Not too brilliant a start to the day but the kids did get off to school more or less on time.
I then had breakfast and caught up on emails etc and just before Will arrived I got washed and dressed. Will came to work towards another attempt at a funding application for YorkLETS, so that we can go from a paper-based organisation to an 'online' web-based one, where members can control their own offers and wants rather than have to go through the core group. Will had downloaded and printed off the Awards for All information, so we went through this and transferred some of the info from the previous application form which we ran out of time to submit.
We had coffees and chats and it was really nice to see him on good form. I then had to do some more emailing to sort out various LETS issues, and at about midday made a return phone call to Community Care who phoned yesterday, and was told a new date for my next column, and the one after that... and then the reason for the phone call yesterday, they are making some changes and that second column will be my last. My blog will also finish. I have mixed feelings about this as I've enjoyed the chance to write about things I care about, and I've enjoyed being paid to do the columns, but it's been really difficult to find something new every week to blog about. So in July, I'll stop writing for them... and will be seriously looking for another publication who'd take me on. Anybody want to give me a job? Maybe this space will give me time to finish my book!
Later in the afternoon, we all took a trip into town and ended up having a family meal in Pizza Hut which was quite nice. We don't eat out very often and this was a bit of a treat. We walked home.
Got up and had a bath, the usual bathwater off the top of the stove trick, and washed my hair which had bits of garden in it. Then soon after 9 headed off down to town to get the 9.44 to Leeds, as Ali had invited me over.
We had an interesting day, first at a meeting then at her home where she's sorted out her garden, compost bin, wormery, bokashi bins, raised beds and more. I was impressed with her new low energy bulbs, replacing wasteful high-heat producing halogen spotlights. She also has an eco-kettle which has a reservoir of water and you press a button which lets just exactly the right amount of water into the boiling chamber. This means you don't have to boil too much, then let it cool down, wasting that initial energy.
At 3 we went to collect Ali's daughter from school, and she was very thrilled to see me and took me to see the chickens. I liked that school's allotment. Excellent!
For the next couple of hours I was used as a climbing frame and I was glad to have pizza and salad for tea.
At 7, Ali had to go to town to collect something so she dropped me off at my brother's house, and it was lovely to see him and his family. I spent a couple of hours there, drinking beer, playing table tennis, viewing the garden, chatting to the kids.
I then got the 9.54 train back home and was back in York by 11pm, home soon after... with a load of compostables from Country Fresh... you cannot stop a Rotter! Gill had had a very peaceful evening and was pleased to see me.
We had an interesting day, first at a meeting then at her home where she's sorted out her garden, compost bin, wormery, bokashi bins, raised beds and more. I was impressed with her new low energy bulbs, replacing wasteful high-heat producing halogen spotlights. She also has an eco-kettle which has a reservoir of water and you press a button which lets just exactly the right amount of water into the boiling chamber. This means you don't have to boil too much, then let it cool down, wasting that initial energy.
At 3 we went to collect Ali's daughter from school, and she was very thrilled to see me and took me to see the chickens. I liked that school's allotment. Excellent!
For the next couple of hours I was used as a climbing frame and I was glad to have pizza and salad for tea.
At 7, Ali had to go to town to collect something so she dropped me off at my brother's house, and it was lovely to see him and his family. I spent a couple of hours there, drinking beer, playing table tennis, viewing the garden, chatting to the kids.
I then got the 9.54 train back home and was back in York by 11pm, home soon after... with a load of compostables from Country Fresh... you cannot stop a Rotter! Gill had had a very peaceful evening and was pleased to see me.
A rainy day, and we were expecting a Suma order so we stayed in... the delivery was much later than usual and arrived after 1pm. Despite the rain, I did a good wood stack outside the front door.
I also did some weeding as some weeds come out more easily if the soil is wet, and did some compost heap management, piling several sack's worth of assorted veg on the current pile, with a good layer of woodchips from a stumpgrinding operation at Woodlands last year.
We had leek and potato soup with some garlic bread... Gill's home-made bread... and the last slices of yesterday's nutloaf.
At 7pm I cycled down to the Museum Gardens to attend the meeting of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society in the Tempest Anderson Hall, a lecture by Dr John Barrett from the Stockholm Environment Institute at the University of York. I've been to quite a few of John's lectures and they're always good, this one was called 'The Carbon Footprint Of Everything We Consume' and although I knew quite a bit of it already, I learned new things about 'consumption based emissions' and 'greenhouse development rights', and things which will hopefully come to pass at the Copenhagen Climate Talks in December. I have quite a bit of research to do...
