Natural Recovery

A scarecrow in the making…

naturalrecoveryart — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 11:57:03 +0000

He, or she hasn’t got a name yet. But he/she is definately taking shape and will soon have a home on a bench in the garden enjoying it throughout the seasons and hopefully scaring off a few birds in the process.

Any suggestion of a name???

Melancholic day

naturalrecoveryuk — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 21:30:44 +0000

Caring about others, running the risk of feeling, and leaving an impact on people, brings happiness. Harold Kushner

Hello dear bloggers and readers

Although Carolina,Our project manager used to post new entries into the blog I have the honour to ensure all our activities are updated into the blog ,so here I am ,posting my new entry :

A strangely reflective, even melancholic day. Is that because, unlike other routines on every Wednesday afternoon we got used to Carolina and Volunteers?Today is not associated with the energy and vitality of what Carolina used to bring but with the more subdued spirit of autumn?I don’t know …perhaps is the
weather …. The foliage has been losing its freshness through the month and the autumn shows her beauty and here and there a yellow leaf shows itself like the first gray hair amidst the locks of a beauty who has seen one season too many. Bittersweet September .Our volunteer came as usual and started cleaning the
garden …but nobody is there …the residents are already missing Carolina andthey don’t have the urge to join in the activities …I don’t blame them ,We are human and we like routines and our gardening chores are nearly over ….I am having a glance in the garden ..The
mellow, messy, leaf-kicking, its like a beautiful concert of Verdi .a beautiful play of leafs and dead flowers .Delicious autumn! The Garden looks like a
beautiful water colour lovely painted with a mosaic of autumn touch . Christine,our art teacher will try her best to model our melancholic thoughts .Nearly forgot to mention herein we have got Ashton South Rangers touch !!!, They paid us a visit and they already made plans for Xmas and our folks are looking forward for more activities . It starts raining in here but my mind flies away –I am still enjoying the season and Iremember a famous poem :Besides the autumn poets sing….

Blustery day out in Dunham Massey

naturalrecoveryart — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 10:22:24 +0000

So off we went, braving the early autumn weather to have a look at the grounds and gardens at local Dunham Massey. Some residents went in search of, and found, the deer in the grounds, whilst others took a gentle stroll around the formal gardens.

We met back in the cafe and had a hearty lunch before setting off home, smiling, and feeling good for having been out in the fresh air.

A good day…

Cracking good Noodles!

naturalrecoveryuk — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 08:55:02 +0000

In August we provided a cooking workshop which was leaded by Sarah, from Cracking Good Food. Residents and volunteers prepared some “healthy noodles” using vegetables from our own plot. We set up a gazebo in the garden and prepared the whole meal outdoors! If you would like to contact Cracking Good Food, please visit their website.

The garden party was a success!

naturalrecoveryuk — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 15:10:04 +0000

At the beginning of July we received a visit from our funders, Ecominds. They were very pleased with our garden and vegetables. Art volunteer Leon led a workshop to create lanterns out of reused glass jars. Everyone was happy with their creations when we placed them altogether and lit them in the dark. Wonderful!

The weather was dry for a few hours, just enough time to cook some burgers in the BBQ outside in the garden. All the residents and volunteers gathered around the new garden table to share some nice food. We will have another garden party in September so keep checking our website for more details. www.naturalrecovery.org.uk

Art group goes to Tatton Park

naturalrecoveryart — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 16:45:00 +0000

Well as artists, we have to go and get top class inspiration from somewhere eh? And what better place than Tatton Park on a beautiful sunny day…..

So, off we went. We walked around the grounds and the gardens. We had cake (of course!) And we marvelled at the sights and the smells, and came home rosy cheeked and happy.

Now, that’s a good day out….

Colourful plant labels…

naturalrecoveryart — Fri, 13 May 2011 18:16:31 +0000

Well what fun we had painting these stones, and labelling them with the names of the plants in the garden. The residents really

enjoyed putting them in the garden with the appropriate plants…..all in a days work….and the garden is getting more colourful.

Famous garden artists..let’s have a go!!

naturalrecoveryart — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 16:02:14 +0000

We’ve turned our creative attention for a little while to look at famous artists who took gardens as inspiration for their work. I hope that this will awaken the painter and drawer inside us……

…..and it seemed to work…have a look at our responses to Vincent Van Gogh’s Sunflower painting….

Beds in place

naturalrecoveryuk — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 21:48:04 +0000

I must confess that the gardening people have been a bit lazy with regards to the blog. But we’ve been doing a very hard job at the garden!
We have received help from plenty of volunteers who came on different occasions: Wednesday’s regular meetings, digging days specially planned for Saturdays and a planting seed session with the residents. We are very thankful for all the help we received and remind everyone if it hadn’t been for each one of you who came to help, we wouldn’t have been able to remove the lawn, build and fill in 5 raised beds, set up the fruit cage and start the seedlings.
We still have plenty of work to do, so get some inspiration for the photos below and the nice weather, and join us every Wednesday from 2pm to 4pm!

Arty garden day out…

naturalrecoveryart — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 17:30:29 +0000

We went to Bents Garden Centre today under the disguise of doing a “research trip” so we could get ideas for things that we could make for our own garden……always good to look outside for inspiration.

Well, twelve of us went, and had a lovely look around, enjoying all the sights and smells of this wonderful garden centre.

And, yes, we got some ideas for future arty projects……clay animals, hanging lanterns, sundials, mosaic wall pieces, colours stones….

And, yes, we had a great lunch…..including the promised CAKE….!! Yum.

Photos to come…as the upload feature isn’t currently working…..