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Well I'm all packed
... And ready to go. We have a morning session on what, I know not. And another video, then we're having a picnic. I hope I manage to stay awake.
A hellish night, with a bunch of drunken American students standing in the quad outside my room, yelling and screaming at each other till 4 in the morning - then they came into halls and began banging doors and yelling at each other in the corridors for another hour or so. By 5 I gave in and got up - at least I didn't have to wait for a shower ::G::
I'll miss the course, but I certainly won't miss halls. I feel like I'm getting out of prison today.
A hellish night, with a bunch of drunken American students standing in the quad outside my room, yelling and screaming at each other till 4 in the morning - then they came into halls and began banging doors and yelling at each other in the corridors for another hour or so. By 5 I gave in and got up - at least I didn't have to wait for a shower ::G::
I'll miss the course, but I certainly won't miss halls. I feel like I'm getting out of prison today.
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My last full day
... on the permaculture course ::sniff::
Another wonderful day of friendship and learning about stuff. We spent the morning on design, had a fantastic slide and talk this afternoon on Mike's many amazing projects in the tropics. Brilliant and inspirational, and full of anecdotes about the fabulous characters he's met and been involved with in all the many years he's been doing this stuff. I loved every second of that.
Earlier, we were discussing our chosen projects with each other in a class situation - and what a groove that was. It's been one of the best things about the course, for me - that such a disparate group of souls - male and female in pretty equal numbers, raging from eighteen to fifty two, with backgrounds/jobs including a rights-officer from Hackney, a park ranger, a former chicken farmer turned organic gardener, an IT consultant who's giving it all up to do a masters degree at the Centre for Alternative Technology and a maker and seller of crafts, wands and raw food; mostly we're from London, but also Bristol, Lincoln, New York and Gdansk - and we've all got on so unbelievably well! As Judith (the maker of wands, etc) said today - you can so feel the love on this course; we're not only learning from our tutors but from each other as well and if that all sounds terribly hippie-trippy and a little gag-inducing, well, I can't apologise - it's all true and I'll be bloody sorry to leave tomorrow.
The weather promises to be hot and dry, so after the final lecture tomorrow, we're having a picnic - everyone's bringing something we can all share. I caught the minibus to the mini Tesco in Oakwood for the last time tonight, to get some houmous, veggies and crisps. After the picnic, we say our goodbyes and I get on the tube to London for a train to Three Bridges, where I'll be spending the weekend with![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
suemc and alibongo, amongst others, then home to Withnell on Sunday. Looking forward to getting home and seeing Mark again, but, gosh golly, I shall miss this place and these people.
Another wonderful day of friendship and learning about stuff. We spent the morning on design, had a fantastic slide and talk this afternoon on Mike's many amazing projects in the tropics. Brilliant and inspirational, and full of anecdotes about the fabulous characters he's met and been involved with in all the many years he's been doing this stuff. I loved every second of that.
Earlier, we were discussing our chosen projects with each other in a class situation - and what a groove that was. It's been one of the best things about the course, for me - that such a disparate group of souls - male and female in pretty equal numbers, raging from eighteen to fifty two, with backgrounds/jobs including a rights-officer from Hackney, a park ranger, a former chicken farmer turned organic gardener, an IT consultant who's giving it all up to do a masters degree at the Centre for Alternative Technology and a maker and seller of crafts, wands and raw food; mostly we're from London, but also Bristol, Lincoln, New York and Gdansk - and we've all got on so unbelievably well! As Judith (the maker of wands, etc) said today - you can so feel the love on this course; we're not only learning from our tutors but from each other as well and if that all sounds terribly hippie-trippy and a little gag-inducing, well, I can't apologise - it's all true and I'll be bloody sorry to leave tomorrow.
