Diary Archives - Page 9 of 12

Hedge laying

November 14, 2014October 20, 2014

There was a beautiful moment today when a mess of pleached blackthorn and elm suddenly turned into a hedge, when the heatherings had been woven through the stakes and the whole structure took on a new strength. This is Midland style – sort of. Presentable side facing outwards as far as possible, the thorny side is presented to the livestock, all the better to make them think twice about breaking through it. Except there were no livestock in this field because it’s a vineyard. The stakes go in amongst the pleached material spaced apart the length of your elbow to your fingertip, and all is secured with heatherings, weaving through in a braided pattern, under and over and around.

I love being back at school, and I love doing this.

Hara hachi bu for the mind

November 14, 2014October 7, 2014

Hara hachi bu is the Confucian teaching that instructs you to stop eating when you feel 80% full. When eating, your belly may be full but it takes time for your brain to register it. You’re accounting for the fact that your body isn’t always as smart as it needs to be; by the time you …

I for one welcome our robot overlords

July 3, 2023October 1, 2014

You just know this is the harbinger of some kind of apocalypse. I’m saying robots. BUT I CAN’T STOP WATCHING IT.

What’s next?

August 19, 2014August 18, 2014

This is the second version of this post, the short version.

Next month, I’m going back to college part time to study Countryside Management.

It has been an odd year, and I needed to change what I was doing. Turns out a bunch of people my age are doing it.

The course and the new direction are a big change, but plain common sense when I look back at what I’ve done and forward to where I want to be.

I’m stoked, nervous, hopeful. And available for part time work, by the way.

Words you can stop using now, thanks

November 14, 2014July 24, 2014

Artisan. I’d like not to have any more artisan coffee, artisan bread, artisan kitchens or bars, artisan beers or artisan chocolate. I’d just like nice stuff. Good stuff. Well made stuff. And just FYI, your stuff isn’t artisan. I’ve actually found it to be a little inconsistent and quite disappointing for what I paid (mind …

Postcard from Cambodia

June 4, 2015June 11, 2014

I’ve had a load of video footage sitting around for ages taken in 2008 with the young adults at the Sangkheum Center – the group wrote and presented their own ‘Postcard from Cambodia’ where they wanted to tell people about Cambodia, Siem Reap, school, food and what they enjoyed. They wrote it themselves, presented it themselves and filmed a lot of it themselves. We watched all of it at the time but I’ve only just had the time and tools to finally edit the film together to the script they wrote – and had a great time doing it.

Put the crappy video quality down to a poor camcorder purchasing decision on my part. Put the crappy editing down to me.

HOPE for Cambodia is supporting youth development projects like this in Cambodia right now – please see more at GlobalGiving and consider donating to help them out.