Getting the old house ready for its first winter
The paper doors, the stove, the firewood and the long list we wrote in October, and how much of it we got to.
No. 12Thursday 5 November 2026Free
Rural life writer
Moving to a mountain village, one season at a time
I’m Elspeth. I write about leaving the city for an old farmhouse in a mountain village, and I sell checklists, planners, a first-year guide and two video courses.
- NewGetting the old house ready for its first winter
- Persimmons from the neighbours
- Learning to light a wood stove
Latest posts
A new post every Saturday from the village: one story from an ordinary week.
Online course
My course
Video course · 6 lessons
Look at an Old House Before You Decide
Six short lessons on what to look at, what to ask and what to walk away from.
- What an old house costs you in time
- The roof, the walls and the damp
- Heat, water and the kitchen
- The land, the path and the neighbours
- Visiting in winter
- Deciding, and making a plan
Downloads and merch
Shop
Downloads arrive by email. Merch is printed to order and shipped by Printful.
Moving Out of the City Checklist
Everything to decide, sort and pack in the six months before a move to the country.
PDF · 6 pages
Old House Winter Checklist
One page of jobs to finish before the first snow, from the stove to the pipes.
PDF · 4 pages
Firewood and Stove Log
Sheets for keeping track of firewood, burn days and chimney cleaning through the winter.
PDF · 4 pages
Vegetable Terrace Planner
Gridded sheets to plan a slope garden by season, with a sowing and harvest chart.
PDF · 12 pages
Rural Move Budget Sheets
Sheets for your own monthly costs and savings before and after the move.
PDF · 6 pages
Village First Year Guide
What to do and what to expect in the first twelve months, with a page for each season.
PDF · 40 pages
Hello, I’m Elspeth
Two years ago we sold nearly everything, left the city and moved into a hundred-year-old farmhouse at the end of a steep path. It has paper doors, a wood stove, a roof that needs mending and neighbours who looked at us for a long time before they said hello.
I write one post a week about what it is actually like: the stove, the vegetables on the slope, the persimmons, the neighbours. What I sell is what I wish I had been given before we moved: plain checklists, a planner for the vegetable terraces, a first-year guide, and two courses for anyone dreaming of the same move.
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