The weather promises to be hot and dry, so after the final lecture tomorrow, we're having a picnic - everyone's bringing something we can all share. I caught the minibus to the mini Tesco in Oakwood for the last time tonight, to get some houmous, veggies and crisps. After the picnic, we say our goodbyes and I get on the tube to London for a train to Three Bridges, where I'll be spending the weekend with
suemc and alibongo, amongst others, then home to Withnell on Sunday. Looking forward to getting home and seeing Mark again, but, gosh golly, I shall miss this place and these people.
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False alarm number 3
More sitting around outside, head in hands, waiting for the fire brigade.
Sigh...
Sigh...
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OMG!!!
Mike passed my bloody essay around the class as an example of excellence. Talk about wanting the ground to open...
I mean, had it actually been excellent, I would have pretended to be embarrassed but been secretly pleased.::VBG:: Since it was actually a fairly mediocre effort, IMO (I mean, I didn't even really answer the question!) I was genuinely embarrassed.Nonononono!!!!!
Anyway... the weather having stayed balmy and gorgeous, we're having an everyone-contributes-something-vegan goodbye picnic, Friday, so tomorrow, after school, I'll have to go to Tesco's and grab some wine, veggies and houmous; taking the minibus into Oakwood for the last time. Sob!!! As Judith - the hippiest, New Ageiest person on the course, said, today; "I'm going to cry for a week when it's over.I don't ever want it to end." I know just how she feels. I feel I've made friends for a lifetime. It's been a fabulous experience.
It's so, so hot this evening - we had all our lectures outside, under the giant cedar tree, which radically improved my alertness level this afternoon. We finished the day with another fantastically inspiring video from Bill Mollison aka, the God of Permaculture. If you have any interest at all in the concept and practice of sustainability, do seek out Bill's videos. The books are great, but to see the man talking about Pemaculture is just amazing.
I mean, had it actually been excellent, I would have pretended to be embarrassed but been secretly pleased.::VBG:: Since it was actually a fairly mediocre effort, IMO (I mean, I didn't even really answer the question!) I was genuinely embarrassed.Nonononono!!!!!
Anyway... the weather having stayed balmy and gorgeous, we're having an everyone-contributes-something-vegan goodbye picnic, Friday, so tomorrow, after school, I'll have to go to Tesco's and grab some wine, veggies and houmous; taking the minibus into Oakwood for the last time. Sob!!! As Judith - the hippiest, New Ageiest person on the course, said, today; "I'm going to cry for a week when it's over.I don't ever want it to end." I know just how she feels. I feel I've made friends for a lifetime. It's been a fabulous experience.
It's so, so hot this evening - we had all our lectures outside, under the giant cedar tree, which radically improved my alertness level this afternoon. We finished the day with another fantastically inspiring video from Bill Mollison aka, the God of Permaculture. If you have any interest at all in the concept and practice of sustainability, do seek out Bill's videos. The books are great, but to see the man talking about Pemaculture is just amazing.
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We had a lovely walk in the woods today...
Well, we kinda needed it. Everyone's tending to drop off after lunch. We've talked to Mike about it, explaining how, even though we're all REALLY into the slideshows and videos we get in the afty, we can't help it. I personally think, the course is SO intense, there's such a lot to take in, that, by 2pm, the brain's sort of backing off, hands raised going 'whoa, dude! Enough already.'
We spent our morning under the giant cedar outside our room, discussing natural pest control. Dry as a bone under that gorgeous tree, even though it was raining. Halfway through, a beautiful little Nuthatch arrived to hop around the branches, picking off bugs - possibly some of the money spiders that kept dropping on us as the gentle rain from heaven upon the permaculturists beneath.
After lunch, we warded off sleep by hacking our way through jungle-like woodlands (she went for a tramp in the woods but he got away - heh heh), looking at chestnut-hornbeam coppice; saw two gorgeous old Hornbeams, twisted around each other as if they were kissing (aw!) Then had our afternoon lecture (seeds and seed collecting) sitting in a clearing, on a ring of fallen trees. All rather lovely, till it really began to rain and we had to head off back, pausing only to snag yet more cherries and some of those mouth watering day lillies. Yum.
