Recycling things?

Yes, I am rather into recycling, but first of all let's talk about rubbish collections in this part of Shropshire. Every other week the council collects paper, cardboard, glass and material for composting. (They don't get any of that from me - it all goes into the compost heap. I know - where is my generosity here!) I willingly give them the glass, (but not the jam jars, I re-use those) paper and cardboard, I also take plastic bottles into the local recycling centre when I go into town. Old batteries, metal, lightbulbs, oil from cars, etc are other delights that they will collect. However, I have to drive to Telford to get rid of things like paint tins.

On the alternate week, the collection is for general rubbish that is left over, at the moment that is mostly plastic packaging that the council won't recycle, I take the plastic bags to the local supermarket who have a collection point for those. (But I don't accept any carrier bags at the shops - I have several cloth bags that I carry with me in the back of Herbie. And that's another point, how do I tell my car that Americans call their rubbish bins Herbie?!!)

At home I collect and dry egg shells and coffee grounds to use in my warfare against slugs. I know this sounds weird, but I am now getting some growth from the clematis so it works. All kitchen waste now goes into the Bokashi compost bin which will work on anything - including waste meat bits, not that there are many of those as I don't eat much meat. I also put fish bones and skin into the mix and so far it seem to be working well. There is a bran type mix that you sprinkle on top of the waste you put in the bin, then when the bin is full, put it outside for 14 days then add to the garden compost bin. Or the wormery - I have one of those too. At the moment it is coming to fruition for the first time - almost as good as Christmas dinner for the garden!

There are also 6 ordinary compost bins chewing away at the garden waste, they have the lovely treat of donkey dung being added whenever Julie needs to get rid of some of her bags of muck Good stuff and it speeds up the rotting process quite a lot! I also add my grass cuttings together with Ted's and any other compost stuff he wants to get rid of.My paper shreddings of envelopes and any other papers I want to get rid of also go in there (that is fun to explain to bank people when they ask if I am being careful of my papers - they have to admit that they don't do things that thoroughly!!) So, no food waste goes into the council dustbin, it is all composted - oh, except for the animal bones. Old woollen jumpers also go into the compost, together with the filling from old feather pillows, that combination makes a very good long term plant food.

Outside I have a water tub which collects the rainfall from the conservatory, I am going to put another one on the garage, I'm not sure I'm allowed to put one on the house as it is listed, but.... Every time I shower I collect the cold water that runs before the hot arrives at my shower head, that gives me about half a gallon, in the summer I also collect the pre-run from the hot tap in the kitchen sink. That too is quite a lot of wasted water. That is all used in the garden and on the house plants.

Then Ted gives me all the waste wood from his woodturning and I use that to light the fire in the sitting room. I also accept all gifts of wood from friends - trees chopped down, waste wood etc. The fire is one of the old fashioned ranges with an oven beside the firehole, so I can cook on that too!!

This is all possible because I no longer work - I could not have done all of this whilst working as there is just so much to do. But yes, I do believe that we have to work hard to stop sending so much waste to land fill. But I reckon we don't need to be packing fruit and veg in plastic whilst it is still on the shelves. What happened to the option of weighing out the fruit and veg and putting them in a bag; we do it for some things, but why do they insist on putting calabrese in cling film, or 4 apples in a plastic tray again covered with cling film, or other veg?

OK, I'm off the hobby horse, all I have to do now is to bottle the elderflower wine, then make some more elderflower cordial and wine. The limes were cheap on Wednesday so I'm going to make some lime cordial too. Yes, its good to have time to do all these things!! (Must make sure I have enough glass bottles to keep it in, LOL!!)

It's that time of year again.

To dig out the compost heaps and oooh they are looking good! I have bags of delicious looking compost ready to spread, the weeds are quaking in their boots because they know its their turn to go into the bins and the garden is smelling good. The yellow lilies and the mock orange blossom are the top providers at the moment, I hope the philadelphus will perform next.

Its early morning and the sun is shining, so I am going to get the boots on and get out again.

After all, this might be our only summer weather!

Spring is full of things to do.

