Living Off the Land by Lorraine Turnbull - Book Tour
Living Off The Land by Lorraine Turnbull @LorraineAuthor @lovebooksgroup #lovebookstours
Synopsis:
To make her dream come true Lorraine Turnbull dragged her new husband and reluctant children away from Glasgow to live the 'Good Life' on a smallholding in Cornwall. Sheep wrestling, making cider, dealing with maggots and a demented mother and all under the pressure of the dreaded Agricultural Occupancy Condition. Lorraine shares the story of the delights and disasters of living off the land in Cornwall and how she finally triumphed over adversity.
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Excerpt
Introduction
Do you ever have a recurring dream? No, not
the one where you’re stark naked in a crowd
of people. A wonderful dream where you are
finally content; at peace and happy because
you have finally achieved that thing that
you have been searching for. You may have been
working towards it for many years; but it’s
always been just out of reach, elusive, tangible
but you can’t quite get there? If you’ve
had a dream like this, then you might be able to
understand my recurring dream.
It’s sunny. I’m working in the orchard
outside a cottage with white-washed walls. The
cottage is surrounded by immaculate gently
rolling green fields full of freshly laundered
fluffy sheep, and the yard filled with the
clucking of chickens. The air is scented with the
tang of wood smoke and honeysuckle and I
know; even though it’s a dream, that I’m
insanely and supremely happy and content.
I’ve had that dream ever since I was five
years old. I used to tell Alex Wotherspoon (my
then boyfriend) that we would get married,
live on the Isle of Lewis and grow potatoes for
a living. None of that ever happened, thank
God, and I’m sure he’s eternally grateful; in fact
the thought of any of this coming true
fills me with horror. But, I have to tell you that to the
secret admiration of some of my cousins and
friends, despair of my mother and frequent
embarrassment of my children, I managed to
live my dream.
This is the real story about how I dragged
my new husband and children from Glasgow
to rural Cornwall, started a smallholding,
ran a successful cider making business and finally
overcame the crushing obstacle of an
Agricultural Occupancy Condition. It’s been a period
in my life crammed full of failures and
successes; of making new friends, living in a
stunningly beautiful and historical part of
Britain and having some of the most memorable
experiences of my life. It’s also been a
journey of self discovery, fulfilment and of
heartbreak and doubt. My children are
adults now pursuing their own very different
careers, but they tell me they have some
wonderful memories of living in Cornwall.
Author Bio
Lorraine Turnbull was born in Glasgow where she lived until 2015 when she and her family moved to a tired bungalow and an acre of land with an Agricultural Occupancy Condition on it in Cornwall. She started a smallholding from scratch, retrained as a horticultural tutor and also worked as a Skills Co-ordinator for The Rural Business School. She began commercial cider making in 2011 and until recently ran a profitable small craft cider business.
In 2014 she was recognised for her contribution to sustainable living by winning the Cornwall Sustainability Awards Best Individual category.
After removing the Agricultural Occupancy Condition on her home she relocated to a smallholding in France.
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