Heaven and Hell

I'm a little busy this week so no normal post. Instead here is a poem I wrote, inspired (in the loose sense of the word) by yet more news of an environmental catastrophe in the making, as insect numbers collapse.

Heaven and Hell
so close together.
Easy to step
between the two
in the twinkling of an eye.
The cherished land
cared for
loved
a Heaven on Earth.
The scarred and
polluted
desecrated
a Hell on Earth.
Carelessness and cruelty
condemning
the earth
to a purgatory
not of its own making
squeezing out life.
In response the land
spits out the sons of men,
creating its own Sabbath
exhausted as it waits
in pain
for the rise
of those
who will care
and cherish
and heal.

Waiting, waiting

Waiting for the snow to go

I seem to have spent most of the week waiting for someone or something. I started off the week waiting for the bus to get home. Ian collected me from the bus station to take me out to the land as we were expecting visitors. A family we had met to see their alpacas were making a return visit after a trip out to Sigulda. So after a quick change into suitable clothing, in other words out of my city clothes, and a quick trip to the bakery we set off. Well we waited and waited, we even gave in and ate some of the pastries we had bought specially - or more likely just in case they wanted a cuppa and something to eat.

Slowly but surely

You can see the frozen puddle though and it is only
the sun that is causing the melt, not the air
temperature, which has rarely got above freezing after
the mega melt earlier on in the week

We had just about given up on them and thought they must have found the roads too bad when they turned up. It wasn't the best of days for a sightseeing trip because, although it had warmed up quite a bit, that meant a mega melt, hence the bad roads. It was a very brief trip, as they had to get back to their animals and it was another hour and a half at least and that's on a good day. I hadn't even taken my computer so I hadn't been able to get on with any work while waiting.

Ice from our pond. Ian has to keep chipping away to get
water out of it.

There is more snow out on the land as it is slightly higher
in altitude, although even here it is going

I have also been waiting for my supervisor to report back to me on a paper. In the end I had to send him a list of things that needed doing and a priority list to get something done. I can't say I blame him as he is pretty busy, but it doesn't help me to get things finished. At least I got an abstract in on time for a conference, so that was one step forward. Mind you, he will probably end up presenting it as I won't be able to afford to go. Sigh! Still it was nice while the funding lasted to get to go to some rather nice places.

It is melting faster on our south facing ski hill. We still call it
a ski hill, even though there has only ever been one
person ski down it the whole time we have known it.
We don't know who it was, but the tracks were there

Peekaboo! With the sunnier weather, Ian has locked the
girls and their youngsters out to make them get outside in
the sunshine

I am still waiting for further news from the paper that has been submitted. I know it is now with the Special Edition editor, so hopefully that is a step in the right direction, but I haven't heard any more than that. It is so frustrating, as I could do with knowing whether that paper is complete or I have to do more work on it. It feels like the end is in sight but still a long way off and there could be a few twists and turns along the way. Still at least with all this waiting it has meant I could do some more felting and more preparation for our move.

A needle fetled picture with embroidery

Time outside

Freddie playing twister with mum

George out for a walk with his mum

Part of the preparations for our move meant tackling the cellar. I had to do that in two stints as it was pretty dusty. It was amazing what was down there. Lots of cardboard that had seen better days, some collapsible crates that were rather handy, three watering cans (why do we have three watering cans in our cellar I may hear you ask? No idea actually! One I could understand, but three!!!!), lots of bike bits, an overhead projector (anyone want one?), bags of soil, a gas powered bbq, electrical and plumbing bits and bobs, a folding camping chair, some gardening tools and a bag of something that was later identified as clay. At least we have plenty of room in our rubbish bin to get rid of some stuff, it usually takes us ages to fill a bin. I have had to cancel a collection several times because it is just not worth it.

George is getting a lot of fleece now, especially around his
face

Anyone need any coat hangars, I have a few

The boys like to get outside, apart from Herkules who is
probably still inside eating

Of course we recycle what we can, so all the old cardboard will go in the garden to suppress weeds and then we put manure on the top of that to make no dig beds, so that's actually quite handy. The bag of clay had me flummoxed for ages though, until I realised that it was the clay that I had used to show Latvian children the Derbyshire tradition of Well Dressings. The clay is spread out on a board and then flowers (or just the petals depending on which tradition you follow) are used to make a picture that is then used to decorate a well, at least that was the case in the old days, in more recent times they are purely decorations.

Tracks in the snow from daily walks with Ian

Mr. P enjoying the sunshine

Ian surprised me last week and said that he could bring the trailer back home and we could move somethings up to the other apartment. Well I waited and waited, in the end I asked when he was going to do that. He told me it was up to me. Communication is a wonderful thing when it works. Hahaha! Well it is getting kind of close to the time when I am off to the UK, so there isn't much time to get anything done before I set off, so we needed to get our act together. Despite the mega melt earlier on last week, it has been pretty cold here but fortunately without the snow, well not much more than a dusting anyway. However it is forecast to warm up and so that won't help with the state of the roads again and so we decided to get some things shifted today.

