Back to nature

Last year my ever loving decided he wanted to try growing some vegetables in the back garden. Turns out he has really green fingers and we had a great supply of lovely, fresh, organic vegetables. So this year we are giving over half of the garden to vegetable growing. It suits me becuase it means there'll be no grass to cut and lots of veg to eat. A real win / win situation. It got me thinking though. When you add it up, we'll actually save quite a bit on veg throughout the summer, thanks to growing our own. Luckily, becuase we're both interested in gardening, we / he had a good idea how to go about preparing the ground and growing the vegetables, but what about people who would like to do the same but haven't a clue where to start. Wouldn't it be great if one of the tv stations put on a vegetable gardening programme, starting from scratch and going through the whole process step by step. So......I sent off an email to R.T.E. suggesting they could either create such a programme or create a slot on one of their afternoon programmes (seeing as how more people are watching afternoon tv because they are at home now).

Take the veg thing a bit further. Many people, when they lose their jobs in recessionary times like these, feel that they are no longer contributing to the household. How cool would it be to literally start putting food on the table for your family. Creating a veg garden is good for the body, soul, morale and also for the pocket because growing veg (if done from seeds) is not an expensive thing to do.

So, if there's anyone out there reading this, what's your opinion, what do you think? Jamie Oliver had a programme on tv last year, all about preparing and in places growing your own food. This is the same idea - emphasis on the growing. If anyone has any tips/ideas/ suggestions do feel free to post them, it's not as if the recession is ending any time soon!

Some information

Isn't it funny how, once you have an idea in your mind, things start coming to you? For example, only yesterday I was handed leaflet about the Tallaght Partnership scheme "Flexible Training Unit" operating. This is training facility for men in the Tallaght area from 20 to 50 years who are unemployed. For information contact 01-4625364. Maybe there's someone you know who could do with this information. If you live in another area, but are interested in a similar scheme, you could contact the venue in Tallaght and see if they can provide information on other courses in other parts of the countr.

Am I being very innocent and hopeful thinking others will join me on this blog? Anyone out there with an idea / recipe/ suggestion/ thought to put some positive energy out there in these rather stressful times? I'll keep believing...

New incentive!

Well, if ever I needed some new incentive to put a little bit of positivity in the world I got it late Monday night my newest beautiful little grandson arrived into the world. When I looked into his little face I thought, "It would be easy to be fearful and ask myself what sort of world has he come into" or I could think, "Right, we've got to do whatever it takes to make this a good place for all the little babies and boys and girls growing up". Guess which thought I'm going with!

Ooops, gotta go and do the granny thing!

Welcome to Recession Bytes!

I don't know about anyone else, but I've had enough of all the negative recession thinking. Everywhere I go, all I seem to hear is 'costs going up, jobs going down and nothing to look forward to but a slow and lingering descent into misery'. Well, as far as I'm concerned, that's it. Enough already. There is more to life than 'RECESSION'. I know there is because I'm one of the ones who was around last time a recession hit and, tough as recessions are, they do pass - only wouldn't it be nice for someone with clout was to get up and say that? You know, counter-balance all the negativity around? Well, since no one else is willing to do it and since I can't believe I'm the only person on the whole planet who thinks this way, I've created this blog - Recession Bytes. It's not 'The' recession bytes (that's way too negative an expression) but I want Recession Bytes to be exactly what the name says - a place where people can post any hopeful, useful, even remotely positive ideas, suggestions or comments that they feel will:

1. Help put a bit of positivity out there in this old world of ours
2. Give people a sense that they aren't alone in refusing to go down with the ship
3. We might even find in time that people exchange connections, opportunities and ideas - who knows!

You know, just because someone says a mountain is going to fall down doesn't mean we have to lie down and wait for it fall on us, does it? As the old saying goes "It's better to light a candle than to sit cursing the dark." This blog is my little candle to help disperse some of the dark. Who else wants to join me?

Please, please, please, DON'T come onto this little (for now) haven of hopefulness and dump a whole load of negativity or nastiness. Recession Bytes is operating on the principle that like attracts like so I've got my fingers crossed that soon other like-minded, positive people will drop by and add their own positive posts here.

If you have ever come across the 'Chicken Soup for the Soul' books, then you will have heard of Jack Canfield. One of the best ideas of his that I've ever come across over the years is a little equation which says:

E + R = O

which translates into Event + Response = Outcome or, in other words, things happen in life and we can't always prevent them happening. However........we DO have a choice as to how we are respond to them and that in fact it's our response to an event, rather than the event itself, is what produces the outcome. Hence, E + R = O. So, the recession came along, that's an 'E'. I've chosen to respond positively, that's an R and so I'm effecting the outcome, or O in the equation. In the same way, someone else sees the recession (E), decides that it's all too much (R). None of us need to be a genius to figure out the outcome (O) that person's going have, do we?

We have a country full of young, and not so young, men and women who are not able to sleep at night, terrified and terrorised because they don't know what news they are going to hear in the morning. Will they still have a job to go to next week? Will they be able to pay their bills? How will the people who depend on them manage if their job goes bust? Feeling that sort of fear is no way to live and it's no way for a society to grow.

If you are reading this and you've lived through the 80's then come on, reach out and help someone else who's going through what we went through. Post a comment, an idea or suggestion based on your experience of those days and how you survived. If you have no memory of those days, you still have things you might want to say- ideas and suggestions of your own. Come on, banish another piece of darkness, don't be shy.

Last Saturday I heard a programme on the radio where a group of unemployed people were being interviewed and asked how they were coping. One man came on and said he is an unemployed tiler who can't afford to get his hair cut and it struck me:

BARTER!

Maybe, just maybe, out there somewhere there is a hairdresser who has some tiling they want done but can't afford to pay someone. If those two people only knew about each other, they could barter their skills. Perhaps all the tilers family could get their hair cut in return for the tiler doing some work for the hairdresser. Isn't that what people did long, long ago before money was invented? Or what if you have good quality clothes that your children have outgrown but are much to good to throw out. Imagine if you posted that information here and someone read it who has children of the right age and size. Just think how they could really benefit from what you no longer need or want. WOW.

That's only a couple of ideas I have, but you gotta start somewhere, right? So, coming from a good place in your heart and mind, join me (I don't want to be a lone candle in the dark!!!!) and share your thoughts and ideas here.

Come on, let's start turning this around!

Moira