I have a hate/indifference relationship with cars.
On the one hand they are very good at getting you somewhere clean and dry and not smelling a bit (ok, a LOT)sweaty about the old armpit area.
On the other, my lack of driving skills means I have to rely on other people to drive me about.
I cannot drive, at all.
I started lessons at 17 with a really fat guy who really wasn't interested in teaching me to drive and then announced that he couldn't be bothered anymore.
The next instructor was going through a marriage breakup and seeing a girl half his age on the side. He basically used our lessons as therapy and more than once tried to come onto me.
Looking back with adult eyes I should have kicked his arse, but I was 17, he gave me my lesson on the cheap and as it was I could only afford them once every two weeks which wasn't enough.
So after failing my 3rd driving test and running out of money I decided to just leave it.
On the whole this hasn't affected me in the least.
I cycled, used public transport, got lifts off friends and family when needed.
It was only when we moved to Scotland that we began to rely on the car.
The public transport that I had taken for granted down south just wasn't there.
Instead of a daily (every hour)bus from town to town we now only had a once a week bus that only gave you 2 hours in town.
Instead of being able to walk a few miles we were faced with long fast roads with no pavements.
You can see why its taken us a while to get back into the car-less mindset. Its like trying to be Vegan in Greenland ;)
Anyway, today I cycled into town.
I was in a bad mood. We had tried to take Alfie (who was home with a cough) in the bike trailer with us, but a way up the road it became apparent that the trailer was going to need some looking at and adjusting, so I continued on to town while Kim turned back.
The wind got up as I left the village and by the time I reached the long downhill run I was peddling the whole way just to keep moving.
So I was tried and out of breath and my legs hurt because I'm out of shape.
I dropped some videos and books off at the charity shop (and picked up some more *heehee*), then nipped into the shop for some bread, a paper, some cookies and a bottle of water.
(Yeah..should probably deduct 10 green points *sigh* I have at least kept the bottle and will fill it from the tap nest time, I promise!)
So I started the ride home and guess what?
That wind that I fought against on the way down the hill was now making my life just as hard going up hill. I don't know HOW it does it but there must be some freaky funnel thing going on up that stretch of road, the wind is ALWAYS in your face.
So I got about half way up and decided to stop for a drink (So thirsty today, I think I'm getting Alfie's cold).
I stood on the side of the hill sipping my drink and looked back the way I'd come.
I could see Dunnydeer hill fort and behind it the glens, still thickly covered with snow. I could see the cloud rolling in with the threat of rain, or maybe more snow. I could hear the tentative bird song from the trees behind me, as though the birds where optimistic of spring as the temperature had crept up to 8oC.
A Car shot past me, then another.
I finished my drink and set off again.
Nearing the top is a field that has half a dozen yearlings and two year old horses in it for the winter.
I called to them as I came up to the field and curious, they came over, one at first them in two and threes, ears pricked, tails high.
Even though my legs hurt I put the bike up a gear to go faster and chirruped to them. A big bay Irish Draft popped into a clumsy canter trying to keep up, the others following. I clicked to him. He went faster, then slipped a little, frightening himself and shot off to the side, bucking and snorting and took the rest with him.
I laughed and shouted goodbye as I hit the top of the hill.
Coasting down I opened myself up to everything. I could hear the streams as I passed them, the birds, the leaves. I could see the trees, the mountain, the sheep who flinched away for two strides as I passed before ignoring me again. I could feel the wind on my face and the bumps in the roads.
And I realised this is why I can't drive. Look at what I miss by being in the car. The bike becomes a part of you, artificial for sure but it reacts to a lean of your body, a movement of your leg.
The car on the other hand removes you from everything.
Is this why there are so many accidents?
You sit in a little bubble, protected from the elements, shielded from rain and wind and dirt. But you also loose most of your senses, you trust your cars ability to read the road because you can't.
The very thing that made me scowl at the beginning of the ride made me smile and laugh out loud by the end.
I need that connection to my environment and maybe more people do as well.
Showing posts with label cycle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cycle. Show all posts
Wednesday, 27 January 2010
Thursday, 21 January 2010
Winter riding..thank you Mr Gritter man :)
My new cycle hat!Got out on the bike today for the first time since ..wow..well before Xmas really. If you remember back a long I was hit bad with some nice funky asthma and as soon as I recovered from that the snow and ice came, so we're probably talking nearly 6 weeks!!!
Anyway, checked out the roads on Tuesday as we had to go into town to pick up some upholstery webbing for the sofa talented husband is building (you will see ALL soon!) and figured the roads were nearly ready to go on again with two wheels.
Apart from having to go up the main village road, rather than cut through the housing estate we usually do, and having to walk gingerly up our new ice rink (or lane as we used to call it) the rest of the ride was fine.
The gritters had done their job and the temp had stayed just above freezing last night so there was no sneaky ice patches waiting to get me.
The COLD lonely road home.
It would have been a lovely ride into town had it not been for some IDIOT in a silver Astra complete with *cough*penisextension*cough* spoiler on the back who very nearly wiped both me AND Kim out. He passed so fast and so close that he nearly pulled me into the road.
Kim kept a beady eye out for his car in town but didn't find him.
We seriously have no trouble on the roads. We know a lot of the people using them, at least to raise a hand to, and 99% of people pass us at a sensible speed and give us space, even without the kids with us. But there is always the idiot. As I said to Kim though, you get the idiot factor when you are in a car as well.
Kim waiting for me to take pics, what a trooper :)
Ce la vie.
What you gonna do? Turn for home and never set foot out your house again? Probably more chance of getting killed in a car crash than getting killed on a bike.
Anyway, idiot aside, we got to town in one piece and I set to my mission.
My plan today was to note down prices for fruit and veg in the local shop and the little farmers cabin and compare them with the supermarket prices.
I'm hoping there will be little to no difference as once I get the trailer up together I want to do as much of our shopping in the little town rather than drive all the way to Big town or have to get it delivered.
The cabin especially uses a lot of local produce so is doubly green!
The basket, part of my arsnel for leg powerd shopping! So after spending a few minutes scribbling down prices like some demented vegetable spotter, we cycled home again.
Dunnydeer Hill Fort, as seen from the Insch/ Auchleven road.
I was really pleased to feel not that unfit considering.
I didn't need to stop, could still talk while cycling up hill and felt good when I came home.
I do need to get fitter I know I've put on weight, even though me and the scales have not been on speaking terms since before Xmas (my jeans declining to do up though said more than any words could). So back to cycling :)
Monday, 21 December 2009
Merry Xyulesolmas everyone!
I hate the Americanism (sorry American people!) "Holidays". If you have something specific to celebrate this time of year be proud to say what it is!!
I'm not a Christian so I rarely say Christmas, preferring instead to use the more secular Xmas (something my staunch Salvation Army Grandparents hated with a very un-Christian like passion).
So here it is though...whatever you like to call the winter celebration.
Today was Solstice, the shortest day of the year, and in celebration of that we did what we have done nearly every year, we put up our tree.
We get our tree from friends who have acres of baby pine trees and have invited us for the last two years to help ourselves.
I find cutting our own tree odd in the sense that when you are outside they all look like teeny tiny scraps that will look like the ugly tree none of the other trees wanted to play with but when you get it home you realise that its grown 5 inches and bushed out like a fluffed up hen.
Sure its not the fullest or the softest (the piercing "Ow!"'s that came as the kids decked our trees sharp branches seem to be another Basford tradition) but it seems more down to earth, more level headed than a genetically modified "ideal" tree or worse the plastic perfection of the false one!
Anyway, next year we plan to buy some baby trees of our own and add a little neutral carbon to our festivities.
The tree wasn't the only exciting thing to happen today. This afternoon our new puppy came home!!
Merle (which means blackbird)is a tiny fluff of Yorkshire terrier and seems perfectly happy to come live with us, has fallen in love with Jenny the vegan collie (who is trying to stay aloof but stuck her nose through the pen bars every time he squeaked)tried to make friends with Biko the cat (who hissed then went to lie by the fire and pretend nothing had changed). He had an alert hour and some dinner then went "plop", all tuckered out, fast asleep, been a long day for a 'lil pup.
Like a new mum I am left wondering if I should wake him soon for some more play so he doesn't wake at 2am crying.
Anyway, Xmasy wishes aside here's a preview of what the (almost) car-less family will have to offer in 2010!
Gardening
With more emphasis on what we eat and a lot more planning than in previous years we hope to bring you more insight into our self-sufficiency(ish) lifestyle.
Home
As we are finishing some home improvement and starting some new eco-home plans this coming year we will have lots to share, starting with how we fit a family of 5 in what is basically a 1 bed house.
EnvironmentWe have been talking about it forever but we hope 2010 will be the year that we do something with our land. A radical re-think of how we keep our horses and a plan to plant coppicing woods and "old" woodland on our acreage means lots of plans, debates and pictures on how we get on.
