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For the Ring of Kerry Charity Cycle 2017.
Monday, 22 May 2017
Sunday, 23 April 2017
News from Camphill Community Dingle
Christoph Jensen
... lambing, calving, sprouting, flowering ... nature has certainly come alive. And with Easter approaching we participate in this spectacular season. Every morning before work we enact a particular scene of Holy Week, starting with Palm Sunday and moving towards Good Friday and then on to the Easter morning. It is our way of becoming aware of the time and season of the year.
The garden is bursting with activity. As I am writing the potatoes are planted with all hands on deck and the vegetable seedlings that have been waiting in the trays are transplanted into the beds. Daisy, our older Jersey-cow, gave birth to twin-calves yesterday which means our modest cheese-production will start again. Deidre, our other cow, has been in milk since February.
On Sunday April 2nd a number of us packed into our minibus and a car to drive to Killarney to watch the Kerry-team giving us a good game of football. The outing was enjoyed by all. We are proud to be supporting Ireland’s top-team.
Tomorrow we will celebrate Samuel’s, Cornelia’s, Maurus’ and Selma’s farewell. Having served for so many years our little community, they are moving to Kilkenny. We are grateful for all they have contributed and in particular in having left their mark in setting up the new house Tearman an tSolais. As they will be involved in the Camphill communities in the Kilkenny area we will have regular contact with the Kudiabor-family.
For the immediate future our life promises to be full of events: Easter, Bealtaine, the Dingle Cycle Race ... and not to forget: the Ring of Kerry Charity Cycle Race: 1000 participants have chosen us as their charity to support. Thank you ...
We wish all our supporters and friends a Happy Easter festival ...
We wish all our supporters and friends a Happy Easter festival ...
Sunrise at Easter-morning at Temple Geal Oratory
(picture: Christoph Jensen)Sunday, 9 November 2014
Ceol Agus Craic
Every second year Camphill Dingle is organising and hosting an all inclusive music festival for everyone in Camphill Ireland who would like to play in an orchestra, whatever their ability, and for those who just want to come to support them and enjoy being together.
The 2009 and 2011 festivals were led by John Billing, with support of John Clark, Peggy Grimshaw, Martin Scharer (percussion), Gese Mucke and local dance teachers Catherine Merrigan (Irish and African dancing and Natalie (salsa).
Every day there were rehearsals in the Blasket Centre from 10.00 until 4.00 with entertainment arranged for some evenings including a concert of local musicians and Camphill talent.
We also made sure that we made a day available for all the participants to explore the locality and maybe have some individual rehearsals.
The whole week comes to a fantastic end with a performance open to the public.
The 2009 and 2011 festivals were led by John Billing, with support of John Clark, Peggy Grimshaw, Martin Scharer (percussion), Gese Mucke and local dance teachers Catherine Merrigan (Irish and African dancing and Natalie (salsa).
Every day there were rehearsals in the Blasket Centre from 10.00 until 4.00 with entertainment arranged for some evenings including a concert of local musicians and Camphill talent.
We also made sure that we made a day available for all the participants to explore the locality and maybe have some individual rehearsals.
The whole week comes to a fantastic end with a performance open to the public.
Open Day & Craft Fair
Every spring we have our open day and every autumn we have our craft fair.
Some of the activities are Cake sale, vintage clothing, 2nd hand book sale, children's activities, tractor ride up to the farm, donkey rides for the kids. For those who love a bite to eat we have a BBQ, waffles, teas, coffee and cakes
During those days some of the items we are selling are handmade scarves, shawls, rugs, baby socs, baby hats, mobile phone holders and other crafts, jams, cordials, chutneys, bread and all sorts of cakes.
Those days are fun filled events for the whole family. During the open day there are lots of activities while during the craft fair our focus is more on selling the crafts we have made during the year.
But either way, both days are family events and both days are well visited and thanks to the effort of a lot of volunteers from our local community, everybody is always having a great time!
Some of the activities are Cake sale, vintage clothing, 2nd hand book sale, children's activities, tractor ride up to the farm, donkey rides for the kids. For those who love a bite to eat we have a BBQ, waffles, teas, coffee and cakes
During those days some of the items we are selling are handmade scarves, shawls, rugs, baby socs, baby hats, mobile phone holders and other crafts, jams, cordials, chutneys, bread and all sorts of cakes.
Those days are fun filled events for the whole family. During the open day there are lots of activities while during the craft fair our focus is more on selling the crafts we have made during the year.
But either way, both days are family events and both days are well visited and thanks to the effort of a lot of volunteers from our local community, everybody is always having a great time!