I think this might be a bit big for a Christmas tree in the
apartment

Sunset outside our other apartment

We currently live on the third floor (British second floor) and that feels like a lot of steps to carry boxes down, especially when we have as many books as we do. We took two bookcases and a writing bureau too. The heavier furniture will have to wait until we have some help of the younger, stronger kind. At least the other apartment is a first floor one (British ground floor) and so there are just a few steps up and so that stage was much easier, especially as my knee was giving me some gip (trouble) on the way down the stairs. Upstairs it is fine, but down not so much.

From the macro to the micro view. These berries are still
hanging on in there after the winter

Aggie

It was only possible to do the moving in the morning for two reasons. Firstly we were shattered from going up and down the stairs, but also the roads were melting, even though it was cold and that would mean it would be difficult to get the horse box onto the land. After picking up my lunch and laptop Ian dropped me back off at the other apartment before heading off to the animals. I spent most of the afternoon first cleaning the furniture and then filling them up from the numerous boxes we had brought in. I probably only sorted through about a third, if that. So I guess that will be my job again tomorrow. I do know that no further work will be done on my paper as my supervisor is away at a meeting. Oh well!

It amused me to see that some folks in the UK actually had more snow than we do. I guess that is what happens when the Beast from the East (or mini beast in this case) meets the damp atmosphere of the UK. The laments over the length of this winter reminded me of a poem I wrote about 8 years ago, so here you go!

I really like this view of our land

The Winter Sleep
The blanket lies white upon the ground
So deep,
Muffling sound
Hard to believe
What lies beneath
Colour locked in bulbs
So deep
Asleep
Waiting in their earthly dreams
For warmth to seep from above
To awaken and stretch
Their dress of velvet cloth
Refreshing drab senses
Dulled by the long winter months
Lethargy peels off
Hope arises
Winter loses its grip.

Ian has been thinning out the trees again this week. That
job will have to finish by the end of the month when tree
cutting season finishes so the birds can nest

Next season's firewood. We will need more this year
since we will be heating our own apartment and not relying
on the communal heating system

Sofie out for a stroll

Well someone's been busy

A sunbathing Brencis

A Place to Be

A place to be?

From time to time I feel poetic, or at least I like to think I am. This poem came out of some thoughts on the research I am doing and the disconnect between what our rural areas are supposed to be like, producing food and recreation and what it can be like as people leave. On the one hand policymakers are increasing efforts to encourage younger people into farming and on the other hand removing the village infrastructure that makes life in the countryside liveable.

The beauty of the countryside

A Place to Be

How good it is to be in the countryside

A place to relax

A place to relax
A place to hike and swim
A place to heal
A place to be

A place to be?
So how come suicide is so high amongst farmers?
How come alcoholism so rife in the countryside?
A place to be is not enough
A place to be also has to put food on the table
For those who work the land
A place to be also has to provide social contact

A place of solitude is okay for a time
Some can take more than others
But at the end of the day
People still need people

So how come you expect your food to be produced in a vacuum?
By farmers devoid of social care and community
When you rip the heart out of the centre
And remove the school
Where do their children go?
When the jobs disappear from the villages
Where do their children's friends go?
Why should they stay?
In splendid isolation?

A place to be?
Dying
Isolated
Lonely
A place to exist
How long will your "place to be" last?
Without the work and care of its managers
Robots in the fields
Empty
Abandoned
Where will your food come from then?
Will it still be a place to be?

Well?

Variety the spice of life!

The snow started to melt and then it snowed again

It has been a varied week as per usual. One day out on the farm, other days sat working on the computer and another doing ordinary jobs like cleaning - only they don't seem that ordinary to me at the moment, but something slipped into the schedule out of sheer necessity. Don't expect a spotless house if you visit. This week I also taught at a workshop and I actually got paid for it, which was lovely.

But you have to admit, it does look pretty

A weird build up of ice on the car

The workshop was such a joy. It was actually quite simple in many ways, but it connected with the people in a way that sparked some amazing interactions. I didn't have a huge amount of teaching time, so they were more discussion starters to get people thinking. I first had a game to show how the local economy could work better, showing people how money can flow when we think creatively. We then looked at wider networks and where people had connections to other places.

My glass sculpture from a glass workshop after my presentation.
It will be fired and given a frosty look

Working on an activity, artists and workshop attendees

My last exercise was my favourite and linked artists with others to tell their stories. It was interpreted in some quite different ways, which was brilliant. It showed how interactions with artists can initiate new ideas and how artists could also convey the information in visual forms that communicated well with others and were great for conversation starters. I was also sent a sweet letter afterwards, that thoroughly blessed me, thanking me for taking the workshop. It felt like we, the leader of the organisation and I, had both appreciated the work each other had been doing.

Other pieces created in the glass workshop

Mr. B. seems to have settled in well now. Here he is eating
snow alongside Turbjørn. All the alpacas have been eating
snow again this week. They have got fresh water, honest!