I asked a question at the end about carbon calculators and John suggested two I could try, the WWF calculator and he B&Q One Planet Living calculator, both of which were developed by SEI, with the B&Q one in association with Bioregional.
I have been meaning to join YPS for some time, so tonight I did. I was then able to go to the small gathering in the Gatehouse for a few chats and glass of wine.
Zipped home in order to see Newsnight which I had hoped would have the Ethical Man meets Joe Jenkins, author of The Humanure Handbook, 'the book which changed my life', but unfortunately he wasn't featured, he was left on the cutting room floor as it were. Relegated to a mention on the blog. How sad! How disappointing! Missed opportunity BBC!
But, on searching the blog for the mention, I find that there is a vid of the piece they didn't broadcast. Seeing this made me happy. Another 13 seconds of (nameless!) fame... just over 2 minutes in, and how nice to see my hero Joe. Cool. (not Joe Cool, Joe Jenkins...)
Gill and I watched a film 'Wimbledon' which was quite good.
I also did some weeding as some weeds come out more easily if the soil is wet, and did some compost heap management, piling several sack's worth of assorted veg on the current pile, with a good layer of woodchips from a stumpgrinding operation at Woodlands last year.
We had leek and potato soup with some garlic bread... Gill's home-made bread... and the last slices of yesterday's nutloaf.
At 7pm I cycled down to the Museum Gardens to attend the meeting of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society in the Tempest Anderson Hall, a lecture by Dr John Barrett from the Stockholm Environment Institute at the University of York. I've been to quite a few of John's lectures and they're always good, this one was called 'The Carbon Footprint Of Everything We Consume' and although I knew quite a bit of it already, I learned new things about 'consumption based emissions' and 'greenhouse development rights', and things which will hopefully come to pass at the Copenhagen Climate Talks in December. I have quite a bit of research to do...
I asked a question at the end about carbon calculators and John suggested two I could try, the WWF calculator and he B&Q One Planet Living calculator, both of which were developed by SEI, with the B&Q one in association with Bioregional.
I have been meaning to join YPS for some time, so tonight I did. I was then able to go to the small gathering in the Gatehouse for a few chats and glass of wine.
Zipped home in order to see Newsnight which I had hoped would have the Ethical Man meets Joe Jenkins, author of The Humanure Handbook, 'the book which changed my life', but unfortunately he wasn't featured, he was left on the cutting room floor as it were. Relegated to a mention on the blog. How sad! How disappointing! Missed opportunity BBC!
But, on searching the blog for the mention, I find that there is a vid of the piece they didn't broadcast. Seeing this made me happy. Another 13 seconds of (nameless!) fame... just over 2 minutes in, and how nice to see my hero Joe. Cool. (not Joe Cool, Joe Jenkins...)
Gill and I watched a film 'Wimbledon' which was quite good.
A relatively quiet day... did my Community Care blog first thing about the morsbag people I saw at Kirkbymoorside. This took til nearly lunchtime, what with emails and the addictive Scrabble.
Although it was raining, I did some logsplitting, some of the big rounds of sticky pine from my neighbour, and then stacking it in the back garden under the logstore cover. This is one of the only places there's space at the moment.
Mid afternoon I made the first part of a nutloaf with breadcrumbs, peanut butter, chopped nuts, onion, leek... and then Gill finished it off.
I also did some work in the composting area, and got a load of purple sprouting broccoli up to the house just before tea... so that's what we all had, nutloaf, lightly steamed broccoli and a few other bits and pieces. Fruit and ice cream followed. Delicious!
The boys did their homework with minimum of fuss and we had a quiet evening.
Although it was raining, I did some logsplitting, some of the big rounds of sticky pine from my neighbour, and then stacking it in the back garden under the logstore cover. This is one of the only places there's space at the moment.
Mid afternoon I made the first part of a nutloaf with breadcrumbs, peanut butter, chopped nuts, onion, leek... and then Gill finished it off.
I also did some work in the composting area, and got a load of purple sprouting broccoli up to the house just before tea... so that's what we all had, nutloaf, lightly steamed broccoli and a few other bits and pieces. Fruit and ice cream followed. Delicious!
The boys did their homework with minimum of fuss and we had a quiet evening.
