Thank you NHS

 I am very grateful to the NHS, as Compostman had a heart attack at home tonight about 6 pm.

He was whisked away by ambulance and treated in surgery within 2 hours, and is now on a ward, having been treated and stabilised.

He's awake and chatting, so fingers crossed, all will be well.

Yule blessings

And the Wheel of the Year turns, and the light will return :) Winter Solstice blessings to all, dear friends.

More lockdowns?

Looking at the latest figures, we are going to have another lockdown soon and over Christmas, aren't we.

Worrying.

Storm Arwen

Still no power. Thanks, Arwen.

Fortunately we have a wood burner for heat, a generator to run the bore hole (we have a private water and sewerage system, requiring electricity to work) and provide some limited electric so have a few lights and can run all the freezers to keep the produce frozen. Three freezers and two fridges to keep going.

Plus we have a number of gas camping stoves from my outdoor workshops in balm and lotion making at festivals and Forest School. So have had been able to re heat (linited) hot food.

Generator is because we frequently lose power for a day or two, but back in 2002 we lost power for 10 days, and lost all the produce in the freezers and fridges. All our preserved crops.

Ell was in washable nappies still and I was very unwell with rheumatoid and CFS, so it was all a bit of a nightmare.

So we got a generator.

I know it uses fossil fuel, but thank goodness we have one.

New bedding!

New bedding on my bed. I do rather like it.

From Sainsbury. Nice 100% cotton, in a sale. Wish I could afford more ethical cotton bedding, but it does have the German Oko mark on it, at least.

And a replacement for one of the  three sets I have, that finally wore out and was consigned to quilting/patching/dusters/random fabric stash.

Plus, Compost girl took some of my bedding to Uni. So I needed to buy some more.

This is lovely.

It's been a very hard couple of years.

Some good advice below for those who need it. Look after yourself everyone ❤️❤️ 

DEPRESSION TIPS:

Shower. Not a bath, a shower. Use water as hot or cold as you like. You don’t even need to wash. Just get in under the water and let it run over you for a while. Sit on the floor if you gotta.

Moisturize everything. Use whatever lotion you like. Unscented? Poundland lotion? Fancy 48 hour lotion that makes you smell like a field of wildflowers? Use whatever you want, and use it all over your entire dermis. 

Put on clean, comfortable clothes. 

Put on your favorite underwear. Cute black lacy panties? Those ridiculous boxers you bought last christmas with pink love hearts on the butt? Put them on.

Drink cold water. Use ice. If you want, add some mint or lemon for an extra boost. 

Clean something. Doesn’t have to be anything big. Organize one drawer of a desk. Wash five dirty dishes. Do a load of laundry. Scrub the bathroom sink. 

Blast music. Listen to something upbeat and dancey and loud, something that’s got lots of energy. Sing to it, dance to it, even if you suck at both.

Make food. Don’t just grab a Kit Kat bar to munch. Take the time and make food. Even if it’s beans on toast. Add something special to it, like a soft boiled egg or some veggies. Prepare food, it tastes way better, and you’ll feel like you accomplished something. 

Make something. Write a short story or a poem, draw a picture, color a picture, fold origami, crochet or knit, sculpt something out of clay, anything artistic. Even if you don’t think you’re good at it. Create. 

Go outside. Take a walk. Sit in the grass. Look at the clouds. Smell flowers. Put your hands in the dirt and feel the soil against your skin.

Call someone. Call a loved one, a friend, a family member, call a chat service if you have no one else to call. Talk to a stranger on the street. Have a conversation and listen to someone’s voice. If you can’t bring yourself to call, text or email or whatever, just have some social interaction with another person. Even if you don’t say much, listen to them. It helps. 

Cuddle your pets if you have them/can cuddle them. Take pictures of them. Talk to them. Tell them how you feel, about your favorite movie, a new game coming out, anything. 

May seem small or silly to some, but this list keeps people alive.  

*** At your absolute best you won’t be good enough for the wrong people. But at your worst, you’ll still be worth it to the right ones. Remember that. Keep holding on. 

*** In case nobody has told you today I love you and you are worth your weight and then some in gold, so be kind to yourself and most of all keep pushing on!!!!

Find something to be grateful for!

May I please get 2 friends or family members to copy and re-post? I am trying to demonstrate that someone is always listening.

#SuicideAwareness 

#HaveARealConversation

Just two people. Any two.

(but share, if c&p is difficult)

FiLiA Portsmouth 2021

I spent a wonderful last weekend in Portsmouth at #FILIA2021. It was fabulous, uplifting.

But was marred by the nasty protests outside the venue.

Yes, of course protest is an absolute right, but surely, not when it is abusive or frightening for those who are the target. 

I've reported the abuse I personally got, as well as the general verbal and visual abuse for just going to #FiLiA conference, which simply discussed women centric issues.

.

I felt scared going in and out of the venue, despite excellent security. I was literally terrified.

The chants of TWAW, Sex work is work, blow jobs are jobs

really, literally traumatised me.

 The chalked images of errect penis were upsetting. 

Honestly, it all was frightening. Really so.

Who knew what the chants and placard waving might have led to? 

This is some of what I was faced with, for going in to listen to women sharing their experiences of corrective rape and genocide in Tigray.

And the Lesbians incarcerated in the LGBT block in the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya, which puts a target on them for corrective rape, children removed, or worse.

Draw your own conclusions friends.

Yet I went in. I didn't let the bullies stop me!

