From one Berrington Hall to another

Well, not quite! My latest "Adventures in Tigger's parallel universe" have very much begun, with a rather stop-start journey on Friday (useful stops, but it made the day feel like it went on forever) leading to a wonderful couple of days with friends just outside Ludlow. Great company, wonderful food (including an apple, damson and dried fruit puff pastry turnover...and I got one to take away too! Amazing!) and the opportunity to do some Massage in my friend's wonderful "Shed".

On leaving I didn't feel quite ready simply to head off to my first WWOOFing destination of the holiday, and ended up detouring to Berrington Hall II (as it shall always be known in my head), fairly local to my friends and definitely not the Berrington Hall I was at in August (or will be at later this holiday). Absolutely amazing contrast - two very different Berrington Halls, even before you consider their current uses (one's National Trust, the other a community that's been going for almost 40 years). Lots of thoughts at the moment about self sufficiency, what it means and what's possible (I got to pick my first cobnuts yesterday. It was ace!) but generally just overall enjoyment of OutsideNess.

[about 50 hours later] And now I find myself rather amused by the fact I've just used a soap from a tin with a sheep on, in the depths of sheep farming country (the soap and tin I've owned - but only now started using - for well over a decade, if not two). It's the little things that do it for me.

More importantly, however, was the fact that I've just had a wonderful hot shower. Some days I can give or take a shower - but this evening after some unseasonably warm days the cold seemed to descend with the misly misty rain and a warming shower was perfect.

I'm currently in mid-South-Wales (I'm sure there's an official term, but it's the southern bit of Wales, and in the middle - it could also be south Mid-Wales...I'm unsure of the geopolitical boundaries on this one. And now I look at what I've written, I should probably also qualify that it's definitely not New South Wales!) on week one of the aforementioned WWOOFing destinations. A farm that was derelict for 20-30 years, the host I'm staying with has been here for around 25 years and in that time has pretty much started from the ground up (or, in the case of the derelict farmhouse, the oak timber frame that was the only thing still standing).

It's hard to imagine what the site would have been like when they first arrived as they've done a huge amount of work creating planting schemes, vegetable beds, structures and much more besides. There's an old chapel as part of the site and although that has been deconsecrated, the graveyard beside it is still in use (although new additions seem to be few and far between). And, in fact, the chapel was a feature of my work today - given that I spent a few hours this afternoon sitting cross-legged on the slate-flag floor plaiting onions into, well, onion plaits. Not something I've done before but I did find it rather enjoyable - I'm not sure whether I'll get to finish the job (each day's activities are very subject to change so although I have another 3 working days here, I may or may not be back in the chapel) but I certainly made a dint. I also remembered to take some photos but have yet to work out the camera-to-tablet synchronisation, so they may have to wait until my return home!

This host keeps a fair amount of livestock (along with their purely vegetative endeavours) which has provided more food for thought (no pun intended). The other WWWOOFer who's here at the moment is vegetarian, not vegan like me, and she's been enjoying having the opportunity to make butter and cheese, along with milking the cows. The issue of surviving on only what I could produce myself from a plot in the UK is continuing to be an interesting reflection, but being around livestock is highlighting the fact that, for now at least, my desire for a vegan lifestyle is strong and my interest in various vegetable protein sources is continuing to be piqued (see cobnut reference above - huzzah!)

I've also been getting more committed to investigating forest gardening as an approach to food production, over planting annuals, year on year. But more than that, the aspiration for self-sustainability is a fascinating one, given the "creature comforts" and level of diverse interests and possibilities that the developed world current offers. And if truth be told, I'm not sure I'd want to be a full time market gardener, even if it was only to produce my own food. The scale of food production is rather different with this host as they're a larger family unit than solo me (plus they have a LOT of WWOOFers to feed thoughout the year) but even so, planting and tending and harvesting the same veg year on year doesn't appeal. Whereas tending perennials, and bushes and trees really does. All part of the mix!

But for now, I'm tucked up nice and warm in the old granary (which is a twin room for WWOOFers - and given there are only 2 of us on site at the moment, I've got it all to myself) and looking forward to a good night's rest.

