Be unconventional

If you want to... Gentle permission to do as you like.

I don’t usually write christmas posts or look back on my year posts, so when I was considering what to write about at New Year, I realised that all I needed to do was tell you what I got up to in December. Now, I would rather leave the country for 4 weeks than go through being asked at a checkout, “Are you ready for christmas”? one more time. Hibernating is the second best thing to leaving the country, as well as avoiding shops or social media. It's not that I don’t like it - I love seeing family, and I love some downtime. I just want to do it my own way, the way that I enjoy, as opposed to how it “should” be done.

I will never forget my first Christmas alone with my two boys, aged 5 and 7, having moved to a new area with no friends or family around us and struggling emotionally and financially. It was unforgettable, but in a good way, in the end, as I decided to take the boys to Edinburgh Zoo on Christmas day, a snowy, magical day spent wandering around with hot chocolate in a flask, seeing the monkeys and penguins with no crowds. We followed up with pizza and curly fries on the settee back at home with a film. Even my boys, now 20 and 23, remember that year.

This year, Rob and I stayed at an old Prisoner of War camp in Crieff, and it was the most wonderful time. We were visiting my eldest son for Christmas - our first Christmas hosted by my kids - isn’t that a thing? I am very proud of both my boys, who are both studying music in Edinburgh and Paisley, and we don’t see each other that often, so the day was a real treat. My choices were limited when looking for accommodation for just two nights with a dog. A hotel room can be challenging as Skye thinks that the hotel is one big house and gets excited when she hears anyone “come home” anywhere in the hotel and wants to greet them. I prefer self-catering anyway for the freedom of cooking and relaxing in a larger space, but it is hard to find self-catering for two nights only. My search brought up a few hotels that allow dogs, and one place way out in the country, Crieff. On closer examination, it was a camp that had converted a few huts into beautiful self-catering units. Rob loves history, anything to do with the war and could spend days in any museum, so I didn’t delay in just taking a chance and booking it.

As we drove in on Christmas Eve, the camp was slightly eerie, with only one other guest in a hut, and the rest of the camp was deserted. However, it became evident that this was more than self-catering units in a historical site. After the war, it was used by the MOD for the army forces, and it was bought by the Comrie Development Trust in 2007. Now, it is a community resource run by Comrie Development Trust that houses some interesting small businesses, a museum, a cafe and community groups that benefit from the site. There are also allotments, a community orchard, and a community woodland.

On Christmas day, after spending the day with the boys in a much busier Edinburgh, we had some time to really appreciate our stay. Walking in that evening, I felt an instant melting into the quiet space, the hut felt spacious and calmly decorated in pale tones, and we flopped into the living area and spent the evening watching “Eric”

Some evenings just call for being cosy on the settee and a good Netflix series. The quiet, dark nights were a real blessing for me, as I am so used to completely dark skies with no one else around, so this suited me down to the ground. Walking Skye first thing just outside the huts also made life easy, but it was our morning stroll around the camp later that I wouldn’t forget in a hurry.

Everywhere we turned, there was a piece of history and a story to be told, from the disused assault course, the nuclear bunker and the old abandoned army ambulance to the eighty huts in varying conditions throughout the camp. The air was filled with atmosphere and a sense of those who had gone before, and I think it was more pronounced because everything was closed, and there was no one else around at Christmas. It suited us to see it like this, to have the whole place to ourselves to wander around slowly. I would imagine it would be very different in the summer when the shops are open, and there are people around, so I feel glad that we stayed when it was empty and had this lovely opportunity to steep quietly in history.

Many thought I was crazy, a little out there booking a POW camp for Christmas; others smiled at my story of having pizza and curly fries on Christmas day with my young kids, but I simply believe in doing whatever suits you and makes you happy on your days off. You are allowed to go out walking or spend the day photographing or painting, whatever day of the year it happens to be. You can go to bed at 9 pm on New Year's with a hot chocolate if you like ( can you tell me what my plan is ?)

I think you’d be surprised at the amount of people doing unconventional things at Christmas and New Year if they all spoke up. You can do whatever you want to and whatever makes you feel good. You can be unconventional if you want to be.