I woke this am to an unexpected snow. This time of year, this is demoralizing and potentially damaging to trees that have already leafed out.
This Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) seems to be handling the sudden change in the weather with more grace than I.
Our neighbor's tree leafed out over night. Very bad timing. It is now bowing over under the weight of the wet snow.
This Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) seems to be handling the sudden change in the weather with more grace than I.
Our neighbor's tree leafed out over night. Very bad timing. It is now bowing over under the weight of the wet snow.
Two visits to do this morning... to deliver compost to Caroline, to swap for some vegetable seedlings. I checked first that someone was in and cycled down to Fishergate with 4 sacks of well rotted but unriddled. In return I received a 'Small Sugar Pumpkin', a single Brussels Sprout seedling, a tray of Early Purple Sprouting Broccoli and 3 'Stringless Polestar' runner beans, and a bag of Tares seeds, a green manure which fixes nitrogen. I am happy with this swap. My allotment will be too.
As soon as I got home I set out again with a single sack of the same compost as Lynn had indicated that she needed some... and would swap it for a couple of squash seedlings. Lynn wasn't in but her daughter was and was happy to take the bag of compost... but didn't know which squash plants might be mine, so I said I'd be happy to have them another time.
Home for lunch and all too soon it was time for me to head down to town to go to the screening of The Age of Stupid at City Screen, hosted by York in Transition. About 140 tickets were sold, so the auditorium wasn't full, but we were reasonably happy with the turnout. This was the third time I'd seen the film but it still moved me to tears. But I sorted myself out by the end as I had been asked to sit on the panel table alongside Andy Chase the Green Party candidate for the Parliamentary seat for York Central, Daniel Vockins from Not Stupid and Andrew Waller the Lib Dem leader of the Council. Daniel talked about the film and the Not Stupid campaign first and then there were questions from the audience. This went well, apart from Councillor Waller firing off cheap party political jibe about Ralph Nader (Green Party in US) being responsible for Bush getting in. But apart from that, it was a good Q+A session.
Afterwards I gave out leaflets and some Calendars of Climate Change which Diana at Flipside Vision has sent me. Then a good chat with Bill who works for the Youth Service, about the Youth Parliament (I think it's called) and a myriad of other things, over a coffee. I also had a good chat with Alison and then Carolyn, before getting away at about 7pm.
Gill had made a rice and veg dish, which I had when I got in, and I then had an hour or so in the garden til just after 9.
As soon as I got home I set out again with a single sack of the same compost as Lynn had indicated that she needed some... and would swap it for a couple of squash seedlings. Lynn wasn't in but her daughter was and was happy to take the bag of compost... but didn't know which squash plants might be mine, so I said I'd be happy to have them another time.
Home for lunch and all too soon it was time for me to head down to town to go to the screening of The Age of Stupid at City Screen, hosted by York in Transition. About 140 tickets were sold, so the auditorium wasn't full, but we were reasonably happy with the turnout. This was the third time I'd seen the film but it still moved me to tears. But I sorted myself out by the end as I had been asked to sit on the panel table alongside Andy Chase the Green Party candidate for the Parliamentary seat for York Central, Daniel Vockins from Not Stupid and Andrew Waller the Lib Dem leader of the Council. Daniel talked about the film and the Not Stupid campaign first and then there were questions from the audience. This went well, apart from Councillor Waller firing off cheap party political jibe about Ralph Nader (Green Party in US) being responsible for Bush getting in. But apart from that, it was a good Q+A session.
Afterwards I gave out leaflets and some Calendars of Climate Change which Diana at Flipside Vision has sent me. Then a good chat with Bill who works for the Youth Service, about the Youth Parliament (I think it's called) and a myriad of other things, over a coffee. I also had a good chat with Alison and then Carolyn, before getting away at about 7pm.
Gill had made a rice and veg dish, which I had when I got in, and I then had an hour or so in the garden til just after 9.
Not too speedy a start as didn't need to be at the station until 11.15, but I dropped in to City Screen with some spare Age of Stupid leaflets, as a group are meeting at lunchtime to give out leaflets. I waited at the station for 10 minutes before Bryony turned up, got her Student Railcard and bought both our tickets to Malton, and got the 11.38, bikes in tow. I had left my trailer locked up at the station, as I needed it later after the trip to Kirkbymoorside.
