been reading...

[LadyA]

I've always had an interest (of necessity! :roll: :mrgreen: ) in living simple living, and trying always to live well with less. Actually, I've come to think that the less you can live with, the better you can live, if you follow. My late husband, in his head, felt the same, but definitely loved accumulating things, and good food, and collecting souvenirs and books (I love books, don't get me wrong. But we're talking in or around 10,000 here at one point. He donated the lot to a library which was just setting up, and filled their shelves and storage rooms!). We used to dream of being more self sufficient, but we hadn't a skill between us! The sound of a hammer tapping somewhere in the house sent me in a panic to see what he was doing! :mrgreen:

Anyway, I've been reading Mark Boyle's books, just finished The Moneyless Man. It's a really good read. And while I don't think it's entirely practical for all of us these days, certainly, I think I could do a lot better as regards living with less. Certainly, (hopefully) I will be able to do more in the line of getting the veg garden running properly again. Supermarkets here keep their skips locked in, so his way of raiding skips for food being thrown out can't be done here, although the charity Food Cloud is great. Where supermarkets partner with Food Cloud to donate food that they have to take off the shelves because it's on it's "best before" date, and it's then distributed through Food Cloud's partner charities to people who need it. There's literally thousands of kg of food each week saved from landfill in our city alone, through this scheme.

I would love to move off grid, but have no understanding of how things work. So, I can resolve to be more economical with my energy usage. I already eat quite frugally, and most of my clothes are second hand/or years old. I won't be buying more until these wear out! But I do knit myself jumpers. However, from now on, I'm going to operate the same principle with clothes as with my books. "One in/one out"! So, when I finish a jumper, an old one goes to a charity shop.

I'm just rambling now, because I'm rushing out the door to work! Laters!

 

[Hen-Gen]

Totally see your point of view, LadyA. The older we get the more we come to realise that not only are we over burdened with things but also outdated relationships and mind numbing ideas. I certainly see your aspiration towards a simpler life.
Another dimension to this is the need we have to live greener lives. As the mantra says, re-use, repair, recycle. I’m also trying by not owning a car and not flying anywhere. People used to aspire to achieving greatness in their lives. I prefer that famous epitaph of “he did very little harm”.
Rambling LadyA. The world would be a better place if there was more thinking, musing and rambling. Or time to “stand and stare”.

 

[bigyetiman]

Absolutely agree with those points, especially the words re-use and repair. OH is a terror at not hoarding anything so I have to watch she doesn't throw anything vital out. She loves browsing second hand shops for clothes and anything else
I am just guilty of hoarding books, OH has a fair collection to, covering topics from birds-ballet -WW11 bombers !
My current reading is Julian Glover's Man of Iron all about Thomas Telford

 

[LadyA]

I would love to have more skills. I want to build some (ok, quite a few!) raised beds. I can buy raised beds which just need to be assembled, which is within my abilities. Or, I can buy timber and have a go at making them. If/when I get time! My veg garden is a nightmare after several years of neglect when I couldn't do anything outside. Basically, the lawn encroached on it, although the veg garden is raised the level of a concrete block. As it is, it's such a large area for me to dig, it's just off putting. So, I'm thinking of doing raised beds on there, with paths between, and more raised beds to expand things. Lord knows, I've got the space! :roll: I do want to grow more food. We tore out all the raspberries some years ago, because my husband had crammed them with about 8 inches between the canes he was planting, and never pruned them! So, after a couple of years, you couldn't get hear the berries to pick them! I also want to put in more logan and tayberries, and more thornless blackberries. When I get the tunnel cleared (it's a tropical jungle at the moment!), the plan (maybe I should say aspiration?!) is to cover the ground with weed matting and do raised beds in there too, with strawberries and some tomatoes and room for early and late crops of other things.
I have a bike, a good bike. I got it for going to the shops several years ago. I discovered that I'm absolutely petrified on the roads!! However, I'm thinking that it's a matter of practise. I haven't been on the bike all Winter, because of gale force winds around here! Unfortunately, right now, I'm in the car every day, between helping dau (expecting 2nd baby, has a 2 year old, just moved house, husband works long hours), she's not doing very well and is supposed to get rest and stay off her feet. Well, stay off her hips really, as it's her hips she has the issues with. So, I'm there a lot, or taking grandson over here. And I'm helping mum a lot. She's 82, partly disabled and has an increasing number of clinic appointments to be taken to. Today, I took her shopping to Lidl, which was a novelty for her. She was thrilled to get so much stuff for so little! She buys so much food every week! And then I clear out her fridge of what's gone off! :roll: :roll:

Anyway, here's to more frugality, and trying to use less resources!!