Cycling
Now that we are set up with a trailer the bikes should be back out in force once the ice lets up for a few days.
There will, of course, be much more than this but these are some of the main points I want to cover in detail over the next 12 months.
The (almost) car-less family is very excited about 2010 and what it will bring and hope all our regular readers (and new ones of course!) will come along for the ride with us!
Thanks for stick by the last 5 months!
Love, Kelly, Kim, Ollie, Owen and Alfie xxx
I'm not a Christian so I rarely say Christmas, preferring instead to use the more secular Xmas (something my staunch Salvation Army Grandparents hated with a very un-Christian like passion).
So here it is though...whatever you like to call the winter celebration.
Today was Solstice, the shortest day of the year, and in celebration of that we did what we have done nearly every year, we put up our tree.
We get our tree from friends who have acres of baby pine trees and have invited us for the last two years to help ourselves.
I find cutting our own tree odd in the sense that when you are outside they all look like teeny tiny scraps that will look like the ugly tree none of the other trees wanted to play with but when you get it home you realise that its grown 5 inches and bushed out like a fluffed up hen.
Sure its not the fullest or the softest (the piercing "Ow!"'s that came as the kids decked our trees sharp branches seem to be another Basford tradition) but it seems more down to earth, more level headed than a genetically modified "ideal" tree or worse the plastic perfection of the false one!
Anyway, next year we plan to buy some baby trees of our own and add a little neutral carbon to our festivities.
The tree wasn't the only exciting thing to happen today. This afternoon our new puppy came home!!
Merle (which means blackbird)is a tiny fluff of Yorkshire terrier and seems perfectly happy to come live with us, has fallen in love with Jenny the vegan collie (who is trying to stay aloof but stuck her nose through the pen bars every time he squeaked)tried to make friends with Biko the cat (who hissed then went to lie by the fire and pretend nothing had changed). He had an alert hour and some dinner then went "plop", all tuckered out, fast asleep, been a long day for a 'lil pup.
Like a new mum I am left wondering if I should wake him soon for some more play so he doesn't wake at 2am crying.
Anyway, Xmasy wishes aside here's a preview of what the (almost) car-less family will have to offer in 2010!
Gardening
With more emphasis on what we eat and a lot more planning than in previous years we hope to bring you more insight into our self-sufficiency(ish) lifestyle.
Home
As we are finishing some home improvement and starting some new eco-home plans this coming year we will have lots to share, starting with how we fit a family of 5 in what is basically a 1 bed house.
EnvironmentWe have been talking about it forever but we hope 2010 will be the year that we do something with our land. A radical re-think of how we keep our horses and a plan to plant coppicing woods and "old" woodland on our acreage means lots of plans, debates and pictures on how we get on.
Cycling
Now that we are set up with a trailer the bikes should be back out in force once the ice lets up for a few days.
There will, of course, be much more than this but these are some of the main points I want to cover in detail over the next 12 months.
The (almost) car-less family is very excited about 2010 and what it will bring and hope all our regular readers (and new ones of course!) will come along for the ride with us!
Thanks for stick by the last 5 months!
Love, Kelly, Kim, Ollie, Owen and Alfie xxx
Tuesday, 10 November 2009
Can't give up the car? Green your outlook anyway :D
Regular readers will know that although we here at the (almost) car-less family, strive for a life without the car,we also accept that in some instances people (us included) are not fully able to give their car up completely.
For example, we live in a rural area with inconsistent and highly variable public transport. We have children and animals and also like to use Freegle (ex freecycle) a lot.
Do we beat ourselves up about occasional car use?
Hell no!
We're only human, and we have lives to lead, but we do try to stick to a few golden rules that I thought I'd share with you today....
Plan ahead. It sounds so simple doesn't it. But think about how many times a week you run out of bread, cat food, loo roll etc. Work out how much you need of something for a week and then buy one extra. Use your car trip in an industrial way. So you really REALLY need to go out in the car, ok, its life or death right? Well make sure you have other things to do while your out. Before you go out make sure you have all the shopping you need. Is there some DIYing you were going to do? Maybe this is the time to nip to the hardware store to pick up those washers or screws or whatevers. Fill the back of your car with the re-cycling you haven't got round to taking out yet. Better yet, ask a neighbour if they need anything while you are out. That way you are potentially saving TWO car trips, and maybe next time they will ask YOU if you need anything from town. Make your own rules and stick to them. We never..I mean NEVER drive to the local shop. It is 3 miles away. I can cycle to the shop and back within 40 minutes. The only time the car goes near the shop is if we are on the way back from somewhere further afield. If the weather is too bad for me to think about cycling there, I can't have needed the item that badly can I. Re-priorities "emergencies" We tend to treat running out of olives or icing sugar as a family disaster in this current car loving society. So you didn't plan ahead? You will next time right? But in the meantime, change your dinner plan and have pasta WITHOUT olives, leave the icing off the cupcakes. Learn to adapt, learn to be flexible, learn what is really important and stop worrying about the small stuff. Explore other avenues of transport. You need to get some where. If you can't walk you can see if its practical to cycle. If not check out the public transport in your area. If that's no good see if you can get a lift with a friend going in the right direction (com'mon, EVERYONE is in their cars, you must know SOMEONE who is driving your way that day?). If all else fails take your car and re-read point no. 3. DON'T PANIC!! There are ways around everything if you use a little thought. Try and make appointments around your public transport timetables. Get as much delivered as possible. Talk to your friends and neighbours, try and organise lift shares. Don't beat yourself up because you can't afford the new "eco" cars. Its better for an old car to only be driven twice a week than to use an "eco" car so indiscriminately that wheels never stop turning.
For example, we live in a rural area with inconsistent and highly variable public transport. We have children and animals and also like to use Freegle (ex freecycle) a lot.
Do we beat ourselves up about occasional car use?
Hell no!
We're only human, and we have lives to lead, but we do try to stick to a few golden rules that I thought I'd share with you today....
- Do you REALLY need to take the car out today?
Try to look at the thing as a whole.
Use your car as little as possible and its better than using it without thought or care. Before you know it you will have turned around and realised that the car you "couldn't live without" hasn't left your drive for a week.Good luck and have fun!
Wednesday, 14 October 2009
Pictures of the tag along bike.
Yes, Yes, I AM deserving of this rather FABULOUS bike!
Looking down to the village.
Faster? Hmm..I don;t see any peddling going on there Alfie....
Monday, 12 October 2009
EEK! Where did the week go???
Here we are..Monday ...and its been a week since I last posted and I have no meatless Monday for you!!
I should fire myself from this job :P
Anyway my crimes are due to the very enjoyable few days we have spent entertaining my sister and her husband to be.
I hope I can speak for them when I say that although the trip was too short (!!) I think we had a really good time.
Some of this is definitely down to the bikes and general none use of the car.
After flying in to Edinburgh they hired a car to get to us and arrived at lunch time. After lunch and a bit of dithering I thought what the hell and said we should all cycle up to the art gallery.
So 6 off us on various bike set off down the road.
This was also the first time I had really tried out the tag along as well, and as its a nice straight run I really got into a good rhythm and found it easy enough.
An added advantage of the tag along is the incessant prattle of Alfie behind me (although the conversation tends to be one sided, my contributions running along the lines of "Stop pedaling!" and "Stop wiggling!").
As well as a first for the tag a long it was also the first time I had taken 6 year old Owen out on his bike, he having been out with his Dad before that, so when I wasn't yelling at Alfie I was yelling at Owen( "Keep left!!" and "Stay by the verge!" and "Car coming stay straight!" and "SLOW DOWN!!" and often after breaks have been applied "SPEED UP!!")
**sigh** Stressful times!
Reminds me of going for a walk with toddlers...walking so slow you seem to put weight ON rather than burn calories.
Anyway....
It was lovely to get out with our visitors and slowly wind our way up the country lanes to a waiting bit of culture at the end, so much nicer than driving there!
The next day was another really lovely warm autumnal day and while Kim and my soon to be BIL took the kids for a walk, I unhitched the tag along (FREEDOM!!!) and took my sister down to town to pick up the Sunday papers.
Because the weather was so nice we went home the long and scenic way, a way I haven't been home before.
This longer way has a steeeeeeep hill straight out of town, but this temporary inconvenience is well worth it when you reach the top and realise you have @ 2 miles of beautiful countryside lanes, with views all across Bennachie and the Cairngorns AND that it is now 90% DOWNHILL or flat!! **YAYYYYY!!!*
A really lovely ride for the sake of riding, lots of chatting and just admiring the beautiful leaves and patchwork fields that make autumn so special.
Today we went for a walk, 5 1/2 miles in total, up onto Bennachie and a drop down to the Brindy and across fields back to the village.
Before our adventures in car-less-ness, we would have driven down the road a few miles and taken our walk from one of the visitor car parks dotted around the mountain.
Now though we have made the effort to find routes to these walks directly from out house.
Not only does this save us money in fuel (as well as reducing carbon footprints) but also means we get to walk many routes that are either little used or in some cases forgotten.
