A funny thing happened on the way to the farm shop

I was visiting my Mum a couple of weeks back and as she doesn’t drive I thought we’d have a run out to our favourite farm shop. This has been an institution in our family for as long as I can remember. Many a summer day has been spent at the attached pick your own which grows dozens of different kinds of fruit and veg all for the picking.

Anyway, on the way there we thought we’s stop at a garden centre/haberdashery/find-anything-you-need-here place. While there I saw this man walking towards me who I recognised – the Dad of my schooldays best friend. I haven’t heard from said friend for over 9 years and not seen her Dad for a good decade or more. Unsurprisingly he couldn’t put a name to the face, but we were soon chatting about how everyone was doing.

I lost touch with this friend less than a year before I got married – I was fed up of always being the one who phoned and then spending half an hour hearing about her life without being asked about mine. I vividly remember the last time we spoke, and having put the phone down turning to the OH and saying that I’d not be calling her anymore, she could call me. I knew then that she’d not call. Over the years I have wondered how she’s doing and have thought about trying to get in touch.

I wasn’t surprised when she didn’t contact me when I was at my Mum’s having just seen her Dad.

I don’t know if I ever did anything wrong, if maybe having been best friends for 14+ years she expected to be my bridesmaid. I would have hoped if I had done something she’d have said – she was never shy of an arguement!

So I’m not angry or sad. In some ways I’m pleased – closure I guess. It does make me wonder though, how, when life changes in so many ways everyday, that some friends stay for a short while, others for many years and a very few forever (I hope). Keeps us guessing.

Client rant

So here I am for the second consecutive night, working until stupid o’clock to pull the sorry arse of the most disorganised client in the world out of the myre YET AGAIN! The phone goes. “Is the TMDCINTW chasing me?” I think. Well yes, it is said client, but not chasing me, no, he wants to know if I think this strawberry plants are acting normally for the time of year.

At this point, I should admit my first thought was “you jammy bugger – strawbs on your plants when we have frost!!!”, but i won’t!

Excuse me? It’s fucking 11.30pm, you’re in serious danger of not having your own literature at your own exhibition and you’re phoning the only person who can help you out of the shit to ask about your strawberry plants? Not got a grip springs to mind.

So later, when I phone him, his response is “it’s party time here, we’ve got a 10CC CD on and the Stella out…” O.M.G!!! I refrained from letting him know I wouldn’t touch that gnat’s piss with a bargepole and that I had in fact poured myself a large glass of something single and malty long ago to make it through the worse-that-extracting-teeth pain of working for him.

But hell, it made me laugh!!!

1st of Autumn

It’s easy for people to believe the seasons begin on certain dates – that fits nicely with the calendar (whatever calendar it is you use). Generally speaking though, nature has it’s own calendar – every changing, different from one year to the next.

That’s the reason some years one crop will have a good yeild and the next it won’t – it’s not all down to sowing dates and location. It’s the reason people complain about a bad summer (meaning too wet) or a bad winter (also meaning too wet and usually not cold enough).

But for me, each season has it’s own feel – unquantifyable elements that can be detected by our senses, but probably not by scientific equipment. A certain smell, the feel of the air on your skin, the way your tea tastes (especially noticable if drunk outside). Daft I know, but true.

The most noticable of those changes is Autumn (although Spring has a definate….). Today, for me, is the first day of Autumn. The smell – probably made up of enough decaying fungi and the first fallen leaves – is heavy in the cold, damp air. There’s a heavy dew and a very pronounced chill that takes a while to shake off. The shadows are long and the morning light’s taken on a golden hue.

This is Autumn and it feels good – kind of cosy. Time to start hoarding for winter.

And the result?

The plastic challenge I talked about last has now come to an end. The conclusion can be read here.

It’s a real mixed bag for me. In some ways it appears she can’t be bothered with the extra effort required. And why was she doing it? Because it’s trendy to be green? Because the BBC was likely to buy that kind of article from her? Maybe, judging by her comments.

It does however highlight an issue that I’ve ranted about before – sustainability. I’m a big fan of the “softly, softly” approach – a little and often. If you try and do it all at once you’re setting yourself up for a fall. However, if you change a couple of things – take your own bags shopping, don’t overpackage stuff when you don’t need to (do bananas really need to go in a bag of their own?), use your own mug at work – it can make a difference and in the long run, you’re more likely to succeed, thus it’s sustainable.

A plastic challenge

I was very interested to to see this earlier today.

Packaging, or rather over-packaging is one of my bugbears, but his article really made me think. Is it realistic to think we could live without plastic anymore?

I think we could cut down on the amount we use and accept, but I’m not sure all of the article is really behind a reduction in plastic use. The bit about meat made me laugh:
“Meat is a prime example, he says, with so-called “modified atmosphere packaging” – gas-filled supermarket packs which delay deterioration – meaning that packaged cuts last as much as two weeks longer than the same product bought from a butcher. ”

Who buys meat and keeps it (unfrozen) for more than a few days?

I think if we really gave up plastic we’d end up with very few options. Is it OK to pick up a packet of tea and think “this is OK cos there’s no plastic” and conveniently ignore the fact that the “outer” was probably plastic wrapped? As I’ve mentioned recently, my involvement in a local-ish food co-operative has really made me aware of how much packaging the consumer never gets to see (whether it’s cardboard or plastic) and how buying in bulk doesn’t always help – after all, everything has to be packaged in something, whether you buy it by the 100g or the 1kg.

If we think back to a time pre-plastic, lives were very different. It was rare for both people in a relationship to be working full time. Things do change, but, as some people discovered when they were forced to reduced their car use because they couldn’t afford the petrol with recent price hikes, it is possible for us to still change. We can reduce our use of things current seen as “essential” without “returning to the dark ages” as some put it. “Why should I have to” is something I hear all too often for my liking. Those trotting that out don’t usually like the reply of “because you bloody have to”.

Some people can’t see beyond the convenience and speed at which life is lived today. “Why should I go back to only having one telly in the house? I can afford 5!” What would happen if there was only 1 TV? Would the family actually be forced to sit down together? Oh no! That would be a travesty! A total disaster! Can you imagine what would happen if there was no TV at all? Bloody hell, that would mean families might have to actually talk to each other, play games maybe. What on earth would they do with all that time if they couldn’t sit in front of the TV from 6pm-11pm? 5 hours a day extra to fill.

God, I’d love another 5 hours in my day.