as frugally and sustainably as possible
Not content with being the wealthiest council in the UK, as well as the least efficient (at least 50% of what it spends is either wasted or used for vanity projects), Shetland Islands Council is actively promoting the asset-stripping of the islands, which will effectively blight the property market.
If you live, or intend to move here...
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(la versión en español sigue)
This post was originally written in 2018, but subsequently disappeared. However, the Council of Almonaster la Real still continues to promote and host bullfighting.
Millions of people every day dream about winning the lottery, changing their lives. And one of the places they would choose to live is Almonaster la Real...
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There is an IAS (Invasive Alien Species), which is so prolific that it has colonised most land areas of this planet. It is highly destructive to the native flora and fauna, decimating vast areas. It has few predators, a high birth rate and a long lifespan, so its population has reached alarming numbers. It has...
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The major problem with politicians and industry is their insatiable greed, they always want more. More of us to reproduce, so there’s more people to tax, and for us to keep spending more and more each year. Not a single thought (or care) about where this is leading. When what we should all be doing...
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…and neither do they mean what they used to, just like so many other words in our language. Hijacked by the marketing/ public relations industry to add integrity to whatever they are selling, even if it is a total lie.
The word sustainable is another example. Not so long ago Rudolf Steiner described sustainable as...
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Before you say anything, yes I have already written about this, but obviously failed to explain it clearly enough, because still no-one seems to think there is a problem. What I am talking about is the impending apocalypse our species is facing. Because even if there aren’t many obvious signs out there, there are certainly …
Continue reading "– if we don’t stop behaving the way we are, life for our species is going to end."
Instead of me writing about how the UK is being conned by our government and energy industry, into having more and more wind farms and destroying what little is left of the ecology, someone else has already done it.
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Q. When does 1+1 not equal 2?
A. When you are talking about reproduction.
A couple have two children. Are they just producing their own replacements? Not unless they die straight afterwards. There are now four people alive and consuming, whereas there were just two previously. Don’t think that babies are not consumers, just look at
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A cry we hear when confronting people with the truth that the human population has exploded, way beyond viable capacity and that we should ALL stop having children.
Blaming people in other countries is not accepting responsibility for the mess we are in. It does not matter what country you are in, it is
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Pauline and I choose not to buy meat, fish, eggs or dairy products, because we both have a deep respect for life, that it is not right to breed, farm, trawl, torture or kill others simply to feed ourselves. Especially when there are better alternatives. However, even those can cause unnecessary suffering. Our food still …
Continue reading "– becoming a vegan is only part of the solution"
1) they are the sole reason why this planet is currently experiencing climate meltdown. Quite simply there are far too many of us to be sustainable. More on that below.
2) more children means higher taxes (including the community charge) to pay for all the services they will use.
3) everyone will have to wait (even) longer to get treated on the NHS. Especially as children get priority.
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Ever since I can remember I’ve been drawn to living in the countryside, or near the sea. So much so that for most of my adult life I have managed to find a way to achieve this. The only problem has been, so has everyone else.
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I hadn’t considered this before, that when someone decides to have a child the knock-on effect for the eco-system is not just providing them with enough of the basic needs to survive, but when they finally reach adulthood somewhere to live as well. In the not so distant past this would not have been an …
If you haven’t realised yet, our national public library service is under threat of extinction. Branches are being closed faster now than at any other time in history, despite a hell of a lot more people wanting to use them. Greedy local politicians, who would rather see taxation channelled to their business friends than provide …
And with it, lies, damn lies, and statistics. Just because global warming doesn’t feature as the main story in the news any more doesn’t mean temperatures aren’t still rising. This summer there are going to be so many new forest fires and areas hit by drought that parts of British Columbia (Canada)/ Alberta (Canada)/ Saskatchewan …
In the Shetland of the near future those who choose not to own a car, along with cyclists, those who aren’t allowed to drive or can't afford to (a sizeable proportion of the current population), will have to take up wild swimming to travel between the islands for shopping, visiting friends and family, attending hospital …
Continue reading "– the people of Shetland value the car more than life itself"
6,000 years of Shetland’s unique cultural heritage is right now being sold off to the highest bidder. I feel like I’ve woken up in a post-apocalyptic future. Suddenly all common-sense and humanity has disappeared and I’m in a MAD MAX movie. Right now the most important news dominating our local press is not about how …
I have been thinking lately about what inspired me to choose this way of life, why I didn’t want to succumb like everyone else to just be normal. My first memory of there being any other kind of alternative was growing up in London in the 1950s/ 60s. Where we lived in a tiny flat …
Continue reading "– how our society seeks to crush compassion with regulations"
I can’t sleep. The culture of cruelty here is overwhelming me. Arthur C Clarke in his Space Odyssey series (the first book published in 1968), talked about the period we are living in now as our most barbaric. Like so many things he and Douglas Adams predicted (including the internet, smartphones, climate change and overpopulation), …
Each day I wake up angrier. In just one year the Viking Wind Farm (103 of the largest wind turbines) has devastated a vast chunk of the main island’s ecology. Very soon, at nearby Sullom Voe, already home to the largest oil & gas terminal in the UK, millions of tonnes of CO2 are going …
Even though Maureen never made it to visit her true spiritual home, especially Jamieson's for all that wool, her book TREAD SOFTLY BECAUSE YOU TREAD ON MY DREAMS has made it, to the shelves of Shetland Library (2 copies). For which I am truly grateful to the staff, she would have been so chuffed.
