Daily bread

Lets talk about food and how we can stop doing the habitual weekly shop.
First of all, I have to tell you that its a work in progress and I have not entirely cracked it, I have lapses of convenience and surprisingly, there is very little information out there on how to not shop in the supermarket. And...a lot of regulation as well.

We are now in year 3, so be gentle on yourself....it will not happen overnight. Find out where you are on the steps to food freedom and do whatever next you wish. Basically not everyone wants to become self sufficient so it is important to find where your comfort zone is. Every person and family also has food habits and types of food they like better than others so what we eat is not going to be the same as you or even prepared in the same way as you do. The following is a guide of what we have done so far and are doing. There is no simple formula. I am not going to tell you how and what to do that suits your family. I am hoping to encourage independent thought and action. ( heaven forbid!)


My food shopping strategy was non existent when I worked, it simply was a shop and grab exercise at the supermarket on a weekly basis in which I would buy what I thought I needed, what I seemed to like or was persuaded to like etc etc.

The first step for me was to create a weekly menu. ( Sounds boring but it worked for us). This provided evidence of what exactly we were eating or planning to eat and made me realise how boring and without variety my menu actually was. This provided me with a working shopping list, the ingredients of what I needed to make the dishes, and also on the fridge is a shopping list of items that are running out and need replacing such as spices, flours, rice etc etc.

From weekly menus we have graduated to monthly menus and I now sit down and plan a monthly menu. I ask for feedback so family members can vote on dishes they would like to have repeated and those that are NOT EVER to cross the table again. Each month I challenge myself to eat something new and seasonal and test the family out. Fish for instance is not a usual food in our family and whenever it arrives on the table it gets greeted with distinct suspicion ( that is because they had no idea what fish was apart from fish fingers). Expect criticism for your efforts and keep your sense of humour.

With a monthly menu you can shop monthly or every 2 weeks cutting your travel and shopping time considerably.

Next I wanted to find out what our usual consumption of certain foods and consumables was. Example :How many toiletrolls does your family use on average. To find out you need a black pen. When you start a new pack, you write the date on the outside and when the last item is finished you use maths to work out the total. So lets say your family needs 6 rolls per week, that would make it 312 rolls per year. I add 10% for unexpected events ( don't ask me what that is...I am sure you can guess), which leaves me with a total number required of 313. When the special offer comes ( 9 rolls for the price of 6) I know that by buying in bulk my families requirements are as follows :
weekly 6 rolls
monthly 26 rolls
3 months = 78 rolls
etc

When the offer comes along, I can buy 9 packs which will give me a 3 month supply.

Wait I can hear you say, where do I store all that stuff? When you declutter the house, you will find places for food and home items and you may not want or have the space to store the above amount. Find what suits you.
This calculation should enable you to know what you family needs and how much you can store and can buy in bulk.

Having a blueprint of what your family eats on average over a year, you can then start looking at where you can purchase these items in bulk.

I had no idea for instance that you could buy in bulk. Most supermarkets do not like you buying in bulk and do not allow you often to purchase above a certain number.

When T suggested we get together for a wholefood order, I had some idea of the amount of flour I need for our daily bread, the amount of almond butter, maple syrup, rice and beans we consume. You have to ofcourse allow room in your budget to buy these items in bulk but in the long run it averages out and simply becomes a different way of managing your food purchases.

The staples you buy have to be used in rotation and having a list of what is used, you can then take stock control and see how your maths have worked out and take advantage of offers as they come along.

Next step will be looking at the foods you buy which you can make yourself or grow yourself and where locally these can be found.

Being generous

For some of you this is lent and you are giving something up.
I want to inpire you to join a community of people who give generously. Being on a downshifting path is a gift to me as well as the environment. Think yourself generous and check out the website about living generously for a year Simple actions that might simplify your life and put you on track to a slower life.
Some of the actions are as follows :

• Join the library
• Join a local food cooperative
• become an organ donor
• use less bags when shopping
• Plant some bulbs
• share a meal with someone out of your comfort zone

If nothing else, it will make you think about actions that make a difference to others. Give up some time this lent and give generously.

Growth spurt

The boys and I are playing the clothes robin game today. Don’t know it?
Starting with the eldest boy, we take everything out of the cupboards and sort into three categories:

1. rags
2. passover
3. store

The result is a tidy chest of drawers, and a list of items to search for in either the charity shops or clothes shops. I can find good quality items on ebay if I search for a while.
Then onto the next boy and the same thing happens. We sort the clothes into rags, passover and store. Then he gets to chose from the passover basket items he likes or needs and then we go onto the next child. They do not have more than 7 outfits as they grow quickly and I am happy washing the clothes so they get good wear out of it.
Not every child is built the same way or has the same taste in colours ; trousers do not always fit from one boy to the next.
I also purchase one neat outfit when special occassions call for it. I find this way of sorting clothes a frugal way to clothe our family. Shoes are not skimped on and bought when needed. The children have 3 pairs. One pair of wellington boots, one pair of school shoes and one pair of trainers. That about covers all eventualities.

Our DS1 who is now a teenager gets his own allowance. At age 12 we give him a regular allowance to do with as he wishes. The only thing is he has to buy his own clothes. We buy school kit and shoes , the rest is up to him. This method is used to teach him how to use money and the cost of living. If he really wants a designer label, he has to save for it or find other ways.

Downshifting as a community

Living a clean green life is a lot easier and fun when you can do it together with other people. It gives a chance to share experiences with others, find out what works locally and what does not.
You can find out about local initiatives at the library or from friends and neighbours. If there is not anything available, have a go at being inspired to do this yourself.

My neighbour T has sent a wholefood catalogue around inviting neighbours to do a wholesale order instead of travelling to the healthfood shops on a regular basis. Three of us are banding together to try and put in an order and see if we can expand this in our neighbourhood. We have not yet decided who will take responsibility for ordering and distribution, we may set up a rota to do this. Shopping together in bulk makes sense as it centralises packaging and gets it delivered to us instead of 3 families doing a 15 mile journey each in their car. It will take some planning to see what we use, but it is an excellent way to plan your staple foods. ( flour, pulses, beans, even chocolate).

The following are some suggestions :

Some excellent information on diet and wholefoods at Suma,
although to be a supplier you need to have an order value of £ 375 which might suit larger communities.

Wholefood net
The widest choice of wholefoods, healthfoods, fresh bread, vegetables, dairy produce, planet friendly household goods, personal and infant care and healthcare products you are likely to find. All delivered to your door (at work or at home) anywhere within the UK.

Green Drinks International
Every month people who work in the environmental field meet up for a beer at informal sessions known as Green Drinks.
We have a lively mixture of people from NGOs, academia, government and business. Come along and you'll be made welcome. Just say, "are you green?" and we will look after you and introduce you to whoever is there.It's a great way of catching up with people you know and also for making new contacts. Everyone invites someone else along, so there’s always a different crowd, making Green Drinks an organic, self-organising network.
These events are very simple and unstructured, but many people have found employment, made friends, developed new ideas, done deals and had moments of serendipity. It's a force for the good and we'd like to help it spread to other cities. Contact your local node to get the latest info about coming along.

LETS schemes in your area, exchange your skills, your produce for a bartering currency

Communities working together

One of the reasons why I partake in the community retreat is that you get to meet a variety of people you never meet in the rural area. We may all live within 15 miles of each other but do not always meet socially.

For the last 20 years, members of our community have left for a weekend retreat to enable them to take stock of what is happening and what the needs are of members of the community. They then brainstorm together and create a plan to enable actions for change in the community we live in.

The area we live in has an large proportion of elderly residents and when you get to really sit with them and listen to their concerns it becomes apparent that many become housebound rurally and lonely because they can no longer drive. One suggestion has been a community car share network which should help people call up and book transport to venues which seems a positive move.

