{"id":3543,"date":"2020-01-31T12:07:10","date_gmt":"2020-01-31T12:07:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/astraea.net\/blog\/?p=3543"},"modified":"2020-01-31T12:07:59","modified_gmt":"2020-01-31T12:07:59","slug":"whats-up-this-new-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.astraea.net\/blog\/whats-up-this-new-year\/","title":{"rendered":"What&#8217;s up this new year &#8230;"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>Kung hei fat choi!<\/em> This traditional Cantonese greeting means &#8220;May you have great wealth!&#8221; and is expressed at Chinese new year often followed by <em>Lai see dow loi<\/em>, meaning &#8220;Give me me lucky money&#8221; ;-).&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There\n are many new years celebrated around the world starting from October \n(eg Divali in India) to the ancient Babylonian new year, Akitu, \ncelebrated at the first new moon after the spring equinox (i.e. around \nMarch).&nbsp; Our focus is usually on the solstice, but, hey, any excuse for a\n gathering of fun is welcome \ud83d\ude09 .<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here&#8217;s a quick round-up at the beginning of this solar cycle &#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thank you to everyone who joined our <strong>Walk in the Woods<\/strong>  on 29 December.&nbsp; Niall, generous as ever, lifted our spirits with a  shot of whiskey to toast the new year!&nbsp; Then, Richard and Jaspar, who  had spent the previous day hacking at the brambles, led us all through  the woods.&nbsp; It was a glorious day as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/milena.rodriguez.714049\/posts\/10158112928818593\">the lovely photos from Milena on facebook show<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<table class=\"wp-block-table has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td>in the meantime, here are a few of our snaps scratched from a video<\/td><td><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"85\" class=\"wp-image-3566\" style=\"width: 150px;\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/astraea.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/walk01-1.png?resize=150%2C85\" alt=\"\"><\/td><td><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"85\" class=\"wp-image-3565\" style=\"width: 150px;\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/astraea.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/walk02-1.png?resize=150%2C85\" alt=\"\"><\/td><td><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"85\" class=\"wp-image-3564\" style=\"width: 150px;\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/astraea.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/walk03-1.png?resize=150%2C85\" alt=\"\"><\/td><\/tr><tr><td><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"85\" class=\"wp-image-3563\" style=\"width: 150px;\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/astraea.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/walk04-1.png?resize=150%2C85\" alt=\"\"><\/td><td><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"85\" class=\"wp-image-3562\" style=\"width: 150px;\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/astraea.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/walk05-1.png?resize=150%2C85\" alt=\"\"><\/td><td><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"85\" class=\"wp-image-3561\" style=\"width: 150px;\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/astraea.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/walk06-1.png?resize=150%2C85\" alt=\"\"><\/td><td><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"85\" class=\"wp-image-3560\" style=\"width: 150px;\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/astraea.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/walk07-1.png?resize=150%2C85\" alt=\"\"><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<table class=\"wp-block-table alignright\"><tbody><tr><td><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"217\" class=\"wp-image-3546\" style=\"width: 150px; align:right\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/astraea.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/bike01.png?resize=300%2C217\" alt=\"\"><\/td><\/tr><tr><td><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"93\" class=\"wp-image-3547\" style=\"width: 150px;\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/astraea.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/bike02.png?resize=150%2C93\" alt=\"\"><\/td><\/tr><tr><td><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"101\" class=\"wp-image-3544\" style=\"width: 150px;\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/astraea.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/tilling01.png?resize=150%2C101\" alt=\"\"><\/td><\/tr><tr><td><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"85\" class=\"wp-image-3545\" style=\"width: 150px;\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/astraea.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/logging01.png?resize=150%2C85\" alt=\"\"><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"text-align:left\">Although  it is a quiet time of year, things have been a bit faster than usual as  I finally got my bike out of the shed!!&nbsp; Jaspar&#8217;s a great inspiration  and a serious hot-dogger.&nbsp; You can see a<a href=\"http:\/\/www.ballintemple.com\/nature-club\/biking\"> ride through the woods (old man speed) here<\/a>, and we&#8217;ll post a couple more <strong>biking<\/strong> vids soon.&nbsp; Check your insurance and come on down for a reckless ride!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We&#8217;ve started the new season in the <strong>garden<\/strong>.&nbsp;\n Most of the plots are tilled, we have a handful of garlic to transplant\n (thanks Wilton Gardens) and sowing of greenhouse plants will begin \nsoon.&nbsp; <strong>Logging<\/strong> is full on, especially with chilly weather.&nbsp; (Club members please ask about firewood.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our population of domestic <strong>animals<\/strong>\n has been volatile.&nbsp; Even though Poppy has moved on, it seems that a cat\n might be nipping at the poultry.&nbsp; He&#8217;s certainly got a rat and pigeon \nso is adept at hunting.&nbsp; Hopefully they will get used to each other.&nbsp; \nSoon we will look for more chickens, ducks and geese &#8230;&nbsp; And the place \nneeds an equine since Buzz went to Fallon&#8217;s yard near Ferns.&nbsp; Perhaps \nwhen Tymandra returns from Hyde Equine we&#8217;ll be able to find a couple of\n friends to enjoy the Horse Field.&nbsp; And please get in touch for <strong>livery<\/strong> options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There is likely to be restricted <strong>fishing<\/strong> again this year, but we will mow the path in the coming weeks (conditions allowing).&nbsp; We&#8217;ll be open for day or season rods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The &#8220;<strong>gun club<\/strong>&#8221;\n is more of a gentleman&#8217;s walking club as members are committed to \nconservation initiatives and enjoy the walk as much as the hunt.