Did you know...
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Ever since we left our off-grid life in Spain we have been looking for another place to continue the adventure. However, despite knowing exactly what we want, finding such a property has so far eluded us, which is one of the reasons I haven’t been posting, I haven’t felt positive enough. Then last week...
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TREAD SOFTLY BECAUSE YOU TREAD ON MY DREAMS, Maureen’s book about our nine-year odyssey in search of EL POCITO, is finally available as a paperback.
Definitely a classic, and one every cat lover and potential traveller, van dweller and off-gridder should have on their bookshelf for inspiration and reference. Alongside Chris Stewart’s DRIVING OVER LEMONS...
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Hi from a wet and windy Shetland, way up at the top of the world. As if this year hasn’t been crazy enough, we now have the festive season upon us (though it actually began back in July). I don’t think I can take much more, not without venting a rant, this one about social …
I started writing this as my ultimate blog, also the moment when I would cease to use all social networks, but along the way circumstances changed. We ended up leaving EL POCITO without selling or being able to pass it onto a new owner, so the task of tying up that loose end continues and...
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Well here we are, poised at the end of one great adventure, about to embark on another.
Sadly a buyer for EL POCITO has still not appeared, but we remain hopeful, while busy enough with the other awesome task, packing everything up (including our four lovely spanish rescue cats) ready to set forth on the...
New British PM Boris Johnson pledges to deal with the "climate emergency", his solution: kill all the butterflies.
You read it here first.
(The Butterfly Effect is a concept invented by the American meteorologist Edward N. Lorenz (1917-2008) to highlight the possibility that small causes may have momentous effects...
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Yes, finally I managed to wear Pauline down and we got married at Lerwick Town Hall (that’s in Shetland) last week. This was my very first visit to her “enchanted” isle, and everything was exactly as she said it would be, amazing (to use one of my favourite words), so now we can’t wait to...
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Guess what? You learn something new every day, even at my age. This time it concerns the universal concept of democracy. When I grew up we were taught to believe that the UK held the benchmark for this kind of thing, setting the example for others to follow, thus no need to hold a gun...
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Democracy has now ceased to exist in the UK.
Fact: it is now legal for a government to hold elections and deny anyone they feel may oppose them, the right to vote.
Fact: while it is currently still acceptable to hold national general elections every four years or less, it is not to repeat a...
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As British Empire fever (fuelled by BREXIT) grips the nation once again, it is apt I should be re-reading HERMAN MELVILLE’s semi-autobiographical novel TYPEE. Written in 1846, it describes his visit to a South Sea Island around the time of “colonisation,” neatly Illustrating the before-and-after effects on its indigenous population.
“…the voluptuous Indian, with every...
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“Each time history repeats itself, so it’s said, the price goes up. The twentieth century was a time of runaway growth in human numbers, consumption, and technology, placing a colossal load on all natural systems, especially earth, air, and water – the very elements of life. The great question of the twenty-first century is how...
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It used to be a sign of old age when you noticed policemen were getting younger. For me it’s meeting anyone “alternative” (those interested in living sustainably), and how they now seem to know less and less of what it is all supposed to be about.
Three recent examples. The first, a clipping from THE GUARDIAN...
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I don’t have a tv/ radio/ or buy newspapers, haven’t for around 25 years now, so am rather out of touch with what is happening in the world, particularly how information is distributed/ presented. But what I can discern is that each day there are potentially eight billion stories (the number of our species), an …
No-one actually knows just how many UK citizens have taken advantage of the option to live in another european country since the EU was created, but they chose to because they were assured by the UK government that their rights (to free healthcare/ pensions/ etc) would remain the same. They were lied to. And the …
Nationalism terrifies me. Not surprisingly, after living for so long in two countries that until very recently were dictatorships and still retain that shared memory. But BREXIT has revealed it in the UK too, which I always considered a model of democracy. A fast growing percentage who are now choosing to worship the Holy Trinity of FEAR, SELFISHNESS, and PAIN.
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Inspired by the acquisition of Sheri S Tepper’s THE VISITOR, my thoughts have been focused recently on perception. How where we live is fundamental in shaping our behaviour and attitudes, not only towards others but the rest of the natural world.
For example, would you consider I live conventionally or alternatively? The answer to that...
