Week 15: Back in the UK

Another post missed. My excuse this time was that I was in Bristol last week and didn't have access to a computer. Maybe I should get a ghostwriter to handle my blog obligations.

Since my last post I have altered my plans and returned to Earthworm for the summer (I had been toying with the idea for a while). I will stay here until my UK visa runs at the end of September. I expect at that point I'll head to France, Switzerland, and/or Spain; who knows, maybe even Morocco. But I don't have to worry about that until September and I have enough going on here to keep me occupied/entertained.

I have been to a few cities in the last two weeks. Here's an overview of what I've done in July:

July 1
- left La Besnardiere in France early because the woman was quite irritating (my patience for WWOOF hosts has thinned considerably now)
- travel by foot, bus and train to arrive at Caen, where I stayed for three days

July 2 & 3
- visit Juno Beach Centre (overcast day ruined photo ops), William the Conqueror's castle, and some very beautiful local parks (favourite being la Vallée des Jardins)

July 4
- midnight ferry to Portsmouth (sooo very expensive)
- met a Canadian who had traveled around Europe for the previous three weeks and spent about $30,000 CDN, he figures (I nearly puked when he told me)
- train from Portsmouth to Bristol
- back in the land of the Pound Sterling (shit ain't cheap); compare the Caen hostel of 11 euros to the £25 YHA hostel in Bristol

July 5
- visit local sites
- move Saturday from the £25 YHA to the £17 Full Moon hostel, which is also environmentally friendly and much more sociable

July 6
- more local site seeing, kill time in the library
- finally get in contact with (Earthworm resident) Joe's younger brother, Sam
- hang out at Sam's place along with Joe, their brother Matt, Sam's wife Alex, and Matt's son Djindi

July 7
- Joe and I train back to Earthworm

July 8-12
- normal going-ons at Earthworm: gardening, maintenance, meetings and eating

July 13 (a very good day)
- the first sunny day all week
- future volleyball courts finally able to be mowed
- Lily's 8th birthday
- a portable, green energy solution of wind and solar nearly complete

- cob oven built



Upcoming for Me
Jul 18-20 - Sam's surprise 30th birthday, camping near Bristol
Jul 19-25 - Earthworm July Work Week
Jul 26-27 - Inter-Community Volleyball Tournament hosted at Earthworm
Aug 2 - Steve's sister's wedding (on route to...)
Aug 3-11 - Climate Camp
Aug 15-17 - Radical Routes gathering at Earthworm
Aug 27-Sep 1 - Earth First! Summer Gathering

Cheers,


Kasza



Photos


Smile for the camera


Comforting


Green pine cone?!?


Bristol Blitz victim


Overcast dawn (yet again)

Because I haven't taken many photos recently, here are a few more of the punk band at Fete de Music in Bauge. Maybe with some practice I could be as good Andrew.