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!!

Brain-freeze?

My head is hurting this week from the reading that I've been doing.  I felt compelled to read the Big Issue and Amnesty magazine from cover-to-cover this week, as they often simply sit on the table and eventually end up in the recycling bin, or a child's craft project.

Taking time to read about how other's face life each day, whilst I sit here in the glorious sunshine that bathed Southsea today is quite mind boggling.  And sending emails, writing letters and sending up prayers often seem rather lame.  But I'd prefer to be informed than have my head in the sand, so maybe this is a week of finding richness in more?

Reading the Amnesty mag also gave me a bit of a window into the world that BBC news and our national newspapers just don't seem to think there is value (money?) in reporting.  What makes some conflicts newsworthy and others not?  What political power is involved?  What corporate power?  Or is it just that the public would tune out?  

A collegue rather depressingly stated the other day 'people simply aren't interested in things that don't directly effect them'.  Obviously it was somewhat of a sweeping statement, but how many people does that really apply to?  All of us at points in our lives?  Or the majority all the time?  I hope not, and it hasn't been my experience of talking with others.

My mind just seems to be in overdrive about all this, this week, and I think it started when I saw 15 mins of a DVD entitled 'Jesus, Bombs & Icecream'.  It's a film from a 90 minute variety show conceived by Shane Claiborne & Ben Cohen (of Ben & Jerry's).  15 mins was enough to get me angry about the state of our world.  We'll be having a showing at our house in the near future (icrecream will be a highlight of the event!), but before then I want to find the stats that relate to the UK in comparison to those of the US.  Should be an interesting, if not challenging night.

Amidst the joys of work, sick children, household chores and family life, I think I'm experiencing brain-freeze!

Week -5 Update

So I've got this mad ambition to do a brief weekly update on challenges/successes/thoughts on each week, to track my day-to-day a bit more, rather than simply the main things I'm thinking on.  We'll see how many gaps appear in this!

(As it's not 2012 yet, you'll notice some minus figures in my countdown.)

Southsea Greenhouse on the Seafront

Food - I've just received my first organic veg box from the 'Southsea Greenhouse' which is a local co-operative that has started up this year.  It was a really impressive array of veg (although some bits were washed...a shame, as it lasts so much longer when it's still covered in soil), and has slightly soften my trepidation of not getting our normal Riverford box (which I highly recommend for those that don't live locally to Southsea).

Waste - no composting going on yet, so I weighed the black bag with trepidation this morning.  8.5kg of rubbish, of which 4kg was disposable nappies!!!  We only get through 2 a day as both kids sleep in them, rather than the terries...imagine what the weight would be if we just did disposable!  Mariella must have felt my pain, as tonight (bless her) she announced that she didn't want a night nappy any more...so fingers crossed I don't have lots of wash loads of bedding to do tomorrow!

Christmas Presents - with less than a month to go, I'm trying to be creative, although I've simply given up on the gifts that need to be sent further afield.  Note to self: start planning earlier for them next year!  However, I'm so happy with how simple and quick it was to make homemade Spiced Apple Chutney...will be doing that again, and am excited about a tiffin recipe I've found with popping candy inside (I'm hoping a great surprise for the kids that will receive it!).  I've also managed to pick up two unused baby clothing items at a local charity shop for a friend who's just given birth...it's amazing what people give away.

Inspiring Reading - I got the latest Conspire: magazine this week 'Food, Feast & Table'.  Another great read and challenge!  An inspiring article about a community that not only has a community garden (fruit, veg & livestock) but also composts all the local households food waste...has set my mind buzzing with questions about how we might add it into some local mutterings about a community allotment on our patch...just need to work out a bit of land!  (As ever there is so much in this, I might need to do a seperate post about it.)

What a week...and this was meant to be short!!!