Lots of suggestions came up and interesting debates took place. Now all that needs to happen is for them to be actioned.
Amazing what you can achieve with 50 people, good food, rain and no TV for the weekend.
While the adults work hard and debate, the children are entertained by a youthworker and have their own things to look at.
We both left feeling more connected to the community we live in.

Elephants on a rainy day

The weather at the retreat was very wet and DS3 enjoyed a daytrip to the local zoo to look at all the animals and enjoyed a treasure trail around the gardens. The most exciting trail was the ‘poo trail’ which if you are 8 is probably fascinating. Most grown ups at the evening meal did not know where to look when he wanted to tell them all about it. ‘

You could even buy some rhino poo in the shop’

probably to keep domestic animals off your land.
Upon my return, the kitchen was not finished, and I was advised my DS 2 that Dh had had a case on ‘ manflu’ which had delayed the painting. Thus I have 1 wall in cream and 3 walls in bright white but I am hopeful, it will be finished soon.
Decluttering a room is a lot easier when you take everything out to paint it and then only bring back what you are using. I have a table left outside which has a lot of stuff on it that will need a new home, freecycled etc.
Today has been down to doing mondaine things such as copious amounts of ironing, washing and cleaning. What else can you do on a rainy day. The boys decided to leave the house with DH and go on a farm visit. When they return, hungry, wet and muddy...I will be ready to deal with the next load. Would not have it any other way.
I gave my digital camera to DS 3 so he could take some pictures and the best one is of the African elephant who is visibly unimpressed by having his picture taken again by a small boy. I know why he took the picture because I love elephants, frontal view mostly though!

Back soon

(Copyright Gospel Communications International, Inc - www.reverendfun.com)

Jam tarts

When I make a pie ( today's flavour was apple and blackberry) I make jam tarts with the leftover pastry. ( frugal...do not waste anything).
This is the plate 10 mins before the boys came back from school and when I came back in the kitchen to say hello........the plate was empty.
And this time, it was not the dog.........boys were licking fingers and smiling. Its an image I will hold onto while I rest......and rest.........and ....yawn!

Confused pooch

Our dog Lucky ( and never call a dog lucky its tempting the universe- she has had 2 leg operations as a puppy), is very confused. She sleeps in the kitchen near the Aga and she is unsure as to why everything is being moved out. Look at the expression which is saying something like ' Are we moving? Where is my food bowl going? Why is everyone so stressed? Are you off on holiday?
I do not speak dog actually, but her expression looks so cute and...well she is right on a couple of things.

We are not moving but I am going away into respite retreat. I have to......its been planned for months, simply because I cannot be in the house when my foodfactory kitchen is being painted by DH.
There are many reasons for this:

• I get very distressed and stressed when my environment changes ( Ok can be labelled as control freakish tendencies)
• My DH gets stressed when he paints. ( Go away...I need to be alone to do this...moan!)
  
• I would not be able to cook meals while he is painting( going in the room might attract strange looks,probably because I am territorial and when he is painting he is territorial)
  
• Going away and letting him get on with the job seemed the kinder thing to do.
• I am off with DS3 to a christian retreat centre, we will be fed well, he will be entertained and there is no TV, mostly silence and time for contemplation.

That may sound like hell to some of you, but look at the alternative.........its just been Valentine's Day and I would like to make another married year. It works best this way.

When I come back, the kitchen might look great and refreshed and so will I.
My DH's fav saying is:

It is not as simple as it looks'

He has managed though to get invited for a meal by our friends ( with the two remaining boys) and an evening to the pub ( he deserves a treat too).
I am confident that the kitchen will be great........I am off for that rest. It will be allright..... and I have a book about a village where the vicar goes off on mission work ( probably has a murder in it) so that my imagination can run wild. Also accompanied by a small boy who will have his story read, and my knitting and podcasts.

Do what you love

and the money will follow.

In her book, Creating a life worth living, Carol Lloyd explores how to design a career for aspiring artists, innovators, entrepreneurs and other creative types. It was a facsinating book to read and I recommend it if you are a creator in hiding like me.

To dare is to lose one's footing momentarily. Not to dare is to lose oneself
Soren Kierkegaard

I know my parents wanted the best for me, they gave me a wonderful education and lots of support to make it out in the world. I have had a string of careers in finance, sales, crisis management and social work and yet deep down, all the creative stuff that I used in finding creative solutions to other people's problems just did not cut it with the inner creative person.

Downshifting for me, is an opportunity to explore my creative person and to give it an airing instead of giving it a creative opening from time to time. I have previously talked about following your bliss and as hard as it can be, I am trying to follow mine. Problem is that you can be so good at splitting that part off from you that finding it can be a bit of a journey.

The above book explores what stands in your way, how you sell your creative time to sometimes get a dead end job and provides a 12 week programme to get you on the creative path, doing what it is you do best and effortlessly.

Following my bliss, I have tentatively listed a few things on etsy......but be gentle I am just coming out of hiding and am not always giving myself permission to play with yarn and let loose...but thats what I am aiming to do. Will it make me rich slowly, I doubt it. It will however allow me to have the satisfaction that I am trying to share the sensational colours that surround us, and how we can wrap ourselves in them. It will also allow me to stay at home, drive less and use the natural materials that surround me in the place I live and am growing to love. A sense of place, a feeling of home, following your bliss......should be a career path.

Dumblittleman has an interesting post about finding your career here.

To blog sibs - with love on valentine's day

here's a collection of blogs I am enjoying reading most days = and as its Valentine's Day I just wanted to say --Guys I love what you do!

Rebecca's blog An Irish Crafters Good Life, makes me smile most days and makes me want to craft more and more.

Ihanna, because I love pink and there is such a lot of inspiration on her site.

Downshift.me.com A podcast about Matt and AJ who left the Uk to emigrate to Nova Scotia and start a new life there

Peakoilpremonitions For those that believe mankind needs to re-evaluate and change the role one plays in our ecosystem of finite resources and our impact on future generations and their way of life.

Path to Freedom an great resource to accompany you on your journey to self sufficiency.

Frugal for Life the title says it all. Practical advice on being frugal and getting the most out of life.

Frugal cuisine one dish at a time, for very little cost.

And when you have done that....... you can

Get rich slowly well it has some good ideas you might not have thought of. Young and vibrant

How to shop cheaply

Stove II

Split the allowance into 5 equal sums, one fifth for fruit and vegetables, one fifth for eggs, fish and meat; one fifth for bread and cereals; one fifth for milk and cheese; one fifth for bacon, fats, jams and other groceries.

How to shop cheaply

1. Shop early when possible.
2. If you are able to shop before closing time, you can often obtain great bargains in perishable goods.
3. Don't make up your mind about what you want to have until you have looked around the shops. Sometimes there are cheap offers. Take advantage of them.
4. When there are food sales, buy foods that store well.
5. Pay cash and carry home your purchases.
6. Examine what you purchase before paying for it.

Elizabeth Craig's economical cooking 1930?

Slow cooking

Long winter days, curled by the fire or busy days out in the garden or walking in nature, the stove can be found cooking my slow food for dinner.

A classic beef casserole serves 6, is magically cooked as follows :

1 1'2 lb beef skirt
1 oz seasone dflour
1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
1 oz butter
1 large onion
3 carrots, thickly sliced
2 teaspoons on mustard
3/4 pint of beef stock

Cut the meat in large cubes and toss in seasoned flour. Heat the oil and butter in a large fyring pan and brown the meat on all sides. Drain and place in a casserole dish.
In the heated pan, suate the oinon and carrots until the onion is just starting to colour and slightly soften. Add to the meat. Stir in the mustard into the pan and scrape the residue from the base of the pan before stirring in the stock. Stor well, bring to the boil and pour over the meat. Bring to the boil and transfer to the simmering oven for 4 to 5 hours, or electric at 140 C. Thicken gravy before serving if you like.