More adventures in a parallel universe

When it feels like the world is rushing by in a blur of activity and happenings and Things To Do it's hard to know where to start. And that's exactly how things feel at the moment. Drumming, WWOOFing, cancellations, new plans - it's all there in technicolor but until now it hasn't translated into a blog.

I had every intention of taking a chunk of time on my way home from the WWOOF AGM (about 10 days ago) to collect my thoughts but somehow I wasn't in the right frame of mind. The intensity of happenings at the moment means it's taking that bit longer to mull said goings on...and by the time I've mulled, another bag load of things have happened! The "simplicity" of the drumming at Ingleton Falls at the weekend somehow made scribing about it easier, but the time has come to dig into the memory cells to capture what was another fabulous weekend and adventure - and look forward to the next!

Since my first "proper" WWOOFing experience in August, I feel like my eyes have been opened to a completely different way of approaching "living" (in particular housing arrangements and work) and so for the time being there's a since of living two parallel lives - my existing one, and the times I dip into this parallel universe of living in community, working the land and seeing the world through completely different "lenses". The chance to touch in with the organisation that facilitated this awakening at their AGM seemed like a complete no brainer (especially when it was being held at a fascinating looking community in southern Scotland) and so Adventure-Dumfries was born.

As with all adventures in the Golden Chariot I wanted to make the most of the places I was passing on my way up and back, and on this occasion that involved two National Trust properties and a Massage with a NO HANDer who I hadn't seen for a while but really enjoyed catching up with. The Massage was brilliant but, alas, I was somewhat underwhelmed by the two National Trust properties. I don't want to lay the blame on the less-than-summery-weather as I don't think that was it, and they certainly had merit in themselves. But I've got so used to falling completely in love with the properties I've visited to date that the fact these ones somehow just didn't tug the heart strings in the same way was a little disappointing. That said, I did meet some fabulous little owls in "art in the woods" which was fun.

But the reason for the trip: the AGM. Well, the gathering which had the AGM as part of it :) 

Which.

Was. 

Brilliant.

Hosted at a beautiful old country house which has been functioning as a community for 40 years (the building itself has parts which date back to the 16th century and a more recent "extension" which was built barely 30 or 40 years before the house went from being a residence to being a hospital - one which took consumptives, no less!) we were incredibly well looked after by our hosts. Not only were the beds comfy and the food fantastic (and they did me vegan puddings! Anywhere that does vegan pudding wins prizes as far as I'm concerned), but there were members of the community on "being available to answer questions, queries or offer general assistance" duty right the way through the day and fairly late on into the evening. It all fitted together so beautifully - fabulous.

Having the opportunity to meet and hear from others who'd attended the AGM (members of the board of directors, other WWOOFers like me, hosts, staff) gave me a real sense of the deeper ethos behind WWOOFing. I've known about WWOOFing for years, but when I first got involved at the beginning of the year my main drive was simply to get out and get my hands in the soil. Spending time listening to others' motivations, challenges and desires for WWOOF as an organisation has given me a much greater depth of understanding of this constantly evolving community I'm now a part of. And highlighted the divisions language can create: by specialising our knowledge it's very easy to get channelled down a track which may seem very different from the next person's view of the world, but in fact there are so many overlaps - it's just a case of taking a breath and looking for them.

Alongside the "business" I met a whole host of brilliant people, got to dance with lots of them at one of the best ceilidhs I've been to in ages (my general sense of "This is all BRILLIANT!" may well have contributed to that), took a barefoot walk to the loch and back early one morning (my feet certainly knew about it by the time I was home - a lot of the return journey was on a forestry-type track which was rather lacking in soft patches of grass for me to stepping-stone along), spent wonderful hours by the bonfire listening, chatting, gazing at the stars and even went on a late night adventure to find the sauna (which, sadly, wasn't in operation at the time but when I found it again in the daylight was an even more brilliant set up than I'd realised in the gloaming of the nighttime). AND I got expert advice on pulling up brambles! (It's all about loosening the roots then grabbing the plant by the chunk of roots under the surface, rather than just tugging the "above ground" bits. Who knew?!)

I've a sense of all these memories from the weekend still settling in and embedding themselves into different bits of my brain - but I'm definitely sold on WWOOF AGMs!

Can drumming get better than this?

