They paved Paradise…

They paved Paradise…

Hi there!
Thanks for popping in. Just got back home from a day up at Hochanda, filming Christmas pre-recorded shows and having meetings. It was a smashing day, made all the sweeter by all the dancing and singing last night at the Christmas Ball. What a smashing bunch of people. It was a pleasure and a privilege to be invited, to join in and let our hair down, after quite the challenging year!

The drive home however, was another matter. As was the drive there last night. It took 4 hours from door to door. Four hours to cover a stretch which should take 2 to 2.5 hours! When you venture out in traffic nowadays, it just feels that there are way too many cars on the roads, and there are way too many roads for the island. After all, this IS an island. As we came down the A14, massive road expansion programmes underway, half-erected bridges hovering over the cars, I said to Dave, “we won’t be happy until we have chewed up the entire island, will we”, to which he responded, “Joni Mitchell talked about it 50 years ago.”

So I went online and dug out the Youtube he was alluding to. Thought I would share it with you; you will all know the song. Never has it been more pertinent. She probably didn’t even know how prophetic she was being.

They paved paradise, put up a parking lot. Yep. They did.

Coming over the QE2 Bridge this evening, the Dartford crossing, all one could see in the dark was a million headlights and tail lights moving slowly in both directions. Like an ocean of red and white light.

Where on earth are we all headed? And don’t say home. I meant the question at an entirely different level.

And so we come home to our little cottage in dingly dell East Sussex, glad to be out of the maelstrom that is daily commuter traffic, and are grateful not to have to join in the chaos every day.

On that note, it’s time to stop for the day. Apologies for the absence of art today. I am all arted out. It’s been a week of telly demos and videos! Tell you what though; those texture stamps, that new Mixed Impression Collection we launched last Friday – blimey! You certainly like them! And you’re not wrong. They are epic to use. Here’s one of the Nature sets.

Ironic, isn’t it? We so love the flowers and trees and leaves; yet when you watch how man is paving over and building on every last little speck of greenery, clearing woodland to make way for more housing and destroying the land, you’ve got to wonder how long this can continue. I just don’t think we can ignore what’s going on. And the sceptics who blithely call those who care tree huggers should open their eyes to the reality of our global situation.

Let me spell out one of the verses in Joni Mitchell’s song again:

They took all the trees, Put ’em in a tree museum. And they charged the people A dollar and a half just to see ’em.

Don’t get me started, Joni!

Love and Hugs,

Barb xxx

19 thoughts on “They paved Paradise…

  1. Glad you had a great evening and it sounds as if we have something to look forward to over Christmas ! Know what you mean with the traffic. We’re off to Cornwall in morning for a long weekend and will see plenty of it on M4 and 5. Bad enough locally on A34 which has just as much traffic as motorways, so much so they say it should be turned into a motorway ….
    Have a restful evening xx

    Ps my third and final sale parcel arrived today and I rang up to renew my diamond membership, was going to cut out the stencil but did I? Ask a silly question ! 😹😹

  2. Every journey seems to take twice as long as it once did, hard to find a time when traveling isn’t just a headache. I just find driving a necessary evil these days. Wouldn’t want to be a delivery driver that’s for sure. Glad you enjoyed the party. Xx

  3. So pleased you enjoyed the ball.
    The trouble with travel these days is that public transport is unreliable and expensive so too many people use their cars for journeys where it would be quicker to walk. We all need to be aware of what we are doing to destroy our planet but my family are trying to help to reverse things. Instead of flowers for celebrations and funerals we donate to the woodland trust for trees to be planted. Small gestures but every little helps.
    Councils need to get their acts together too. They seem to have so many different types of bins and recycling requirements and it can be confusing when moving to a new area.
    Rant over !!!
    Making up some toppers with the PTC’s for thank you cards and notelets for the local charity shop. Next session, snowdrops and daffodils.
    Where has this year gone?
    🍒🍒🍒

  4. Pleased to hear you had a great party , do love a good party, I totally agree way to many vehicles on the roads , family’s around here have 4 cars on their drives ! Mind you lack of public transport doesn’t help , our last bus is 6pm , nearest train station 2miles away . The state of the roads and thoughtless drivers makes it way to dangerous to walk or cycle after dark as we also have narrow roads with no pavements . I’ll get off my soap box now safe and warm with my crafting . Enjoyed the shows today .

  5. Yay, does that mean a Barb show on Christmas Day? Thanks soooo much Barb, it means a lot to me, and I’m sure anyone else who is on their own on Christmas Day too.

    Glad you had fun last night at the Hochanda party.

    As for our beautiful country being wrecked and destroyed. The u turn on that can start in everybody’s gardens. Folk need to stop paving and concreting over their gardens. Those who have can dig at least some of it up and return their garden to nature. That would be a big start, and help with the flooding problems too. And if you want to go further, give a gift of planting a tree or two, there are places online who do it. We can all do our bit, it’s easy. In all communities there are wee corners of derelict land sat doing nothing, get your community together and transform the bit of waste land into a place for nature.