 

[Tweetypie]

Talking of raised beds, the lovely government has allowed hundreds of thousands of trees to be felled from our beloved Sherwood Pines forest. Now I might get into trouble here, but there are loads of log stacks they havnt collected yet, so OH and me decided to sneak through the farmers field, into the forest and take some. LadyA you would be proud of the raised bed (and dustbath) the OH has made.
Another thing, along with the vandalism to other trees, the ramblers walks etc, left by the heavy trucks, they also left two massive lorry tyres behind!! How nice is that? Anyway OH and me rolled one each through the forest and bridleway, about a mile in all, then loaded them onto the pickup. I felt like a hillbilly. ? One is now another lovely dustbath forthe girls and the other is planted out with flowers, covering a manhole.

 

[Marigold]

Brilliant, well done! - but i hope you don't have to get to the manhole any time soon.

 

[bigyetiman]

Excellent Tweetypie.
We made some lovely raised beds with some scaffold boards that got left behind when a business unit closed next to our bus yard. OH brought home lots of lovely planters that got washed up on the foreshore at Rainham Marsh.
Made some lovely laying boxes from a load of timber that had been dumped by the side of the road

 

[Tweetypie]

Marigold, i can manually move the tyre, with help from OH. Its a 4 foot deep inspection manhole in the front garden. I clipped it last year whilst mowing the lawn and fell into to it. The manholw cover fell on my leg. The bruise and lumps under my skin, assuming dried blood, is still there 13 months on. Still get stabbing pains now and again. No chance of me dropping in it again ?

 

[Hen-Gen]

People seem to have such dramatic injuries. Clearly I need to get out more. I do remember about 6 months ago getting a slight graze on one of my knuckles as a result of replacing a fallen coping stone on a drystone wall.
Oh and about six months ago accidentally sticking myself with a hyperdermic whilst vaccinating a lamb. That did actually sting a bit but I took comfort in the fact that I’m now protected from lamb dysentery, pulpy kidney and braxy. In fact last winter was a very accident prone period in my life.

 

[Margaid]

Lamb dysentery and pulpy kidney I can work out, but what's Braxy?

 

[LadyA]

My worst injuries in recent years were torn rotator cuff injuries leading to frozen shoulders - thankfully not both shoulders at the same time! The first one I injured while engaged in the dangerous pursuit of putting a jacket on, and the second one I did while involved in the extreme sport called "switching on a lamp"!!
As silly as the injuries sound (and believe me, I did feel pretty silly explaining to doctors and physiotherapists how I'd received the injuries!), I've never had anything so painful and disabling. I couldn't move the affected arm more than about an inch in any direction - try washing your hair with one hand! When it was my left arm affected, for changing gear in the car, I used to balance the steering wheel with my knee and reach across with my right hand to quickly change gear before grabbing the wheel again!! Thankfully, both shoulders are now pain free, and I got back about 97% movement in the right one and about 90-92% in the left. Wouldn't wish it on my very worst enemy!!

Sent from my Moto G Play using Tapatalk

 

[Hen-Gen]

Been there LadyA. I’ve had my share in a lifetime but by far the most painful was shingles. People think it’s just a bit of a rash. Yeah right!

 

[Hen-Gen]

Lamb dysentery and pulpy kidney I can work out, but what's Braxy?

Braxy is a kind of fatal septicaemia brought on by eating frozen grass.

 

[Margaid]

Lamb dysentery and pulpy kidney I can work out, but what's Braxy?

Braxy is a kind of fatal septicaemia brought on by eating frozen grass.

Well that's OK then. Good to know your'e protected if you fancy a quick nibble!

Agree about shingles - I had half a dozen blisters/spots on my ribs and it felt like I'd been stabbed right the way through my body. The painkillers prescribed completely knocked me out but at least I couldn't feel the pain!

 

[bigyetiman]

It's a clostridial septicum disease causing sudden death, usually from eating frost bitten crops, which causes frost damage to the fourth stomach allowing the bacteria to proliferate. It is found in the soil and gut of animals