The Supposed Trend Of Veganism

I'm surprised and slightly puzzled in a way as to why some people refer to veganism as a current "trend". People have always had different diets (whether it be vegetarian or vegan or whether it simply means eating more of one food than another), but I think people just haven't had as many labels as they do now. I do know some vegans for example can be more activists than others, but most aren't that way. I personally just do what works for me and yes I tell people about it, but don't say everyone should do the same, because it's only a decision one can make for oneself. After all, what works for me may or may not work for the next person. Having said that though, there do seem to be more vegan and vegetarian and other dietary-related things than there were, or perhaps it's just because I look for the stuff that I notice it more or both. One thing I find myself somewhat struggling with is whether to wear or work with animal products like wool or hair etc. Although the animals that give the wool or hair or loose their antlers haven't been killed at that point in order to get the things, you don't know if they have gone to any harm when being clipped or sheered. At some point I think it would be useful to visit some sheep or alpacas or someone when the sheering is happening to see how they do it. I don't use leather or suade or bone though, because the animals are killed in order to get those as well as fur. In short, I try and get things that are made as ethically as possibly, to the point of when I use plant-based materials I will gladly pay more if it's organic and the people have been treated and paid fairly. I do the same for clothes and I rarely if eever get anything with synthetic fibres, then again that's mainly because I find they irritate my skin. I also realize that synthetic fibres don't do any favors to the environment, but that's another discussion for another day. On a somewhat different note, I have heard in news items that some people think veganism should be considered as a religeon. I don't agree with this as such, because you're not worshipping anyone. Having said that, a lot of pagans are vegetarian or vegan and worship nature as a whole. Similar applies to some of the Indian and Tebetan religeons, they all just include diet etc as part of their religeous practices, just like meditation or prayer. Meditation or prayer is something people do in their own way though and even if they don't necessarily follow a particular religeon. And so I digress. I do think though that different people's views should be respected even if they're different from one's own. Otherwise how can there be any kind of conversation if everyone is always agreeing? I still get certain people including Grandad who come out with "if there were no meat-eaters there would be no animals", but I find this eroneus, because there would still be wild animals even if there are no domestic ones. For example there are sheep and goats all over the place in mountains and on hgher ground, just not on low ground because they don't belong there. There are wild horses and ponies and cattle of sorts, just different breeds than one is used to seeing on a typical farm, because on farms and in riding schools and other places where animals are used as a tool for work rather than just being animals and doing whatever they do, they're bred for a specific purpose and at times appearance.

Out And About In Cardiff And Abergavenni

I write this post from my air BNB place in the Penylan area of Cardiff, where I still have another 2 weeks left of my stay. I'm finding that the people are pretty helpful here, but sometimes as with everywhere make stupid comments or don't listen to responses I give. Yesterday I was walking down the street and this completely random person who lives in one of the houses decided to tell me that I was "doing really well". How do you work that out? I'm only doing what everyone else does every day of the year and you don't tell them they're doing really well. Having said that though, I do think the curbs of the zebra-crossings and road crossings in general should me made a little higher. I'm glad that most of the buses have spoken announcements in English and Welsh for the stops, but I also found out that the only reason some do and others don't even on the same route is for no other reason than that they're different makes. To me they're still buses, so get on with it please. I really find the fact that bus passes are only specific to each country within the UK. The UK is technicallly one country and some of the bus drivers agree with me, but the passes themselves are only specific to England Scotland and Wales. Then again the Scottish get free train travel, which is totally not fairt the restof the UK. Still the bus from Cardiff to Abergavenni was around half what I would have payed for a train ticket, although it did take what felt like forever. Near here is a 0-waste shop called Ripple. A few days ago I went there and managed to get over 300 g of pasta for 1.10 GBP. This was whole-weat pasta and II'm pretty sure if I went to a supermarket and got the same thing in a package I would be paying a bit more. Even if I got a packaged equivalent for the same price, I would still have had to deal with somehow getting rid of the packaging. I also got myself some raisins which I'm going to put with some oatmeal for breakfast at some point. I got a nice bamboo comb too, which I think is great because my other comb is plastic. Even the box the comb came in (which is not strictly necessary) is cardboard, so can either be recycled or I assume composted in some way. I don't think that store does things like pasta sauce, but I wish it would. Then I wouldn't have to go and buy a jar of the stuff from the supermarket and fiddle about removing labels when I'm done with the jar. Sure I could make my own, but I was too lazy to do so at the time. Also there is a cafe nearby whose name I have no idea how to spell as I've only heard it pronounced. I'm thinking to jump on the happy cow website after I get done writing on here for today and write a couple of reviews. The yarn store The Wool Croft in Abergavenni has recently moved location, so is now on Neville Street rather than Cross Street. I went to the bus station for the first time yesterday though and find it a pain. What they refer to as a bus station is nothing more than a series of bus shelters or placesto stand and wait for the buses, so no actual building or office or anywhere to ask where to go. So back to relying on random people. There is a pedestrian area of Abergavenni, which I didn't realize until yesterday. It's amazing how much you notice when walking around and taking buses rather than just taxis and trains.

