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Short filmTranscript
00:00Over the last two years, I have followed families who, like me, have sold up and moved to the country.
00:07You didn't get this in Bracknell!
00:11No!
00:13Why isn't everybody doing this?
00:15You shut your eyes and you listen and it's everything that I wanted.
00:18Since then, the world has turned upside down.
00:22We're having to turn people away, we've been that busy.
00:25It has been relentless.
00:27A lot of blood, sweat and tears, and a lot of tears from me.
00:31Oh, Sam, this is lovely.
00:33It's just amazing.
00:34So I want to know...
00:36Oh, wow!
00:38Was it worth it?
00:40The last thing you said to me was that this is the best thing you'd ever done.
00:44Do you still feel that way?
00:47Today, I'm catching up with the Kalils, a couple who went to great lengths for a brand new start.
00:55Most wives want handbags.
00:57I want sheds, ovaries and tunnels.
00:59Yeah.
01:02After having open heart surgery not once, but twice...
01:06First thing I said when I woke up, I was like, I'm going to Scotland.
01:09They quit the rat race and moved hundreds of miles.
01:12Looking forward to the eggs.
01:14Swapping Berkshire for rural Scotland.
01:18Happy walk. Walk.
01:20So now, more than a year since I last saw them and their menagerie of animals,
01:25I'm going back to see how country life is treating them.
01:29Does this really epitomise what you were dreaming of back in Bracknell?
01:35Yeah, yeah. Everyone's paradise is different, isn't it?
01:45Dreaming of moving to the countryside is the easy bit.
01:48Actually doing it takes some courage.
01:51And for Charlie and Sammy Kalil, it took a life-changing, no, life-threatening event for them to make the move.
02:02Charlie and Sammy have long been fed up living in the busy town of Bracknell,
02:07where they have not one, but two busy motorways as neighbours.
02:11But what's really inspired them to escape the concrete jungle?
02:16Sammy's recent open heart surgery.
02:20You have a wake-up call in life and you think to yourself that, you know,
02:23you've got this one life, how do you want to live it?
02:25And do you want to live it doing the typical things or do you want to live it in adventure?
02:30Born with a heart murmur, this was the second time he's been under the knife.
02:34His first operation was when he was just 25.
02:38When I had my valve replacement, they actually resuscitated me 14 times.
02:44So last year, I had to have it done again.
02:46And now I've got a mechanical valve.
02:48A lot of people would listen to that and think,
02:50oh man, I'm sorry, you know, this has happened to you.
02:53But it was actually the best thing that ever happened to me,
02:55having open heart surgery the first time.
02:57It brought us closer.
02:58Yeah.
02:59And it made me realise the important things in life.
03:03But that wasn't Sammy's only epiphany.
03:06The first thing I said when I woke up out of operation when he woke me up,
03:09I was like, I'm going to Scotland.
03:12And before you ask, no, it wasn't the drugs talking.
03:15He really does want to move over 500 miles away
03:19and live in what some would consider the middle of nowhere.
03:24When did this kind of yearning for splendid isolation strike you both?
03:31Because you both seem quite kind of sociable and, you know, I mean,
03:35do you really want to go and live all by yourselves?
03:38Absolutely.
03:39Yeah, absolutely.
03:40I mean, I think, you know, you grow up, you get a job, you get married,
03:42you have kids, you buy a house.
03:44Well, we're not.
03:45We did the whole grow up, get a job, house, but we don't want to have the kids
03:49and we want to have the land, the outdoors.
03:51Yeah, the animals.
03:52And so, I mean, you said you've got some family in Scotland.
03:56My family's from Scotland, but my mother lives in Scarborough now
04:00and all the sisters are in there,
04:01so we haven't got family living in Scotland anymore.
04:03But did you know Scotland quite well?
04:06Yeah, when I was a child, I used to be taken to Scotland quite a lot
04:09by my grandmother.
04:10Right.
04:11I used to just run around the hills and one of my aunties had a farm.
04:13And how about you, Charlie?
04:14I've only been twice.
04:16So I went for the first time last year.
04:18Oh, really?
04:19Oh, my goodness.
04:20Really?
04:21Yeah, didn't want to come home.
04:23Really?
04:24Yeah.
