the problem with the horsemouth's walks upon the common

'no one says, ‘I want to spend 10-plus years on a risky project that may or may not happen.’'- guardian, 4th june 2024. 

self build has been in the news again. this is a beauteous idea that unites the homeless (or badly-housed) with the labour necessary to house them and so appears to get rid (or at least reduce) the cost of housing them. 

it kind of makes you wonder why it hasn't caught on? (perhaps because it is a fantasy).

what was horsemouth's experience with self-build? (or rather the communal endeavour's experience?)

well ultimately the housing organisation who owned the property took it back early (before it had paid for itself). now this was either a) their evil plan all along or, b) a product of government pressure upon them - such as the government forcing them to lower their rents by 1% a year for 5 years. this is the government forcing the housing associations to lower prices so as to reduce its benefits bill, effectively mugging them for the money. 

the people with the materialist analysis hold to a). horsemouth thinks it is b). but he doesn't know for certain (and neither do they). 

similarly with local housing allowance LHA - 'what we can see now is that the capped LHA model is bust - if you cap benefits and allow rents to rise, the only possible outcome is soaring homelessness.'

so would horsemouth recommend that people take a crack at self-build? no he would not. the  circumstances are not propitious, money is tight, senior stakeholders are unlikely to be able to deliver on all their promises.

what is the problem with the horsemouth's walks upon the common?

well he just gets angry really. he starts rehearsing arguments for use within the communal endeavour and with his critics and before you know it he is just fucking furious and stomping along in a high dudgeon ignoring the beautiful scenery. 

this is a complete waste of the notoriously beautiful herefordshire countryside. 

horsemouth supposes it marks the end of the honeymoon post general meeting relaxation and the return to rage and anxiety as usual.

events in the green

yesterday himself and his mum took the eggs down to the crossroads (a t- junction really) had a chat with the egg recipients and then wandered back. earlier he had taken the wheelie bin to the bottom of the drive (remind him to being it back up).

yesterday (also) horsemouth did some work in the garden. he dug a trench, put in some compost and filled it back in. he will take another crack at that tomorrow (and the day after probably) as long as the weather holds. the gooseberries are looking good (no thanks to horsemouth), the runner beans have survived, the parsnips are rapidly going to seed (horsemouth entertains permaculture dreams, similarly with the potatoes and leeks in the bottom garden). 

the weather looks pretty decent all the way out to thursday the 13th. (so more gardening and more walks out upon the common).