Penny Blake
Bio
Story topics: Natural Living, Equality, Diversity, Geek Culture.
I write and review non-fiction and fiction that explores science,
culture, identity and power.
Stories (19/0)
Five Family Traditions
Christmas is certainly a time when family traditions are important and most of us have our own set ways of celebrating which were passed down to us from our parents and grandparents. But sometimes these old ways of doing things can begin to seem dated, irrelevant and stale; particularly in the climate of anti-commercialism and eco-culture.
By Penny Blake4 years ago in Families
Save Energy This Winter
Whether it's saving money on bills, or trying to reduce our impact on the environment, there are lots of good reasons to resist turning on our central heating until we absolutely have to. Here are ten simple, cost-effective, and environmentally-friendly ways to stay warm this winter without cranking up the dial on our thermostat.
By Penny Blake4 years ago in Lifehack
Nine Seasonal Craft Projects
Pine Cone Bird Feeders Collect pine cones on an autumn walk in the woods, then cosy up round the stove to make these tasty treats for the birds in your garden. Bird tables and garden feeders can be a vital source of sustenance for birds throughout the winter, and this high-fat snack is fun to make with your little ones who will love learning about the different birds who come to feast! Melt a little lard in a saucepan, and remove from the heat before stirring in some wild bird seed mix. Attach some sturdy cotton to an open pine cone, and carefully dip into the cone into the pan, taking care as the mixture will be very hot, and lay them to rest on a baking sheet or waxed paper. When the cones are dry and hardened, hang them in a tree or from your bird table then get your binoculars ready to spot who comes to have a snack!
By Penny Blake4 years ago in Lifehack
Eat Wild
Foraging for wild food can have many benefits. Besides being an enjoyable hobby and a good excuse to get out and enjoy a productive walk in the fresh air, it can save you money on your grocery bill, and give your health a boost, because wild foods often contain more nutrients than those grown in intensive farming conditions.
By Penny Blake4 years ago in Feast
The Grass Temple
The Grass Temple There is a door in me; through my wide yellowing pelt of hoary sedge-hair you may spy it, but not if you come seeking. To those who seek, that door is shut and sealed against a motive formed before you knew me well, before you had seen by bramble barbs and the wild, clawed things that weave their desire paths through my own wyllt and slough and call me Home.
By Penny Blake5 years ago in Poets
The Road Back Lost
The Road Back Lost Do you know what it is like to gut a wolf, child? Do you think you have the stomach for the knife? If you are a daughter of the wood, you ought at least to have that. But perhaps the tool they have given you is not up to the task? Faced with the breath, the lure of iron scent, the clinging claret clots that call to your own quickened pulse, the sharp, sharp teeth a grotesquery of your
By Penny Blake6 years ago in Poets
Matchless
You are not alone. Here in the cold and the dark and the emptiness between the lives of others, there are many of us. Starving, torn out from the book and falling like brittle leaves through the stillness of a cold dusk. Here, no breeze to carry us away. Here, no light but that is not quite true. You have light. You hold it in your hand. Twelve tiny cherry tipped wands for light making. Not enough to live by, their fragile flickers burst with such bright frivolity, a lion in the night, a roar in the silence ‘I am here!’ ‘I am here!’ ‘See me feel me You are not alone.’ And then the blaze that left you blinded and hopeful fades from red to green and burns you just before it sputters out.
By Penny Blake6 years ago in Poets