guest blogger: our little house in the big woods

I'm so excited today to have a guest blog post from Donni of Fairyfolk and her beautiful blog, The Magic Onions.

She takes us on a charming photo tour of their nature escapes from the city - thank you Donni for sharing this inspiration with us.

How do you camp? In our family, we're in the throes of planning and putting together our own city-escape-plan... we looked into buying, and fixing up a VW Camper (my mister mister had one growing up), a beautiful remodeled, non toxic Airstream camper.. and have now decided to get a big canvas wall tent from Alaska (after all). Can't wait to put it all together to do some camping late this fall or next spring... I'll definitely share all the photos/links/research when I finalize it.

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Our little house in the Big Woods

 Our little family of 4 live in Los Angeles, surrounded by miles upon miles of urban metropolis. My husband and I have struggled enormously with living such an urban existence. He grew up in the pristine beauty of New Zealand's forests and I spent my childhood on the dusty plains of Africa. Both of us feel more comfortable in a country setting and yet, our life's path has brought us to settle in one of the worlds largest cities. I fought this path vehemently in the beginning. I wanted to bring my children up with the wind in their hair, the fresh scent of open spaces in their hearts. I pleaded and begged with destiny to take us to the forest, the mountains, the meadows. But, alas, it seemed she had other plans for us. It was only when I stopped fighting her, stopped focussing on what I 'didn't have', that I could see that what I did have was so much more important. And, can you believe, it was then that she gave me my hearts desire!

Two years ago, on New Years Day, we passed a campervan parked on the side of the road with a 'For Sale' sign on it. Although we hadn't even entertained the thought of buying an RV until that very moment, we stopped our car, called the number on the sign, scrounged together the asking price of $6000 and, on utter impulse, bought her there and then!

Oh boy, has she changed our lives! She has given us the open spaces, the meadows, the mountains, the forests. She has given us memories and happy times. She has strengthened our family love, our marital love, our Earthly love. She is a blessing in our lives.

Often, on Friday afternoons, the kids and I pack her with what we'll need for the weekend. We put our food in her fridge and fresh linens on her beds. A Good Man knocks off work early, hitches her up to his truck and off we set, excited for the adventures ahead.

She has a place for everything - our jackets hang on the hooks at the door...

 

 

K makes sure she doesn't forget her comfy pillow...

Sometimes, she is our little home in the big woods, sometimes our little house on the prairie and, just last weekend, she was our cabin in the mountains.

First thing I do when we arrive, is set out our pretty table cloth...

 

My Teddy Bear goes straight to play in the dirt...

 

 

A Good Man "unhitches" and "hooks up" while I make us some coffee...

 

 

Kitty goes off in search of new friends...

 

We make new friends too...

 

 

We light the fire...

 

and cook our dinner...

Wholesome food, with the flavor of fresh air...

 

 

We pop popcorn...

We roast marshmallows...

 

 

We have late nights...

 

 

Sometimes, we sleep well. Sometimes, the children wake up in the night and we all end up in the same bed. Often, we wake up at dawn, ready to explore our new surroundings.

We walk in the woods...

 

 

We feel the texture of grasses in our hands...

Sometimes, it rains. But we don't care... we get wet. We let the raindrops splash on our faces. We notice how clean and vibrant the rain makes everything look and feel...

We spot our favorite things...

We discover magic...

I have found that when you let go, that when you take a deep breath into your very soul and quieten those rumbling of discontent, that when you truly accept that you will make the most of what you have, you find that what you have been wanting so badly all along, is actually right there in your hands.

Blessings and magic,

Donni