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One of the reasons voters chose LEAVE at the (BREXIT) referendum, was because they believed it would improve UK services. They were wrong. The UK public sector has never been funded/ run properly, and never will, whoever is the party in power. This is because those in charge have always had a totally different agenda. …
...aka: open opposition to lawful authority and breaking down barriers. It seems a long time since I felt Mr Grumpy enough to dash off a rant about something, but fear not, the absence does not signify a softening of attitude, merely another preoccupation, that of spiritual metamorphosis, one where hopefully I'm turning into a wiser …
If you are one of the hundred thousand or so who have downloaded Maureen’s last book (TREAD SOFTLY BECAUSE YOU TREAD ON MY DREAMS), and wanted more, here is your opportunity, the complete book of all her blogs is no available, written just after and takes you right up to the month before she died. …
Continue reading "– musings on a more simple life – Maureen Rooksby"
(part one of an infinite series) When dialling the new national emergency services number: 666 you will hear the following announcement: # WELCOME TO THE AMAZON PERSONAL ASSISTANCE LINE. ALL OUR OPERATORS ARE BUSY AT THE MOMENT, PLEASE HOLD AND YOUR CALL WILL BE DEALT WITH AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, YOU ARE NUMBER ___ IN THE QUEUE. …
Continue reading "– calling the emergency services, in the not too distant future"
There have been so many people interested in living at El Pocito, literally tens of thousands (incredible, but true), but who sadly either lack the courage or finances to take the plunge. Well, courage is something that comes from within, the realisation that yes, you can do it, not get bogged down by the what …
Continue reading "– anything is possible if you have the passion"
Look closely at that title, just one letter separates us from extinction or salvation. I regularly get told we are powerless to change the path of humanity. Wrong. There is something we can all do and it’s free on the NHS. I had it done when I was 25, never regretted the decision. Find out …
… between what is real, and not? As most of you know by now my life has been (for some time) dedicated to honing away at cultural convention in order to make it possible for me to enjoy more freedom/ better health/ and a heightened awareness of the natural world around me. For some this …
… finally I’ve realised why so few people get what I’m banging on about. It’s because unless we spend our entire life travelling (which I do not want to encourage anyone to do), our view of the world, what we actually know about it, from first-hand experience, base all our judgements on, is only an …
Finally I’ve worked out how the species will exit this world. Forget all the usual suspects (epidemic/ global warming/ tsunami/ asteroid/ nuclear catastrophe…), this one is a lot simpler and already well advanced: mental illness. Of just the people you know, who hasn’t taken anti-depressants? Suffers from an eating disorder? Is addicted? Why would a …
Since the 1970s, there have been new isms appearing (or morphing) regularly, each claiming to be the ultimate answer to a sustainable future. tiptoe™ is the latest, except unlike its predecessors, adopts a rather different approach.
Gone are all the: manuals, courses, levels of accreditation, international convergences, blitzes, magazines, websites/ social media/ and apps, videos...
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For me, reading has always been the principle influence in shaping my path through life. As well as for relaxing. This week, at the same time as a new film version of FARENHEIT 451 is announced, I discover another classic to add to the pantheon - AN ENGLISH GUIDE TO BIRDWATCHING by Nicholas Royle. This …
...a unique opportunity to rent one of the most famous alternative (cob & strawbale) houses in Spain. It's architect & builders, Rob Alcock & family, are taking a two-year sabbatical from the hectic life which has preoccupied them for the last ten years, and looking for someone to take over running the place in their …
… no this is not about a new religion, though if it were I’d probably get several thousand offers instantly from potential acolytes. What is it about our species? We live in a time where we are supposedly at our most evolved, and the majority (I’m thinking here at least 90%, though probably higher) are …
…when our precious planet is on the brink of ecological meltdown, choose between ignoring our personal responsibility for inflicting unnecessary pain/ murder/ and extinction upon an infinite number of other species (vegans included), or taking the much simple and painless step, of… … making it socially unacceptable to have children? In just the last fifty …
.. yet apparently still not enough. Call me old-fashioned, but surely this kind of inane comment is for the blithering stupid. Of course there is enough, most of the planet is water. What is wrong is we are using far too much of it. So why can't those who rule-over-us tackle that, instead of causing …
Am having a lovely time each evening currently, tucked up by the wood-burner with Roger Deakin’s NOTES FROM WALNUT TREE FARM (accompanied by some chocolate of course), thanks to good friends Dennis & Jessica in Scotland. And somehow this got me thinking about all the labels we like to give ourselves. For example: I am …
I’ve been trying to help a friend, here in Almonaster la Real, find work and leave home. He’s a qualified biologist, with at least twelve years experience in identifying all kinds of flora and fauna, bi-lingual, and blessed with this incredible magnetic personality. I challenge anyone not to love him. One of the reasons he …
In past blogs I have tried to highlight the inherent fault in any kind of human settlement/ urbanisation, it is not sustainable, this despite what transitionists might want to believe. Now this warning has become a reality, at least for the four million residents of Cape Town, South Africa, where a three-year drought has wiped …
The good folk of Lewes, East Sussex, think they have the solution to their liquidity problems. It’s called ELDER ABUSE. In a town where houses start at £350,000, breakfast will leave you with no change from £10, a burger in a bar £12. Where no-one would dare to deny their child a private education. Where …
tick which of the following you can provide for yourself: (without money or tools) food & water shelter warmth clothing healthcare energy transport If you ticked them all you are as evolved as any other species on the planet. If not, then need I say more?
