The Herbs Progress!

This morning I spent a couple of child-free hours in the garden...amazing what can be achieved without little ones wanting to help!

The bokashi compost was put to good use for the first time (quite an aroma, but full of worms, so hope it works).  Some herbs potted up and put in the front yard, and seeds planted for more herbs to emerge shortly.

Last week the kids and I also planted some sunflower seeds for 'International Sunflower Guerilla Gardening Day' on the 1st May, and plan to plant and nurture them in the local park and around the new tree that's been planted on our street corner.  The packaging from the easter eggs earlier this month has made great little incubators, and within a week we've got new growth...I'm as excited as the kids!!

A use for Easter Egg packaging!

Possible to live without a car?

©Mr Green

For ages I've said that when our car dies, we'll try and not get a 'new' one...well the reality of that is now looming!  The verdict of the garage isn't positive, and so I'm trying to do some speedy research on alteratives.


We don't use our car on a daily basis, as I work from home and cycle with the kids in the area (the joy of living in a dense city is that everything literally is on our doorstep...well, except the woods).  Andy gets the train to Bristol for work and cycles there.  So we truly are infrequent car users.  It can sit in our street for a couple of weeks without being started and has definitely enjoyed it's retirement, since it's long IBM communting to Bedfont days.  However, we do need one for visiting relatives and going on holiday, and in fact need one for 2 weeks in the not too distant future.

For the odd short requirement, we have great local friends that will lend us their cars, although I do need to look into the reality of whether this still works if I don't have my own car insurance.  But asking someone to borrow their car for 2 weeks, is a bit more of a challenge.

So I'm looking into local car clubs (existing and possible to set up), car hire, permanent car sharing, and alternative transport such as trains (although not really workable with a tent and camping gear in tow!).  One of the challenging factors of car clubs, is where the car is based.  There is one that has cars based at the Civic Offices.  But with two small children in tow, and their two car seats, plus whatever else we need for the trip, it's an enourmous effort just to get to the car!

Ironically it might end up cheaper to buy another car, although there is then obviously the unknown factor of future repairs, as we certainly wouldn't be getting anything new.  But I really don't want to end up doing that.  This seems a great opportunity to try and do something good for the environment, and also to share resources with others.  So more homework required!

General Update

In addition to the car issue, the past two months have brought up several unexpected expenses, and yet talking with others and asking around have brought some great alternatives to cash being spent!  

The blinds in our living room have been on their last legs for a while, but now each morning that I open them, I pray that they will actually open and not disintegrate in my hands.  When I was talking about it with a friend, she mentioned that she had some curtains in her loft that we could use as a short term measure.  And my mother-in-law found her old curtains from two houses ago, and although they're too short, is happy for me to recycle them and make a long term solution.  (Just need to find some clear time to find some co-ordinating fabric, and get unpicking and then sewing.)


Kester was at the perfect moment to leave his cot and move into a bed, as he's so tired at bedtime, having dropped his daytime sleep, that he isn't worried about getting out of bed, and he also really wants to be like his big sister ;-)  A friend was letting us have her son's bed, once they'd got a new one for him off eBay.  M will have that one, and K would have hers.  And in the meantime we managed to borrow a toddler bed from another friend's loft for K, so he could make the transition.  This weekend the other friend got her son's new bed, so we got their old cabin bed.  Yesterday, was the big move day, and last night, M slept up high in her 'new' bed, and K slept in his big sister's old bed.  Lots of great recycling, and the only expense was a new mattress for M!

'I never want to sleep anywhere else, Mummy!'

We also got a bonus 3 months of membership at the local acquarium this week!  For the past 3 months they've been promising us our membership card, and keep mislaying it.  On about the 7th time of asking they decided to ask me to fill in all the forms again, and then said they'd start the year from that date.  Bonus!