Friday, 1 November 2013
Music Week in Dingle
For the first week of November the Blasket Centre on the Dingle Peninsula resounded with music. An inclusive group of about 70 musicians, made up of members from all the different Camphill Communities of Ireland , practised music under the baton of our patient conductor John Billing, whom some of the readers might remember from the Celtic Lyre Orchestra.
It was a truly wonderful experience to sit in the bright and spacious Blasket Centre, which the OPW generously made available to Camphill for that week. The orchestra was unique; it was an ad-hoc orchestra made up of the talents and abilities of the people present at any given time. Some of the musicians were accomplished players, some humble beginners. There were hand bells, various drums and percussion instruments, polychords, lyres, violins, a cello, flutes, and even a saxophone and a trumpet. Each instrument had an important part to play and each voice, however humble, contributed to the sound of the whole; a true and wonderful experience of Community.
The members of the "Camphill Orchestra" stayed in cottages in a courtyard in Dingle; this was a great opportunity to meet old friends and to make new ones. We went out together for meals, listened to music in the pub and danced together at a ceili. With so many Camphillers in town the music week definitely was the talk in town.
The Community in Dingle, together with all their friends, looked after all of us so well. Tea breaks with delicious homemade cakes appeared miraculously just at the right moments, and a local chef cooked our lunches for us in the local youth hostel.
Next to practising in the orchestra we all had the opportunity to do some singing, drumming, dancing and bell ringing. Some of us discovered our talent in salsa dancing!
At the end we performed the fruits of all our hard rehearsing at a fundraising concert organised by the Dingle community. The sound of the music, the memory of the wonderful time spent with new and old friends, and the sound of the waves on Dingle Peninsula will live on in me for a long time.
Thank you to all the friends who helped to bring about such a truly inspiring week!
Claudia Brave
It was a truly wonderful experience to sit in the bright and spacious Blasket Centre, which the OPW generously made available to Camphill for that week. The orchestra was unique; it was an ad-hoc orchestra made up of the talents and abilities of the people present at any given time. Some of the musicians were accomplished players, some humble beginners. There were hand bells, various drums and percussion instruments, polychords, lyres, violins, a cello, flutes, and even a saxophone and a trumpet. Each instrument had an important part to play and each voice, however humble, contributed to the sound of the whole; a true and wonderful experience of Community.
The members of the "Camphill Orchestra" stayed in cottages in a courtyard in Dingle; this was a great opportunity to meet old friends and to make new ones. We went out together for meals, listened to music in the pub and danced together at a ceili. With so many Camphillers in town the music week definitely was the talk in town.
The Community in Dingle, together with all their friends, looked after all of us so well. Tea breaks with delicious homemade cakes appeared miraculously just at the right moments, and a local chef cooked our lunches for us in the local youth hostel.
Next to practising in the orchestra we all had the opportunity to do some singing, drumming, dancing and bell ringing. Some of us discovered our talent in salsa dancing!
At the end we performed the fruits of all our hard rehearsing at a fundraising concert organised by the Dingle community. The sound of the music, the memory of the wonderful time spent with new and old friends, and the sound of the waves on Dingle Peninsula will live on in me for a long time.
Thank you to all the friends who helped to bring about such a truly inspiring week!
Claudia Brave
Wednesday, 24 April 2013
My time at Camphill Dingle
During the summer 2012 I came to the Dingle Camphill Community as a summer co-worker for 3 months. In the beginning I hadn't had a concrete idea of what was waiting for me. Because I'm not from a religious and antroposophical background I was a bit afraid not to fit in the community. But this was not the case at all. Between all the members there was and is a big respect and acceptance!
Speaking of the people there : they are all so great. I met so many good, interesting, funny and kind hearted people and we built some true relations with each other.
For me, it was the first time that I was so far away from home for such a long period of time and it was also the first time « working » with adult special needs. The first days of giving care were a little bit difficult but quickly I realised that the person cannot do it by herself and needs my help. It came more and more natural and in the end we had the greatest fun in the bathroom.
Of course my English got better and better every day because we just spoke English together. Even with the people who knew the same languages as me.(because we met in English, it was so natural to continue in this language. Mostly I learnt the vocabulary for the household, garden, kitchen and daily life.
As a community we did many things together. For example : cooking, cleaning, working in the different workshops and we even had to run the house (when the house parents were on holy days).
A very special thing for me was food. I never ate so healthy! Nearly everything that we had on our plate came from the garden, from the farm and from Daisy (milking cow). I was so amazed by that!
A big difficulty was to think of all the little things that I was supposed to remember and in the end I forgot 3/4 of them. But of course you are never alone and the people are offering their help a lot!
There were some situations where I thought I was a bit too young for this experience and I missed my freedom at some moments. For example to have just one day off (this means ONE sleep in) was a big change to my student way of life.
