Christmas in Britain

 

Christmas is a big deal in Britain, but there are many pagan and semi-pagan festivals that coincide with the time of year. It is the end of a year, but also the end of farm work, as everything is dead and dormant. It is also the winter solstice, which was celebrated in pagan Britain. So there is a mishmash of celebrations.

IN GLOUCESTER

Well, I went to the most wonderful carol performance at Gloucester cathedral..also known as Hogwarts, because Harry Potter was filmed there. The setting is magnificent and the acoustics divine. The entire performance was given by the students and teachers at Wynstones Waldorf school. It was set around 9 Bible lessons from Genesis creation of the Earth to St John’s creation of the Word, read by Upper school children. This was interspersed by music played by various parts of their orchestra, from brass to violin and the most beautiful singing by each part of the school from class 1, but mainly by their upper choir consisting of teachers and students and the most dynamic conductress, who appeared to have organised the entire polished production and received a standing ovation at the end. There was standing room only when I arrived as they began and the enormous and magnificent cathedral was full. It was truly one of the most professional and beautiful performances I have experienced, interspersed with symbolic Eurythmy and a poem on Refugees. (A collection was held for those seeking refuge in Europe. ) The audience also sang some rousing carols, harmonised by the choir.
Gloucester, itself was like a fairyland with lights stretched across the pedestrian street and the cathedral lit up by lights. It truly felt like Christmas. I forgot to bring my camera and so have no photos to show, but it surely was etched in my soul. I kept thinking how amazing it must be to rehearse for this performance, and what effect it must have on the children from small, who attended this magical event, to those that must have rehearsed daily over a long period of time singing these amazingly complicated harmonies. I was truly impressed at what Steiner education has achieved.

CHRISTMAS AT RUSKIN MILL
Christmas is celebrated in many ways at Ruskin Mill. There is first a Lantern Festival (kind of similar to our st Johns festival, where the students make lanterns. These are lit up with fairy lights and hung in the trees. Some are made with willow, covered with paper dipped in diluted cold glue and attached to a polystyrene base that float on the water with fairy lights inside. Some are shaped like creatures of various kinds..some you like. (This is a swan not a duck,although it looks like a duck and  although there are many ducks that inhabit the lake and no swans.)

and some you dont like:

Other lanterns:

 

Some lanterns were floated on the lake. This is Aaron from the fish farm taking some lanterns out and what they looked like afterwards:

Also the woodland team make stakes wrapped with thick rope that are dipped in oil and petrol and lit along the path.

Also personal lanterns are made with multi-coloured inks and then dunked in oil to make them transparent, and tea lights light up the inside. These we took on a walk around the lake and through the landscape. Many people who live around the area come to join us and then we offer them a supper of lamb hamburgers and hot spiced tea. These were two lanterns I made.

The drama students gave a shadow play about the legend of Prometheus, who stole fire from the gods, accompanied by various percussion instruments.

Everyone worked to make the event memorable: from the market garden that spent hours moving wood chips onto the slippery paths to the canteen that made the delicious food and decorated the canteen with candles and oranges

In the last week of term, we also spent time making Christmas wreaths for the various doors and for ourselves too. Here, you can find Holly, which is a beautiful, but prickly bush, and Ivy quite readily. And of course the Christmassy yew trees. We interspersed these with bay leaves and rosemary for scent

Also, as the trees have shed their leaves, you can see real mistletoe.

STAFF CHRISTMAS PARTY

We also had a staff Christmas party at the woodland kitchen., where we ate the yummy mince pies we had made in the bakery and also rich stollen..all organic. The ingredients cost about R10 per mince pie! But since the college is strictly organic, we did this,. I wont even estimate the cost of the stollen that had organic everything, including marzipan we made with organic almonds.

The student council also organised a party for the students, where we came in Christmas jerseys..a kitch British tradition. Luckily my sister had knitted me a BRIGHT red jersey and pixie-like winter hat with versatile uses (not least of which is to cover my hair while baking).

CHRISTMAS JERSEYS or as they all them here..JUMPERS

Its tradition to have some kind of kitchy christmas jumper and funny elf hats. Our students had a party at the end of the year, and these are a few of the christmas jumpers that I never thought people would ever wear.here is a selection:

 

CHRISTMAS MARKETS

Every little village and organization has a Christmas market with hand made crafts. I did all my christmas shopping at these markets. This is Ruskin mill’s market with Grace, one of the apprentices and a support worker with a stall selling crochet hats and willow baskets that they made.

WASSAILING. Was ist it?

Wassailing is essentially singing to nature to encourage good harvest, and we spent a lovely evening singing carols to the cows and horses. At last the carols like “In the deep mid winter” and the “the holly and the Ivy” made sense. After which we had mulled juice and mince pies made by the farm managers wife and children. The children loved jumping on the hay bails. The last song was beautifully harmonised: “Silent night”. I am sure the animals were pleased to have one after this!

This is Sally, my landlady and myself with our carol sheets looking at the moon, which surprise, surprise is not covered by cloud.

CELEBRATING THE SOLSTICE

On the solstice,we gathered at Grace’s place which is on a farm on the hill above Nailsworth. We had a roaring fire and ate soup and drank mulled cider. It was the deep mid winter, but the skies were clear and the moon was haloed with a rainbow. We did not even need jackets it was like having a good old South African Braai (without the braai).

I also went to Avebury, which is a small village with the most incredible standing stones. But that will be another post.