A hard slog but worth it when up the top of Towlies we had a 360o vista of Aberdeenshire and could see every major landmark for miles.
From Bennachie, across to the Caingorms, tap'o the North over Rynie way, Dunnydeer towards Insch and the village like a toy town in the valley below.
A view like that makes me wish that more people would get out of their cars and explore the treasures of their locality, the views right under their noses.
So often when we have had visitors we have felt the need to "entertain" them, to take them out and about and show off the area, but this time, by doing everything local, even down to having a meal out in the village pub rather than driving out for a take away, I personally think we had a much better time.
In the three days they stayed with us they took their car out once (BIL to be needed some anti-histamines on a Sunday, although we tried to buy some in the little town they had none, so he had to make a trip into the big town).
Viva La Car-less, Viva La Bike, long may this continue!!
Oh and meatless Monday??
I will get one in for you bloggers one day this week :D xx
I should fire myself from this job :P
Anyway my crimes are due to the very enjoyable few days we have spent entertaining my sister and her husband to be.
I hope I can speak for them when I say that although the trip was too short (!!) I think we had a really good time.
Some of this is definitely down to the bikes and general none use of the car.
After flying in to Edinburgh they hired a car to get to us and arrived at lunch time. After lunch and a bit of dithering I thought what the hell and said we should all cycle up to the art gallery.
So 6 off us on various bike set off down the road.
This was also the first time I had really tried out the tag along as well, and as its a nice straight run I really got into a good rhythm and found it easy enough.
An added advantage of the tag along is the incessant prattle of Alfie behind me (although the conversation tends to be one sided, my contributions running along the lines of "Stop pedaling!" and "Stop wiggling!").
As well as a first for the tag a long it was also the first time I had taken 6 year old Owen out on his bike, he having been out with his Dad before that, so when I wasn't yelling at Alfie I was yelling at Owen( "Keep left!!" and "Stay by the verge!" and "Car coming stay straight!" and "SLOW DOWN!!" and often after breaks have been applied "SPEED UP!!")
**sigh** Stressful times!
Reminds me of going for a walk with toddlers...walking so slow you seem to put weight ON rather than burn calories.
Anyway....
It was lovely to get out with our visitors and slowly wind our way up the country lanes to a waiting bit of culture at the end, so much nicer than driving there!
The next day was another really lovely warm autumnal day and while Kim and my soon to be BIL took the kids for a walk, I unhitched the tag along (FREEDOM!!!) and took my sister down to town to pick up the Sunday papers.
Because the weather was so nice we went home the long and scenic way, a way I haven't been home before.
This longer way has a steeeeeeep hill straight out of town, but this temporary inconvenience is well worth it when you reach the top and realise you have @ 2 miles of beautiful countryside lanes, with views all across Bennachie and the Cairngorns AND that it is now 90% DOWNHILL or flat!! **YAYYYYY!!!*
A really lovely ride for the sake of riding, lots of chatting and just admiring the beautiful leaves and patchwork fields that make autumn so special.
Today we went for a walk, 5 1/2 miles in total, up onto Bennachie and a drop down to the Brindy and across fields back to the village.
Before our adventures in car-less-ness, we would have driven down the road a few miles and taken our walk from one of the visitor car parks dotted around the mountain.
Now though we have made the effort to find routes to these walks directly from out house.
Not only does this save us money in fuel (as well as reducing carbon footprints) but also means we get to walk many routes that are either little used or in some cases forgotten.
A hard slog but worth it when up the top of Towlies we had a 360o vista of Aberdeenshire and could see every major landmark for miles.
From Bennachie, across to the Caingorms, tap'o the North over Rynie way, Dunnydeer towards Insch and the village like a toy town in the valley below.
A view like that makes me wish that more people would get out of their cars and explore the treasures of their locality, the views right under their noses.
So often when we have had visitors we have felt the need to "entertain" them, to take them out and about and show off the area, but this time, by doing everything local, even down to having a meal out in the village pub rather than driving out for a take away, I personally think we had a much better time.
In the three days they stayed with us they took their car out once (BIL to be needed some anti-histamines on a Sunday, although we tried to buy some in the little town they had none, so he had to make a trip into the big town).
Viva La Car-less, Viva La Bike, long may this continue!!
Oh and meatless Monday??
I will get one in for you bloggers one day this week :D xx
Friday, 2 October 2009
Poll results; Global warming.
What in your opinion is the most important domestic tool against global warming? 
Vegetarianism/veganism 2 (33%)
Re-cycling 1 (16%)
Giving up a car 5 (83%)
Only buying local goods/food 3 (50%)
Re-using plastic bags 1 (16%)
Using domestic green power 1 (16%)
Living off grid 1 (16%)
Not having children 0 (0%)
Another multiple answers poll.
Some interesting answers...certainly NOT what the councils push for you to DO YOUR BIT!
A massive 83% cited giving up a car as the most important tool you have against global warming. I'm way up there with that. Bikes are a win win situation for the car less.
Lower carbon impact in production and shipping, zero emissions when used, easy and cheap to repair yourself and barring a write off, it should last you forever. Compare that with the cars cardon footprint.....up to 50% of a cars impact is from factory to showroom alone. And lets be honest..if you get 5 years out of a car you a a very lucky person.
Hmm...and WHY do the government not send you fliers and pay for advertising for that little gem ?? ;)
50% of you are in favour of buying local goods/food.
This works along the same lines as the carless lifestyle, and obviously complements it. Its a no brainer. Do you buy your veg from a farm shop, where the produce may have travelled less than a mile? Or do you drive into town and buy veg from another country?
No one suggest you can't enjoy the odd banana in winter, but by and large buy local, buy in season. If a food product is in season and local you are getting maximum health benefits for yourself and the planet.
33% are in favour of a vegetarian diet to fight global warming.
Factory farmed animals churn out more emissions than cars globally.
Between the forests that are cleared to grow crops to feed them (crops that could be feeding people), the effluent pumped out of the factories into our waterways, even the fact that factory farmed beef are fed grain instead of grass (un-natural for a cows stomach) causing the cow to ..(ehem)fart, a huge factory corral of beef cows with bad tummies is kicking out the same amount of bad gasses as a dirty factory, and you have a valid reason to stop or at least cut down on your meat. (See also buying local again).
Re-cycling,Re-using plastic bags,Using domestic green power and Living off grid came in joint with 16%.
I find it gratifying that you people realise the tiny impact these heavily subsidised actions have on global warming. When all have e the 3 R's drummed into us and yes the re-using of things is something I do alot, but where does all our recycling go?? Not long ago in the UK there was a public outcry as ships of recycling were sent to China to be processed....dumping OUR rubbish on someone elses doorstep. There are also tales of whole recycling lorries simply emptying their contense into the rubbish dumps.
I for one would like some more information about how, where and what our recycling is doing.
Using domestic green power is an admirable thought but for many people unpractical. Far better to have a central power plant and deliver our electric that way.
And off grid living??
The holy grail??
Again, a dream, and one lived by many people, but not something that can be taken up on such a scale as to make an impact.
The genie is out of the bottle.
We like electricity and white goods, we like to turn on lights and wash our clothes without a stream and a rock.
Far better and very feasible, to find ways to keep it going without leaving a footprint on the earth.
Vegetarianism/veganism 2 (33%)
Re-cycling 1 (16%)
Giving up a car 5 (83%)
Only buying local goods/food 3 (50%)
Re-using plastic bags 1 (16%)
Using domestic green power 1 (16%)
Living off grid 1 (16%)
Not having children 0 (0%)
Another multiple answers poll.
Some interesting answers...certainly NOT what the councils push for you to DO YOUR BIT!
A massive 83% cited giving up a car as the most important tool you have against global warming. I'm way up there with that. Bikes are a win win situation for the car less.
Lower carbon impact in production and shipping, zero emissions when used, easy and cheap to repair yourself and barring a write off, it should last you forever. Compare that with the cars cardon footprint.....up to 50% of a cars impact is from factory to showroom alone. And lets be honest..if you get 5 years out of a car you a a very lucky person.
Hmm...and WHY do the government not send you fliers and pay for advertising for that little gem ?? ;)
50% of you are in favour of buying local goods/food.
This works along the same lines as the carless lifestyle, and obviously complements it. Its a no brainer. Do you buy your veg from a farm shop, where the produce may have travelled less than a mile? Or do you drive into town and buy veg from another country?
No one suggest you can't enjoy the odd banana in winter, but by and large buy local, buy in season. If a food product is in season and local you are getting maximum health benefits for yourself and the planet.
33% are in favour of a vegetarian diet to fight global warming.
Factory farmed animals churn out more emissions than cars globally.
Between the forests that are cleared to grow crops to feed them (crops that could be feeding people), the effluent pumped out of the factories into our waterways, even the fact that factory farmed beef are fed grain instead of grass (un-natural for a cows stomach) causing the cow to ..(ehem)fart, a huge factory corral of beef cows with bad tummies is kicking out the same amount of bad gasses as a dirty factory, and you have a valid reason to stop or at least cut down on your meat. (See also buying local again).