Eye candy

The weekend was spent with friends. Winter seems to offer us the opportunity to meet with friends we have not seen for a year ( as they are too busy). We enjoyed some laughs, some good home food and the boys had time to explore their world together.

Yesterday, we were entertained and introduced to more people in our community. Some we knew, some we did not and we enjoyed lunch with 25 other people. The reason for our invite is that I have been spinning the alpaca blanket for the hostess, which she proceeded to show off to many at the party. It suddenly dawned on me that maybe this would increase word of mouth about what we do, in a way that advertising just simply would not achieve. I met artists, men who paint, people who do lectures on local history, someone building an eco house, an actor who played in the local pantomime and someone who plays the accordeon and is a wealth of knowledge on folk songs and local customs.
It is a change from the lunhes and functions we attended in the past, where there was a definite outcome, a definite way to be dressed, be seen etc. How refreshing to relax in good company, with people who have stopped pretending to be someone and actually show exactly who they are and what they do.

TIME

The link between time and reality is insoluble. We can divorce ourselves from time only by undoing reality, or from reality only by undoing the sense of time. Categorical time is measured by clocks and calendars; existential time is that which is experienced, lived in, rather than observed.
The concept of time studied in a normal group of children ranging from age three to six years old, found that when they learnt to tell clock time, external factors became increasingly important in establishing time sense. Prior to this age,with many individual variations, to be sure, diurnal rhythm, the concept of the day as a unit of 24 hours, was described in terms of personal experiences.

These first included physiological functions, such as bowel movements, sleeping, and eating, and later said factors as interpersonal and play activities. The seasonal time, with its enormous and often unpredictable variations, was poorly understood in all the children studied.

The emergence of the concept of time in children is the result of the interaction between the child with his private experiences and his own rhytmic needs and an external world with external physical forces ( lights, dark, cold, and so forth) and significant adults, both of which have rhythmic patterns of their own. They postulate that the sense of past, present, and future follows a hunger feeding satisfaction sequence that necessitates an adequate mother- child relationship as well as physical need satisfaction.

Mann, J Time-Limited Psychotherapy ( 1973:4)

The world may be speeding up, or is it really. Is this a sense within ourselves that we are working a 9 to 5 job, hurtling through life and its experiences at a speed that is not actually compatible with our inner life rhytms? Why do we have to be reachable by cellphone at every opportunity, why do we need to respond to deadlines? These are time limits imposed on us by others. Quite rightly the world as it is, the business world, may not function if we do not have a sense of time, chaos would prevail, but it is my opinion that the way we use time and the clock currently is not compatible with the body and mind we have at the moment. This in principle is the cause of stress in many our lives.

A friend told me recently that her father had been discharged from the hospital and sent home to be cared for by his wife, because they decided he had only about 6 weeks to live. The fact is that the man is still alive 6 months later. It is obviously not yet his rhytmic time to stick to the 6 weeks given by the doctors. ( what gives them the right anyway!). In the meantime, the daughter travels every weekend and spans 300 miles in a car to visit home, and this is showing signs of stress as it is not compatible with looking after her own family and holding down a full time job. The mother who is looking after her husband, is suffering stress and a variety of physical symptoms, not only because she is facing the death of a loved one, but because apparently no help can be provided as he is not going to live longer than 6 weeks.

This example to me highlights how we are living in a time managed environment and at the same time, what should be the ending of a life, in its own time, is being scheduled in.

Here on the homestead we also have time, but my experience of it is that it does not rule my mind and body to the above extent. We get up and the children go to school, but for the majority of the day we can make decisions as to how we are going to spend our time. We have rhytms and actions that take place every day, such as dog walking, feeding the chickens etc, and yet within that is some movement for unexpected events. We are more aware of downtime in winter and up time in summer, how our bodies need rest in winter and can spend longer out during the summer time. Plants grow when the light and heat conditions are right and with climate change this too is changing. Just because the packet says, plant in February, may simply not be feasible in the future. With climate change comes an awareness that our perception of time and its seasons, the expected patterns are changing. We may be able to still control our clocks and calendars but they are based on what we perceived to be certain facts and rhytms. These are changing........could this be a coincidence?

If you need to be at a meeting at 9 am, the train you want to take is delayed, you might get stressed out. I have observed people in a bus ( the train was not running) being furious at the railway system for causing a delay.

Slowing down is incredibly difficult to do as many people experience when they go on holiday, and yet, I am convinced that we are not yet adapted to living in an environment that speeds up on a regular basis, we may not quite have evolved for that. Being pushed by time, challenging our physical and mental abilities, speeding up has an impact on our personal experiences and the world that surrounds us.

Not so long ago, man was in touch with nature and the natural rhytms........a clock may be ticking ..............

Onion trial

Having bought seeds and planted them in the polytunnel in plastic guttering I am running a trial this year comparing that with buying bulbs and starting them off in the plastic guttering and then transplanting them outside.
I have chosen a variety called setton, which should give me a crop in August. I have not been succesful with onions yet so if this does not produce a harvest worth mentioning, it will be eliminated from the growing catalogue. Simply because I have little space and onions are a crop that are cheap and easily obtained locally.

The weather is cold and snow was forecast last night but did not arrive here, some small patches on the hills that surround us. No outdoor work today, a bt of cleaning, spinning and making lasagna sauce for friends that come to dinner on saturday. I could also catch up on reading, next to the fire and finish a sock I am knitting. Such hard choices on the homestead!

Chicken safety

Avian flu arrives in the UK and no one seems to be clear as to how it is being spread, apart from speculation that wild birds may have something to do with it. An outbreak was discovered at the Bernard Matthews farm and factory I cannot help but reflect on the reasons why we still encourage large scale meat production of this kind.
The cost of cheap meat may not be immediate but you get what you pay for and poor living conditions, and stressed birds are going to reduce the bird's immune system and leave it wide open to virus infections, just the same as humans.
There is a requirement to register flocks of 50 or more birds with Defra, so that they have an idea of where each chicken is ( on satellite probably). I understand this to be a sensible measure, probably involves a lot of bureaucracy and form filling, that enables the government to tell flock owners at risk. The usual procedure is mass extermination of the birds and complete disinfection of the areas they occupied. Strangely enough, owners nearby the site have not been contacted and the question is, why would they say their birds are not at risk. Has it got to do with the fact that they roam free, have excellent hygiene and feed them when they want to...i.e. the birds are less stressed? Some people have panicked and killed all their chickens even before there was an outbreak.
It seems ridiculous that they want to know where each chicken is, but they cannot find criminals or illegal immigrants or lost children. It surely is a matter of time before we all get computer chips in our bodies and they can find us with sat nav. New passports have a chip implanted for that particular reason I am sure. There has to be some computer somewhere that tracks human movement across the globe in the interests of national security. So, soon, all animals, humans and anything that moves will be registered and seen from the sky.

Practically there is little I can do for my birds apart from making sure that they live in an excellently clean henhouse, have clean water every day and have plenty of good food to eat. If the outbreak gets closer we will have to monitor what happens.

Don't buy the feeling......

The definition of fun is

Fun: Playful release of energy to achieve healing through balance or transformation.

A children fun was part of our vocabulary, actually most things we enjoy bring us some kind of satisfaction. When we are told what we should, ought to, must, do.......then some of the fun seems to miss from the equasion.

The implications of doing something we enjoy are that chemicals in our body, endorphins are released that make us feel happy and contented. If we do something that we have to do, but actually do not enjoy, we release negative chemicals into our body and this can lead to toxicity , illness and disease.