A weekend In Taunton

I spent the last weekend in the town of Taunton. This is situated in the county of Somerset in England. I plan to go back for longer another time, but thought I would write about my weekend anyway. I arrived on the Friday evening. I thought the key woud be in a box with a keypad, but it turned out it was a box with some sort of combination lock. Not being able to read print I've never been able to use these kind of locks, so had to wait for the air bnb host to let me in. The house is a newer house, so the walls are of some plasterboard or other similar material, making them soud hollow. I much prefer older buildings, because they don't do that and there is some character to them. In general though the place was great. I slept in a room that had a big double or kind-sized bed and a closet etc. My host even gave me a candle. :) There was a kitchen but I only used it for making breakfast and drinks mainly. On Saturday after a bit of getting lost I managed to get some people to show me to the bus stop and went into town. I had already came across a low-waste shop called Lesser Litter, so went there. That store sells all sorts from loose dry ingredients to toilet paper to containers. I bought myself some toothpaste tabs (which I look forward to trying out when I get done with the current toothpaste), a stainless-steel lunchbox which I hope is big enough for sandwiches, a heavier-duty shopping bag and even managedd to get myself some sweets! I was talking to someone working in thhe shop (whether they're the owner or not I don't know) and they said their biggest dream when they were little was to open a sweetshop. :) I managed to get a kind of fluoride-free toothpaste tabs and think it was fantastic that they offered those as well as the ones containing fluoride. I also love the fact that all the sweets are vegan in that shop. I got myself some salted caramel chocolate-covered cashue nuts and some chocolate covered raisins. While there I found some children and their mum and the children were getting a nice big jar and filling it with sweets. I think the kids mucst have been vegetarian or ate meat or something, because as soon as they realized the sweets were vegan they decided to point it out to their mum who was vegan. The shop also sells laundry liquit (I don't know if they sell soap nuts because I didn't ask) in a refill thing, so you take your own container and fill up with as much as you need. I think they even do a natural stain-remover. they also had bars of soap and I think shampoo and dishes and bags to put them in as well as a couple of different types or reuseable straws. I noticed too some banmoo cutlery but sadly no plates or bowls. They did have some travel mugs, but of course I already have technically 2 of those. Nan said I could have the otehr one back if I wanted because she didn't like it. She says she can taste the bamboo and silicone or whatever whet she takes tea or coffee in it. The only thing I find is that the tea is as hot as ever and yes you can smell the silione, but of course you would if you're drinking through the lid which is made off the said silicone. Lesser Litter also does sell some womens products, but only individually rather than in sets. Apparently Harriot of Hove did used to sell those kind of things in sets but not when I wasthere. I took a bit of a walk along the street and the firstplace I found was a vegan cafe by the name of The Planet. I went in and had some apple juide and a special that was being served that day, a peanutbutter-friedd rice with tofu and some salad. I would never have thought of putting that combination of ingredients together, but I find eating out now and again to be mind-opening to more posibilities. While there a lady was sharing my table who was taking a break from work to eat lunch. I didn't get any that time, but think next time I'll go and get the cakes or vegan sausage rolls. She said the cakes are nice and fluffy and tasty. Also she mentioned that one of the main supermarkets Asda now sell a vegan cake or 2. She was telling me that one of her colleagues had a birthday and found her a vegan cake when she was looking for cakes to take into work. While walking through the town, I noticed that there were people getting ready to play music. Also there were traders in the street, so I got talking to one of them briefly. It is not an official market, but apparently they al have licences to trade there. The particular man I spoke to was selling flowers (mostlyorcids), some of which were having buds on them. He was saying the person next to him sells pet-beds. He told me of some others buut I can't remember them now. I wish I had spent a bit longer in town, because when I got back to my room, it was barely 13:40. While I was waiting for the bus though, I did hear a preacher with a big microphone somewhere. I only caught the first little bit of the serman, but apparently he was preaching about if you will get to heaven or something along those lines. I didn't get chance to talk to him since I was getting on the bus and didn't kno where he was anyway, but as far as I understand, heaven and hell are primarily Christian inventions. Of course I could be entirely wrong about this and feel free to correct me if I am. As of right now, I'm spending a couple of weeks in or near Cardiff in Wales. My current AirBNB host is Erik, who is a very nice man. This is asingle-storey building with a decent-sized yard at the back and a little one at the front by the look of it. I write this post from the back yard and Erik is doing some cleaning or tidying or whatever off to my right. The house next door has a little yappy dog, whic sounds to me like a terrier or someone similar and there are birdsaround now and then. I heard some seagulls earlier on and Erik says we're not far from the sea. Well I should go for now before my phone runs out of charge, but I'll write again soon.