Re-cycling,Re-using plastic bags,Using domestic green power and Living off grid came in joint with 16%.
I find it gratifying that you people realise the tiny impact these heavily subsidised actions have on global warming. When all have e the 3 R's drummed into us and yes the re-using of things is something I do alot, but where does all our recycling go?? Not long ago in the UK there was a public outcry as ships of recycling were sent to China to be processed....dumping OUR rubbish on someone elses doorstep. There are also tales of whole recycling lorries simply emptying their contense into the rubbish dumps.
I for one would like some more information about how, where and what our recycling is doing.
Using domestic green power is an admirable thought but for many people unpractical. Far better to have a central power plant and deliver our electric that way.
And off grid living??
The holy grail??
Again, a dream, and one lived by many people, but not something that can be taken up on such a scale as to make an impact.
The genie is out of the bottle.
We like electricity and white goods, we like to turn on lights and wash our clothes without a stream and a rock.
Far better and very feasible, to find ways to keep it going without leaving a footprint on the earth.
Thursday, 1 October 2009
Get ready for the Basfords to hit the road EN MASS!!
Today Kim had to drive a friend into town (in her car) because she has a broken wrist.
Never one to waste a golden opportunity, we decided we should go to our favourite bike dealer and pick up the tag along bike for our youngest, Alfie.
What a piece of equipment!!
Alfie jumped up and down when he saw it and when he realised that it meant we could go out together.
His older brothers have already been out and about at weekends on their bikes, Owen, who is 6, has even been down to town and back a round trip of @8 miles!
Alfie however (being 5) is not ready to be let loose. He still needs help getting going on his bike and dismounts by stepping off the bike and letting it fall over! This will open up a whole new chapter in our cycling and hopefully this weekend we will be able to take a trip out as a family and really feel mobile without a car.
Be warned though parents. Cycling can bring out the competitive edge in your children!
Last weekend Kim blithely bet Ollie that he couldn't cycle all the way up a really steep hill...foolish Daddy...he bet him £5, thinking he would be bound to fail.
Well guess who now owes his son money??
Ollie powered to the top of the hill and stopped with a double punch to the air and a "YEEEEESSSSS!!!!"
Daddy FAIL! lol.
Never one to waste a golden opportunity, we decided we should go to our favourite bike dealer and pick up the tag along bike for our youngest, Alfie.
What a piece of equipment!!
Alfie jumped up and down when he saw it and when he realised that it meant we could go out together.
His older brothers have already been out and about at weekends on their bikes, Owen, who is 6, has even been down to town and back a round trip of @8 miles!
Alfie however (being 5) is not ready to be let loose. He still needs help getting going on his bike and dismounts by stepping off the bike and letting it fall over! This will open up a whole new chapter in our cycling and hopefully this weekend we will be able to take a trip out as a family and really feel mobile without a car.
Be warned though parents. Cycling can bring out the competitive edge in your children!
Last weekend Kim blithely bet Ollie that he couldn't cycle all the way up a really steep hill...foolish Daddy...he bet him £5, thinking he would be bound to fail.
Well guess who now owes his son money??
Ollie powered to the top of the hill and stopped with a double punch to the air and a "YEEEEESSSSS!!!!"
Daddy FAIL! lol.
Friday, 18 September 2009
Miles and miles of smiles :D
I'm surprised at how many miles we are notching up on two wheels as a family.
Yesterday Kim took Ollie to art club in town on the bikes.They tried out their new lights as the evenings are drawing in and their 7pm finish means that, although not dark, it is getting "dimpsy".
We still haven't decided what to do in the winter about art club, when its already dark by 4.30 pm or earlier. I would love to try and find something similar on the weekends for him to do, otherwise we will have to drive him.
A couple of kids from school also go so I'll try and work out a car sharing rota if anyone is interested..if they don't mind their kids in the back of a landrover once every 3 or 4 weeks that is ;)
At least that way we are not only car sharing for us , but cutting others emissions as well!
Well that's my opinion and I'm gonna stick to it *heehee*
Me and Kim Cycled to Kellockbank garden centre today so a round trip of about 11 and 1/2 miles!
I tried to convince him that I needed a bag of compost but he wasn't impressed (meanie!).
The reason we went was to pick up our magazines. I love The Green parent magazine and particularly wanted this issue as it had a home education feature in it.
We also brought Permaculture magazine.
Both of these are published every two months so I don;t have to cycle that far again until November!!
The weather has been so lovely these last couple of weeks, ideal for me to get started in cycling again. Today was no exception so I remembered to take my camera today and show you the top of the road between our village and Town.
I have to say these photos do nothing to show you how steep the climb is! We live in a basin, this means that every time we get on a bike it is uphill straight away! Of course for every hill you pant and puff up, there is a nice long glide down (and visa versa! *groan*)
But its been getting better and better.
I'm feeling fitter than I have for years, my asthma is getting better, I have an inside thigh "burn" which MUST be a good thing!
Time to think about investing in some damn good waterproofs soon....I have no intention of letting a little rain dampen my smile :D
Yesterday Kim took Ollie to art club in town on the bikes.They tried out their new lights as the evenings are drawing in and their 7pm finish means that, although not dark, it is getting "dimpsy".
We still haven't decided what to do in the winter about art club, when its already dark by 4.30 pm or earlier. I would love to try and find something similar on the weekends for him to do, otherwise we will have to drive him.
A couple of kids from school also go so I'll try and work out a car sharing rota if anyone is interested..if they don't mind their kids in the back of a landrover once every 3 or 4 weeks that is ;)
At least that way we are not only car sharing for us , but cutting others emissions as well!
Well that's my opinion and I'm gonna stick to it *heehee*
Me and Kim Cycled to Kellockbank garden centre today so a round trip of about 11 and 1/2 miles!
I tried to convince him that I needed a bag of compost but he wasn't impressed (meanie!).
The reason we went was to pick up our magazines. I love The Green parent magazine and particularly wanted this issue as it had a home education feature in it.
We also brought Permaculture magazine.
Both of these are published every two months so I don;t have to cycle that far again until November!!
The weather has been so lovely these last couple of weeks, ideal for me to get started in cycling again. Today was no exception so I remembered to take my camera today and show you the top of the road between our village and Town.
I have to say these photos do nothing to show you how steep the climb is! We live in a basin, this means that every time we get on a bike it is uphill straight away! Of course for every hill you pant and puff up, there is a nice long glide down (and visa versa! *groan*)
But its been getting better and better.
I'm feeling fitter than I have for years, my asthma is getting better, I have an inside thigh "burn" which MUST be a good thing!
Time to think about investing in some damn good waterproofs soon....I have no intention of letting a little rain dampen my smile :D
Wednesday, 16 September 2009
A day of cycling, art and homeschool plans....
Country Frames Art Gallery, Leslie, Insch.What a beautiful and inspiring day we've had so far.
Me and Kim cycled to Country Frames, an art gallery a couple of miles down the road from us (uphill all the way..ouch).
We've been a couple of times, they framed one of our Glastonbury prints for us beautifully, but this was the first time we had set off to see an exhibition there.
One of the main artists there was Roselyne O'Neil a very talented lady who works in many mediums and produces some fantastic equine art as well as other subjects.
Another local artist is Marion Wills, who incidentally is visiting art teacher at my son's school! She had some striking pieces, mostly staring her own horse, a Fjord called Ffin.
We spent a very happy hour viewing the exhibition and the other art work, we even got a free cup of coffee for cycling to them lol.
I'm taking Ollie up there on Saturday morning, I'm sure the mix of horses and art can only inspire him!
So, me and Kim have talked a lot about homeschooling once the kids hit 11, and the cycle home was a good time to chat about it. There are so many things locally that we had never really thought about that will benefit the kids educationally, the countryside, the art galleries (there are 3 I know of all within cycling distance!) the Archaeolink centre and of course the library in town.
Also the whole social aspect was something we chatted at length about today.
Thinking about it he still has his friends in the village, both Kim and I had many more friends outside school than in it.
Armed with this I decided to make an appointment to see our head teacher today and instead spent 20 minutes chatting about it informally instead, so no need for the formal meeting!
To my surprise she was in total agreement and has promised to help us with any red tape that comes our way!
Anyway, expect more posts on this subject in the near future as we gear up for leaving the school system!
So..how about a giveaway!
Nothing fancy, a post card I picked up from the gallery...A Celtic image of the "Maeshowe Dragon, Orkney" By Roselyne O'Neil.
This can be sent as a post card or mailed to you in an envelope to keep it clean and neat enough to frame?
Very pretty, very Scottish ;)
To be in with a chance please comment on this post...and a real comment please ;)
Lucky winner will be pulled out of a hat next Wednesday!!