Many of us make decisions not for what is good for us as individuals but what we need to do to keep up with the trends that are sold to us via the media. Every advert for 4 x 4 cars is about adventure, fun, climbing sandbanks in the sahara desert, mountain climbing as where most people with a 4 x 4 drive them in the city, maybe hankering after that adventure that will make them feel good. So when you are persuaded to buy a product, you buy into the feeling of having the product and so, you must have it. Scary thoughts.

The question is what can you do that makes you happy, is fun and comes from your inner soul. My children still have a sense of inbuilt fun, but as an adult I often hear myself say things like ' well that sounds like fun, but I am too old for that or ....I really ought to go and do this or that'. I am not talking about being irresponsible and having nothing but fun in your life, we all have responsibilities but what I seek is a balance.

If to feel good, I have to buy something that costs me a fortune and means that I need to go and work for another 4 years to pay it off, then that seems to create a spiral of discontentment. If on the other hand, a walk on the beach, toes in the water is going to make me feel connected and doing something that I consider fun, then I can do that, I have the time, I am 3 miles from the beach and why not take a picnic and make a day of it.

Needless to say, I do not have a 4 x 4!

Delegating

My DS 2 son is not a natural organiser. I know this because he frequently forgets things and likes to still be guided by his Mum and Dad on what he needs for a successful day. He often feels a failure and even talked about wanting to be homeschooled. My fault I believe. You can so easily think that all your children are alike when it gets to motivation and get irritated when one falls out of line. I told him it was probably my mistake to let it get to this stage and decided to give him a folder with the student handbook at flylady. He has his launchpad ready, he likes the routines set out on paper and his room looks well.......tidy enough to hoover. This is day 3 and there is a marked improvement, his confidence is slightly up as he is able to make his bed, find his pyamas and give some thought to what he needs for the following day instead of getting us all in a panic at 7 am.

I am not sure how , but we were always told to tidy our rooms although no one ever told us how to do it. You just got shouted at on a regular basis and told your room was a mess and to get it sorted. Seems like I have done the same to my sons. Hopefully, it should enable him to get more control over his space and help him to get organised, but in the long term it will simplify my life too if the clothes are in the washing basket and not just lying on the floor or under the bed.

Tribal games

The day had come, the marshmallows had been brought and apple tree growth spurts looked perfect as sticks to use. The only thing that was missing was a bonfire.
So when exactly is a good day to have a bonfire? Traditionally in autumn after the trees have been pruned many bonfires spring up in November when it is Guy Falks in the UK. A dry day is a must and if you want to make some smoke signals ( as we did) you need there to be very little wind.

The boys collected some dry straw from the shed and found small sticks to make that traditional wigwam shape. DS2 was cutting big branches into smaller ones. The logs had been carted away in the wheelbarrow and filed in the woodshed. Weeks have gone by where the field was simply to wet to do the job and a clear day seemed a perfect day to go out and get some fresh air and have some fun.
When the sun went down, the fire glowed on and the boys had enjoyed a magical outdoors day. Who said work could not be fun? let alone an opportunity to show them how to keep themselves warm with a fire built with small sticks. It grew enormous in the end and even too hot to stand next to, but perfect to roast those marshmallows.

Starting a garden

Over on get rich slowly there is an informative post about starting a garden so if its your first year, read on and roll up your sleeves.

J and M came over today. J has about 27 varieties of apple trees and last July I asked whether he would be willing to show me how to prune my 3 apple trees. He did some research in the varieties and armed with my secateurs I was shown the following :
Find the leader and cut by about 1/3 to 1/2
lateral shoots - prune to an outward bud 3 or 4 out.

It sounds simple, then you have to cut out all the branches that are crossing from the outside in. He told me that the shape you are aiming for is the shape of a bowl( on standard trees). The reason we did not have many apples last year is because I had not pruned them and all vigour was going into growth not fruit. He also suggested for one variety to be staked with a 2 m stake as it is a 'whispy' tree and when laden with fruit would bend over. He was reassuring. He did not do the work but made me cut the branches and just made suggestions.

The potatoe bed needs forking over, compost added and that is a job for the weekend. Its been drier and thus we can start making a giant bonfire to deal with branches left over after storm damage. Surprisingly the grass is already growing, about 4 weeks in advance so I am going to take a gamble and take that as my cue to do some planting. I guess it will be about 6 weeks before we have no frost in sight. The onion seeds are in. M gave me another tip, she buys onion bulbs but plants them in pots at this time of the year and when they have grown roots they are planted out. If not, the birds take them all out too easily.

We enjoyed eachother's company and shared a simple lunch. We only meet at this time of the year as in the summer we are all too busy. We also share tomatoe plants, meaning that I sew one variety and she does another and we swop plants. That way, we get variety. It is their ninth year in their garden so she has worked out what she needs to plant and sow and how much each plant will yield on average. A very scientific method. I got carried away with the seeds in the book, planted too many and had a bumper crop, too much to eat in many ways. Canning was good but why can things you actually do not like?

Time rich

The power has been off for 24 hours due t0 work being carried out on trees nearby. Our power is provided by powerlines that connect to the houses around ( we are pretty rural) and the trees in the storm had damaged some cables. the cables did not get replaced, just the trees trimmed. The whole day, the power saw whirred in the background, and 3 men reduced tree branches to mulch. It made me sad. Somehow it made sense but in a backward way.
After the power cut there were issues with the internet connection but that is pretty normal. I reflected on how less attached and calm I can now be about not having an internet connection for a while. Not so easy for younger people who rather depend on the internet and the gateway to information.
I got engrossed in a book 'This book will save your life' which is a fantastic read, just the thing if you need a reality check.


My wake up call came with news of multiple losses for one of my DH's Aunt who is in her seventies and not doing well at the moment which is entirely understandable; within 3 weeks she has lost her partner, her dog, her home, health and is said to be quite confused. I feel compassion in the face of such loss and when they talk about doing a hip replacement to an old lady with a chest infection who has had a fall, I just do not see how she will overcome all the losses in this short time. I am in awe of the courage required in this moment and what decision her soul will make to keep her safe.


I prepare myself to go and visit a confused, unrecognisable older woman in pain and yet reflect on the fact that within that picture is a woman who's life has a story and whose time on this earth has impacted on many in a positive way.

Time rich or money rich, what would be the best choice. How long is the perfect time to be alive in this world? Now is the only time we can feel fully alive, fully appreciate all that surrounds us. In the face of adversity in this moment for one person, the rest of the world carries on as always, it seems insignificant and yet at the same time it makes me realise that if I feel that in this moment I want to go out and walk under the stars, that is exactly what I need to do.

Follow your bliss

When we take the time to stand still, to connect with nature, to stop the chattering of thoughts about what we should be doing, how we should be behaving, what we should be buying, what the expected standards is.....we can find peace and turn our vision inwards to discover who we are.
One of the most important and powerful questions I have asked myself during many months bedbound is ' Who are you? Who are you really?"After all the usual lables of mother, wife, teacher, artist, musician and silence follows......

When you relax into that awareness and connect with the wisdom that lies within you, you might discover what Joseph Campbell calls, your bliss. Your bliss is the activity that totally absorbs you, in which you are totally lost and connected to all consciousness. As an early years educator, it is easy to spot children going through certain play schemas and being absorbed by their bliss. It could be painting, it could be mixing, it could be a fixation with anything round. For me personally it has been a sensual bliss of materials and colour. There is not a yarnshop or sheep, alpaca fleece that I would not touch and sense a connection with.

It is important to note that following one's bliss, as Campbell saw it, isn't merely a matter of doing whatever you like, and certainly not doing simply as you are told. It is a matter of identifying that pursuit which you are truly passionate about and attempting to give yourself absolutely to it. In so doing, you will find your fullest potential and serve your community to the greatest possible extent.