Have been dipping into ON THE ORIGIN OF THE SPECIES by Charles Darwin, and that got me thinking about evolution, how the basis for all life on earth, every species (flora & fauna), is a constant adaptation and improvement, all of it instinctive. Not only to survive the day-to-day, but pass on a stronger gene …
Hot on the heels of my manifesto for a sustainable future, an idea for the first steps towards that ideal, vanlife, ie living in a van. This is something Maureen and I did when we left the UK back in 2000, and had this digital world existed then, to help us create the perfect living …
This blog is in response to a publication entitled A DREAM OF A LOW CARBON FUTURE which was jointly funded/ published by the ENGINEERING AND PHYSICAL SCIENCES RESEARCH COUNCIL (EPSRC) and the UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS as a result of a postgraduate project which was aimed at imagining a sustainable Leeds in the near future. A …
“Does your God care about anything, but men (and women)?” (Raising The Stones, Sheri.S.Tepper) “And God said, let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and …
I may be a bit slow on the uptake here, after all this only took me sixty-odd years to realise, but am I alone in thinking what was a seeming benign, nay paternalistic, entity, evolved from ten thousand years of civilisation, is nothing less than the same old nasty dictatorial regime that took hold at …
Okay, so not hard, but did you get the point? That where there are few or no people, there’s far more nature? Because this is something we all need to understand. Less of us = more nature = a balanced eco-system and sustainable future. Urbanisations = extinction (and not just of all the other species). …
The appeal to help re-home Lotus & Steve before winter bites has still a way to go. Yet is still only the price of a coffee if everyone who read this gave. Then they will be safe and snug, as well as ready to start the work of rebuilding their beautiful oasis. Lotus & Steve …
Today’s theme was sparked by a lovely video received recently. I didn’t know the person before, but it seems we are on totally the same wavelength. Take a look (it’s only 1m 35sec) before reading any further. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EeyTDIUV0M&feature=youtu.be This is the home of Lotus and Steve, very much like El Pocito (except situated in neighbouring …
Continue reading "– don’t let them waste your precious life"
It’s that time again, when I get a pleasant shiver running down my spine telling me a rant is due (yes, I actually enjoying it). This one inspired by several seemingly unconnected events recently, yet all neatly linking up. The first, an email from THE LAND magazine, arrived on one of the rare moments I …
Continue reading "– in El Pocito nobody can hear you scream"
Lo sé, estoy predicando en el desierto. Pero si nosotros los que sabemos, no seguimos contando al resto, que ellos tienen los medios para cambiar este sistema político actual, entonces nosotros también seremos culpables cuando todo se vuelva realmente desagradable. Todos los días desde que he vivido en España (y Portugal), hace 17 años, he …
how would you set about finding the perfect place to live? Not as in “when I win the Lottery”, but if you wanted to do it right now, with just your current resources. The reason for asking is I have completely run out of ideas how to publicise El Pocito is for sale, and desperately …
…. especially in the Houses of Parliament, along with the various roosts of the Royal Family. Each virtually immortal, having already existed for hundreds of years, fed on the life-blood of the humans. Yes, I’m off on one of my rants again. Today it is about pensions, as rumour has reached me that there might …
Without internet access/ a tv/ or radio here, books & magazines take on a whole new significance (aka FARENHEIT 451). I re-read my entire library at least once a year, and when there is spare cash search out new titles. Magazines however are not so easy. For a start I have no idea what is …
Surprise packet bearing a much needed item arrived here last week, but with no evidence of who the sender was. Only a Welsh air mail sticker. Please accept my grateful thanks, whoever you are, they are perfect!