Last week-end was a wet one,(understatement!) we went camping near Hay on Wye, all I can say is thank goodness that the VW campervan had her new awning. It held the twelve of us quite well, so cooking and eating took place in the dry. I pitched my tent in a thunderstorm which was a first for me - I don't usually like thunder and lightning, and on Friday I took a particular dislike to it.

We had a lovely walk up one of the steep hillsides on the dry day, then spent the wet day in Hay, trying to visit all the bookshops that we could. I love that town and Tami, you would have a ball there!! Books for ₤1, well it is not possible to walk out without buying some at that price! It is also difficult to stop reading them now I am home. I have already finished the Elizabeth George and am trying to hide the others until I have sorted out the garden - oops, there are those pigs flying high again!

This week-end's tasks are to weed the main border and to sort out the compost heaps. The Bokashi compost is interesting and seems to be working well. The compost after one month is a non smelly rotting heap which I add to the other heaps. So far, so good - we will see what happens over the long term. And my latest recycling 'thing' is to post my old cds off to be recycled. I can even get them to a firm nearby in Cheshire that will reuse them. After that I have found a machine that will transfer my tapes onto the hard disk of my laptop. Perhaps my music can then be sorted so that I can channel it around the house.

Is there any danger of my being an organised person?

No, don't be silly!

Memory Lane

This morning I have attacked the last boxes of books and papers from the attic. There are letters from my younger sister written when she was just starting to learn to write, school reports, photos of the children, of our family home when we were renovating it, cards from friends and school photos. I wondered where they had gone!!

The copies of the Coaching Journals I used to edit were also there, so now I can keep a single copy of each one and get rid of all the extras that are really not needed on my shelves.

Going back even further are the photos that we had taken when I used to attend a music school each year - it was held on the Gower coast in a Prisoner of War camp, the beds were original and I suspect other items too, but my goodness we had fun there! A week of concentrated orchestral playing during the day, with a concert at the end. The evenings were spent dancing - I don't remember the twist etc, but I do remember learning how to dance things like 'The Gay Gordons' etc. I think I am going to have to put all of these things together in an organised way with some written memories. That will keep me busy in the evenings.

I have also found a bag of unfinished patchwork shapes which I was making into a bed spread. (At the same time as bringing up toddlers and running a home and large garden.) Always the unreal optimist - that's me!! However, I have time now to get on and make them into something, so I will dive in. The lovely thing is that the material I was using was my daughter's dresses when she was very little - off cuts etc. So this could be a real drop into memory lane!

Feeling helpless.

Does anyone else feel that way about the poor people of Burma? Why does a group of political/military leaders who are supposed to look after the people in their country think it is acceptable to ignore the plight of those suffering? Are these leaders human beings, or has the power they wield changed them into unfeeling people who are frightened of admitting to the rest of the world their inability to relate to ordinary people and their problems? Burmese people have been suffering from their leaders for so many years and now nature has compounded their problems. Where is the justice in that?

Thank goodness the Chinese government has behaved in the opposite manner.

And the next question I ask myself is, what can I do about it?

Summer is a'cummin in..

louda sing cuckoo. And he really was singing away this morning, what a lovely sound and an immediate hint of summer coming. Strangely enough Clare and I sang that round again when we met up in Melbourne, the time before was xxx years ago in Dartington!! Good times.

This last week-end was also a wonderful one for sightings, I went camping with friends in Staffordshire and we saw peregrine falcons nesting in the cliffs above a beautiful valley. What incredible birds they are, the pair were not put off by walkers or climbers, so I hope they are successful in their nesting. The next day we saw hundreds of orchids and cowslips on the sides of a valley leading down to our tea spot - and shelter from the rain, as it was pouring down by then. There were also hedges of currant and gooseberry bushes, it would be worth going back at harvesting time!!

I have not only been camping but also exploring the nether regions of my garage again! This time I have a clearer idea of what needs doing, so two sets of shelves have been up - one to hold the stuff from the attic, and the other set went up this morning, they are going to hold all the jam I make. For a person living on my own I make far too much jam and chutney, so if I can see it easily, then it will be easier to give jars away. At the moment that involves a certain amount of mountaineering and tunneling - don't ask!! After tonight, jam will be stored on one side and the tools and garden equipment on the other.

Theoretically!!