04 February 2010
THE FIRST SNOWDROPS have appeared. Their arrival slightly, but only slightly, lightens the gloom caused by the rain. Our yard is a sloshy mudbath and brings to mind the peevish refrain of my city-loving mother, when she comes to visit: “I don’t like mud. I don’t like it!”
The Little White Bells of Spring
The happy days of the snowfall are now just a memory. Jobs beckon. I ordered two large loads of logs and they are sitting in the rain in the yard. They need to be stacked. One pile will be stacked in the wood barn, and the other will be stacked in my new log drying area. This is a row of three pallets with a plywood roof above them, which Alan has fixed up for us. Logs piled up to dry here will get all the benefit of the wind and the sun while being protected from the rain by the roof and also from ground moisture by the pallets. They therefore ought to dry our much more quickly than logs left in the shadey barn. And as far as wood goes, one plan is to do a lot more scavenging. There are woods all around us which are packed with fallen trees and branches, but no one takes them away. If we could drag big branches home, we would have a fgree supply of wood. The problem would then be how to cut the wood up. To this end I have been recommended an electric chainsaw. They cost about £80 and are quieter and safer, I am told, than their oil-powered cousins. But before then, I am going to ask Nick to come round with his chainsaw and tidy the hedges for us, and cut the wood up. We could probably find a lot of free wood around the place and smarten up the appearance to boot. A reader has suggested that we use the pony to collect wood, thus killing two birds with one stone: finding a use for the pony and saving money on wood. This is an excellent scheme.
THERE WAS A problem with the wood burner we put in my study last year: the heat from the stove was causing poisonous fumes to fill the room. The fumes, we surmised, were coming from the bricks behind the stove which we had painted with black floor paint. Alan came and took the paint off and repainted them with proper stove paint and now it is working beautifully.
The New Non Smelly Black Bricks
MY NEW SEED order has arrived from the Real Seed Company and I have great hopes for their seeds. They are a small company based in Wales, and encourage you to save seed. But the vegetable patch looks absolutely appalling. It has been neglected for at least two months and is covered in weeds and grass. I should have manured the whole thing in the autumn, but somehow never got round to it. I think I need help, particularly as I am planning to grow a lot more veg this year. Beans and peas, beans and peas: that will be our focus. That and salad. And carrots. And beetroot. And parsnips. But those seeds are just not planting themselves.
WE HAVE BEEN out ferreting with Brian again, but again no luck. We patiently netted the rabbit holes and then slipped five ferrets into the warren. The ferrets did their job beautifully, and five rabbits fled their warren, but all five somehow eluded our traps. Again we walked home empty-handed. Next time we are going to put up a long net to catch any stragglers. Bernard, who fixes the Rayburn, says that he used to go out with ferrets and a shotgun, and that they would regularly catch sixty rabbits, which they would sell to the butcher.
Twister and Whisper Hope for Success Next Time
THE GREATER-SPOTTED woodpecker visited the bird feeder a couple of time which was thrilling to watch. We have also seen a buzzard sitting in the ash tree opposite the house.
THERE IS CHAOS IN THE HEN HOUSE. The white chicken, we now know, is most definitely a cockerel. Victoria heard him crowing and I saw him vigorously fertilising a hen, very possibly his own mother. So he has come of age, and the poor young man is confused. He has tried to split off and create his own brood but this has not been a success.
Spare Cock
We will have to remove him from the scene sharpish, and either give him away or eat him. Otherwise he will fight the other cockerel. It seems a shame to kill him as he is a fine-looking bird, but there is not much demand for cockerels, and anyway, he will make excellent eating. The other chicken born here is a hen, and she may even have starting laying eggs: I found a very small egg yesterday. We are still getting one or two a day all told.
I MADE MARMALADE for the first time. Out of two kilos of Seville oranges, I got ten jars. This time I used a thermometer to get the setting point right, rather than relying the unrelaiuble “crinkle test” recommended in all the books (do these recipe books actually make the recipe the reproduce? They all seem completely indentical to one another, as if they have just copied them out from the same source). It is absolutely delicious. My only mistake was to leave the shreds cut too big. This makes a spreading little awkward but it is certainly not fatal, and as Bernard said encouragingly, “you’ll know for next time then, won’t you Tom?” And I have named my creation “Big Marmalade”, with the intention of covering up my mistake by pretending that the over-sized bits of peel are actually a culinary innovation.
