Path Work - St Abb's

This period of path work has been a little bit different for me compared to what I've been doing throughout the rest of the year.  Firstly, it's been a lowland path by the coast, secondly, it is mostly construction work rather than maintenance, and thirdly I've been working with another contractor.  Similar to the path at Mar Lodge that needed to be re-routed due to the river washing it away, this path has been covered by a landslide and needed to be relocated.

The path was is on the NTS St Abb's Nature Reserve and started from the upper cliff path taking people down to the cove (or it did before the landslide).  The route at the start remains the same, but half way down we're taking it into a different section of the cove to hopefully stop any further landslides affecting people's use.

So, first thing's first, we had to landscape what was left of the old path to reduce the chances of walkers using this section in the future (you can also see the landslide that damaged the original path line).

Next we marked out the new route the client wanted the path to take with red flags.  And then construction began.  It basically made up of a series of stone pitching sections followed by trays with surfacing and stone revetments to hold everything in place, which is slowly winding it's way up to the top.

As with most paths like this we started at the bottom on the beach and are working our way up the path.  As the site is in a protected area we didn't use the stones located on the beach but instead selected the ones we needed from a local quarry.  These where then power barrowed and rolled in a controlled manner down the hill to the needed location.

It's actually been a very interesting learning curve as, rather then getting to select the stones that you want to use specifically you have to work the stone that just happens to have been rolled down to you.  A very interesting jigsaw puzzle with the added difficulty of weight, size, and weather.

There's still work to be done to this path, with more construction on the upper section, landscaping of the revetments, and more surfacing.  However, it should be finished in the next work stint, which starts next week, hopefully giving people the opportunity to use this path again over Christmas and New Year.

I'm not going to lie, this job has been quite a lot of hard work due to the weather.  The downpours we had last week meant that the ground very quickly turned to mud, and the mud in this location is not only very slippery, but also very sticky.  It quickly stuck to the stones we were using, making them heavier than before and their shapes difficult to decipher, and to our boots and clothing so that it felt like you were wearing a space suit.  On the plus side though, the scenery was always amazing no matter what the weather was doing (either grey and moody, or pastel colour skies on blue sea, not to mention the sunsets) and we got daily visits from seals that swam right up to the shore to inspect what we were doing.  We even had a day where we saw dolphins.

I don't think I'll do another blog on this but will probably post the finally pictures of the completed path on Instagram (@greeninggeorgie).  This is probably going to be the last bit of work that I do on footpaths this year, but will hopefully get to do more in the next.

Mini Film Review: River Blue

River Blue is a documentary film released two years ago which mostly follows river conservationist Mark Angelo as he uncovers and documents the impact of the pollution produced by the global fashion industry on our water ways.  This documentary covers a three year period and looks at rivers all over the globe where no or un-followed environmental legalisations means that factories producing our clothes can release untreated toxins into the river systems of some of the poorest countries on our planet.  

The first portion is a general overview with Mark Angelo (though there is a whole section about the pollution of the Ganges with human faeces.  I'm not sure how that is connected to the fashion industry, but maybe it's just to highlight the idea that we just think it's all just wash away in the river) which shows rivers that are devoid of life, are black or indigo in colour, and are foaming.  It also shows the workers in direct contact with the toxins being used, without any health and safety regulations (and definitely no protective clothing) to look after them.  The second part looks at one specific area of the clothing industry, denim, the specific impact this is having and how some people in the industry are trying to change this.  Interestingly they have some of the jean designers that designed the most popular styles we have today admitting that they had unwittingly produced a monster (my words not their's) which is now polluting the planet.

I have mixed feelings about this film.  The information was useful and really important to see.  I especially liked how they used jeans, a very, very popular fashion item, to really highlight the issues with the industry and that there are people out there trying to make a difference despite others just following the status quo.  However, I felt the flow of the film was a bit off, especially near the beginning, that made it a bit more difficult to watch then it should have been.  I guess that doesn't matter too much as most people watching it will be doing so because they are really interested in the subject matter.  I also think that it would have been better to have Mark play a bigger part, possibly even narrating it himself in something similar to Racing Extinction and A Plastic Ocean.  Still worth a watch though, especially if you need that extra boast to help you get off the fast fashion train.