Seems a while now since I wrote anything, and then it was only to voice my at being ripped off by the Spanish Post Office (CORREOS), a battle which still continues. This one is more like my old self. ln fact it is the same old message, only this time will probably irritate even more …
The first in what I hope will be an occasional series about how wherever there is money/ power/ or influence, corruption lurks also, usually in equal measure. This is not something in the UK most people know much about, at least not first-hand. Probably because being one of the richest/ most powerful countries in the …
Continue reading "– the A-Z of CORRUPTION, FOR DUMMIES, part one"
(with translations below in: Français/ Deutsch/ & Español) In 1973 Lloyd Kahn published his third book on alternative architecture and overnight it became a bestseller, in turn changing the lives of a whole generation. This was SHELTER (ISBN 0-936070-11-0), an anarchic look at examples of self-build and homesteading around the globe. Maureen saw a copy …
… or how we need to start developing a real sense of perspective, or perish. What got me started on this one will probably seem rather silly, but it made me laugh and I think makes a valid point. It’s about a friend of a friend here, english though has lived in Spain for many …
In town there is a shop which sells virtually everything, including tickets for the state lottery. I’ve never bought one of these, but watching those who do has become a fascinating insight into the current psyche of the populous today. It seems to have gripped everyone, including the long-term unemployed (who here don’t have the …
Here’s another classic on the theme of living a more simple life. Though the idea for this blog actually comes from something that happened yesterday, while getting on with the daily task of trying to market El Pocito to a suitable buyer. Working my way through the infinite number of Facebook pages and groups, I …
What is worth knowing about self-sufficiency and sustainability has already been published, so why duplicate this precious legacy of wisdom, destroy even more of our precious ecology, lining the pockets of eco-parasites. This book by William Cobbett, written in 1821, is as apt/ witty today as then. Get yourself a (second hand) copy rather than …
We are all canaries, toiling in the mines of those who rule over us. And What if everything is a lie?
In the North Sea a Cuvier Beaked Whale (total world population: 100,000) had to be put down because it was starving to death. Afterwards it was found to have ingested at least 30 plastic bags, blocking its intestines. 71% of the surface of the planet is water, and much of it is so deep it …
I unashamedly believe the system of compulsory (anything) education was flawed right from the beginning. And it hasn’t improved any since (why else would Spain have the highest unemployment in Europe who are also graduates/ masters/ and postgraduates?). So surely it is high time now to get rid of it completely? I wish. However this …
Consider for example the (Indian nosed yellow) Albatross. Weighing in at no more than 2.5kg, yet possesses a wingspan of 6.5ft, with which it can lift off the sea without even a beat, just face into the wind. And once airborne soar for 1000km, again without any further physical effort, travelling up to 10 000kms …
Where were you on the 8th of March 1978? I was at the Head Gardener’s Cottage in Stockwell College, Bromley. Partaking, with a select group of final year students, of an herb grown in the manicured grounds of that hallowed place. While listening to a new five-part series on the radio called THE HITCH-HIKERS GUIDE …
This is a post inviting no comment (which means I will delete if necessary), merely a statement of what happened to me and what I now know to be true. It is for you to decide or act on the information. I would like to say however, for those who think my outlook tends towards …
This weekend Almonaster la Real celebrated its annual festival of Islam - XVII Jornadas de Cultura Islámica. Three days in which the narrow winding Moorish streets are transformed into an ancient medina (Zoco), full of stalls selling crafts and food, musicians/ dancers/ and performers providing the entertainment. Folk flocking in from far and wide to …
Despite finding what must be the largest variety and membership of environmental groups (in the world), I have yet to come across one mention in any of their postings that there is another living soul who understands what is happening to the planet, and therefore the concept of SUSTAINABILITY. Incredible. How is this, especially when …
Continue reading "– will the last one out please turn off the light"
When Maureen was alive, three of our favourite films (which for us meant being watchable over and over again infinitely, and such a thing does exist, they are called classics) were SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE, TRULY MADLY DEEPLY, and DAN IN REAL LIFE. But what I didn’t realise at the time was the common theme linking …
wisdom: the quality of being wise/ judgement/ right use of knowledge/ spiritual perception. sustainable: the infinite number of diverse species along with their predetermined populations, plus the inert natural resources of our planet, which working together create and sustain conditions for all life. This latest outpouring is a mixture of continuing the theme from my …
Continue reading "– wisdom is inversely proportionate to wealth and where you live"
My rant this week was sparked by the closure of yet another small shop in town (along with a nunnery, but that’s for lack of new nuns), followed by talking to the daughter of one of the few businesses left, where you can get everything (groceries and hardware) within walking distance of your front door. …
Enjoy watching international celebrity Michelin starred chefs MANOLO ANDAMIO and PATXI LAOSTIA (aka Carlos and Ismael) recreate local recipes from their grandmother’s kitchen (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jctYSARlL-U). An unforgettable video (even for those who don’t speak spanish) which finally puts Almonaster on the map where it so deservedly should be. Please SHARE as widely as possible.
Stunned by the response to my last posting (as far as I know no-one read the previous one), I thought it best to quickly follow that up with something which has haunted me ever since A Level English. It’s aimed at the tiny minority (of one, as I write, so they know who) that still …
Once again I’ve been struggling to write something and stymied by how to present it in a way that will break through that ever-expanding crust of mindless crap filling social media, while overcoming the collective inertia that prevents anyone taking personal responsibility for the state of the world today (other than to make pointless comments …
It’s been a while since I wrote anything personal here. Mainly I suppose because there hasn’t been much to report. But recently I have been buzzing with an idea for a blog, and failing to find a way to start it off have decided to combine the two. I have new partner at long last. …
BREXIT was a real nightmare, but now the dust has settled maybe after all the fuss it was just what was needed. To get people, who otherwise wouldn’t bother to think about such things, appreciating how much we are being ripped off, though not by the EU, by our own government. It certainly made me …
Continue reading "– are we failing to see the wood, for what is left of the trees?"