It's been a full on few weeks in Tigland and so this weekend's drumming extravaganza crept up on me somewhat - but it's impact certainly won't be fading away like a wall flower any time soon! But because pictures (and video) say it so much better than words, to give you a flavour...




This weekend, thanks to some outstanding organisation on the part of our gigs team and one band member in particular, Batala Lancaster took to the hills and played a gig at Ingleton Falls in North Yorkshire.  For starters I hadn't clocked Ingleton was in North Yorkshire so passing the sign welcoming me to the county of my birth was pretty fun but nothing beat the gig itself.

We played an initial set at the car park (and the sun shone! ALL DAY! It was absolutely stunning) then loaded up our backpacks with our drums (cable ties and a bit of genius) to walk up to the target falls for our gig - Thornton Force. I'd never been to Ingleton before and the walk up there (about 1.5 miles) was absolutely beautiful - walking through sun dappled trees in gorgeous sunshine, with a babbling river alongside to keep us company. There are a number of different falls on the trail but having seen the location of sthe others, Thornton Force was definitely the best (and possibly the only!) choice for getting our feet wet.

Wandering up with fellow band members, chatting about this, that and the other and generally being stunned by the beauty of the surrounds and the amazing fortuity of the weather was a delight. And although a little awkward at times, having a drum on my back was pretty fun too.

But the gig itself...wow! Being a waterfall pool there were rocks and pebbles to navigate, and as you'll see from the video some band members snagged themselves a dry spot - but I have to say, being in the water suited me just fine. Even on the occasions I almost lost my balance (and the one occasion that I actually did and fell back into the water!) Although at the beginning of the gig I wasn't sure how our usual movements would work (stepping side to side, sometimes turning around, jumps and the like) once we'd settled in the movements just fitted in - although it was more swaying than stepping. The mis-balancing incidents were also somewhat courtesy of rather energetic dancing on my part - and the over balancing was watching a fellow band member chase after her beater and end up submerging herself (in the 4 inches of water...). It did, however, prove our organiser's statement at practice the previous week: "Don't worry if you fall in - your drum floats so just grab on to that!"

With the gig itself done a bunch of us ended up getting properly wet and swimming in the deeper part of the pool - VERY cold but totally worth it! Given how warm I'd got on the walk up I had every intention of cooling off properly before embarking on the descent - and splashing around in water is always good fun. As some people started to head back to the car park the excitement took a different turn as a young boy who'd been playing in the water had slipped and cracked his head on a rock. A combination of Team Batala (one of whom's a nurse, another had a good strong voice to cut through the hubbub asking if anyone had phone signal to call an ambulance, general concern and a certain Tigger-shaped entity who was one of two people who dashed up the side of the valley to get phone signal and call through to the emergency services) helped get him the attention he needed although it certainly changed the feel of the afternoon somewhat. With an ambulance called and first aid applied, I was then "casually invited" to go and put my trousers back on - when the call went out in need of signal to phone for an ambulance I'd just got out of the water so had gone up the hillside barefoot and sans trousers. All part of the nature of the beast, eh?

With the young lad being escorted to the ambulance (by this point he was walking along holding hands with his best friend so although scary at the time, as far as I know he's all set for a full recovery - and a very exciting story to tell his friends) I packed up my drum and ended up completing the trails (around 4 miles in total) with another band member and some others who'd come to enjoy the day. I must confess that by the time we got back to the car park I was looking forward to letting the car take the weight of my drum but having a chance to amble back through yet more beautiful countryside was fabulous.

The trails also had a number of "money trees" along the route, old trunks that people had pushed / hammered coins into which, at a distance, looked no different from any other log but up close were an amazing impromptu social art. There were even some little toadstool ones!

All in all it was a stunning day - I still haven't managed to find the words to capture just how awesome it was, but they'll come in time. Certainly a once-in-a-lifetime experience (I may play in a waterfall again - who knows! - but with such stunning weather?! The chances aren't that high!) and one that I'll remember for ever. Brilliant.

Oh, and this all came a day after we (Batala) played at the opening to the rugby league semi-final in Wigan! Batala - Hey!

Building a home (literally)

This has been a glorious weekend which involved a chunk of time doing just what I fancied. Now, there's still a long list of things "to do" which didn't all get blasted through, but I did do something I hadn't been expecting - which was veritably to devour Alternative Housebuilding by Mike McClintock. A book with a story, if ever there was one...

