home – Penny Reilly Artist Beyond the Gate

Dreaming the future…

What does your core tell you about the current way of living?

How does environmental and human distress, impact on your daily consciousness?

Do you get out of bed each day and continue the same old same old that no longer satisfies any but your basic income needs but too panicked to realise any alternatives? Are you living your life in fear or joy?

If you tick yes, to any of the above, what are you doing to navigate the pitfalls of continuing on the same path versus those of changing to a more holistic approach?

Can you envisage an alternative route that still pays those unavoidable bills, brings you joy, fulfils and covers your basic needs without the stress of the tick tock world we live in?

Take a moment… slow down and listen to birds calling, trees rustling bare branches… can you smell late winter scents… breath… or can you only hear traffic and smell car fumes?

I’ve been talking to trees
they reply
in rustling commentary
Listening to birds
along the promontory
They whisper and scream
but the message is the same
Go to the hills
find the silence
…leave the noise again
Where will you be
when the earth makes her escape
Where will you live
with earth’s shuddering earthquake
What good is a sterile life
fed from supermarket stores
What will you eat
when they have closed their doors
You cannot eat
your botox lips
or taloned fingertips
You cannot feed your soul
stale bread and chips
Take stock as winds change
What do the trees whisper
…do you listen
to their wisdom of old
Where will you be
when solar winds set you free
safe in your bed
…or outside in the cold

I woke up this morning recalling vividly a long dream I had last night. I was walking the boundaries of our land, trailing delicate long sticks, one in each hand. In my left was Willow and in my right, Alder. I was humming a tune that I don’t consciously know or remember, but it still resonates with me as if I know it well from somewhere deep inside.

Moisture rose from the ground in the grooves the sticks were making as I trailed them behind me. Our land disappeared into the mist, a canopy forming like a dome over and below it. I woke feeling nurtured and protected from the everyday madness of the world.

What does your core tell you about this current way of living, so many cling to and yet so many are lost and entangled in, some, without truly knowing why?

What does your future dreaming consist of?

What can you do, even on the smallest scale, to create a sense of community and unity with neighbours, family and friends?

We dream… we all dream, sadly mostly of ‘one day when,’ with little appreciation of today, this moment and the fact that we’re here, alive, sentient and uniquely individual. We can become disheartened, forget that we can make a difference wherever we are on this beautiful earth home simply by needing/wanting less… not playing into the hands of the 1%.

What I refer to here isn’t about pottering in a garden or even taking a stroll in the park, rather more, finding a deeply rooted connection with all that is and looking at why we left or as many seem to think based on religious stories, kicked out of the garden for being naughty… well right now we are more than naughty and not just in the biblical sense, because the world that sustains us is diminished and creatures who have as much right to be in this proverbial garden as us, are dying out in droves and we are apparently blind!

Where
do you go
when the enormity
the tragedy
gives you no space
to breath
I wish at times
I was at one
with the breeze
…not the winds of war
knocking at every door
…without exception
No, this breeze
mischievous
wild
grants hope
without perfection
Simply raw
asking for nothing
giving more
than the tangled framework
of twisted minds
playing at kings and heroes
in a countdown
of digital ones and zeros
…stealing the light of souls
as the world rolls
leaking corruption
into oblivion
No
this breeze lifts me
away from the gloom
no sense of doom
filtering light and life
through the room
expounding courage
for others who need
yet, the 1%,
aware of their deeds
we all must confront
Stand up
let there be
no escape for them
…or thus
on that playful breeze
there will be
no escape for me
…for us

It’s not about hoarding as some have said about self sufficiency, rather about not having to dash to the shops for things we have no idea of re their origin, treatment (sprays and gassing) or road miles/fuel consumption but the feeling of satisfaction, when you know exactly where your produce is coming from.

If every person did just a little, we could feed the world.

So while I craft away at my art and the next book that’s very slowly taking form, and winter vegetables are harvest ready in the greenhouse, I think of the rat race life once led and commiserate with those caught on the proverbial treadmill. In order to leave said rat race behind, one has to want more in terms of peace and freedom but less in terms of status, things and more, more, more of everything.

We lack for nothing, despite high rates and the general cost of items we simply cannot grow or make ourselves, but then they’re not the throw away kind of things… not prestigious, not empty and sterile but full of life, (we party too), community and simplicity…

When did we decide we didn’t need nature?