Reached Malton at midday and cycled up out of the town to the West to Amotherby, and then North to Kirkbymoorside. We did have a short break at Normanby, just to rest our 'fizzy legs' and reached Kirkby at 1.15. 13 miles in an hour and 10 minutes... just about my average of 10mph!
The Springboarding, or launch of their Transition Town project was taking place in the Memorial Hall... with stalls on the ground floor and more upstairs, plus various talks and a couple of singing groups performing, and then in the basement, the 'dugout', there were more talks. It was pretty vibrant and busy.
I needed to get some lunch so went to Thomas the Baker for a pastie and then walked round looking at all the stalls. There was someone selling rabbit, locally caught, skinned, eviscerated and frozen, and giving out samples of different ways of preparing it, and at a different table, cookies and cakes, presumably not made with rabbit. Ryedale LETS was there, and several energy saving stalls, such as North Energy, the Energy Savings Trust, with leaflets from recoVAIR Valliant ventilation and heat recovery systems, Windhager wood gassification boilers including one called the LogWIN which uses logs not wood pellets. solar and renewables UK, ecoenergi, Homebuilding and Renovating and more. I was pleased to meet John Brown from Ryedale District Council, a well respected Recycling Officer, running a stall with recognisable stuff on from Luna's 'Love Food Hate Waste' campaign and composting stuff from North Yorkshire Rotters. There was a stall selling fair trade goods, https://www.fairgrounds.org.uk/ and a lady from the Bat Conservation Trust with a Common Pipistrelle, a Brown Long-Eared and a Noctule... all absolutely lovely, and brought back memories of when I was a youngster and kept a bat for a while. I was also very interested in the information from the Esk Valley Community Energy Group, and a Yorwoods project to sustainably harvest hardwood from Bishop Hagg Wood near Spaunton. On one table, a group of women were busy with their sewing machines and every few minutes, a handbell was rung and a cheer went up... the Kirby Baggers had completed yet another morsbag, designed to use waste fabric and replace plastic bag use. These were just a few of the projects, the ones I brought home info about or remember!
I had a chat to Nelly, who's part of Lazy Dog Tools used for hand weeding docks and thistles without chemicals. A about 3pm the heavens opened and there was a terrific thunderstorm, hailstones and heavy rain... but it soon cleared up and at 3.30 I gave my talk in the dugout on low carbon living. Bryony followed me with her take on green living, and some info on York in Transition. This was followed by Andrew Price, author of Slow Tech, a book about resilience and robustness... an interesting take on the issues. He gave me a copy of his book to read and review.
After this a small group of us went for a half pint, and then Bryony and I cycled back to Malton, arriving with just 5 minutes to spare before our 7.10 train came in. When we arrived into York, I picked up my trailer and collected more ivy from Pauline and came home. Simon had rung up asking me if I could babysit for an hour whilst he went out to collect the piano his daughter has been using at a concert she's performed in, so at 11.15 I cycled off to Heslington and spent an hour reading a fascinating report from Corporate Watch on Technofixes to the climate problem... what will work, what is pie in the sky, etc. I picked up a log on the way home and got in at 1.15 am.
An amazing day, most enjoyable!
Reached Malton at midday and cycled up out of the town to the West to Amotherby, and then North to Kirkbymoorside. We did have a short break at Normanby, just to rest our 'fizzy legs' and reached Kirkby at 1.15. 13 miles in an hour and 10 minutes... just about my average of 10mph!
The Springboarding, or launch of their Transition Town project was taking place in the Memorial Hall... with stalls on the ground floor and more upstairs, plus various talks and a couple of singing groups performing, and then in the basement, the 'dugout', there were more talks. It was pretty vibrant and busy.
I needed to get some lunch so went to Thomas the Baker for a pastie and then walked round looking at all the stalls. There was someone selling rabbit, locally caught, skinned, eviscerated and frozen, and giving out samples of different ways of preparing it, and at a different table, cookies and cakes, presumably not made with rabbit. Ryedale LETS was there, and several energy saving stalls, such as North Energy, the Energy Savings Trust, with leaflets from recoVAIR Valliant ventilation and heat recovery systems, Windhager wood gassification boilers including one called the LogWIN which uses logs not wood pellets. solar and renewables UK, ecoenergi, Homebuilding and Renovating and more. I was pleased to meet John Brown from Ryedale District Council, a well respected Recycling Officer, running a stall with recognisable stuff on from Luna's 'Love Food Hate Waste' campaign and composting stuff from North Yorkshire Rotters. There was a stall selling fair trade goods, https://www.fairgrounds.org.uk/ and a lady from the Bat Conservation Trust with a Common Pipistrelle, a Brown Long-Eared and a Noctule... all absolutely lovely, and brought back memories of when I was a youngster and kept a bat for a while. I was also very interested in the information from the Esk Valley Community Energy Group, and a Yorwoods project to sustainably harvest hardwood from Bishop Hagg Wood near Spaunton. On one table, a group of women were busy with their sewing machines and every few minutes, a handbell was rung and a cheer went up... the Kirby Baggers had completed yet another morsbag, designed to use waste fabric and replace plastic bag use. These were just a few of the projects, the ones I brought home info about or remember!