Skye’s adventures

Skye with the bear she has had since being 10 weeks old called “ Lewis”

In other news, Skye, my 2-year-old whippet, ran away one December morning. She is usually attached to my side and is whistle-trained. She doesn’t like getting up until around 11 a.m. and often has to be dragged out of her bed to go out first thing. Her routine is to go out for a quick pee at 6:30 a.m. before popping back in for a quick breakfast and then scuttling off to the warm spot in bed again till a more acceptable time to wake up.

Until the morning when she took off for no apparent reason in the dark of the morning. Rob and I scrambled into clothes, grabbed torches and her whistle and began searching. An hour later my heart was sinking slowly, and all sorts of thoughts were going through my mind. She has been my constant companion and has been by my side through everything, and I couldn’t bear the thought of her not coming home. Then the phone went, and it was from the school - “Skye is on the school bus and is just doing the drop-off and will be back with you shortly.” The lovely bus driver spotted her, and she happily jumped in and went for a ride with him, so we were very lucky in her safe return. She has a tag and is microchipped, but now she will wear an additional dog airtag just for peace of mind in future!

Bread Making

In December, I began making bread most days. The recipe is at the bottom!

I haven’t been able to eat shop-bought bread for many years now. It hasn’t always stopped me, as one of my weaknesses is toast, so I kept testing this over the years and proving it right. It’s not gluten, and I am not a coeliac.

Bread only needs four ingredients - Flour, yeast, water and salt

Low cost and low quality seem to go hand in hand now on the shelves, so I took a look at what the ingredients of shop-bought bread could have in it that may affect an increasing number of people and their health. When you read the list of ingredients below that could be in shop-bought bread, it feels more like those found in a chemical laboratory.

Flour treatment agent L-ascorbic acid (E300), bleach - Chlorine dioxide gas, Reducing agent - L-cysteine hydrochloride (E920) Preservatives - Calcium propionate/acetic acid, Enzymes ( transglutaminase) Ascorbic Acid, Palm Oil, Emulsifier: E472e, Emulsifier: E481 or Sodium stearoyl-2-lactylate (sodium stearoyl lactylate or SSL) Synthetically derived and added to refined flour: Nicain, reduced iron, Thiamin Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid, Calcium Sulfate.

But as I now try to eat only real food in general and cut out packaged food, I also began to consider bringing bread back into my diet by baking my own. Last year, I began making simple yoghurt-seeded bread bites and rolls in the air fryer. Incredible, tasty, and simple with no rising or kneading involved; I will share that recipe another time! However, my new diet for EBV recovery cuts out yoghurt, which has thrown me but also challenged me. There is also an argument for not eating flour, but I am also trying to be a bit realistic.

As I tried the recipe out for the first time, I realised how mindful the process was for me and how it can be easily linked to calming the whole system. Kneading, rising, folding, shaping, and slowly allowing the bread to take shape isn’t a quick process and combines all the senses- the feel and smell, the look of the dough- as it changes and evolves. Slow skills, which have been almost lost to the need for faster, more convenient food, help us return to a calmer way of life that allows us to connect to ourselves and our food. It quickly became much more than just trying out to make some bread, and I have done it most days since I started.

Here is the recipe I have been using—it has worked every time so far. I have noticed that the big difference is leaving it to rise somewhere really warm, so I have been waiting until later in the day when the fire is lit before popping it in front of it to rise. This seems to work well.

500g Strong bread flour

300-320 ml warm water

7g packet of instant yeast

10g salt

Stir flour, yeast, and salt together, then gradually add water and bring together.

Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes until supple. Place in a lightly greased bowl to rise for 1-2 hours somewhere warm. Knock back and leave it to rise again, but you will be baking it in the container for about another hour.

Thank you for reading! If you did something unconventional this holidays I would love it if you shared it with us in the comments or by email to margaret@margaretsoraya.com

Next time, I will bring news of a new writing retreat with Sean Tucker and final details for the Creative Light Festival in Harris in Oct 2025.

For now, wishing you all the very best, Margaret x