JOSEPH CAMPBELL:

If you follow your bliss, you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living. Wherever you are -- if you are following your bliss, you are enjoying that refreshment, that life within you, all the time.

* * *

Now, I came to this idea of bliss because in Sanskrit, which is the great spiritual language of the world, there are three terms that represent the brink, the jumping-off place to the ocean of transcendence: sat-chit-ananda. The word "Sat" means being. "Chit" means consciousness. "Ananda" means bliss or rapture. I thought, "I don't know whether my consciousness is proper consciousness or not; I don't know whether what I know of my being is my proper being or not; but I do know where my rapture is. So let me hang on to rapture, and that will bring me both my consciousness and my being." I think it worked.

--Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth, pp. 113, 120

Speaking to an artist in my community who comes to visit weekly for some eggs and shares her apples with me in season, we both observed on the bliss feeling of total absorption. She finds it in painting silk, her husband in making pots and I find it in working with fibre. I seem to be at peace, feel connected to the activity with my whole being and if when the product is finished someone wants to pay me for having been in a blissful state, that would be wonderful. I have not got to that stage yet. I am still experiencing bliss in the moment. Its an experience when thoughts of the past do not enter, thoughts of the future do not pass but I am in the now moment, totally connected and transfixed into what I am doing.

In the film of The Last Samurai, a scene depicts a village in which each person spends all their time engaged in whatever activity is their discipline, their gift to the world. It would be a wonderful vision of community if we had the courage to be and do what we are.

Who are you, who are you really?

Freedom

Over the last few weeks I have settled down to do what comes effortlessly. Having been poorly and with a household in the same way needing a bit of TLC has left very little time for my craft activities. It is still very cold out there and I am sitting contentedly with my spinningwheel, whurring away working at Rollo's blanket. The photo shows about 6 oz of spun fibre in a colour that is between cream and butterscoth streaks. Its is very soft and will be very warm. These are pilot skeins as I am seeing how I work with this fibre. All is well only a small allergic reaction that makes breathing a bit laborious so maybe will need to stick to wool in the future. We shall see, maybe spinning in the open air may alleviate some of the discomfort.

The sun is shining today with a cracking blue sky. Very cold and I am looking forward to looking at the stars tonight. No light pollution in the country does enable us to look regularly up and see whether we can make out what star is wish.

At times when the simplicity of life is simply effortless I feel blessed that I have the time, the resources and the energy to enjoy all that surrounds me.

Little hen, little hen

Little hen, little hen, waking me from my afternoon nap. Under my window they made noises to say, corn, corn, corn. Its a fairly nice and cold day. I went walkabout in the garden to see what was happening fearing that a fox had entered our quarry. Not a bit of it, they just were hankering after some corn to keep warm.
I do not mind as the results of caring for them and allowing them to work hard are some eggs that await some culinary magic. It is a simple harvest at this time of the year but a welcome one. Day in day out we gather between 5 a 8 eggs from 9 chickens which is a good yield. They have off days like everyone else but on the whole they are reliable workers, noisy at times, but reliable.

Half Human

Up at dawn, cup of tea brought to my DH, I pondered on life. I feel half human again, the household is returning to some sort of routine. The porridge had steamed all night in the stove and as the warmth and steam wafted from my early cup of tea I pondered on the beauty of this simple life.
The chickens respond to my voice and welcomed me with a lot of cackling and I found them some cabbages to eat so at least they have some work to do today. There is very little greenery for them to eat and although 3 of them can still escape and eat whatever they please in the garden, the other dutifully wade in the mud. There seems to me to be a lot to do around the homestead but I am still taking it veryeasy. There is a stirring in me to tidy the polytunnel and prepare the bed for early potatoes. Last year I waited until late february but this year I want to try and start them earlier so that the bed is free for french beans in April/ May time. I have been sewing some lettuce seeds under heat and today.I will put some onion seed in a seed tray. This will be my first year growing onions from seed, I usually buy bulbs, without much success I have to say.
Dh and I talked about what we would increase this year in our simple activities. For him it is his crocquet game and for me it will be working in the garden. I watched Growing your Vegetables yesterday and learnt about many heritage varieties of peas and beans. It is a worthwhile crop, to think that the seed is edible, planted produces a flowering spectacle followed by fruits that are easy to eat, freeze and dry. And they give nitrogen to the soil improving it as they grow.
Met Mr Robin today, who hopped about the garden path looking for crumbs to eat. I do leave them out when I cut the breadloaf. Every little helps.

Turning the corner

The little bug is working its way through the house, only one little man to go and we will all have had the experience in one way or another.
Gradually I have worked through my emergency supplies. It pays to be prepared for moments when you just cannot go to the shops because of weather, financial reasons, illness or whatever emergency presents itself.
The red cross have some good information on being prepared for an emergency and articles on how to prepare resources in case of emergency.
In this part of the world, the emergency we encounter is not likely to last longer than 2 weeks and it is comforting to know that when the moment comes or has arrived that we can take some of the anxiety and worries away by being prepared.
Canned supplies and supplies in the freezer have been very good to fall back upon in this household. I like lists and having experienced some chaos and gaps over the last 2 weeks, one of the things I want to ensure is that a plan is in place for the next time. We have had powercuts, storms and ilness over the last 2 weeks and to me it has acted as a small wake up call.
Dried foods such as rice, pasta and canned sauces to go with them have all been of good use. The one main thing that many people forget is the water supply which should be first on the list. We have saved water in the tubs outside but that water would need to be sterilised before we were able to drink it in an emergency so some supplies that are ready would be better.
When health returns in abundance in this household I will replenish the supplies.
Ofcourse if you have a garden, some canned goods and dried food supplies in the house you are halfway there.

Get well comments

Thank you Katie and Marilyn for your get well wishes.
Another storm last night, some powercuts and boys that are wondering when Mum is going to be back to normal. DH has been talking about the difference between Man flu and woman flu......won't go into that apart from to say that silence often is better than speech especially when you have no voice to speak with. I trust nature.
Still drinking smoothies and juices to give my body the best chance to recover and it is all going well. I have observed though that when you reach rockbottom and think the end in nigh, it usually means you have turned a corner to recovery. The house looks like a war zone, visitors are barred and I have promised to put out a white flag when the coast is clear.
Questions from boys ' Why is there no bread in the box? What is for dinner tonight? Even better: " Mum is Dad really going to cook us a meal?" In their own little way they are saying they miss me. Nurse Dh is not bad, has not quite got the difference between tea and herbal tea not having milk in it, but hey, he is bringing me tea in bed which is much appreciated. Occassionally he lies down next to me, wipes his brow and says : I am bearing up, how are you doing? I smile, he smiles and we look lovingly at the mess that surrounds us in the house. Its great to feel loved.
DH thinks I am getting better.....when you start complaining I know you'r fighting it and getting better.

Cold War

Fresh juices should give some pow to immune systems. Here's my favourite.

4 carrots
3 oranges
small piece of ginger root

Still poorly so am taking it easy, chores are being shared around.

Colds and lemons

I'm sick. This is predictable usually at this time of the year, as our bodies are usually run down a bit, we lack sunshine etc. I nursed a sick boy at home this week and as is often the case, your kids share everthing with you.

I will do exactly as I did with my son:

• stay in bed, warm and cosy until at least 10.30 am.
• drink plenty of hot drinks, at least 1 every hour
• eat soup and easily digested foods.
• listen to music or watch tearful old movies ( a favourite when I am poorly)
• Stay out of the kitchen

Some home remedies for colds and flu days :

Hot lemon drink

press the juice of 2 lemons, add 1 teaspoon of honey and plenty of boiling water.

Elderberry drink

to stop the cold going ont your chest

Chicken soup

Create a wholesome vegetable soup with pieces of chicken.

