Basket Making at Stirley Farm

 Sue showing us how to start off our baskets.

The base of my basket

 The stage of the basket making process where it looks like a giant spider...

 Bending the stakes upwards...

 ... to make something that then looks like a lobster pot!

 Now the weaving begins to make the sides of the basket.

After a tricky bit of plaiting at the top, here's the finished basket!

What's Growing in Newsome?

Poor Gavin Repton got roped into making two videos in two days for me... Didn't he do a nice job though?

Oxfam Birthrights Exhibition, Huddersfield

Oxfam volunteer, Veronika Susedkova, organised a display of the Birthrights exhibition in Huddersfield which looks at maternal care for mothers in Ghana, and put on a fantastic opening night!

Weak at the Knees

The beautiful weather we've been having has motivated me to finally sort my rusty bike chain out and I managed to get it to a functioning state in time to cycle home from work this evening. When setting off, I wasn't altogether convinced that my chain wouldn't snap when under strain especially due to the disconcerting clunks it made up the drive from the farm... But pretty soon I stopped noticing so many clunks, although this could have been because I was concentrating more on the Yorkshire hills that I've not tackled in several months... The ride home was actually quite gentle in comparison to other routes I used to take regularly. I had to resist constant urges to stop at every pub I passed and get a drink and sit out in the sun! I've missed cycling more than I realised - you see so many different things on a bike than you do in a car. My route home to Shepley seemed practically brand new. That said, I'm not expecting to see much of the London to Brighton ride in June unless I get myself some pretty powerful lights!

So now the training has properly started! The cycle home was 7 miles, which left me feeling slightly weak at the knees, I've got quite a bit of work to do before I'm ready for my 62 mile challenge (sorry, I work in miles not kilometres...).

We've also got a long way to go with the fundraising effort. I've got a few ideas up my sleeve but any donations would be gratefully received! You can sponsor us on our Team Toots page.

The Best of Volunteering

I'm on the Do-it.org homepage under the "best of volunteering"... Hurray!

On yer bike!

As well as neglecting my blog a little, since Christmas I've also been neglecting my bicycle... Since moving to West Yorkshire in July, my trusty bike has been my main way of getting around. But since moving slightly further away from the farm where I work and getting a lift instead of cycling in, my trusty bike has become my rusty bike... But it's time to clean up my chain and get back on my bike - because I've just signed up to take part in Moonriders, a charity cycle ride from London to Brighton through the night to raise money for Oxfam!

On Sunday, in spite of having the flu and a rusty chain, I borrowed a bike and went for a ride up on the High Peak Trail. Getting to the trail nearly killed me (apparently it was necessary to take shortcuts through fields, lifting the bikes over stiles and walls...) but it felt great to get back on a bike again!

I'll keep you updated on my training and fundraising progress and if you'd like to sponsor me, I've set up a fundraising page!

Recent Updates

After promising not to neglect you, I've not updated this blog in a while... I've been busy blogging for Do-it however! You can read my posts about recent community events in Newsome including our  Potato Day and the Growing Communities workshops, where we looked at why food growing works in Newsome and how and why such projects began. I also wrote about Oxfam after I went to speak to a group of teenagers in Barnsley about the work they do.