Located in the idyllic unspoilt countryside of the Sierra de Aracena y Picos de Aroche, in Andalucia (SW Spain). A forest garden (started in 2009), set in six acres (2.5 hectares) of dramatic hillside, 600 metres above sea-level, with panoramic south-west views clear to the Portuguese border. Hundreds of trees, all with an edible value. …
Having had time to get over the awful shock about BREXIT, here are some of my reflections on the matter: If instead this was a death of a Royal (Diana for example), the entire country would unite in mourning and find ways to honour her memory. Or as with the refugees in France, send money …
I haven’t lived in or visited England (as opposed to Scotland/ Wales/ or Northern Ireland, who are all blameless in this) since 2000, but the impression I’m getting now is one of a social and political atmosphere which has changed dramatically, akin to Germany in 1939. Okay sounds rather dramatic, but for us expats that’s …
Continue reading "– MAKE SURE YOU VOTE to remain in the EU (on Thursday)"
On the eve of the referendum, my entire world feeling like it is crashing down around me, I came across this. A foreword by John Seymour to a book entitled HOVEL IN THE HILLS, by Elizabeth West. It was written in 1977 but is as pertinent today as then. Working on the assumption (and it …
Continue reading "– the right to live where and how we choose"
Believe nothing of what you read or hear, and only half of what you experience for yourself. It’s a good maxim. I’ve followed it ever since I failed my eleven-plus and have never doubted the wisdom of that choice. So why is it that everyone else thinks an education system can do better? To me …
Continue reading "– working out stuff for yourself (I made that bed)"
If you are a UK citizen living in another EU country, own property there, or are planning a move soon, this affects you. If the majority in the referendum is YES (to leave the EU) the following could happen: You might lose your home/ land (it will certainly be hard to sell). You might have …
Two thoughts that just came to me, which might resonate with some of you out there. The first concerns fear, especially the inordinate amount of time/ sleep I waste focussed on it, to the detriment of everything else. Because, apart from the inescapable events that I pretty much know will be bad in some way …
I’ve been trying to come up with a succinct way of describing how it is I actually live. Initially to stave off any more time-wasters in the soul-mate search. But now I think it was more part of a waking-up process, from a very deep long sleep, three years and probably more. Yesterday it suddenly …
I’ve been holding off writing this, because I had hoped the dilemma would have solved itself by now, or at least there was a less public way of appealing for help. But no there isn’t. Not for me or the hundreds of thousands of others who are suffering a similar fate. By which I mean …
While updating the Wyldewood page this week I suddenly noticed all the sidebar links and wondered, when was the last time they were checked or new ones added? Then, why are they there at all? At the same time I’ve been re-reading THE MAN WHO QUIT MONEY by Mark Sundeen and watching some Youtube videos …
For those interested in the nitty-gritty of day-to-day life here, I thought it was time to once again describe how it feels to be here, rather than my usual rant against the madness in the world which I have no control over. Especially as someone from the UK who has deliberately chosen to live in …
A couple of months ago, using official UK gov figures for 2016, I calculated that if you did away with the whole pension/ unemployment benefit/ and social security system, replacing it instead with a single annual payment of say £10,000 to everyone over school-leaving age, then not only would all (including the economy) benefit, but …
Does anyone have any successful first-hand (no links please) experience with treating cataracts, avoiding the need for surgery? If yes please get in touch. Phil. À procura de uma alternativa de tratamento para a catarata.Alguém tem algum sucesso em primeira mão (não os links por favor) experiência com o tratamento de catarata, evitando a necessidade …
Continue reading "– Searching for an alternative treatment to cataracts"
There are times in the making of a new garden when you begin to seriously consider whether if it all hasn’t been a huge mistake. This summer was definitely one of those moments. The hottest and longest on record, impossible to do anything. And when all the trees I had so carefully nurtured and cared …
Continue reading "– Patience is not only a virtue, but could save the planet"
Finding the keys to grief, unlocking doors to the soul. A wonderful thing has happened and I am bursting to tell, but the process of putting it all into words is proving so dammed hard (I had to draw a flow-diagram) it will need a certain amount of patience on your part to see how …
When we first arrived in Spain, and for many years afterwards, whenever the subjects of culture/ public services/ or democracy came up, I would feel forced to tell my new spanish friends how much better things were in the UK. And it wasn’t boasting, they were. That is, until now. I can’t believe that after …
At long last, here it is. Maureen’s story of how we gave up on leading a conventional life and invented our own. One where we could spend each and every day making lovely things, with natural and recycled materials, surrounded by tons of nature, and sharing it with lots of cats. The nine-year search for …
Now the silly season is here again, and that old perennial democracy is dusted down and paraded about, I’ve come up with some tips for any political candidates yet to be sullied by corruption or vested interest. 1) Introduce a new system of incentive credits, whereby if you don’t use any government service for one …
Does anyone have buddleia seeds and/ or agave seeds they can spare? Phil.
