Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Rye Recycle Swap Shop

http://www.transitionrye.org.uk/recycle-swap-shop/


I encourage all of you who are at a loose end this Saturday to go to Rye and support this worthwhile event!
I hope Transition Rye will not mind me cutting and pasting the entry from their blog....
Recycle Swap Shop
When?    20 Oct 2012   from 9:30-12:30
Where?   St Mary’s Centre, Lion Street, Rye
What is a ‘recycle swap shop’?
Many of us have things in our homes which we no longer want or use, but we feel are too good to throw away.  These things sit around, sometimes for years, waiting for us to find the right person to give them to, and eventually they may end up being thrown in the bin.
Recycle Swap Shop is an event run by St Mary’s Ecology and Transition Rye to provide an alternative for local people who would prefer to recycle such unwanted items to others in the community, rather than throw them away.
You can bring your items to the hall and leave them there for others to take away.
At the same time, you can look around and see if there is anything you’d like to take away yourself!
You are welcome to only bring stuff, or to only take stuff, or to just come along and browse and have some free refreshments and a chat. This is a social event too, where everyone wins!
Anything left over will be disposed of through Rye Freegle, charity shops or recycling, as appropriate.
Takers get things they want for free!
We all end up with a chance to meet other local families for a Saturday morning chat, and we put less rubbish in land-fill, saving both the environment and tax-payers money.
A few points to note:
Please bring items before 11am, so there’s time for people to take them.
All items MUST be 100% free and must be from domestic (not commercial) sources.
Please try to bring things as early as possible and certainly before 10:15am
If you have bulky items, like bikes or furniture, then please don’t bring these to the swap shop.  Instead, a notice board will be provided for you to leave a description of your item along with a contact email address or phone number.
Don’t bring anything illegal!
Don’t bring anything dangerous (no sharp knives, weapons, etc)
No pets or livestock.
No rubbish.  Please don’t bring anything that really is no good to anyone.  The Swap Shop is run a small group of local people who volunteer their time to organise these events and we don’t want to end up with a whole room full of rubbish to take to the dump!
No mains electrical items.
Note – St Mary’s Centre is what used to the be the FE Centre on Lion Street.

Monday, October 8, 2012

Harvest Festival/Folk Festival

On Thursday Sis and I visited Gibbet Oak Farm Shop in order to procure some locally grown fruit and veg for our planned Food Miles display at Harvest Festival.









We ended up with runner beans from West Malling, plums and  Cox apples from Gibbet Oak, and some mixed salad grown in Appledore (which we ended up not using, but no matter).
On Saturday morning we set up our stall bright and early.






We sold some jams and chutneys too, which we had made from locally sourced and/or foraged ingredients.



Inside the church were displays of local produce, organised by Tenterden & District Chamber of Commerce, titled 'Harvest On Our Doorstep'...


















On Sunday we set up again in the same place and were joined on the opposite side of the path by the Chamber of Commerce who were providing refreshments, in the shape of teas & coffees, and samples of local fare from places like Old Dairy Brewery, Chapel Down Winery, The Lemon Tree, The Vine Inn and several others.



When the church Harvest service had finished, the congregation were encouraged to get refreshments at their tent, and we were standing outside to hand out copies of our 'local food' map...


..and our homemade chocolate cookies...

..which went down a treat.
Later, after the crowd had dispersed, we decided to pack up around 1 pm as there was little or no foot traffic through the churchyard. It was of course Tenterden Folk Festival weekend and there were several Morris sides and folkies around. 
The Chamber were taking down their tent, having dispensed the bulk of their food samples. However, they needed some assistance getting rid of the remainder of the polypin of Old Dairy Red Top Bitter, which we were more than happy to assist with!


Members of T3 and Tenterden Chamber of Commerce, as well as Rev. Canon Lindsay Hammond, working on the Red Top beer (centre).
Later we were joined by members of a Slovakian dance troupe, and though we had a language barrier, the word 'beer' is pretty much internationally understood.




Chris, myself, Sue, Bill and Justin with three Slovakian dancers