I alway like keeping the mood of the blog upbeat, but unfortunately we have had a visit from a fox and, as a result, we have lost three ducks. We have had a specialist visit and he is going to ‘fox proof’ out duck compound; chicken house quail house accordingly. In the meantime we will just have to be extra vigilant.

Now the fox has tasted what we have, he is back every night to see if we have left any stragglers out by mistake. I have mixed views on hunting, but this strengthens my leanings towards the culling of pests.

Maybe I am just upset over the loss of my pets. I really don’t want to start a huge debate over this.

Taks Care

Ian

Another lovely weekend! Fabulous! My last few entries have been a bit deep, so this was meant to be just a ‘fluffy’ one to celebrate this lovely weather and everybody’s happiness! Except, yesterday I was passing a playpark in Haverfordwest which was all fenced in properly where I saw a man and a little girl in the park with plastic bags picking up all the litter that was there. I had time to spare (for a change!) so I asked him what they were doing. Apparently the little girl had become so fed up with all the litter in the playpark that she had taken to giving up her Sunday mornings clearing the park so her and her friends could play in a clean area. All this from an eight year old girl! Wow!

Blue Sky Thinking has become a ‘power phrase’ in big city brainstorming meetings regarding a clean slate for ideas with no ceiling on those ideas. I prefer it as a phrase for innovation in making our environment a better place to be, such as that little girl was doing yesterday. There is nothing worse than litter in The Carreg Courtyard or the Tranquillity Garden, it just clouds a lovely area. But that is a selfish view on my behalf as it is on my doorstep. Perhaps it is time for some Blue Sky Thinking on all our waste and litter, everywhere?

Definately something to think about.

Ian

Plato believed that everyone wants to be a flourishing human being, and that philosophy is the way to find out how to achieve this, which in his day was a relatively new discipline. One of his most radical moves was to equate human flourishing and happiness with what he calls an inner harmony of our psyche. If you look at Homer and all the Greek poets who came before him, it was an external matter. Plato said that justice and virtue are really interior to you – they are about the inner state of your soul. This was later developed by the Christians into your ‘conscience’. It was an enormously important move in the history of Western ethics and religion, and had a big impact on the development of Christianity

I am fascinated with Burning Man in Black Rock Desert, Nevada. Whereas some people may see the event as a sinister, subversive influence, I believe the more open minded amongst us will agree that an event where one of the principal features is looking out for your fellow man is generally a good thing. Like anything that happens anywhere, there are elements which you will agree with wholeheartedly, and some you will see as pointless. The Mission Statement below sums it up better than I can:-

“Mission Statement

Our mission is to produce the annual event known as “Burning Man” and to guide, nurture and protect the more permanent community created by its culture. Our intention is to generate society that connects each individual to his or her creative powers, to participation in community, to the larger realm of civic life, and to the even greater world of nature that exists beyond society. We believe that the experience of Burning Man can produce positive spiritual change in the world. To this end, it is equally important that we communicate with one another, with the citizens of Black Rock City and with the community of Burning Man wherever it may arise. Burning Man is radically inclusive, and its meaning is potentially accessible to anyone. The touchstone of value in our culture will always be immediacy: experience before theory, moral relationships before politics, survival before services, roles before jobs, embodied ritual before symbolism, work before vested interest, participant support before sponsorship. Finally, in order to accomplish these ends, Burning Man must endure as a self-supporting enterprise that is capable of sustaining the lives of those who dedicate themselves to its work. From this devotion spring those duties that we owe to one another. We will always burn the Man.”

www.burningman.com

Wasn’t Easter great? Fantastic weather and a vibrant, happy buzz all around Pembrokeshire. Brilliant! I went downstairs into the restaurant on Friday night and immediately Dr Harries called me over and asked me if I wanted to buy an elephant! If you check the last blog entry, you will understand! It really was a nice time.

Unfortunately, we had quite a few instances over the weekend where people didn’t turn up for booked tables at The Carreg, which resulted in over 20 seats being left empty.  We did have a few phone calls cancelling, but they were either too late to re-book the table, or no cancellation phone call at all. As the Easter weekend was so busy it was difficult to monitor and, in fact, we lost money over these unkept bookings. So, we are now seriously considering the implementation of a policy of taking credit/debit card details with the initial booking and possibly charging a cancellation fee for unkept bookings/late cancellations during busy periods. Although this goes against the grain with me, I really cannot see any other way out of this, as I simply cannot afford to reserve tables during busy times for people who do not show up.

On a positive note, I managed to buy some quail and we will have six birds arrive shortly after the 22nd April. I can’t wait! I love quail eggs! You will see them on The Carreg menu soon!

Take care!

Ian

My friend Chris Jones is a postman in Haverfordwest. I saw him yesterday and his big news was the giraffes they now have in Folly Farm www.folly-farm.co.uk. Also Anna Ryder Richardson now owns Manor House wildlife park in Tenby www.manorhousewildlifepark.co.uk and they have all sorts of exotic animals. “What you need in the Tranquillity Garden, Ian” he said “is an elephant!” We rolled about laughing for a few minutes then started pondering the feasibility of this! (I must have been very bored) We logged into my e bay account and tapped in ‘elephant’ then ‘african elephant’ then ‘indian elephant’ and finally ‘asian elephant.’ The long and short of it is, you cannot buy an elephant on e bay! So we will definately not be having one in our Tranquillity Garden anytime soon! But we had fun and I started bidding on some quail!

Incidentally, if you haven’t visited either Folly Farm or Manor Park, make some time as they are not just for kids. Any animal lover will enjoy. It really is interesting how these people have challenged themselves to achieve what they have in West Wales for animal welfare.

Enjoy the Easter weekend coming up!

Ian

Hi all,

Just in case you haven’t seen the group page, the date has been changed to the saturday (25th) as this is easier for many wishing to attend. Will keep you posted on the details, if you don’t want to sing that’s fine but PLEASE come along and watch…any support is fantastic.

Miranda

Hi all,

Andrew Cusworth & I have been in talks as to how we can create an event that can be put together quickly to help raise awareness of the proposed funding cut to the music department in Greenhill. Andrew has come up with the fantastic idea of making something informal, easily moveable and something immensely powerful.

The idea is to create a massed choir of current students, past students and those who are neither but want to show their support because the music in Greenhill has affected them in some way. That way we can move around quite easily, thus enabling us to sing at the school, in town, outside the Senedd and even at Westminster should it get that far.

Andrew is happy to sort out the music, rehearsal space and do the rehearsing. The music doesn’t need to be hard, just good fun.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a fantastic singer or tone deaf, it’s the support that is the most important. How many of us would be where we are now if it hadn’t been for Mr Rapi and the music department? No doubt many of us would have pursued quite different careers or would have had to find education elsewhere.

We really need to have as many people as possible, so please forward this on to ANYONE you know that has any connection to the music department….whether it be parent, school teacher, friend. If we can get enough people together we CAN make a difference.

The provisional date for this concert is 26th April in Tenby.

Please send me a message either on facebook or email me: mirandarees@hotmail.co.uk to confirm your interest. Once we have an idea of numbers I will send out further information…rehearsal dates, etc.

Please join in…for music in Greenhill, for yourselves, and for all the music staff.

Miranda xx

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