As I said I also spent sometime out on the land. The mite problem is kicking in, as it seems to do every year as soon as there is a hint of spring. Hopefully we are now much more aware of the issues and know how to deal with it, but it is worrying that it keeps coming recurring. It won't be enough to keep using the same treatments over and over again and so we will have to keep an eye out for alternative treatments too. At least it only seems to be a problem for the girls at the moment, the boys seem fine, even Herk who usually seems to get the problems first. That was a relief as our youngster Mr. B. (or Brencis for his full name) has only just been moved from the girls place and thus was a likely carrier of mites.

Peedo, finally has a nickname and from now on, will be known
as Mr. P. Here he is looking a little frosted after stopping out
in the snow. He could have gone inside

No signs of concussion now

Ian got a little worried about one of our cockerel's this week. He found him flaked out and being stood on by the other chickens. He got hold of him quite easily and laid him on the floor by the side of the ark and he didn't move much. He then realised that it was not a good idea to leave him there in case he recovered and wasn't able to catch him, so he put him in our usual recovery place, the cat box. He put water and food in there and almost immediately he started picking at the food. Not much later he seemed to have made a miraculous recovery. The only thing we can think of is that he must of slipped off somewhere and concussed himself.

Chanel enjoying the spruce tree

Mr. P. investigating what Ian is doing

He's been fine ever since. So fine in fact that he actually started crowing just before I was due to set off for the workshop on the Friday. I had literally just got to the door when we heard the cockle-doodle-doo. Even our new cockerel hadn't made that sound so far since we got him and so we were shocked. We headed back to see who was responsible and saw the shocked look on the previously concussed cockerel and thought it must have been him. Then the new one started so we changed our mind, but next a competition started between the two of them. It was almost like a fanfare to send me off on my new adventure. It hasn't lasted though, none of them have crowed since. The new cockerel though, has finally gone in to the hutch part at night. He just didn't seem to understand or bother to investigate why the girls all disappeared every night.

The signs of an unwelcome visitor, dog footprints around the
alpaca enclosure. The dog had raced around too. Herkules
sounded his warning cry but Ian didn't get to see the culprit,
just the evidence.

A frosted forest of grass

We have taken on one of our friends to help us with the farm. It is much easier for her to write emails and get price lists and so hopefully we will get things running more smoothly. She will help us with the alpacas too and be available for visiting groups too. It is a bit of a step of faith that having someone available to help over summer will help us to get things moving in the right direction to be able to support our lives here.

This oak tree has grown around some barbed wire that must
have been nailed to it in the past. How long ago
did that happen?

Not time to plant anything yet!

It is unlikely that the farm will be our only source of income but it needs to be getting us there. At least we do get most of our food from off the land, although it is going to be close this year. Our freezer stocks are getting low. We have loads of frozen berries and tomatoes and not much else, we also have stores of potatoes, beetroot, carrots, onions and squashes but most of those are low too. At least I do know what we can eat in terms of leaves that are going to start to appear soon so there will be fresh onion leaves, dandelions, nettles and a whole host of other greens that are good in Spring. Of course it is not the end of the world if we run out, there are still the shops, but if we can avoid it, we will.

Frosted sheep too. You can tell their coats are keeping them
well insulated as the snow doesn't really melt in the cold

Signs of spring in the greenhouse. When the sun comes out
the temperatures actually get quite high in the greenhouse

I often hear moans about the youth of today, but let's be honest, when was there ever a time they weren't moaned about? I'm sure folks used to moan about my generation too. I think we need to give these kids space to re-think their future, not one constrained by the greed and selfish of our generation.

Different generations getting along

The storks are not back on their nest yet. 

I get heartily sick of folks knocking these generations for being self-absorbed, but has anyone asked them? Selfish? That's rich coming from the generations that have over- used resources to such an extent that some of them, if not many of them, will either run out or be badly polluted. A same generation that moans has saddled the next ones with debt to furnish their comfy lifestyle whilst they might not live to reap the storm of the future trajectory that we have set this planet on. Selfish? Let's give the younger generations a break and help them to put right what we started and to re-imagine a new day. I think this Guardian article sets out the problems they face quite well

Ian has been looking at my Kitchen Aid mixer, which is showing
signs of wear. The delight though is it is easy to take apart and
the parts to repair it with relatively easy to obtain

Signs of Spring at our other apartment too

I have been digging out a few poems I wrote a while ago and this one was originally written in 2009, but I think it still has echoes for today, as the chill snowy wind blew around this week.

When the wind of history blew

When the wind of history blew

The banking system shivered

Drew its coat around itself

and carried on

Tree felling before Spring to give space for more growth

When the wind of history blew

Governments trembled

Threw some money into the banking system’s begging hats

then carried on

When the wind of history blew

The people paused and

For a moment considered a future different

To one they had relied on

When all seemed to be restored

Once again they carried on

Not as much snow here, but a cold, cold day

But a few saw the cracks

Opened up by the wind

Growing, creaking its way into the system

Space is being created

Space into which a new Kingdom will come

Quietly without much fanfare

But sweeping across the nations

Blowing through

Sculpting a new tomorrow