Kingly Vale

Kingly Vale is a National Nature Reserve and home to some of the oldest living things in Britain. The yew trees can't be dated precisely but are at least 1,000 years old, probably older. I love it here, it's haunting beauty never fails to amaze. The trees are known as The Watchers...over all those years what have they seen...

Pops in awe!

Kingly Vale is just outside Chichester in West Sussex http://www.naturalengland.org.uk

yellow

wild pesto

From source to kitchen!

 Making wild garlic pesto is really easy, tastes amazing and is cheaper than chips. You can find wild garlic growing this time of year in wooded shady areas... 

Wild Pesto

Recipe: wild garlic (20 leaves), 

100g roasted pumpkin and hazelnuts, 

squeeze of fresh lemon juice, 

enough olive oil to make it pesto like,

 season with black pepper and sea salt.

                        

One Planet Community

There's a lot going on out there that gives hope... ignoring the chemtrail conspiracies and crazy bank situation and you can find projects established and emerging to put a smile on your face and a lovely warm feeling in your heart :)  here are some cool links to some of these projects:

shipping container home (Hive Modular)

BedZed - ZEDfactory is an innovative practice exclusively committed to low energy, low environmental impact buildings and associated lifestyles.
Hockerton Housing Project - Autonomous and Zero Carbon since 1998!



Lammas Eco Village - Rural eco village in Wales.
Ashley Vale - Self Build Cohousing Community Bristol, U.K
Lilac - Leeds Ecovillage, U.K
Greg Searle from BioRegional, and  One Planet Communities
Window Farms - Ideas for Urban Farming
The Vertical Farm - Cities of the Future?
Cohousing UK - info on cohousing in the u.k and how to get involved

Somona Mountain Village, California 

the smallest change to our behavior can make a difference ...

(electromagnetic) dawn chorus

Alchemy Biscuits

I finally got some time to do some work for myself and after a productive day I really wanted something sweet---Village life...ah---  where is late night Co-op when you need it? What no 24 hour shop...?
So I looked in the cupboards to see what was there and from something ordinary i created these delicious bars of gold! These biscuits are healthy, energy, brain food treats--- . I'll take them to the studio tomorrow to my other job which is sewing for Dutch designer Carola Van Dyke. I do love stitching a pugs face to a cushion.

Here is my recipe for the vegan Alchemical Biscuit, with cocoa, coconut and oat  :

180g oats (blitz in food processor to make coarse flour)
50g milled flax,sunflower and pumpkin seed
handful of raw cocao nibs
1tsp seasalt
1/2 tsp bicarb
1 tbs olive oil
2 tbs syrup (only had golden syrup, think agave would be better)
220ml coconut milk
handful of coconut flakes
50g - 100g cocoa powder

Mix it all together in a big bowl.
Dust the surface and your fingertips with cocoa powder.
 Make little balls of dough and form into biscuit sized portions.
Place on your greased and baking paper lined tray, about 1cm thick.
Bake in the oven at 180c for 15 mins.

These are a couple of Carola's cushions and a photo of Linsey Bell artist and friend inside a yurt at Safari Britain, interior designed by Carola...

Gary the bull terrier

   

Charlie the pug   

the blind girl

The Blind Girl, John Everett Millais 1856 (b&w)

Me and my friend Juliette took these photos last friday night. The one below reminded me of a painting I loved as a kid.

Venus & Mars

 

I went to Herstmonceux Observatory with my good buddies Astral and Opiium for an Open Night. We spent a good few hours looking through the giant telescopes built in 1896 at Mars, Venus, Jupiter, Orion's Nebula and the Moon's terminator line (yes it's the line where the shadow meets the light where you can see the mountains and craters!) I've got the bug - now I want to join a club and buy a telescope! Looking at planets and stars millions of miles away is mind-expanding, awesome! So are the art spray guns they have at the centre - we made these psychedelic spiral paintings of an undiscovered universe inside a black hole within a black hole ... ;) 

Galileo's drawing of the moon through his telescope

  well worth a visit...  http://www.the-observatory.org/

happy international women's day!

possible

I get a little bit nerdy when it comes to polaroids,...Thank you Impossible Project (you're amazing!), they've made it possible to buy polaroid film in shops again including Clock Tower Cameras in Brighton.

could there be anything more delicious in my fridge? (not sure you should put them in there... but must be better than getting them too warm?!)New Polaroids coming soon! You can view recent polaroids i've taken on my flickr page...

In October 2008 The Impossible Project saved the last Polaroid production plant for integral instant film in Enschede (NL) and started to invent and produce totally new instant film materials for traditional Polaroid cameras. In 2010 Impossible saved analog instant photography from extinction...

Since a little kid i've loved polaroid. An instant photo - something real to hold in your hand, a little moment captured, a one-off image never to be repeated, something refreshing in the digital age. My Dad took hundreds of polaroids in the 70's and 80's... arty pictures and family photos. I have memories of the polaroid camera, the noise it makes as you press the button and it ejects the small square image that slowly develops in front of your eyes as if by magic. My Dad used the SX-70 which I've now borrowed forever from him, thanks Pops ;). He has been a massive inspiration to me. He is still an Artist and has been a Tattooist for over 25 years http://jimmacairt.com/, he also designs and makes tattoo machines available to buy.

Here are some of his polaroids taken in the 80's.