Blog Action Day 09 - Climate Change

I'm feeling really quite pessimistic tonight. It has been so hard even getting any time to think abut what to write, never mind find a moment to sit down and actually do it. James has been up since 6.30 am, having been awake several times during the night - he is still up and full of beans after a pretty full day. I wonder if it is global warming that is causing it?
It has actually been an unseasonably warm day. We were at a local outdoor shopping village today and I was struck by the amount of bare arms on show. Children and babies in tee shirts, people sitting in the outside the cafes and on the benches enjoying the weather- it was more like August than the middle of October. Very pleasant, actually, and it is hard not to disagree with those who say we could do with a bit of climate change in Scotland. Apparently Nick Nairn, Scottish celebrity chef is looking forward to growing olives and lemons at his Trossachs cookery school, and and eminent retired professor of geology is excited by his prediction that the shores of Loch Ness will be the epicentre of the world's wine industry in around 80 years time (McIntosh 2008)
But that is really the problem. Here in the Occidental part of the Northern hemisphere,we think that the consequences of climate change will not be quite as devastating as they will in the developing world and some southern parts. We do not want to give up our current profligate lifestyle - multiple cars, appliances, package holidays - and now there is a chance that there might be some decent weather too - life is good! Yes, a few more gales and a bit of flooding here and there, but - hey - we are insured! Therefore no politician has ever advocated adopting the radical measures that will really, seriously, address the problem. There are no votes in austerity.
We need them to, though. My blog description says I am trying to live a simple life. For me that means being frugal - not wasting food, buying locally, not using air transport, using long life light bulbs, eating less meat, growing our own food as much as we can. A make do and mend attitude really. Having been born just over 15 years after the end of WWII, I was brought up with that kind of ethic. Many people do this much better than me and others yet aspire to it. What we need is help from our governments. We need our leaders to stand up and say -
"Enough of this reckless crazy consumerism! We will make it easier for you to do without cars - encourage the high streets to reopen and people to grow their own food. We will no longer allow supermarket companies to monopolise the food retail industry. We will stop being in the pay of companies with huge marketing departments that con you into thinking you can't live without their products. We will seriously help develop sustainable, workable energy systems that do not destroy our most precious land. We will...."
Well, I could go on and on with that list, but in essence, we need strong and radical leadership to help us do the work that needs to be done.
In 2050, my son James, and my grandson Finlay will be grown men in their 40s - more than likely with children of their own. Gordon Brown's boys will be the same age, as will Barack Obama's children. The charity Christian Aid has predicted that by that year, there will be at least 1 billion refugees as water shortages and crop failures force people to leave their homes. In addition there will be many more local conflicts and wars caused by access to resources. The scenario is frightening. what kind of world are we building for our children? A world full of fear - criminal gangs, looting and murdering over property or rights to water and food. What kind of water and food anyway? Catastrophic weather events will cause crop failures and interfere with the water supplies as it did in the floods of 2007 in England. For me it makes Bush and Blair's manufactured War on Terror pale into insignificance. Well - a bit of an exaggeration here - and especially for the young people being killed and injured in the current conflicts, but I just have this feeling that - terror - we ain't seen nothing yet!
I guess what I really want to hear from our World Leaders is " We will never stop working to make the world a safe and secure place for our children", and to actually start to make it happen. I will gladly follow them. Maybe I'll feel more optimistic if I get a better nights sleep.


Reference
McIntosh Alastair (2008) Hell and High Water: Climate change and the Human Condition Birlinn Edinburgh

Blog Action Day

October walk in the woods

We had a wonderful walk through a local country park today. A perfect Autumn afternoon, just made for meandering about the woods. Still plenty of green leafy canopy above, but a few weeks will see a change to warmer hues.

James stops to play among the trees

Interesting bark.

I loved this abundantly berried bush, although I'm not sure what it is - I will look it up tomorrow.

