A window into LandWorks

“I’ve recently moved down here… I know a couple of people, but I don’t go and see them and that, I’ve met them once and I feel they’re like the exact same mates as I’ve got in [the old place], pretty pointless, it wouldn’t be worth me trying to change my life to just hang around with the same people, so I sort of stopped seeing them, this is why I want to start work, so you get your own work mates that are on the same level, same boat as me, who want to work and things, and not sit on the sofa and get stoned,  I hate being on JSA, I hate being on benefits, it’s degrading going in and signing on like, when I can perfectly work…

I’ve been building a table and benches, I’ve been sanding it, they called me the sandman, this is my first time, it’s hands on and Chris has made sure that I finished it, I only mentioned it because it’s annoying to start something, and then because I’ve always got something to do like sign on, or sort out my housing and all that, I start something and never actually finish it, so Graham or James finish it or something, so I just said I want to finish something, so they kept it back for me so I could finish it…

I’ve been doing a lot of woodwork, I enjoy that, did a bit of gardening as well, did a bit of cooking, it’s good, it’s nice, I enjoy it, it’s welcoming and everyone gets along, everyone sits down and has a meal that’s nice, everyone’s a comedian here, everyone thinks they’re funny, but what I like as well, when we were building the shed thing over there for Mon, I was really struggling to do something, I just hit the nail with the hammer or something, and I was really struggling with it, and instead of everyone laughing like, James came and actually helped me do it, normally at other places I’ve been, everyone just takes the piss out of you, so no-one does that here which is nice…

I didn’t realise I was lactose intolerant because you just assume that everybody is the same, so like when I ate a pizza when I was younger, I just thought everyone was getting the cramps, everyone was getting rashes, everyone was getting toilets, but they found out when I was two that I was lactose intolerant… I will eat a slice of pizza, ‘cos if someone bought a Dominos I’d have a slice, and if there’s chocolate cake I’ll have a slice, just to have a slice, to join in, but I will pay for it in an hour or two, and I get heart burn and all things like that, but with milk and cheese, like if I just drank a pint of milk I wouldn’t be able to drink it I’d throw up everywhere… and the same with cheese, I’ve never tried Parmesan, I’ve never even tried cheese really, but like I’ve had a bit of mozzarella and that, cheese just does not go down, but Dominos and some cheese based stuff does look nice, so I will have a little bit of it, but it still really hurts…

I’ve tried a whole new diet, I never even ate vegetables really, I have but I didn’t really like them, but now I’ve eaten salad and I eat it at home now as well, a leek, I’ve never tried a leek in my life, they were alright, chard is quite nice, I’ve tried humus, I didn’t really like humus, I’ve tried loads of things, so that’s good…”