Then, the usual afternoon of slides, trying desperately not to drop off.
I just finished my evening's reading; 'Permaculture in a Nutshell' - I need to get through 'no dig gardening', tonight, too - a leaflet issued by the Department of Works, with a beezer looking chap on the front, in a fantastic suit, gleaming brylcreamed short back n sides, a rather spanky pipe and an expression of clench-jawed, intense determination - price, 3/- Hee!
We spent our morning under the giant cedar outside our room, discussing natural pest control. Dry as a bone under that gorgeous tree, even though it was raining. Halfway through, a beautiful little Nuthatch arrived to hop around the branches, picking off bugs - possibly some of the money spiders that kept dropping on us as the gentle rain from heaven upon the permaculturists beneath.
After lunch, we warded off sleep by hacking our way through jungle-like woodlands (she went for a tramp in the woods but he got away - heh heh), looking at chestnut-hornbeam coppice; saw two gorgeous old Hornbeams, twisted around each other as if they were kissing (aw!) Then had our afternoon lecture (seeds and seed collecting) sitting in a clearing, on a ring of fallen trees. All rather lovely, till it really began to rain and we had to head off back, pausing only to snag yet more cherries and some of those mouth watering day lillies. Yum.
Then, the usual afternoon of slides, trying desperately not to drop off.
I just finished my evening's reading; 'Permaculture in a Nutshell' - I need to get through 'no dig gardening', tonight, too - a leaflet issued by the Department of Works, with a beezer looking chap on the front, in a fantastic suit, gleaming brylcreamed short back n sides, a rather spanky pipe and an expression of clench-jawed, intense determination - price, 3/- Hee!
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Lovely, lovely mango!
MMMMMM! That was the best mango I've eaten since I left Cuba, and I do love a good mango (o: I've discovered the best little shop that sells fantastic fruit and veg and have gone a bit nuts. What with that and the abundance of wild cherries around here - I can't stop eating. I'll be big as a house when I leave. They'll have to crane me out of the window.
It's blustery and wild here today. I was going to stroll into Cockfosters for bagels this morning, but I couldn't be bothered to fight the weather. Instead, I stayed home, in my dim little room, listening to the scary wind in the big trees and wrote my essay;
It's blustery and wild here today. I was going to stroll into Cockfosters for bagels this morning, but I couldn't be bothered to fight the weather. Instead, I stayed home, in my dim little room, listening to the scary wind in the big trees and wrote my essay;
HOW WOULD YOU USE THE PRINCIPLES AND ETHICS OF PERMACULTURE TO MAKE YOUR LIFE MORE SUSTAINABLE? Think about what you consume and what ecological impact this has. How could you reduce your impact?
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Ooooh. Get me!
What Your Soul Really Looks Like |
 You are a wanderer. You constantly long for a new adventure, challenge, or eve a completely different life. You are a grounded person, but you also leave room for imagination and dreams. You feet may be on the ground, but you're head is in the clouds. You believe that people see you as larger than life and important. While this is true, they also think you're a bit full of yourself. Your near future is a lot like the present, and as far as you're concerned, that's a very good thing. For you, love is all about caring and comfort. You couldn't fall in love with someone you didn't trust. |
Who writes these things? It's full of typos! You're head is in the clouds indeed! tut tut tut! ::G::
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I feel like Bob Ferris...
trying to avoid hearing the cup final result, because
PEOPLE KEEP TRYING TO TELL ME ABOUT TONIGHT'S DOCTOR WHO!!!
I'm in the university halls of residence. There is NO TV. I haven't seen DW yet, nor will I till next Sunday, when I return home to where my beloved has carefully recorded it onto the HDR for me. So, in the meantime -
I don't want to know the result!!!
Thank you kindly for your co operation (o:
PEOPLE KEEP TRYING TO TELL ME ABOUT TONIGHT'S DOCTOR WHO!!!
