Hi I’m Kathy and I’ve been living in Voditsa off and on since 2006. Although I’ll always be a Geordie and Newcastle is where I grew up, I consider this lovely village to be my home now. Sometimes people ask me if I’ve retired (cos I’m old) but I dont think I have anything to retire from because I consider my occupation in life to be A Traveller. I’ve lived in a number of different countries and passed through a lot more and right now I’m really happy to be back in Voditsa getting stuck into our latest project for the next couple of years.
I’ve been so lucky to have spent almost 10 years in Voditsa most of that time in the garden at St. James Park. Elly always laughs because when people come to the house and they want to look around, I lead them into the garden first and not the house. I love growing things although I do lack patience when it comes to seeds – thats a new challenge for myself this year. But being here for such a long time means that I can see wonderful mature trees that have grown from cuttings that I planted.
Most people dont have a garden that is 2000sq, metres and to be fair, this garden used to be a field. I remember the day after it was ploughed in 2006 and I stood there looking at a huge expanse of brown earth and felt very overwhelmed! But it all worked out – with the help of a lot of people over the years and now we’re talking about relandscaping it and cutting down some trees to enhance the views. Our neighbour Jorge calls it The Park.
I guess the only thing that I have retired from is the stressful life of work, money and debt in a developed country. I like getting my hands dirty in order to grow my own food. I don’t care that we don’t have flushing toilets and I like the fact that we have to chop the wood in order to keep warm in the winter. Also, like Elly, I love the seasonality of our lives. I now understand that the sun and the light are very different from climate and weather and I’m happy that my body and my mind connect with the sun and moon without me really doing anything! Having just spent 3 years in a very rapidly developing country, China, where consumerism and senseless overpackaging hit you at every turn, I appreciate my life in Voditsa all the more.
I’ve been writing some stories about my life and if you’re interested, please have a look.