with my limited energy, i choose to spend time on real interactions above writing blogs and social media posts. i no longer use instagram twitter etc. i’ve been pondering on the energy used to store all the information we stack up, forget, duplicate and don’t consider as a climate issue. 28,000 images on my icloud. that’s not counting other aps, entertainment downloads, music, games, blablabla. it is huge. and it all takes energy. and batteries. and minerals. the ‘cloud’ now has a greater carbon footprint than the airline industry. a single data center can consume the equivalent electricity of 50,000 homes. at 200 terawatt hours (TWh) annually, data centers collectively devour more energy than some nations… but that’s another issue, for another bit of work perhaps. consider it. then press delete. and go outside 🙂

the making n mending club is growing. it’s become a community of lovely, generous and skillfull people that gather to learn, improve and share skills for sustainable living. here’s our beautiful new logo artwork by member Skye Kember.

with problems over the land use at the Global Garden site, we spread our making wings to Cardiff Met in Llandaff. we met and did cloth mends with sashiko and darning, learnt knit and crochet, and finally this week we had a wool spin class in the lovely outdoor learning centre.

we’re starting the spinning with wool, an essential heritage craft and basic fibre skill that’s accessible to all. we met sara from Wooly Wales who talked about her flock of Llanwennog sheep and showed us her wool wares. it’s fantastic to now be able to use the wheel we have at the Garden classroom, with local fleece that is suitable for spinning and dyeing.

next year we’ll move on to spin up our flax. there’s a good quantity ready to be broken and processed – some of our meetings in february and march will be about doing this. soon it’ll be time to start another flax planting – we need lots more helping hands! so message me if you fancy fresh air and company – i buy the ice-creams 🙂

it’s brilliant to have funding for the year for the making n mending club and llieinwe linen project, from the Ashley Family Foundation. we can now pay others to facilitate sessions, create artworks, provide transport and materials, and i can spend more time on the projects, coordinating and documenting whilst learning lots. we’ve developed links with many other organisations who are providing support in many different ways. . . like the National Museum of Wales, Goodsheds at Railway Gardens, Dylan Jones maker, Tymhorau Dyfi, Cardiff Future Wood collective, the Guild of Spinners Weavers and Dyers.

last month i taught students on the new sustainable fashion course in Afan college.

there’s a new generation taking things more seriously.