    Love your piece of art. Love you xxx

  6. Hi Barb,
    I really sympathise with you for your awful journey. You are absolutely correct as well about the situation re building and “ developing” that’s going on nowadays. I keep saying that people in charge won’t be happy until they have concreted over every piece of land. I’m amazed that this little island of ours actually manages to stay afloat! I feel that one day I’ll wake up and discover that our island has sunk! Durham city is a prime example. It is a World Heritage site that unfortunately has sold its soul to the university. There is so much building work going on for the university that the municipal golf course is now covered with student accommodation and the city is just overrun with students. Local people now call the city the campus! Sorry if I’ve ranted on, but it really does upset me and yes Joni Mitchell was very prophetic! Love and hugs,Alison xxx

  7. I’m so glad the party went well- everyone deserved it they work so hard.

    Sadly , the world is over populated. So, it will keep getting paved and built on, in order to accommodate the ever growing population. We will be lucky if there’s even room for Joni’s tree museum…

  8. Hi Barbara
    What a nightmare driving is today
    To many people with no patience road rage at an all time high. ☹️
    Glad you got home safe and sound and that you were able to go to the ball cinders
    Have a chilled evening and weekend

  9. Glad you enjoyed your Ball, Yes so agree with your views. We went to a funeral today came home in the dark and all you could see was tails of car lights. On the way down to Okehampton so much building and off the M5. We have no land near us all built on and like Alison it’s student land here too. Brenda says about people turning their gardens into car parking sometimes it’s a must as with double lines on the road you have nowhere to park. We have lost our airfield to housing and now they are planning to use the aircraft hangars for music venues, dont mind us we only live here. Sorry for ranting on just worried about what’s going to happen next.

    1. Hi Pam, a lot of people pave over their gardens that is nothing to do with parking. If you need a drive and your garden isn’t big enough for both, a strip, a corner, or narrow borders round the edge, unpaved, wee insect loving, low maintenance, plants planted, or a packet of wild flower seeds sprinkled every spring. That simple thing would help recreate the corridors of food and refuge the insect population so desperately need, and it gives the rain somewhere to go. If everyone does wee simple changes, and those who can do more, it’s a big step in the right direction.

  10. You are so right, Barbara. Round here, we had a good stretch between us and Birmingham set up and, we thought, protected as Green Belt. That Green Belt is gradually being eroded and built on in every direction, but not by our local council. Instead it is the neighbouring town building houses in our town. Schools are being knocked down and houses being built on the land. Then, of course, no-one had thought that all these new houses would have children living in them. Oh dear, we need to build more schools, and factory units and office blocks. At the same time, the hospitals have been reduced. Fourteen ambulances stacked up outside A&E is not unusual. Before long, there will be no farmland to produce our food. OK that is my rant over for now. Glad you enjoyed the party with all your friends at Hochanda. xxx Maggie (Silvercrafter)

  11. Hi Barb, glad you enjoyed the party, the team certainly deserve it up at Hochanda, they do work hard. Traffic is a nightmare, there are days I just don’t want to get in the car, even though I know there is no other option. I have my eye on the background stamps for the new year, so let’s see. Take care all. Bx

  12. Here in Milton Keynes the beautiful wooded areas are rapidly disappearing, to make way for more and more dense housing. More people, more cars and not enough infrastructure to support them.
    Tomorrow, we are driving up to Blackpool, to see our family for our Christmas get together. I Dread the journey, due to the sheer volume of traffic and endless roadworks. How right Joni was all those years ago and how sad that this is the world our grandchildren see as normal.
    On a happy note, have you seen the advert for the Welsh hardware shop on you tube? It ‘warms the cockles’ and shows that John Lewis didn’t need to spend £7million! Watch it when you have the chance.
    Hugs. Annette X

  13. I haven’t had a car for over ten years but it is very hard to get around on public transport and everyone assumes you can just get in a car to get wherever they are. If we are really going to change things, we have to live closer to people we want to see, closer to work, closer to shops – as deliveries mean vehicles. So does having care in your own home rather than in a home. We’d probably have to give up craft too and most other goods. Computers and phones use rare metals. Holidays mean flights. We like instant heating. People have grown used to all the luxuries, no longer even seeing them as such. We can all take small steps but few want to give it all to save the planet.

  14. Even up in Highland we’ve seen an increase in traffic volume in the past 10 years. I still appreciate the clean air and countryside on my doorstep though. Feel very lucky to live somewhere relatively unspoilt x

  15. I don’t know where to start so I should keep quiet! Yep, they will all be down here in Cornwall in their holiday homes, so local young people haven’t a cats chance of buying a home. We sure need the tourists but now it’s ridiculous. Enough!

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