Another documentary I thought I would just mention here as it's also about the negative impact the fashion industry is having on our environment is Stacey Dooley's Investigates episode called Fashion's Dirty Secret.  In this series Stacey looks at a number of issues affecting young people around the world, including violence towards women and child abuse, so it's interesting to see that the impact of the fashion industry on both the environment and people has been investigated here too.  This give a more broad overview of the issues, but is definitely worth a watch especially if you're just looking into this.  At the moment it's available on BBC iPlayer, but I'm not sure how long for.

Remembrance Day 11/11/2018

In one hour from when this post goes up it will be 100 years, to the hour, that WWI ended.  The guns stopped and there were no more orders to charge (though for reasons I cannot understand these orders were still being given earlier that day leading to completely unnecessary deaths).  It should be a particularly momentous memorial Sunday this year, but there are two specifically interesting things that seem to have come up which I thought I would write about here.

Firstly, there are many that have decided that we should no longer wear poppies or have a moment of memory because they believe that it in facts glorifies war.  I'm not sure if they've ever been to a memorial service or event, but there's nothing more depressing and un-glorifying then listening to or reading the very long list of people who have died in war, especially when you realise that most of these were very young men and women.  This is particularly true for WWI where the numbers are just staggering.  It is not a glorification but a reminder of the very heavy cost of war and fighting, and that we should never go into them lightly or allow our politicians to drag us into easily.  

Secondly, there are those who worry that it will have a negative impact on our Brexit negotiations by offending some of the nations we are in talk with.  It is a strange and just a little insulting an idea as it implies that we are only remembering those who have died during the first and second world wars, and that all the countries involved are exactly the same as they were 100 years ago, with the same ideologies and tactics.  Of course they are not, we have all moved on since then and it's not exactly that Britain can pretend we hold the moral high ground here - we have a dark past too.  If anything this Remembrance Day is a unifier.  Every nation involved has bared the loss of a large number of men and women to war, with significant consequences to their society, and it highlights that it is possible for different nations with different ideas and causes to come together and work towards a common outcome.  To me that is a hopeful idea, not just for the outcome of Brexit, but also for the fight against climate change.

On the 100 years anniversary for the end of WWI I have decided to do something a little bit differently this year.  I have absolutely no qualms about supporting The Royal British Legions, and therefore supporting our service personnel who need it, but I always felt a little bit guilty getting a new disposable paper and plastic poppy every year.  So this year I decided to get a badge that I will wear every year instead of picking up a new one.  I will of course keep donating every year as usual.

I also thought I would introduce you to my great-grandfather (the not so happy looking one on the bottom right) who fought in WWI and, though survived himself, lost his brother (aged 27).

Anyone who knows me knows that I hate war.  As far as I can see most of the time it is a decision made by people who are stubborn or arrogant (or both) enough to not be able to compromise or see a different route, and who won't be the people facing the actual consequences of their decision.  Personally I think that anyone who makes that decision should also go to the front, though not to be in charge of anything - that would be awful.  However, that doesn't mean that I don't think that we should remember and show gratitude to those who have fought in these wars.  Rightly or wrongly, they have given to ultimate sacrifice which has allowed us to live the life we now live today.

Project Use Up Update #10 and Other Products

So, another month is done and I'm now on the final stretch.  I'm not expecting to use up many more of the products that I have left, but I am glad that's I've finally used up another item after a couple of months of stalling. (Apologies for the lighting in these photos, it's just so dark today it was difficult to get the right light.)

