As Shakespeare said...'a rose by any other would smell as sweet'. (I think!!!!)
We gave ourselves the name of Survival Family long before Home Education and long before blogging. When we started our blog it was the obvious thing to call it, but I sometimes wonder if this gives a false image of us.
So to explain our name at this point, as I have been sharing this blog with more people recently, seems right.
It goes back to the summer of 2003 when, for some inexplicable reason, Rob and the boys decided to try to light a campfire in the back garden without matches. The attempts were not amazingly successful and led to research on the internet and ultimately the purchase of a book. This book started a real phase in our lives, one that was to become the basis of all sorts of activities. SAS Survival Handbook by John 'Lofty' Wiseman. Fire lighting led on to shelter building and trap making, and then we bought the boys camo trousers for our trips to the woods. We jokingly gave ourselves the name 'Survival Family' and it sort of stuck.
We are neither military obsessed or regimented in any way!!! Our photos often show the boys in camo gear but it is just because it seems the right gear for the job. Hard wearing and forgiving when it comes to dirt!!!
Over the years we have changed from Survival Family, John 'Lofty' Wiseman style, to The Survival Family. We are more Ray Mears, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Tom and Barbara Good style now! The boys still love lighting a fire to cook over and building dens, but we have a different take on Survival now. We keep chickens, quail and ducks. We grow veg and fruit in the garden. We eat little processed or pre packaged food. We forage for free food, making jams and wine from the hedgerow. We collect wood and make paper logs for the fire. We make cards and presents. We make or fix things for ourselves. We do not have a TV licence. We are educating our children ourselves. No, indeed, the boys are educating themselves!! We are moving towards self sufficiency. A long way off, but a life less dependant upon consumerism at least.
So the word survival can be looked at in a slightly different way, than when we first gave ourselves the nickname. We have evolved. Our lives have changed so much in such a short space of time. We have had to adapt. We have moved away from survival in the 'keep yourself alive in an emergency' sense, and more towards survival in the 'look after yourselves and the world around you' sense.
I can't imagine calling ourselves anything else!
Keep your eye on happy!
3 weeks ago
2 comments:
Surely this is where we should all be going....I often wonder when I look at school curriculums, the obsession of every bright young person I come across wanting to become a "barrister" or some such thing (no criticism intended), why they continue to bury their heads in the sand about what is happening to our planet, our oil based economy which is collapsing as we speak.........how will our children cope in the future if they are not skilled in the art of "survival" in the way yours are learning to "survive"?
Keep up the good work. You will not go hungry when the oil runs out!
(Hope no one thinks this is controversial - I am just expressing my honest opinion : ) )
Thank you Carol.
It shouldn't be controversial....the oil will run out. It is a case of when not if, isn't it.
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