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Here we go then. An illustrated year in the grounds of Brincliffe House. January 2025 There can be some magnificent sunrises in January  The bobble hatted pruning team get to work (instructions in hand). They prune the apple trees back quite hard - with good results later in the year  February 2025 A lovely new batch of nest boxes were decorated by Brinkies, young and old, and put up for our resident bird population. Several of these boxes were seen to be in use during the nesting season.  March 2025 The new set of steps up from the Osborne Road driveway was built  Work was started on the new, secure chicken run  And frogs did what frogs do in the pond on the front lawn  April 2025 Kim finished work on the new leaf mould system  And plenty of seeds were planted  The new bin store arrangements were built along the drive. May not look very exciting – but you should have seen the arrangement before.   Thanks Tim for all your hard work The hard pruned apple trees showed plenty of blossom this year  And all those seeds started to germinate May 2025 Qi Gong takes place in the garden every Friday morning, as long as the weather is good.  Work continued to make the chicken run increasingly palatial  Elton was on constant rat catching duty Work was finished on the new windows in the common rooms downstairs  June 2025 The new pond form was awaiting its new home  July 2025 Visitors from Belgium made use of the garden ropeways  New chicks were hatched in the incubator  Best year yet for..... Speed humps were bolted down the driveway  And the chicks continued to grow fast  August 2025 Crops kept coming  Almost fully grown now – and crowing loudly  There was a focus to make the courtyard a social space again. Furniture was fettled and some more was purchased Construction work was finished on the chicken accommodation  September 2025 For the first time some decent sized apples were produced on our very own trees  The new pizza oven has a base built, is manoeuvred into position. Too late for much pizza making this year but ready for action in the spring October 2025 Look at the colours on Jeannie’s Rowan tree  And the chard couldn’t stop growing and showing off  November 2025 The new pond was dug and filled with water in one weekend The hens and others soon got the hang of driving the mini digger The chickens soon learnt where to hang out when it’s raining  The viburnums outside the kitchen window were trimmed to size And the pond has some landscaping work done to prepare for next seasons frogspawn  Thanks to everyone who has made all this happen during just one year in our wonderful garden  Compared to other years, here are the very first snowdrops and some rhubarb spearing through the soil – very early. We now have more brightly painted bird boxes. Dazzling colours and patterns against the grey skies and branches. Do the birds like them? They’re singing so loudly now it’s surprising the neighbours don’t complain.
A snapshot of who we are in this multigenerational and diverse community.  And dr who. Always.I’m watching Rivals, best last book I read is Lou Sanders ‘what’s that lady doing’ I am mostly listening to Radio 4 and podcasts by Grace Dent and Kirsty Young. That's confirmed my solid middle-class credentials. Further confirmation can be found in my choice of reading material, which includes obsessive scrolling through the Guardian website, hoping for signs of any socialist action from our new government... no buds peeping through yet. I do have to confess to certain guilty viewing pleasures and as well as Strictly in season and Great British throwdown . I also watch Dogs Behaving Badly and Dog House Australia. Blimey when do I get time to answer my emails?  Under 13s
M. is reading Tintin and Dog Man and kids most recently watched Home Alone 2. A. also loves the cartoon Mr Bean on YouTube! Film Night
Most Tuesday evenings, especially in the winter when we can heat the room and close the curtains, we choose a film. The screen and other equipment was a great investment. Various On the Brink people have subscriptions to streaming services such as Mubi, Netflix and AppleTV, so we’re not limited to terrestrial channels. Projects are varied and we once had an Agnes Varda festival over a long weekend, courtesy of the local library. For a snapshot of what we’ve been watching most recently, the list below reflects the massive variety of tastes. It’s sometimes been a struggle to arrive at consensus. When everybody’s wrangled for a while and agreed on escapism, we go for classics like Pressburger and Powell (I know where I’m going! ) or a Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers (Top hat) Recently Watched: Firebrand Emilia Perez Joy Bird All of Us Strangers Women Talking Mrs Harris Goes to Paris On the Future List Chuck, Chuck Baby All we Imagine as Light We're excited to be hosting several events and to have secured the opening night concert soloist for the annual Nether Edge Festival next month.  