I don’t normally make New years resolutions, but…. this year I have decided to learn some new resiliency skills. Learning to sew, make bread, that type of stuff. One of the subject areas in the Transition Town movement is re-skilling, or relearning older crafts and skills. These skills are not that old, they were part of everyday life just one or two generations ago. My inlaws had an acre of land attached to their house. They had a cow for milk and butter. They had a few hens for eggs and meat. They grew spuds, veg and fruit for jam. They had their own water from a well in the back garden. Water shortages never effected them!

Our elders had loads of skills and crafts. They preserved food, made butter, maintained their well, raised hens and a cow, milked the cow and grew veggies.

So, here goes, over the next couple of months I will upload some how to guides to some resilient crafts and skills. The first one I am going to try out is how to make soap. See the attached file -> How To Make Soap .

Have a go yourself and let me know how you get on. If there is any crafts or skills you have yourself and would like to share email me on sustskerries@yahoo.ie or if there is anything which you like us to cover let us know.

Happy soap making, for a cleaner future.