Vices, virtues

[radegund]

On Saturday, while niallm was off collecting our New Thing, I took the two boys out, first to the chipper around the corner to eat sad pig¹ (and egg and chips) and thence to our local community garden.

Which was magic! I was there a couple of times last year when they were starting up, and I did some heavy digging (the site is a disused carpark) and carting of topsoil and stuff, but then I got pregnant and morning-sick and pelvisy, so I stopped. And now, a year on, the place is lovely. There are raised beds, grassy paths, spring bulbs, a shed, compost heaps, a water butt, a newly installed pond, young cherry trees in bloom - just gorgeous. Oisín and I did some watering and then weeded the strawberry bed - for about eight minutes until O got bored - while Fiachra napped in the buggy. Then we played around the pond and told stories about underwater train networks, and then F woke up, and I put him back in the sling and O got in the buggy and we went home. We'll go again next Saturday, I hope.

We weren't long home when Niall arrived back with our New Thing, which increases our middle-class-hippie cred by a point or two, because it is a hybrid car - a Toyota Prius, to be precise. Niall's the one who's done all the nerding about this, so I'm not an expert, but my understanding is that it's merely highly fuel-efficient, rather than being an actual viable electric vehicle (the battery charges up by storing the energy generated by braking, but you can only go about 3km on a full battery without using the petrol engine). If we choose to soup it up with solar panels and a battery upgrade and suchlike, it'll be greener.

And then I go and spoil it all by running out of biodegradable nappies and having to drive my hybrid car to a SUPERMARKET and buy PAMPERS for the first time in my sheltered life. And not only that, but COKE, which is Niall's sekrit vice.

¹ This is my no. 1 sekrit vice at the moment - I'm uncomfortable at how easy it's been to slip into the habit, and the fact that you more or less can't get organic pig in Dublin (someone told me that only around 2% of Irish pig farming is organic) doesn't help much. I should stop eating it, obviously. But I really, really like it, and the vicious part of me whispers that I'll be going back to vegetarianism soon anyway, so while I'm at it I might as well be hanged for a sad pig as for an ethically reared lamb. Sigh.

Comments

[ainetl.livejournal.com]

i'd really like a hybrid car at some point. the prius seem really nice. i'm not in a car-buying place in my life right now though so i'll have to stick to the old honda.

lately my new thing eco thing has been cork flooring. i'd love to put it down if i am able to get the place that i'm considering - at least in a portion of the house. it's a bit more expensive but seems worth it.

i can't say a word because my one and only vice is embarrassingly diet coke. i keep telling myself if it's my only vice that isn't too bad, but of course that's just a cop out. it's even silly because i drink caffeine-free so it's not even that aspect of it.

[radegund.livejournal.com]

Cork flooring for insulation? We used to have cork tiles in the kitchen when I was small. And once I stayed in a room in Paris that was completely lined with cork tiles - walls and floor, anyway. I can't remember if they extended to the ceiling.

[ainetl.livejournal.com]

well of course it's good for insulation, but i'm thinking of it just in terms of good flooring while still being green. i was thinking of bamboo, but some reading has made me doubtful - apparently some countries are chopping down old-growth forests to plant bamboo due to the demand. sort of defeats the purpose...

here's one site with some lovely examples:
http://www.corkfloor.com/

If you click on "colours" and "floor photos" you can see some examples.

it sounds great - quiet, soft, durable, recycled. but it's a bit spendy here so it remains questionable if i will find cork tiles that i like within my price range.

do you remember the cork tiles well from your childhood kitchen?

[glitzfrau.livejournal.com]

Eeee new car! The old one really did do trojan service, didn't it? Hooray!


And where is the garden? I must visit next time I'm back! (Btw, when would be a good time to ring?)

[radegund.livejournal.com]

The garden is about seven minutes' walk from our house. It's great.

Would be lovely to talk to you! Ring any evening you like, between about 9 and 11. Maybe text first, in case there's a Bad Bedtime in progress :-)

[leedy.livejournal.com]

I (well, my mum) drove past the garden when we were collecting THE ANTLER LIGHT from the Habitat depot last Saturday - it looks marvellous.

Actually, I'm pretty sure another friend of mine that you don't know is/was heavily involved in it. See how I add further knots to my macramé of Dublin connections.

[socmot.livejournal.com]

I bet you that sshi knows that friend!

[radegund.livejournal.com]

Truly, you are the queen of vaguely silly 1970s crafts! Your string potholder stretches unto the heavens.