A trip out! To Shrewsbury Folk Festival

I'm at Shrewsbury Folk Festival, first big outing in public, (apart from local shops for food) since Feb 2020.

It was very nerve wracking at first being around so many people(even outdoors) , but I rapidly remembered what to do, and I'm really enjoying myself, now.

So good to be chatting to people, in the sunshine. Musicwise, Sekou Keita and The Longest Johns were particularly good. 

Then listened to The Spell Singers doing a sound check. Some of the songs they individually sang were pricelessly funny 

Lost Words Spell Singers were fabulous, Jackie Morris did a wonderful painting of two Red foxes while incanting the Fox spell and "her band" jammed along, ( to get that joke, you'll have to go and see them live!)

And we were treated to two new Songs, based on the newer book The Lost Spells. Which were also wonderful.

Lovely to see Robin Stenham after, really wanted to stay to the end for Show of Hands, but couldn't face leaving at midnight then driving two hours to get home.

Next year, I'll take the caravan and do the whole Festival weekend.

Hi fi!

Earlier, listened to a bit of Meddle, (fabulous Pink Floyd album, for you philistines) , on my earbuds from my phone. 

Them went and listened to the whole album in glorious full quad /stereo set up in the sitting room

, (, old school v good hi fi, lots of very good hi fi speakers, me sitting in exactly the right spot.

On CD, but have the option of original vinyl, if I want.)!

Oh so fabulous.

Swoon.

Sitting on the patio

Sitting on the patio, listening to birdsong (lark, thrush, blackbird, sparrow, raven, buzzard) and insect sounds (bees, hoverflies, grasshoppers, dragon flies, butterflies)

Finally cool enough to water patio plants and sit outside now. Been hiding in the cool of the house all afternoon. 

What a hot day.

It's astonishing the amount of insect life in the last 10 mins visiting this one 12" diameter patio pot of wild flowers.

Fritillary seeds

I have loads of Fritillaria seeds harvested from my Fritillaria meadow, if you would like some, message me and then send me an sae.

(And if you feel inclined, give Garden Organic a donation.)

Incapacity. and Long COVID, and Menopause,

Bloody hell, this knee is STILL such

a problem!

The start of a downward slide into incapacity, unfortunately, coupled I think with Long COVID and my pre existing auto immune conditions.

Being 59. It seems to have been accompanied by all sorts of problems.

Suspect it is menopause related, women have protection from lots of nasty stuff while fertile, and then when the hormones switch off, it all goes a bit pete tong.

Hey ho.

From 2018

Sitting in Ledbury Community Hospital waiting for a knee X ray :( Precautionary, probably ligaments not bone damage, but I'm been told, regardless, I'm going to be on leg elevation and rest for several weeks (at least) with crutches for essential movements only. Then physio. 

Thank God for #NHS. 70 years of free healthcare, freely given. I'm only waiting now, because the radiographer has gone for their lunch break. I was seen within 20 mins of arriving here.

 

And thanks (not!) Cassi Cat for tripping me up on Monday night. I know you love me, but really, this is an odd way to show it.

Muntjac doe, again, again

The muntjac doe is a creature of habit, it seems! Back out the front of the house tonight , same time, same behaviour!

Tonight, I was able to come out of the house and watch her from the front patio so a lot closer than before ( ~ 20 feet away) , previously have photographed her through the kitchen window and she scarped if we went outside or even looked at her from the doorway. Last night she let me watch her from the open doorway. 

She just looked up at me a few times tonight, and then carried on grazing. 

💕 Am a lot in love.

Muntjac doe

Muntjac doe photos, again 😊

She was quite happy for me to open the door and look at her, me less than 30 ft away

She has full udders ( she did a very elegant head scratch with a hind leg, so I could see) , so there is at least one fawn nearby.

So happy! ( even if my veg garden is at risk).

Muntjac doe

Muntjac doe photos, again 😊

She was quite happy for me to open the door and look at her, me less than 30 ft away

She has full udders ( she did a very elegant head scratch with a hind leg, so I could see) , so there is at least one fawn nearby.

So happy! ( even if my veg garden is at risk).

Deer, deer, and Bees.

So the day before yesterday we had a bee swarm decide to make a home in one of our gables, then yesterday we had a muntjac in the garden.

It's all go, here!

Trip out to Malvern

Fabulous display of Bluebells on the Herefordshire side of the Malvern Hills, Jubilee Drive/British Camp

Bluebells in Moors Wood

Bluebells! In Moors Wood

RIP, Bonnie Ann.

Very sad that Bonnie Ann Burnett has died.

She came to the UK for a visit, reached out to online friends for recommendations , advice, suggestions for  meetups.

This landmass touched her heart 

particularly the St David's area of Wales.

She went back to the USA, published a book of her fabulous photographs from her Welsh visit , rejuvenated her career as a noted potter, and then, moved back to her family farm and embarked on a Permaculture journey to bring her land back to life.

While in the UK she visited us for breakfast and lunch on her last day in the UK, She cuddled Algy the Serama Cockerel and he adored her. And she, him. 

We were planning a collaboration where I would visit her in the US of A, and we would host courses on her farm.

Then Covid struck. So we couldn't do what we had planned

In all her posts she explored her ancestral land and saw joy in every moment of her life. 

The last few months have been brutal for her, and her family. Much love to them all

Farewell, friend Bonnie Ann.

Obituary

Found a bat!

Today, we found a bat sleeping in our barn. Was a bit worried bat was still asleep at dusk, but it was quite cold today so maybe too cold for bat to bother waking up?

(Hour later, bat had flown.)