Hey guys

If you are interested why note have your say in what the new EU organic logo will look like.

You can vote here

Logo 1


Logo 2


Logo 3


Some background information.

They came up with this logo before:


But it was too close to the ALDI supermarket's own organic label


So there was a competition to design a new logo...

Dear Threadless

Please Print this shirt of Lonkiponk's...

I HAVE to have a Lonkiponk Print, and this one is the most beautiful yet!

Thanks
Love
Shaggy the Mountain Gnome

Yeah, I am going to be going to India again, this time not on holiday but for my Masters Thesis Research.

I am going to be doing a complete farm analysis on an Organic farm in Auroville. It is just north of Pondicherry in the province Tamil Nadu, which is on the South Eastern Indian coast.



Auroville is a universal city in the making.

"Auroville wants to be a universal town where men and women of all countries are able to live in peace and progressive harmony above all creeds, all politics and all nationalities. The purpose of Auroville is to realise human unity."



In the late 1960's followers of Sri Aurobindo created an ashram in the middle of a barren wasteland. They planted many trees and built the sustainable city around the impressive Matrimandir that you see in the picture above. There are about 2000 inhabitants from 35 different nationalities that live there in peace and harmony.

There are 15 organic farms around the city that supply it with produce, They range in size from small backyards to 50 acre plots. I will be analysing one of the larger ones to see if we can solve some fertility problems they are having, and improve the flows on the farm.

I am really excited, and will be going there in the middle of next year!

At university I am doing a course on Sustainable Organic Agricultural Production Chains. As a case study we are focussing on the chicken broiler production chain. Broilers are Meat chickens if you don't already know.
Here you can see how they are raised conventionally.


warning: This may contain scenes that disturb

This disturbs me...

Well as you may or may not have noticed, i have been very sporadically absent in the last, hmm, lets say 6 months or so.

I've been to India for the first 3 months

Pushkar camel Safari

and then came back to Holland, only to find out I'd lost my job (but with a good payout). The golden days of selling Adobe's products had came to an end.

Never the less, I had been a wise gnome and had saved up lots of money earned on the commissions from my sales, and now had the opportunity to follow a dream.

I took myself off back to my home country South Africa for a month to do and collect some paperwork, catch up with friends and family, and have a little fun.

Once back in Holland I applied to do my Masters in Organic Agriculture at Wageningen University which is just down the road from where I live. They accepted me and I begin in September.

In the last month or so I have been somewhat more active here, scoring designs and commenting here and there, was amazed and intrigued by the 3KBCM debacle and have enjoyed seeing some great new designs and some deserved new Alumni! As well as lots and lots of old regulars!

Well Hey Hai Guys!

4 Tees to pack to go to India.

At my last count I think I have 33, you can see in my product photos or in my about me column on the right.

I only need to take 4 with me and I cannot decide which, I like em all! I have narrowed it down to darker colours, leaving the creme and white ones aside, but still there are too many to choose...

Which 4 would you pick?

Oh yeah if you wanna receive a postcard from Lonkiponk and I, either leave your details in her blog or send me your address to: mountain dot gnome at Yahoo dot co dot uk

I just PASSED my Dutch Driver's License (Rijbewijs) Exam!



I already have had a driver's license since 1994, however this was a South African Drivers License, and according to the Dutch Road Laws, could not be exchanged for a Dutch License without re-doing the Dutch Theory and Practical Exams.

So It was back to driving school for the gnome. I chose to go to Verkeerschool Zebra cos they had funky Zebra painted cars, which appealed to the african in me!

I passed my Theory exam first try, and today I did my Practical exam. This morning the roads were icy and I did the test in the morning rushhour. Here in the Netherlands that means lots of people on bicycles and also lots of cars driving to work, however everything went smoothly and I passed without making any mistakes.

I am now extra happy as this means I can finally drive my Camper Bus.



It is a Mercedes 508D which has been converted from being a courier's van at an airport to a camper bus. Officially it is a 5 ton truck and has a 5 ton truck engine, but in the rebuild, they brought the weight down to 3.5 tons, which means it can be driven with a normal car driver's license. (which I now have!!!!!!!!!!)

I'M ONE HAPPY GNOME TODAY!

Hope you are having a great day!

All the best for the coming year!

Some time ago Walmazan did a Guess the score blog and I won some Walmazan Goodies!

They took a very long time to arrive, (almost a 2 month postal journey), but today I was happy to receive them.

It was certainly worth the wait!



Walmazan was so kind as to draw me a Mountain Gnome. He also made me a small "Mountain Gnome" magnet to go with the tomato magnet, and included some awesome Luchones stickers.

THANK YOU WALMAZAN, you have made my little gnome heart so HAPPY today!

:-D

YAY FOR HOLIDAY FUN

After spending the last 6,5 years working 40 hours a week, I have finally decided to take a break!

I booked a flight to India for a 3 month holiday break there, from February to the end of April and asked for a 4 month break (sabbatical) from my work, giving me one month back home to sort myself out. I heard today that they think that 4 months is too short, why don't I take a 6 month break.

So in all likelihood, I'll be free do do my own stuff for 3 months when I get back.

I have saved up enough euros in the last few years, to keep me very comfortable, largely due to the popularity of the software I was selling, and my skills as a salesperson.

My mind has been spinning with all sort of fun ideas to do.

I live in house that is destined to be demolished, I only live here to prevent it from being squatted, and do so extremely cheaply. Our house also has a 220 sq metre garden that I have largely landscaped, without spending a cent. Picking up paving, and fencing and plants etc for free around the neighbourhood.

My aim in those 3 months is to set up a small portable bonsai nursery in the garden.

This is gonna be fun... pics will follow the progress.