I had a chat to Nelly, who's part of Lazy Dog Tools used for hand weeding docks and thistles without chemicals. A about 3pm the heavens opened and there was a terrific thunderstorm, hailstones and heavy rain... but it soon cleared up and at 3.30 I gave my talk in the dugout on low carbon living. Bryony followed me with her take on green living, and some info on York in Transition. This was followed by Andrew Price, author of Slow Tech, a book about resilience and robustness... an interesting take on the issues. He gave me a copy of his book to read and review.
After this a small group of us went for a half pint, and then Bryony and I cycled back to Malton, arriving with just 5 minutes to spare before our 7.10 train came in. When we arrived into York, I picked up my trailer and collected more ivy from Pauline and came home. Simon had rung up asking me if I could babysit for an hour whilst he went out to collect the piano his daughter has been using at a concert she's performed in, so at 11.15 I cycled off to Heslington and spent an hour reading a fascinating report from Corporate Watch on Technofixes to the climate problem... what will work, what is pie in the sky, etc. I picked up a log on the way home and got in at 1.15 am.
An amazing day, most enjoyable!
I cannot remember what I did this morning... it wasn't a particularly interesting morning anyway. I did assorted computery stuff... oh yes, sorted out two Freecycle gives, a demijohn to someone wanting to construct a watering system for seedlings, and paper sacks for someone wanting to use them for potato sacks... I watched videos of police brutality etc and found a brilliant vid of the most amazing cyclist, check this out!
I just love what this guy, Danny MacAskill, is able to do... I think this is Parcour on two wheels!
After lunch I cycled (in a normal, non-parcour way) down to town to visit several financial institutions.. my building society to get some money out to pay Diana for her Calendars of Climate Change and my annual National Insurance bill, and then to the Co-op Bank to pay the water bill (£50 a quarter for 20 cubic metres of water supplied and sewerage services), and then to the Post Office to pay a £1.17 fee to get an envelope with some leaflets in it... grrr to the organisation which didn't get the envelope weighed before sending it... Finally to my GPs to get a prescription, and home via the cycle track to pick up sticks...
I went round to a neighbour to pick up some softwood logs he's saved for me... he chopped down an enormous fir tree so I got 4 wheelbarrow's worth of big discs up to 60cm across. Then down to Country Fresh where Richard was in a good mood and I took a box of compostables and bought a bag of veggies, and got flour and caster sugar in the Spar next door, as Gill wants to make a cake.
Melody popped in with her son who loves trying to split logs with my maul (splitting axe) which is really too heavy for him... but he had a go with the fresh pine... not easy to split!
As I'd had quite a busy afternoon, I decided not to attend the party I'd been invited to.. I felt an evening in with Gardeners World would be more relaxing... and I've a busy day tomorrow with the Kirkbymoorside Transition Town Springboarding Day. I'm catching a train with Bryony and cycling from Malton. And back afterwards.
I just love what this guy, Danny MacAskill, is able to do... I think this is Parcour on two wheels!
After lunch I cycled (in a normal, non-parcour way) down to town to visit several financial institutions.. my building society to get some money out to pay Diana for her Calendars of Climate Change and my annual National Insurance bill, and then to the Co-op Bank to pay the water bill (£50 a quarter for 20 cubic metres of water supplied and sewerage services), and then to the Post Office to pay a £1.17 fee to get an envelope with some leaflets in it... grrr to the organisation which didn't get the envelope weighed before sending it... Finally to my GPs to get a prescription, and home via the cycle track to pick up sticks...
I went round to a neighbour to pick up some softwood logs he's saved for me... he chopped down an enormous fir tree so I got 4 wheelbarrow's worth of big discs up to 60cm across. Then down to Country Fresh where Richard was in a good mood and I took a box of compostables and bought a bag of veggies, and got flour and caster sugar in the Spar next door, as Gill wants to make a cake.
