COMMUNITY - By Kirsten Nance

What is it? Why does it matter? Who is it composed of? All of the aforementioned questions are ones which I have forever struggled to answer.  Growing up in a small town similar to Bude, my original idea of community was: a group of people one is surrounded by that is determined by birthplace. However, the dictionary defines a community as a "social, religious, occupational, or other group sharing common characteristics or interests and perceived or perceiving itself as distinct in some respect from the larger society within which it exists” (dictionary.com). Growing up, my personality, thoughts, and ideas didn’t quite fall in line with those of my assigned community members. The only characteristic I shared was my race, and even that was debatable. I decided at a young age that when I was old enough, I would venture out to find communities of my own--niches, comfort zones--and through traveling, communities are exactly what I have found. 

Cerenity: The band of rebels… the nomads, the wanderers, the unique free spirits that live together under one roof (more specifically, a stable, a loft, a caravan, two vans, and a master bedroom, but you get the point). Cerenity gives light to the phrase “not all who wander are lost.” We are a way of life that is raw, untamed, and uncut. The consistent flow of volunteers coming through year-round creates a community that is a cultural melting pot; the silent, the strident, the ludicrous, and the reclusive. Together, we create balance.  

A community isn’t meant to be perfect, it is meant to have positive and negative aspects.  We eat, sleep, work, laugh, banter, and drink together. There are no secrets. There are disagreements, moments of tension, and occasional awkward moments, but without those things, true connection would not exist. Learning to communicate efficiently, and respecting how others communicate,  is arguably the most vital part of functioning harmoniously in a community. Communities teach us about ourselves: our strengths, or weaknesses. Some of us excel at organization, structure, multi-tasking, and order, while others excel at creativity, logic, ideas, and intuition. A few of us excel at all of the above. Community members learn from one another, too. During my stay, the volunteers and semi-permanent residents taught one another to cook properly, garden (though I still believe that takes more luck than skill), ride horses (Poppy is a pro), fix what was broken (for the most part), create animals from bottle tops, build up a higher alcohol tolerance, twerk and gracefully fall from a slack line. We have pushed each other to be the best versions ourselves. We have challenged one another physically, mentally, and socially. We have engaged in intense conversation, shared hilarious stories, and created stories to be told to future community members. We have rolled dice on the sidewalks of Bude while incoherently intoxicated, we have ran from invisible authorities and hid behind trees in the woods after refusing to pay the entrance fees to a nature park, we have laughed uncontrollably at the sight of others tripping, slipping, or running into various objects, we have watched others get aggressively thrown off of angry ponies, and we have even ran to the ocean at midnight to contemplate swimming naked in the freezing cold Atlantic Ocean. We have created memories that will forever be remembered. 

Some of us don’t mind being lost in the World that surrounds us, while others aren’t bothered  to be lost in our own minds. We range from impulsive, to patient… we are followers, and we are leaders: We all stand apart, while simultaneously standing together. As a part of travel culture, I consider a community to be a ‘home away from home.’ A place filled with people that (if necessary) will pick a person up and help him through his darkest hours, and also celebrate him on his brightest days. A few weeks spent in a community that is relatable, tolerant, and accepting, can make a difference that will last a lifetime. 

We move, we change, we grow, but the people we choose to let in, to impact our lives, to change us, those are the people who matter, those people are our community. 

Cerenety's Shit Hot Chilli Sauce

Ingredients

30 chillis

5 bell peppers

6 onions

6 tomatoes

Chives

6 sun dried tomatoes

Basil

2 bulbs garlic

Sun dried tomato oil

Ginger

Lime juice and flesh one lime

Lime zest

Tomato pure

70g dark chocolate

Thank you Patrick x

Loo With A View

With the development of a new kitchen and shower area in the yard, we are in need of a toilet too. I put a few ideas together, mostly a mix between an outside toilet I used while helpxing in Asturias, and the existing toilets used by the campers here and came up with the Cerenety volunteer 'Loo with a view'.

 As with all of our projects, we firstly had to see what materials were to hand that we could use. In this case it was a few solid pallets and some roofing wood, which was all in good enough order to build with and already a nice size when pieced together to make a toilet cubicle. With the sterling help of Dazzer, a pallet floor was set out on paving slabs to keep it off the ground and the structure was built up; a pallet wide on all sides and two pallets high. We left the top half of the front wall open to create the view  through the trees in front and out over the fields. 

We decided to have just two posts in the structure to preserve our timber supply and because in the sheltered place that it sits it does not need to be all that well anchored to the ground. These posts sit on the side of the building and form the door frame. The pallets were all fixed to each other and to the posts with screws, coming together nicely, and certainly seemed strong enough for their intended purpose. 

The door was reclaimed from an old shed, we used hinges that were taken off the old cattle trailer back in the spring and the roofing material was a couple of offcuts from another roofing project. Once we fixed all of these in place it was time to consider the toilet itself. For this I employed the help of Jess, another volunteer here well known for her upholstering skills. I painted up an old steel chair frame and fixed on a toilet seat, the back of the chair was upholstered by Jess in a rather majestic yellow and black striped material. This frame would house the composting container in much the same way as the ones used up in the camping field. It turned out to be a comfortable sit.