04:25Going rural and leaving all their friends and family behind is a pretty bold move.
04:31But clearly, these two would much rather be surrounded by nature.
04:36What on earth is that?
04:38That's my rabbit's aviary.
04:39How many rabbits have you got?
04:4120?
04:42Just two.
04:43Seriously?
04:44They've got more space than you have.
04:46In fact, they've pretty much taken over the entire backyard.
04:51Oh, who's this?
04:53This is Cookie.
04:54She's a lion head rabbit.
04:55She's four years old.
04:56Hello, Cookie.
04:57Oh, she is gorgeous.
04:59Charlie is an office administrator for an estate agency.
05:03But her life plan is to work with her four-legged friends.
05:07I'm doing my veterinary nursing qualification.
05:10Very sensible.
05:11In my spare time.
05:12In your spare time?
05:13Yeah.
05:14Oh, my goodness.
05:15Okay.
05:16So, yeah, I'm hoping to get into some animal-based work, whether that's veterinary work or rescue
05:20centre, something like that when we move.
05:21Right.
05:22How long have you got until you qualify?
05:24Probably got about another three months left.
05:26Okay.
05:27So, hopefully, the timing will work with the move.
05:29Yeah.
05:30Yeah.
05:31Meanwhile, Sammy has always been a bit of an adventurer.
05:35A former professional wrestler.
05:37He now works from home assessing and tutoring personal trainers across Britain.
05:43But whenever he gets the chance, he's off enjoying the great outdoors.
05:48I got really interested in bushcraft, which is practicing outdoors wilderness living skills.
05:55And sort of like survival-related skills as well.
05:57And then that fell into other things around bushcraft, like foraging and canoeing.
06:01I felt a real sense of freedom being outdoors and being, you know, in wild places.
06:07I absolutely love it.
06:08Instead, Charlie and Sammy are just 34 miles from central London, facing endless traffic
06:15and problems with air pollution.
06:19Everyone's on top of each other.
06:20And, you know, you've got to find parking every day.
06:22Yeah.
06:23And you just want that sort of peace and quiet.
06:25Yeah, everyone's getting more built up, more traffic.
06:27An old-fashioned life, yeah.
06:29And now when I look at a city, I just see grey and dull and, you know, people prioritizing
06:34their own things in life and looking for the healthy side of things.
06:38Following Sammy's revelation of wanting to live in Scotland, the Kalils have set their
06:43sights on the north of the country, and more specifically, rural Aberdeenshire.
06:49Famous for its agriculture and rugged coastline, there's no shortage of things to do for lovers
06:55of the great outdoors.
06:57But it's not just cleaner and greener.
06:59The average house is over a hundred grand less than it is in Bracknell.
07:04Just one of the many reasons Charlie and Sammy can't wait to make the move.
07:10It's a bit more independent, more self-sufficient, and, you know, it's free to do what we want,
07:15have a good work-life balance.
07:17I love your sentiments.
07:19I mean, I'm so with you.
07:21I did it, you know.
07:22Just a real old-fashioned life, more like that homestead where, you know, we don't go
07:25to shop for the bread anymore, we bake it ourselves.
07:28Have you ever baked bread?
07:29Yes.
07:30Have you?
07:31Once.
07:32We're practicing.
07:33Yeah, we're practicing.
07:34Turned out really well.
07:35Did it?
07:36With the menu sorted, Charlie's third visit to Scotland will be to the village of Clatt,
07:42population just 155 people.
07:47Here they've found a three-bed home that's not only bigger than the one they have now, it
07:52comes with two massive outbuildings and a garden almost the size of a football field.
07:59And the best bit, at £195,000, it's £115,000 less than their Bracknell home.
08:07So selling up means they can afford to live on one income, hopefully allowing Charlie to
08:13focus on working with animals full-time.
08:16You want to cut your expenses, but also cut your earnings.
08:20Yeah.
08:21But increase your animals.
08:22Yeah.
08:23And they do cost quite a lot.
08:25Are you thinking animals for practical purposes, or are you thinking...
08:31So they're for cuddles.
08:32Yeah, definitely.
08:35I have to say, before I met Charlie and Sammy, but knew that they had this slightly madcap
08:41plan to move all the way to Scotland, where they know no one and have no connections.