Melody popped in with her son who loves trying to split logs with my maul (splitting axe) which is really too heavy for him... but he had a go with the fresh pine... not easy to split!
As I'd had quite a busy afternoon, I decided not to attend the party I'd been invited to.. I felt an evening in with Gardeners World would be more relaxing... and I've a busy day tomorrow with the Kirkbymoorside Transition Town Springboarding Day. I'm catching a train with Bryony and cycling from Malton. And back afterwards.
I let the dogs out this morning at 6am and saw these clouds. They are actually subdued at this point. Another crappy weekend may be at hand. For other pictures of the sky, visit Skywatch Friday.
A very lazy start to the day. Gill went to Easingwold by bus to pick up the two flat irons which were advertised in the Press a little while ago. I did various things around the house and generally pottered, answered the phone and took Fiddlesticks bookings, or passed enquirers on to my agent if I was unable to do the work because of already being booked...
Gill came in after lunch bearing two quite rusty flat irons. We wondered what we could do to make them usable again? I think there is a chemical product which when applied to rusty metal, reacts with the oxidised iron and makes it wholesome again... but I have no idea whether this might work and where to get it from. I probably need to speak to a car restorer or something like that. And then, to make the bottoms really flat and smooth. How to do this? Sandpaper??? At the moment, the irons are useless for Gill's needs. Any flat-iron restorers out there? Advice gladly received!
Gill once again went to school and got our youngest, she's doing this regularly from now on as part of her exercise regime! I sorted out some growing media in the garden, and then cycled down to Country Fresh with 5 carrier bags of riddled rich compost for sale. I came back with 3 boxes and a sack of juicy rottables...
But no time for processing those as was off to the LETS bring and share meal at Lynn's, which was very enjoyable and social, as I met several new people. I too dried fruit and flapjack to share... as usual the fruit was very popular! One of the new LETS members was Michael (his wife Suzi was there too) and he was cycling (she was in a car) so when I left at 7ish, he came too and we cycled together as far as Bishopthope Road, where he went on to Acomb and I peeled off to The Stables for a York in Transition meeting.
Barry chaired, there were 13 of us there, a good turn out. And a swift meeting, covering a lot of ground... we'd finished by 9. I decided not to go on to a pub as I wanted to get home. I stopped by Country Fresh as I'd seen a lost and lonely pallet which I bungeed onto my trailer, then to a skip where I found another two! So, an excellent haul of pallets, which goes some of the way to replacing a pallet compost heap which I've had to take up and break apart, as it was becoming too rickety and falling to pieces. Infact the one I've taken up is the original pallet heap that was in the garden when we moved here in 2001, so it has had a lot of use and lasted well. It's replacement will be slightly bigger and raised up off the ground to deter rodents. I'll need two or more horizontal pallets on the ground, and then four sides on top of that, wired together. It results in a tall heap, but less access for rats, who like burrowing into compost heaps at soil level, and as mine are now mostly above soil level, there is nowhere for them to go.
Gill was pleased to see me and we had a relaxed evening.
Gill came in after lunch bearing two quite rusty flat irons. We wondered what we could do to make them usable again? I think there is a chemical product which when applied to rusty metal, reacts with the oxidised iron and makes it wholesome again... but I have no idea whether this might work and where to get it from. I probably need to speak to a car restorer or something like that. And then, to make the bottoms really flat and smooth. How to do this? Sandpaper??? At the moment, the irons are useless for Gill's needs. Any flat-iron restorers out there? Advice gladly received!
Gill once again went to school and got our youngest, she's doing this regularly from now on as part of her exercise regime! I sorted out some growing media in the garden, and then cycled down to Country Fresh with 5 carrier bags of riddled rich compost for sale. I came back with 3 boxes and a sack of juicy rottables...
But no time for processing those as was off to the LETS bring and share meal at Lynn's, which was very enjoyable and social, as I met several new people. I too dried fruit and flapjack to share... as usual the fruit was very popular! One of the new LETS members was Michael (his wife Suzi was there too) and he was cycling (she was in a car) so when I left at 7ish, he came too and we cycled together as far as Bishopthope Road, where he went on to Acomb and I peeled off to The Stables for a York in Transition meeting.
