Country Living Journal
My escape to Country Life

... will we ever hear the end of reality tv ?

CITY GIRLS head to the Country (Reality TV Programme)
Nzoom.com - New Zealand
... The one qualification for these women is that they all have a desire
to try another lifestyle - to experience country living for real....

Unplugging UPN's Amish Experiment? (Reality TV)
(E! Online)
Lawmakers have blasted UPN for its proposed Real World-like reality series that would
feature Amish teens living it up in the big city ....

ANGRY Villagers Take Common Case to the High Court
The Scotsman - Edinburgh,Scotland,UK
... Householders in a similar plight across the country - living in what
they describe as "Villages of the Scammed" - accuse "unscrupulous"
land owners ...

Feds Part of Tribe Pushing for New Casino
(Associated Press)
A once-tiny, nearly destitute American Indian tribe is pushing hard to build a $100 million casino; but it's not traditional tribal members gunning for riches.

I am up to my neck in a new work project, so I haven't updated in a few days, but have loads of stuff I want to share ... when I get a minute !! Meantime here are a few stories about rural living around the globe that struck a chord with me.

Use of Internet in Rural Areas Increases
Associated Press
Use of the Internet in rural communities has increased, but still lags that of city dwellers and suburbanites, according to a new survey.

BLUE Cypress's remoteness one of its biggest attactions
Vero Beach Press-Journal - Vero Beach,FL,USA
... The February 2003 issue of "Country Living" depicted the 1958 trailer
of Charlotte Terry, a Vero Beach resident who represents people buying
beach homes in ...

'GO west' and escape Sydney's train chaos
Dubbo Daily Liberal - Dubbo,New South Wales,Australia
A cheeky campaign to advertise the benefits of country living alongside
train timetable delays is being considered by Dubbo City Council. ...

THE Window sill Snake: A true and disturbingly vivid account
Dover Community News - Dover,NH,USA
... theory. At any rate, this was country living, where the flora grows
green, and the fauna drops in for the occasional visit. Marc ...

LOG cabins are growing in popularity
Quad City Times - Davenport,IA,USA
... The interest in log homes is I think growing every year," said Barry
Tripp, promoter of the Titan Log Home & Country Living Show this weekend
at the ...

SIP local bubbly with your sweetie
Fredericksburg.com - Fredericksburg,VA,USA
... Barboursville Vineyards' Barboursville Brut also has gained national
attention, and is featured in the February edition of Country Living magazine.

TREASURE hunt takes rain check
Houston Chronicle - Houston,TX,USA
... in. But I'll try again next trip. I've had enough country living for
a while, so I'm heading home. See you back at the house. You ...

One of the very nicest things about country life, is the fact that people generally take the time to "pass the time" with you.
In the city as I went about my day to day routine, I very rarely made eye contact with strangers, or the people I passed on the street. Like all the other ants in the colony I carried along on my own sweet path completely oblivious to all of the other people around me. It was almost as if the other people who inhabited the space around me in the city (i.e. those outside my family, and personal circle of friends), were irritating obstacles in my path as I carried on with what to my mind were my own highly important daily tasks !

For example, as part of my get fit regime (that's a whole other story... ), I have recenly taken, every other day, to walking in a local ancient forest which has been beautifully preserved and mapped out with enchanting walking paths. It is a place of truly awe inspiring serenity and beauty. This ancient forest is indeed a treat to the senses, where most of the trees are many hundreds of years old, and even a few which might even have reached the ripe old age of 1000 years ! There are beautiful rivers and ponds, with every kind of vegetation you could dream of, and even in the depths of winter it is a riot of colour. I read on the public information boards posted around the reserve, that even the anthills in the forest are old ... with some of the ant families loyal to the same tree for over 150 years ! Anyway, I digress ... each day as I have walked thru this magicial woodland, without exception every single person I have met has saluted me with a smile and a simple "hello" or a "good morning" or "fine day for walking" ... all the more surprising is the fact that due to the beauty of the West Cork, all year round many of the walkers I met are city dwellers often from other countries as well as the Irish.

What is it about being in the country side that makes us all relax, chill out, and turns even the most brusque city dweller into a civil smiling chatty individual ? Whatever it is I like it ... if we could only bottle it ... we could again bring back civility to the whole world !!

I think the poem below sums it up far more eloquently than I could ever dream to ...

Leisure
"What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stop and stare.

No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.

No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.

No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.

No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.

No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.

A poor life this, if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare."

By: W. H. Davies

City slickers go bush ...
Bendigo Advertiser - Bendigo,Victoria,Australia

... of the Bush - a group of leading regional businesses - the campaign
seeks to encourage city residents to come and experience a weekend of
country living. ...

One of the pleasant aspects of living in the country is the fact that the cost of living is noticeably cheaper. Perhaps its the fact that we do not spend our lives in the malls, and shopping centres like we seemed to when we lived in the city. But in general the price and quality of goods, seems to provide better value overall. One exception we have noticed is that our land line phone bills did go up significantly when we arrived, the reason being of course that we were making a lot more long distance or national calls as opposed to local calls as previously. Thankfully the web came to the rescue again and we were able to get a much cheaper provider and we signed up online, and made great savings with FoneValue. Now, if anyone knows how I can cut our mobile phone bills, do let me know ....

I have to admit, I like a little wager from time to time, and I came across this useful online roulette information site.

For the last few days the weather has been just horrible, mainly cold rain and blustery weather. As the growth season has already started, I have felt the building pressure to get out into the much ignored garden and clear up some of the winter debris, weed the beds and all that jazz. Fortunately however the weather has kindly oblidged and has kept me indoors. Today, I have been cajoled into painting one of the bedrooms that we rennovated shortly after arriving .... another job left on the long finger !! Eventually I gave in to Una, and agreed that today would be the day for the big paint job !! What happens .... the most glorious sunny spring day you could dream of, not a wisp of a breeze and beautiful warm sunshine .... and here am I stuck inside smelling paint fumes and cursing those awkward corners ..... I guess I just have to console myself that at least I can look out on a sparkling spring day .... Grrrrrr !!!

It seems some people's dream of escaping the city is worth any risk ...

RISK doesn't deter growth in fire-prone areas
USA Today
... Williams' country living falls within what foresters call the "wildland-urban
interface," open land beyond the bustle but susceptible to one of nature's
most ...

I've previously mentioned our local doctor on call service Southdoc. Indeed in deciding to move to the country with young children, a major concern was the reasonable availability of medical services. Well the other night, we had to put them to the test. Our little one, was very ill and was running a fever, and Una and I were very concerned about the Big 'M' (meningitis). We called Southdoc, and spoke to the nurse on call who was very calming, a doctor called us back within 15 minutes and following a discussion with the doctor, we decided that the doctor should see her. We had a choice to wait for 1 - 2 hours for the doctor to arrive, or bring the child to our local Southdoc centre, which we chose and the child was seen at Midnight and all our fears were addressed. You only realise how important such services are when you need them .... Thank You Southdoc !