Trev is very ill

Hi All,

I've a favour to ask.
Trev went into hospital on Saturday morning with a fever and difficulty breathing. He was diagnosed as having pneumonia as a result of a flu virus. It turns out it's swine flu. Caleb and I both had it and were fine, but Trev's immune system came close to killing him. By 4am Sunday morning the hospital called to tell us to hurry up and come see him as he had deteriotated very quickly and was on life support. It's Tuesday and he still is. His temperature has come down from 40 degrees to 37.7, but his lungs have yet to show any improvement. He is in an induced coma, paralysed so the ventilator can do all the work for his lungs and as such is not aware of the life and death struggle he's going through.

We're currently staying in Hobart and spending as much time as we can with him.

I'm a great believer in the ability of people to help or heal others with the power of thought. Yes, I know, very hippy trippy. But it can't hurt to try. I'd like to ask that you might find a moment to send Trev a bit of healing energy. We love the silly buggar a lot.

Thank you.

Red Robin Take Two

This little guy is so cute he's cutting into my gardening time, 50 blackcurrent cuttings went in yesterday, going to try transplanting the gooseberries too, but must admit to looking dubiously at the length of the thorns and finding myself other things to do.

Little Red Robin

Every time I turn over a clod in the garden I have a little red and blue army of watchers appear. The red robin's pose nicely on any available post, raspberry cane, fence, branch. While the blue wrens tend to hide becomingly behind clumps of grass and scrutinise every lump of earth. The moment I walk away they dive in and help themselves to a squirming worm dinner.

The Stark Conspiracy and Total Toxic Overload

Years and years ago I read Ben Elton's book Stark - and over the years the memory disintegrated to vague recollection of a guy called Zimmerman and the plot involved a camel. So it was with interest I watched the movie adaptation of the book, which starred Ben Elton himself as the whimpy pommy anti-hero. Written in 1989 and destined to become a million seller (a rariety for a first time author)it's a comedy based on environmental issues and set in Australia. A link to the wikipedia entry Out came the remote control when super bad guy and meglomaniac has his monologue. De Quincy says,

'Recently our politiicans have been playing the green card in the grubby scramble for support. As we STARK conspirators know, such tokenism is entirely cynical, the ecological situation can never be reversed while market forces remain superior to political will'.

I think we all recognise that, but how does it change, or even stronger how 'do we'as a personal responsibility, make the change? In the past great change has only ever really come about through bloody revolution. But our stomachs are too refined for such vulgarity (at least in the West), so a bloodless coup? But our current system is a great machine that swallows idealism whole and spits out personal interest/greed in a cynacism shaped cookie cutter.

It does seem as though, as the inventive species, we need to find a new and relatively harmonious way to tap into change on a broad scale. Any ideas how this can be done?

We love carrots

But these guys love each other more. We couldn't bear to part them, so cooked 'em and ate 'em whole.

In the X, Y, Z of things we're in the W's

Walls and windows forever...

Or so it seems. I was just reflecting on the obsolete professions post and how I'd like there to be earth renderers a plenty.

Trev has had to take a break, by necessity, from the window side of the story. He accidently managed to dangle his little finger in the buzzer, which, at 4,800 revolutions and freshly sharpened, removed its fleshy pad but left a nice new angle -which he will no longer dangle (at least not in moving parts). Lots of blood intially, and still changing dressings each day, but it's looking less like raw meat in a butchers shop. My squeamishness is making it hard to type. Change of topic required...

Trev's windows look fabulous, he has 8 out of the 10 of the windows in the walls completed, just the bathroom and our bedroom to go. Still 8 small windows in the celestry (sp?) to go. He's as sick of windows as I am mud.

We've continued to change the render recipe but you'll see one of the images showing up a heck of a lot of cracking. I've decided not to go the way of the bulk coat and just go thin layer of mud over thin layer. No cracking that way. Tedious however. And before you say less clay our experiments show almost 100% sand still cracks. By the time I'm finished I may even be able to say Linda Cockburn M.M & E.R (Mixer of Mud and Earthern Renderer.)but I doubt it.

Obsolete Professions

I've been researching obsolete professions. The context being that as an evolving world some industries do, by necessity, die. In our modern world we clutch at them, desperate to make sure no one's livelihood is in dispute. But in the end things change, professions and professionals need to evolve and change with it.

Here are a few I found that fascinate. There were some listed in The great Cat Massacre - and other episodes in French Cultural history, that we have not just lost the skill, but what the skill even was.

Belleyetere - Bellfounder.
Burneman - Carrier of barm or water for brewers.
Chaloner - Dealer in shalloon, a material made in Chƒlons.
Cissor - Tailor (not lost, but an interesting word association)
Combere - Woolcomber
Dubbere - Cloth dubber, i.e., one who raises the nap of cloth.
Dudder - Probably a maker of coarse cloaks.
Daunsel - Gentleman in waiting, groom or squire.
Dysshere - Probably a ditcher, or in some cases a disher.
Frereman - Servant of the Friars.
Furber (Furbour) - Furbisher of armour.
Hetheleder - Provider of heather for fuel.
Latouner - Worker in latten, a metal resembling brass.
Palmer - A Pilgrim, one who had been, or pretended to have been, to the Holy Land.
Pannebeter - Pan-hammerer, or perhaps clothdriver.
Pardoner - One licensed to sell Papal Indulgences.
Pattenmaker - Maker of iron-rimmed pattens for footwear.
Pinder - Keeper of the Pound or Pinfold.
Seinter - Girdlemaker.
Sleymaker - Maker of instruments to part threads in weaving.
Spurrier - Spurmaker.
Vaginarius, Sheather - Scabbard maker. (another interesting word association)
Whittawer - Preparer of white leather.
Blockmaker - One who crafted pulleys
Whitesmith - Tinsmith; or one who finishes & polishes after the Smith

This list was adapted from Olive Tree Genealogy

What it makes me wonder is what professions will become obsolete in the future? Obviously those who serviced typewriters have now moved onto other industries. I know the makers of clay pipes are nearly all gone due to the perfidy of PVC.
I admit to sometimes walking in the city and looking around at the businesses which would fail spectacularly if my spending habits were typical of the majority. Gone are the jewellers, the perfumeries, bags and shoes. Female fripperies are history, hairdressers are in short supply, sports equipment, obsolete.

On the up side, every second shop is a bookstore.

What business are you in? Will it still be around in a low energy/resource future? Will it be able to evolve? Are you part of the evolution?