An unexpected side effect of the 2010 flooding in parts of Sindh, Pakistan, was that millions of spiders climbed up into the trees to escape the rising flood waters; because of the scale of the flooding and the fact that the water took so long to recede, many trees became cocooned in spiderwebs.
Back in June 2009, you might remember our friend Nick Hand got on his bike and spent 3 months pedalling over 6000 miles round the coast of the British Isles.
On the way, he interviewed all sorts of artists and craftspeople about their work, took their photographs and made little soundscape videos of them as part of his project, Slowcoast.
From to cheese makers, boat builders through to A list Hollywood actors (clue: she was the pasty one with the big carriage in the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe) and a stickmaker called Bill, Nick met all sorts on his travels.
We kept him fuelled with smoothies and veg pots and lots of you sent him top places to go for cake
Well, Nick has now published a beautiful book filled with brilliant photos and stories of the folk he met called Conversations on the Coast and he's very kindly given us a copy to give away.
All you have to do to win it is tell us the best cake you'd offer Nick if he cycled up to your door and Nick will pick his favourite next week.
How to try and sum up 14 pretty incredible days in a single blog post...
I've met over 50 rather special individuals who have benefited directly from our innocent Foundation
Drunk about 20 cups of hot milk, straight from the yard
Been given one jack fruit
Had 2 delicious coconuts from the tree
Been lucky enough to sit in on 3 of the monthly meetings run at local village level by disabled people for disabled people, where the big decisions get made.
And almost been launched through the roof of 1 Indian bus (note to self: never, ever sit on the back row).
Trying to give a picture of all the people that I've met is a lot more difficult. I've been totally blown away by the sheer determination to drive change that I have witnessed this past fortnight- but one of the most striking examples I've seen is a man I met called Poundurai.
ADD met Poundurai at a Federation meeting for disabled people that they attended about 5 years ago. He wasn't in a leadership role at the time, but they noticed his potential and began working with him more closely over the years to support the work that he was doing.
5 years on, and he now represents over 2300 disabled people in a block of over 40 villages in his area. He's the elected President of the Disability Development Trust, a co-ordinator of the governement disability programme, and Leader of the National Federation for the Blind, fighting tirelessly to make sure that disabled people get a fair deal. He and his team have helped more disabled people get bank loans than any other group in the area, they've taught parents of severely disabled children how to teach their children to wash and dress, and they've ensured that when things aren't right, they're addressed.
When I was there, we spoke to a lady whose postman had been skimming 500 rupees for himself off the government benefits that he was supposed to be delivering her in full each month. Apparently this is rather common.
From the look on Poundurai's face, I suspect the postman might think twice about it next time.
Our Tansy normally spends her days keeping the innocent creative team running smoothly and collecting used coffee mugs on her desk. This week she's swapped her Sharpie and notebook for warm clothing and hiking boots as she takes on the Pyrenees, hiking for 10.5 hours a day all in aid of the Romilly Forshall Foundation.
Somehow she managed to get mobile reception and send these quick snaps of the Pyrenees and some rocks.
As some of you will know, I'm currently in India working with one our innocent foundation partners, disability charity ADD. I've been here for 10 days now, and it's been quite the adventure.
We had our innocent foundation day yesterday so I sent across a little video across of some of the things I've seen and learnt this week, which we thought we'd share.
Pop the kettle on, stick the headphones in, and learn about some amazing people. What they are doing is truely remarkable.
Every year, innocent gives one or two lucky employees the opportunity to go and work with one of the charities we support through our foundation, using some of our work skills. Those of you who've been reading this blog for a while may remember tales from Andrew in Malawi, JT in Kenya, or our Emilie in Ethopia.
Emilie in Ethiopia showing the bees who was boss
On Friday, I'll be following in their illustrious footsteps, lugging my camera and a notebook with me, as I head to India to work with disability charity ADD gathering materials for their fundraising and training needs. I'll be penning a few posts while I'm away but it sees only right that I do some introductions first...
ADD supports disabled people in 11 different countries across Africa and Asia to challenge disability discrimination. Their vision is to create a world where disabled people can enjoy their rights and participate in society as fully as they choose to, and we've been supporting the work that they do in India since April 2009.