08:46I have my doubts.
08:47But what's so lovely is that they have clearly lost their hearts to Scotland.
08:54That's where they want to go, and that's where they're going to end up.
08:59Bonkers or not, just a few weeks on, the adventure of a lifetime awaits.
09:04It's just this little bit, is it?
09:05Yeah, I think so.
09:06And then, yeah, I load up the animals.
09:07We've only lived in this once, and I know that from first-hand, there have been the fear
09:08of, you know, dying on the hospital bed with my heart surgery.
09:09So now, I think when you go through things like that, these things don't scare you.
09:10We've got to give it a go, otherwise we'll just be what if-ing ourselves for the rest
09:11of our life.
09:12And I think that's important.
09:13And with this house about to be someone else's, there's definitely no turning back.
09:20This is it.
09:21Emotional.
09:22Looking at the door for the last time.
09:23Oh.
09:24Oh.
09:25Oh.
09:26Oh.
09:27Oh.
09:28Oh.
09:29Oh.
09:30Oh.
09:31Oh.
09:32Oh.
09:33Oh.
09:34Oh.
09:35Oh.
09:36Oh.
09:37Oh.
09:38Oh.
09:39Oh.
09:40Oh.
09:41Oh.
09:42Oh.
09:43Oh.
09:44Oh.
09:45Oh.
09:46Oh.
09:47Oh.
09:48Oh.
09:49Oh.
09:50All they need to do now is tackle the 10-hour drive to Aberdeenshire.
09:54But it's worth every second to be surrounded by open farmland, more than 300 castles and
10:02165 miles of coastline.
10:05No wonder the locals can also expect better health and a longer life than the national average.
10:12Though once Charlie and Sammy finally arrive at their new home in the village of Klatt, it's clear driving in the country can be just as frustrating as it is in the city.
10:27Oh.
10:28Oh.
10:29Oh.
10:30Oh.
10:31Oh.
10:32Oh.
10:33That's it, that's it.
10:35What's that, that's it?
10:37That's it, that's it.
10:38That's it.
10:39Good.
10:40One down.
10:41Next, New Adventure brings a whole host of new jobs.
10:46my soaring station there my grinding station there the goats will have free roam and we're
10:52setting up a rabbit shed and aviary there and this is the spot where i stand and think
10:57and two years on i'm back to see how they've survived life in lockdown and two aberdeenshire
11:05winters it was minus 21 at one point and we had snow drifts and the farmers trying to clear the
11:10roads and they just couldn't because the wind was so strong
11:13two years ago i was helping charlie and sammy make the move from suburban bracknell
11:26to rural aberdeenshire i'm swelter in there they say scotland's cold
11:30but it isn't just the weather that looks good so does their new home it's bigger than i thought
11:39it was in you yeah ready for this ready oh we've got postal ready look at that
11:51excellent wow oh wow looks huge look at the size of this now if you can't get your meal made in here
12:03there's a problem not only did the kalils buy this gem for a hundred and fifteen thousand pounds less
12:10than they sold their bracknell house for it has more living space and three spacious bedrooms
12:16it's quite a decent size isn't it yeah oh wow that looks bigger i thought this was more narrow yeah
12:23they've also acquired two large outbuildings which means they now have over twice the square footage
12:30wow wow look at that big enough okay this is where the magic happens
12:39i'm thinking my sawing station there my grinding station there my drilling station here
12:48and this is the spot where i stand and think
12:50meanwhile charlie has big plans for the other building and spoiler alert it involves buying more
13:00animals this is massive yeah it's gonna be my goat shed it's gonna be a goat shed yeah it's bigger than
13:07i remember wow i thought it was half the size of this we're also going to say we're going to store
13:11some wood here for the fire right here no that can go in your one no though before they can make the
13:18most of their new home or enjoy the acre upon acre of surrounding countryside there's a shed load to do
13:25come on there you go
13:33and we have a bed
13:41it's now been four months since i first met the kalils and clearly their lives have changed
13:47dramatically the last time i visited sammy and charlie it was a spring day and i was walking
13:53through a housing estate in bracknell now it's autumn and i'm in rural aberdeenshire and this
14:00is the road to their house no traffic or suburban sprawl here and with their outgoing slashed charlie's
14:08been able to give up her job in admin hello you two hello it's been ages
14:17how's it going good find the place okay it's a bit different from bracknell isn't it
14:24there's also more than an acre of land to play with so animal loving charlie has big plans to expand
14:30her brood wow this is great isn't it oh it's perfect yeah so this is your land as well up here
14:38yeah all up here this paddock here what are you going to do out here this will be purely animals this
14:43side and then that side will be our garden yeah the goats will have free roam yeah and then we're
14:47setting up a rabbit shed and avery there yeah and they will have a bit of our garden here as well