Saturday, 12 September 2009
The last one on two wheels.....
Its official! Alfie, the youngest son, is on 2 wheels and steering AND stopping! From only 3 weeks ago being scared of his bike he is now wizzing round the place as fast as his brothers.
Granted when he stops he dismounts and lets the bike fall over and he still likes help to get started, but the basics are there so we're happy!
This all means that he should be uber confident when we get a tag a long bike.
The little blue bike is ready for Owen, gears all reconditioned so he is ready to hit the road as it were.
Had a lovely cycling day today.
Took Ollie, eldest, for a bike ride into town so he could try out his new bike properly. We went to the library and the shop (note to self, get a bigger bag or a basket!)and cycled home again.
Traffic was more frequent today but most went past sensibly, apart form a couple of lads racing in sooped up suburus, over taking at high speed on a blind bend...So I shouted and flipped the finger and felt much better ;)
After lunch took the boys (and their bikes) to the park and they met up with some friends and had some bike races down the footie field, its great to see them so independant.
I was much happier on the bike today.
I think as much of my bike riding as a kid/teenager was urban I didn't find it as hard to loose my fear of the traffic as Kim did. Two trips and it feels like an extension of me again.
I'm finding it great to push my body again and finding it responds how I expect it to!
This week a local art gallery is having an exibition so me and Kim are going to cycle up in the week and then at the weekend I am going to take Ollie. He is really looking forwards to it and so am I.
Its funny.
I remember when we were without a car a couple of years ago and how trapped I felt. I didn;t leave the village for about 3 weeks and got really upset about it. This time round I feel great. I havn't once thought "Oh if only we had the car!" And even though we HAVE now it has only been out once, and that was only to run it into town to get fuel ;)
So silly to think a bike makes me feel more indipendant. I now feel like its ok, I can look after myself again, its stopped me relying on other people (well husband mostly) and although its a morbid thought...(eek!)..> I suddenly feel calm, like if something happened to Kim tomorrow it would be OK...I could look after me and the kids no trouble ( I LOVE YOU DARLI'N!! MAY YOU LIVE A 1000 YEARS!!) lol.
Have a great weekend bloggers x
Granted when he stops he dismounts and lets the bike fall over and he still likes help to get started, but the basics are there so we're happy!
This all means that he should be uber confident when we get a tag a long bike.
The little blue bike is ready for Owen, gears all reconditioned so he is ready to hit the road as it were.
Had a lovely cycling day today.
Took Ollie, eldest, for a bike ride into town so he could try out his new bike properly. We went to the library and the shop (note to self, get a bigger bag or a basket!)and cycled home again.
Traffic was more frequent today but most went past sensibly, apart form a couple of lads racing in sooped up suburus, over taking at high speed on a blind bend...So I shouted and flipped the finger and felt much better ;)
After lunch took the boys (and their bikes) to the park and they met up with some friends and had some bike races down the footie field, its great to see them so independant.
I was much happier on the bike today.
I think as much of my bike riding as a kid/teenager was urban I didn't find it as hard to loose my fear of the traffic as Kim did. Two trips and it feels like an extension of me again.
I'm finding it great to push my body again and finding it responds how I expect it to!
This week a local art gallery is having an exibition so me and Kim are going to cycle up in the week and then at the weekend I am going to take Ollie. He is really looking forwards to it and so am I.
Its funny.
I remember when we were without a car a couple of years ago and how trapped I felt. I didn;t leave the village for about 3 weeks and got really upset about it. This time round I feel great. I havn't once thought "Oh if only we had the car!" And even though we HAVE now it has only been out once, and that was only to run it into town to get fuel ;)
So silly to think a bike makes me feel more indipendant. I now feel like its ok, I can look after myself again, its stopped me relying on other people (well husband mostly) and although its a morbid thought...(eek!)..> I suddenly feel calm, like if something happened to Kim tomorrow it would be OK...I could look after me and the kids no trouble ( I LOVE YOU DARLI'N!! MAY YOU LIVE A 1000 YEARS!!) lol.
Have a great weekend bloggers x
Thursday, 10 September 2009
I did it!!
That's it!
The first bike ride!
I'm knackerd :P
But actually it was OK.
Nice day, not too hot, minimal wind, traffic was quiet. We cycled about 3 or 4 miles (into town and around about to different shops) and then the same home again.
This has been said in so many places but I now know why. It is SO important to spend the money and get the right bike for you and the job.
The reason I have been semi- putting it off is the memory of the daily cycling I had to do to get to work as a teenager on a bottom range mountain bike. I kept thinking "God, it was so much hard work and I was really fit and light then! How will I haul my fat arse up the hills to town now!?"
Well I can tell you I got up all those hills and didn't have to stop once.
I have 21 gears on my new bike and so it was low geared enough for me to keep peddling, all be it at a sedate speed.
So anyway I want to give a big shout out to my bike dealer Pedal power.
He took me through the bikes, convinced me to take a larger frame size which I was convinced would be too big for me but now I know he was right! He showed us how to check a bike was the right size for you and has been patient with out newbie questions.
Anyway, I only have one problem. Despite the shock absorbers my wrists were playing up at the end of each session. Any tips? I used to get carpal tunnel swelling and it makes my hands numb.
Any advice would be gratefully received.
Numb fingers are a problem when I hit the downhill parts and want to brake ;)
Tuesday, 8 September 2009
What ever happened to town and country?
The shift in the way people think has been disastrous for the environment on local level.
People are convinced that if they recycle and compost they are doing more than enough to make a difference but they are so wrong.
In the days before every home had a car (let alone 2 or 3!)people lived near their place of work.
So if you worked in the city you lived in the city, if you worked ona farm you lived in the country...easy peasy.
But then some of the richer city dwellers decided it would be nice to live in the country and "commute" in his nice shiny car.
In the past the very rich of course had kept a city and a country home, catching the train at the weekend to visit the wife and kids. But in the days when the rich had household help I should imagine the onset of WWII trying to keep two houses running was significantly more expensive than running a car to work everyday.
Where the Rich lead the middle class will follow, and soon the city and town workers started flocking to the country for a "better life".
Now no-one can deny that back then life in the city was hard, but then it was also hard in the country.
It seems to be the norm with most people now...leave home, get a job and a flat, get married, get a house, hae kids and MOVE TO THE COUNTRY!
The trouble is though that all the city and town dwellers wanted to bring their urban life with them.
They continued to commute to work by car (in fact so many did that the UK has lost most of its train and bus routes as so few people used them), and in doing so rejected using the facilities in the villages in favour of shopping in the town on the way home, so the rural post offices and shops died out one by one until what we are left with a a series of ghost villages.
My village has doubled in size through new builds in the last 3 years and is set to get even bigger by 2012.
But it seems the more new houses go up the less facilities outr village has.
The shop closed 4 years ago, leaving a huge gap in the community, the pub has no more patrons, although there are twice as many people living in the village now, and is struggling to stay open.
Every morning the occupants of these new houses get into their cars and drive away to work between 15 and 40 miles away from here.
All you need is a tumble weed hopping down the street.
Every evening they come home and sit in their new houses. They don't walk in the countryside or visit the country pub or take bike rides around the lane....they sit in their houses and watch TV.
And living in the country is better than the town because????
Why do I live in the country?
I have had the fortune to have lived in all ways, city, town, suburbs and rurally. I am a country girl at heart, I love to grow our own food and walk on the mountain, we have the horses and need to live here to keep them.
I loved living in the town when I did. I loved being close to facilities and never having to worry about having a car, I could walk or bus or cycle where ever I wanted.
I sometimes feel people move to the country because they feel its "what you do".
By moving indiscriminately though they turn the country into a suburb miles away from anywhere.
Towns now, for the most part, are green places now. They are no longer the factory chimney spewing, grim places they where 50 years ago.
What can be done to encourage people to stay close to their place of work again?
How can you change the mindset that you've "made it" if you live in the country, even though you are moving to what is essentially a tiny house ona new estate which is only in the "country" because it is miles from town and shops.
I have no objection to people moving into the country, after all I am an incomer myself...the objection is the urbanising of villages.
People are convinced that if they recycle and compost they are doing more than enough to make a difference but they are so wrong.
In the days before every home had a car (let alone 2 or 3!)people lived near their place of work.
So if you worked in the city you lived in the city, if you worked ona farm you lived in the country...easy peasy.
But then some of the richer city dwellers decided it would be nice to live in the country and "commute" in his nice shiny car.
In the past the very rich of course had kept a city and a country home, catching the train at the weekend to visit the wife and kids. But in the days when the rich had household help I should imagine the onset of WWII trying to keep two houses running was significantly more expensive than running a car to work everyday.
Where the Rich lead the middle class will follow, and soon the city and town workers started flocking to the country for a "better life".
Now no-one can deny that back then life in the city was hard, but then it was also hard in the country.
It seems to be the norm with most people now...leave home, get a job and a flat, get married, get a house, hae kids and MOVE TO THE COUNTRY!