I'm in the university halls of residence. There is NO TV. I haven't seen DW yet, nor will I till next Sunday, when I return home to where my beloved has carefully recorded it onto the HDR for me. So, in the meantime -
I don't want to know the result!!!
Thank you kindly for your co operation (o:
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The Glories of Cockfosters
Long, long ago, I had family round about these here parts; all gone now, but the memories...
I found Uncle Arthur's (not my actual uncle, just a friend of the family) old butcher's shop; I remembered the tiles (it's a fishmongers now) - and the Russian tea room and coffee houses were all still there. I found a fantastic Greek/Jewish grocers where I went mental and bought far to much stuff considering I had to carry it a mile back through the park but hey ho... There were things in that shop I hadn't seen in years!
I got a load of gorgeous fruits and veggies, including prickly pears, amazing, amber coloured rasin grapes and my favourite curly Greek cucumbers; a big bag of assorted olives, fried, salted broad beans, pickled baby eggplant, giant mezze beans marinaded in herbs, gorgeous Jewish seed bread - the smell is percolating through the rom, driving me crazy as I type but - best of all - la piece de resistance - a huge hunk of cheesecake - nothing to do with that fluffy, oversweetened crap that passes for cheesecake in Tesco's, mind. This is the real McCoy; proper, baked in the oven, heavy cream cheese heart-attack-on-a-plate Jewish cheesecake. Man!!! It was £3 a slice and worth every penny. I'm saving it for tonight - I haven't had it in about 20 years. Yum, yum, yum! (o:
I found Uncle Arthur's (not my actual uncle, just a friend of the family) old butcher's shop; I remembered the tiles (it's a fishmongers now) - and the Russian tea room and coffee houses were all still there. I found a fantastic Greek/Jewish grocers where I went mental and bought far to much stuff considering I had to carry it a mile back through the park but hey ho... There were things in that shop I hadn't seen in years!
I got a load of gorgeous fruits and veggies, including prickly pears, amazing, amber coloured rasin grapes and my favourite curly Greek cucumbers; a big bag of assorted olives, fried, salted broad beans, pickled baby eggplant, giant mezze beans marinaded in herbs, gorgeous Jewish seed bread - the smell is percolating through the rom, driving me crazy as I type but - best of all - la piece de resistance - a huge hunk of cheesecake - nothing to do with that fluffy, oversweetened crap that passes for cheesecake in Tesco's, mind. This is the real McCoy; proper, baked in the oven, heavy cream cheese heart-attack-on-a-plate Jewish cheesecake. Man!!! It was £3 a slice and worth every penny. I'm saving it for tonight - I haven't had it in about 20 years. Yum, yum, yum! (o:
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Some bastard burned their toast...
So for the second time since I arrived on Sunday, I (and many others) got to spend an hour sitting in a seedy courtyard, in my pyjamas, waiting for the fire brigade. At least, this time, it was still light and I wasn't in bed. Last time it went off at 1.30am. Man.
And that's only in Halls. There were two false alarms in the Mansion (the main building) this week, too.
I'll bet I'm not half as pissed off as the firemen, mind. Or the U. It costs them £600 for every false alarm.
And that's only in Halls. There were two false alarms in the Mansion (the main building) this week, too.
I'll bet I'm not half as pissed off as the firemen, mind. Or the U. It costs them £600 for every false alarm.
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Composting toilets are the work of the very devil -
I don't care how much honeysuckle you plant round them, they still smell bad, man!!!
Interesting trip today, to a permaculture farmlet in Enfield - hidden away down a little gennel behind a row of typical North London semis - you'd never guess it was there at all. All very interesting - I was especially impressed by the straw bale house and the living willow gazebo; had a lovely munch on the abundant crops of fat hen and radish seed pods.
Tomorrow, I have another another trip; hoping to see some chicken permaculture in action - we are promised a chicken tractor. I'm looking forward to that. Then I might stroll through the park; maybe check out the wonders of Cockfosters. If the weather holds, maybe spend Sunday in the park - this is an old stately pile; Trent park is it's original grounds, complete with statuary and massive cedars and obelisks etc. There's a beautiful Japanese water garden. But I have my weekend project to write up at some stage, and my book and I am well into one of my Moonridge stories now...