14:53if you go through a tunnel where they can go into the garden so yeah and as far you said that you've
14:59got a shed that might work for the goats where's that oh so is this outbuild in here perfect yeah
15:06we'll be taking this door out in the new door in goats here rabbits yonder there's also talk of chickens
15:15and how many are you thinking of having we start with three we bought a house for 12 though just to be on
15:20the safe side oh it's exciting yeah it's exciting lots of work to do lots of work and that's just
15:29the start charlie's beloved rabbits are getting a massive upgrade on their home as well some people
15:35have bunny hutches where we're going to have funny mansion higher mansion and then we have a avery there
15:42and then they're going to be access to the garden here so we need this out the way charlie and sammy
15:48have ambitious plans but with their friends and family over 500 miles away they'll be doing all
15:54this work on their own
15:58do you ever feel kind of that you have taken on more than you can cope with i think when we first
16:05turned up yeah we were like wow there's so much that needs doing and we're quite glad that we haven't
16:09got more land now but yeah we kind of just trying to get the house finished so we can
16:13get out here and crack on with it yeah as far as sammy is concerned because obviously he had that
16:20really scary health issue do you think this is really good for him being here yeah it's a lot
16:25more relaxed and obviously i'm not working at the moment so that takes some pressure of sort of
16:30household chores and whereas if we were both working then we both have having to sort out the house and
16:35all the land it's it's a lot to sort of take on yeah oh it's it's it's after all these months yeah
16:42kind of the stress of doing it yeah it's worth it it is worth it even so i can't help but worry charlie
16:50and sammy might be taking on more than they can cope with who's by that quickly no get your own
16:57come on i am a little bit worried that they are so far away from their home from everything they know
17:07and living in rural scotland very very different from living in the tight community they had in
17:13bracknell particularly with the onset of winter coming but i wonder if they might actually feel
17:20very cut off and a little bit lonely but the couple are adamant that teamwork makes the dream work
17:28so it's full steam ahead with charlie's plans to keep goats hens and possibly a few more rabbits
17:35most wives wants handbags i want sheds aviaries and tunnels yeah but the project taking precedence
17:43the bunny mansion since kate was last here we've been trying to find an opportunity to
17:50build a shed for the bunnies this is the biggest bunny hut you can ever find people are becoming
17:56more aware that they do need more room now maybe not quite as much room as this but it's nice because
18:01we're going to you know make some different levels inside and and they've got a nice warm area for
18:06when the weather is bad in the winter so still room to move around the challenge now is making their
18:13flat pack shed 100 waterproof all right is that going through that place yeah good there now that
18:21should hold do you want to do something yeah because aberdeenshire lovely as it is has more than 30
18:28inches of rainfall a year oh little bunnies sammy's gonna build a little ledge so they've got like a
18:41little lookout tower they can see when i'm coming with their breakfast in the morning
18:45aren't you i'm building whatever you need
18:54watch that ladder i'm watching it good
19:02all right last nail going in
19:06and that is a double run roof finish look at that do you want to jump down let's have a look at this
19:12that's that's better in it looks a bit more like a shed yeah the windows and then uh insulate it
19:20and then they'll be ready to move in the electrics and gas and all that
19:30by winter charlie and sammy have lost none of their enthusiasm for country life
19:35big first step for our homestead today yeah totally and today marks another milestone they're about to
19:41become the proud owners of four shaver brown hens i've been preparing this for this for some time
19:46now haven't we and you know you've been building the old home yeah it took me six days to build the
19:51chicken run on my own from scratch i'm just looking forward to the eggs
19:57their investment of four hens at a tenner each should give them over 300 free range eggs a year
20:05in you go
20:11you're gonna be trouble that one that's it i can tell mind you any potential profits have pretty
20:17much been spent in advance oh listen to them all right they've landed on their feet haven't they
20:24what till you get home as charlie has used the last week to build the mother of all chicken coops
20:31it's a bit more out the wind there isn't it better innit so while your average hen requires at least
20:38three square feet of living space these four will have an impressive 32 square feet each go on
20:46there we go another peck about yeah i can see this starting with four in a year's time it'll be 40.
