A Fresh of Breath Air: Rural Pursuits - The first move

An account of the hilarious mix-ups and misadventures that occur when a family abandons its everyday life and, metaphorically, jumps off the edge of a cliff into the unknown of a completely different life-style. Andrea and Ian Outen are townies, but have always dreamed of a life in the country. Winter evenings, since their marriage, have been spent dreaming of a rural life, away from the traffic, and hustle and bustle of their everyday lives in the town. Many years into their marriage, and now with four children, they find themselves, once more, sitting in front of their hissing gas fire and dreaming of a real fire of tangy apple logs. Once more, they commence their trawl through the pages of property papers, and this time they actually decide to view a few places in the countryside, just for the hell of it. Expecting this to be an expansion of the usual pipe-dream, Andrea sets off on their trip, expecting to find nothing to match up to her dream of rural paradise, and is completely bowled over, when they find exactly the right place, at almost the right price. This wasn't supposed to happen, was it? What would happen to all their lovely pipe-dreams? But the pace of events overwhelms her and, before she can catch her breath, they are en-route for, not just a new home, but a new way of life as well. This book chronicles the tale of their first year as 'turnips'; the highs and lows of a more self-sufficient life, and the profound changes this makes to them. Chickens and giddy goats make their appearance, as does a hunt for the local ghost; and life, in general, becomes much more interesting and unexpected.