But all in all it didn't matter because I had by far the best summer that I ever could imagine to have!
During those 3 month I learnt to always be aware what's happening around me, to think for myself, to cook regularly for 8 or more people, to spin, to knit and a lot more!
I'm so thankfull to all the residents, co-workers and employees for this wonderful time together.
Speaking of the people there : they are all so great. I met so many good, interesting, funny and kind hearted people and we built some true relations with each other.
For me, it was the first time that I was so far away from home for such a long period of time and it was also the first time « working » with adult special needs. The first days of giving care were a little bit difficult but quickly I realised that the person cannot do it by herself and needs my help. It came more and more natural and in the end we had the greatest fun in the bathroom.
Of course my English got better and better every day because we just spoke English together. Even with the people who knew the same languages as me.(because we met in English, it was so natural to continue in this language. Mostly I learnt the vocabulary for the household, garden, kitchen and daily life.
As a community we did many things together. For example : cooking, cleaning, working in the different workshops and we even had to run the house (when the house parents were on holy days).
A very special thing for me was food. I never ate so healthy! Nearly everything that we had on our plate came from the garden, from the farm and from Daisy (milking cow). I was so amazed by that!
A big difficulty was to think of all the little things that I was supposed to remember and in the end I forgot 3/4 of them. But of course you are never alone and the people are offering their help a lot!
There were some situations where I thought I was a bit too young for this experience and I missed my freedom at some moments. For example to have just one day off (this means ONE sleep in) was a big change to my student way of life.
But all in all it didn't matter because I had by far the best summer that I ever could imagine to have!
During those 3 month I learnt to always be aware what's happening around me, to think for myself, to cook regularly for 8 or more people, to spin, to knit and a lot more!
I'm so thankfull to all the residents, co-workers and employees for this wonderful time together.
Tuesday, 26 March 2013
March 2013 News
Time seems to be flying at the moment - and I can hardly believe that two weeks have already passed. The community seems to be buzzing with activity - as spring has really arrived and everyone is getting ready for the months ahead. Even the cold spell of weather that we are experiencing does not really seem to bother so much.
Two of the Dexter Cows have given birth to two gorgeous little calfs that are happily running around the field and we are expecting another one in the coming days.Darren , Tomas and Dominic are all excited and go up to the field whenever they can. We also have ten lambs - and over the next few days are expecting a few more.
The chickens are producing an incredible amount of eggs - and everyone is blowing them out so that we have lots of eggs to paint for Easter.
Even on the building front there is some news. The workshop building has gone out for tender - but we are still waiting for a few details to be sorted out before we can move on with the actual house . But hopefully there will be some news to tell in the coming months.
Easter week is a very rich time in Camphill. We try to experience the festivals and do lots of activities in holy week in order to get an experience of all the things that are happening. Every day we look at the events of holy week so that we can prepare ourselves for a big festival on Easter Sunday where we usually have a sunrise breakfast together before going on an egg hunt in our garden in the afternoon.This year we have lots of visitors at this time of year - and is very nice to see some of our past co-workers popping in to say hello.
This coming Friday will be the first day on the market for this year - and lots of things are being still produced. Catriona is making new chair cushions - a new line that we have developed and Ann Marie has made a lot of scarves. Stephen and Thomas are very busy in the garden getting the beds prepared for planting - and we have managed to plant all our potatoes for this year the day after St. Patricks Day.
Two of the Dexter Cows have given birth to two gorgeous little calfs that are happily running around the field and we are expecting another one in the coming days.Darren , Tomas and Dominic are all excited and go up to the field whenever they can. We also have ten lambs - and over the next few days are expecting a few more.
The chickens are producing an incredible amount of eggs - and everyone is blowing them out so that we have lots of eggs to paint for Easter.
Even on the building front there is some news. The workshop building has gone out for tender - but we are still waiting for a few details to be sorted out before we can move on with the actual house . But hopefully there will be some news to tell in the coming months.
Easter week is a very rich time in Camphill. We try to experience the festivals and do lots of activities in holy week in order to get an experience of all the things that are happening. Every day we look at the events of holy week so that we can prepare ourselves for a big festival on Easter Sunday where we usually have a sunrise breakfast together before going on an egg hunt in our garden in the afternoon.This year we have lots of visitors at this time of year - and is very nice to see some of our past co-workers popping in to say hello.
This coming Friday will be the first day on the market for this year - and lots of things are being still produced. Catriona is making new chair cushions - a new line that we have developed and Ann Marie has made a lot of scarves. Stephen and Thomas are very busy in the garden getting the beds prepared for planting - and we have managed to plant all our potatoes for this year the day after St. Patricks Day.
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