20:56in 10 years time it'll be 400 there will be chicken breeders
20:58and they're also baking their own bread sammy has sent me the evidence
21:09what are you doing making bread
21:11well i am officially impressed
21:22next the kalils put a country spin on date night
21:25here you go i mean put your cup oh thanks and while sammy's living the dream charlie finds herself
21:34in at the deep end there there it is and that's left in for a minute
21:50two years ago i was helping charlie and sammy adjust to a new life in rural scotland
21:57and with charlie's collection of animals rapidly expanding next on the list goats which brought us
22:04to hillbury farm in stonehaven i thought it would be really useful for charlie to meet another
22:11local smallholder who has a passion for these very cheeky animals you're gorgeous
22:18while there's potential to make money with goat's milk and cheese now in huge demand
22:23or the mohair of angora goats selling for around three quid a kilo the kalils are instead joining the
22:30thousands of others who keep goats as pets hello
22:38how does this look i thought you'd like well i did think when i last saw you and you were talking
22:46about keeping goats i thought i might bring you to meet somebody and just give you a bit of hands-on
22:52experience what do you think yeah yeah good come and meet agnes okay not only has agnes aiken kept
23:00goats for the last 26 years she's also the treasurer of the scottish goat keepers federation hello nice
23:07to meet you nice to meet you i believe yeah you're welcome i believe we've got goats in common yeah
23:14so well this is sort of a goat's paradise here if you're interested in goats because we've got all
23:20shapes and sizes and colors here charlie's dream is to own pygmy goats these are a miniature breed
23:28often kept as pets they're very affectionate creatures too that's what you love
23:36is she is a total softy i have to tell you well you will adore and they in return will adore you
23:44they just love humans company have you ever handled a goat or done anything with a goat
23:49strokes and goats from yeah sort of gone to petting zoos i'm like a little child when we go to a petting
23:53zoo now this could be something special for you would you like to handle these yeah
23:59while charlie is all about the cuddles if she did ever want to breed pygmy goats she would have no
24:07problem selling the kids they do need a certain amount of routine care like hoof trimming every
24:13four to six weeks so if you just run your hand down and when you get to the knee lift up her foot
24:21and with your secateurs take off the growth that you can see on the the hoof there and snip
24:28take little snips instead of great one great big chunk yeah charlie's a natural oh this is like a
24:35little bit there that's just smoothed it off nicely yeah tell her she's done well that's it
24:42but now her skills as a trainee veterinary nurse assistant can really come to the fore the way you
24:49take a goat's temperature is you um have the thermometer and push it up into her bottom so we want to try
24:56that and just see if you're confident enough to do that because it is something that you know you
25:02you will have to do as a goat keeper so if i just turn her around no no i can't i can't just there
25:11there there it is
25:15okay so that that's it and that's left in for a minute purposes of this that's probably yeah
25:22yeah fortunately jilly's a healthy temperature and it seems charlie's goats will be in very capable
25:30hands a definite goat keeper i would see yes what do you think yeah yeah ready do you think you're
25:38ready yeah yeah maybe next time i see you you'll have goats skipping around your field thank you so
25:45much for all your help you're welcome jilly you've been fantastic you know i have to say that i was a
25:55little bit worried about charlie keeping animals because she's so soppy and so soft but i was proud
26:03of her today i think she's going to make an excellent goat keeper and she's going to have very happy goats
26:09that's for sure
26:18now the only breadwinner and with work to be done it's not all fun for sammy looking from home um
26:26you know from here is it is a bit slow with the internet however it hasn't changed anything uh
26:31i can get my my job done occasionally charlie might walk in while i'm on the phone to someone but
26:36other than that that's a small thing i just put a sign on the door saying do not disturb
26:42and sometimes i just put that on there when i'm extremely busy yeah but at the end of the day and
26:48with a whole different world now on his doorstep charlie's not the only one able to explore her love
26:54of nature with almost 80 000 miles of streams and rivers in aberdeenshire sammy can now truly indulge
27:02his love of water a far cry from the canals near bracknell today he's trying a local canoe club for size
27:13and heading out onto the water with the club's founder jonathan kitching