Three quarters of the disabled population in India live in rural communities, and less than 2% receive any form of vocational training. ADD India works to educate people in the skills they need to earn a livelihood, and offers financial support through microloans- these are frequently used to boost incomes in India, but disabled people are generally excluded from these schemes.
The project that we're funding has so far delivered loans to over 200 people, enabling them to gain independence through their livelihood, and to participate more fully in the communities in which they live. Over the next few weeks, I'll be meeting a few of the people who have benefited from these loans, and be able to see first hand the impact that it has had not only on their lives, but on the lives of their families, who are often marginalised as well.
So there you are. Introductions done. I'd definitely recommend that you get to know them a bit better here, but if not, I'll be in touch shortly with some more info from the other side of the world.
Currently out in California, helping my friend Claire set up the first US Do Lectures at Campovida, right in the heart of the Mendocino hills.
Cycled down the very dodgy road today to get lunch from Hopland's equivalent of the Hungry Grassy Van and was pleased to note the common theme in menus (despite the lack of bunting, daisies and astroturf)
The Hungry Grassy Van is in Bristol till Weds 14th September serving breakfast, lunch and dinner before heading up to Manchester on Saturday 17th at Spinningfields.
So make sure you get there early for a breakfast burrito (and we'll compare notes after).
Ever since we published our family recipe book Hungry?back in May, lots of people have been asking us if we're going to do a book tour.
Because, after all, every good book deserves a good book tour
Especially a grass covered one
So that's exactly what we're going to do
From 9th-24th September, the Hungry Grassy Van (HGV) will be hitting the road to take tasty, healthy food to the nation.
Using recipes from Hungry?, we'll be serving breakfast, lunch and dinner in all the places we visit.
Dishes will cost between £2 or £3 or you can tick off your 5-a-day for just £5 with our special meal deal
The tour kicks off in London before heading on to Bristol, Manchester and Glasgow and then back to London again
And you can win the chance for the HGV to come along and visit your event
If you live in one of the places above and are having a school fayre, cricket match, jumble sale or a late summer BBQ for your street around those dates, the HGV could be serving up veggie burgers and rainbow chips for all your guests
THE COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED.
To enter, all you need to do is tell us why you the HGV should visit your event in 100 words
You have until the 29th August to enter and we'll pick a winner for each city we visit
We'll let you know more details about the HGV tour closer to the time
For now though, you can find out a bit more by clicking here
Inside, you can make bacon sandwiches in the kitchen
And then get some kip afterwards in one of the 12 bunks.
John took the Creative team for an overnight boating trip down the canal the other week
He picked us up from outside Fruit Towers
Showed us how to do the locks
Gave extra special help to those who needed it
Let us stop off at Camley Street Nature Park for a spot of big top brainstorming and lunch
He even let us have a go at steering until Delia took us through a tunnel and steered us into the wall
Post tunnel gormless glaze
After unlocking, relocking, doing lots of work and waving at tourists along the way, we then got to kip over in bunks and eat leftover chips for breakfast.
It was ace.
You can hire John and The Angel Boat for a day, an evening or an overnight trip and as it’s a charity, all the money goes to taking kids and local community groups on boating holidays.
After 2580 miles, 0 punctures and 182 portions of chocolate covered peanut nougat delicacies, Mr. Ed is back from his cycling odyssey.
If you're ever thinking of cycling a little further than 'just down the shops' here are some edited highlights from what Mr. Ed learnt:
People in caravans are nice (if you turn up at a campsite on a bike everybody feels sorry for you and the offers of coffee/dinner/a lift do not stop coming)
There are a few hills between here and Asia. For a few, read a lot.
Germany has the best cycle paths (they even put diversions up when they are doing road/pathworks)
Cream is your friend (sun and bum)
Romania has the friendliest people and the angriest dogs
Eating 5 meals a day gets pretty tedious after a while
In Istanbul, you are never more than 3 feet from a pretzel
And if you ask nicely, hotels will valet park your bikes (we tried this once during our celebratory 1 night in a nice hotel when we got to Istanbul)
On the way, Ed also managed to sleep in a castle, meet a man walking home to Turkey (from Germany) and grow his calves by 1.3 cm.
He also raised £4,500 for charity and convinced the excellent Lizzy to marry him along the way.
Thanks to everyone who sponsored and encouraged Mr. Ed's epic ride.