&nbsp; And \ntheir hounds love to run!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Beyond the walls, Pam is busy sharing her passion for <strong>yoga<\/strong>\n around the country.&nbsp; As the only Shadow style teacher in Ireland \nrecognition of her talent is growing.&nbsp; She&#8217;s running a Shadow workshop \nin March and you can check out her <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pambutleryoga.com\/classes\">class schedule here<\/a>.&nbsp; She also leads the luxurious <a href=\"https:\/\/lisnavagh.com\/news\/2020-01-21-yoga-and-sleep\/\">Lisnavagh Yoga and Sleep<\/a>\n weekend (next one this weekend) which she helped create with Emily \nBunbury nearly 10 years ago!&nbsp; I guess its long standing success reflects\n how much people get out of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.astraea.net\/courses\/the-conscious-path\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ballintemple.com\/images\/retreats\/theconsciouspath300px.png?w=940\" alt=\"theconsciouspath300px\"\/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Pam and I are looking forward to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.astraea.net\/courses\/the-conscious-path\">The Conscious Path retreat<\/a>\n in a couple of weeks.&nbsp; We&#8217;ll be packing a huge amount in to a weekend \ndesigned to help people transform themselves.&nbsp; It&#8217;ll be fun.&nbsp; We&#8217;re \nlucky to be able to deliver it locally at such good value thanks to \nsupport from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TeachBhrideTullow\/\">Teach Bhride Holistic Education Centre<\/a>.&nbsp;<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We hope to continue developing education initiatives here.&nbsp; We have nascent plans for a more formal &#8220;<strong>school of life<\/strong>&#8221;\n which will be modelled on democratic schools with a home-school ethos \nand embrace the creative arts and sciences (eg music, art, food, craft, \nnature).&nbsp; A few people have asked about getting involved, so please let \nme know if you would like to get find out more, especially if you might \nsupply or use this resource (eg teach\/coach\/guide or student).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the vein of transformation, you might be interested in the report from our <a href=\"http:\/\/astraea.net\/blog\/unplanned-and-unexpected-a-vision-of-the-future\/\">Vision of the Future event which is reported here<\/a>\n (including video with Hazel Henderson, Oonagh Harpur and Ivan Konig).&nbsp; \nAlso, our team at astraea are now editing the new year perspectives and \nprognostications which will be <a href=\"http:\/\/www.astraea.net\/blog\/\">online<\/a> in a couple of days.&nbsp; Please let us know if you&#8217;d like to be on astraea&#8217;s mailing list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Anyone wishing to join the fun can pay the <a href=\"http:\/\/astraea.net\/shop\/nature_club\">annual club membership etc here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the meantime, keep an eye out for events during the year (posted on the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ballintemple.com\/\">website<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BallinTempleNatureandCottages\">facebook<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kung hei fat choi!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tom and Pam xo<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"43\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/astraea.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/logoandballlintemple-300x43.png?resize=300%2C43\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3569\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.astraea.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/logoandballlintemple.png?resize=300%2C43&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.astraea.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/logoandballlintemple.png?resize=768%2C109&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.astraea.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/logoandballlintemple.png?resize=1024%2C145&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.astraea.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/logoandballlintemple.png?w=1880&amp;ssl=1 1880w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"color:#023c00;text-align:center\" class=\"has-text-color\"><strong>Farm, Garden, Sanctuary, River and Woods<\/strong><br><strong>A nature club for people who love nature. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"color:#023c00;text-align:center\" class=\"has-text-color\"><strong>Ballin Temple, Ardattin, Carlow, Ireland<\/strong><br><strong>+353 86 8179237&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/strong><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ballintemple.com\">Website<\/a>&nbsp; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BallinTempleNatureandCottages\">Facebook<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kung hei fat choi! This traditional Cantonese greeting means &#8220;May you have great wealth!&#8221; and is expressed at Chinese new year often followed by Lai see dow loi, meaning &#8220;Give me me lucky money&#8221; ;-).&nbsp; There are many new years celebrated around the world starting from October (eg Divali in India) to the ancient Babylonian &hellip;<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.astraea.net\/blog\/whats-up-this-new-year\/\" class=\"more-link pen_button pen_element_default pen_icon_arrow_double\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">What&#8217;s up this new year &#8230;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[35,22],"tags":[269,267,258,268,266,218,249],"class_list":["post-3543","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-homenandgarden","category-living","tag-cottages","tag-fishing","tag-garden","tag-livery","tag-mountain-biking","tag-nature","tag-organic"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4hwcd-V9","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.astraea.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3543","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.astraea.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.astraea.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.astraea.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.astraea.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3543"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.astraea.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3543\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3572,"href":"https:\/\/www.astraea.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3543\/revisions\/3572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.astraea.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.astraea.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.astraea.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}