Abridged version, no recipe (send requests!)
Mon 10 May,
Had to bunk off cleaning as I had an early train to London. Cycled from St Pancras to Bethnal Green along Regents Canal, because now I understand that tow paths are often the quietest and most direct routes across the city. It's fascinating and obvious now that canals and waterways have been used for navigation for thousands of years, I have the Erewash and the Nottingham to thank for that. Met wonderful Pao at her new soon-to-be production kitchen in Containerville near Oval Space and had a classic mad scientist lunch; a dozen unlabelled jars with funky-smelling contents, some lush bread, a few green veggies and lots of funny stories. I'm really fond of Pao (whose award winning kimchi and sriracha are unfathomably good) because of her generous nature and experimental spirit. As self-initiating freelancers, the embedded precarity of our art forms and their attachment to labour always leads us back to talking about personal authenticity and creating more accessible frameworks for sharing knowledge.
Daikon kimchi
Shallot peel koji
Stinky tofu (tasted like ice cream!)
Lacofermented green mango pickles
Lactofermented green tomato salsa
Cashew garlic cheez
Garlic mustard wasabi
We bid fond farewells and I ambushed Helena for a coffee date down the road in a park. She brought some nice choccy and we talked about dating in the apocalypse. We always have a good laugh, it warmed my cockles. Cycled over Tower Bridge in the blazing sun backstreeted it all the way to Brockley, where Justin was waiting with a lemon and ginger tea and his new VR headset. I played ping-pong in a realistic Alpen cabin; the other game was a cross between Guitar Hero and Fruit Ninja, which I got really into. I've used one once before in an exhibition at 180 The Strand in like 2017 and it was neither impressive or fun so the tech has come on a long way (as expected).
JJ cooked his signature (vegan) fish finger katsu curry, sosososo good and we all ate on his porch with a lil beer. Nothing better than being fed by friends. Feeling full of food and full of love.
Tues 11 May
Another killer 7am alarm which I heeded to despite sleeping awfully. Toast and marmalade, cuppa tea. I get up so much easier nowadays, especially when I have something to do, and it makes me cringe to think about how fucked up my body clock was when I worked in pubs. The unhealthy lifestyle of working on your feet all day, drinking and smoking to relax, was deeply punishing my body and mind with incessant urgency and servitude.
Train to Margate to lead a workshop at OSE, tough session on exploring eco-praxis, but loved spending time outside with students talking about
Cycled 20 miles to Deal, jumped in the sea for 15 seconds, ate chips and drank wine on the beach while the sun went down behind the houses.
Wed 12 May
Came back to London, pipped around on my bike for a little and treated myself to a lovely lunch at Morito. Rarely eat out, to the extreme during covid, so it's nice to observe that I'm being a bit nicer to myself without guilt.
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Fri 14 May
Checked in with my worms, more active now it’s warmed up. I’m going to introduce more veg scraps and wean them off the yummy dust. Noticed some pearl barley has sprouted in there! Caught up with admin, then had a quick house meeting about an event happening tomorrow. Canned and labelled the chutneys and pickles. Planted some new seeds sent to me by Anna and Tig into eggboxes, moved my outdoor pot arrangement, and processed some straw by hand. Going to chat to Ella Y about pasteurising it to grow winecaps that Josh gave me in an inoculated bag of microwave rice.
Went over to Brian’s allotment to hang with Dudley. I took fancy snacks: homemade wild garlic pesto and pink pickles, surplus sourdough and avocados. They filled me in on Ilkeston history, including an artist called Hendrix Dead Boy who posts hundreds of slips of paper adorned with “Ken” through letterboxes of empty shops, and dropped a banner off a train bridge pleading “No Shagging”. It was also reported about 15 years ago on the front page of the Independent that Ilkeston was the “Crack Capital of UK”, claiming 17,000 of 35,000 inhabitants were addicted, which must be bullshit.
Cycled home in the dark along the canal path with hundreds of local bats. They were mostly babies – I saw their silhouettes against the luminescent blue-purple-orange sky– zipping alongside me, whipping around my head, pulling up in loop-the-loops. It was so magical, probably my fav moment since I got here and one that will stick with me. Had a bowl of granola when I got in and a dollop of Banamel. because I’m too tired to explain what it is or how it’s made, I can just promise it was so ridiculously tasty I want to make a cake with it. Those mad scientists at Social Pickle are doing bits!
SAT 15 MAY
In the morning I made loads of food for lunch: garlic rosemary roasties, garlic bread, hummus, wild salad. A few weeks ago I arranged to host some covid safe tours of Michael House for some ex-students and teachers. I had infiltrated the Facebook group and presented my idea, I saw it as a necessary favour for those who are deeply attached to this space, and the offer got snapped up.
I knew we wouldn't have to say much on the tours, as everyone would have their own stories, so split the work with lovely Sophie and Chris. It was pretty special to facilitate some people's first time back in the building for 2 or 20 years — the stories were vibrant and emotions high. The overall feeling was that they were pleased that DARP is embodying the creative spirit of Steiner.
We shared a potluck picnic and urn of tea with our visitors, and left them to catch up while we washed up. Some sincere thanks and even an enquiry to buy a painting later and we set off to the pub. 40 minute walk through the country park for my first Guinness in a year was a good trade off. The one for the road also seemed reciprocal but for the rain.
Being half-cut for the first time in weeks gave me the good idea of bottling my flower wine. I found an orange bunsen burner tube in the science lab and sterilised it while everyone tucked into lunch leftovers. I prepped a couple of swing top bottles and a plastic control, then used the tube to siphon it out of the demijohn as not to disturb the sediment. Being a little inconsistent with the siphon meant I ended up sucking quite a bit of wine and by the time the bottles were full, I was pretty lubricated. I stuck three in the cold store, took the other back to the kitchen and brandished it proudly. We shared the bottle and honestly it was stunning: floral, sweet and a touch sour, slightly effervescent. Feels extra cute to share the moment, and look forward to trying another!