My latest musings, as finally spring arrives, blossom abounds, and at last can enjoy warmer weather/ longer days and evenings. I’ve been thinking about my house, and especially the shortcomings, as in lack of a bathroom/ toilet (indoor or outdoor), how cold it gets inside during the winter in the daytime (when the wood-burner isn’t …
A very mild start to winter here has finally turned into its usual cold/ dark/ and wet (Spain gets really cold too, believe it or not!). Luckily the forestry work around El Pocito over the last two years left a lot of pine in handy sizes, so this is providing the fuel for the wood-burner …
Further on my battle to the death to get the UK Department of Works & Pensions to pay a widow’s pension, legally authorised by the Spanish government. The Shadow Secretary of State (Labour MP for Leeds West, Rachel Reeves) has so far ignored not only my request for an independent inquiry (I have heard nothing), …
Does anyone have a UK WWOOF host directory (from the last five years) they can give me? Phil Rooksby, El Pocito, Oficina de Correos, Almonaster la Real, 21350, Huelva, SPAIN.
The latest on the widow’s pension/ meltdown at El Pocito. Even if you don’t feel able to spare a five euro note to help save the work at El Pocito, there is still something really positive you can do (like right now, before you forget) that costs absolutely nothing. And that’s to send a quick …
Further on my current financial crisis, thanks to the UK government. It’s nearly two months since I had ANY income, social security is not possible or any other benefit (so donations gratefully received – I need £4000 a year). Zero response from The Rt Hon Iain Duncan Smith MP (Secretary of State, Department for Work …
HELP URGENTLY REQUIRED Do you have a friend/ relative who is a prominent journalist/ MP/ MEP in the UK? I need someone to highlight the illegal activities of the UK Works & Pensions Office, especially that of two employees working in its Bereavement department, who have been obstructing my application for a widow’s pension for …
On this day a year ago, at 11.30am, my soul-mate Maureen died. She was the most special and talented person I have ever known, quite literally an angel who had been given the chance to spend a short time on earth as one of us. I was the lucky one who got to share 35 …
One of the many legacies Maureen left behind when she died, was an unpublished book. She had been working on it for about seven years, under the guidance and encouragement of her good friend and mentor Tim Manderson (editor at Random House and Faber & Faber), honing the masses of stories she had written about …
Once again I’ve been asked again to write something for the blog, just to let people know that El Pocito and I still exist. Well worry no longer, all is well with both of us. And after much rain, far earlier than usual, I have at long last been able to get out onto the …
Today I am going to break the habit of a lifetime and ask for financial help. Not something I do without a lot of soul-searching, as Maureen and I always believed we should only work with what we had, credit being the “work of the devil” and totally unsustainable. But EL POCITO could really do …
My very good and endlessly patient friend Dennis, in Dumfries & Galloway, has suggested I write more (blogs) to increase traffic to the site. I don’t know how or if this actually works but I do happen to have two things on my mind right now, maybe not quite what he had in mind, but …
Does anyone know of a good solicitor in the UK who can help me make a UK Will? Flexible enough so I don’t have to come over (it can be signed/ witnessed here with a Notary)? If yes please send me their name/ email address as soon as possible. Urgent.
