1 Man, 1 Hunter, 1 Nomad.

A Hungry Man Observes No Seasons - Friday 08/04/10

After a period of dark skies, fog, mist and much needed rain, the weather has returned to glorious sunshine and wonderfully warm days.
Spent yesterday and today helping out Jude with the repair of the door to her compost toilet. She and I have bartered and agreed to exchange time and skills in a mutually beneficial arrangement. Alongside many others, one thing I really like about Jude is her books. She has a great collection, nearly everyone of them interests me in some way. Currently the most interesting are The Complete Yurt Handbook by Paul King(would help with repairing the Yurt we've been given) and Make Your Garden Feed You by E.T Brown. They will have to wait however, as my current queue has lengthened with the arrival of Henry David Thoreau's Walden: Or, Life in the Woods.
From the little I have read of Walden, I can already see the author is not only ahead of his time, but also a man who shares my own thoughts and feelings on the subjects of our society, our past, our lives and our problems (which appear to stem from one or a combination of the aforementioned). I can tell that this is going to be a deeply thought provoking book.

I am still waiting to hear back from Kit after sending him and email of our thoughts a week ago. I deduce from this that things are perhaps hotting up his end with his first born due any day now. Without knowing his opinion of our thoughts and situation, I find myself often contemplating the myriad of potential outcomes, I will refrain from assaulting the reader with yet another of my lengthy and inconclusive lists.

Last night upon returning from a walk, Nick asked if I had read the note he'd left for us. Apparently our possible intentions have reached the ears of some of the locals who dropped by to view our static. It may transpire that our hand is forced somewhat if we are offered the £1400 it has cost us.

Above all else, today is the day I finally settled the bill on my new .22 Webley Raider 10 Pre Charged Pneumatic Air Rifle. I expect to receive it by the end of the week. Of course with most of the seasons now closed it should be just in time to be too late. Of course, that depends on how hungry I get...

Under Floor Heating In The Hub

Has a very Mediterranean feel I think.

The Finished Article

The Hub

The purple sprouting broccoli seems to have survived.

A visit to Crymych and for the first time ever, we managed to catch something happening at the market!

M Jones

The Van Arriveth - Monday 04/04/11

I cannot resist being amused by the contrast and transformation highlighted by the scenario I presently find myself.
I am seated at our table with my back to the kitchen. In front of me are books and beyond these sit Frances' friend Mirelle, Frances, and Emma. Apart from Emma, who appears to never cease knitting, we all have our heads buried in literature. The silence is punctuated only by Mirelles sniffing. She has a roll of toilet tissue in front of her, but seems content as she is.
The contrast and transformation of which I refer to can be explained thus;
'Normally when a van arrives near to where you dwell, the sky is blue and the Sun is shining. The vans arrival is hailed by loud unmistakable music. There is a rush, physical and emotional. Once you reach this van you might spend time deliberating your choice as you browse what is on offer, or you may already have a clear idea of what you desire.
Eventually, you return to your dwelling, the van departs, and one is hopefully left feeling very pleased with what has just occurred.
For most, this van is an Ice Cream van. For us, this van is a Library van. Make no mistake, as soon as it departs and I have consumed what it delivered, I too am left eagerly anticipating its return...
This time, rather than just stick to one flavour, I have gone for a few different tastes. 21st-Century Smallholder - Paul Waddington, The Medicine Tree - John Sharkey, Wales of the Unexpected - Richard Holland, and Men and the Fields - Adrian Bell.

Our little book club.

Continued my run of pearls of wisdom before going to sleep last night. My mind wandered between the teachings of Standing Under Freedom and the warnings of Nineteen Eighty-Four. Inevitably the question arose in my mind "What, if anything, can I do?""Is it too late?""What if it is too late?"...
It was then fates wicked sense of humour was revealed to me. The ultimate irony that she does love so dearly...
So what if it is too late.
So what if we end up in an Orwellian society.
We can and most likely will use up all the oil on this planet. It might be the cause or contributing factor in the decline and eventual extinction of the Human species. Then what? And here's the punchline...

We will be turned into oil.

M Jones

A Childless Mothers Day - Sunday 03/04/11

Mothering Sunday. A pleasant observation on Emma's part today, when she noticed that apart from the occasion Frances gave her a posy of flowers and cuttings, our daughter has been absent for near enough the entire day. Happily this is fine when one remembers that normally she spends the majority of her time in our company.
Through idle banter, Emma and I possibly stumbled on a disturbing truth. We are conditioned that we must 'Earn A Living', or is it earning the right to live? No other animal on Earth must do this and up until recently neither did humans.
A musing I had today whilst sawing up firewood went along the lines of this. I was told in school that in the past
"life was hard". Those who have attempted to replicate the lives of those in various periods of history seem to concur. My question is two fold. One, with out us individually trying out the methods of our ancestors, how can we truly understand what life was like? and two, does 'hard' necessarily mean 'less desirable'? Is comfortable and easy the right way for us to be heading? I understand seeking comfort. But the advice "live within your means" has never had more relevance in my opinion. It is advice I intend to follow and would invite others to analyse whether or not they are doing this.
Can you afford your fuel bills? The floor space you pay to heat and live on, the mode of transport you most commonly use, your methods of communication i.e mobile and internet tariffs etc.

When I've finished all this musing I give thanks that I have chosen to create a life where I can afford to spend my time doing so.

M Jones

Fellow Citizens - Saturday 02/04/11

The Day of Fools has passed and my awareness has increased with research. Have been learning about a variety of pieces of legislation and have dug up an exceptionally disturbing yet informative report on citizenship (link). This report, commissioned by Gordon Brown, documents the the transition from British Subject to British Citizen. I wasn't aware you could be a 'British Protected Person'! This status is seemingly a non-citizen who has been granted the protection and some rights afforded to a British Subject/Citizen. The report ominously calls for the revision of the Law of Treason to ensure all citizens know and abide by their responsibilities...

My research has also brought up some accounts of people who successfully retained the right not to register the birth of their child(ren) link. Very interesting indeed. Freedom is rather scary, especially to an institutionalised 'citizen' like me.

M Jones

Oh! Watch out for the 'Citizen Corps'. A Hitler Youth sounding organisation proposed by the report!

The Terrible Two. Fran and Bea

Charlie's build next door

The Lammas owned woodland.

This exquisite resource and setting is so far under used and forgotten by most of the plotholders here.

Enlightenment - Wednesday 30/03/11

I have a knot in my stomach. Most likely down to nervous excitement, fear or the fact I took my eye off the ball and slipped back into smoking. (Albeit, at this moment secretly)
Money worries have driven 60%-80% of this energy, the rest made up of the fear of not knowing yet desperately trying to formulate some sort of plan.
I am unsure if reading Standing Under Freedom by TheAntiTerrorist is clarifying things for me or opening yet more doors and thereby overloading my poor little mind.
That book is incredible but definitely only for a particular sort of reader. I think I'm ready to be enlightened....

The tax on our car runs out soon and the MOT not far behind. The windscreen alone will fail the car on its next MOT. This has forced forward our plans to return home for the babies arrival.
Thankfully this hasn't posed a problem as we've been able to arrange accommodation.

M Jones