Tom's First Marmalade
ENDS
27 January 2010
For those who missed it, here is the short film I made with the BBC’s Daily Politics show, about the romance and practicality of buying gold coins, and using them as an alternative currency.
And if you are persuaded to buy gold coins rather than putting money into pension schemes and usurious banks, then here is the website of John Haynes and Co, noble dealers in gold and silver. I’d highly recommend a visit to this charming shop if you find yourself in the City, and many thanks to John and Christopher for their time and insights. TH
18 January 2010
Here is my latest “idle parent” column for the Daily Telegraph. TH
BACK TO SCHOOL, BACK TO WORK, back to the fields. In the old medieval calendar, Plough Monday, which was the first Monday after the Feast of the Epiphany or Twelfth Night, marked the end of the Christmas holidays. Those lucky medievals had enjoyed a two week holiday over Christmas, but now it was time to open the shops and harness the plough, in order to prepare the ground for spring sowing. Another custom was St Distaff’s Day, the first Tuesday after Epiphany, which marked the day when the women would resume their duties at the spinning wheel. As Herrick put it:
Partly work and partly play
Ye must on St Distaff’s Day
So in 2010, the men would have returned to their toils on 11th of January and the women on the 12th. As it is, most us generally resume toil on the 4th, meaning that before the Reformation people we had a much better deal, although this year the snow extended the holiday, giving us a nice insight into what the medieval Christmas would have been like.
(more…)
15 January 2010
The snow is now rapidly thawing, the roads are clear, and we are getting back to work after the extended holiday. We are making a start on clearing the mail order backlog, and will get the parcels in the post on Monday. Apologies for the delays.
TH
11 January 2010
North Devon is still covered in ice and snow, so we have not been able to get any orders in the post. Nor have we received any mail. I admit that we’ve been enjoying the extended holiday (see below). But rest assured that when the thaw comes, we will spend a couple of days catching up and get everything up to date. So we’d hope to get all your books and t-shirts and so on into the post by the end of this week.
Delilah in the Snow
TH
WE HAVE NOW been snowed in for a week. A few days ago, we all walked down to the local pub, about a mile and half away down a steep hill, with our neighbour Peter. We treated ourselves to a fine lunch and I had a brandy. With luck we bumped into Cliff at the pub, and he kindly gave us a lift back in his Land Rover, a great relief as we were dreading the cold walk home. Our other sojourn to the outside world was to the B&B at nearby Woody Bay Statin, to collect our fruit and vegetable delivery. Our plan was to make the three miles round trip into a family day out, but we quickly realised that two or three hours of walking in the snow with small children with a temperatrure of minus three would not be much fun, so in the end I dragged Henry’s excellent plastic sledge there on my own. (more…)
21 December 2009
To everyone who ordered books and t-shirts from the Idler shop over the last few days, many thanks. We packed them all up this morning and Sam risked her life driving on snowy roads to the post office in order to make the last post. All UK orders should arrive in time for Christmas. Any orders made from today onwards will get sent out in the new year, as we are now taking a break. Have a very merry, very idle and very pre-Reformation Christmas.
17 December 2009
We have just taken delivery of these splendid green Smash the System t-shirts. As well as the design you can see, they feature a lovely white snail on the back. Our last ordering date for shop items to be delivered by Christmas (in the UK) is Sunday 20th December. We will be going to the post office at noon on Monday 21st, and then we’ll be shutting up shop until the day after the Feast of the Epiphany, that is, Thursday 7 January. Have a very idle Christmas.
14 December 2009
I’m afraid I’ve had to cancel Christmas drinks and ukulele singalong at the Bedroom Bar, as I’ve got flu. Sorry.
