Run for the hills: New roof for the goats (2)

Thursday 31 July 2008

New roof for the goats (2)

So here it is! There's a gable end to finish but it looks like a roof eh?

I can proudly claim to have helped to build this - I passed the box profile sheets up to David to attach - a very important job I'll have you know.

I'm posting a picture of how it looked in September last year - real progress (but a slightly depressing reminder that it's not always hot and sunny here!). The shot looking inside features on of Jussi's magnificent doors.

Things are looking good for goats on Sunday. Meanwhile I've taken on some consultancy work which Jussi aint over-joyed about and my underpants keep falling down. Is this because the elastic is spent or because I'm losing weight?

And Jussi has been forwarding me messages from a guy in Caithness who's got some piglets for sale (saddleback x largeblack). I'm torn over this - surely it would be a mistake to take on pigs on top of goats at the same time - too much learning to cope with all a once? But then again we'd manage wouldn't we? And have some fabulous pork/ham/sausage for the winter. The jury is still out on this one - what should I do what should I do?

2 comments:

Lulu Stader said...: go for it -- of course!!; 31 July 2008 at 11:48
Unknown said...: Vincent in Pulp Fiction, sc. 91:

"Sausages taste good. Pork chops taste good."

I think if you ask pigs, they'll tell you that they *want* to be eaten.; 31 July 2008 at 13:48

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Where I"m coming from - !CAUTION! a bit of a polemic

Firstly, there is nothing more important than me and my family. The most precious thing I can give them (including me) is time. In my job, with all it's pressures, I singularly failed to do this. So we run for the hills and try to redress the balance.

Secondly, climate change is happening. It's a cataclysm, the scope of which is beyond our comprehension. This is why we are doing so little to stop it - we just cant imagine the scale of the upheavals to come, and we can't imagine how we, as individuals, can stop it.

Everything is stacked against effective action. Our economy is driven by consumerism and it is consumerism that is driving climate change. Our political leaders are paralysed - to curb consumerism would cripple the economic engine. We increasingly define ourselves by our economic position and the things we buy. We are what we buy. What politician dare restrict our ability to buy, our ability to define ourselves? It would attack our very self and would be political suicide.

And anyway, the real power lies with money - and the people with money want us to consume and they spend millions every second of the day persuading us to consume more. What hope do we have against such power? And everything we buy pumps a little more CO2 into the atmosphere.

Thirdly, I am no saint. I am lucky enough to have the opportunity to change my life for the benefit of myself, and, I hope, the planet. Ultimately my reasons for doing this are selfish, and although I'll do what I can to keep my carbon footprint low, I'll make many choices that are not so good for the planet. Like anyone, I can only voluntarily make changes to my life at the speed I can. I don't intend to beat myself up over this - I do intend to change faster than most.

Fourthly, there is hope. Our lust to consume is a very recent phenomena. Not so long ago we principally defined ourselves by our relationships with friends and family and place and we defined ourselves by our usefulness to society. I believe that climate change will force us out of consumerism, and in its place we will find those core values, and rediscover a sense of wellbeing that is so missing from our current fractured existence.

There are lots of examples where this is starting to happen. The transition town movement is one - people getting together and learning to appreciate the things and people around them. I played a small part in helping Sustaining Dunbar get off the ground. (http://edubuzz.org/blogs/sustainingdunbar/about-us) What I found there were people striving to build a positive and resilient future and there are transition towns popping up all over the place - a really positive movement. (find out more about transition towns)

Fifthly, At the end of the day it's all bollocks. So let's all go off and have some fun - it's the most important thing we can do - but let's just try to do it without killing the planet in the process.

Things I"m going to miss

Run for the hills

Thursday 31 July 2008

New roof for the goats (2)

2 comments:

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