Sunday, 2 December 2007
13 - the strawberry patch
post by sarah
Sarah, Simone, and Ashley planted a small strawberry patch outside the YP building. They pulled strawberries from Craig Gibson's amazingly full garden and transplanted them next to the YP after clearing rocks and weeds from the area. Now the youth have a garden to be responsible for and reap the benefits of.
Sarah, Simone, and Ashley planted a small strawberry patch outside the YP building. They pulled strawberries from Craig Gibson's amazingly full garden and transplanted them next to the YP after clearing rocks and weeds from the area. Now the youth have a garden to be responsible for and reap the benefits of.
12 - older youth event
post by ashley
After talking with the YP participants, we decided that
a. they were really cool
and
b. we wanted to spend more time with them.
We originally thought that focalizing an all-nighter in the CC would be a
great bonding activity and would be a smart way to reward them for having
such a positive role in the community. We ended up not doing it for a
variety of reasons. There was concern about how parents would feel about
letting their kids stay up all night. Additionally, we were tight on time
and energy ourselves! To pull an all nighter on a weekend would have
sacrificed our personal sustainability at this point in time.
However, I still think that this activity would work out well, provided
that time and energy are abundant. Karen suggested that the extension
could be a "quiet" space for those who want to sleep. In the remaining
parts of the CC, activities such as casino games, dance parties, and art
projects could be going on, and be overseen by FCS students.
After talking with the YP participants, we decided that
a. they were really cool
and
b. we wanted to spend more time with them.
We originally thought that focalizing an all-nighter in the CC would be a
great bonding activity and would be a smart way to reward them for having
such a positive role in the community. We ended up not doing it for a
variety of reasons. There was concern about how parents would feel about
letting their kids stay up all night. Additionally, we were tight on time
and energy ourselves! To pull an all nighter on a weekend would have
sacrificed our personal sustainability at this point in time.
However, I still think that this activity would work out well, provided
that time and energy are abundant. Karen suggested that the extension
could be a "quiet" space for those who want to sleep. In the remaining
parts of the CC, activities such as casino games, dance parties, and art
projects could be going on, and be overseen by FCS students.
11 - the budget
post by Alexa
As treasurer, I am proud to announce that we completed our FCS
Permaculture Service Project WITHOUT SPENDING A PENNY! All the
resources were collected with Craig's help from around the park. He
lent us his tools and helped us scavenge all the materials together.
Not to mention our own ingenuity!
As treasurer, I am proud to announce that we completed our FCS
Permaculture Service Project WITHOUT SPENDING A PENNY! All the
resources were collected with Craig's help from around the park. He
lent us his tools and helped us scavenge all the materials together.
Not to mention our own ingenuity!
10 - the hammock
Permaculture project: Hammock
Focalized by Kyle,
Supported by everyone.
So, the plan was,
We planned for a massive hammock big enough for jumping, swinging, and general awesomeness. The material was a found fishing net from the beach, sewn into a rectangular shape and a two-by-four was attached at either end. The site was a spot where the same project was attempted previously, and had two existing posts that we hoped to use for supporting the new hammock. We didn’t plan out how it would be done as far as the method of building it, but hoped for some creativity to take place on the day of the project.
What got executed?
The day of the project, we built a great hammock. We wiggled the existing posts to take them out. This took no time at all with the ground in Scotland and its constantly being rained on. The ground was forgiving, and didn’t create any obstacles for us. It seemed to enjoy our contributions. Once the holes were dug, we tossed in the two pine posts. There was a construction site of a stone building down the road where we borrowed a wheel barrow, and collected chips of stone. These acted as a sturdier and less prone to the rain connection to the ground for the posts. We pounded the stone into the hole around the base of the two posts, with a heavy tamping rod to hold the posts confidently in the ground. Once the posts were secure, we connected the net to them using twisted recycled rope.
This was a good way for the hammock to stay, but could be improved upon. The idea came up to add a top post that would connect the two standing posts. We went out with Craig to the forest to find a post and trailer it back. The bark was taken off, and long nails driven to connect the posts. Our project was completed and the people were flying from right and left into the net.
Who helped it all happen?
Everyone helped it all happen. There was Emily digging away from the start. Josh was keen on smashing rocks with the tamping rod, and driving nails into the top post. Craig was the forester, forager, and tractor driver. Emma brought a lot of fun while taking pictures, joining in on the rock smashing, and hammock tester. Oren came to the forest to collect the top post, and added to the de-barking efforts. I was focalizer, and jack of all trades. There were countless hammock quality testers, laughers, gigglers, piles ups of people in the big fish-net. There was support in getting materials from Craig. The YP was supporting us with excitement about a hammock. The project felt like a day of play, and the hammock was built as a manifestation of out enjoyment of working together and creating.