27:18so sammy we have a canoe yeah not a kayak big difference right a canoe is something you tend not
27:27always tend to kneel in and use a paddle with one blade a kayak you sit in and use a paddle with two
27:33blades okay the back seat person sits there and steers principally the front person sits there and is
27:39the motor at the front so your job today is the motor at the front okay my job is to be a bit of a
27:43motor and to steer as well next stop the river d okay so on one two three got it off we go right
27:54world famous for outstanding scenery and of course it's fresh scottish salmon
28:00that's something else isn't it uh much different to what i've been paddling on which is a little canal
28:05you know with lots of people and dog walkers etc asking me what i'm doing and yeah a bit different
28:11to an inflatable boat that i have so yeah so i'm now doing a real thing yeah really exciting so yeah
28:19while adventure tourism is an industry sammy would perhaps love to work in one day
28:25for now he's just along for the ride so it's pull out over that bank pull out onto that bank
28:34stop or if i've lost my paddle and uh come over to here because we need to have a chat about something
28:41if we can be laying on that control we need to have a pic it's spoiledierung, so yeah
28:56experiencing the roller coaster rapids of this great river is just one of the reasons Aberdeenshire attracts
29:02more than 1.3 million visitors a year similarly to our viewers of the network Sean.
29:04boasts eight award-winning beaches four of the uk's tallest mountains and when you're done
29:11exploring nature there's also more whiskey distilleries than anywhere else in scotland
29:20even better it's now all on sammy's doorstep yeah i really like that it's kind of putting
29:27in perspective of why we moved here in the first place you know just having that freedom and real
29:31rivers and you know adventures and i think scotland offers that that's for sure
29:40speaking of which this evening sammy and charlie have one more adventure in the diary
29:45a date night with a difference i definitely need a bro you and your tea i always need a tea
29:52all right just a few minutes from their home this romantic setting is the kareen hills more than
30:021400 hectares of forest and heather moorland there you go you can put your cap oh thanks
30:12how was your canoeing today yeah that was awesome that was uh i'm definitely gonna join the club you
30:16know while moving hundreds of miles away from the life they knew was a risk it does seem to be paying
30:24off do you have any sort of like any regrets at all no no i don't know i thought it would and when we
30:31first moved here i was a bit like what have we done no no regrets no i'm glad we did it yeah that's
30:37sure i'm well happy about it don't you love it when a plan comes together here's to a new life
30:43cheers next 19 months on and i'm back in the village of clatt you didn't get this in bracknell
30:59isn't this amazing to see how charlie sammy and their fabulous animals are finding country life
31:07honestly you can't have stopped building and painting that's all i've done
31:21for sammy and charlie moving to the country meant realizing a lifelong dream to escape the rat race
31:27to lead a simpler life and we have a bed having packed up and left bracknell in 2019
31:35they found a new home 500 miles away in rural aberdeenshire where they've been hard at work
31:42ever since huge aren't they it's the goats can't reach these ones
31:49inside they've painted and decorated throughout transforming the once tired three-bed bungalow
31:56into a cozy country pad
31:57and even more impressive is the grafting they've done outside building a sprawling animal sanctuary in
32:05their one acre garden including a brand new 24 foot shed for some very special new residents
32:13since i've last seen them there's been a very important development so it's a very exciting day
32:19today we are off to pick up our little baby goats
32:24pigby goats yogi and alfie have been settling in very well to their new life
32:30not surprising when they have their own obstacle course
32:34they're yet to use the swing and trampoline of course
32:38it's 19 months since i last saw them so i want to find out how the humans are getting on
32:43hello hello is that goats i see of course i'm excited about seeing you but i'm more excited
32:50you see them more look at this oh my goodness
32:56you've done so much so when i was last here you've just done the bunny shed haven't you i think
33:02just the bunny shed yeah and then since we've built the aviary they've got an underground tunnel
33:06which goes to their garden and then all of this yes all of this as well so sami helped me put
33:12the posts in for the goat barn just so we could get them all level and then yeah i built the rest
33:16all on my own you are in the snow some of it was in the snow amazing
33:21and armed with her new diy skills charlie's been able to create an incredible space for her beloved