Ah me. What a full life I lead. Heh heh heh.
Interesting trip today, to a permaculture farmlet in Enfield - hidden away down a little gennel behind a row of typical North London semis - you'd never guess it was there at all. All very interesting - I was especially impressed by the straw bale house and the living willow gazebo; had a lovely munch on the abundant crops of fat hen and radish seed pods.
Tomorrow, I have another another trip; hoping to see some chicken permaculture in action - we are promised a chicken tractor. I'm looking forward to that. Then I might stroll through the park; maybe check out the wonders of Cockfosters. If the weather holds, maybe spend Sunday in the park - this is an old stately pile; Trent park is it's original grounds, complete with statuary and massive cedars and obelisks etc. There's a beautiful Japanese water garden. But I have my weekend project to write up at some stage, and my book and I am well into one of my Moonridge stories now...
Ah me. What a full life I lead. Heh heh heh.
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Mmmmm! Wild black cherries!
More news from the wild n wacky world of Permaculture...
We went on a Wild Food Forage today; not the best time of year to do it, really; pre fungi and fruits and all the salady things are getting tough and a bit powerful in the taste department (cue half the class leaping about on one foot going 'Ow! Ow!' over the hedge garlic... hee!), but we found tree-loads of the most yummy wild black cherries and made a lovely snack of day lilly flowers (which taste somewhere between a raw carrot, cucumber and courgette/zucchini, in case you were wondering) and discovered Mike, our course leader's (a wonderful hairy man and SO Blair in 15 years) wonderful lineny waistcoat is actually made of nettle. Which was pretty darn amazing IMO! O:!
These are the sort of things you learn on a Permaculture course.
OK, we also did a load of stuff on energy systems and sector zoning and stuff you probably don't wanna know about, but we also ot a slide show about some amazing looking houses. I would LOVE to post some piccies, but unfortunately, I've not got the right card reader with me for the camera, darn it. I'll do a piccie fest when I get home.
I just finished my homework - a DVD from CAT (Centre for Alternative Technology) about my carbon footprint. I learned that our fair share of the world's carbon, to keep the Earth all balanced and lovely, is 2.5 tones. The average Brit uses 10 a year, the Average American 20, the average Zambian 0.06 . I use 2.31 tonnes, but the disc, assuming I was one of these profligate carbon abusers you read about in The Guardian, kept trying to tell me (by means of an animated monkey) how to reduce my carbon emissions to less than 2.5. 'But I already use less than 2.5', I screamed repeatedly at the screen, but would it listen? Would it ****! Bloody cartoon monkeys.
Anyway, now that's out of the way, I can get on with the real work of the evening; drinking beer and writing my Moonridge fic! 5,000 words in, now, and things are hotting up for Jim, Blair and Naomi... O:!
We went on a Wild Food Forage today; not the best time of year to do it, really; pre fungi and fruits and all the salady things are getting tough and a bit powerful in the taste department (cue half the class leaping about on one foot going 'Ow! Ow!' over the hedge garlic... hee!), but we found tree-loads of the most yummy wild black cherries and made a lovely snack of day lilly flowers (which taste somewhere between a raw carrot, cucumber and courgette/zucchini, in case you were wondering) and discovered Mike, our course leader's (a wonderful hairy man and SO Blair in 15 years) wonderful lineny waistcoat is actually made of nettle. Which was pretty darn amazing IMO! O:!
These are the sort of things you learn on a Permaculture course.
OK, we also did a load of stuff on energy systems and sector zoning and stuff you probably don't wanna know about, but we also ot a slide show about some amazing looking houses. I would LOVE to post some piccies, but unfortunately, I've not got the right card reader with me for the camera, darn it. I'll do a piccie fest when I get home.
