5 benefits to Living in a community

Living in a community demands that we reach out to people but in my experience that reaching out works both ways and provides an element of security.

When mentioning a life in a community it can be as intense as living as a member of the Amish Community in which the rules are set by each community such as no electricity, no cars, mobile phones etc to living in a particular place or joining an interest group online of like minded people.

In a time of economic downturn the equation between money and time shifts and my priorities in times of economic downturn shift too to spending more time investing in myself through reading, learning new skills and connecting with other people.

The 5 benefits of living in a community:

A sense of belonging

Many people feel isolated from the world by the fact they have no friends or relatives in their community. This can lead to loneliness and eventually depression. A community spirit can instil a sense of belonging in these individuals, they are no longer  alone, and they lead healthier, happier lives.

Security

Living in a community protects the individual from the harshness of having to do everything.(The “every man for himself” mentality. ) It can help a person who falls on hard times if they are in  a community to feel supported, rather than living a corporate lifestyle where a person is only as good as their latest contribution. Community living also means that most of the people know each other. A small town environment like that often means less crime and also less need for surveillance. Surveillance is a consequence of living amongst strangers.

The sharing of resources

Sharing resources can greatly reduce the cost of living. Many of the luxuries that people enjoy are not used 24/7, or even if they are used frequently, they can often be shared. The quality of items that can be afforded goes up while the cost goes down. You can live cheaper and better, and the only cost is being more social.

Resources can be shared through the LETS system and FREECYCLE groups.
The transition towns initiative are creating communities that prepare themselves for sustainability after peak oil.

Cooperation and Competition

It is natural for individuals to cooperate with each other. We are a tribal species. In fact, cooperation on an individual level is very beneficial, because generally each person is interested in and skilled at different tasks than their peers. As a result close knit groups of individuals whose skills and personalities complement each other can be particularly healthy, happy, and successful.

Employment and fulfillment

One of the greatest benefits of living in a community setting  is that it gives us the freedom to care for our lives, our wealth, and often both at the same time. There is no reason for the community to resent individuals for participating in a way that does not directly benefit the bottom line. We can work together as business partners who share equally in the burden of maintaining the community economically. The needs of a community are numerous, and the avenues of occupations that could benefit a community are likewise numerous. Using local skills and expertise can benefit the individual member economically but also forges networks of professional relationships who have a sense of place and local solutions.There are  many diverse ways in which an individual can contribute. By working within a  community each individuals skills and abilities can be applied in a unique way, and no person need feel like a cog.

And community living is not just something for the countryside, there are areas in large cities that create hubs of community, where a local cafe becomes a meeting place, a place to relax and cultivate the relationships that bind us together as human beings.

Evaluating your wardrobe

Came across a valuable tool on Colletterie's blog offering a free spreadsheet to enable you to make an inventory of your wardrobe and what it is you need and may need to replace  I visit Colletterie blog regularly as the patterns she offers for items of clothing are classic vintage but it also has some useful tutorials should you wish to make your own clothes.

Going local

When considering a purchase, a need that we cannot make ourselves,there are conscious buying decisions we can weigh up :

• borrow the item
• advertise for it on freecycling
• check out Ebay
• is it available locally
• can I support a local enterprise?

In 2013 I am making an extra effort to buy British, meaning local within the British Isles not because I am patriotic but by doing so the miles the item has to travel to get to us are reduced and that is an important consideration in our buying criteria this year.

Here is a showcase of a small company making leather handbags. Hanson of London  Their philosophy is simple and they are reviving a skill that may have been lost to us forever.



What do you consider when purchasing an item apart from the pricetag? The price of this handbag is very high but reflects the craftsman's skills and the time it takes to make an individual item. Definitely the price is a barrier. Something to aspire to. Yes its expensive but durable and not guided by simply fashion. It would be hard to justify this item if you had it for just a season or on a whim, but if your aim is to have nothing but useful or beautiful items in your home then its worth the dream.

Breadmaking tutorial

Let atree guide you through the therapeutic way of making bread.

Part 1




Part 2



Upgrading your bread options

Living in a shop it seems silly to be making bread on a regular basis but nevertheless its an enjoyable, beautiful, creative food item to make and it takes time.

We do have a variety of bread options available within the shop with various levels of nutrition:
sliced white bread ( mass produced, sliced and locally known as ' pappy bread'
bread baked by the local baker ( unsliced, white, brown, malted brown)
Part baked bread - baked on the premises ( rosemary and cranberry loaves, baguettes, malted brown rolls).
Bread flours to make your own bread : white, brown, mixed seeds, locally produced wholemeal flour.
Sourdough bread will be introduced shortly.

The art of making bread has been covered in a variety of posts previously on this blog and these are listed in the resources.
So why would you want to make your daily loaf given time, space and ingredients?

Baking bread is easy. When you bake your own bread you can guarantee exactly what goes into it and have a fresh, organic loaf at a snip of the price you would pay at any shop. What’s more, the smell of baking bread is irresistible.

Baking bread is immensely satisfying and involves a process of flour, yeast, water and sugar and turning them into a loaf of bread. The process itself can take up to 6 hours.

You could use a breadmaker as a step towards making your own which we used to for while but sadly, the amount of sugar and salt in the recipe are quite high due to the fact that the bread process needs to happen within a short space of time and baking space inside the bread making machine. It can however happen during the night so you wake up the lovely smell of freshly baked square loaves.

All options are described on the breadinfo.com site to get you started. Baking bread by hand is enormously satisfying.

And if you do not want to knead any dough, try this method.


