On this beautiful day in the west of Ireland…Potting on seedlings, dealing with slugs and enjoying a bit of a rant! When something is not right, then it’s just not right!
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Category Archives: Politics
Climate Change…The Elephant in the Room
The conference in Paris is underway as I write this.
World leaders have gathered to discuss, debate, harangue and eventually come to some agreement…hopefully!
However, there are two aspects of any agreement, that the mainstream media will ignore, in their reporting of the biggest threat to face humankind ever!
The first one is evident to anyone living in the developed world: we have to consume less, much less and, in fact, change our entire perspective of how we live with this planet…not, as many say, on this planet!
This means reducing consumption of consumer goods, oil, but, more importantly, changing our diets and expectations.
We have become used to buying food from all over the world, holidaying all over the world, eating more meat than any other generation before us and living in homes where heat is supplied at the flick of a switch.
You will not hear political leaders talk such talk, as this has no place in “economic growth”…
Western society in it’s present form is unsustainable…even without the massive problem of Climate Change!
(For example…did you know that there are, today, nearly 65 billion animals worldwide, including cows, chickens and pigs, crammed into Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs)…Factory Farms to you and me!)
We eat meat as a snack food…unheard of when I grew up!
However, much as the mainstream media ignore much of the above, there remains a most important part of this problem unspoken of…
War and the Military machines of increasingly feudal governments. They’re right up there in the major league of Climate destroyers!
Did Al Gore even mention the devastating impact of endless wars and military in his money-spinning presentation?
No!
Why?
It was an Inconvenient Truth.
It represents the Elephant in the Room that no-one wants to talk about!
Last year, the UK government spent $60.5Billion on Defence.
A huge amount of money that could have provided solar power and retro-fitted insulation to millions of homes…yes, millions!
Here’s an article that evaluates the US military’s impact on climate http://www.countercurrents.org/smith261115.htm
“Militarism is single greatest institutional contributor to the growing natural disasters intensified by global warming.” 
~J Lawrence
Some of the facts, should you care to research them are staggering… for example, an F-4 Phantom Fighter burns more than 1,600 gallons of jet fuel per hour!
It is interesting that the spin on war and climate change has already begun, with the media posing the question does climate change cause war and refugees.
Refugees do not cause climate change.
It is time we did a little number crunching for ourselves!
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Time of Destruction
Reflecting on the past weekend and the sad events which overtook us all…
The podcast from Bealtaine Cottage…
Is Ireland Ready For a Second Famine?
It is not what Food Harvest 2020 and Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney would be prepared for, despite the fact that the Ministry is ultimately responsible for the food security of the nation!
The people of Ireland would be forced to repeat the history of the 1840s and this time at the hands of their own elected government!
…Read the full text and blog at Bealtaine Cottage Good Life
We Have Governments
We have governments grown into monsters, so disconnected from the will of the people, that they have to control the mainstream media.
We have governments wanting us to spend away our own future and that of our children…consume, consume, consume!
We have governments leading us into wars that have nothing to do with us!
We have governments that no longer represent our hopes and dreams!
We have governments pulling us into the greatest scramble for resources ever witnessed on Planet Earth.
We have governments, elected as our trustees, who bend the will of the people into acts of barbarism and ecocide!
We have governments. We do not have representation.
We have governments. We have nothing. We are on our own…but…
Are we?
Well, anyone who regularly connects to this website knows better…we are individuals with so very much common ground, more than any political party, for we care about our Earth, our community, each other!
The people are sovereign…maybe it’s time to relay that fact to government!
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As War Looms…keeping Faith with Mother Earth!
Such news as makes me angry…so off into the gardens to get working and channel my energy as best I can!
And as if Mother Earth
heard my despair, she has worked tirelessly overnight making the compost heap look beautiful…I laugh out loud in joy!
This morning as I spread compost and seaweed on the vegetable beds, before mulching down with cardboard and straw, I ponder on putting the exposed earth to bed for the winter…this makes me feel as though I am nurturing the great Mother.
It is all I can do to help assuage the horrors of what Man does to her!
The big tidy-up is important, before the wind and rain sets in…and what a lot of tidying to be done!
Just in case you thought anything about where the compost toilet is emptied…in these neat bins, holes drilled into the bottom of each, no smell, no flies and thoroughly sustainable on site!