I know there are many like-minded people “out there,” I speak to them daily and see the regular posts of information on climate conditions, which means nobody can claim ignorance and yet, governments approved more coal and gas harvesting, more old growth forest pillaging and as a result many creatures have lost their home territories and we feel we have the right to this… the end result may well be that we will lose ours!

AND DON’T GET ME STARTED ON DATA CENTRES!!!! Yes that’s me yelling, then.

Well… that got that off my chest but, that said, does anyone else feel as if there is no return from the horror of the world right now… and I won’t get started on the war, madness and mayhem?

I ask you again… when did we decide we didn’t need nature?

When did we disconnect from her energy and bounty. When did we believe her resources were infinite and that we could plunder them endlessly? When did we allow bees to die for the convenience of being fed by conglomerates rather than farmers, gardeners, local produce merchants or from our own back yards?

When did food, created practically in science labs, become more important than the growing of food in a garden or wild crafted gently from the environment in season. Yet, everything, absolutely everything comes from nature. Even man made creations have their foundation in her and she is the only planet we know of where we can survive… so why are we destroying our unique, crazy paradise when there is no Planet B?

Start slowly… deeply analyse your needs. What are you waiting for that delays taking those first steps?

You don’t need a squillion acres of land to begin a journey of rediscovering what our ancestors always knew and with today’s kitchen and garden books/videos and a few simple aids, we can quickly become garden and kitchen pros. At least enough to fill a pantry with healthy fare, enough to share.

A small garden, a verandah or balcony, a little greenhouse, or even a kitchen bench is a place to begin a new journey of discovery.

Yes, we planned ahead by observing the trends evident to all and we made the time earlier on (despite raising four children and working full time for many years), yet here we are, dedicated to the natural world, enjoying our life with no need for influencers, dedicated only to their own self image and sales quotas.

Dare to dream the future… dare to dream there will be a bright one for your children, grandchildren… great grandchildren…

Walk softly… edit the dream when it no longer describes your purpose… blessed Imbolc or Lughnasadh… Awen /|\

Penny

It’s not always a bed of roses… or carrots…

As self-sufficiency and homesteading skills are shared (and methods sold) across social media, verging on hysteria, I need to say, please don’t get sucked in by the romanticism set before you. It’s not about going backwards to the Middle Ages, rather to embrace old ways of being and bring them into this century. Many apparently, don’t understand the concept of off grid living, assuming we are completely without any form of electricity at all… this is a myth. A good solar unit generates as much power needed to run a normal household. Fridge, freezer, computers, TV, lighting, power tools, my studio tools, etc., etc… we live simply but not in the dark ages and are careful not to overload the system with unnecessary gadgets. We don’t, for instance own a dishwasher (water catchment and storage are more important)… and, we have two pairs of hands.

Words are often thrown at me, such as, ‘you’re so lucky’. Well, sorry folk, there’s no luck involved, it’s methodical planning. It’s sometimes extraordinarily hard work to feed a community from a veggie patch, greenhouse and orchard. It’s weather dependent; seasonal, so it means planning ahead… it means growing what you like but also what grows well and in season, in your particular area. It’s no good my attempting to grow mangoes in a cold climate anymore than Brussel sprouts grow well in far North Queensland… and then there is the pests and predator balance to uphold.

We dreamed for many years as our children grew and set out on their own life path. We grew our own veggies and fruit to some extent and had a few hens but with four growing kids and us both working full time… you know, rates, mortgage, utilities, car registration, insurances, school fees and uniforms and running around madly taking the kids to one place or another. It was a busy life and our dream was on hold to own acres of rural land. Where we lived was like a mini trial run for the farm.

Things suddenly changed… the kids were gone, we both had jobs that we weren’t particularly content with and as things would have it, we found ourselves on the brink of making that change.

Many years ago, we found our acres in Victoria in the forested and rolling green hills, with an old derelict, 100 year old plus, barn and a derelict dairy. It’s a long tale as to how we found and acquired it, but I’ll save it for the book, currently in the writing process. (Watch this space, as the saying goes.) Needless to say, it’s a magical tale, but luck really has nothing to do with it, and we still had to work to pay for the land and for setting up the farm.