And at last the front yard/community herb garden is starting to show signs of development!  Yesterday, Southsea Greenhouse (check out their community garden launch day below) came and dug up the large plant, and is going to rehouse it at the Pyramids (Mariella is very happy that we can go and see it when we have a swim there ;-)  The other main plant was taken last weekend.  A couple were passing on Mother's Day, when I was at the front door, and asked what the plant was called.  They'd admired it previously and tried to discover what it was, but to no avail.  I had no idea, but said they were really welcome to it, as I might need to move it for the herb garden anyway.  They were rather taken aback, but after further convincing, agreed to take it as long as they could bring me some herbs in exchange, and invite us to their open garden later in the year.  (A great deal!)  And so now that the winter appears to letting up, at last, I need to get some pots round the front, collect all the promised-to-me herbs and start growing.  Exciting!!!

http://southseagreenhouse.co.uk/events-and-news/

 

Women's Day in the Wimbledon Park Patch

So for anyone that couldn't make it, and also to provide some links for those that did, here are my 5 top tips from the International Women's Day Oxfam Get Together evening that we had at my place on Friday 8th March.  The 5 tips were from my year of 'Finding Richness in Less'.

1. How to make your own cards
http://findingrichnessinless.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/origins-of-motherhood.html 

2. How to make your own gift bags
http://howaboutorange.blogspot.co.uk/2010/07/how-to-make-gift-bags-from-newspaper.html

3. Join Streetbank
http://www.streetbank.com/  a website which shows you the skills or things your neighbours are willing to share, loan or give away. You’ll be able to see everything in your square mile that your neighbours are offering. You’ll be helping to build the community, save money and help the environment all in one.

4. Share ideas - plagerism is the highest form of flattery, and why reinvent the wheel when someone else has already done the hard work?  It's brilliant to share ideas, so get chatting, blogging, posting, whatever takes your fancy, but share your ideas, skills, mistakes and enjoy being creative

5. Don't buy herbs - create a herb network.  Find out what herbs your neighbours grow, and offer to share cuttings from yours, in exchange for cuttings from theirs, when you need them as ingredients for recipes.  And if you live close to me, keep an eye on our front yard...it's soon going to all be herbs, and you're welcome to come and help yourself.






And for anyone who took away some Herman German Friendship Cake starter, here are some ideas of recipes: http://www.hermanthegermanfriendshipcake.com/herman-recipe-ideas/

Thanks to everyone who gave money for Oxfam and donated items for me to sell on eBay (all proceeds going to Oxfam to make a difference to lives around the world.  I'll update on funds raised when the items have been sold.  And if you fancy doing something next year, check out:   (I'm wondering about doing something with our local girls next year....plenty of time to germinate ideas.)

UPDATE: We're almost up to £200...just waiting for a couple of items to sell.

Do not adjust your set

So I've decided to carry on blogging, as I've kind of got into the habit of it (if not rather sporadically recently), and find it a really useful tool in seeing where my journey is taking me.  (Some others appear to enjoy reading it too...mad fools ;-)

So with a slight rejig to the title, and a change of background image (I embrace change!), I carry on typing.

So much has been happening recently, and I think I'll keep blogging about:

• the local community and germinating plans
• the latest attempts at craft that I inflict on everyone for their gifts
• and probably anything else random that escapes my head.

So on the community front, I'm currently starting with four things for the lovely 'Wimbledon Park Patch' (having just typed 'four' I already know there's more than that...biting off too much?):

Oxfam Get Together to celebrate International Women's Day on 8th March - I'm inviting friends and neighbours round for an evening to raise money and give them five tips from my year of 'finding richness in less'...should be fun! 