And let's start with that.  This month I had to say goodbye to the Gosh Velvet lipstick in Matte Rose.  I hadn't completely finished it but got ill whilst wearing it.  When I put it on again after getting better I got a really sore throat again, so I decided I had the throw it away.  I only had one more days worth of wear in it so it's not too bad, but a shame to not get the satisfaction of finishing it properly.  I really like this product, it feels good on the lips, isn't too trying, and is a really lovely colour.  Basically, if you're looking for an affordable, easy to find, cruelty free, nude lipstick I would recommend this one.  However, I'm not really intending on buying nude lipsticks in the future and I want to test more 'natural' lip colours anyway so I probably won't buy this again.  I had also hoped to use up my MUA lipstick in Raven this month as well as I had a few extra days off work, but unfortunately I got really ill for a couple of weeks and haven't been wearing lipstick at all during that time.  It would have been fitting to finish it on Halloween, but there's always next month and I do think I'll get it done by then.  I'm not sure if I'll get my Gosh lipstick finished by the end of the year, but I will have at least 1 month to concentrate on it.

I've been doing a lot of smokey eye looks this month and that has helped me use a good amount of the Living Nature eye liner in Midnight.  However, there was also no eye liner wearing whilst I was ill so the progress on this is a little lower then I was hoping for.  This is a really easy eye liner to use, very soft and smudge-able, but that does mean that it's not necessarily the longest lasting eye liner I've ever used and definitely needs setting.  This one is definitely going to be a roll over to next year.

The NYX Dark Circle Concealer Corrector in Light / Pale is going a long quite well.  In fact I've used much more then I was actually expecting.  It seems to be that once I hit the side of the product the rest seems to come away quite easily.  I might even be able to finish this by the end of the year, but I think I'm being a bit hopeful on that front.  It's a lovely product to use as it's so creamy and the colour is actually pretty good for what I want it for.  Just going to keep plodding on this one.

You know the drill on the Barbara Day Even Smoother eye primer in Vanilla.  Slow and steady, slow and steady.  There is light at the end of the tunnel, but this might actually be one of the products I just have the throw away at the end of the year as I've had this for so long and it is going right by my eyes.

The same can be said on the Argan Oil hair treatment.  This is going to take a while to use up, but it is quite a good product and smells really nice so I'm not too bothered if it takes a couple of years to get through.

The other products I used up this month are......

My Jura Diurachs Own Fragrance Hand Cream.  This product is lovely, smells really, really good, and works very well.  I've been using it every day after work and it's definitely helped stop my hands from turning into a leathery, flaky mess.  The only issue with this for some people is that it contains bees wax and I'm not sure if it's cruelty free, though I assume this line would be.  I can't find this hand cream on line so I think you can only buy it on Jura (what a shame, just have to take another trip to Jura).  The packaging is also glass which makes it easy to recycle.

I really like the Lush Dirty Toothy Tabs.  They are very easy to use and a great space saver in your toiletry bag (something very important for me as I have literally been living out of that thing).  The flavour is also good and this product is also vegan and cruelty free.  I would prefer the packaging to not be plastic, but at least it's recycled and recyclable and that's really stuck in my head after I heard someone say 'If you're not buying recycled products you're not really recycling' (which I believe is attributed to Ed Begley Jr).  For convenience these are great and will probably buy them again, especially if I'm travelling, but I love the Georganic products better so those will probably be my main dental products.

The last item is the Younique Moodstruck Epic Mascara.  A friend of mine sells Younique products so I brought this off her when I was coming to the end of my mascaras.  I've probably been using this way longer then you're supposed to use a mascara but the scent of it hasn't changed so I kept using it until the product was basically gone.  This product it lovely and made my eye lashes look really long and think.  It also held them at a sweeping up angle and didn't flake on me (a reoccurring issue I have with most mascaras).  Apparently they are working towards getting a cruelty free status as they don't test their products on animals, but I haven't had confirmation on that yet.  It is a little bit of a pricey mascara as well at £20, but isn't the most expensive mascara out there and it does have a very good effect.  As with the lipsticks, however, I am wanting to go down a more natural route and so it's unlikely I will be buying this product again.

And that's it.  Let's see what I can get through in November.

My progress so far:

• Project Use Up 2018
• Project Use Up Update #1 and Other Products
• Project Use Up Update #2 and Other Products
• Project Use Up Update #3 and Other Products
• Project Use Up Update #4 
• Project Use Up Update #5 and Other Products
• Project Use Up Update #6 and Other Products
• Project Use Up Update #7 and Other Products
• Project Use Up Update #8 and Other Products
• Project Use Up Update# 9