Well, unbelievably, it seems that the wait is over - we've sold our house! It's for a lot less than its pre-credit crunch value, but it's great to have the liability of a mortgage I don't have the income to service gone. It feels like a tonne weight off my back.
Happily, we are all signed up for our new home , a rented cottage on a small sporting estate only 6 miles away. There is plenty of space for vegetable growing, chicken keeping and lots of other little plans that have been on hold for a while - everything from making mosaics through keeping bees to soap making.
I'm looking forward to a summer of pottering about and making a start at:
building a top bar bee hive
starting a "no dig" vegetable and fruit garden
putting up a polytunnel
trying to build in as many Permaculture practices as possible into my life
Breeding my favourite Croad Langshan poultry
Maybe even keep a few Abacot Ranger ducks
being able to do all this in a settled and meditative way, no pressure, no deadlines, but just pride in doing it all as well as possible.
Showing posts with label Permaculture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Permaculture. Show all posts
Saturday, 20 March 2010
Wednesday, 5 August 2009
Tuesday, 4 August 2009
Mission Statement - Permaculture and me
Gosh, that sounds very portentious and organised. Now I've been at the blogging for almost a month, I thought I'd take stock of where it's all going.
So - the key purpose of the blog will be to chart my progress through my ME midlife crisis. It's a diary, it's a chance to let off steam, it's a chance to talk about music and and writing that appeals to me. However, it will also record my progress from being a hectic wage-slave, via illness and unemployment, through into a new way of living on, through, and with a small patch of land.
There's a fairly happy coincidence of circumstances here. In a Permaculture system, the land is left, insofar as practicable, to look after itself. For example, mulching is preferred to digging, and every opportunity is taken to lessen inputs, whether by eliminating spending on artificial fertilizers, or by counter-productive disturbance such as digging. As I am too poor to spend much, and too ill to dig much - we are in a good position to pursue Permaculture. I hope to attend courses, learn more, practice more, as time passes. Other skills, such as green woodwork and poultry husbandry wiull be part of the package. The objective is to live a calm, natural life and find some healing in doing so. There will be progress reports...
So - the key purpose of the blog will be to chart my progress through my ME midlife crisis. It's a diary, it's a chance to let off steam, it's a chance to talk about music and and writing that appeals to me. However, it will also record my progress from being a hectic wage-slave, via illness and unemployment, through into a new way of living on, through, and with a small patch of land.
There's a fairly happy coincidence of circumstances here. In a Permaculture system, the land is left, insofar as practicable, to look after itself. For example, mulching is preferred to digging, and every opportunity is taken to lessen inputs, whether by eliminating spending on artificial fertilizers, or by counter-productive disturbance such as digging. As I am too poor to spend much, and too ill to dig much - we are in a good position to pursue Permaculture. I hope to attend courses, learn more, practice more, as time passes. Other skills, such as green woodwork and poultry husbandry wiull be part of the package. The objective is to live a calm, natural life and find some healing in doing so. There will be progress reports...
Tuesday, 14 July 2009
Gentle Pursuits for the PWME - No 4
Honey bees are having a very hard time at present, a fact that has some serious implications for those of us with rather fewer legs and no wings.
Here is the biobees site, which offers an alternative to the the chemical-dependent orthodoxy of beekeeping, using hives that can be made of cheap and easily-found materials such as scrap pallets. This is a project very high on my "things to do"list . A low cost, low input system, compatible with a Permaculture approach, and the limitations imposed by ME.
Here is the biobees site, which offers an alternative to the the chemical-dependent orthodoxy of beekeeping, using hives that can be made of cheap and easily-found materials such as scrap pallets. This is a project very high on my "things to do"list . A low cost, low input system, compatible with a Permaculture approach, and the limitations imposed by ME.
Saturday, 11 July 2009
The Fife Diet
This site is well worth a look. The idea behind the Fife Diet is starting to really catch on; it's part of the thinking behind my own future plans.
Friday, 10 July 2009
Gentle pursuits for the PWME - No 2
Grow some food! Here's a video of how to build a keyhole garden: (Those of us who are feeling really shoogly could get Persons without ME to build it, and just do the aftercare)
Thursday, 9 July 2009
Introduction and some recommendations
A year of M. E. has left me without a job, and with some choices to make. I don't think I'd want to return to the stress, risk and hurly-burly of Social Work even if I was well enough to do so, which I'm not. So I'm looking for a new direction, if not an absolute target destination, remembering Robert Louis Stephenson's dictum that "It is better to travel hopefully than to arrive".
I've gone pretty much for the old hippy self-sufficiency line. The plan is to sell the house, clear off all our owings, and rent a place in rural Fife with a bit of land for hen houses, a polytunnel, fruit and vegetables, beehives; all with Permaculture very much in mind. Translating all this into action is still hanging on the sale of our house. We've found a potentially ideal place to move to, so fingers are tightly crossed. Watch this space
I've made some basic steps already, and am the proud owner of a small flock of bantam hens. The ladies in question provide us with a steady supply of small tasty eggs, and a fair amount of amusement and distraction. Chickens live in tightly ordered hierarchies, involving intrigues and struggles for power from time to time. The Top Hen rules with a beak of iron, but might be deposed at a moments notice if, as an example, she is careless enough to become broody. The other hens then have to re-establish the pecking order, an aptly named phenomenon.
But - chooks are ME friendly creatures - they don't take a lot of looking after, and the reward of glorious fresh eggs is good for PWME (Person with ME) self-esteem. If you are tempted to learn more - look here.
Nasim Marie Jafrey - The State of Me
If you are looking for a great read, look here
Nasim Jafrey's first novel, it took her nine years to write. She is a PWME, and uses her great skill as a writer to include in her novel a deeply accurate description of how M.E. feels. Unconditionally recommended.
I've gone pretty much for the old hippy self-sufficiency line. The plan is to sell the house, clear off all our owings, and rent a place in rural Fife with a bit of land for hen houses, a polytunnel, fruit and vegetables, beehives; all with Permaculture very much in mind. Translating all this into action is still hanging on the sale of our house. We've found a potentially ideal place to move to, so fingers are tightly crossed. Watch this space
I've made some basic steps already, and am the proud owner of a small flock of bantam hens. The ladies in question provide us with a steady supply of small tasty eggs, and a fair amount of amusement and distraction. Chickens live in tightly ordered hierarchies, involving intrigues and struggles for power from time to time. The Top Hen rules with a beak of iron, but might be deposed at a moments notice if, as an example, she is careless enough to become broody. The other hens then have to re-establish the pecking order, an aptly named phenomenon.
But - chooks are ME friendly creatures - they don't take a lot of looking after, and the reward of glorious fresh eggs is good for PWME (Person with ME) self-esteem. If you are tempted to learn more - look here.
Nasim Marie Jafrey - The State of Me
If you are looking for a great read, look here
Nasim Jafrey's first novel, it took her nine years to write. She is a PWME, and uses her great skill as a writer to include in her novel a deeply accurate description of how M.E. feels. Unconditionally recommended.
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