I just finished my homework - a DVD from CAT (Centre for Alternative Technology) about my carbon footprint. I learned that our fair share of the world's carbon, to keep the Earth all balanced and lovely, is 2.5 tones. The average Brit uses 10 a year, the Average American 20, the average Zambian 0.06 . I use 2.31 tonnes, but the disc, assuming I was one of these profligate carbon abusers you read about in The Guardian, kept trying to tell me (by means of an animated monkey) how to reduce my carbon emissions to less than 2.5. 'But I already use less than 2.5', I screamed repeatedly at the screen, but would it listen? Would it ****! Bloody cartoon monkeys.
Anyway, now that's out of the way, I can get on with the real work of the evening; drinking beer and writing my Moonridge fic! 5,000 words in, now, and things are hotting up for Jim, Blair and Naomi... O:!
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ONLINE at last!!!
YAY!!!
I'm away from home - a two week Permaculture Design course at Middlesex Uni. They promised me free broadband in my room; this promise was withheld until today.::tut tut tut:: )o:
Oh man! I couldn't log on for - whatever reason (never did get to the bottom of it) and have been chasing pillar to post since Sunday night, trying to get someone to DO something about it! Anyway; finally, got it sorted out tonight. Am I happy or what?! ::grins stupidly and does a little shimmy, to make the point::
The course is wonderful. Great subject (but I knew that anyway), wonderful teacher (the lovely Mike - Blair at 50! I'll post a piccie when I can); really nice group. The accommodation leaves a LOT to be desired ('HM Prison' wouldn't be a bad description )o:) but hey... I've stayed in much worse places. I have beer - I can deal. The 'no drugs. No weapons' (complete with little symbols - a gun and a syringe with red lines through) sign on the Student U was a trifle startling, I admit, but I've seen nothing untoward as yet and can only assume they're just covering their arses for legal reasons ::VBG::
No TV is turning out to be A Very Good Thing (especially since the beloved is tivioing 24, Boston Legal and sundry other un-missables), and after one night's writing, I now have 3,000+ words of one of my Moonridge stories written.
So... I'm back my babies! And it feels good! (o:
I'm away from home - a two week Permaculture Design course at Middlesex Uni. They promised me free broadband in my room; this promise was withheld until today.::tut tut tut:: )o:
Oh man! I couldn't log on for - whatever reason (never did get to the bottom of it) and have been chasing pillar to post since Sunday night, trying to get someone to DO something about it! Anyway; finally, got it sorted out tonight. Am I happy or what?! ::grins stupidly and does a little shimmy, to make the point::
The course is wonderful. Great subject (but I knew that anyway), wonderful teacher (the lovely Mike - Blair at 50! I'll post a piccie when I can); really nice group. The accommodation leaves a LOT to be desired ('HM Prison' wouldn't be a bad description )o:) but hey... I've stayed in much worse places. I have beer - I can deal. The 'no drugs. No weapons' (complete with little symbols - a gun and a syringe with red lines through) sign on the Student U was a trifle startling, I admit, but I've seen nothing untoward as yet and can only assume they're just covering their arses for legal reasons ::VBG::
No TV is turning out to be A Very Good Thing (especially since the beloved is tivioing 24, Boston Legal and sundry other un-missables), and after one night's writing, I now have 3,000+ words of one of my Moonridge stories written.
So... I'm back my babies! And it feels good! (o:
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London, anyone?
I'm heading off on a course at Middlesex Uni in a couple of days; going to be away for two whole weeks - )o:
I have broadband in my room, but I'm expecting to be working long hours so I won't be around as much as usual, and the writing of fic will have to go on hold, too...
But - if there's anyone in/around North London who fancies a li'l get-together in Cockfosters one evening, they'll find me more than game.
I have broadband in my room, but I'm expecting to be working long hours so I won't be around as much as usual, and the writing of fic will have to go on hold, too...
But - if there's anyone in/around North London who fancies a li'l get-together in Cockfosters one evening, they'll find me more than game.