The trouble is though that all the city and town dwellers wanted to bring their urban life with them.
They continued to commute to work by car (in fact so many did that the UK has lost most of its train and bus routes as so few people used them), and in doing so rejected using the facilities in the villages in favour of shopping in the town on the way home, so the rural post offices and shops died out one by one until what we are left with a a series of ghost villages.
My village has doubled in size through new builds in the last 3 years and is set to get even bigger by 2012.
But it seems the more new houses go up the less facilities outr village has.
The shop closed 4 years ago, leaving a huge gap in the community, the pub has no more patrons, although there are twice as many people living in the village now, and is struggling to stay open.
Every morning the occupants of these new houses get into their cars and drive away to work between 15 and 40 miles away from here.
All you need is a tumble weed hopping down the street.
Every evening they come home and sit in their new houses. They don't walk in the countryside or visit the country pub or take bike rides around the lane....they sit in their houses and watch TV.
And living in the country is better than the town because????
Why do I live in the country?
I have had the fortune to have lived in all ways, city, town, suburbs and rurally. I am a country girl at heart, I love to grow our own food and walk on the mountain, we have the horses and need to live here to keep them.
I loved living in the town when I did. I loved being close to facilities and never having to worry about having a car, I could walk or bus or cycle where ever I wanted.
I sometimes feel people move to the country because they feel its "what you do".
By moving indiscriminately though they turn the country into a suburb miles away from anywhere.
Towns now, for the most part, are green places now. They are no longer the factory chimney spewing, grim places they where 50 years ago.
What can be done to encourage people to stay close to their place of work again?
How can you change the mindset that you've "made it" if you live in the country, even though you are moving to what is essentially a tiny house ona new estate which is only in the "country" because it is miles from town and shops.
I have no objection to people moving into the country, after all I am an incomer myself...the objection is the urbanising of villages.
Wednesday, 2 September 2009
Oh money..you drain away like water.
Tomorrow I am in for another trip in a borrowed car....but don't fret dear bikey people, its for the best of causes.
We are driving to the bike shop to pick up Ollie's new bike and MY BRAND SPANKING NEW bike!!!!
But first a little background.
Ollie's bike, although a good make, is shite. The twist gears are so tight on the way back up that his dad can't move them, so anytime he sets off for a long ride he basically sticks to 2 gears, not ideal when you want to make the whole thing as pain free as possible.
Kim talked to the bike shop guy yesterday and we learnt a few interesting things.
Bikes brought cheap over the Internet, even top names, are not worth the bother. The parts are significantly cheaper than the bikes they send to dealers, hence the low price.
Trail gators are rubbish. In fact he said he would not stock them because when he did people brought them back because their kids got scared because the connection was so wobbly, and the whole thing made cycling dangerous.
He suggested the half bikes that are designed to clip onto the adult bike, but are much more stable and as they are designed for the job there is no compromise.
Anyway, Ollie's new bike has gears that slide round the handlebars like they've been greased up, he is in Love with it. Kim looked around all the bikes in the store that the guy had put together, all the gears were fluid and easily managed.
For a comparison he popped into halfords to check out their (cheap) bikes. He said the gears were the same as Ollie's old bike, stiff, even for adult hands.
So tomorrow we are taking the old bike in and having the gears replaced so that Owen can have that bike, picking up Ollie's bike and choosing mine.
By the time we have paid for all this (kitting out 5 of us in one way or another) we will have spent about the same amount of money as we have on the (still not running) land rover sat on the yard.
Once upon a time this would have worried us, but hell, if your going to to it may as well do it right or whats the point?
Also, barring a huge wipe out on a bike, most things on it can be replaced or fixed easily and cheaply.
And best of all, no road tax or insurance, so its still a pretty good deal ;)
We are driving to the bike shop to pick up Ollie's new bike and MY BRAND SPANKING NEW bike!!!!
But first a little background.
Ollie's bike, although a good make, is shite. The twist gears are so tight on the way back up that his dad can't move them, so anytime he sets off for a long ride he basically sticks to 2 gears, not ideal when you want to make the whole thing as pain free as possible.
Kim talked to the bike shop guy yesterday and we learnt a few interesting things.
Bikes brought cheap over the Internet, even top names, are not worth the bother. The parts are significantly cheaper than the bikes they send to dealers, hence the low price.
Trail gators are rubbish. In fact he said he would not stock them because when he did people brought them back because their kids got scared because the connection was so wobbly, and the whole thing made cycling dangerous.
He suggested the half bikes that are designed to clip onto the adult bike, but are much more stable and as they are designed for the job there is no compromise.
Anyway, Ollie's new bike has gears that slide round the handlebars like they've been greased up, he is in Love with it. Kim looked around all the bikes in the store that the guy had put together, all the gears were fluid and easily managed.
For a comparison he popped into halfords to check out their (cheap) bikes. He said the gears were the same as Ollie's old bike, stiff, even for adult hands.
So tomorrow we are taking the old bike in and having the gears replaced so that Owen can have that bike, picking up Ollie's bike and choosing mine.
By the time we have paid for all this (kitting out 5 of us in one way or another) we will have spent about the same amount of money as we have on the (still not running) land rover sat on the yard.
Once upon a time this would have worried us, but hell, if your going to to it may as well do it right or whats the point?
Also, barring a huge wipe out on a bike, most things on it can be replaced or fixed easily and cheaply.
And best of all, no road tax or insurance, so its still a pretty good deal ;)
Monday, 17 August 2009
Sometimes the money Gods smile on us....
Well, some weekend!
We managed to sell the broken car (£450) which was fantastic and means we can pay the garage bill with some left over. They guy who had bought it wanted it for spares for HIS Frontera but declared ours so tidy that he is going to do it the other way round, so he went away a happy camper.
THEN.....
I get a phone call from my Mum telling me that she and Dad have decide to give us £1000 towards a car!!!
WOW!
This means that husband will be able to not only buy the old Landrover he has his eye on BUT that the money we would have had to pay for one can now go towards all our bike stuff!!
What?...Do I hear grumbles of "humf....thought they where going car less?" at the back there?
Well I never said we would never get another car (hence the "almost" in the title).
The aim is to still get mobile under our own steam, but life where we live without a car at all....not impossible but very very hard.
I talk to people who have no car at all and they all have the same thing in common, the live in the city, they live in a part of the world that doesn't take glee in dumping feet of snow on you for 2 months of the year.
The plan is still to kit us out with the equipment to cycle as a family safely and in most weathers, the plan is still to use the public transport that is available to us.
The check list should run...
1) if I can walk I'll walk.
2) if I can't walk I'll cycle.
3) if I can't cycle I'll take the bus/ train.
4) if I can't take public transport I will see if it can be delivered.
5) Only if I have exhausted ALL of the above options will I use a car.
I am not anti-car per say, but I AM anti-wasteful journeys. The village school here is 5 minutes walk from my house and I live the furthest away. However on several occasions I have seen ALL the other village children driven to school, or driven BACK to school for after school clubs! Not one child in the village lives more than 4or 5 minutes walk away...so WHAT if it rains! Carry an umbrella, wear a rain coat and wellies!!
I think you can't be anti-car if you then expect things to be delivered to your door (groceries etc) but you CAN accept that it is more Eco friendly for one small van to bring groceries to 8 or 9 houses than for 8 or 9 cars to drive to town.
If it wasn't for the fact that we have the horses I would seriously consider a move to a more urban area, so long as I could still grow all my veggies!!
I read with envy the people who talk of cycle lanes and bike racks and no car zones and eye up our fast car designed roads and shudder.
BUT!!
But we will solider on....I can't get fit in a car!
Although when there is 3 foot of snow in February I suspect that I may slink into the passenger seat of our landrover pretty quickly :P
We managed to sell the broken car (£450) which was fantastic and means we can pay the garage bill with some left over. They guy who had bought it wanted it for spares for HIS Frontera but declared ours so tidy that he is going to do it the other way round, so he went away a happy camper.
THEN.....
I get a phone call from my Mum telling me that she and Dad have decide to give us £1000 towards a car!!!
WOW!
This means that husband will be able to not only buy the old Landrover he has his eye on BUT that the money we would have had to pay for one can now go towards all our bike stuff!!
What?...Do I hear grumbles of "humf....thought they where going car less?" at the back there?
Well I never said we would never get another car (hence the "almost" in the title).
The aim is to still get mobile under our own steam, but life where we live without a car at all....not impossible but very very hard.
I talk to people who have no car at all and they all have the same thing in common, the live in the city, they live in a part of the world that doesn't take glee in dumping feet of snow on you for 2 months of the year.
The plan is still to kit us out with the equipment to cycle as a family safely and in most weathers, the plan is still to use the public transport that is available to us.
The check list should run...
1) if I can walk I'll walk.
2) if I can't walk I'll cycle.
3) if I can't cycle I'll take the bus/ train.
4) if I can't take public transport I will see if it can be delivered.
