News!

New is that I am writing something!. John Lennon is quoted as saying life is what happens while you are busy making other plans. Thats very true. Despite that i am pleased to say that the diet has gone very well indeed. From 103 kilograms in late october to just above 90 kg  on tuesday .

13 kg over that period of time , without really trying, or doing anything exceptional like lots of exercise seems very sustainable to me.

Like most good things in life it was really very simple . Simply no more sugar, no more chocolate, no more deserts. Otherwise I was free to eat what I like, and I must admit that simply deciding not to buy these things was enough. No other decision required.

These products are produced unecessarily and at great cost to our natural world, and especially in the case of sugar, to human health. 

A large percentage of our worlds agricultural land is being taken up by producing luxury foodstuffs that ultimately benefit neither us or our world home. Cut out the market for this rubbish and the world is a better place.

Think of that next time you buy a snikkers or mars or magnum.

I say go on a diet thats good for you and good for the planet., and enjoy watching the imitators try to package this idea up.

You don't need it. just try it for yourself and help save our wonderful world single handed without subscribing for an expensive gym package.

Meanwhile Sunnys diets not going so well because she keeps snacking on the cats biscuits... and that really dosen't help1

Merry Christmas!

Wishing all a happy, simple, real christmas! BSJ

Reflections on the solstice

view from 2016

This is the time for reflection on the death of the sun before the cycle of life starts to turn again.

Its also a good time to reflect on the state of our planet circling around it. Unfortunately its not good news.

Just some of the high (or low)lights include crashing world populations of insects, an alarming escalation in the thawing of the arctic, and a tsunami of plastic, pesticides and herbicides.

I have been reflecting on the changes I have personally witnessed in the last 3 years. My home town Folkestone, is in the process of being swamped with un-thought out and very loosely regulated development as The garden of England looses its garden.

Here in Holland I have witnessed how the nature in Drenthe, (a region that prides itself on .. its nature.!) is being  decimated by intensive farming practices which are severely damaging to the region and the world.

Bad news EVERYWHERE...!

I started my personal journey on this route almost around 3 years ago, after years spent witnessing things go wrong, and doing frankly very little about it. I became very depressed at what I was witnessing, and at one point I gave up hope for our world.

That is such a powerless place to be in, the place of crushed spirit. 

My dogs played a part in pulling me through it and I resolved to take personal action, and to try to increase awareness of what is going on. I came to the conclusion that most of us are too busy surviving modern stressfull lives to care.

But why are our lives so stressfull? where are the improvements we were led to expect in this shiny modern new age of technological innovation?

Why is there so much stress , unhappiness, tension, depression?

I believe it is because we are increasingly loosing touch with the natural world and our true identity as children of nature. We have lost track of where true quality of life comes from.

Until we find our way back we are personally doomed to experience dissatisfaction and a lack of fulfillment, and our world is doomed to lurch from one self inflicted crisis to the other.

We are the problem. Its now time to become the SOLUTION.

Its time to stand up.

Winters here!

Big Boy in the snow

Winter has arrived here with an early dump of snow, and our birds have been really enjoying the peanuts, fat balls crumbs and sunflower seeds.

One of the joys of winter is watching the birds at the feeding station,  a tree in the front garden which is a open area free of ambush potential for the cats. As usual there have been surprise visitors, and this year a spotted woodpecker was one of the first.

Meanwhile we are privileged to have a small murmur of starlings which is putting on a special flight show every evening before coming noisily into roost in the back garden. I would guesss there is about 200 of them, so its pretty busy back there currently.

feeding the birds is a very easy way to attract more wildlife into your garden. Try to site your feeding station in a safe place for the birds. if you can see it from indoors even better because its a great sight.

No matter where you are, you are likely to get a few grateful visitors so its well worth the effort.

An update on progress!

Sun rise on the bird feeding station

I love the winter here. If I am lucky with the weather i get to see the sun rise and the sun set, and this is a photo of  a beautiful sun rise through  a tree that serves as a safe feeding place for the birds.

Fat balls, sunflower seeds and peanuts are currently very popular.! which leads me onto the diet.

Until now that has been going well for both of us, as some simple lifestyle changes have in my case led to an average(much needed!) weight loss of 1 kg per week. Plus i am starting to feel more energetic..for free!

I have concluded it would be possible to loose more weight each week, but I am looking for a sustainable weght loss that is easy to achieve and which will result in a lasting balance between what is good for me and  what is hopefully a bit better for the planet,

We are talking about adjustments in lifestyle here, not at this stage total abstinance, and I am deliberately not exercising harder as I wish to see how reducing certain types of food has an impact on how i loose weght and feel.

It is a lifestyle experiment but it certainly is not rocket science, and after 10 weeks I will know if it has had the transformative effect I hope for..

Meanwhile the break in the weather here has allowed me to hang up 6 brand new bird box's and plant a lot of allium bulbs in various pots, and to plan a few changes to my bit of the world renovation project.

Small changes. but hopefully they will compound with other small changes over time to really boost the biodiversity around here.

Sunny and me are on a diet!

Sunny and Boy letting off some steam.

It is a quiet period here in the garden as I have let it go a bit back to nature for the oncoming winter. So its a good point to try something new, and for me and Sunny that means a bit of a diet.

We are both at that sort of age where you have to adapt your lifestyle a bit, and just like me Sunny is crazy about food, and just like me, the pounds have come on a bit over the last few months. In my case quite a bit.

A few weeks ago I was shocked to discover that my weight had spiraled up to 103 kg, with a big lump of that fatty stuff coming on since the spring. That is 16.2197 English stones!