Easter Egg Hunt & Scavenger Hunt on 30th March in the local park - the local community wardens, police and fire service are coming along.  And I'm hoping to get lots of kids having fun and eating chocolate (fingers crossed for a donation from Waitrose), and get everyone to answer some questions about what they'd like to see in the park in months and years to come, to get some ideas started on our great local community space (with local public funds decreasing, if we don't take ownership of such spaces, who knows what will be left...just this year they've decreased money for planting, maintenance of the grounds and the children's park facilities (if play equipment gets dangerous it's now unlikely to be repaired or replaced, but more likely to be removed :-(

Streetbank promotion - a community online space that lets you see all the things your neighbours are happy for you to borrow, things they're giving away & skills they're willing to share with you. It's like a giant shared attic and garden shed for you and anyone living within a mile of your home.  I've already trialed a bokashi from someone, and have someone designing a logo for the Wimbledon Park Patch...all for free! 
 
Sharing for the new garden waste collection scheme in the city - the council are introducing new garden waste bins that you can pay to have and are collected every fortnight.  We'd need to drive to the tip whenever we do large back yard foliage clearance, as we'd never fill a bin more than three times a year...however, the idea is to have it on our front yard, we're sharing it with neighbours so that we can all use it, but split the cost.

Community herb garden - the front yard is about to be transformed into a community herb garden (anyone's welcome to stop and take cuttings for their recipes).  The main plant in the space currently is about to go to Southsea Greenhouse for rehousing at the Pyramids or a care home in Fratton, and lots of people are collecting herb seedlings for me (even the local community wardens).  Hopefully the whole thing is going to be done for free, and with everyone pitching in, it feels like a great start to something that is meant to be about 'everyone'. 

And finally I'm starting work on the summer community picnic in the park and a facebook group to start connecting those who are online. 

Not bad for the first 9 weeks of the year!

And as to crafting...perhaps some seperate posts on that to come, but I've had another go at marmalade (not my biggest success, but edible), and lots of homemade gifts including a great coriander spice rub for meat, knitted animals and my latest joy, puppet theatres made from old sheets and scraps of fabric, which you hang between door frames.  Every child's home should have one...so I'll definitely do a detailed post on that, as it's amazingly simple!

The year that was 2012

This is the first time I've logged onto the blog since my last post on Christmas Eve, and so much has happened since then.  Christmas had it's ups and downs this year, and ended on a very sad note on New Year's Eve with the death of my Grandma.  Just less than 6 months since my Grandpa died, so a really tough start for 2013.  And somehow we've made it to February already, and I really felt I must get back and post something about the other big changes in my life.

The day my Grandpa died, was the day that I first started thinking about leaving my job to focus more time on my local community, and the day my Grandma died, was the day that I officially left the council...funny how these kind of things sometimes happen.

So far 2013 has been about finding a new rhythm.  

The kids have changed to four mornings at nursery and we are having fun-filled afternoons with plans - to ensure we do stuff.  We're hanging out with their friends more, got a year's membership to the aquarium (just a 15 mins walk away!), playing in the park and on the beach, visiting the library and grandparents, and baking cakes and painting.  A really precious time as the first day at school looms this September for my eldest.

I'm also self-employed and currently doing a day a week for the CRED Foundation and taking on responsibility for all their finances.  I love what the charity stands and strives for, and it's great to have flexibility and more freedom in when and how I work (although I miss my collegues at the Council and the heating, although am relishing the ICT freedoms ;-)

Then there's obviously the joys of life, running a house and a family and attempting to find some time to run.  Along with making time to focus on encouraging community in the local patch.  No giant leaps there, just little steps (which is how I think these things normally pan out).  So far the little steps have entailed:

• gritting the pavement on our street before the snow hit - thanks Council for the free grit bins you leave dotted round the city for us to use on pavements...however, it appeared to not make a blind bit of difference...grrrr!  Had good conversations with neighbours whilst doing it, so not a totally wasted effort
• chatted with some gardeners in our park about why the kids hide and seek bushes had all been chopped down, and have the name of someone at the council to contact to see how we can influence what goes on in our park, going forward
• am planning an evening for local neighbours linked with International Women's Day (8th March)
• am starting to explore logistics of a community lunch in the park for early summer
• getting along to the council's budget consultation meetings
• drawing up plans for the front yard/community herb garden
• and actually found some time to attend some Governor training sessions to help with one of the local schools/nursery/children's centre, where I'm a Governor.

