Monthly Archives: April 2011

SHOES IN A LUNCHBOX

The magical thing about pre-loved treasures is that they have already had a little life of their own before they come to live with you. I found these darlings at Coral Vintage on etsy. I made the gamble that the oxfords would fit because they were firstly adorable and just what I was looking for and secondly because they had once lived with a former 1950′s Miss America which is a highly entertaining thought. Luckily for me they fit perfectly, but they’re just too lovely to wear! Waiting for a special occasion.  The lunch tin with the brass pin is the perfect place for my watercolour things to live. The hat…it’s the red feather that killed me dead.



WHAT DO YOU THINK?

WEIGHING DOWN THE CLOTHES LINE – APRIL IN THE GARDEN

Globe artichoke leaves

Beans climbing up a bamboo pole

Bull's blood beetroot seedling

Ripening cayenne peppers

Eggplant flowers

Garlic sprout pushing through the mulch

Red marigold

Climbing pea

Pale yellow zucchini flowers

Purple basil leaves

Yellow sunflower

Sunflower seeds

Yellow marigold

Zucchini Tromboncino growing on washing line

I’m rather impressed with the size of our Tromboncino Zucchini, our washing line has started to tilt rather alarmingly due to its mass. The rogue sunflowers have been reaching upwards, but none is as impressive as the Digger’s Club sunflower which is as thick as my wrist and would brush our kitchen ceiling if given half a chance. My garlic has surfaced and the cayenne peppers have turned a delicious colour. They are so much hotter than supermarket chili that Dylan claims that one with the seeds scraped out has the same strength as ten with seeds. My taste-buds tend to be burnt off by looking at a chili so I think I’ll leave him to experiment with that one.



WHAT DO YOU THINK?

MY HOME BREW OVERFLOWETH

Inspired by our Permaculture Course Dylan decided to make his first solo home brew. Dylan informed me you have to enjoy a good quality beer whilst brewing and he chose a local Moo Brew.I lent a hand and the beer sensed that I was not a beer drinker and decided to exit the saucepan, but luckily a quick reduction in heat meant not to much was spilled, hopefully not the best bits! Our fears were put to rest when a test showed that this beer was going to be a strong one, the best bits remained and with avengeance!



WHAT DO YOU THINK?

SLEEPERS AND DOMES

The dome is practically finished! Just a few foot holds for kids to climb on the roof and soil to be filled in around the bottom so they don’t smash themselves when they tumble off the roof. We ended up bringing in sand for the final render as the landfill just wasn’t cutting it. The plaster already began to cobweb crack as we were finishing it off, but I really like that, I think it makes it the more beautiful. Nader developed the ‘reptiling’ because he had until that moment being working against the crack, trying to work against nature, but one day he sat up in the middle of the night and realised why not work with it, you can’t crack a reptile because it is one.

The whole course was peppered with poems and wisdom that Sheefteh remembered her father telling her as a little  girl, and this is one that resounded with the whole group.

No matter how hard you try you cannot wake someone who is pretending to sleep, but whilst in their faux slumber they will be listening and watching with half an ear and half an eye.

Do you remember pretending to sleep as a child?

Many of the people in the group were interested in green issues, many had studied permaculture and it has always been something that just leaves you feeling chilled when you speak to someone who just refuses to believe in something like climate change and what’s more belittles you for your ideals. I had a run in with a “green” developer recently who laughed uproariously at climate change and the suckers who would pay extra for a green building, practically rubbing his hands together. But as Rumi says, you can’t make someone who doesn’t want to know listen and it can just leave you feeling helpless. It is better to do what positive things you can with those who are interested and perhaps the sleepers will come around in the end. What a lovely thought. Can it be true?



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