33:29animals including a 16-foot chicken run for hens chili tuppence eb and morag and while the animals
33:37are clearly thriving sadly charlie's missing a few of the original gang we lost both of our bunnies
33:44since we've moved up right um so we lost one we got another friend to bond with the one we had left
33:49and then tragically she passed away so then we had to get another one to bond with the new one
33:54of course she did so two two new bunnies new bunnies and no surprise buddy and beanie have the run
34:01of the place oh they are lovely i mean if this isn't bunny heaven yes i don't know what is
34:10meanwhile pygmy goats yogi and alfie are proving themselves to be the perfect pets good boys
34:16and just like the ones we met on hillbury farm all those months ago these little guys just love
34:23a play and a cuddle obviously i can't resist look at these two this is yogi
34:32he's tiny he's absolutely adorable and who's this this is alfie i mean you've waited a long time to get
34:39these goats have they lived up to expectation they have they're very noisy they're more noisy than i
34:46thought they would be sort of if we're in the house and they see we're in the house they'll come
34:49and scream at the window but yeah they do like a lot of attention yeah though since these little guys
34:55were born in spring they're still to experience their first aberdeenshire winter unlike charlie and
35:02sammy who've now seen two and survived to tell the tale did you have any idea how brutal the winters
35:16were going to be no and especially last winter we had it was minus 21 at one point and we had snow
35:22drifts and the farmers trying to clear the roads and they just couldn't because the wind was so strong
35:26it was just so they literally i think just had to give up for it and we were snowed in so you weren't
35:31sort of hankering after the nice benign weather of the southeast no it was lovely
35:40though it's not been all beer and skittles so the goat barn's not even been up a year this is the
35:45second roof which did nearly reduce me to tears after building it and i hadn't even lived in it third
35:51chicken roof well they did move to the windiest country in europe it's all reinforced now we are sort
35:59of putting some windbreak netting around as well so hopefully as the winters go on get a bit more
36:04prepared undeterred by the harsher climate they've also achieved another one of their long-term goals
36:10greater self-sufficiency this polytunnel constructed over 18 months after moving in
36:16now houses part of a thriving fruit and veg garden so what crops have you been growing in there so we've
36:22had some broccoli some carrots strawberries cucumbers tomatoes so you've done quite well
36:33creating a more sustainable life was always part of their plan so while it's still early days for the
36:38allotment the long-term goal is for 50 of the fruit and veg they eat to come from the garden
36:44but it doesn't end there thanks to their four hens who are laying up to four eggs a day they now have
36:53the luxury of fresh eggs and so do their neighbors as thanks to the egg honesty box outside their house
37:00they're selling up to four boxes a week nice a few pennies in there pay for their food pay for a holiday
37:15honestly you can't have stopped building and painting i feel that's all i've done lately
37:23charlie has also completed her veterinary nursing assistant training
37:26helping out which for her was a lifelong dream and knowing charlie it will be put to very good use
37:33and while buying the house and reducing their mortgage by over a hundred grand allowed charlie
37:39to give up full-time work she's recently started a part-time admin job to bring in some extra income
37:45meanwhile sami is still working remotely as an online tutor but even with a full-time job the slower pace
37:52of life in the country means he has more time to dedicate to charlie and his other love the great
37:59outdoors is that spider no what's it nothing two years on there's one activity that he's still completely
38:14swept away with quite literally
38:21and when he's not riding the rapids of the rivers bay which by the way he's managing to do twice a month
38:28you might find him here in this sprawling outbuilding that's been converted into his very own workshop
38:35and let's just say he's been a very busy man hello hello hello how are you i'm very well good
38:46see you i knew you were into canoeing yeah so have you been restoring or are you just doing maintenance
38:52no i've built this from scratch you haven't yeah oh my goodness sammy it is beautiful taking the ages
38:59something i've always wanted to do i was going to buy a canoe but i thought you know what would be better
39:02than just to build on my own hands and take that on the water and for a man who was until two years
39:08ago using an inflatable canoe on a canal in basingstoke country life has certainly honed his
39:14practical skills and his adventurous spirit so you have actually had some time to go paddling as well