River Almond - upstream

Downstream - on it's way to join the River Forth at Cramond.

Some Autumn colour creeping in.

Last boys in the wood?

James making a haystack with recently mown grass.

It's always a good idea to bring your diggers and dumpers along on a walk - you just never know when you might need them.

Excuse me Dad, but there is a bee sitting beside you!

A tired boy needs a carry home from his Dad.

Blog Action Day

Thanks to MrsL at Unbought Delicacies for bringing this to our attention. I've signed up! Click the link on the sidebar for more details.

Harvest Feast

On Saturday we went to a Harvest Feast organised by Linlithgrow - a local climate challenge project which aims to get people buying and eating local food as well as encouraging growing your own. It was a very well attended event and the food was delicious. The event was held at Bonnytoun Farm, a fantastic estalishment producing local organic and free range meat, fruit vegetables and flowers. Here are some shots from the day.

Preparations for the feast.

James and John having a go in the Welly Throwing competition!

The band played all afternoon. Great stuff!

And the food? Well 3 clean plates and bowls says it all really. John is holding tightly to that glass of farm brewed beer :)

Lots of local apples - James said this was his favourite - he even ate the core!

Time to go home.

The Mother of all Camps

Last week we went to The Mother Magazine family camp, held on a beautiful piece of land in North Yorkshire. OK - the weather was rainy and windy, but it was the start of Autumn and the sun did come out in between. We had a fantastic time. I met so many great people, some I knew either personally or as online friends, but many new friends too. It was so good to be with people on the same plane and just to relax. Lots of cooking and community stuff to be done though - so any relaxation was not your sit back on a sun lounger with a best-seller and a Malibu type of thing - it was all go. What I mean, I suppose is just looking around and seeing - a group of boys running around the field with sticks - off on some daylong adventure, mothers breastfeeding their babes wherever they happened to be, barefoot toddlers running up to their Mums for a quick nurse then running off again, people actually being nice to children, eating together and just chatting. Here are a few snaps from the holiday. I didn't take many though - too busy doing things or connecting with wonderful people.

Dawn light.

The hub of the camp - Organisers' yurt - Kitchen yurt and Recreation yurt. The small shelter in the foreground was to protect our musicians from the fairly persistent rain on the previous night.




The fabulous roundhouse - scene of the magical ceremonies that we were privileged to attend. Little Rhiannon's naming ceremony - a very joyous occasion, and a Blessingway for Amelia and Vedina - a truly moving experience. Both these were led beautifully by Veronika - editor and publisher of The Mother. Gorgeous Samantha - mother and doula, led a birth stories session in this space, and the Men's Circle was held here (very mysterious and secret, but I will find out!)


Very authentic looking sculpture outside the roundhouse.



The view from out tent. Our neighbours were Anna, Joss and baby Leon. A really lovely family -it was a true pleasure to meet them.


Sitting in the sun was possible, while some of the older children helped to build the campfire ready for the evening.


Food was very important. With 150 people to feed for 4 days it was always going to be a priority. All organic, wholefood, vegan dishes. I have never had such delicious meals. I .miss them


My husband on kitchen duty - actually he only ran over to stir he pot when I came to take the photograph. He was on the salads that day - he did learn to make a pretty yummy vinaigrette though :)



Alex and Siobhan came over from Ireland and enriched the camp with their presence. Alex is a powerhouse of activity and ideas. He led sessions on baking sourdough bread in the clay oven, and built a hot tub with the help of some of the men and boys. You can read more on their lovely blog here

Siobhan was the kind of person who just seemed to make the place brighter by just being there. We were really glad to have met them and their gorgeous children. John learned a lot from Alex about sustainability, and just talking to him helped us to later clarify some of our ideas for the imminent 'retirement'.


I just loved the compost toilets. They were magnificent edifices and there is something so right about not using gallons of water to flush.


The washing up area - always hung with brightly coloured, flapping tea towels, like Buddhist prayer flags!



