which, according to our architect Bruno Bazire from Trihab, the most important feature any new house should have.

Thank you so much to Nice Matin for this article.

As you can imagine it makes my heart very proud that even Hector got to be in it. 

More images of the house can be found on Trihab's website.

Another summer at Orion B&B!

I've been at Orion for 7 months now & finally summer has officially started.

This winter I repainted the floors of all treehouses,

I got creative with old sheets and repurposed them into little cute weaves that now decorate the walls, I'm crocheting cushions with strips of old hammam towels, and we've taken a hard look at what we serve for breakfast and came up with new low-waste alternatives!

I'm loving it. 

The journey to sustainability is a long one, but we're on it, and it's oh so fulfilling. 

One of the things we get asked for the most is our granola recipe.

I won't copy it here because I've already posted it on the Orion blog which finally has come to be too! 

I'm full of energy for this summer. 

I'll be cleaning the pool, serving breakfast & teaching yoga like there's no tomorrow.

I'll also be cleaning more treehouses and do more laundry and ironing than I care to think about at the moment ... but it will be done with LOVE!

Come and stay!

#whynottoday?

Horse lover Heaven

Quintessential Englishness.

Or English Countryside-ness at the very least, or how it should be, in my mind anyway.

The prettiest gingerbread house with rescued battery-farm chickens happily scuttling around the most perfect garden.

Two snoozing dogs each in their own chair in a colourful & bright open plan living area with a perpetually hot stove, teapot always at the ready. 

And horses! 

It's too bad I only met P. in September ... back then I didn't know I'd leave only 2 months later.

We found each other through a friend of a friend on Facebook. 

She was looking for someone to go riding with, since 5 horses is a bit much for one person on her own.

I was totally up for it.

As you can imagine, when you feel your relationship starting to crumble, it's a real luxury to be able to forget about it all once a week and go for a lovely hack in nature, in what soon appeared to be the loveliest company. 

What do you think my chances are of finding such a win-win situation in France? 😇

Life lessons

Today is the first day I can allow myself to grieve.

Today I don’t have any plans, I’m by myself and I can just sit down and let everything wash over me.

It’s the first day I can fully contemplate the consequences of my decision.

That decision was to leave England.

To leave a relationship.

To leave the life I’ve been busy building for the last 20 months.

A relationship that maybe I was a little naive to dive headfirst into, as I did. 

A life that maybe I wouldn’t have constructed the way I did had I not been part of the dynamic I was part of. 

Part of me wants to be the kind of person who holds on, who tries, who fights, who never gives up.

The reality is however, that the part of me that wants to be free always wins.

Why do I always find myself in situations I don’t feel free?

Or maybe the question is, why don’t I feel free when I’m in a relationship?

Have I not found the right kind of relationship yet?

Or am I the kind of woman who just needs to be on her own?

Right now I’m back at my mum’s.

Back to Base, as she calls it. 

Curiously enough my sister arrived the day before I did. Without planning to. 

Needing to be here for reasons completely her own. 

There’s probably more lessons to be learned here for the 3 of us than anywhere else in the world. 

About love. About family & belonging. 

About letting go. About being vulnerable yet strong. 

About deep breaths & tolerance. 

About non-attachment, non-judgement. 

About being ourselves.

7 days of Detox

Just like last summer when the effects of lazy holiday life were becoming a little too obvious we decided to go on a little detox.

It was supposed to last 10 days, but it became 7 because of a party invitation we gladly accepted.

We haven't eaten as well in the last 7 days as any 7 days previous to this week, and much of that is thanks to my friend Sarah who wanted my help taking pictures for a recipe e-booklet.

I guess the hardest part was cooking early enough to have enough daylight to actually take an ok picture.

At least 2 recipes will have to be redone to get it right. Not that I mind.

In my opinion, the 4 things you need to successfully change a habit, or commit to a certain period of healthy eating:

1. a plan of some sort (in this case a couple of really fun recipes and a shopping list)

2. preparation time (it's so easy to make excuses if you don't have the right ingredients at home)

2. a clear understanding of WHY you are doing what you're doing

3. a buddy, partner in crime, or at least someone to hold you accountable

I had all these things and because I'm convinced that just about anyone can benefit from more vegetables in their diet I'm sharing my favourite new recipe with you:

Colourful Detox Salad (serves 2 respectably hungry adults):

Before you get started: I used a knife & box grater to prepare my vegetables.

If you're in a hurry you can toss the veg (individually) in a food processor and quickly process.

You'll need:

• 2 cups cauliflower florets (about ½ of a small head of cauliflower)
• 2 cups broccoli florets (roughly 1 small broccoli)
• 1 cup red cabbage, chopped in thin strips (¼ of a small cabbage)
• 1 cup carrots, roughly grated or cut into pieces if you like more crunch
• 2 celery stalks chopped into thin slices.
• 1 cup almonds
• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds (unsalted)
• 1/3 cup organic raisins
• a handful of fresh parsley 

(If you don't have a cup measure you can use pretty much anything that roughly holds about 235ml. Improvise!)

& for the vinaigrette:

• 3 tbsp olive oil
• the juice of one lemon
• 1 tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and grated
• 2 tbsp honey or maple syrup
• 1/2 tsp sea salt

Place the ingredients for the vinaigrette in a jar. Place the lid on the jar and shake!

(If you don't have a jar you can obviously place all the ingredients in a bowl and whisk.)

Chop & toast the almonds. (Don't step away from the pan. You know they'll burn the minute you do!)

Lightly boil the cauliflower and the broccoli (2-3 minutes).

Add all of the salad ingredients to a large bowl and toss with the vinaigrette. Done!

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Tell me what you think!