TH
27 November 2009
WHAT FOUL WEATHER. The rain has been pouring to the extent that our little stream is overflowing, and this morning I had to carry the children through a deep puddle to get to the school bus. The wind has been blowing and together these two elemental forces have been making a mockery of my carefully laid plans as far as wood storage goes. I have three or four neat piles of logs in the yard. I stopped piling up logs in the wood barn, because they seemed to sit there and refuse to dry out. I’ve learned now – the hard way – that log merchants never deliver properly seasoned wood. They will all tell you it is dry, but it never is. That at least is a good rule to live by: if you are occasionally lucky and he delivers wood that is ready to burn, then you can consider that to be a bonus. But in general, the wood is not properly dried out. Last winter we had plenty of logs, but when put in the fire, they sat there and smouldered in desultory fashion. The smouldering would be OK if they actually gave off some heat. But these smouldering logs seemed to have the reverse effect: they positively sucked warmth out of the room. (more…)
26 November 2009
Rather than whingeing about the banks, and vainly hoping that these conscience-free leopards will change their spots, or that one day some magical change of policy will alter a deeply ingrained culture, it makes more practical sense simply to withdraw all your money from them and find alternative money stores or banking systems. Or move your overdraft! We moan that the government bails out failing banks, but then we continue to bail them out by continuing to use their services. We need instead to cast them out into the wilderness by having nothing to do with them.
In my own case, three years ago I quit First Direct and joined the Cooperative Bank, which operates on completely different principles to the big five, and is, by the way, extremely efficient. It also has an ethical policy. I am now going to move the Idler’s bank account from Lloyds to the Cooperative.
At the same time, if you do have any extra money, then it makes sense to withdraw it immediately from any sort of capitalist institution (ie bank, pension fund, ISA etc etc) and instead buy silver and gold, or old books, or anything beautiful, with it. In other words, find something that will keep its value, rather than be subject to the chaos of the free market.
Other alternatives are credit unions, which offer their members savings and loans. The Credit Unions also, for example, offer Child Trust Funds that do not invest in shares. Then there is the People’s Internet bank Zopa, which brings together individuals who will lend to each other.
It may also be worth looking at the Islamic banking sector, since that is less volatile and prey to top people’s greed than the UK systems. Islamic banks have been particularly successful in Malaysia, as they have far more restrictions on the types of investment they carry out, and have developed systems of banking which do not involve, for example, usury. I don’t have any personal experience of Islamic banks, but here is the website for the Islamic Bank of Britain, which may make interesting reading.
We simply need to withdraw our support for the old banks, those diseased institutions, and go elsewhere. TH
19 November 2009
We have put together five “variety packs” of Idler related materials in the shop. They offer nice discounts on buying the items separately, and could perhaps make a good present for a friend who has recently lost his or her job, or would like to quit it. There’s also a pack for new parents. We hope anyway that they will provide comfort and inspiration in equal measure. All packs are gift-wrapped in pink-striped paper bags with a hand-printed Idler snail. We can also send out a hand-printed card for the recipient with any message you like (please give instructions in the “comments” box). They all come with a “Don’t Twitter” letterpress bookmark, made by Christian Brett.
Offer One: Cheerful Redundancy Pack
Hope and ideas for a friend who has just lost his or her job
* How To Be Idle, signed
* The Book of Idle Pleasures
* Snail t-shirt, red on black
Price: £29.99 (save £4.99!)
Offer Two: Revolutionary Idler Pack
Wisdom and merriment for the anti-capitalist in your life
* How To Be Free, signed paperback
* We Want Everyone, pamphlet. Attack on Facebook by Tom Hodgkinson, signed, numbered, Letterpress cover
• Work Kills t-shirt, white on black
Price: £24.99 (save £4!)
Offer Three: Advanced Revolutionary Idler Pack
Fine food for thought
* Idler 42: Smash the System
* Snail t-shirt in black and red
Price: £29.99 (save £4!)
Offer Four: Harried Parent Pack
For friends with small chilldren or who are expecting babies
* The Idle Parent, signed hardback first edition
* The Book of Idle Pleasures
* Do Less t-shirt, red on black
Price: £34.99 (save £5.90!)
Offer Five: Everything Idler Pack
• Gift subscription
• How To Be Idle, signed
• How To Be Free, signed
• Snail t-shirt
• Work Kills t-shirt
Price: £72.99 (save £10.99!)
17 November 2009
And Aristotle managed without an i-Phone. I wrote this piece, about the idea of having a technological Sabbath, for The Ecologist.
