Half term week

Quite an interesting week! Starting with the 350.org stuff, continuing with a bit of jogging, foraging, visiting friends, chatting.. not doing much college work.. reading about all sorts of bad things going on, and coming back to the same conclusion as always - do what you can, and don't stress about the rest.

The course here is a two year one, but I've decided that I'll not do the second year. The climate is totally different to that of Canada, and the plants that grow are also different. I'm sure there would be loads of value to be gained from doing the second year, but it just makes more sense to me to learn "on the job" in Canada.

I have been reading our course textbook, The Earth Care Manual (Amazon link), and one of the things it says is that flying is pretty much the worst thing we can do - that a round trip to Florida from the UK would use up all a lifetime's worth of emissions. Ouch.

So I think I'll be flying to Canada, and... not coming back. Wow. That's a big thing, but it makes sense. Time to put my money where my mouth is, so to speak.

Yesterday evening a load of people went to the Hollies for our teacher Paul's birthday party. Lots of drums, a few guitars, a couple of clarinets, and a flute were there... I was playing a collander for a while! Great fun.

Paul must have made about a hundred pizzas in their wood fired cob pizza oven. Yummy!

It just reemphasized for me how much fun you can have with low energy use! Ok that sentence sounds contrived, but it's true. A few people, some instruments, a fire.

This morning it is absolutely stunningly beautiful and sunny outside. I went down to the river, about half a mile's walk, and picked up driftwood to burn in our fire. Hard work, carrying just 3 logs back. I am a wimp!! It's another good point though - if it takes me half an hour or forty minutes to gather enough wood to burn for a couple of hours, think about how much energy is spent getting central heating fuels to your house. Think of the low efficiency in the pipes or transforming stations. Local and sustainable makes so much more sense.

Of course, the fact we have an incredibly inefficient open fire doesn't help! They are somewhere in the region of 25% efficient, where a wood burning stove might be 85%. A masonry stove might be 90% efficient, and release the heat over longer than a day!!

That's all for now, I think - time to cook up some roast potatoes! Mmmmm.