5) Only if I have exhausted ALL of the above options will I use a car.
I am not anti-car per say, but I AM anti-wasteful journeys. The village school here is 5 minutes walk from my house and I live the furthest away. However on several occasions I have seen ALL the other village children driven to school, or driven BACK to school for after school clubs! Not one child in the village lives more than 4or 5 minutes walk away...so WHAT if it rains! Carry an umbrella, wear a rain coat and wellies!!
I think you can't be anti-car if you then expect things to be delivered to your door (groceries etc) but you CAN accept that it is more Eco friendly for one small van to bring groceries to 8 or 9 houses than for 8 or 9 cars to drive to town.
If it wasn't for the fact that we have the horses I would seriously consider a move to a more urban area, so long as I could still grow all my veggies!!
I read with envy the people who talk of cycle lanes and bike racks and no car zones and eye up our fast car designed roads and shudder.
BUT!!
But we will solider on....I can't get fit in a car!
Although when there is 3 foot of snow in February I suspect that I may slink into the passenger seat of our landrover pretty quickly :P
Sunday, 16 August 2009
Planning the new wave of transport, and other ways to spend money you don't have.
The serious question of how we are going to get around was discussed by husband and me at length last night. This came after he and eldest son (9) took a trip into the nearest town (3 miles, lots of hills).
"He is going to need a new bike." He said grimly.
He got his bike for Xmas last year, its a good one, a rallie, but it only has 6 gears and they are the handle bar rotation type which he finds difficult (stiff) to use.
Consequently up the big hills husband had to reach across and push him because his gear-adge wasn't low enough.
This home truth also meant a serious look at how the littlies (6 and 5) will cope. Middle boy is off his stabilisers and very competent on his bike but won't be strong enough to peddle the hills on his small un-geared bike, and youngest is still on stabilisers and likely to be so for some time.
After sifting through some catalogues and looking online I think we have made a decision on what to do.
For one, eldest will need a better, more sophisticated road bike rather that just s good "toy" which is what he has now.
For the littlies we are going to buy two "Trail Gators", poles that attach their bike to yours so they can still sit and peddle (vital for these hills!) but won't end up too tired or in danger of veering into traffic.
I also think it would be a good idea to invest in a bike trailer, the kind designed for younger children. This could have a myriad of uses. For example if one of the littlies need a (none urgent) trip to the doctor they could be bundled in the back of the tailer and taken into town in comfort. We also have pets who will from time to time need a vet. Due to the new car-less-ness we are changing our vet for one in the nearest town rather than the usual further away one, even so a dog or cat will need to be transported and a child's trailer would be idea for this.
I really want to get out for some longer walks with the dog once the children start back at school and the trailer would mean I can transport my dog to some really beautiful walking areas with a few miles of home.
And of course, a trailer would be invaluable for those times when you want to pick up more than a back packs worth of shopping from town.
Well.....I hope we covered everything....fingers crossed!
"He is going to need a new bike." He said grimly.
He got his bike for Xmas last year, its a good one, a rallie, but it only has 6 gears and they are the handle bar rotation type which he finds difficult (stiff) to use.
Consequently up the big hills husband had to reach across and push him because his gear-adge wasn't low enough.
This home truth also meant a serious look at how the littlies (6 and 5) will cope. Middle boy is off his stabilisers and very competent on his bike but won't be strong enough to peddle the hills on his small un-geared bike, and youngest is still on stabilisers and likely to be so for some time.
After sifting through some catalogues and looking online I think we have made a decision on what to do.
For one, eldest will need a better, more sophisticated road bike rather that just s good "toy" which is what he has now.
For the littlies we are going to buy two "Trail Gators", poles that attach their bike to yours so they can still sit and peddle (vital for these hills!) but won't end up too tired or in danger of veering into traffic.
I also think it would be a good idea to invest in a bike trailer, the kind designed for younger children. This could have a myriad of uses. For example if one of the littlies need a (none urgent) trip to the doctor they could be bundled in the back of the tailer and taken into town in comfort. We also have pets who will from time to time need a vet. Due to the new car-less-ness we are changing our vet for one in the nearest town rather than the usual further away one, even so a dog or cat will need to be transported and a child's trailer would be idea for this.
I really want to get out for some longer walks with the dog once the children start back at school and the trailer would mean I can transport my dog to some really beautiful walking areas with a few miles of home.
And of course, a trailer would be invaluable for those times when you want to pick up more than a back packs worth of shopping from town.
Well.....I hope we covered everything....fingers crossed!
Friday, 14 August 2009
A borrowed car and 5 frayed tempers.
Because our car died without warning and we where left with a limited amount of time before school starts to buy supplies for our three kids, we borrowed a car from some friends yesterday.
I thought this would be an interesting experiment.
Have we been car-less long enough to make a difference? Would we be tempted back to the "delights" of a car like an alcoholic thinking they can handle just one drink?
I asked Husband if he would let me know how he felt (he is the driver)but he said he doubted it would make much difference after only ten days.
Ordinarily I would agree, but I know from experience that sometimes when a light has gone on in your head its nearly impossible to view the work the same way again. Time scale has little to do with it.
I remember after being Vegan for a while I babysat for some friends.
Now we have no TV at home (yeah, another of those things that make us the weird family!) and this was the first time I had watched some TV for ages.
I watched the adverts with a mounting distaste, image after image of frolicking cows for milk and smiling pigs for sausages. Pictures of kids tucking into fast food while tranquil rolling fields dotted with cows served as the backdrop.
I even got riled when an advert for weedkiller came on with an "evil" cartoon dandelion being zapped by some urbanite with something gross (Dandy lion leaves are wild food in my house, young leaves taste like rocket).
I turned the TV off.
I felt angry that people, really MOST people, bought into this.
It made me feel isolated and yes, surrounded by idiots.
Unfair?
Maybe, but it was my reaction.
Anyway....back top the car.
The drive into town was fine, but in town the volume of traffic seemed magnified. I noticed husband getting tense as he had to wait for yet another driver in a hurry, in such a hurry that the way to drive was based on a style of driving that involved putting your foot down, wearing blinkers and presuming that everyone would get out of your way.
Our fist stop in town was the lovely little Grocers (The "Green" Grocer, Inverurie, and I found out they will deliver!!)which supplies us with our oat milk, smoked tofu and other vegan and highly decadent food items and toiletries.
The woman who works there was highly interested in our car-less-ness.
"Ach, we didn't have a car when I was a child." She said to be wide eyed children.
"Did you have to cycle?" Asked my eldest.
She laughed and shook her head. "No! We couldn't afford a bike! We had to walk everywhere! Aren't you lucky you boys all have bikes!"
Of course she was right, but I couldn't help feeling that it was so very different then.
50 years ago even our tiny village was possessed of a butcher, baker and mill and general stores. In the 1980's there were still old folk who had never even visited the town 3 miles down the road.
There was no need, everything was HERE.
Our village post office and small store closed 4 years ago, and the heart of the village left with it.
It was more than somewhere to buy a paper and a loaf. The owners would make a fuss of the children, they would introduce new people to villagers as they came in, they where the glue that held our community together.
Now the old folk stay in their houses and there are new faces in the village who walk past you without a smile or hello.
The dreaded TESCO was a trial.
I have never liked big supermarkets, but I think this one has a serious case of sick building syndrome. The AC upstairs makes me feel ill, the kids always get hyper. My tolerance for maneuvering through the crowds was almost 0, almost panic inducing. The headache that was to stay with me for the rest of the day started in there.
There where a few more stops on our borrowed car day out, and although we got everything done, everyone was pleased to be heading home.
As we headed through the outskirts before hitting countryside, Husband turned to me and said "You wanted to know how I feel? Bloody awful." He pointed to cars pulling up at junctions. "I wonder if their journeys are really necessary? I bet most of them are only going 3 or 4 miles."
A mild evening, 3 or 4 miles in a residential area would be a pleasure to walk.
The car has gone home this morning.
Husband is even more determined to make sure tha majority of our journeys are now either under our own steam or by public transport.
I was just glad to be home.
I thought this would be an interesting experiment.
Have we been car-less long enough to make a difference? Would we be tempted back to the "delights" of a car like an alcoholic thinking they can handle just one drink?
I asked Husband if he would let me know how he felt (he is the driver)but he said he doubted it would make much difference after only ten days.
Ordinarily I would agree, but I know from experience that sometimes when a light has gone on in your head its nearly impossible to view the work the same way again. Time scale has little to do with it.
I remember after being Vegan for a while I babysat for some friends.
Now we have no TV at home (yeah, another of those things that make us the weird family!) and this was the first time I had watched some TV for ages.
I watched the adverts with a mounting distaste, image after image of frolicking cows for milk and smiling pigs for sausages. Pictures of kids tucking into fast food while tranquil rolling fields dotted with cows served as the backdrop.
I even got riled when an advert for weedkiller came on with an "evil" cartoon dandelion being zapped by some urbanite with something gross (Dandy lion leaves are wild food in my house, young leaves taste like rocket).
