Dreams can come true: Kim’s journey from cancer recovery to her dream smallholding
By Kim Roberts, Jayva Global
It’s funny how life turns out.
In December 2023, my husband and I put our house on the market. We had lots of dreams about where we might go next: perhaps somewhere by the sea, or maybe right in the middle of the countryside. We’ve always loved being outdoors, and the idea of having more space and a closer connection to nature was something we both wanted.
Then, in January 2024, everything changed.
I was diagnosed with bowel cancer.
Suddenly, thoughts of fields, trees, waves and surf were replaced by hospital appointments, treatment and a very different kind of journey. We took our house off the market without hesitation. Finding our next home could wait. For the time being, the only thing that mattered was my recovery.
Thankfully, after a long and challenging period of treatment, I came through the other side. As I wrote in my Christmas message that year, I had been given a second lease of life. Being able to ride horses again, spend time with the people I love and simply enjoy the everyday things I had previously taken for granted felt incredibly precious.
But I’ve also learned that when life gives you a second chance, you shouldn’t necessarily wait for the perfect moment to start living it.
You never know what’s around the next corner
Eighteen months after my diagnosis, something rather unexpected happened.
I spotted an abandoned rabbit hopping around a neighbour’s garden. Nobody claimed her and nobody seemed to want her, so, with the help of my son Cole, I scrambled over the fence and managed to catch her.
My other son Beck saw her, introduced her to his fiancée Alex, and they decided to keep her. They were in the middle of buying their first home and were delighted to have their first ‘baby’.
And Lola, as she was named, certainly knows how to live like a princess. She is looked after like a member of the family – possibly better!
When Beck and Alex went away, I volunteered to look after Lola. That meant taking a slightly different route to Tarden Farm than I normally would.
And that's when I saw it: A for sale sign.
Sometimes the biggest changes in our lives begin with the smallest moments.
When an opportunity comes along
Since my cancer diagnosis, I’ve tried to look at life differently. I’ve become much more determined to grab opportunities with both hands because you simply don't know what's waiting around the next corner.
Not every challenge is the one you expect, either.
After recovering from bowel cancer, I had planned to take on some big adventures. Walking up Snowdon and Ben Nevis were on the list for this year, and I was even considering the Inca Trail and Machu Picchu for next year.
Instead, fate presented us with a completely different challenge.
We found Windy Ridge.
And we fell in love with it.
Welcome to our dream
After 19½ years at our home in Hazel Grove, we’ve finally moved to the place we had dreamed about.
Our new home sits among the hills, with incredible views towards Lantern Pike and Kinder Scout. There are 10.5 acres of land, 15 stables, a ménage and an 1860 two-bedroom cottage that we’re determined to bring back to life.
For now, we’re living in a 40ft static lodge while we work out the plans and get started on the renovation. There’s plenty to do – but that’s part of the excitement.
Apparently, I’m now officially a farmer, tractor pilot and digger driver. We’ve even acquired three sheep, although I'm not entirely sure they were included in the original plan. Somehow, they just wandered into our field!
There’s also a new horse on the horizon, and plans for some dirt jumps.
So perhaps this is my next adventure after all.
Making the most of a second chance
Looking back, it’s strange to think that our original house move was put on hold because of cancer, only for us to eventually find ourselves living somewhere that feels so perfectly suited to the life we wanted.
The journey hasn’t been straightforward. Cancer changed our plans, changed our perspective and certainly taught me not to take the future for granted.
But it also reminded me that life is full of unexpected turns.
Sometimes those turns are incredibly difficult. Sometimes they lead somewhere you could never have imagined.
And sometimes, if you're lucky, you spot a rabbit, take a different route home and discover your dream waiting for you.
We’re incredibly grateful to our loved ones for their patience and for believing in our dream. I still have moments when I look around and think: I honestly can’t believe we live here.
After everything that’s happened, Windy Ridge feels like more than a new home. It feels like a new chapter.
And perhaps the biggest lesson of all is that dreams can come true – even when life takes you on a completely different route to get there.