Elegant Frugality: An Essay by Adela Torchia

Our society often swings between the cartoonish extremes of dualism: if it's not white, then it must be black. A quick survey of contemporary political discussion should be enough to convince anyone that the middle ground is almost unrepresented. Rarely is the 'best' solution found at an extreme. Although extremes can be helpful in debate and discussion, we generally find that life is best when we live somewhere in between.

Following is a delightful essay by the Rev. Dr. Adela Torchia that was shared with our Creation Matters¹ group on a moderate approach to consumerism that may be a more sustainable option for those of us who are not quite ready to join John the Baptist in the desert.

Elegant Frugality

by the Rev. Dr. Adela Torchia

The thrill of the chase – someone tells you about a great‐sounding book and you immediately look online in your public library system, and put it on hold (stranglehold) to be delivered to your nearest branch with an email telling you when it’s arrived. Turning the pages, you decide if it’s a keeper, and if so you shop online for a used copy. Aha! – there it is for one cent, plus $6.49 for shipping! Another successful hunt concludes, with the prize on its way to your mailbox.

Or there’s that $5 item of delightful thrift‐shop clothing or housewares when a little ‘retail therapy’ helps distract from the proverbial ‘things I cannot change’. With your ‘new’ sweater or coffee mugs, life seems a little brighter and your wallet’s hardly depleted in the process. Refreshed you read news online or free Guardian articles on Facebook and increase your awareness or deepen your understanding of various matters; and if certain world situations need financial support, you’re better able to help, thanks to the money you saved on the book and sweater and coffee mugs. Or your creativity can flourish since you can work less for pay, thanks to the liberating ethos of Elegant Frugality.

Yes it’s similar to ecology’s more‐with‐less philosophy – an extrapolation of the ‘more’. Most world religions have historically cautioned that materialism was a danger to the life of the Spirit, often leading to great contests of brutal asceticism to prove one’s ‘mettle’ in extremes of self‐denial. Too many centuries of hair‐shirt bravado cast a pall on frugality as life‐denying rather than life‐affirming, or as something one practiced from necessity and not by choice. Thrift Shop Chic is not for everyone, although I was delighted to see the popularity of ‘charity shops’ in England in 2013, and how bragging about how little one had paid was an honourable practice.

The Creation Matters diocesan environmental group sees Elegant Frugality as an ethos whose time has come – an invitation to rejoice in God’s abundance meant for all, and to find new ways to be compassionate and creative as a result. And oh, the fun we can have in the process!

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¹The team in the Anglican Diocese of British Columbia charged with advocating for things environmental.

Spry Brothers Bush Carpentry

We live in a world in which superficial beauty so often trumps actual function. With each new shiny thing we have to ask: "How long will this last? Will it work, or just fall apart after three uses?"
This is a question you will never need to ask yourself when you use a Spry Brothers Bush Carpentry product.

Bush Carpentry

Some people will always want the best 'look'; they are willing to pay a premium to have a nicer granite counter top, the plush leather interior, and books with hand-penned marginalia.

Other people just want it built well, on a budget, preferably using materials from, "that scrap wood pile over there. You can probably find some nails, baling twine, and old fencing in the barn." If you are the latter kind of person, we are your guys.

At Spry Brothers we eminently value function over form. We are two of Vancouver Island's finest "bush carpenters". 

These are some of the traditional skills of our people, and we are pleased to bring to you our finest 'traditional bush timber construction'. 

Austin has trained extensively in 'stockhouse architecture', and is 'a very rough, unorthodox artisan indeed'.

Jonathan brings his field experience to the team, and specialises in anything, "rough, rude or crude, but good enough for the purpose" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bush_carpentry).  

Our Portfolio

Here is a selection of some of our finest projects:

Coop 1.0 ('The Plywood Dumpster')

We've tried to throw it away, but the garbage man just keep just emptying it.

The plywood dumpster was our first major product. With only eight hours to pull together a shelter for our first set of chickens, this was the most utility we could possibly cram into a 4'x8' space. You;ll notice that it is hardly more attractive than a stack of plywood.

Coop Evo 2.0 ('The Pullet Coop')

Google cringed at the sheer ruggedness of this coop and tried to 'AutoAwesome' this photo. If this structure looks for a second like we might have been trying to make a thing of beauty, that's Google's fault.

Patch Notes:
2.1 - fixed roost bug (chickens not roosting when clipping on)
2.2 - fixed roof bug (unanchored roof would self-remove during extreme weather events)
2.3 - added exterior laying facilities (chickens would not use alternate interior space if the Boss Broody chicken was occupying the interior laying box)

For the Pullet Coop we made several major improvements to the overall utility of our coop design. The coop was raised 18" on stilts to provide cover from raptors and the elements. We created intentional overhang no for aesthetics, but in order to allow room for feeders to be hung from the eaves and stay dry in foul weather. Skylights were cut into the roofing panel to eliminate the need for an interior light bulb.

Laying Shelf Conversion

(see 'Patch Notes' for Coop Evo 2.0)

Most people are unaware that using only a few scrap pieces of light lumber and an old blanket, a previously loved bookshelf can be quickly converted to make an ugly, but serviceable laying facility.

Coop Evo 3.0 ('The New Coop')

On approach, always ensure that you maintain the coop on your port side. Upon departure, always ensure you maintain the coop on your starboard side.

Coop Evo 3.0 is our latest model, and exemplifies solid bush carpentry practices. This structure has been roughly cobbled together using leftover lumber from old projects, and salvaged navigation markers. In the construction of this coop we emphasized an absolute minimum of cuts, and used bolts to attach the plywood to the frame. This coop is so utilitarian that it can be collapsed to flat in less than ten minutes (when and if you want it to!!) and repurposed. 

