All sorts in my small society

In my last post I completely forget to mention how pleased I was to see the Fairtrade logo at all the Olympic venues we went to, all the tea, coffee and drinking chocolate was Fairtrade, and here is a picture to prove it.

Some of the sponsorship of the Olympics and the Paralympics may have left a sour taste in the mouth, DOW and ATOS spring to mind, but the flavour and background to the hot drinks at least left a very good taste.

On the subject of Fairtrade I spent a fruitful few hours last week taking posters for our Fairtrade and local craft fair round various shops around my home.
www.fairtrade.org.uk


Earlier this week I once again had just one referral for a 'short stop' bed, a young man of only 18, PAFRAS, the referring agency wondered if I could possibly find somewhere for more than one night. The household I contacted were sure that would be possible, so once again I signed off with a lighter heart than I had started the day with. www.pafras.org.uk

Wednesday was Coasties www.northyorkmoors.org.uk in the rain; but nothing daunted we put on our waterproofs, picked up our tools and set off to cut back overhanging foliage on the Cleveland Way at Stoupe Beck. The damp and now the slightly warmer weather has made sheltered areas like this almost tropical in the speedy growth of the green stuff. I had to put up with some banter about last week's post on the raking, but no mention of raking this week I noticed, although we were once again based at the alum works at Ravenscar.            

 Later in the afternoon I went back to the alum works to help move shale from a local quarry onto the new steps on the Cleveland Way diversion, a messy task in the rain. The new board walk across the stream looks very good, the steps will too when they are all finished.

I suggest that when all the work is done we should have a champagne opening of the new diversion, there is a comment that if I provide the champagne................



Today we went to Howsham Mill for a willow weaving workshop, there have been several of these traditional workshops over the summer, showcasing both the work happening at the Mill and various local crafts people. The Mill itself is surrounded by scaffolding, the work on the restoration is well under way, it will be a wonderful local resource, especially showing off hydro power, when it is finished. www.howshammill.ning.com.

                                    

Here are the chickens we made, they are now sitting in our garden, confusing the blackbirds and the doves. Ok, so they don't look like chickens, but we are ridiculously proud of them, and they add to the jollity of life. After they are finished we chat to some walkers about the Archimedes screw that not only supplies power to the mill, but also a healthy income from the National Grid to the Trust that supports the Mill.

You may ask what all these bits have to do with my small society. Well it's my small society and I can decide, but what gives me pleasure and satisfaction is the variety of activities, none of which cause harm and some, I hope, are useful and even doing good to someone, somewhere.