The North-south Relativee Divide In England

Having lived and travelled in the north and south of England, I've noticed something of a divide. For example in a way transport services tend to be somewhat better in the southand there seems to be more in the way of things like yarn stores and knitting socials and probably craft-related things in general. There are also many more options in terms of 0/low-waste stores and vegan places to eat out if one would like to do so. The markets while they still exist in many parts of the north of England, in some places are becoming fewer or simply non-existant. I read recently that there is now a 0-waste shop in Tynemouth in Tyne And Wear in the northeast, but other than that I've found pretty much nothing for getting loose ingredients except those markets that have fruit and vegetables and perhaps the bakeries selling bread etc. Still apart from that 1 shop, I haven't heard of anywhere one could get things like oats or rice or lentils etc. Some yarn stores are also closing down in Newcastle or have already, so the only independent one I know now is in Whitley Bay. Still there are pretty much no knitting or craft social things, unless you count one that is in a coffee shop in one of the towns near the coast. But that is a town I don't even know how to spell, so I can't exactly look it up or ask anyone where to go. The bus services are hit and miss as to whether they talk or not, buut the metro most of the time talks in Tyne And Wear. Even there thouggh, I've noticed the spoken announcements don't always talk, so good luck knowing where you are unless you want to do the old count the stops or ask someone. You could of course also use GPS if that's your thing and hope i lets you know where to get off. Having said all that, the bus pases I find to be more useful there, in that they can be used all day. The one I have from Hereford only letts you use it after 09:00, which has caused me much irritation. If you have or want to go somewhere before that time, a bus pass from Hereford is rather pointless, because unell it's a one-off you still have to pay. Speaking of the north of England, there are a tonne of craft-related things in Yorkshire and in the northwest, but you can forget finding anything of the sort in the east. Noticing that there are also very few things like I've been talking about in the villages in parts of Lincolnshire as well, I asked my Nan and she reckons it's because the north has less money than the south and because where she and Grandad live is mainly villages. I don't think that's necessarily the case. It can be cheaper to only buy what you need and use your own containers or paper bafs than buying a packaged version of something for example. If you want to as I have, you can of course buy things like flasks or mugs or lunchboxes, but at least to begin with you can use what you already have. I think being in villages would be an even better reason for having more fruit and vegetable shops or low-waste places (the UK doesn't have bulk sections of supermarkets as the Americans do). I know there tend to be bakeries in some villages which is always useful. I think it would be nice as well if there were once again more yarn stores and independent craft suppliers in villages and small towns. The nearest I know of to where the grandparents live for example is about half an hour to an hour drive away in any direction and that doesn't have any room for social events or classes etc. I say yarn store, because the term "wool shop" is not entirely accurate as yarn is not necessarily made from wool although it can be. Many times I've often thought I don't belong in the current time. I love the independent shops (bakeries, fruit and vegetable shops, markets generally etc) and would gladly support them any day over the chain stores. The only exception would be if the business was to do something I thought unethical. The thing I don't understand and never have, is why the companies and people selling organic produce put a higher financial price on things than non-organic. I get the powers that be want to make everyone eat the chemicals and processed food and create problems that were not there in the first place, but otherwise food was already organic before they added anything like fertilizers or pesticides to it, so surely it's cheaper to produce organically than non-organically. Weirdly though you have to get things certified as organic or vegan/vegetarian, but somehow even if you know what you produced is that, you can't just write it on there. Even more beaurocracy ...

Yak - A Yarn Store I Totally Love In Brighton

As the title of this post says, I totally love Yak! This yarn store is on Gloucester Road in Brighton England. I like it because it has lots of natural yarns as well as some locally-dyed yarns. I bought a couple of different shades of some locally-dyed yarn from there. Sadly I can't remember the name of the person or company that does the dying. I also enjoy the knitting social that happens every Thursday evening. There are a fair amount of people there normally and it's nice to meet new people and see what everyone is making. This is the only place I've been able to get hold of a ball-winder and swift. The ball-winder is for winding the skeins of yarn into balls of course. Actually this particular one winds it into more like cakes and I know some wind the yarn into a kind of doughnut shapes. The swift is a convenient way of holding the skein of yarn so it doesn't get tangled as you're winding it into a ball. The swift turns the skein around as you're winding it with the ball-winder, so I think it's pretty useful to have both going together. They don't weigh a lot at all, so it's pretty handy when travelling, especially since the swift comes apart. I really wish I could find a store that sold spinning-wheels etc or taught spinning classes. I really want to learn more about spinning yarn, but the classes are generally pretty expensive or else in out of the way places like on farms. I guess that makes logical sense sort of, as so much natural yarn is using animal fibres. I've noticed though that there seems to be a north-south relative divide in England (I'll write more about that in another post) in not only craft places, but things in general. As for craft shops and especially yarn stores and social things, I've noticed there are tonnes in the south of England and a fair mount in the likes of Yorkshire, buut so few in the northeast or even in the east of England in general. There are hardly any in Tyne And Wear. Come to think of it, the only yarn store I know that is still running is in Whitley Bay, but I don't know any knitting socials in the area. There were a couple of yarn stores in Newcastle, but I was told at least one of those closed down a couple of years ago. There was another yarn store of sorts in the next village from where my grandparents live in Lincolnshire (more in the direction of Norfolk), buut that was only open a pear to maybe a year and a half before closing down. A very short time really in terms of human history. To me it's like a blink of an eye - one minute it's there, then the next it's gne again.