CHRISTMAS DAY

Tomorrow is Christmas. it is strange to be away from home. My wonderful landlord and lady, Stephen and Sally have invited me FOR A LENTIL CURRY AND CHRISTMAS PUD. Well why on earth not!

Whether the Weather

I was warned about the weather I was entering in Britain, that it would be cold and wet. Well, I thought I would prepare for it and researched the best clothes. The most important was waterproof shoes (not leather..no leather is waterproof for long)) with a good tread for the multitude of mud. These are faux doc martin boots I bought from shoe city and have been a life saver. They walk through mud and puddles with immunity and no slipping.

I bought a host of woolen socks..not cotton, as cotton, when wet remains cold. I topped that with vests and leggings, which surprisingly, the warmest and driest are made of artificial materials or wool (but wool is scratchy to wear and artificial textiles tend to let you sweat. I bought a good raincoat and feather puffer vest that covers your midriff yet allows movement and is light to wear. These have been lifesavers, thanks Kayway (excellent South African maker of hiking gear) and a gift from Imhoff Waldorf school.

The weather has been surprisingly different from usual I gather, as the rain only arrived a month after it should, and daffodils are blossoming a month before they should. In Britain the way that the weather is viewed is rather different to South Africa, where the sun shines and there is occasional rain. Here everything is back to font, and the weather man tries desperately to sound optimistic. These are some of the actual comments made by the very frequent weather reports (a favourite British conversation ) on BBC TV as seen through sunny South African eyes:
“Occasional Patches of sun”
“Temperatures will even be in Double digits.”
“Watery sunshine”
“Some occasional breaks in rain”
“Temperatures actually rise through the night.’
“Sunshine in short supply”
“We Could even see 16 degrees!”
“You may actually get some glimpses of sunshine.”
“Some brights spells possible”
“Hopefully we’ll get some sunshine sometime soon.”
“Unusually warm (14 degrees)”
“Persistently wet”
“Cloudy with An occasional spit of rain”
“Now you might be shocked to hear Tomorrow we might actually get to see some sunshine.”
“Looking at highs of 13-14degrees.”
“Some tantalizing glimpses of sun tomorrow.”

These only are supposed to blossom in late January, but are blossoming now. Global warming? Just the earth breathing?

All kinds of Nifty devices

When you decide that you do not want to use sophisticated mechanical devices for labour, you need to invent many other devices that make your life a little easier, and so on Ruskin Mill and Gables farm I found many interesting devices and creative solutions.

This is a device for cleaning mud off your shoe.. a very necessary device in wet Britain. Its made from two old broom heads stuck onto a metal handle and cleans the sole and the side simultaneously.

These are stakes for holding boots to keep them dry and prevent creepy crawlies from getting inside. This is a balustrade made of woven branches that leads you down a slippery path into the woods. This is kind of hoe that simultaneously cuts and pulls weeds between rows of seedlings. This is a cover for a well that is counter weighted with a brick that makes it easy to lift the cover, (which is made of thin slivers of wood, often used as a form of roof tiling.)  Counterweights are also used to keep gates closed. This is a hand pushed wheel with various attachments. This one ruches op the earth around seedlings. This is a sophisticated compost drum that can be turned easily with a handle to turn the compost without effort. This is a nifty sower of small seeds when making seedling beds. The seeds are placed in containers on top that have small holes. As you wheel it, the seeds are let out evenly and in nicely spaced rows. It also makes furrows in front and covers the soil behind it.
This is another nifty wiper of shoes very necessary in a muddy environment.

A few more nifty devices:

This is used to keep the gates closed. the weight closes the gate after opening. This is a poo pusher. Used to scrape up the wet poo in the pig and cows pens..note the consistency of the cow poo after rain.

Land art at Ruskin Mill

Natural landscapes are always beautiful to look at and experience, and we spend a lot of time in South Africa trying to “bring back the raw environment.” However, I have really been astounded by the effect of land art on the enhancement and enjoyment of the environment. Land art is something that is man made, usually out of natural forms that are located in unexpected and often unused environments but make you look more closely and appreciate the environment. The effect is the unexpected, and brings out a sense of “aha” or even “haha”

At Ruskin Mill, land art is everywhere and makes for an exquisite environment. Not only is it naturally a beautiful place, nesting below woods with a rushing stream and calm lake, every corner has an interesting and artistic artifact.

THE BUILDINGS

Besides the two old textile mills with their particular architecture. This  is Ruskin Mill(this is the BACK of the building)This is the water wheel that used to drive the Mill (but now only drives a light bulb unfortunately). Here are a number of craft areas built with nature in mind. This is the pottery.

This is the woodland kitchen where we have our daily meals. This is a little cottage at Ruskin Mill where a caretaker lives. This is what is commonly called “the pringle” by the students, on account of its shape. It is actually the field centre where lectures and courses are held. This is a shed used for green wood turning. It is open, but has a cosy little corner with a fire in winter.

ARTY FACTS

Here is some of the sculptures are unexpected art that you can find. Flow forms are everywhere, as the Ebb and Flow workshop, where they are made,  is located at ruskin Mill. Also the entire fishery and lake  is aerated by strategically placed flow forms. Not only does the water constantly flow everywhere, they are all incredibly beautiful.

SCULPTURES

Scattered in odd and unexpected corners are many sculptures, some in the middle of the forest, such as the last one, that some students decorated with flowers at Michaelmas.

Some are simply stones balanced on poles and other odd things.

These are two flat stones tied up with string to a branch overhanging the lake that clink with the water flow and moving of the branches.

Others are just useful devices but always with an artistic element.