Aromatherapy

in the burner, I put 3 drops of each pine, eucalyptus and tea tree oil to scent the air ( helps with breathing)

Reflexology

Massage feet and hands to stimulate lymphatic system


That will do for the next few days. There are some easy meals in the freezer and if all fails there is always pasta for them to cook.

Back to the duvet!

Climate challenge

We are having another stormy day today. For days the weather is wet and windy. Nothing wrong with that I hear you say. Not really apart from the fact that we notice how windy it is and that the stormy weather is scaling wind speeds that can damage property, trees fall down on a regular basis and the fields and roads are flooded. What we have is extremes of weather such as droughts in summer and floods in winter which in the short term can be a mere inconvenience, yet in the long term should make us aware that weather patterns are not as they used to be. Flooding does little for the fields. Waterlogged fields means drainage is not sufficient and floods erode the top soil. We may lose trees not only because the wind catches their tops and topples them over, but because their roots are not strong enough to hold on due to soil erosion, drought and floods. Our garden lies sheltered behind a row of trees in an old quarry and when the wind comes in, it resounds around the bowl of the quarry. Some trees at the top of the quarry ( 50 feet higher) can come crashing down. ( We do not park cars very close to the wall in winter weather).
I have finished reading ‘ heat’ by George Monbiot and this has ofcourse influenced our decisions in taking the issues of global warming seriously. In the end analysis he is right in saying that we do not like taking action because it is our behaviour that needs to change fundamentally. Deciding to no longer fly for instance makes travelling long distance a thing of the past and yet we still can make choices. In the future, our children may well not be able to make those choices. Reading about the energy waste in supermarkets and the amount of fuel used to heat the supermarket, freeze and keep produce cold, travel there and back, the miles the food travels to get there has made me think about how we shop, why we grow vegetables and how generally we can work towards dealing with this differently.
As a result I aim to empty my freezer by the end of March of all food that is not needed before the new harvest comes in later in the year. I have noticed that my freezer is a convenient dumping ground for special offers and interesting items that may come in handy one day, yet one day very rarely comes along. Emptying the freezer and not using it for 2 months will mean that we will use less electricity to run it, and we will have a much better idea of what we like and dislike.
Being able to purchase food on demand will be in the background of eating seasonal food, purchased locally. What we grow and keep for winter will be discussed as we go along. Not so long ago when freezers were not in existence, we managed to hibernate in winter with a harvest and cupboards full of goodies. I want to work towards that this year. Growing vegetables, harvesting fruit and creating a menu that reflects what is available. This will give rise to a new category, seasonal produce, which will include recipes.

tranport 2007

Our aims in 2007 are to reduce our transport requirements. Having done a transport survey recently, I realized that 40 percent of our journeys were unnecessary, 40 percent off other journeys could be done using alternative transport , and 20 percent were essential journeys that could not be done in any other way than by car.

We live in a rural area and public transport is still not regular enough and cost effective enough to do without a vehicle. This does mean that we will not be selling our car. We will continue to be careful as to which car we use for which journey. When one of the cars is no longer viable it will not be replaced. I did look at getting a different car that would be environmentally viable like a Toyota Prius, which is an interesting family vehicle. If we were in town, such a car would be useful as it generates its own power by recharging a battery while you drive and switches to fuel when the battery is empty and your speed is above 28 miles. There is no doubt that technology offers possibilities in the future for cars that will be less dependent on fossil fuels, but the actual cost of the vehicle currently is prohibiting and is not possible for us. The diesel car which is now 4 years old, will be maintained, cleaned and looked after to enable us to do as many miles as possible without major repairs and costs. As mentioned in previous posts this does mean that the cost per mile we travel will increase but carbon emissions will decrease.
The unnecessary journeys are due to poor planning and wanting to do things on a whim. Better planning should result in less journeys.
We examined what we did socially and whether this could be done in a different way. We aim to live more locally and so in the next few months an exploration will include not only local food but local entertainment, leisure and sports activities ( not all for me but the children as well). The main question has been to look at the implications when for instance we want to go to the movies. That is a 30 mile trip. If we wait a few months for a movie, we could hire it at the local library, not only would the costs be reduced but also the transport to get there.
We will be exploring walking and cycling more, in particular with regards to the children as my mobility is limited however, there is no reason why my son could not walk to school with my DH, and he could buy the paper at the local village store and return. This would be a viable alternative to taking the car to school with the excuse that he needs to go to the village shop and then come home and take the dog for a walk. Both activities could be done together.
I am sure you get the picture. The only way to examine how and why you do things is to keep a journal. When your activities, money and travel requirements are written down you can examine what can and cannot be changed.
Having the car on the drive means that if for any reason we need to use the car, we can, we do not feel a sense of depravation but overall we can think before we leave home and how we plan our journeys.
A bus trip into town is quite expensive so scores low on financial sense, it takes 1 hour as where the car journey takes 30 mins, ( possible on time), then there is no parking to deal with and you have to carry what you shop for so that limits the amount of consumerism possible. The only drawback is that the bus stop is about 1 mile away. An alternative is to drive to the park and ride scheme on the edge of town, take the bus into town and pay less for parking.
I am not saying that every journey made can be changed, but if we think before we leave we can make choices in line with the values we hold dear.
We have bought a family railcard to enable us to take more train journeys at a reduced cost and journeys to visit family and friends abroad will be done using trains instead of planes if possible.
This is about the extent we feel we can work with this year.

ready for action

Happy Birthday son, he got so excited that he wanted to get kitted out immediately. It was such a joy to see him go white, smile , jump up and realise that his dream for today had come through.
A bit later he was in tears...it was all too much.
Off to school for the day but when he gets home, a birthday tea will await him.
Such simple pleasures.

A Blanket of alpaca

Its been the most amazing weekend. First the kindness of strangers, then someone very kindly came to cut the tree down into logsized pieces and my friend took me to visit someone who has alpacas in the garden. I started spinning to increase mobility in my legs after an ilness and have enjoyed it ever since. I have experimented with dying yarn and made my DH a handspun, handknitted sweater for Christmas ( its the only sweater with the right size sleeves), which he loves.
So I have come home with a blanket of alpaca fleece which will keep me busy for ...about 6 months of spinning.
Also home is a poorly child who needs a lot of TLC so am being brief today.

The kindness of strangers

Kindness number 1
It will be my DS's birthday soon and he would dearly like a cricket bat. His current one has been reglued 3 times and he is out practising in all weathers using buckets and stones as wickets and enticing anyone able to throw him a ball so he can practice his stroke.
This is a story about the kindness of people.......my friend called me to say that she was in a shop in town and that she was looking at getting him a cricket bat...not only that but he will end up with a set that includes all a cricket player may need which I know will make his heart sing and he will be absolutely thrilled. A few minutes later my DH phones me from the call box asking me to ring him back. I usually expect bad news however he started by telling me that he was in a shop in town and had seen a cricket set that would be perfect for our son but that he had forgotten his wallet and was unsure what to do. He was also due to do some grocery shopping on the same trip and I asked how he was going to do that.

I have already done that he said.
How did you pay for it then?

Well when I got to the checkout and told the lady that I did not have my wallet she said she would not accept my cheque without card. I felt embarrassed and quite sure that I would be leaving without shopping. A young man behind me in the queue told me that he would be willing to pay for my shopping if I wrote him a cheque. I asked him whether he was sure and
he said yes, I am sure, I am happy to do this for you.

My DH was taken aback a bit, wrote the cheque, packed the goods and thanked the man. He had not even asked for our address in case the cheque would bounce...which it will not of course. When my DH arrived at the car the man suddenly appeared and said :

Here, you left a bag behind so I thought I would bring it out to you to the car.

There may be questions as to whether angels do appear in real life but the kindness of this stranger and my friend has been much appreciated. Whoever you are, thank you.