Nursery Pen

Plenty of fresh air, easy to clean with a garden hose.

It only took us a matter of minutes to convert this propagation table into a baby's nursery pen using some scrap chicken wire. It's not so easy on the eyes, but you won't have to wait for this one to go on sale so you don't break the bank!

Laying Box

It puts the Labour & Delivery Ward in perspective.

With an additional thirteen pullets nearly online, and another dozen chicks up and coming, we badly needed more laying space. If you ever want to see a chicken go full velociraptor, let me know and I will introduce you to our territorial broody chicken. Not nice. Will not share.

Compost Facilities

Some of you are probably thinking, "Austin, what about your Open Ecology Composting Station?"

"Worried about rats? Why would I be worried about them? They're fine; we throw plenty of bones into the compost for them. They LOVE compost!"

In all honesty, although we were consulted on design, we contracted Couturier Mechanical to build this Open Ecology Composting Station. The carpentry is just too competent for us to take credit for this build.

Our open system is ugly and it smells, but it allows the ravens to rake through the compost, virtually eliminating the need to manually turn it over. Once again you ought to be boggled by the sheer emphasis we have placed on utility.

Evil Spirits

If there really are evil spirits wandering the land on Hallowe'en, and Jack'o'Lanterns really scare them away, then my neighbourhood has cursed us all for the next year.

We had some fun carving pumpkins at our house this year and I think we did a decent job. By the time the guys had finished transforming pumpkins into glowing phantasms we had over 20 Jack'o'Lanterns. The farm looked SPOOKY!

However, I was a little astounded that we could not see a single other Jack'o'Lantern, nor even any decorations in the neighbourhood. There have always been folks who turn the lights off on Hallowe'en (after all, pagan celebrations aren't for everyone), but I was more than a little surprised to see WHOLE NEIGHBOURHOODS with the lights turned off. We had one group of kids make it to our front door.

Where do all the kids go these days?

Next year I hope we can rally the neighbourhood to have a bit more fun with Hallowe'en. Evil spirits aside, it was a fun chance to visit all the neighbours when we were young. I miss the community spirit.

Do bonfires still happen? Or is there a by-law about that too?

Kitchen Garden

A predecessor of mine left the legacy of a kitchen garden at St. Michael's Church Compound. It seems like it has been puttering along for the last few years, but I have been working with a local Brahman farmer and three of the older boys who also live on the compound to take the garden to the next level. It is not the best season for planting, but we have been putting together a plan and we will be planting monsoon crops in the next couple days, and I am arranging for many fruit trees to be planted in the 'back 40' (more like two acres). I am soaking it up because I think that this might be the only time in my life when I have to make a choice between mango or guava trees ... or maybe bananas? I can't make up my mind! 

The boys (and Arun, the farmer who is about my age) have been learning the English for many farm related things, and I have been learning the corresponding Bangla names. 

Opening of Durgapur United Church School

The very next day (what a pace!!!), I was invited as an honoured guest to the inaugural ceremony marking the opening of a new school in Durgapur for children from some of the more impoverished communities. This school was the fruits of a project spearheaded by a young lady from Australia named Akino. If I have my numbers right, it is the eighth school in Durgapur for children from families that could not afford an education for them. Despite some fears that the children were going to be force converted to Christianity, or sold off, the Bishop's (and others') speeches at the ceremony seemed to have alleviated the fears of the childrens' mothers; twice as many children as were enrolled were brought to the school the next day for its opening. The bishop has a wonderful philosophy of tolerance towards other faiths, and I have met many children who attend the various diocese schools who maintain their Hindu or Muslim faiths. The rhetorical question was posed in one sermon: "Who is your neighbour?"

I am a bit embarrassed because I really did nothing other than sit there on that day, but Akino, Emma and I got our photo in the local paper (which is not a small publication). 

Bro', this next photo is for you. You have got to get a face plate like this for your bike.

Ground-Breaking Ceremony in Khejuri

The next day, on our return to Durgapur, about an hour from Mandarmoni we stopped in Khejuri. Two years ago a cyclone wreaked havoc on this area. The bishop mobilized the diocese to provide aid to local populace. During this relief effort, the bishop became aware of a group of Christians that had first heard the gospel from missionaries, but had been subsequently persisting in their faith in isolation. Upon learning of this small, independent community Bp. Probal quickly set about linking them up with the Diocese of Durgapur. We stopped in Khejuri for a ground breaking ceremony for a new school being built by the diocese. Many of the people in this area are involved in the making of cigarettes, and the hope is that this school will allow the youth of this community to gain better employment. I had the honour of cracking a coconut over the cornerstone of this building, in the local custom (one crack, one crack only). What I wasn't aware of was that the Indian coconuts are not nearly as tough as the Hawaiian ones we get at home. I just about broke a couple bricks when I pulverized the coconut. Oh well, so I got a bit of coconut juice on me!

Don't tell the cook at St. Michael's Church Compound, but the curry was the best I have had in India yet!

Youth Council

On Sunday, May 22nd, Emma and I were invited by Bp. Probal to accompany him to a Youth Council of the NCCI (National Church Council of India?) in Mandarmoni, a seaside community about 2 hours south of Kolkata. The bishop gave the keynote address to the attendees. Talking to some of the young boys and girls afterwards, it became apparent that the bishop's down-to-earth message had a significant affect and resulted in much excited consideration.

It was nice to see the ocean, but it was still hot. Did I mention? This is the hottest time of year in India. I feel a little better when I hear the Indians complaining about the heat.