The Festival launches on Saturday 14 September with a concert featuring pianist Daria Golovchenko, recent finalist of Channel 4's The Piano. Daria made her UK debut at a house concert here in our common room a couple of years ago. Tickets for Daria's Festival Opening Night Concert at St Andrew's Church, 7.30pm, £20. Festival Events at On The Brink Thursday 19th September, 11am, £5 Bullion Chocolate Talk & Tasting Join Bullion Chocolate for a one-off chocolate talk about how we craft our bean-to-bar craft chocolate. This will include chocolate samples and an opportunity to purchase some of our chocolate at the end. Tickets for Bullion Chocolate Talk & Tasting.  Friday 20th September, 7.30pm, £12/£8 Toy Stories with Chris Dobrowolski Toy Stories is a journey through art, contemporary politics and twentieth-century history: a satirical stand-up meets lecture-demonstration! Tickets for Toy Stories.  Saturday 21st September, 7.30pm, £8/£6
A night of acoustic Country and Blues: Wood Street Dogs & Soapbox Preacher Loose-as-a-goose country hound dog howling from Wood Street Dogs joined by the renowned, breathtaking acoustic duo Soapbox Preacher. Tickets for Wood Street Dogs & Soapbox Preacher. More about the Festival The Festival runs from Saturday 14th to Sunday 22nd September and includes walks and trails, live music, dancing, poetry, workshops, talks, food, quizzes, and more! Take a look at the Festival programme. What is it about volleyball that so many intentional communities seem to find enjoyable? Certainly, a lot of energy is involved and the more cooperation that can be mustered the more successful the team will be. Good humour and a generosity of spirit also seems to pay dividends. It appears that it’s possible to find out quite a lot about people when they play this game. It’s not just the lithe sporty looking people who end up being able to play successfully – there are plenty of other ways to have fun and achieve good results. And in any case who really cares?
The Bank Holiday weekend in August witnessed about eight or nine communities from around the UK turn up at Laurieston Hall in South West Scotland to take part in this year’s Community Volleyball Tournament. The standard of play was high, and all the teams improved greatly as they progressed through the weekend. The Laurieston Hall community proved to be the most perfect, welcoming, generous hosts with superb organisational skills. There was excellent food provided and they had arranged almost non-stop sunshine in the magnificent setting. The Birchwood Community volleyball team narrowly prevailed in the final on Sunday afternoon and will hold the quirky, carved trophy for the coming year. The weekend was a celebration of all that is good about living in a community. There was genuine interest in the ways that people in other communities go about their lives. Penny Clark, from Diggers and Dreamers, ran a short seminar during which people from many of the communities represented were able to share their concerns. Hey! Not all communities run without problems - but do you know what, there are also so many wise people around to listen and support members of these communities with a wealth of experience and wisdom. Below is a picture of the Sheffield contingent, mainly from Shirle Hill Cohousing who kindly incorporated two oldies from On the Brink into their supporting team. Most of those pictured played in the tournament and all had a rip-roaring good time. Several Cohousing communities said they were keen to host the tournament next year so hopefully On the brink will put together a full team to take part in this annual event that has become such a celebration of the joys of living in an intentional community. A Amanda’s bare feet
B Balmy evenings (sometimes), butterflies C Cleaning up the bird poo, Cosmos D Daniel’s birthday, dahlias, drizzle, dreich E elderflower F Face paint G Gooseberries H Honey I Ice cream J Jollification K Kale L Lime tree flowers – that scent! Lavender M Mock Orange Blossom N nasturtiums!!! O orange dahlias P Paddling pool, puddles, privet flower scent Q Queen bees R rhubarb, rain S Swifts, sweet peas, stars (shooting stars even, on Aug 12th/13th, with a little poetic licence from San Lorenzo) T Trees out, trampolining U Umbrellas, ultimate pleasure! V Vases full of summer flowers W Water butts, wine tasting X Xi gung outside under the trees Y Yellow frog meals Z Zoning out One of the very best aspects of community living for me is the support we get as parents - we have three primary-age kids. Now admittedly, we’re not always the social butterflies we look like this particular week, but it’s always the case that we can rely on our wonderful neighbours for support when we ask for it.