Materialism

I tackle this subject first as it was the easiest of all of them.
The house we live is an old cottage and space is at a premium. We have been decluttering for 2 years now and each year we feel able to let go of new things. There is still work to do in this area and we will all be focussing on what we need, what we have and what we no longer want in our lives. This is not an excuse to create a wishlist of what we want but to get on with our vision we need to deal with the past and set ourselves free from the stuff we have accumulated over the years.
Each child has a room that is their own and we will not influence what is happening in that domain. The exception is that each person will be responsible for their stuff and other people's stuff that is stored in their room needs relocating. This should give each child the power over their own space and a chance to individually express how they best use that space.
It sounds simplistic but as an example I can tell you that my youngest has boxes on the top of his wardrobe that do not belong to him, the hanging space in his wardrobe hosts old clothes not looked at in years, the chest belongs to his sister who visits regularly and the books on his shelves have been left there by his older brother. You can see that from his point of view, there is little room left to make his own mark on the space.
We have given each person permission to look through stuff and if they do not want it in their own space to deal with it in different ways, give the stuff to the person it belongs to and tell them to deal with their own stuff, sort the rest, reuse, recycle or bring to adults to discuss.
This process will be done by all over the next 2 months and should result in clear spaces and then an individual project as to how they want their space to fit their visions.
It is also likely to test relationships and require each of us to use communication skills and exercise compassion , patience and restraint.

Still here

Happy New Year to all of you. I have been absent in the last week because we have had family visiting and there has been little time to sit and put my feet up. After 5 mins there was always something to attend to.
The beginning of a new year starts in our household with a revisiting of the last year, what went well and what could go better. This year when I arrived in the kitchen with my folder, paper, pen and a serious look my Dh asked whether whisky would be called for. We settled down to compare our vision and what we could do together to work towards our vision.
It takes courage to sit and talk about what matters, what is wrong and to talk about options and there were tears, there were heated discussions and we ended up making no decisions on the major items but creating a workeable plan and time to go and do some research. We include our 12 year old son in the major discussions as I value his problem solving skills as well as I respect that at his age he has an opinion and should feel free to voice it. This is sometimes not comfortable but he is part of our team and has come up with other solutions we had not thought of. I urge you therefore to make use of young adults as they have a better grip on technology and options in that field. The end decision is a consensus but the discussions should enable each member of the family to express an opinion.

The posts over the next few days will take each area of discussion in turn and will give you a better feel of what we are trying to work with this year. I hope they will inspire you to take the bull by the horns and plan your own vision.

At Home

Today you can find one teenager still asleep, Dh reading the newspaper in the kitchen, accompanied by my DD having a late breakfast. The older people are stretching their legs by taking a leisurely walk and small children are quite contented with their toys and playing nicely in their rooms. I can be found, trying to create some post holiday magic in the kitchen and finding new ways of creating a feast with leftover gammon and turkey. There will be salads today which is easy to do.
Yesterday we visited a friend and had some mulled wine and applejuice with Cake, mince pies and a lot of good cheer.
The weather is holding up, its colder but the sun is trying to shine through. The chickens continue to do yard big housekeeping and get chased occassionally by the dog who thinks they should not be out this far towards the house.
As far as my pressies go, I received a DVD series of ‘The Little House on the Prairie’, some waterproof clogs, a large scented candle, some sock yarn and a book about Belgian Waffles as well as a book about the life and times of Mrs Beeton. I am very pleased with the gifts I received. I also received a bunch of flowers through the post and a magazine subscription of Resurgence, which I look forward to reading every two months. Resurgence has some links and articles that seem worth browsing through.
I received an email from college over the holidays with an interesting message at the bottom which read

PThink before you print - only print this e-mail if absolutely necessary



I guess this would be a good rule to follow, if you do not need to print out an email you save on paper, printer and ink which is a good start. I can only imagine the mountains of paper that get created at college through emails,which then have to be shredded and recycled. Not printing them might save a few trees.

Downshifting bookstore UK

If you wish to support my site, you can, and it is entirely optional, do so by buying a book through the downshifting bookstore ( added in the links sidebar). I will add books that have been of interest to me. I am not doing this to make you buy something but it seemed a good way to show a list of books that I have or have found useful so far on this journey. If you do buy from the site, I will receive a 5% credit which in turn will enable me to buy some more books. As I said, it is optional, I do not wish you to think that I would want to encourage you to consume but if you are going to consume anyway and you want to do so by supporting me, you could use this way.

Dusting and housekeeping

The fog is still shrouding most of the Uk and all internal flights have been cancelled. Trains are overloaded, airports full of passengers and the roads are clogging up. Home for Christmas may not be a reality for many who will remember this holiday as a travel nightmare. The trains will be on strike for 52 hours and generally the country will come to a standstill. It is not good for people but it is for the planet.

I am waiting for family to arrive and will have to be patient as we wait to hear how they progress towards us. A warm fire awaits them.

In the meantime I am doing some dusting on this blog, changing the template and bringing some new categories in the side line, a resources list of books that I have found useful so far and a picture which will be changed on a regular basis so you can see how the homestead looks as we go along.

Christmas baking

As the day nears I am doing some last minute cleaning before the family arrives. In fact we do a lock in after the 23rd to the 3rd January 2007. That means we do not go anywhere at all unless it is local. There will be plenty of festivities but mainly we try to avoid the shops, any food shopping and certainly towns and malls. I am sure it brings relief to go shopping when you spend time together ..our alternative is to take the dog for a walk.

Winter officially starts today and the frost and fog create an icy cover over the frosty hard earth. The chickens need a little more care as their water freezes up but all other animals hide from the cold as we do. The fire is roaring, the cats lie near as well as the dog and people sit around with their books and knitting. Others are frantically rehearsing parts in Christmas plays and I will be doing come baking today.
Mince pies, butter biscuits and a chocolate log for days to come.

On a technical note, blogger has updated its service with easier options to load up pictures from my computer directly, so maybe I shall be doing some blog cleaning to give it a more personal space for the New Year.

Posting will be erratic in the meantime. Here’s my card to you all.......

Have a fantastic Christmas and a splendiferous New Year. May Good Fortune be Boundless and your Health be sound. May your laughter be frequent and raucous and LOUD! Here’s to chats on the phone, letters, comments and the odd lunch dates where we can be who we are in the company of friends.

Virtual gifts

My sister in law lives in Canada and every year I struggle what to send her. Apart from ovengloves which she absolutely adores, it really has bugged me over the years to send large parcels of stuff to the other side of the world. The first year she moved to Canada, at a time I was heavily pregnant ( when I was a bit mellow etc), I packaged up the whole English Christmas including pudding, sauce, cake etc ( you have to be pregnant to do this and not think the postage through). The man at the post office did look strangely at the box which weighed over 25 lbs and was covered in brown paper with little messages and artistic holiday decorations. The recipients of the box had to travel 6 miles to the post office to go and get it and then thought, who would be silly enough to send them a huge box like that with such huge postage. I did say I was pregnant at the time.
Over the years, I have looked at small gifts, clothing, videos etc ( although that is difficult due to different formats), and eventually settled for books which I could order from the supplier in Canada saving postage and packing and airmiles and....post office staff.
This year I hit upon the idea to send them an email voucher with the request that they choose their own reading material. it was sent on the 9th December instantly so they would have time to choose their own reading gift. Needless to say they approved and it sorted my problem out too.
Now I wonder whether the ovengloves were just a plan to stop me sending heavy stuff......