I’ve been re-reading NATURE CURE by Richard Mabey. Part nature writing, part thesis on how we are all responsible for destroying the planet, and partly too about his nervous breakdown. A recommended read to anyone who needs inspiring, even if he (along with Edward Goldsmith of THE ECOLOGIST) are among those who are most to …
…why haven’t I written anything here recently?The answer is simple, nothing has happened. I am still in the same state of shock, and still stuck outside the world everyone else exists in. Some people can see me, but for most I am like a ghost passing invisibly by, a thick glass wall between, that stops …
Continue reading "– Eduardo, the bank manager in town, asks…"
If you are one of my loyal El Pocito “followers” please feel free to skip this blog, I’m sure you’ve heard enough of my moaning already. For the newbies though, here is the latest instalment of my attempt to survive the death of a goddess I was lucky enough to share 35 wonderful years with. …
It’s now been virtually three months since Maureen died (29th October, 2013), and just to let you know I am still alive here is the latest on what happens when you are bereaved. Daily life still continues to be more of a nightmare than anything like it was before. The mood-swings continue, with the slightest …
For those of us who are single, and really don’t like it, I ask that the rest of you give us a few minutes of your precious time over this festive period to think about how you can share your good fortune by helping us to find that someone special too. It seems crazy there …
More Bereavement tips, stuff I forgot to include in the previous blog. I don’t know if any of it is typical but all happened to me. • Every day since Maureen stopped breathing (I still can’t accept she’s dead, rather it’s she’s just gone away for a while), something has broken or worn out. • …
The film I adore above any other, ever, has now suddenly become my nemesis. I am living it out (with the roles reversed), including the spanish connection. Bereavement. Why does no-one want to talk about this? It’s probably going to happen to most of us at some point. And because of that, using my number …
It with great sadness I have to impart that Maureen has just died, last week, on Tuesday 29 October. Maureen was and evermore will be Sofia, of MONKEY & SOFIA fame. Sofia being the magical kitten we rescued from the streets of Odemira in Portugal and who gave us so much love and affection during …
Breast cancer. A disease that has been killing women for as long as anyone can remember, and is now increasing exponentially. Whose victims now put any other epidemic, or death by warfare, into the shade. It is the greatest human disaster ever. Once diagnosed, chances of survival, as in no further re-occurrence of cancer are …
Continue reading "– the pandemic that governments are doing nothing to prevent"
How can I say such a thing, who hasn’t given money to one because we know this is the only way there will be a cure. Well, sadly we have all be grossly misled. The grim truth about giving money to any of them is they are doing no more than playing to one of …
This is for those confident enough to add stuff up then appreciate what that total means. Because now you know the global population is way over being sustainable (7 billion and increasing every 8 seconds), which in itself is worrying enough but then you have to add in how much damage each of these extra …
“Just imagine there is one starry night left till the end of this world… What would we do?” (reproduced from the sleeve notes of THE LAST BALKAN TANGO, a music CD by BORIS KOVAČ & LADAABA ORCHEST). How will you be celebrating? Yes, I’m serious. The one thing everyone seems to be ignoring right now …
Further to my previous blog about this cult, I have just received two replies from the offices of the great Rob Hopkins himself. These TTM people are even more scary than I first imagined. Not only because predictably they totally ignored all my questions (from the earlier blog), like how will people have enough food/ …
After 38 years growing into the UK’s largest independent wholesaler/ distributor of wholefoods, dedicated to selling only vegetarian products, increasing the organic sector, and ethical business, SUMA the famous workers co-operative has now decided to change sides, by selling direct to the customer through Amazon.co.uk. Not only undercutting retailers, but adding even more to the …
Continue reading "– SUMA sells out, signalling an end to the independent wholefood shop"
A couple of questions for anyone who is currently involved in this scam: 1) why do you consider it okay to give Rob Hopkins (or anyone else) payment for information that is already available on the internet/ in books for free? 2) if and when the world oil supply does run out or become too …
this is an extract from A HOUSE BY THE SHORE by Alison Johnson, which was first published in 1986. I reproduce it to reinforce the message of the previous blog and show how soon we forget the past and adapt to everything new as if it were normal. The farm fresh, country eggs pictured lying …
I’ve just received in our inbox a flurry of postings from the yahoo group forum plants for a future, about a proposal to organise a bike ride around the UK visiting forest garden projects. Normally I automatically delete these as I am not interested in what sad urbanites, who think they can combine two opposing …
If you value any of the following: creativity/ democracy/ freedom/ self-sufficiency/ the planet, then be seriously concerned about AMAZON. Along with all the other oppressive regimes, it is seeking to return us all to the dark bad days of serfdom, a new Middle Age. Even worse for screwing its workers & suppliers than the multinationals …
I came across a site this week (in the UK), in my constant search for likeminded souls, claiming to be about eco-architecture and weirdly featuring the home of a couple we used to know. Proudly claiming they had just retrofitted it to do their bit to save the planet while at the same time providing …
I came across the word succussion yesterday (it means shaking, probably with some force as it mentioned earthquakes) and got me thinking. Among other things, about the work of Victor Schauberger, Rudolf Steiner, and Jesus (the bit about changing water into wine). For some time I have known you can dramatically extend products that are …
Readers of this site will already know my view on organic "products". For newcomers, very briefly, I have had so much experience of corruption and downright stupidity by commercial producers, plus the realisation that most of what we take for granted as " food" is not what our body actually needs, that the organic symbol …
Continue reading "– farmers markets, pointing the way forward?"
When I was growing up in South London during the 50s and 60s, one of my best memories is visiting East Street Market in Walworth. It had everything then and was immense, sprawling far out among the side streets in a way that makes Brick Lane seem insignificant. Afterwards we would walk up the Walworth …
Exclusive. Local authorities are set to scrap bin collection and other waste services in a massive shake-up of provision. After finally realising that combining waste and landfill is not only contaminating land and water sources, and the cost to ratepayers continuing to rise, a radical re-think has turned the whole problem on its head in …
Continue reading "– Local Authorities radically re-think waste management"
a simpler kind of life - the handbook aimed at those who prefer to read their books on paper, as opposed to electronically (yet another really bad idea). Five of the website pages transferred into a handy A6 booklet (102 pages). The perfect gift for anyone interested in self-sufficiency/ alternative health/ forest gardening. Available for …
How to live off-grid 