Share a little happiness

Following on from my blatherings about Freecycle, another way of making a difference is by showing people a little kindness and thoughtfulness.

Last week we bought a hen house from a great old bloke at Kirkton by Tough and arranged to collect a second one today.

He’s 91 and still going strong, but when we went down last week we noticed his neighbours didn’t know who he was or where he lived when we stopped to ask directions.

Yes, people can make a difference

I admit many of my posts on the state of the environment and the lack of action by those in authority can leave people wondering, can we as individuals make a difference?

The answer is yes. We can reject consumerism, we can reuse and recycle between each other, we can meet new people, and we can create new communities that do give a damn in the process.

One excellent example of this is the Freecycle Network, a grassroots, non-profit network of people across the globe who give and receive stuff for free.

Around the croft today

Delilah, who’s due to farrow piglets any day now, gets some attention from the boys.

Guilty of being too full-on

I’ve been a regular visitor and contributor to the Selfsufficientish forums for some months now, but have decided to take a break for a while.

It’s become obvious over the past few weeks that, while no one on the forum is being vile or vitriolic (far from it), I have had people saying on the forums, in private messages and on blogs that they find me intimidating, scary, full-on, over-the-top, terrifying and other words to similar effect.

I appreciate the context in which the comments have been written, but at the same time I’m well aware that I am very full throttle (always have been, always will be), very passionate about what I believe in and very willing to throw in my tuppence worth.