Permaculture of a sorts.

How happy am I? Finally I've found a book that lives up to expectations. Colette O'Neill has written a journal of her time creating a beautiful Eden on a neglected piece of land in Ireland. She saw the little cottage and knew how to go about turning it into a haven for wildlife and people using the permaculture principles. How inspiring is that?

I've been planning my own garden using my copy of Gaia's Garden. I've made lists of plants from my Wild Colour dyeing book to include in the garden as I'd like everything grown here to have a use and purpose. I'm bringing my lovely Magnolia tree from England and it's purpose is simply that it makes me happy.

Here is a rough sketch of the land and how it is at the moment. I've made an overlay on tracing paper to show the wind directions which change according to the season. I also need to mark any boggy or dry areas. I'll do a similar design for the gardens in detail and another for the pony paddocks.

Oooh, look, Gaia's Garden again, I must be enjoying it! I've got lots of plans for the wood that is already growing here and I've just bought some dogwood plants so that I can get back to basket weaving. I haven't done it for years and it can be a bit tough on the hands, but it's so enjoyable to have a basket from your garden. In England I used to cut long whippy stems from my Jasmine to hold bean wigwams together. It looks nicer than string and is of course, free.

I also want to have a go at whittling. I've had the knives for years from when I tried my hand at spoon making. I may even give that a go too!
Crikey, when will I fit it all in???  I'm still finishing the socks I started in February and I want to make some Christmas presents too! I need another Me to get it all done!