We haven't had any Dr Zimmerman for a while - The Amazing Wooldridge Brothers parodied this at Gill and Jamie's wedding reception - so providing me with an excuse:
Wednesday, 5 August 2009
Tuesday, 4 August 2009
Some Burns for Gill and Jamie
I was thinking that I should post a poem about a marriage, and "John Anderson, My Jo" came straight to mind.
John Anderson, My Jo 1789
John Anderson, my jo, John,
When we were first acquent;
Your locks were like the raven,
Your bonie brow was brent;
But now your brow is beld, John,
Your locks are like the snaw;
But blessings on your frosty pow,
John Anderson, my jo.
John Anderson, my jo, John,
We clamb the hill thegither;
And mony a cantie day, John,
We've had wi' ane anither:
Now we maun totter down, John,
And hand in hand we'll go,
And sleep thegither at the foot,
John Anderson, my jo.
John Anderson, My Jo 1789
John Anderson, my jo, John,
When we were first acquent;
Your locks were like the raven,
Your bonie brow was brent;
But now your brow is beld, John,
Your locks are like the snaw;
But blessings on your frosty pow,
John Anderson, my jo.
John Anderson, my jo, John,
We clamb the hill thegither;
And mony a cantie day, John,
We've had wi' ane anither:
Now we maun totter down, John,
And hand in hand we'll go,
And sleep thegither at the foot,
John Anderson, my jo.
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...
A sojourn in Auld Reekie
A good evening in Edinburgh. We attended the wedding reception, meeting up with a few people we hadn't seen for a while, including many of son Alastair's school and University peers. We had an excellent meal, and then were well entertained, firstly by the groom's father and uncle with a light-hearted set. (Example - Uncle Eric fiddles with PA controls "Does that sound better - or can you still hear us?"). That was followed by an excellent set provided by Andrew and Matthew of the Hazey Janes, who blew us all away with some great musicianship - including a great cover of the groom's (Jamie) own composition "Got You" - you can find the "Boss Star" original here
We returned to our lodgings in Morningside, and after a good night's sleep, bacon rolls and a blether, returned to the Kingdom of Fife this morning.
Edinburgh's in some state - the tram works have turned Princes Street into a linear building site. The locals are uniformly irate about the whole business. I wonder what feelings will be like in the longer term - cities like Dublin, Nottingham and Manchester were ambivalent at best about their tram lines at the outset - but they all seem to be a great success now.
We returned to our lodgings in Morningside, and after a good night's sleep, bacon rolls and a blether, returned to the Kingdom of Fife this morning.
Edinburgh's in some state - the tram works have turned Princes Street into a linear building site. The locals are uniformly irate about the whole business. I wonder what feelings will be like in the longer term - cities like Dublin, Nottingham and Manchester were ambivalent at best about their tram lines at the outset - but they all seem to be a great success now.
Sunday, 2 August 2009
Chicken maintanance
Well, I just cleaned out my little chicken coop, currently occupied by half a dozen "teenage" chooks, all about 12 weeks old, and very full of themselves. It's the first useful thing I've achieved today - it's been a while since I felt as boisterous as my young birds do!
Bantam keeping is a great PWME activity - it never asks too much of you all at once, and the responsibility for the welfare of the little girls (and three teenage boys) is a good motivator on the "blah" days when I really don't feel up to move at all. The rewards are pretty instant also, it's always a pleasure to find eggs in the nest box.
This hasn't been a great week. Since my day at the Big Tent Festival last Saturday, I have been flat as a fluke - foggy, headachy, utterly without energy, either too hot or too cold, and constantly perspiring. We have a wedding reception to attend in Edinburgh tomorrow, I really wonder if I will be up to it, although it will be nice to see both our friends at the wedding, and also the friends who have offered to put us up for the night in Morningside.
Housing issues lumber on. We've been offered the lease on a great old house in the country - hurrah! But - the buyer-to-be of our house has just had the sale of her property fall through, so we remain in limbo. This is not good.
As ever - we shall just have to wait and see...
Bantam keeping is a great PWME activity - it never asks too much of you all at once, and the responsibility for the welfare of the little girls (and three teenage boys) is a good motivator on the "blah" days when I really don't feel up to move at all. The rewards are pretty instant also, it's always a pleasure to find eggs in the nest box.
This hasn't been a great week. Since my day at the Big Tent Festival last Saturday, I have been flat as a fluke - foggy, headachy, utterly without energy, either too hot or too cold, and constantly perspiring. We have a wedding reception to attend in Edinburgh tomorrow, I really wonder if I will be up to it, although it will be nice to see both our friends at the wedding, and also the friends who have offered to put us up for the night in Morningside.
Housing issues lumber on. We've been offered the lease on a great old house in the country - hurrah! But - the buyer-to-be of our house has just had the sale of her property fall through, so we remain in limbo. This is not good.
As ever - we shall just have to wait and see...
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