fairyland cottage

YouTube Channels that Inspired, Comforted & Brought Me Joy in 2020

Posted by Barbara Techel

Here we are…about to say goodbye to 2020. I can feel and hear a collective sigh. But I also hope those lessons we learned will stay with us as I believe we will need them as we move into 2021 and beyond.

One thing for me this year, which I believe I’ve mentioned here before is that I want to continue to be committed to a simple life. One in which I follow the flow of what is in alignment with who I am. 

With that said, this year I discovered some channels on YouTube that inspired me along this theme. I thought maybe you’d enjoy learning about them too. So I share below my list of YouTube creators that inspired me, comforted me, and brought me joy this year. And I know I’ll continue to look forward to their updates in 2021!

They are in no particular order as I’d have a hard time picking one as a favorite. They all have something special to offer!..and a few of them have some animal friends that always make me smile!

Fairyland Cottage – Healthy recipes, simple living, and natural products for health and wellbeing all filmed in Ireland where creator, Niamh lives.

The Cottage Fairy –  Paola (don’t you just love her name?) has the sweetest little country cottage where she shares snippets of her world living as an artist in rural Washington State. I took her up on donating to her channel which brought a darling postcard of her art to me in the mail! It’s now on my bulletin board of inspiration in my Joyful Pause cottage. She also has an adorable black bunny and sweet black Lab, plus now and then you’ll catch a glimpse of her mom’s dachshund!

Kirsten and Joerg – These two are the cutest and most endearing couple! Middle-aged, living in the UK, but originally from Germany. They share travel tips in the UK – English style & fashion – Gluten-free recipes – Romantic Britain – Romantic Interior & Vintage shopping, and so much more.

Trout and Coffee – This man is a beautiful storyteller. Set in quaint New England he shares the cozy cabin he built, plus good times with friends…and of course, coffee is involved too.  🙂

The Unexpected Gypsy – Several years ago, Wendy, an artist, gave up a mortgage, a job & everything familiar to her and traveled around Europe with her partner James in their campervan! It completely changed her life & gave her time to concentrate fully on her art practice. She is now settled (for now!) in the almost smallest city in the UK – Wells and has an art studio just down the road in Glastonbury.

Simple Living with Scandish Home – Try and not fall in love with Noemi. She is so sweet! She posts videos every week about cleaning, organizing, decluttering, gluten and dairy-free recipes, home decor, DIY, and natural living. She’s a watercolor artist who also loves to cook for her family and has a passion to create the coziest home possible.

Dori – an artist who shares updates of her journaling which I find absolutely relaxing and like a meditation!

Daughter of Old – Annabel Margaret is a freelance artist, videographer, green witch, and aspiring herbalist and shares the everyday rhythms of her life as she works in tune with the seasons and alongside nature. She has a passion for the old ways and tries her best to incorporate the practices of old into her daily life whenever she can. And she just got the cutest puppy!!

If any of them call to you I hope you have fun checking them out. Do you have any simple living and inspiring channels you follow on Youtube?  I’d love to know!

Happy New Year!

xo,

Barbara

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Simple Joys and Sharing A Favorite YouTube Channel – Fairyland Cottage

Posted by Barbara Techel

This morning, sitting at my vanity I watched as one squirrel, and then another came for a drink from the birdbath. I could simply watch them all day long!

And then a first for me today as I sliced up oranges and dried them in the oven to use with my holiday decorations. Here are a few tucked in with this centerpiece on my kitchen table.

The simple joys that continue to be what gives me hope. 

I spent the weekend putting up Christmas decorations in my house. Though I use the same decorations, I always find new ways in which to display them. I also decorated the front porch and the window box on Joyful Pause Cottage. Normally I would have bought greens, red birch branches, and birch twigs and logs from a nearby nursery for outside. But this year, used what I already had plus I cut greens from our large pine tree in the backyard.

In some ways so much feels odd, while at the same time familiar with an added sense of accomplishment because I’m using what I already have and finding new ways in which to be creative without having to go out and purchase things.

Over the years I’ve scaled back on my holiday decorations having had about 4 large bins full to now 1 1/2 bins. This still takes me two days to go through and place throughout my home. But it’s something I enjoy and is a creative outlet for me.

I wonder if this year more women will be feeling the need to simplify and just enjoy the season in a new way – a quieter and more contemplative way? It’s been something I’ve done for a few years now, but this year seems even more so. I like it. I sense a collective pause and reflection of what really matters.

When the orange slices came out of the oven I sat down to pause and watch one of my favorite channels on YouTube. I thought you might enjoy it too. It is called Fairyland Cottage. It’s about a young woman who lives in Ireland and embodies a simple life. Watching her videos always feels like a meditation to me. This one, especially so.

Niamh, of Fairyland Cottage, and her way of life, like author and artist Susan Branch, and the late Tasha Tudor are the women I carry with me more and more as I walk through this life. The nudge and pull grow stronger and stronger for me every day. I wonder often if this is where we are headed in our world as we have shifted, adapted, and continue to evolve with this year being the big pause to examine just that.

It’s a world I’d like to see – a simpler one – connected to nature and creativity – and one I will continue to do my best to be in my own little corner of the universe. Those ripples out can surely find their way to others seeking this way too.

So without further ado… but first, perhaps make yourself a cup of tea or your favorite beverage, settle into a comfy chair, and enjoy a sweet peek inside Fairyland Cottage. Niamh has so many important nuggets of wisdom in this video.

XO,

Barbara

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