Early evening walk round the garden... It's a massive sprawling,windswept hillside that does everything it can to make life difficult for gardening. Thanks to massive efforts from Marta, Penny, Innes and a host of wonderful volunteers over many years, it's really blossoming now If you're in need of fresh air, good company and the massive benefits of being near the earth, you are always welcome to come and join in. And all this food that Marta is nurturing is making its way to the cafe next door, and you couldn't be much more local than that! It's funny to be feeling upbeat in the light of today's election results, but as we like to say here 'Resistance is Fertile' and these plants don't give a monkey's what that prick Farage has to say... Long may it continue.
Another gorgeous Vickers! It's gonna take a load of work, but I couldn't resist. Thanks to Jo and John for passing her on, and Joe Rush for pointing me in the direction again.. there's a ton of spare chrome with it so I might be able to finally get round to finishing the other one..
I'm gonna have to make two posts tonight. It's always all or nothing! These photos are from yesterday and I just loved the colours of the shipping containers, the tree and the sky... Also.. Flash trial fitting an oak frame for doors to finish off this railway carriage project we started over 5 years ago.. I'm getting that bit in now, because the second post of tonight features a new project.. Marta seems to think I should stick to one at a time, but that's not really our way 😉
The first Somerset Anarchist Book fair here today. I forgot to take many photos, but it was great! I'm sure there will be much better shots elsewhere but I wanted to say a big thanks to everyone who helped pull it all together. Impromptu couple of songs from Half/Time, and a glimpse of @boffwhalley inspiring as ever... And as I was closing up and turning things off, I found these guys celebrating Mumma's birthday in the back of my old bus.. we hadn't met before... What a wonderful world it could be
A few photos from the week that was.. Some tiles I brought back from Morocco about 15 years ago. They've been sat in a stillage in the yard ever since, but like most things here, they finally found their place.. and regular viewers will know how much I like a tiling job.. this is of course complicated by the floor not being flat and the tiles being handmade, so maintaining the correct pattern is a challenge. There's a picture of some Japanese Maples that came here in pots from our old house and have been thriving since going in the ground, probably around the same time the tiles arrived. Then a shot of the sun setting behind the kitchen doors (reclaimed from a pub, and with stained glass by @mordesign17 ) Of course there is an obligatory gabion wall being constructed by Innes. One of the joys of living in a disused quarry is we can nearly always find more stone. Usually this is poor quality and will have been discarded by the original quarry owners, but is perfectly good for our purposes I spotted this Iris growing in the foreground of @danrawlings64 transit van.. no one seems to know where it came from but it looked lovely And lastly a little fella I made in 10 minutes I got to myself the other day. It's been balancing precariously on the back wall for many years, but I finally got round to making it work and spin in the wind
Beautiful day in the sun here at Rockaway watching Inkie and Sepr putting this great piece up in memory of our mate, Gabba. There's not a lot of people in this area and the much wider world that this fella didn't touch.
Back in the early 90's he'd send me cassettes when I was living in a trailer up at Abson, and he always went to the trouble to reach out throughout the years. We met up again for the last time a few months back in Montreal when The Mob shared the bill with his Scumputer project.. A very sad loss and a fitting memorial. RIP Mate and big thanks to Inkie and Sepr x. (P.s. the "fuck off" stencil is Gabba's own work)
I've been thinking about this for a few days now. Today is my birthday and I'm 65! When you're young you can't imagine for a second that you'll get that far. If and when I first started work, today would be the day I retire.. But of course I never did get a job.. I never stopped working, but I never got a job .. and I won't be getting one anytime soon ! My advice to my younger self would be "Follow your Dreams" and most importantly... " whether you think you can, or whether you think you can't, you're probably right" Of course I couldn't find a photo or two that sum up my 65 years, but the second two photos show Rockaway back in 2002 and again last year.. Work is great if you're doing something you love.. don't settle for less ❤️🖤
These photos show a new greenhouse that @flash_light77 has been constructing out of the old 'mini chapel' and a donation of glass partitions from @robert3delnaja ..
then we've got positioning Joe's bus on top of the retaining wall that Innes has been building.. Dinner with the girls, a couple of mad shots of the moon behind an unusual cloud last night, and some shots from last weekend's Catalyst Club which was great! Sending loads of love to my lad Danny and his Mum, Claire out in Tokyo... Looking forward to having you guys back home ❤️..
A view from the top looking down at the house and the yard at Rockaway tonight..
Nice to have a day where you can just wear a t-shirt again! No idea where all that red light came from in the yard photo though
Birthday party, then a Sunday session... Nice to see a hint of spring momentarily.. the first pic has the backs of Claire and Rachel who both came here with me back in 2002.. a lot of water has gone under the bridge since, but none of us could have imagined this back then (well maybe a little ;-)) And a couple of new devotees at @thechapelofunrest if you haven't joined already find us online and help build this thing.... Whatever it might be ... And big thanks to the Rockaway crew who put in sterling service all weekend whilst I wander round like a bear with a sore head, cos I can't drive my forklift and build things!! You're all stars 🙂
