sou'west

it's blowing in hard and fast from the south. they say it's not going to ease until monday.
i'm no longer sure what day it is, but monday seems a long long way away.
until then, expect more wind, hail and snow.

when is it going to run out? there has been so much cold wind, hail and rain from the south that you'd expect, by now, that the south would be a giant void. the weather storage warehouse- empty. but hang on, isn't there supposed to be a recession going on? how come the weather factory hasn't reduced its hours?

here it is, not even the end of may, by rights, i shouldn't even be mentioning winter, and yet i am over it already!!!!

xx
mama b
not even dreaming of tropical holidays

CRISP

we're not talking about a wafer thin piece of english potato snack here. we're talking about the state of our winter.
don't be fooled by p in a t shirt, what we're really looking at is c, rugged up and winter ready for cycling adventures outside of the republic.

cos boy, winter caught the bus and arrived in the republic today.

after days of balmy beach going weather, of sultry nor'westers and barefooted garden follies all of a sudden that busload of winterywhatsits arrived with all its white luggage. it has rained and rained and rained so much that even the english crisp would be soggy. the hills are wearing their snowy white winter coats. and the mountains - well, those southern alps that had spent the whole summer standing there, trying to look inconspicuous, in some sort of mountianconspiracy, are now Mountains. they dominate the horizon in a spectacular and not at all discreet mountainish fashion.

if you were planning any expiditions to the rara republic in the next 5 minutes i would suggest you bring along a set of thermals. or, a rather smart fluffy ensemble that c here is wearing, brought especially from france, by his nannie; from his super-nannie.

despite all our efforts to install lovely passive solar heating (nothing posh, we're talking large, northfacing windows) it only actually makes a difference if the sun is out.

oh well. tis a good thing we've got a lovely great heater and a jolly good set of pinkbats (insulation- neither of which are standard issue round here)

i pity the chickens. poor things. their yard is looking rather slick and with the other citizenry onto winter soup mode the kitchen scraps aren't so plentiful as a month ago. tis a good thing that c has gone off his weetbix!

xxx
mama b
(i've got slippers- bring your own!)

no need for drums

you've waited long enough- we have too. it's fabulous to see really, to scroll down and look at the other collage and think- heck, is that it?
not every photo has been taken from exactly the same angle- to tell you the truth i was just to imaptient to see the thing myself. but all the images are of the same old bland spaces that were there 6 months ago.

gosh, was it 6 months already?

last night p and i spent our first night in our very own room; i won't elaborate further other than to say it was, well, quiet.

so, ladies and gentlemen, no need for a drum roll (but feel free to open a bottle of something), let me present you with the
(almost) finished article.

all that rests to be done now is several kilometres of skirting boards, architraves and window frames. and the rest of the garden (did i tell you we went and collected 700 bricks today?).
and a little relaxing and loving and learning and growing and nurturing and nourishing and


xx
mama b
(tickled pink)

(room colour nomenlature includes such beauties as astronaut (c's room) summer green and aubergine (living space) passion and effortless (big bedroom)... who'd have thought?

it's late at night
the house squeaks and sighs

and sleeps

i was hoping to have filled you in on our progess, to have presented you with a delightful collage of updatedness.

but as it turns out, i went on a tour de maison, taking photos to present in said collageryness and bugger me- not one single room is finished.

not
one
single
room

obviously, that drew a swift line under that little excursion into creativity.

so. ho hum. paint under fingernails and in the hair (i know, that excuse is drawing a little thin- it's not grey hair, it's paint!), i think this time we can allow ourselves the opportunity to open a bottle of something:

tomorrow

we shall be moving into

our

own

room

oh yes. we're not completely prepared, but whattheheck. in the spirit of the rest of the house we're going to move in before it's finished. then i shall do some v creative, softfocus photography & give you all a good look round of how it all is.

xxx
mama b

before

i made this collage with the intention that i would make another, matching collage to go with it. shots taken from the same angle...
well, my intentions are honourable. so tomorrow i'll try and do the same thing again.
obviously, the house hasn't changed so much from the outside, besides the garden. but internally- well, i struggle to make the connections between then and now so i'm not sure how you'll do.

the woman who used to live here came round to collect her mail the other day.
she was shocked.
as i was; she had lived here, with her family, for 8 years.

xxx
mama b

uptonogood

"what?"

it's hard to believe it wasn't him with a face as innocent as that!

xx
mama b

going up?

tired of the old word recycling and all that goes along with it?
how about upcycling.
it's my new favourite word. i stumbled upon this term the other day and decided it needed further investigation. according to wiki:

Upcycling is a component of sustainability in which waste materials are used to provide new products. It is generally a reinvestment in the environment. "Upcycling is the practice of taking something that is disposable and transforming it into something of greater use and value."^{[citation needed]} This process allows for the reduction of waste and virgin material use.

The term upcycling was coined by William McDonough and Michael Braungart, authors of Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things.

it turns out it's even better than recycling and it's what we've been doing all along. brilliant.

xx
mama b