A dear old friend (who's also a very talented artist) is the reason I have my paws on this book. He'd been doing a lot of research and reading into alternative building techniques but having done so was clearing out before a move to a new abode - and had a STACK of books about self building and sustainable building alternatives which were looking for a new home. I pretty much cleared him out of said books (it being an area of interest to me as well) on the understanding that after I'd read and digested, I'd find a suitable new home for them where lots of people could benefit from them. I had an idea of where they may next end up, but after my August WWOOFing and a conversation with the community I was staying in, that seemed like the best place for them. And, given I'm hopefully due to be dropping in on that particular community again in October, I thought I'd best get cracking on reading these books before they move into their new new home! This particular book had started (or at least, spent part of it's life) in Phoenix Public Library - which is also a rather endearing synergy with other parts of my life at the moment.

The first book I'd taken a look at was more of a "when thinking about building your own home, these are all the things you should think about" book but Mr McClintock's was exactly what this weekend needed - great photos of different types of houses, a descriptive intro on each style of building, a discussion of some of the key considerations and then some really quite detailed "and then, to get things underway..." sections (which I skimmed at best). Sustainable / alternative building techniques is something which I've been dancing around for some time - it's one of those topics which I'm interested in, but seemingly not enough to do much about. So the fortuitous engagement with these books has been rather marvellous.

The biggest thing I've learnt from the book is that, actually, the idea of designing and building my own home isn't something which is top of my priority list. Don't get me wrong, the houses which were featured looked wonderful, and the idea of a house much "closer to nature" (built of wood, or even earth walls) sounds brilliant - as long as it's someone else's plan. I'd be more than happy to get stuck in with someone else's project, but starting off on my own with one doesn't really appeal. Which was a rather surprising - but very useful! - discovery to make.

It also got me thinking about cabling and piping and all the bits of the houses I've inhabited to date which I take for granted. Which I get experts in to deal with. And which are so "normal" they're often not even really seen for the brilliant inventions that they are. Reinforcing again - I appreciate these things, but have no particular desire to become the expert myself (I've toyed with the idea of doing an electrics or plumbing course - but have always ended up discovering I'd much rather be committing my time to something else).

And of course, I also got a very informative introduction to several Alternative housebuilding approaches:

Log Houses: think log cabin. Think house made of wood. Endearing to me, but somehow didn't really hook me.

Timber-frame houses: build a frame, fill in the gaps - this one I really didn't have a lot of interest in somehow

Pole Houses: stick some poles in the ground - build your house on them. Loved this one - something about not needing to chuck down a bunch of concrete foundations for the whole footprint of the house. And that when the house was no longer being a house the footprint left on the land was so much reduced.

Cordwood masonry: why use brings when you can use logs? This one, again, sounded like a goer for me - with lots of scope for creativity with the size, shape and dimensions of the logs used. I must confess that by this point my attention span was waning, but the idea definitely sank in.

Stone masonry: too much rock. Too much heavy rock. Not inspired. At least not for me personally.

Earth masonry: ooh, now we might be talking. Although the "moulds" to make the earth masonry in looked pretty serious!

Earth-sheltered houses: possibly very cool. Possibly not. I think I'd miss the light of being above ground. But who knows.

One of the really interesting aspects of the book was that in the descriptive sections of each the author really emphasised the importance of feeling excited by the technique settled upon (either for self build or if engaging contractors to do the actual building). I think the book has furnished me with a greater awareness of construction options and will open my eyes as I see different buildings. Definitely worth a read if you're thinking of self-build at all.

"Holiday" doesn't even come close

Last week I took a week off. From work. From my day to day. From my usual "normality". And it was utterly marvellous. What's been most fascinating about it has been quite how much has emerged from what was "just" 10 days away.

The main focus of the holiday was to go "WWOOFing" at a community in Shropshire. As chance would have it they were having their annual mini-festival the weekend I was due to be arriving so I ended up partaking in that. In many ways it was pretty tough turning up not knowing anyone, while also knowing in amongst the people in the field were folk who actually lived there full time. However, in a rather "worlds colliding" way I'd contacted a local couchsurfer when I was looking at different options for accommodation on Saturday night  - and she had already been invited to the party, so she and her boyfriend were kind enough to meet me on arrival and introduce me to a bunch of people. Not only that, turns out she'd just processed my booking for a permaculture course in October. Genius.

