Introducing the Vernacular...

Thatched roof & stone walls of a house on the Aran islands.

..the what, I hear you say? Well it all comes from studying heritage I suppose and looking to the lives people who lived before us. I don't mean centuries ago but our parents and grandparents lived in a world where vernacular activity and recycling may have been much more the norm. I hate being a child of the plastic age and would love to get back to the basics but as said before plastic is pushed in our faces and we don't have a huge choice, partly because we have forgotten or were simply not told how to use the natural tools around us. The vernacular. My understanding is;

a response to need. If we need something now we pop to the shops and get it. Where does the item come from? We cant be sure half of the time. Years ago people used straw in Ireland to make costumes for Halloween and these gave a wonderful disguise without going out to buy the Frankenstein mask. Straw, thatched houses, made hens nests so that the hens would lay their eggs (and they did because they liked the nests), mattresses and fed cattle. Iron gates and concrete walls were originally stones walls-yes individual stones placed one on top of the other like in Galway and on the Aran Islands and it was aesthetically pleasing and earthy I think. Willow and hazel used to make baskets, the very thing we need today instead of the plastic bag. Something reusable and once it has collapsed you can compost it and simply make another with the material grown locally. Even the idea of growing your own which I have mentioned previously in other posts is, I am glad to see creeping back into peoples lives. I love it all and so want to bring these things into my life. Why? Well partly because I'm sentimental I suppose but also because these things answer a need. We need items but are searching for easy solutions to reduce waste. Some of the answers are staring us in the face but we don't see them because the tradition of using them has died out.

joehoganbaskets.com

St. Brigid's Cross

I have been learning today how to make the St. Brigid's cross ready for St. Brigid's day on Feb 1st. A small example of the vernacular. In years previous, and maybe in some homes today, there was (or is) a need for a Brigid's cross. Something to represent the saint or the pagan goddess, something to celebrate life and the birth of another year of growth, to protect and heal or whatever the reason. The crosses are hand made from reeds and very easy to do too. In fact I enjoyed it so much that now I have crosses to give as presents and may help keep a tradition alive.
 I didn't go to the shop to buy them, they are made from nature and while I don't expect people to suddenly buy hens in order to make a hens nest which may or may not be practical, I want to point out that there is a need to look around us and use the natural material around us, before we go off to the shops to buy items made in Taiwan.
Test yourself. The next time you need something and I mean need, not just want, see if you can find the material (natural if possible) nearby and not dash to the shop out of laziness and convenience. You might surprise yourself.