Cutting and chopping Willow to store for burning…as Charlie supervises!
The Lime trees have begun to shed their leaves.
The bees continue their daily forage in and around the Nasturtiums.
As the seaweed dries out, all these lovely shades of autumn emerge…
Let peace rise up as the Michelmas daisies around Buddha…my mantra for today.
Tend Mother Earth…in this time of destruction…it’s the best we can do!
The Month of Lughnasa
Lughnasa heralds the beginning of Autumn in the Celtic calendar.
Leaves have already begun to drop, with the gentle Birch tree being the first to shed.
There is so much fertility in this annual drop…Bealtaine now boasts reasonable soil, compared to ten years ago!
The change is equally gentle this year, as the summer gradually fades.
Sedums are developing their flower heads, slow to open, with big, flat, pink flowers coming through.
Pockets of light mist occur in the early evening, shrouding valleys and dips.
Lughnasa is my favourite month as the transition into Autumn begins.
Tonight a full moon will rise.
The air is still. Woodsmoke drifts lazily from the old stone chimney and bats begin to venture out.
I am half-sick of the daily news and the threat of war.
I have started knitting again, as a form of relaxing therapy and a choice to be constructive in the face of impending destruction!
Just handling the pure wool and staring at the colours and textures is both a comfort and a delight!
As we enter Autumn we are ready for change.
As we are driven into unstable times, so we need to prepare too.
Creating is important.
It keeps us grounded and optimistic.
The seasons continue, undisturbed by the vagaries of man.
And so shall I!
Game of Thrones
Western skies move slowly, as clouds bank up from the Atlantic Ocean.
Warm air merges with rain sodden earth and the mist rises, wisping it’s way over mountains, that sweep down to bog and lough on the western shores of Europe.
Ireland moves inexorably towards Midsummer and Solstice.
The settlements dotting the landscape are timeless, houses today, cottages not so long ago and earth forts before that.
Mountain, sky, water and earth hold the memory of past lives, all gazed upon by peoples from the past, invader and native alike.
This land has captivated the hearts of countless generations, breaking many on the way.
Revered as sacred, farmed and fought over, grown men have wept unashamedly, as they left from the American Wake, never to return.
Everything we have comes from the land; food, clothes, homes, furniture and health…especially health.
The cycle of life is bound, woven tightly, into the land.
We are woven into the land, despite the layers of seeming impermeability we weave between ourselves and the sacred earth.
In these days of threat and uncertainty, as our leaders play out the dangerous game of thrones that threatens war, our return to the land affords us time of calm and meaning.
We inhabit one very small and exquisitely beautiful planet in a universe of dying stars.
We are of stardust itself…united on this small, blue, beautiful planet.
An Act of Defiance from the Edge of Empire!
It seems as though governments all over the western world are colluding with big corporations and the energy companies to deliberately destroy our environments, and, in the face of much opposition from those who elected them into power…the people.
I have yet to meet the person who supports
war, fracking, privatisation of utilities, or GMOs.
Yet, politicians have, and are, engaged in the pursuit of all of these.
As we approach a global food crisis- and all the warning signs are there, such as rising food prices, oil and the effects of extreme weather- we are in desperate need of leadership.
Leadership is absent.
Rhetoric is everywhere.
We are being force-fed a diet of ‘GMOs are all that can save us,’ publicity, when patently this is not true!
The less choice in seed diversity, the more prone we are to potential famine.
I know that as a grower, working 3 acres of poor land…that it is diversity that builds fertility and food security!
What are we to do?
Act as defiantly in the face of bullish nonsense and stupid politicians as one can.
How?
Plant!
Living near the western seaboard of the Atlantic Ocean, I live on the edge of empire.
I refuse to allow the insanity of empire to bellow it’s anarchic way into my home…I have no television.
I plant.
I grow.
I live frugally.
If I lived in the middle of a city I would keep the same philosophy.
Be defiant: buy less; plant more; save seeds and share! It’s your future…don’t let the politicians mess it up!
This is a video I watched earlier and a fantastic template for those without gardens or allotments…or even with!
The Green Backyard
This is the story of a once neglected urban wasteland in Peterborough, recently transformed into a much-loved community resource by a crew of eager volunteer…
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