So when I write it down...not bad going considering ;-)

Now the dilemma is whether to carry on this blog.  I've written less in the second half of the year, and it was a blog for 2012, so part of my feels like signing off.

The other part of me has quite enjoyed writing something down and looking back over the year's journey, so would like to carry something on....but what?  A new blog?  Called what?  Focused on what?

So for anyone that's reading this, feel free to let me know any thoughts/views if you have them.  I'm throwing it out there, and perhaps this will be my last word...

Cow Day 5

For those that made it to Cow Day 5 today, here are the answers to the quiz:

How many stomachs has a cow got?
4

How long does the average cow spend eating each day?
6 hours

Old cows in India sometimes have their own nursing homes.
True

How soon can a newborn calf walk on it's own?
1 hour

How many days does it take for milk to get from a cow to the shop?
2 days

A cow can produce 10,500 pints of milk a year.  How many cows could the houses from here (44 Duncan Road) to Albert Road need?
2 cows (1 cow can supply about 22 families)

So what is Cow Day?

Five years ago a friend was trying to build a more wholesome less-consumerist component into the kids festive frenzy, and Cow Day was born.  So for one day each December they have an open house and try and raise enough money to buy some animals for families in the two-thirds 'majority' world who need it.  People bring cakes to sell in the cafe, Waitrose provides veg for a great soup lunch, people bring games, come in fancy dress, get involved in a promises raffle and much more.

Last year's 'Cow Day 4' involved 23 households/65 people and raised an impressive £375 that equated to 15 goats for families who needed them (all the cows were sold out!), purchased from the Oxfam present catalogue.

Countdown to 2013 and a new rhythm

So this post has been a long time in development, but at last I've gotten around to putting something down about my plans for 2013.

This year has been fascinating in many ways, and back in July I felt really challenged to make some monumental changes to my work pattern.  Throughout the year I've been trying to put more trust in God and rely less on money and other things, and I'm not that surprised that I've been led to the point of giving up a regular salary, but that didn't mean the decision came that easily.

In 2008 we spent a lot of time questioning where we should live, and very clearly we came to the decision of Southsea (sorry Highlands & Bristol ;-), and that started us on a year and a half journey to the house that we now own and live in.  I really felt that we ended up in this house for a reason, and ever since we moved to the area I've felt challenged to explore building more community, having lots of ideas, but little time to get on and try them.  I've lived in much more deprived areas, and somehow community seems easier to come by, but the more well off areas need it just as much.  We were born to be in community, and careers and mortgages often don't help us find time to connect with those around us.

Anyhow, back in July I decided that I needed to make more time available in my life to do some of the ideas that I'd been thinking of, and the only thing that was movable was the job.  The reality is that I still need to earn money, and to free up time to do some of the things, I still need some child-free time.  But we took the leap of faith that somehow God would help on that front, and I decided to hand in my notice. About 2 weeks after deciding that, I got offered a very flexible job with a charity that I already do some work for, and as ever, God pulled it out of the bag!

So the 3rd December is my final day working for the Council, and I'll then be embarking on a range of things in 2013 in the Wimbledon Park Patch area.  I think we need to become more connected as locational communities and there is already lots of connecting going on, but still plenty more possible!  I'm going to start with little things, but at least start, rather than just dream.

Things I'm going to explore are:

• connecting into the old people's home on our street (a hidden community with so much richness...how do we link them more into our community, what can we offer them, and what can they offer us?)
• connect with new uni students when they arrive in Sept (have seen an idea where you put on a free curry for them, and introduce them to neighbours)
• develop the herb network idea further (am planning on turning our whole front yard into a herb garden (not just the gate posts) so anyone can pop by and take a picking for their cooking, and hoping to get others involved...we have one neighbour who grows amazing coriander each summer!)
• spend some time just walking around our streets more, chatting with people, connecting, seeing where doors open
• invite our elderly neighbours in for a cuppa
• organise a 'Big Lunch' event in the park this summer.