Monday School asks for a range of scraps of fabric to be brought in for the children to make stuffed animals. Linda responds with a massive bag full of furry fabrics, and the teacher is so pleased he gives our son points in the school reward system. In the evening, we go out Scottish dancing while Tom babysits. Tuesday On the recommendation on Ruth, we’re off out to the theatre, skipping the usual OTB film night. Jeannie babysits, despite the late return home. Wednesday Kate and Buddy are up early to take our middle child to school, which is much appreciated as our kids are currently split between two different schools in opposite directions. After school, Martin gives each of our kids an individual music lesson on the instruments they’ve each expressed interest in. Thursday Paul and Mambo take our boys to cubs. Afterwards, our eldest reads his favourite book in bed, Hares in the Moonlight, by Sharron Kraus, which he discovered when she read it over zoom to the community’s kids during the first lockdown. Friday Jane collects our middle child from school, giving him more of the one-to-one time with adults that he loves. Then it’s communal tea - a massive feast for all of us, and the kids divide their attention between the others kids present, and the adults who always love talking to them. Afterwards, Tom babysits while we go with Catriona for a wonderful ceilidh. Saturday After finding out that one of the members of the ceilidh band last night runs a singing class, I send a message round the community asking if anyone could babysit on Wednesday evenings for the next eight weeks. Straight away I get loads of messages of encouragement, and six separate offers of babysitting. I sign up. Sunday The kids have some free time to play in the grounds. While roaming between their various dens, they have lots of chats with different members of the community as they pass by.
Here are some of our favourite bits of OTB life in 2022
Good to be making progress in our community, creating a good life together after Covid. The completion of our building programme has given me great satisfaction after our long journey - looking forward to creating new projects in 2023 2022 has been a special year with five new people moving in, with each person bringing something different. I've appreciated people's care during times of illness, which has felt really significant. Food I love that there is a communal meal every Friday, and occasionally at other times. Even if I don’t attend every Friday, it’s good to know that there are always friendly faces to share a meal with at the end of the week. And the food is always impressive. Friday tea on the new back terrace to christen the paving was pretty magical - lovely summer evening light, fab food and everyone tucking in and enjoying the view. It's been great getting to know people more through sharing tea and chats. Birthdays and celebrations My birthday was my favourite. Lots of people came and I got cool presents. My personal highlight was my birthday - not to sound too much like my kids! We got together and played a silly, dress up chaotic game. I loved the silliness, camaraderie and sense of healthy competition. Just joyful! Christmas was my best. We were all together and lots of presents and chocolate. I couldn’t wait to open my secret Santa! Highlights for me this year have been our sharing of celebrations, meals, concerns, garden work, sewing mornings, circle dancing, mutual comfort, film nights, house cleaning, chats after tea, ingenious and carefully thought out homemade Secret Santa gifts. Making I’ve really enjoyed our Common Threads monthly sewing workshops. It’s great to share skills and extend the life of our clothes, and even make some more! A lovely community surprise for me was making our second little free library. These sit at each of our two gates, and are available for the wider public to share books with each other. I made the structure, and Mariam then offered to paint it. Her design was far more creative and interesting than anything I would have come up with! I’m really pleased with the end result, and it gets lots of use,by members and the wider community! 30 bags of top quality community compost created at OTB this year, having removed a number of teaspoons and an empty whisky bottle on the way! Playing I liked Easter best because everyone did my treasure hunt I made. There were eggs everywhere! The highlights of my year have been all the tiny moments of playfulness. Going to put the washing out and ending up in the midst of chalking on the pavements with the kids, making model cars, improvising a shelter for the bees during the heatwave, playing footy with the dogs, and ping pong with just about everyone. For me there’s no doubt that the best moments at On the Brink are with the young people who are a big part of our lives here. What a privilege to chat with them when they can spare a moment from their games and projects. They are always zooming round the place at high speed and it’s a delight to observe their imagination and creativity. Watch ‘em grow! |
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