For some time i had been feeling pretty unfit, and when I discovered I was carrying all that extra baggage things started to make sense. Truthfully a few weeks ago I was feeling so energy less and lethargic, I concluded it would be almost impossible to shift the stuff.

That is not a nice place to be in, and now I have a lot more respect for other people wrestling with a weight problem. The psychological baggage of feeling that you have lost control of your body is not nice.

I did not have the energy, and I could not muster the willpower to start exercising. For a short period I gave up, and accepted this was the new me. Only the new me did not fit in my clothes any more so, so this was going to get expensive as well.

It was clearly time for action , but what to do?

The only thing I could think of was to stop eating what was clearly unhealthy for me.

And while I was considering that conundrum a spark of inspiration hit me, for funnily enough a lot of what is bad for me is also bad for our planet.

What if i could make some simple adjustments to my diet that would help me to loose weight with ease?..and be of benefit to helping shape a better world?

All I can say for now is that I have made a promising start.

As for Sunny.. well somehow I have to keep her away from the cat biscuits.

Meet the Hornet...King of the insects.

If your wondering what this strange looking beast is, its a hornet.

They seem to like it here because there's lots of insects to hunt. Wasps seem to be a favourite.

Early in the spring they took over a wasp colony, presumably eating all they found, and since then they are the apex insect predator around here.

They sound pretty frightening when they pass by (like a moped with an exhaust problem), but they mean us humans no harm at all.

Intelligent creatures, they are active day and night (when like moths they are attracted to light). They are also awesome hunters. Yesterday I saw one pick a wasp off our grapes and fly off with it.It grabbed the wasp from behind so it could not be stung.

These insects seem to have evolved complex stategies for capturing prey, when its off guard and focused on something tasty.

Another wonder of nature.

Going batty!

Nice picture of the dogs having fun!

Its been a while since the last post, so here's a short update on progress on our own WRP (world renovation project (: )!

Positive news from us and in the neighbourhood!

Last saturday we visited de Elzenhof. This is a small plant nursery , which has just celebrated its 10th birthday.

Established from nothing , this enterprise has brought an incredible amount of LIFE to the immediate area. The show garden and the plants for sale were awash in bees, moths ans butterflies, which is lovely to see in an area which has been badly affected by intensive agriculture.

I saw species of bumble bee which I have never seen before so we left with a plant and feeling inspired to do more.

It got me thinking. Our own WRP always goes a bit quiet in august, its as if the bees pack their bags and go on holiday.

Now I know where! Lesson learnt... we need more late summer bloomers, a lot more hopefully.

This is a perfect illustration of the recuperative power of nature, for given the right conditions and a bit of help, it can restore and heal itself. 

And what is really inspiring is that the effects can ripple out to sorrounding gardens, and even further as these life sustaining plants are passed on to others doing their own bit for the natural world.

Back at home yesterday evening I had a treat. Sitting out back in the dusk ,I watched a small bat circling round the area of our honeysuckle. the first bat I have seen here. Awesome.

Small , but positive developements

Our little feathered friends.

Humming bird moth visiting our honeysuckle

We share our house with amongst other things a colony of sparrows. 

These friendly little birds brighten up every spring and summer, with their chirping calls and the buzzing of their wings as they fly by.

In many places they are endangered , but here they thrive as their are plenty of nesting places under the tiles and the food is here plentiful.

They are sociable birds who live in small communal groups, that mostly get on just fine (except for the occasional noisy arguement with the neighbours.

A couple of weeks ago I saw the fledgelings from two neighbouring nests launching out on their first flights at exactly the same time.

With the coaxing of the adults they flew backwards and forwards between the house and a nearby tree, trying out their new wings for size.

Now as we speak, we have only one active nest left (which could even be their third brood this year!) . While the parents are away you can hear the sound of the new chicks chirping away inside.

Their father is a real character, as he has a habit of getting impatient with his nests , and weeks before they are due to fly, he waits outside fluttering his wings, as if trying to get them to fly, leaving mum to bring home the rations.

When the nesting period is over it falls quiet here as these birds go off into the sorrounding area in their small groups,  so that the youngsters can learn from the older birds how best to survive.

the picture shows one of my favourite plants at this time of the year . Honeysuckle. it smells divine, its great for moths and other insects , and the berries are a useful food source for many types of birds.

Why not plant some in your garden?

The Wonder of Chalk Streams.

While watching countryfile  I saw an excellent piece on a project to help save the river Kennet (made famous by the book wind in the willows).

ARK (action for river kennet)  www.riverkennet.org is active creating river habitats that will help combat low levels of water caused by overextraction. This action includes replanting vital waterplants that were lost when the river last became dry.

An interesting statistic in the program was that worldwide there are only around 200 of these rivers, and after checking this I have discovered that 85% of these are to be found in the UK.

Most of these have been suffering from neglect/misuse and therefore this world treasure, which is pretty much unique to England is in Jeopardy. A very usefull article on chalk streams is to be found at  (www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife/habitats/chalk-streams).

Where I come from in England (kent) we are lucky to have examples including the rivers Stour and the Dour. The dour runs through the heart of of Dover and is an oasis of calm in that town, and easy to miss because it is so small.

its crystal waters are alive with aquatic life, and unfortunately debris which gets thrown in , and is periodically cleaned up by volunteers.

I had no idea these rivers are so unique and vulnerable. water extraction particularly is a problem and that problem is likely to get more acute. Kent has often experienced water shortages, but the planned and progressing massive development of the area is a threat.

Worryingly the governments plans for new housing fail to take into account the impact, and the strain on existing limited natural resources.

All to frequently we hear about the destruction being caused  in far flung developing countries, while we are blind to the damage we cause at home. 

Its time to value and look after the priceless beauty to be found sorrounding our own homes.