But the party  / festival was very much an aside. The real gold was in the gardening I got to do. Monday to Friday I spent most of the days out in the gardens, weeding, picking soft fruits (I barely even made a dent - there was SO MUCH!), doing oddments of pruning to clear pathways that had become very overgrown by abundant vegetative growth and a little bit of clearing and shifting of stuff. I got stung by nettles, scratched by brambles, thistled by thistles and bitten by beasties (including a particularly avid bitey ant) and it was utterly wonderful. I even got my first blood blister while being overly zealous with a chunk of wood I was splitting with the magical log splitter (which attaches to a tractor for power) - which is providing to be a rather entertaining addition to my hands, mainly because I keep thinking I've got one nail with nail varnish on. 

And did I mention a lot of this I got to do in a genuine walled garden? I was (and still am) so in love with that particular part of the grounds, more than anywhere else. There's something magical about walled gardens.

In and of itself the gardening was brilliant, but there being a community of 12 adults + 6 children (plus visitors minus members who were away) around and about both in the gardens and in the house, as well as to share dinner with (which was always brilliant and sharing a meal with up to 20 others is ace) and often other meals just added so much. It's all well and good doing stuff, but it's the people who really make it or break it.

Until now I'd been very hesitant of community living and yet I was suitably impressed - and enamoured - of how functional this particular community was. Of course, it any group there will be highs and lows but my nightmare scenario of it all being lows just didn't appear. So that was quite an eye opener too.

Overall, the whole week felt like I'd dropped into a parallel universe. And a universe I REALLY enjoyed being in. I completely lost myself in the gardening, slowing down, calming my mind (without trying to, just as a product of being focused on something so, literally, earthy) and just enjoying it. But the most fascinating thing about this parallel universe is that, quite simply, it exists. Speaking to people while I was there (visitors and members) reminded me of all the different ways of living there are. Reminding me that although I live in a certain way, it certainly isn't the only way for humanity, and it's also now the only way for me.

Needless to say there's plenty of food for thought in that thar sentence alone.

There's also a sense of "Oh, and another thing..." about this mere 10 days I spent away from "normal life". And yet those "other things" feel like they're waiting for another blog post at another time. So wait they shall - as I wander home across the sands of the wonderous, fabulous Morecambe bay.*

*In case anyone's jumped to the wrong conclusion, I'm talking about the bit of "enclosed" sand which is exposed between the Stone Jetty and the Battery. I haven't taken to cross-bay walks on my own, or, indeed, in company!

Revisiting an old haunt - Burton Manor

Driving back after being part of a Massage stand at a village show in North Wales yesterday, I unexpectedly found myself on a rather familiar stretch of motorway. Although normally I was coming from the other direction and on every previous occasion had been driven (rather than driving myself), the signs towards Hoylake were unmissable. In a matter of seconds my intention to visit Dunham Massey (which had been a rather non-committal intention) was ditched in favour of returning to an old haunt - Burton Manor. I hadn't been since December 2010 but had been thinking of it recently and after a non-starter trip in May, today, unexpectedly, was the day for my return.

I was introduced to Burton Manor by the NO HANDS Mastery Programme in 2007. For 4 years I came here four, sometimes five, times a year, seeing the seasons and gardens change - and seeing the grounds at what felt like every time of the day and night! The days were long (I remember one morning getting up at 6am to walk the length of one of the lawns incredibly slowly, before our 7am Massage; and the late nights were innumerable!) and filled with learning on every level. But the privilege of coming to such a beautiful place and having the gardens to walk in was amazing.

In April 2011 the Manor closed (it had been an adult education residential centre since 1948) and since then the buildings have remained closed while negotiations to sell it (it's currently owned by Liverpool City Council but there have been ongoing negotiations with the University of Chester over the purchase). In the mean time, having secured significant funding and with a team of dedicated volunteers  the gardens have been cared for with several features (notably the walled garden and glass house, and the restored ice house) now open to the public which, when I was last here, were in a very poor state of repair and inaccessible to visitors like me.