When the grass is greener on the other side of the fence

In the mid bleak winter, Frost stood hard as iron.....
Frost descended yesterday, a magical mist of cloud and ice hovered around the valley for the majority of the day, followed by some sunshine in the afternoon. This morning the leaves on the trees that had been holding out have fallen to the ground and the fire in the homestead rears heat.
Outside the chickens, minus cockerill have taken it upon themselves to fly about and explore all the bugs that grow in the garden. I am not adverse to them being out in the garden at this time of the year as a bit of bug clearing by chickens can only enhance soil hygiene, but they are venturing out on the road watched by the beady eyes of the cat population and that cannot be a good thing. The girls have been shut in the shed today for their own protection and tonight we will be giving them a feather cut on one side to stop them flying off that easily. It sounds a cruel thing to do, but in the end I need to protect my salad crop in the polytunnel which has been nibbled on.

Each decision you make has an impact somewhere. When we moved the chickens daily in their ark, pheasants would come and feed on the corn that was left behind. The chickens were safe from the fox but they had limited space to move about in. Moving them to a fenced enclosure stopped the pheasants but the chickens have managed to dig and scratch a patch of grass to mudbath in 3 weeks and are now looking at more grass to eat, which is understandable. The space covered by the chicken ark also houses the winter quarters of a doormouse which has made a neat and sensible warm home underneath with all the pieces of straw that fall through the chickenwire. Its as tight as a ball, safe from the elements and cats, and the chickens covering it at night make it warm from above. I do not like to cut the chicken’s wing feathers but in the end, that seems the most sensible solution at the moment. They receive plenty of green material each day to keep them busy...yet...the grass is obviously greener on the other side of the fence.

Heat

I am currently reading Heat by George Monbiot , a book that talks about global warming and possible solutions. Its drastic as he advocates that we need to cut 90% of our usage of fossil fuels. Its rather technical and I am wading my way through it.
One of the suggestions is that to make this work without too much hardship, we need to have a system of rationing, i.e. that each country should have a proportion of the earth’s resources equivalent to the people they have in the country and then if they do not use it they should be able to sell it to the countries that do use it. That sounds fair. He compares it to rationing during the war.
I tested my children on what they would be prepared to give up and found that actually they are quite reluctant to give up something they already have. So a tactic seems to stay with what you have at the moment and not replace it when it runs out. My oldest son pointed out that when you take something away it has a knock on effect on something else. Lets say we took the TV away, then he thinks he would be spending more time on the computer. If you take the computer away, he would spend more time watching TV. There is an element of non creativity about that. My suggestions fell on deaf ears...but the it is nearly the holiday season. I will have more time to think this one through.

I am trying to give up the car but it is proving very taxing at the moment. We will continue to look at options and see what we can do about them without having too much hardship. We live in the depth of the countryside 3 miles from the nearest town and although walking there is an option, it takes a lot of energy and time to do so. Nice walk though.

Intelligent sheep

The children are beginning to show signs of holiday fever. Adults in our household have holiday apathy and the two together make an interesting mix. I am happy they are excited, there are many community activities on the calendar. They are all involved in plays and concerts which means transport to and from. It requires organisation and although I am that, the pace certainly quickens to a run at this time of the year. Downshifting has meant that time has a different value for us and we do not necessarily adapt to the rush from the outside as well as we did before. It can seem a stark contrast between the two areas of our life.
It has meant that we have talked about what activities we actually enjoy and not just the ones we do every year and feel obliged to participate in. We have two invites for the same evening. Our little hamlet hosts a drinks event at the local manor house ( a 1 mile walk away) and then dinner will be at one of our neighbours. All within walking distance with people from our community which gives us an opportunity to see what has been going on with eachother while time has been hurtling by.
Today we ventured out for a nature walk with our labrador and looked at some different sheep in the field. We had never come across this type before and when speaking to one of our eccentric villagers about them she announced they were endangered species of sheep and she wanted them to graze her land. We talked about the doormice in the hedge, the owls that patrol the area and the buzzards that occassionally can be heard and seen around. We all stood talking on the drive wearing wellington boots, warm woolly hats and caught up with the world. I love haphazard meetings like that. Home again, I went in search of the rare sheep, Castlemilk Moorit, which apparently are decorative sheep with a short fleece, fawn with chocolate tones underneath that make good tweed. I spin fibre and had never heard of them. Short fibre would be hard to spin anyhow. I bemoaned the fact that an awful lot of animals whose fleeces had a particular purpose have disappeared in favour of one particular type of sheep. There is so much we have lost over the last 100 years through monoculture. Now my neighbour is not going to make any money from these sheep as they do not appear to have either good meat value or fleece so decorative seems a good thing to be. They are indeed beautiful to watch. My Dh and I laughed at the words she uttered ‘ these are intelligent sheep’. Well they have to have something and again, we both laughed because we have always considered sheep to be slightly silly and far from intelligent but maybe we are just ignorant and have ever only met silly sheep. It was good to laugh together at a new discovery.
Home again, the kettle went on, cup of tea in hand I sat down to do some sewing, knitting and spinning of the summers fleece I dyed, carded and quite understand how expensive it would be to produce a cardigan or jumper from animal to person. I am sad that many skills have been lost and yet at the same time my excitement today has been to gaze on a different sort of animal and learn more about it.
There is a whole world out there we have lost and have forgotten about.
Urban girl found a gas camping stove in her attic which will be put to good use next year during the making of potions of plant dyes to dye the fleeces with.
I like to read the foxfire stories about older folk who talk through homesteading things and will share some in another post.

Ash

The ash tree fell down in the recent storms and as you can see it conveniently fell inward. The boys were rather upset as they had been building a platform on it and used it as a makeshift treehouse. Ash trees however do not have long roots, so I am told, and thus we had warned them that they could not construct a tall tree house as it could keel over any time. This ofcourse happened. ( a lesson they learnt that when parents say things like that they do not mean to spoil their fun but there can be some wisdom in it).

We need to get to the tree but currently the soil has had so much rain intake that we could be wading around. My Dh is trying to borrow the chainsaw and cut the tree into convenient size chunks that will light the fire next year. Ash is very useful because as a wood you can burn it green or dried so it can be used immediately if you need to.

The trees are part of a hedge that simply has been left to grow wild and part of our management plan for the future is to restore the hedge using traditional skills. This has not yet happened as we have been trying to create the vegetable and fruit garden as a priority. I never like to cut down trees but some of them are covered in ivy and are not much alive either. It is a major project and shelved for the time being. The trees also provide shade and shelter from winds.

Our homestead is small and set in a bowl of an old stone quarry. It is southfacing and the trees shelter the winds which has created a small microclimate which we are trying to understand and work with. All plants grow towards the light and with some beds having a backdrop of a 50 foot cliff face, means that all my beans can be found at the beginning of the row growing towards the light.

Its a unique setting, its not big by all means, just a large garden space which we are cultivating and surprisingly it provides quite a lot of produce.

On polytunnels

Polytunnels are plastic domes that serve to extend the season either way. In the british climate I cannot be assured of a crop of tomatoes, peppers etc even strawberries without extra heat. The plastic covering over the beds does just that and raises the temperature. Its a bit like a greenhouse but as we live in an old quarry and lots of debris falls down from the cliff face a greenhouse would have been too risky.

The polytunnel has 6 raised beds and a bench to bring plants on. It allows me to overwinter seedlings and plant them out when frosts have stopped and more importantly to grow some salads in our cool climate. The first bed you see on the left hand side has some spring cabbage in it, then a bed with mixed spicy salad and some leeks, the third bed has some peas and lettuces and the last bed currently grows some green manure which will be cut and dug in before the crop goes in in spring. I grow strawberries in hanging baskets which is working quite well. It looks a bit sad at this time of the year but it is a dormant season in the garden.

When the sun shines, its lovely, out of the wind and I can be found doing some gardening even when it is raining outside. I also have a chair in there and quite often retreat as a bit of light good for the plants is good for me too. My moral drops when light quality drops in winter so I make the most of it, take to my chair with cup of tea and spend some time admiring the plants.
( Eccentric personality).