39:20have you camping out as i go along been adventurous since we've been here oh well that was the whole
39:25point though wasn't it i mean that's what you were so missing when you were in bracknell was that
39:31opportunity to just go from your doorstep out into the wild that's right yeah while i've no doubt
39:39that aberdeenshire offers the dream country location sammy and charlie also saw huge potential in the
39:46property from the get-go and having spent just 400 pounds to convert both outbuildings into practical
39:52spaces they've also been super savvy too this is my workshop and this is a bench that i built
39:59uh to store my tools and i can do all my projects i do level work knife making for the bush crafts and
40:05stuff just a bit of a hobby you know there's even more next door what was once an old pigsty has been
40:11transformed into a home gym for ex-pro wrestler sammy do you look back on the house in bracknell
40:19and now think how on earth did we live yeah in that place yeah absolutely we've got so much space
40:25now you know and so much freedom to do what we want and no one's gonna bother us you know you just
40:30get on with it yeah yeah oh it's brilliant yeah this is probably one of the first things we built uh
40:34because you you know it's obviously part of my health so yeah yeah trying to find my passion for
40:39fitness again you know yeah yeah which reminds me of the huge life event that kick-started this process
40:46back in 2018. lots of people dream of doing what you've done i mean it was your health really sammy
40:54that was the big impetus for you to make this move wasn't it that's right yeah you you've got to do
41:00things now i've been there rather than just dreaming about you've got to take the action yeah and it's
41:03always going to be scary but now we've done it yeah not only have they done what they set out to do
41:10but having moved in august 2019 they also faced a challenge that no one saw coming and obviously
41:17you've gone through a lockdown several lockdowns since you've moved here have you felt sort of more
41:24isolated i think covid has probably been the only impact that makes you wish you were down south
41:29sometimes my uncle he passed away as well so i couldn't be there for my uncle's funeral and that
41:33was really hard because it had to do watch that remotely um but that's because of kobe that's
41:38nothing to do with being in the country yeah we were kind of in our own little bubble here when
41:42the pandemic hit weren't we yeah we just didn't really go out anyway because we were getting stuff
41:47done and it was winter so and in the 19 months since i last saw them i can't believe how much they've
41:55achieved as for the future well they already have plans to add decking and a hot tub to the garden next
42:02summer an outdoor space that's just for the humans and you i know sammy were frustrated when you were
42:10living in bracknell that you didn't have enough kind of wild space around you and you didn't have the
42:17time work-wise to enjoy it have you found a better work-life balance since you've been here yeah i mean
42:24that if i get stressed at work or anything i literally can just walk five minutes down the road or
42:28drive five minutes down the road and they just get amazing views yeah and that'll diffuse me yeah
42:32yeah the first sort of i think few months we were here i came in i said i feel really content you could
42:37see things coming together and all my animals starting to move in they're not dreams anymore yeah
42:43a lot of people that will say you know i'd love to do that and that's what that was us we were i'd love
42:47to do that i'd love to do this you know yeah now just doing it yeah it is absolutely amazing you know
42:52it's hard work though yeah but the blood sweat and tears to get to this point have paid off while
43:00they may have lost their heart to scotland in doing so they found the adventure they'd been longing for
43:06you didn't get this in bracknell isn't this amazing yeah yeah oh does this really epitomize
43:19what you were dreaming of back in bracknell yeah yeah everyone's paradise is different isn't it
43:25that's right you create that paradise of your own it's uh yeah you can find ways to escape and this is
43:30yeah it's not actually escaping anymore it's just being being it's being part yeah but it takes
43:36real wisdom i think and self-awareness to know exactly what you want yeah and then the courage
43:43to go out and find it yeah go after it yeah are you proud of yourself yeah you should be
43:56it was a brave move for sammy and charlie to up sticks to a part of the country that
44:01neither of them really knew 500 miles from their home but two years on i think it's absolutely obvious
44:09that they are completely thriving they found exactly what they were looking for a bit more space peace
44:17a good community a really good life
44:35so
44:45so
44:51you
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