The Lamentations Of A Corn Child - Friday 02/09/11

The Lamentations Of A Corn Child

There's a Monster in my valley,

There's much snarling and gnashing of teeth,

This Monster does not sleep.

It's eyes are brighter than fire,

Piercing clouds as they tear the night,

and shred the sky.

Slain are all who stand before Him,

He cares not what they are, not animal,

nor vegetable.

This beast stands high and mighty,

He dwarfs the tallest man,

Yet he slides upon his belly.

The perfect storm has, and must be, brewed 

to summon out this devil,

As terrible as He is,

The Earth yearns to bear a scar.

For years now has this Demon visited this our blessed land,

But it was not always so,

When we harvested by hand.

Today, I celebrate the 9,490th time I have witnessed the Sun set over this, my Earth. 9,490 times I have died as the day has died yet been resurrected as the cock has crowed.

If the Fates will weave it, I will see another 9,490 more. Tonight I die, Tomorrow I may rise.

Kitten All Dressed Up

M Jones

Tan My Paled Flesh - Monday 22/08/11

Kit very nearly got away with no one knowing that today was his birthday. This being one of the most productive since his return appeared to be celebration enough for him. The gods smiled upon us and granted the land a day of glorious sunshine. Strong enough to tan my paled flesh almost to the point of burning.

Yesterday I butchered the Rabbit and in the evening Kit, Saara and Henri joined us for Rabbit stew with dumplings and sweet potato. The leftovers of that meal fed us twice more today.

Frances has begun talking about Halloween. Whilst I may feel it premature, there are only two months left between now and then. Images of the dark and cold from the memories of last winter spring to mind. The near ripe blackberries do not comfort me either. We are in the evening hours of the time of plenty.

Offal to the Cat.

Legs and head to the dog - Nothing wasted.

Yum Yum

M Jones

A Special Delivery and Treats - Monday 29/11/10

Frances' 7th Birthday. She has been counting down for days and here it is. Today also happens to be the delivery day for our static caravan. As if the route wasn't narrow and challenging enough, there is a lot of ice on the roads that seems perfectly impervious to the efforts of the sun. The driver did a fantastic job and was therefore horribly crestfallen to see I had ticked the 'damaged in transit' box I had noticed a vent was ripped open, something I am certain I would have noted prior to purchasing, very minor, but no amount of downplaying could restore the mans hurt pride.
The rest of the day was spent manoeuvring and prat arsing about, but by 15:00 we were done. During this time Fran played with her presents, something I never felt I was allowed to do for long enough as a kid.
17:00 we went swimming, something Fran has wanted to do since she finished going to school. This was perfect as it meant showers all round. A pleasure normally, but a luxury and a treat now all the pipes on site are frozen!
The treats didn't end there as we finished the day with fish and chips. Upon our return home, we were all very ready for bed.

M Jones

A Violin. From A Relative, I Don't Have £400 Odd...

The Damage

Simple Things Please Simple Minds...

Sleeping Starkas - Saturday 23/10/10

I am officially declaring last night as the last sleeping starkas night for this year. Why? Because its been bloody cold recently, and despite being a 'hot' sleeper i've managed to contract a phlegmy cough and a runny nose. From this day or rather night, forth i shall include donning a t-shirt in my bedtime routine. Another reason for mentioning this, is not only is it useful to note, but i would hate to think there were men out there, naked and shivering each night because no one had taken the time to tell them it is now too cold. There. Conscience cleansed.

Took a stroll upto Kits at 13:00 to find him in the dark, reading a book and suffering from a monster hangover. Left him to it. On my return, i observed that wonderful sight synonymous with country living and often pictured in school history textbooks. A human chain unloading 200 odd bales of straw. My feeble excuse of merely observing and recording failed to hold water and i was swiftly press ganged into the ranks.
But around here, if we work hard, we play hard. So at 16:00 the gathering to celebrate Melissa's 40th Birthday began to muster, and around 23:00 an exhausted and beer filled me, made and devoured an egg sandwich, and gladly clambered into his bed. Leaving on his shirt.

M Jones

Better To Do Nothing - Sunday 12/09/10

The growing pile of stripped logs

The growing pile of bark - where the butchery takes place

 

In the morning we had a sit down chat with our host family. Was good to look forward and back on our time thus far. So good in fact, we have resolved to make it a monthly thing.
From there i took Frances, Davey and Bee to a birthday party in Llanfyrnach. Then wandered up to Pauls to gain some clarity. Amongst the many things we talked about, the bit of advice he gave that has been most useful right now is the saying "It is better to do nothing, than the wrong thing". To me, that says, chill out, hang tight and allow events and opportunities to unfold and present themselves.
In order to digest all that Paul had kindly imparted, I spent the rest of the afternoon stripping more poles under a surprisingly warm sky.
Ended the day around an open fire chatting to a select group who had gathered to honour another volunteers birthday.

M Jones

Man Boobs - Thursday 19/08/10

My Dads birthday today, left a message... Put in some work on the building site which is now simply a case of filling a barrow of sifted stone and dumping it in a trench. We're about 1/4 of the way done.
By 15:00 the misty drizzle came full on with a severe weather warning issued. Despite this Kit and Sara came down for last nights pudding and to watch '300' . Sara was not impressed. By neither the violence nor the man boobs.
A stormy night meant I was up at 04:30 ensuring the awning and the man tent were still secure.

M Jones