We dreamed and fulfilled our dream and then the hard work began… renovating, building greenhouses, planting an orchard and fruit vines… none of which was free. Self-sufficiency is a hard won lifestyle… we saved and had a state of the art solar system installed, which we never regret spending our money on. Even so, there are still rates to pay, a tractor, fuel for tractor and hay/grass slasher, hen feed for winter, storage containers for produce, a freezer, a dehydrator, a water pump, a generator for auto-backup in uber-cold winters, when the sun is a bit light on, (despite a battery array for storing electricity), and not to mention the cost of building everything, (and we used as much recycled timber and iron as we could lay our hands on) such as bathroom, kitchen, a plumber, a solar electrician. (A must to do properly for certificates.)

Our barn/build reno, we designed and built ourselves, but then there’s planning and building permits, site inspections…. And, and, and!

Often people are caught up in the pretty pictures on social media of women in flowing dresses and straw hats skipping between overflowing, perfectly manicured vegetable beds, with equally manicured fingernails and full makeup! Photos of buffed, bronzed young men, scything and bringing in the hay harvest, single handed, while children and women, serve lunch on gleaming platters, smiling smugly and all clean and tidy… this is Hollywood style.

Then there are those pics and reels of women in floral aprons, mixing and baking, chopping and filling glass jars, with not a stain or a sticky batch of cores and peelings to be seen, when a very messy kitchen is far more the reality of homesteading. Super clean, but very messy and outside in the garden, nature is messy too, not neat rows of equally sized plants, denuded of weeds around them. There has to be biodiversity, companion planting for natural bug control and a wild garden to me is the prettiest garden but none of the above are reality. Gardening is becoming a part of nature, not controlling it… or a least attempting to and that’s a fools game.

I paused while writing this to take a short break and, lo and behold, there was an ad for an online course on Instagram on how to decorate interiors in farmhouse style. Once again, I collapsed in giggles… this is not a show or a rehearsal for life… it’s real; make it your own!

So below are a few very random shots of our barn interior… clean, often a little untidy with kitchen doings and goings on… the dining room table is covered with greenhouse plans for the new build in progress but I haven’t photoshopped, or teased to make it idyllically pretty… but it is… it’s home, it’s us… and my kitchen window has a view to our northwest boundary and the dam.

Anyone beginning this journey needs to find a middle road between fantasy and reality. Yes, a healthy body is the result of constant work outside in the fresh air, and we may well sit outside at sunset with a luscious platter of homegrown produce, but often by that time, we’re happily exhausted and often quite grubby, so dinner and a movie are often the more likely outcome to day’s end.

But then… I pause again at stove or sink in my very rustic kitchen, to listen to the birds call, admire a vase of fresh-cut roses and bunches of herbs hanging to dry. I watch the creatures that come and go through our farm from forest edge across to forest edge on the other side and I smile… because the hard work, while dreaming, working with and watching, all this life, is worth more than a hefty bank balance, it’s worth the dirty hands, muddy shoes, and wet winters. A constant cycle of observances like seasonal rituals of abundance, (most years) emerge and gratitude overflows for the fact that we dared to take the steps needed to slow the pace of our working years, moving us into a loose, rhythmic dance of life…

Waiting

for the world

to shift a gear

to slow the pace

of a working year

Slow down

let the season

show the way

drifting

into shorter nights

a longer day

Let go

the thought of chores

instead

honour what you have

what is yours

Make each moment count

appreciate the quality

not the amount

Let go

the broken thoughts

the lost dreams

the might have beens

Refocus

your misted-over dreams

as a silken breeze

indicates the change

open windows

take stock

rearrange

Think less to control

allow the flow

meander

ramble on

waiting for a heart response

Hold what is dear

close there

in a silent prayer

of gratitude

then breath

…let all else go

So don’t be fooled… this lifestyle is a philosophy about doing our bit to help this beautiful planet recover from the dreadful things we’re continuing to do as a species, and in full knowing that we’re killing the only place we have to live.

Recycle, refurbish, renew, reupholster, repurpose. Celebrate what you have.