The finishing touches were a lick of paint to make the whole thing last that bit longer and a toilet roll holder. We also installed a shelf, which amongst other things will hold a pair of binoculars so the user can really make the most of their time answering the call of nature by looking out over the fields to see what wildlife is in the area. 

 

All in all the project took twelve hours to complete - obviously this included a fair few tea breaks. It is always satisfying to start and finish a project in one day, and it could not have been done without the help and advice of Dazzer (master pallet craftsman), Jess (accomplished upholsterer) and Celli (champion roofer).

Cerenety Stoup

Well, it's been a rather hectic year and that is the reason for the lack of blog posts. But... from now on I have come up with the genius idea of having volunteers do a weekly blog themselves about what is going on at Cerenety. That way, not only can I be lazy and disorganised but we get to see things from the views of different cultures, nationalities, ages and ideas. So here's the first one from our very own Australian James McDonald.

For last night’s dinner Ben, one of the other volunteers here at Cerenity, and I decided to create a soup completely out of fruits, vegetables and other edible organic matter growing onsite. With a great deal of enthusiasm we collected as much of a variety of ingredients as possible hoping that our one-pot wonder would provide a tasty treat for the other volunteers. And, as it turned out, it was amazing!

Our soup contained;

• Potatoes from the vegetable patch,
• Tomatoes from the polytunnel,
• Some cooking apples,
• Garlic from the vegetable patch,
• Blackberries from the hedges,
• Mushrooms found in the field,
• Courgettes from the vegetable patch,
• Carrots from the vegetable patch,
• Chives from the herb garden,
• Coriander from the herb garden,
• Nettle Leaves growing around the vegetable patch,
• and some kale.

So ALL of the ingredients come from the ground of the camp site grounds. All together and chopped up it looked like this…

Once it was all chopped up and chucked in the Dutch Oven we filled it with water to cover and left it to cook for an hour over a fire using a fire tripod.

We then sat there in the rain around the fire watching our meal cook. It was a massive success, everyone enjoyed it and we decided to call it ‘Cerenity Stoup’ because we don’t quite know if it is a soup or a stew. It was immensely satisfying knowing that our ‘stoup’ was completely derived from the land so it is needless to say that we will try to do more of these meals in the future.

A BIT BLOGGED OFF.

I don't do depression… I’ve never asked the doc for happy pills… and I’ve never wanted to spend the

day with the curtains drawn… BUT THERE IS A LIMIT, and I think the British weather this summer may be it!!!  

I now I understand why my friends called their baby NOAH, they clearly foresaw something the rest of us did not.

So yes, my veg and fruit have survived in their raised beds but the spinach "bolted" before 

you could say Popeye, the peas were full of Eastern Promise (otherwise known as a

damp squib)  and if I catch that blackbird snacking on my precious strawberries once more,

it won't be juice dribbling down his fine feathers!

And breathe… Hello everybody, how are you? I’ve had my rant so I'll now focus on the divine area where the weather that God has graciously bestowed on England this summer is unable to penetrate: The Polytunnel.

I’m convinced that the autumn is going to be filled with long sun soaked afternoons and warm lazy evenings… oh no, you can't keep me down for long.

So in the spirit of optimism and moving on, although the tomatoes are still green they are alive, and I have decided to replant, just in case. Agreed, the only thing I can plant out right now is RICE but all my little tomato beauties will be ready when the cloud breaks (notice I used the singular there, it is only one, joined-up enormous, all-covering, grey, drizzly  blanket) NO, NO, mustn't dwell…

Another success story, (sorry cross out another) is the herbs. Thank you Lord. It has to be said that the perfume and taste really raises the spirit. Of course a couple of glasses of Vin Rouge would probably have a similar result but thankfully the pollytunnel allows the effect from the herbs to last a little longer. I am trying to convince myself that my fine herb patch is gardening in miniature. Screw up your eyes and the parsley becomes hydrangea, tarragon turns to willow, thyme transforms into honeysuckle and basil… a palm tree?!

Yep, not depressed-----just absolutely 101% totally mad.

Must go, the oven is the only place for my head… Dam, only got a microwave J I will have to make do with cooking myself some herbilicious microwaved concoction.

Didasgonetoseeda

ps. I wrote this blog yesterday when the wind was howling and the rain was beating down. Amazingly the weather is beautiful now and the BBC says that it will be for a while. I have therefore added photos from today, full of sunshine and joy

The Fruit and Veg Have Arrived

After long weeks working knee deep in mud and under the torrential rain of the winter, creating a new and improved vegetable patch, it's all starting to come together now that summer is on the way. We've (well my aunt) has planted copious amounts of fruit and veg, a huge strawberry patch and a nursery of plants and young trees. Everything is now blossoming, fruiting and lots of it is ready to eat.

Peas, spinach, lettuce, herbs, garlic, onions and (my favorite) strawberries are coming up by the dozen. I've stopped bothering cooking for breakfast and lunch and taken to just sitting in the vegetable patch and munching on anything that looks remotely edible.

