Edinburgh’s Grassmarket Project and University students

A group from Edinburgh’s Grassmarket Project came down the track for another week of sunshine, along with six Edinburgh University students of medicine and social work. 

During the week those who wanted to get out on the sea kayaking and abseiling did so.  For some it was purely fun, for others it required considerable bravery.  Well done!

Music was a theme in the week.  We hosted the First Annual Grassmarket Camas Open Mic night - a big success and highlight, with a 2^nd edition on the Friday night too.  
There was no mic, but this didn’t matter!

Camas team member Kelsey was a skilled and complimentary host, kicking it off with a sing along of the Camas classic ‘What’s up’ by 4 Non Blondes.  We had ukulele tunes freshly penned about the Camas journey and Scottish weather, a theatre extract, spoken word, stories, a saxophone solo, French soprano, dancing and more sing along. 

It was wonderful to be set an example of people not being shy, and after just a few days of forming a community together people’s confidence to share and relate blossomed.  A bit of Camas magic in action.  Without screens, phones or wifi, entertainment has to be created in an evening at Camas, and you definitely created it! 

No wind and beautiful weather meant that the centre was without power, so the tradition of taking laundry over to the Iona Abbey’s washing machines needed to be re-instated. 

We discovered in the midst of this good drying weather that one group member was keen on painting, and he dedicated himself to the repair and painting of our blue window frames, all along the north dorm block.  Thank you!

Our ages ranged from teens to 70s, and it was a great opportunity to learn, be inspired and inspire, from different perspectives and life experiences. 

Other highlights too numerous to share in detail were reflections, garden work, elegant dinner decorations and conversation shared. 

We learnt about the wonderful and diverse things the Grassmarket Project offers in Edinburgh.  We wish you all the best in your many enterprises and groups, and we wish the students all the very best luck, resilience and wisdom for their studies. 

PS.  The Bluetit chicks nesting in our granite walls flew the nest yesterday.  Here's one of them...too cute!

Harvesting Sun and Air Spring Garden Week 2018

The Camas staff were joined by an intrepid band of travellers, many of whom had journeyed a good distance to arrive down the track. In all, nine nations were represented by the twenty four members in our community for the week. We all join in with running the ship here, we split into chore groups to ‘Get Stuff Done’; our rota for this week was plant themed and beautifully illustrated by one of our more artistic volunteers.

One person’s weeds is another's forage, chick weed and fat hen are often discarded in the weed pile in many gardens, but here at Camas these leaves are added to the varied salads which we share around the meal tables. With so much international gardening experience around we were regularly checking out the different names and uses we had for various plants, the richness of the languages was a joy to be part of.

Many and varied garden tasks were available to be taken on during the week. All manner of skills and arts were exercised: both muscle & mind stretching; some called on engineering and puzzle solving skills, dexterity, flexibility and panache, attention to detail, stoicism and a handful of enthusiasm was thrown on for good measure. Tasks large and small were taken on in some extreme weather conditions. Bubbles of conversations, laughter and singing were to be found emerging from the polytunnels, the lazy beds, the fruit cage, and the woods. 

The universal language of music combined us in singing familiar songs and tunes. Throughout, all the work was fuelled by good food, laughter, storytelling, support and encouragement. It wasn’t all work and no play though, Iona and Ardalanish were visited and many shared short walks around Camas were taken.

During our last evening together we shared what we had achieved. A list had been written up of our collective deeds and a cheer went up when each one was read out. In gardening we often have to wait and see the fruits of our labour. For those who only had a week in a garden, we gave thanks for those that came before us and expressed gratitude for leaving a little legacy of our own to be nurtured by those that come & in turn; those that will harvest & be nourished by the food later in the season.