We grow food that is free of any additives, unpackaged, raw foods, full of nutrition, (because we take care of the soil to keep it rich in nutrients) because seriously… there is no Planet B. But, if this life calls you, don’t be disillusioned, get dirty and creative, grow your own food and reconnect with the seasonal tides and shifts… dive in and feel free to chat if you need an understanding of the process we’ve experienced everyday for nearly thirty years and we wouldn’t change a thing… not even for a photo shoot of me in a flowing dress, silver hair loose and tangled, skipping through fields of wildflowers… and although I can/could… it’s done in secret without manicure or makeup, accompanied by hens and a crazy wee doglet… 😀

I don’t need

sparkly objects

…I have the stars

nor heavy, expensive rugs

I have the lush green grass

…a bed of fallen leaves

Man made perfumes

I need not

for wildflowers bloom here

moss and lichen

add their earth tones

on the fragrant skin of trees

Give me this

and the call of birds

…to dive into

With warm wishes and blessings…

Penny

Author of nine books, with number ten on the way, and a professional artist/photographer and herbalist, you can also find Penny on Instagram and Facebook.

Changing skies… changing landscape… changing year…

I took a wee sabbatical and it’s been a couple of weeks since my last post but brightest blessings for 2024.

Family gatherings have been high on the priority list and with their departure it’s been more difficult for me to get myself back into a routine of daily writing. It’s been an interesting time, social media and blog free and very tempting to remain so but as author and artist it’s ‘the way’ to maintain a presence and to, as we all have do, make a living… although I try not to push my work on my followers and subscribers.

Before we knew it, another year passed and we’re half way through January. Flux and change have been the predominant aspects of these last years more than ever and I think we all may need to reimagine our lives, even reinvent ourselves, to find a simpler way of being that encompasses change and allows for more of a flow through.

Perpetual flow

rolling in

season to season

Blessed days of sunshine

rain and shadow

reflected

in how we

walk our way

in balance

wading

through emotional

waters deep

or rivulet shallow

or exhilarated

dive

immersing self

into life

and grounded

let seeds fall

in fields, once fallow

Needing less, wanting less, declutters our spaces, just as it declutters our entire lives… freeing us from having to maintain and care for items long redundant. I’m really not saying we rid ourselves of cherished items, loved for many reasons or to live the lives of monks and nuns, but rather to see how clearing space of physical things, also clears our internal space, our very consciousness, of so much neediness. There are always others that truly need what we hang onto, senselessly. I don’t do New Year’s resolutions quite honestly but this could be just the one we can easily adhere to… letting go those out-worn things.

We started our yearly declutter in the pantry, cleaning and checking use-by dates on home preserves or canned good and checking that dry goods such as flour or cereals were not invaded by weevil. What a simple task and yet what a lovely feeling to know our pantry is clean and renewed… actually making room for this year’s harvest as it comes around.

This is abundance for me… fruit and vegetables, flowers in bloom; mostly those that provide sustenance and that can be frozen, dried or bottled/preserved in a well stocked pantry that is constantly used and replenished as produce is harvested. No clutter to be seen ☺️

This year our olive trees flowered profusely but whether they will produce after the very cool wet summer we’ve had is another matter. Their scent is wonderful and their bloom so delicate and pretty.

As the summer season heads towards autumn at a frightening speed. and Lughnasadh is but three weeks away, hay harvest is done and there is an early chill on the air… although our summer’s are getting cooler and more like those of twenty five years ago. Our deciduous trees are changing their cloaks of green to amber hues very early, dahlia are in bloom and autumn berries are already ripening in the hedgerows.

…and so the wheel turns on again, birth, renewal, harvest, death and rebirth cycles on and on… where do you find your peace in the war-torn landscape of life?

There is a place

that we can go

beyond the muddy

tales of woe

where waters pool

in depths that glow

with dreams of hope

renewing

where bee-sung songs

drone of peace and plenty

bird-chorus sings

of a life never empty

With nature’s rhythm

gently flow

barely rippling the grass

…walk softly

In stillness lies

a sense of peace

within the mists

and the sound of wings

and in the silence between

a song up-drifts

and bird calls

the heart uplifts

our senses soar

in stillness growing

in deepest silence

across waters flowing

In nature’s rhythm

gently flow

barely rippling the grass

…walk softly

Wishing you all peace in 2024…

Penny

Beyond the Gate Studio and Farm