The same piece also ran in the Guardian (complete with typo in the headline), and is appended with some amusingly moronic comments, presumably from “American Idiots”, to steal a phrase from Green Day. TH
Thanks to Matthew De Abaitua for alerting us to this excellent interview with Situationist philosopher Raoul Vaneigem, where Vaneigem talks about the need to produce our own energy and food and services as a way of escaping from the stranglehold of state and multi-national corporation.
20 October 2009
INSPIRED BY VIRGIL’S GEORGICS, which I have been reading in the excellent Loeb edition, I have written my first ever piece of Latin verse. It is:
Rastris adsiduis glaebas frango
Herba insecto arvaque iuvo
[With unrelenting mattock I break the clods
I harry the weeds and thus improve the soil.]
The mattock appears with great regularity in Latin and Greek texts on husbandry, from Hesiod to Virgil and Columella, and it is a strangely underused tool here in the UK where we prefer a combination of spade, fork and hoe. (more…)
16 October 2009
We have made several improvements to the Idler Shop. Firstly we have cut down on waiting time. All items to the UK are now sent first class, and we will mail out twice a week. This means you should not have to wait more than seven days to receive your items. Orders to the rest of the world are sent air mail.
In addition, all items will now be sent gift-wrapped in hand-printed snail bags and we can add a personalised message for the recipient on Idler postcards. Just give us your instructions in the comments section of the order form. We also pack a letterpress anti-Twitter bookmark, designed and printed by Christian Brett, with every order.
What’s more, orders within the UK can be sent to multiple addresses.
The shop is groaning with books, t-shirts, hoodies and pamphlets, and you can have a look around here.
12 October 2009
TO GLASGOW for a mini Scottish tour. I spoke at three events. The first was a conference about risk in childhood organized by Children in Scotland, a day which brought together various professionals involved in education and discussed how to resist the enclosures of capitalism and create situations which allow children to be more playful and adventurous. I felt apprehensive about condemning Calvin to an audience comprised of hard-working Scottish teachers, but they seemed to take it in good heart. The second event was set up by Idler web master Neil Scott. Neil put me on stage with Robert Wringham, editor of The New Escapologist magazine. Rob has recently quit his job and sold all his possessions. The talk took place at the Glasgow Social Centre, a new venue for community activists. We chatted about what is wrong with the world and how to improve things in our own lives, and then held a rousing singsong. The following night, I gave a talk organized by PHD student Andrew Wilbur at the university’s Hetherington Research Club. We had a great time philosophizing and making merry till late. Thanks very much to Children in Scotland, Neil and Andrew. TH
Robert Wringham and Tom Hodgkinson at the Glasgow Social Centre
Outside the Research Club, a Few Ales Down
USING A VERY SIMPLE recipe from Jocasta Innes’s excellent The Country Kitchen, I made eight pots of hedgerow jam. The first step was to collect the hedgerow fruits. Arthur and I went out with a basket and filled it with sloes, elderberries and blackberries. At home we got out a huge pan and threw the berries into it with a few apple quarters and covered it in water. After an hour or so of gentle simmering in order to soften the fruit and extract the juices, we strained the fruit through a sieve and collected the juice. (more…)
05 October 2009
At the Idler we like to point out the dangers of conventional employment. According to the UN, over two million people every year die from work-related causes. That’s more than from drugs and alcohol combined. Now we read that 24 workers at France Telecom have killed themselves in the last nineteen months. Commentators blame the corporation’s new target-driven strategy. The deaths remind us of the spate of postal worker massacre-suicides in the US over the last two decades, often blamed on one lone nutter, but in actual fact caused by the hyper-stressful working conditions. How long will it be before a UK worker cracks up and shoots his co-workers before turning the gun on himself? Click here to read the France Telcom story in the Daily Telegraph and always remember: work kills.
01 October 2009
I will be talking at the upcoming Festival of Interdependence, organized by the New Economics Foundation as part of their Bigger Picture project. It takes place from 9.30am till 7.30pm on Saturday 24 October at the Bargehouse on London’s South Bank. Other speakers include Idler contributors Oliver James, Jay Griffiths, David Boyle and Andrew Simms, not to mention such luminaries as Bianca Jagger, Rosie Boycott and Colin Tudge. TH
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"The answer to how to live is to stop thinking about it. And just to live. But you're doing that anyway. However you intellectualise it, you still just live."