I turned the TV off.
I felt angry that people, really MOST people, bought into this.
It made me feel isolated and yes, surrounded by idiots.
Unfair?
Maybe, but it was my reaction.
Anyway....back top the car.
The drive into town was fine, but in town the volume of traffic seemed magnified. I noticed husband getting tense as he had to wait for yet another driver in a hurry, in such a hurry that the way to drive was based on a style of driving that involved putting your foot down, wearing blinkers and presuming that everyone would get out of your way.
Our fist stop in town was the lovely little Grocers (The "Green" Grocer, Inverurie, and I found out they will deliver!!)which supplies us with our oat milk, smoked tofu and other vegan and highly decadent food items and toiletries.
The woman who works there was highly interested in our car-less-ness.
"Ach, we didn't have a car when I was a child." She said to be wide eyed children.
"Did you have to cycle?" Asked my eldest.
She laughed and shook her head. "No! We couldn't afford a bike! We had to walk everywhere! Aren't you lucky you boys all have bikes!"
Of course she was right, but I couldn't help feeling that it was so very different then.
50 years ago even our tiny village was possessed of a butcher, baker and mill and general stores. In the 1980's there were still old folk who had never even visited the town 3 miles down the road.
There was no need, everything was HERE.
Our village post office and small store closed 4 years ago, and the heart of the village left with it.
It was more than somewhere to buy a paper and a loaf. The owners would make a fuss of the children, they would introduce new people to villagers as they came in, they where the glue that held our community together.
Now the old folk stay in their houses and there are new faces in the village who walk past you without a smile or hello.
The dreaded TESCO was a trial.
I have never liked big supermarkets, but I think this one has a serious case of sick building syndrome. The AC upstairs makes me feel ill, the kids always get hyper. My tolerance for maneuvering through the crowds was almost 0, almost panic inducing. The headache that was to stay with me for the rest of the day started in there.
There where a few more stops on our borrowed car day out, and although we got everything done, everyone was pleased to be heading home.
As we headed through the outskirts before hitting countryside, Husband turned to me and said "You wanted to know how I feel? Bloody awful." He pointed to cars pulling up at junctions. "I wonder if their journeys are really necessary? I bet most of them are only going 3 or 4 miles."
A mild evening, 3 or 4 miles in a residential area would be a pleasure to walk.
The car has gone home this morning.
Husband is even more determined to make sure tha majority of our journeys are now either under our own steam or by public transport.
I was just glad to be home.
Sunday, 9 August 2009
Ah..the peace of country living...erm...?
Many people may wonder "Why oh why...!" ( as these things invariably start) "Why does this family need a car? They live in the country! There should be winding lanes and village shops and thick green hedges and lashings of ginger beer DAMMIT!"
Well this did exist.....around about the same time as Eynid Blyton 1st editions where being printed.
Face it, in this day and age it is by FAR safer to be car-less in the town or a city than it is in the country.
IN the towns the cars all go at 30 miles and hour or less, the amenities are closer, there are even (sit down now!) BIKE LANES where cars are not allowed!
The country however is a very different beast.
The trouble is that most villages have ceased to be quaint dwelling places for the farm workers and millers and shop owners, they are now almost exclusively populated by commuters.
The whole point of being a commuter is to ...Commute to your place of work...quickly.
They long to live in the country but they bring the worst of the towns with them.
Although there is a (blatantly ignored) 30 mile and hour limit through the village itself, outside the village it is the national speed limit of 60 miles an hour, which, on these long stretches of road, are often exceeded, even around blind bends.
This has always been the reason we have kept a car before, the shear fear factor of being splattered across the road, not to mention with children cycling with you.
Husband bought a bike a few weeks ago and has now though found most of the safer routes to the next town, so we feel a little more confident.
There is a daily bus that takes you to the town (3 miles away) but it leaves at 7.30 am and returns at 6pm, so not handy for a trip to the local cost cutter.
There is, however a a weekly bus that takes you all the way to the BIG town (15 miles away) which (once the kids are back at school) we can use to do the things we can't do online, and believe me, we will make great use of Mr Tescos internet shopping.
Most things can be delivered to your door nowadays and surely still remains a more eco-friendly way of shopping against having to drive into town every few days.
Alas the village shop here is no more, but this is no bad thing, when its raining and you fancy some chocolate, the thought of a long weary bike ride suddenly makes those cravings VANISH!
Hmm, I could lose some weight yet!
Well this did exist.....around about the same time as Eynid Blyton 1st editions where being printed.
Face it, in this day and age it is by FAR safer to be car-less in the town or a city than it is in the country.
IN the towns the cars all go at 30 miles and hour or less, the amenities are closer, there are even (sit down now!) BIKE LANES where cars are not allowed!
The country however is a very different beast.
The trouble is that most villages have ceased to be quaint dwelling places for the farm workers and millers and shop owners, they are now almost exclusively populated by commuters.
The whole point of being a commuter is to ...Commute to your place of work...quickly.
They long to live in the country but they bring the worst of the towns with them.
Although there is a (blatantly ignored) 30 mile and hour limit through the village itself, outside the village it is the national speed limit of 60 miles an hour, which, on these long stretches of road, are often exceeded, even around blind bends.
This has always been the reason we have kept a car before, the shear fear factor of being splattered across the road, not to mention with children cycling with you.
Husband bought a bike a few weeks ago and has now though found most of the safer routes to the next town, so we feel a little more confident.
There is a daily bus that takes you to the town (3 miles away) but it leaves at 7.30 am and returns at 6pm, so not handy for a trip to the local cost cutter.
There is, however a a weekly bus that takes you all the way to the BIG town (15 miles away) which (once the kids are back at school) we can use to do the things we can't do online, and believe me, we will make great use of Mr Tescos internet shopping.
Most things can be delivered to your door nowadays and surely still remains a more eco-friendly way of shopping against having to drive into town every few days.
Alas the village shop here is no more, but this is no bad thing, when its raining and you fancy some chocolate, the thought of a long weary bike ride suddenly makes those cravings VANISH!
Hmm, I could lose some weight yet!
The car dies...no flowers please....
Our car, a highly polished, highly confusing, HIGHLY electric based, Frontera died.
Time of Death was record at @ 9am on Tuesday the 4th of August on our way to the doctors in the town.
It ground to a halt outside our village and has not moved under its own steam since.
On the long walk back through the stubble fields (in inappropriate clothing..of course, well no one had planned on walking had they!)the Husband and I discussed what we were going to do.
We already had a good idea that this was a BIG bill.
We have no money, in fact church mice are Donald trump compared to us at the moment. A big garage bill was not part of the plan this month, we had to eat, buy school supplies for our three kids, we had a barn full of straw arriving.
"Well its OK!" I said to him with a forced gaiety usually reserved for very small children on the edge of a large melt down, "We can finally have a go at living without the car!"
His glare was almost enough to shut me up.
Almost.
So I prattled on happily about reduced carbon footprints and exercise and money saving and the idea began to grow.
Now at this point I should say the reason this is called "The (almost) car-less family" is because it would be impossible to live where we live without a car forever. The plan is for Husband to buy an old landrover, which means that for about 9 months of the year he will be working on it and we will be without a car anyway....but also that an old landrover is not a car to be hammered around the hills and vales of Aberdeenshire willy nilly.
Well the final consensus is that we will use the Landrover for emergency journeys (Doctor, vet etc)and for planned trips into the nearest large town for those things that cannot be delivered or cycled to.
Well..it'll be a FINE adventure, won't it children...won't it?
Time of Death was record at @ 9am on Tuesday the 4th of August on our way to the doctors in the town.
It ground to a halt outside our village and has not moved under its own steam since.
On the long walk back through the stubble fields (in inappropriate clothing..of course, well no one had planned on walking had they!)the Husband and I discussed what we were going to do.
We already had a good idea that this was a BIG bill.
We have no money, in fact church mice are Donald trump compared to us at the moment. A big garage bill was not part of the plan this month, we had to eat, buy school supplies for our three kids, we had a barn full of straw arriving.
"Well its OK!" I said to him with a forced gaiety usually reserved for very small children on the edge of a large melt down, "We can finally have a go at living without the car!"
His glare was almost enough to shut me up.
Almost.
So I prattled on happily about reduced carbon footprints and exercise and money saving and the idea began to grow.
Now at this point I should say the reason this is called "The (almost) car-less family" is because it would be impossible to live where we live without a car forever. The plan is for Husband to buy an old landrover, which means that for about 9 months of the year he will be working on it and we will be without a car anyway....but also that an old landrover is not a car to be hammered around the hills and vales of Aberdeenshire willy nilly.
Well the final consensus is that we will use the Landrover for emergency journeys (Doctor, vet etc)and for planned trips into the nearest large town for those things that cannot be delivered or cycled to.
Well..it'll be a FINE adventure, won't it children...won't it?
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