And John, taking a short break in the sun. I am so glad we went to this camp - it was definitely and enriching experience for us both.

Edit - Now the magazine is in danger of closing, due to falling subscriptions. Please click here to find out more about this precious resource.

Book Sharing Monday (xvi)

This week's book choice is a Charlie and Lola story - Look after your Planet, by Lauren Child. After a sneaky look into friend Marv and Morten's big brother's bedroom (which looks like every big brother's bedroom) Lola decides to declutter her room.

Charlie suggests that she recycle some of her things, instead of throwing them away, and explains how recycling works. (He is such a great big brother - I wish he was mine). This starts Lola off on a quest and soon she has her whole school involved in a recycling competition to win a tree.

On the last day, it looks as if they have not filled up their tree counter:

When everything is recycled
Lola says,
"Oh no. We have NOT
filled up the
whole tree...
so we will not be
getting our
own real tree"

But then Morten
comes along.

Lotta says,
Look at
what he's
GOT!"

And so they get their tree. And Morten has to hide from his big brother for a while, after "decluttering" his room!

We love Charlie and Lola. We love Book Sharing Mondays too - visit CanadianHome Learning to share more.

Book sharing Monday (xiv)

This week we are reading Dinosaurs and all that rubbish by Michael Foreman, which we bought in a very cosy 2nd hand bookshop opposite The Meadows in Edinburgh.



In this fable, Man has stopped at nothing in his bid to reach the stars. He cuts down all the trees, burns whatever he can in his attempt to build a rocket. Smoke and fumes poured out and the Earth was soon covered in waste and rubbish. When all the damage was done, Man finally set off in his rocket to the stars.

The heat of all that rubbish woke the dinosaurs who had lain asleep underground for thousands of years. This is James's favourite page.

A dinosaur held his nose
as he looked around.
"POOH!" he said.
There is nothing on this planet but mess.
If we are going to live here
we'll have to get busy"

So they clean up the Earth, and forests and flowers grow again - the world becomes a beautiful paradise once again. Meanwhile, Man has reached his star and found that there was nothing to see. He sees a beautiful blue star in the sky and sets off for it. Once he arrives he doesn't recognise the planet that he had trashed before, and thinks he can take over. The dinosaurs have other ideas, and soon put him right, reminding him that the Earth belongs to everyone and they must all play their part in enjoying and caring for it.

A very relevant read in the current environment. Interesting that it was first published in 1972! I wonder if the planet would be in better shape if the dinosaurs had woken up then.
Share lots more books at Canadian Home Learning.

Undeniably delicious, but...

The month of June is full of various local festivals - every Saturday, one or two Sundays and other odd days through the week, depending on the particular village or town. Today was our village procession and fete - a small affair compared to the one pictured on a previous post. Nevertheless, we do like to support local community events, so off we went - despite the drizzling rain. No photos of the parade as it was so wet and cold, but later we all repaired back to our house for a buffet lunch. I made this fabulous orange and raspberry cheesecake for desert - definitely worth a photo, even if I almost forgot and had to rescue this slice before it met it's fate.


Less tasty, however, is the amount of plastic packaging I used in the making of this culinary masterpiece. None of this is recyclable in our area. I am quite ashamed of this, and so I should be. I am going to try harder to source non plastic, and it can be done, with a bit more effort. It did make me think about the tons and tons of plastic waste going to landfill. What's the use of buying organic raspberries, strawberries and cream if they are wrapped up in non reusable plastic cartons? How many households in West Lothian are piling up plastic waste in their dustbins for their Galaday lunches and barbecues during the month of June? How many articulated lorries are spewing out exhaust fumes carrying their cargoes of plastic food storage boxes up and down Britain's motorways? My head is about to explode just thinking about the ramifications of my cheesecake. I think I'd better go and lick the plate.

Coincidence

After my wandering post yesterday, my Dad told me about this today. Needless to say I am most unhappy.