The telltale sign that the building is out of action comes in the form of the ivy over the grand face that overlooks the formal gardens. Previously a feature, it's now encroaching on the windows and doorways, in some cases obscuring the glass altogether. There's a sense of the ivy beginning to encase the building and although not overgrown in the way derelict buildings are (and with the juxtaposition of the cared for gardens) the building does feel "quiet". Interestingly, I could quite imagine a group coming out of a door, or sitting down to a meal in the dining room. All the furniture seems still to be in place, laid out almost as if a course is in progress. And yet - no course. No meals. No activity in the house.

Knowing the building has been closed for these past few years makes the change in the gardens (which are generally in a better condition now than they were when I was here before - the main exception being the central borders in the boxes of hedges to either side of the pond which have gone to seed) particularly poignant.

Burton Manor will always hold a special place in my heart and is filled with memories of people, laughter and tears, revelations and achievements. Coming at the end of such an amazing week away somehow feels like exactly the right time for this visit - when or whether I'll be back again remains to be seen but the ghosts it holds for me are certainly happy ones which I'd be happy to revisit again should the opportunity arise.

Hooking into Resources

The big theme at the moment is the power of the mind. Of being in charge from within - rather than looking for change from without. Deciding how I want to respond and being OK with that. There seem to be so many opportunities just opening up with such ease at the moment when they've previously seemed impossible or incredibly hard work. It really does seem to be all downing to timing - and that's timing on my own internal clock, rather than anyone elses.

Another theme is gratitude for the brilliance that I'm party to so much of the time. This week I went to my first belly dancing class in YEARS (I've only ever been to one before and that was about 10 years ago - but I enjoyed it then and have been looking for the chance to hook into a regular class since then) and loved it - plus had a great chat to the teacher. This dance studio is barely 60 seconds walk from where I get to work these days. Ace. I went along to drumming practice on Monday and got to play brilliant rhythms with brilliant people. Indulged in some cinema one evening and got lost in a huge pile of cheesey Americanisms - escapism all the way. And all following having hosted my parents for a couple of days giving them a bit of a mini-break and me the chance to catch up with them without having to spend hours travelling to visit them!

On the gratitude theme, it's difficult, if not impossible, to describe exactly how much I love my water butt right now. It's BRILLIANT. I've lived (some of the time at least) in this house for almost 5 years (wow!) and now, courtesy of my water butt, I'm harvesting rain water which I'm using to water my plants - and even flush my toilet with. My plants are enjoying it as the water isn't treated, and to me it makes them even more "low impact". Yes, I'm having to carry said toilet flushing water up 3 flights of stairs, but still - every "flush" which is courtesy of the water butt (there's something rather poetic about toilets and water butts) saves 10 - 15 L of water needing to be cleaned and piped to my house, just to be flushed away again. Plus it's making my house into even more of a living gym...

Admittedly, finally getting the drain pipe diverter installed has been the cherry on the cake with said water butt - knowing that it'll fill right up without me having to go down and play "empty to the bucket into the water butt because you haven't sorted the diverter yet" every time it's rained is awesome. In fact, it's almost magic. And has cemented in me the idea that cunning engineering of readily available resources is totally where it's at.

I've also been enjoying the fruits of (other people's) allotments this week - primarily potatoes and courgettes from two different friends. (And my own courgette plants seem, finally, to be bringing forth their own courgettes! Whoop!) Cooking meals with such soil-to-plate food is so inspiring - I'm still working on maximising yields from my internal space (there are some really interesting vertical growing systems I've seen but the engineering of those is somewhat beyond my current engineering desires! For now, at least) but even then I've got herbs growing, plenty of spinach, some tomato plants which are going bananas (although may not yield fruit as I'm not sure anything will have pollinated them) and some asparagus plants merrily growing from seed in preparation for about 4 years time for harvesting. Long termism, see?

And as I prepare for a week away, I'm trialling using the hoards of cardboard I have in my basement as a moisture retainer for my indoor plants - using it to protect the soil from direct sunlight (and hopefully reducing evaporation direct from the soil) and also to hold water which can keep the plants going rather than over-doing it on the watering.

So often it's a case simply of recognising the resources to realise they really are all around. And I'm currently loving going through the "recognition" phase :)