Tell somethin’ good
9- kids event
post by oren
Through our consultations with the YP kids and YP workers, and feedback from our meetings, as part a of our permaculture project we held a fun event for the kids. Seeing as how this required the kids, it was not done on our workday, but was held on the 13th of November. I, Oren, focalized this event, and was helped by the company and enthusiasm of Sarah, Simone, Steph and Emma. It was planed as a games night, intended, and embodied, as a time to spend more time with the kids, to facilitate some fun, to be positive role models, and to help the YP workers have some time to enjoy themselves and the kids with out focalizing. It was a great time. We played name games, Love (a variation of Bang), Sumo, “Yes Let’s”, and learned the song “jig-a-lo”. Each game got the kids and us moving and enjoying life. Great success! Thanks to everyone involved including the YP kids, and Gabrielle and Karen.
8 - graffiti boards and swings
post by josh
i focalized the graffiti boards, the shoe rack, and the front swings.
i was very happy with they both turned out.
the graffiti boards were a simple process that alexa and i did. we
lost many screw-bits. like 5 or something. we did do do much in the
way of a shoe rack, which is funny because it was the only thing the
focalizers asked us for. the swings were a idea that some one brought
up during the day, so we decided to do it. it was hard to get them
balanced.
it was great fun to sit on a swing again, and it was nice to swing
into the southern sun.
a good day.
i focalized the graffiti boards, the shoe rack, and the front swings.
i was very happy with they both turned out.
the graffiti boards were a simple process that alexa and i did. we
lost many screw-bits. like 5 or something. we did do do much in the
way of a shoe rack, which is funny because it was the only thing the
focalizers asked us for. the swings were a idea that some one brought
up during the day, so we decided to do it. it was hard to get them
balanced.
it was great fun to sit on a swing again, and it was nice to swing
into the southern sun.
a good day.
Saturday, 1 December 2007
7 - the bench
post by steph
it was quite the undertaking...
My team was made up of Oren, Zac and myself. As it had been my passion that we deliver the YP a funky cool new wooden bench, I took lead as focaliser. Oren and Zac were to be my man power :D
The original idea was to find some interesting "piece," made of wood or somthing else needing recycling, and then to create a unique bench around that center piece. The idea was tossed around that it would be paintable, to further the funky effect.
A day or two before our work day, Zac and I took a trip up to the wood piles to look around and have a chat with Jason. We asked what was available, and were happy to find out that mostly "everything to the left" was free to use...
Excited, but with no real plan in mind, Oren, Zac and I set off that Friday morning to the wood pile. Large hunks of tree trunk began to look appealing as we dreamt up rough bench designs; still, the funky appeal was missing. Not too far into the hunt, we found two old doors hiding out in the back of the workyard. One was rotting pretty badly, but the other looked just right to be a children's climbing/sitting place.
Oren envisioned the pieces we would need to set it up, and all three of us set to work digging them out. The first plan was to have three very tall posts along the back edge of the bench, which would be placed in holes in the ground for permanent placement. Three smaller posts along the front would provide balance. At this stage, we thought it a good idea to give the bench a back as well...
Craig soon enough came round with his tractor, and we all piled in. Had a real fun ride, and brought back more than enough wood to the YP building.
After a good long consultation session amongst ourselves and with Craig, our team determined it best to simply mount the door on six sturdy logs that would be dug into the ground. We had a permanent design for a permanent door-bench.
Next was prepping the door, digging the holes, and cutting the logs to size. The system we decided on to make sure the bench was even in the end was somewhat haphazard, but seemed to work at the time being.
I sanded the door's old paint chips down, while Oren and Zac rotated in cutting logs and digging holes. (I did dig a few holes too.) The idea was to determine the placement of the posts, mark that on the ground, and dig similar-depth holes in the appropriate spots.
This went well until it was time to fill in dirt around the logs in their holes. It seemed that the holes had shifted in unplanned directions, during the digging process. We had six very awkward looking logs sticking out at random from the ground, and we hadn't even touched the issue of making the door sit level on top of them.
After much debate, we decided it would be best to place the logs and fill in the holes two at a time, to make sure they were all standing at about the same height off the ground. This seemed to go well for awhile, until the door was placed on top... we couldn't figure out how to put the last two logs in the ground so that all six would be flush. (you had to be there to visually understand this... trust that it was mad frustrating!!)
