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livingontheland - Re: [Livingontheland] Transition Lifestyles: Satisfaction

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Subject: Healthy soil and sustainable growing

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  • From: "John D'hondt" <dhondt@eircom.net>
  • To: "Healthy soil and sustainable growing" <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Transition Lifestyles: Satisfaction
  • Date: Sun, 5 Sep 2010 01:00:53 +0100


We read a few books, play the odd game of chess or cards, sudoku puzzles or other puzzles and crosswords quite a lot but other than that it is mostly self sufficiency related. We do have a variety of musical instruments (4 guitars, one banjo, trumpet and bag pipes, a dozen or more tin wistles) but it is only when someone feels like playing that any playing is going on, it is very unorganized and informal.
We had a fox killing a good few ducks and geese here so I have been trapping foxes these last few weeks. Very interesting this, I have systems to see where and when a fox comes past but it means a long walk at least 2-3 times a day. Then we decided to try our hand at brain tanning the liberated skins. Takes a lot of time to cure a good skin that way.
Berries are being gathered by the barrel load right now and they need to be processed into jams and wine and winter medicine. Quinoa and amaranth harvest are in full swing and that takes a good bit of work. At the same time we are smoking some hams and pies are being baked. There are too many perch in our lake and we do some night fishing maybe once a week to right that situation.
I finally got a particular rat this evening I had been after for over a year. Much more interesting than listening to some drunk people in the pub. We have our hands so full we really need few external distractions.
For a while, well a good few years, most of the family were involved in martial arts with several training sessions per week. We grew out of that for several reasons, the constant pressure to "grade" for an expensive new belt (more than $250 once you are past simple black) all the time and the pressure to give it too much of your life with competitions abroad and so on.

If you like what you do (the "work") it is like a vocation combined with a holiday.
John

I'm really interested in how people on the list relax and recreate. One of the great challenges of the transition will be finding low material throughput means of having fun and finding meaning in life. In fact this is perhaps an area of greater personal interest than the agricultural aspects although the two are not necessarily or at least completely separate. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

At this point we are making the transition from urban living to country living and are so busy we don't think much about it. Things we do however include trips to other small towns in the area to get to know them and what they offer, occasional trips to some of the other interesting locations nearby, birdwatching, botanizing, gardening with flowers and other non-food items, reciprocal visits with neighbors for chats and meals, listening to music via the internet and on CDs, going to an occasional concert or theater event (in Medellin there are a lot of free opportunities), learning to play the guitar, and who knows what else that does not come to mind just now.

Anyone?

Phil Bunch
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