Now I'm looking forward to beef and cherry tomatoes, courgettes, asparagus and a hole host of 'surprise veg' that Dida has forgotten she planted.

PANSIES HAVE BEEN POTTED, PETUNIAS PLANTED AND BEANS BEDDED !! 
AND NO-ONE HOME BUT US CHICKENS.

I was racing to get the veggies on the go and the bedding plants all ready for the May Bank Holiday visitors, then the forecasters let us down again, predicting heavy rain for the whole weekend, when in fact we had mostly sunshine until Monday afternoon, which was when most people were homeward bound.

This year, along with the flowers and herbs for sale, I have young trees that I'm hoping people will take

home as a memento of Cerenety... I have to admit you'd be hard pushed to find a Christmas fairy small 

enough for these little fella's but they've got "high hopes".

Well, must go, the tomatoes need watering,

hope to see you soon, whilst the blossom is still out.

Dida the Digger. 

New Lambs at Cerenety.

We are currently rushed off our feed with orphan lambs and lambing ewes, so this is going to be a picture heavy blog, as we're bottle feeding in 5 minutes.


Our orphan lambs from 4 years ago have now become fully fledged sheep and are 2 ewes, Mini and Nancy were put to the ram about 5 months ago.

Mini had triplets last week and Nancy had twins 3 days ago. Everything is going very well with the lambs, they are healthy and happy.


We also have 7 orphan lambs, all properly named by friends and campers: Rosy, Dot, Cleo, Heatie, Arthur, Tommy and Lambzilla. Despite some illness due to the fragility of lambs without their mums, they're are currently doing ok.

Wildlife Pond Maintenance

So, what you don’t think about when you’re bright eyed and full of ecological possibilities, planning your grand dreams of a perfect wild life pond with flowers and reeds, is the fact that one day, in the fairly near future, that wild life pond will have to be maintained.
Given the nature of a wild life pond, this involves getting very wet, very dirty and very cold! Reeds must be pulled and excess weeds must be taken out. While everyone else finds it hilarious to watch a wetsuit clad girl floating around in a large pond for 2 hours in March, it’s not quite so fun for the person who can no longer feel their feet.


In all seriousness though, eutrophication can be a big problem for lakes and ponds, especially those on agricultural land. This is when nutrients from the ground, such as fertiliser, leaches into the pond creating a brilliant environment for plants and algae. Unfortunately when this algae decomposes, the bacteria take the oxygen out of the water, eventually killing much of the wildlife in the pond. For this reason, some plants and algae must be regularly removed from a pond like ours which focuses on filtration.


So, like it or not, I will be bobbing around in my wetsuit amongst the newts and frog spawn for months to come. I may not enjoy it, but I’m told the neighbours are building a viewing platform.





For more information on how to manage your wildlife pond, see the RSPB website.

Rescue Battery Chickens

The ban on battery chicken farming was enforced on January 1st 2012. The EU passed the ban in 1999, giving farmers 12 years to change technique and equipment before the legislation was enforced. Since then the Holsworthy farmer's market has been flooded with bald, scabby looking chickens with big hearts and even bigger egg laying abilities.


The staff at Cerenety may have happened upon some of these chickens last Thursday and couldn't resist their wilting crests and sad eyes. We have therefore ended up with 6 ex battery hens at Cerenety, and they're doing great! 


Letting them out into our big enclosure for the first time was amazing, they ran around in the sunshine, rolled around in the dried dirt and didn't back down from the aggressive stares of our existing (and much superior looking) chickens. These are small chickens with big characters and it feels great to have given them a home at Cerenety. We're hoping that within a couple of months their feathers will have grown and they'll be looking just like all the others. 


Bringing these hens home, was not however, merely an act of extreme altruism on the part of Cerenety. These fabulous little creatures frequently and consistently lay some of the largest and tastiest eggs out there and there's nothing like a fresh egg sandwich, eaten outside on a sunny afternoon.


Check out the British Hen Welfare Trust for more information and how you could help the plight of the unwanted chicken.

First post of the year

So it seems over night, life at Cerenety changed dramatically for the better.

Short days of freezing hands, feet, noses and asses followed by long nights of boredom finally gave way to spring last week. And the whole of Cerenety celebrated. 

Goats started springing, ponies began to gallop and roll, sheep upped their trotting and alpacas decided it was time for some lovin'. Spring has definitely arrived.

The grass is starting to grow at Cerenety and with it the snowdrops, daffodils and bluebells. Provided that Daisy and Gerty (our very friendly goats) don't munch them, the flowers should be here for some time yet.
We're working hard now that the days are longer. We've put in a new shower in the field, built a huge new chicken area for our revered egg providers, created a shelter to give sanctuary from the British rain and made a small nursery of indigenous plants and trees.


 I'm also in the middle of completing some slightly more exciting (if not quite so useful) tasks at Cerenety. Yesterday I managed to teach my collie Flipper to jump almost every fence on the land... Torrie the pony can now shake hands for treats... and the alpacas have had an interesting (if unusual) haircut.
Well at least i'm not making towers out of orange pith like I was a month ago...



All hail spring!!!