So nothing ground breaking or earth shattering, but a first step.  Encouragingly I've been talking with several local people over the past few months about it, and there is a genuine interest amongst everyone to get involved and do more.

I believe we were made to live in community with God and each other, and that we need to be more creative in how we rely on God and each other, rather than just looking to money or the public sector to keep things going.  This time of austerity is a time of opportunity, and people seem really open to ideas of doing things a bit differently.  I feel that God is somehow involved in the timing of this, and we'll have to see what happens next.  
Life is never dull with God!!

Mud, mud, glorious mud!

http://www.greenbelt.org.uk/

So I'm back from my first Greenbelt experience with kids!  We made it and both kids had a brilliant time.  M can't understand why Daddy didn't come, as camping is the best!  We're all missing it today, and we definitely found so much richness in having less around us.

There is something so wonderful about camping (even in the mad wind and rain that we had!).  Living outdoors, breakfast on the grass, cooking on a small stove, friends within peg throwing distance, small spaces in the vast outside space!  It's been quite hard coming back.  A hot shower was good, although it did feel quite strange to be that clean (I can see why people in the past weren't convinced it was the way forward), there's quite a comfort in being a little bit dirty.  And my soft bed seemed obscenely comfy, and I really missed being snuggled between my two gorgeous children all night.  I'm also not convinced that our electic kettle boils any faster than our gas stove kettle.  And I can't just open the tent flap and let the kids out....they'd be squashed by a car too quickly!

We also had such great shared experiences during the days there.  An amazing show of 'The Owl who was Afraid of the Dark' by the Blunderbus Theatre Company; Duggie Dug Dug; Playsongs Plus (I highly recommend their CDs for pre-school kids); Weapons of Sound (including lots of dancing in mad rain!); drumming workshops; circus skills; Shane Claiborne; Ruth Valerio; an amazing Sunday Communion gathering with everyone on site (actually in the sunshine!); The Imagined Village; and finally the mammoth task of packing up, as no cars were allowed on site due to the mud, so everything had to be walked off site!  Great community spirit, smiles, help and hard graft!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-19397826

We caught up with old friends; the Elliots, Clare Helmsley, Steve Howarth and had a great time with our local buddies; Reeves, Jacobs & Matt.

An amazing time of richness, and M didn't want to leave, wanted to go back today, or for her birthday (would be a pretty cold weekend in November!).

Loaves & Fishes....with a bit of dessert thrown in!

Little is much when God is in it

So in the past 24 hours we have been given 5 mackerel, 16kg of bread flour (and a lovely evening chat with a friend) and a bag of rhubarb...what lovely friends and work collegues we have...we are very blessed.

And it reminded me of the last littlies kids church that we had at our house before the school holidays when we were talking about sharing, and how the little boy shared his lunch (loaves and fishes) and ended up being part of a miracle that fed thousands.  (Today's equivalent would be...no food for anyone at the opening ceremony tomorrow night...don't worry, I've got my cheese sarnies and a pick of ready salted, quick prayer and pass it round, and round, and round....).

The rhubarb was just a nice addition, to remind me that God can't be put in a box, and loves to bless his children.  A great God and great friends...we were made to be together!

Bubbling ideas on community

So sadly this time last week my Grandpa died.  And the journey through grief is a strange one.  As well as times of deep sadness; the challenges of explaining death to a 3 year old; normal life continuing and a few days away to look after some pigs, sheep and chickens; the past week has also had my mind buzzing with ideas.  I'm not sure I'd necessarily put it down to a 'seize life while you have it' thought, but it does feel like a shift is happening.  Lots of small ideas I've had bubbling for ages, seem to be coming to the front of my mind a lot more, and I'm struggling to hold back and not just get on with things.

So what am I going on about...

