We decided that with only 20 days to go, we had better start packing. We are moving to Belfast and transporting all of our belongings in one transit van, so we need to carefully consider what we want to keep. This means the packing process is taking much longer than would normally be expected because you can't just put things in boxes. You need to sort through and think and discuss. However, I am really enjoying it. Last night we started packing our books and I found things I had forgotten I had, which was fun! I find it really refreshing to clear out and know that what you have left is what you really, really want. I am very excited about our move now, as I can see that we are going. There is evidence of leaving this house and going somewhere new. It isn't just discussion anymore. So bring on the boxes!
Photo by: the_amanda
I don't know how common it is for stripey Petunia flowers to grow but it certainly surprised me when, among all the plain pink and white flowers, this appeared. I think it is really quirky and fun!
I am finding it increasingly frustrating that my life (and I think it is fair to say the majority of everyone else's too) revolves around paying the bills. In our plans for moving to Belfast, I thought I could explore a new vocation, try out something different, have a little fun. However that was until the applications started being rejected and interviews being unsuccessful and with three weeks to go I realize that I won't be able to pay the bills if I don't get a job soon (any job). It is terrifying. But why?
Why do our lives have to be decided by the council tax, water, broadband, electric and gas companies? Why are so many aspects of our lives tied up in raising money to pay for these amenities? Why do we let such things rule what jobs we have, where we live, what money we have, if we can afford to go out etc etc? It all seems ridiculous. The stress of keeping a job to pay the bills; what happened to having a job to in order to contribute to society, for enjoyment, for sharing skills? For me, my job is not the most important element in my life, and yet the way society works means my life will revolve around it, the money I earn and those bills. Is the idea of life revolving around love, friendship, beauty and enjoyment such a terrible one or are the sight of all those bills so much more appealing?
Photo by: Steve Wampler
I was so excited to find that my small container of pea plants is already producing 7 pea pods. This might not sound alot to you, but I am very pleased with the result and am excited at the prospect of getting a taste of my own home-grown vegetables. I have only got a small garden and as we rent the property we can't really do much to it. So the vegetables I am growing this year are mainly in pots and considering my lack of experience I think I have done pretty well so far. They are all organically grown and with as little expenditure as possible, I have improvised on containers by recycling milk bottles, ice-cream tubs and yoghurt pots for example. I hope my runner beans, lettuce, onions, carrots, courgette, sweetcorn and cauliflower will be as successful!
I have been reading alot of books recently about the countryside and more particularly agriculture. I have really enjoyed this glimpse into the farming community but then I realised, the books I have been reading were written years ago and these communities in the main part don't exist any more. I then read a book called "The Farm" by Richard Benson. It is a real-life account of growing up on a farm, the joys, the disappointments, the exploitation of the land, the loss of community, and ideas of where to go next. I was really moved by the book and I recommend everyone to read it for a greater understanding of a skill and life that is so important to our country (or should be).
My husband then emailed me an article called "Is America on the Brink of a Food Crisis?" I found the article very interesting and found myself agreeing with it, despite having not given an awful lot of thought before to agriculture and farming. Below are some extracts which I think give you some idea of the contents of the article.
"We live off of what comes out of the soil, not what's in the bak," said Jackson, president of the Land Institute. "If we squander the ecological capital of the soil, the capital on paper won't much matter."
Jackson believes that a key part of the solution is in approaches to growing food that mimic nature instead of trying to subdue it.
For the past 50 or 60 years, we have followed industrialized agricultural policies that have increased the rate of destruction of productive farmland. For those 50 or 60 years, we have let ourselves believe the absurd notion that as long as we have money we will have food.
Remember, if our agriculture is not sustainable then our food supply is not sustainable, and food is an issue as close to every one of us as our own stomachs. Either we pay attention or we pay a huge price, not so far down the road. When we face the fact that civilizations have destroyed themselves by destroying their farmland, it's clear that we don't really have a choice. Beyond that, changing the way agriculture is practised would incorporate partial solutions to major problems tha people do care about: climate change, overconsumption of energy, water problems.
There are no technological solutions for healthy soil and no miraculous technological fixes for the problem of agriculture. We need to move past the industrial model and adopt an ecological model.
It's not just about plants and science; it's also about people and society. We think that protecting the soil is not only an ecological imperative but an opportunity for positive economic and cultural change as well. The proposals we're discussing would increase employment opportunities in agriculture- sustainable farming will require more "eyes per acre", and replacing fossil-fuel energy with human energy and ecological knowledge makes good economic sense.
We're seeing that on a small scale now, with more young farmers staying on the land, with creative new endeavors in community-supported agriculture. People recognize tha life is more than working in a small cubicle and consuming in a big-box store. People are hungry for good food, and they're also hungry for a good life. People are ready to explore what it would mean to come home, not to a romaticized vision of the past but to a sustainable future.
A 50-year farm bill represents a vision tha stresses the need to protect soil from erosion, cut the wastefulness of water, cut fossil-fuel dependence, eliminate toxins in soil and water, manage carefully the nitrogen of the soil, reduce dead zones, restore an agrarian way of life and preserve farmland from development.
The basic choice is simple: Do we want to work at coming up with a system that can produce healthful food and healthy communities, one that is economically and ecologically viable? Or do we want to continue to contaminate our soil and water as we watch that soil continue to be eroded by that water? That contamination and erosion are both material reality and metaphor ofr our cultural and economic condition.
To read the full article go to: http://www.alternet.org/environment/122822/is_america_on_the_brink_of_a_food_...
I reacted really badly today when I had to deal with my emotions; I was feeling upset and frustrated, annoyed and fed-up. I upset people around me by the way I acted and I now regret what I did. However this isn't the first time that it's happened and yet I can't seem to find another way to channel my emotions. Does anyone have any good ideas for dealing with frustrated feelings? Any remedies for feeling fed-up?
If Only They Could Talk by James Herriot
This book is the first in a series by James Herriot, about his life as a vet in the Yorkshire Dales. The descriptions of the farming community and surrounding countryside are warming and fun to read, with vivid character studies; particularly of the farmers James encountered during his working life. The re-telling of every day tensions and arguements that occurred in the house he lived in bring a touching reality to an almost sentimental book. Yet it is the stories of James' visits to the farms and his work with the animals that I found most enjoyable. He tells all; the wonder of birth, the sadness of death, the struggles, the miracle cures, the disappointments and the embarrassments he faced. Everything he writes about has touched his heart and the humour, joy and warmth of his writing makes this book a very good read.
Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell
I love to read the classics and this book was no exception. Wives and Daughters is a book full of romance and descriptive narrative, countryside life and social class. However as much as I enjoy reading a novel for the happy ending, the main love story, the heroine being acknowledged by the charming man, with this book I found myself captivated by the portrayal of the characters. Elizabeth Gaskell has an amazing skill at inventing and describing each character so that you feel as if you know them in real life. You feel as if you know what they are thinking before you have read their thoughts and you know how they will act on them. I enjoyed the element of comedy that she incorporated within some of her characters and the honesty in others. It is so unfortunate that Gaskell died before she finished Wives and Daughters as only a couple more chapters would have made it complete. All is not lost however as she did divulge her plans for the novel to friends and editions now include Gaskell's intended ending. This book for me is a study on human life of the 1820's and it is exciting, emotionally absorbing and thoroughly compelling.