Meanwhile, I realized the doorknob needed to come off of the door; it wasn't safe to have on a bench that kids would be fooling around on. The rusted hardware finally gave way, but even with all the screws out, the doorknob was still dangling from the door. I went begging to the most able man I know here... and Craig had the answer! He took a big metal... tool/thing... and with one WACK, knocked the sucker right off. YAYY!!
So the door was ready, four out of six of the logs were ready. Then a few group members came to our aid. We ended up sticking small bits of wood between the last two logs and the door to fill the gap. Then multiple group members helped with the nailing of the door to the logs (three nails to each log, please!), and the bench was complete!
The day was long, frustrating at times, energy intensive, yet sooo satisfying by the time I had a second to look around at what else had been going on in the yard. I thought we all worked very well together, and played off each other's strengths beautifully. In the end, the bench is more practical than funky, storing wood underneath it, and serving as a shelf for the kids to stand on while they paint on the high-up graffitti surfaces behind it.
I think my team was happy with the end product, and excited to have contributed to something that the YP will benefit from for years to come!
see pictures from the day here.
it was quite the undertaking...
My team was made up of Oren, Zac and myself. As it had been my passion that we deliver the YP a funky cool new wooden bench, I took lead as focaliser. Oren and Zac were to be my man power :D
The original idea was to find some interesting "piece," made of wood or somthing else needing recycling, and then to create a unique bench around that center piece. The idea was tossed around that it would be paintable, to further the funky effect.
A day or two before our work day, Zac and I took a trip up to the wood piles to look around and have a chat with Jason. We asked what was available, and were happy to find out that mostly "everything to the left" was free to use...
Excited, but with no real plan in mind, Oren, Zac and I set off that Friday morning to the wood pile. Large hunks of tree trunk began to look appealing as we dreamt up rough bench designs; still, the funky appeal was missing. Not too far into the hunt, we found two old doors hiding out in the back of the workyard. One was rotting pretty badly, but the other looked just right to be a children's climbing/sitting place.
Oren envisioned the pieces we would need to set it up, and all three of us set to work digging them out. The first plan was to have three very tall posts along the back edge of the bench, which would be placed in holes in the ground for permanent placement. Three smaller posts along the front would provide balance. At this stage, we thought it a good idea to give the bench a back as well...
Craig soon enough came round with his tractor, and we all piled in. Had a real fun ride, and brought back more than enough wood to the YP building.
After a good long consultation session amongst ourselves and with Craig, our team determined it best to simply mount the door on six sturdy logs that would be dug into the ground. We had a permanent design for a permanent door-bench.
Next was prepping the door, digging the holes, and cutting the logs to size. The system we decided on to make sure the bench was even in the end was somewhat haphazard, but seemed to work at the time being.
I sanded the door's old paint chips down, while Oren and Zac rotated in cutting logs and digging holes. (I did dig a few holes too.) The idea was to determine the placement of the posts, mark that on the ground, and dig similar-depth holes in the appropriate spots.
This went well until it was time to fill in dirt around the logs in their holes. It seemed that the holes had shifted in unplanned directions, during the digging process. We had six very awkward looking logs sticking out at random from the ground, and we hadn't even touched the issue of making the door sit level on top of them.
After much debate, we decided it would be best to place the logs and fill in the holes two at a time, to make sure they were all standing at about the same height off the ground. This seemed to go well for awhile, until the door was placed on top... we couldn't figure out how to put the last two logs in the ground so that all six would be flush. (you had to be there to visually understand this... trust that it was mad frustrating!!)
Meanwhile, I realized the doorknob needed to come off of the door; it wasn't safe to have on a bench that kids would be fooling around on. The rusted hardware finally gave way, but even with all the screws out, the doorknob was still dangling from the door. I went begging to the most able man I know here... and Craig had the answer! He took a big metal... tool/thing... and with one WACK, knocked the sucker right off. YAYY!!
So the door was ready, four out of six of the logs were ready. Then a few group members came to our aid. We ended up sticking small bits of wood between the last two logs and the door to fill the gap. Then multiple group members helped with the nailing of the door to the logs (three nails to each log, please!), and the bench was complete!
The day was long, frustrating at times, energy intensive, yet sooo satisfying by the time I had a second to look around at what else had been going on in the yard. I thought we all worked very well together, and played off each other's strengths beautifully. In the end, the bench is more practical than funky, storing wood underneath it, and serving as a shelf for the kids to stand on while they paint on the high-up graffitti surfaces behind it.
I think my team was happy with the end product, and excited to have contributed to something that the YP will benefit from for years to come!
see pictures from the day here.
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