I believe that we were made to be in community and living our lives with others is a really rich life experience.  When we lived in North End, and before kids, we used to have foreign students living with us, as well as a lodger, and there were so many things that I loved about living with a wider group of individuals.

I also know that we have ended up in the house in Southsea for a reason.  And I've had a few different experiences throughout my life of living in developping or deprived areas, and in all these places community seemed much more visable/graspable.  Needs were far more obvious and it was simply far easier to get connected with our neighbours.  Where we live now is not a deprived ward (although there are some obvious pockets of 'need' close by); has quite a mix of people; and everyone seems very nice (which of course there is nothing wrong with).  But I feel we could be far more creative, far more linked locally, source more things locally, have more power collectively to influence things, share far more things, care far more for each other...and find far more richness in connecting with our neighbours.

I'm aware of loads of examples of community and neighbourhood development/building in areas of the city/country and world where there are far more evident basic needs...but not aware of it so much in the more affluent areas.  But we're missing out on so much!  So although we know lots of lovely people around us, and share a lot of our lives with many of them, I am really hungering for more.

I've had a variety of ideas germinating over the past months, and I'm feeling the need to stop thinking and start doing, to see if there is life in the ideas.  (And I should note that these aren't all my ideas, but many have come through conversations with others...don't want to take the credit, but happy to take responsibility for the mistakes).

So to give you a flavour:

• how do we connect with those that live in the care home on our street
• how do we connect with the students that arrive in the neighbourhood each year
• how do we connect with people behind our closed front doors...does anyone else want to connect more? (especially in this madly busy world)
• could we do a 'Big Lunch' in the park next year?
• how can we use some of the websites available to connect people and their skills and possessions in the neighbouring streets?
• how do we get a better picture of the 'Wimbledon Park Patch'?
• is there any mileage in buying in a co-operative format for organic staple goods?
• how do we help build up our local shops (do we really want them to die off and just have mass chains...aren't we proud of our local independents)....worth looking at 'Independents' Day in Portsmouth next year?
• are there better places to bank with?  Local credit unions/building societies?
• as Government decreases, how can we empower ourselves to solve some local problems and not always expect someone else to sort it out?
• would some kind of flexible cafe work in the park to attract more people to hang-out and connect (cross-generationally)
• what can we do locally to recycle and compost more?

 Wow...that's quite terrifying when I read that back!

(Tonight I've set up a Facebook group 'Wimbledon Park Patch' and am going to try and connect as many people in the area into that as possible to start with and test some ideas...let me know if you want to join). 

I've been really encouraged by the July readings in 'Common Prayer - a liturgy for ordinary radicals'....here's just a bit from the month's introduction:

So much of our culture is built around moving away from people rather than closer to them.  In many of the wealthiest coutnries in the world, we have lost the sense of a village.  And we have some of the highest rates of home ownership and some of the highest rates of depression.  We are some of the wealthiest and loneliest societies the world has ever seen.  We live in a mobile culture in which people are used to moving every few years, and in which many folks will uproot without question to move for a higher-paying job.

Commitment to a people and a place is one of the countercultural values at the heart of the gospel.  It means recapturing the notion of the parish, a word which shares a root with parochial, meaning 'localised and particular'.  Many folks today are learning from village cultures, where people often have fewer resources but more life and joy.

Movements of new urbanism are helping to cultivate spaces for shared lives.  People in one cul-de-sac began to rethink suburban sprawl and started sharing stuff.  They decided each home didn't need a washer and dryer and a lawn mower.  So one family agreed to have the laundry machines, and another had all the lawn equipment, and so on.  Before long, they were homeschooling their kids together and providing hospitality to the homeless with all the energy and resources that were freed up by sharing. When people make choices like these, life starts to look like a village, and a village is a beautiful thing.

So I not sure if I'll end up just being known as some mad local woman, but I think the ideas have been bubbling for too long now, and not having the time is just not good enough anymore!


So watch this space...and if you've read this, feel free to comment if you do have any thoughts/wisdom/ideas or home truths to tell me ;-)