Resources from previous posts

the 5 min bread
Easy bread

The Victorian Farm

The BBC ran a Christmas special about the Victorian Farm which was interesting to watch. Downshifting is not about returning to the ways people lived in the 1880 period but it helps me personally to understand how our historic home used to function. Ruth Goodman in particular has some excellent suggestions about how to cook on a range, how to preserve foods and how to live without electricity.

If you are planning a holiday this year and you want to experience a downshifting lifestyle without modern conveniences you can do so at Henley Cottage on the Scott Acton Estate. There is however a garden shed that houses a shower in case that is taking the experience a little too far.

Nevertheless, it would be a fantastic experiment. Last year we visited Thomas Hardy's cottage in Dorset only to find that it was not all that different from our own home.

As a general observation, people lived closer to the rhythms of nature and every task needed to be carried out with a vast amount of personal energy. Washing laundry took a whole week, people had fewer clothes and more care was taken of the few possessions they had.

What fuels the need to buy?

When deciding on a purchase, we can differentiate between a need and a want as a first step, but we rarely consider the consequences of our buying decision at the point of purchase. Also, we often do not recognise the factors that have created the need.

As we run a family business, time together is at a premium and we considered a family holiday away from home and business. After consideration of what each person’s expectations were of a holiday, the majority decided a skiing break would be very enjoyable. This was followed by a lot of research, places we could go to using trains instead of planes( ecological consequences), type of accommodation etc and the financial costs of such a trip. The end result was that a week skiing would set us back £ 5000 by the time we had rented equipment and acquired the appropriate wardrobe. Thinking about your purchases does take some fun out of it; it slows the process and leaves time to consider.

We then tackled the situation differently and asked the children to decide if they each had £ 1000 whether they would actually be spending it on a week skiing and the answer fascinated me. There were three resounding negatives to that equation. Each young adult could find a better way of spending that money, from newer technology that would give year round joy versus a week’’s holiday to saving the money or spending it on keeping warm this coming winter. The end result was that the need for a week’s holiday was shelved and gained a new perspective. We grew in our understanding of what motivates each family member and how easily society can offer us a fix by creating a need to buy a possible temporary solution or even an escape.

Even if the brochure tells you that the holiday will be less that £ 400 per person, such a holiday can escalate to £ 1000 per person.

Another example is the need for a new games console. If we dig a bit deeper we can understand that the need has arisen because there are arguments between brothers on sharing equipment and that games are more expensive for one type of console than another. The need can be satisfied by buying a new games console but could be managed by helping them to set boundaries as to their usage of the existing games console and by finding other free leisure pursuits. By asking the children to look at their perceived solution and its consequences we ask them to look deeper at what exactly has prompted this need that demands an instant fix to be purchased. As each buying decision is openly discussed at our dinner table, we all gain a better understanding of what drives us to buy. We can see a genuine need to stop the anxiety, frustration and unhappiness created by a lack of sharing and peer pressure.

The consequences of a haircut can mean the need to spend 10 mins each morning washing your hair, then applying a rather expensive gel but then heck I know all too well that at 14 image is very important. Just who created the need I wonder?

It is unlikely that we can stop our children buying into a consumer orientated society but if we can give them tools that give an insight into establishing whether it is their need that drives the purchase or an instilled need by society, then they can make a responsible purchase in the full knowledge of the consequences. I believe my generation lost sight of that.



the sweet spot

Confidence


‘A sweet spot is a place, often numerical as opposed to physical, where a combination of factors suggest a particularly suitable solution.’

Max Lucado’s book ‘ The Cure for the Common Life’ reminded me how by chance ( or not )we have arrived in what can be described as our sweet spot. Max describes how we need to look at our life story and in particular at what our interests are between the ages of 8 and 12, what was our passion and just look how that has played itself out in our life story. Personally, I used to make paper flowers and cakes to sell on a makeshift shop counter during the summer beach holiday as well as winning a writing competition at the age of 12 on the subject of sport. I can see that all of these contribute to who I am today. It certainly has made me watch the emerging talents in our village and the passion and interests of the children.

The shop window is available to residents in the village to come and show us what they can do and how their talents contribute to the whole of the village. A club, a creative individual, a small business, an event can use the shop window to share their passion.All we ask in return is the use of some products we sell in the shop within the display. The aim is to encourage each other to come and share what we are passionate about and help us to see talents more clearly and encourage our young people towards their sweet spot.

the 5 min bread

Following on in my search to create a bread each day with less effort, no equipment and maximum flexibility has led me to the discovery of Artisan Bread in 5 mins by Jeff Herzberg and Zoe Francois. Its very easy and you can keep the ready made dough in your fridge for up to 14 days. You can use it to make loaves, pizza bases, flatbreads, pitta breads in a very short time filling the house with the wonderful delights of homebaked bread. You can watch the presentation and recipe in the utube video here:


Once you have the basic recipe, the book provides endless variations on ingredients and types of dough. Artisan in 5 also provides ongoing inspiration.
I have no pizza stone but warmed the baking tray in the oven and then slid the loaf onto it. It worked out fine.

replacing a button

In case you need some visual lesson on sewing a button here is a quick video by threadbanger which gives clear instructions. Replacing buttons is very useful in prolonging the life of your clothing. I personally cut the buttons of shirts that are completely worn out and keep spare buttons in a little jar. My grandmother had a button jar and I used to spend time sorting her buttons while she mended a pile of clothing, from darning socks, hemming trousers and patching trousers. A new button may only cost you 25p but it is money saved if you have a button jar.

To prolong the life of black trousers that have become grey, buy a dye you can use in the washing machine such as dylon and refresh the colour of your trousers. Usually one of our suppliers gives her staff a new pair of work trousers every season and throws the old pairs out. Not so this season, a new pair was achieved by dying them in the washing machine.