Barry chaired, there were 13 of us there, a good turn out. And a swift meeting, covering a lot of ground... we'd finished by 9. I decided not to go on to a pub as I wanted to get home. I stopped by Country Fresh as I'd seen a lost and lonely pallet which I bungeed onto my trailer, then to a skip where I found another two! So, an excellent haul of pallets, which goes some of the way to replacing a pallet compost heap which I've had to take up and break apart, as it was becoming too rickety and falling to pieces. Infact the one I've taken up is the original pallet heap that was in the garden when we moved here in 2001, so it has had a lot of use and lasted well. It's replacement will be slightly bigger and raised up off the ground to deter rodents. I'll need two or more horizontal pallets on the ground, and then four sides on top of that, wired together. It results in a tall heap, but less access for rats, who like burrowing into compost heaps at soil level, and as mine are now mostly above soil level, there is nowhere for them to go.
Gill was pleased to see me and we had a relaxed evening.
Distance: 2.25 miles
Elevation: 4,400 to 4,300 ft
Elevation Gain: 100 ft
A few of the more visible petroglyphs from Vogel Canyon
I have lived in Colorado for ten years now and had no idea that the southeastern Plains are dotted with canyons. These are not Black Canyon of the Gunnison kind of canyons, but they are interesting nonetheless. The advantages of this area is that the canyons are filled with archeological points of interest as well as geologic wonders like dinosaur tracks.
The beginning of the hike starts out on a rock plateau. Cairns lead the way.
Vogel canyon is located 13 miles south of La Junta, which is the best place to stay if you plan to visit. A loop around the canyon is a short hike, suitable for an afternoon excursion. We hiked it after driving 3 hours from Denver. There are picnic tables and bathrooms there, but the nearest store is La Junta so plan accordingly.
The initial side canyon is filled with sandstone rock formations. Staghorn Cholla (Cylindropuntia veriscolor), which are first visible.
Staghorn Cholla bugs. These will fall off and grow roots.
The scenic attractions in Vogel Canyon are Indian petroglyphs, settler ruins, several fresh water springs, Staghorn Cholla cactus, unique rock formations, and lots of birds.
The canyon contains 4 separate trails. Our route traversed all of these in a loop that covered both the canyon floor and the plains above.
Approaching the petroglyph cliffs
This wall is actually filled with petroglyphs, but you have to look closely to see them.
Is this a real petroglyph or a vandal's damage? With so much destruction, it is hard to tell.
Our hike started out in the picnic area and the Canyon Trail. This trail starts out on a broad rock shelf. Cairns guide the hiker into a small unnamed side canyon. The ruins of the Westbrook homestead quickly come into view on the right, and within a half of a mile, a large rock face is clearly visible on the left. It is here that the petroglyphs can be found.
The first spring near the petroglyphs
Several side trails and sign posts guide the hiker to the glyphs, which have been badly vandalized. At one point some irreverent school kids spray painted them under the noses of their chaperon teachers. There are no words to describe what I would have liked to have done to those children. One thing is for sure; none of them would be reproducing.
The second spring off the main trail
There are reportedly many more glyphs in this area, but the Forest Service is justifiably hesitant to point them out to people. We undoubtedly missed some of the best ones in our quick run through the area. The glyphs are also very hard to see with the naked eye and even digitally enhancing the photos has not brought them out much. Compared to the petroglyphs at the V-bar-V ranch in Arizona, these glyphs seem hardly worth the effort. A little more patience might have revealed some better specimens.
Turning right and heading up into wider Vogel Canyon.
Near the petroglyphs are one of two springs in the area. A natural spring is certainly a draw for both humans and wildlife. These are nestled next to large rock walls. Trees grow abundantly nearby. Note that there is a trail leading down from the first spring to the second, but this second spring is not on the main trail. In fact, it is in a side canyon near private property. It is worth walking down to it, but you will have to back track. The main trail actually heads off at right angle from the first spring.
Vogel Canyon becomes very marshy.
Stagecoach ruins
At this point, the trail heads up into Vogel Canyon proper. Vogel Canyon is wider than the unnamed canyon the route first traverses. It quickly becomes a marsh, and only the remains of fallen down Cairns indicate that one is on the correct route. The trail was also quite muddy here.
This is the trail we bushwhacked to. It eventually connected with the Mesa Trail. This trail originated down in the marsh just before the stagecoach ruins. It is not on the map. Note Staghorn Cholla.
Near the end of the canyon are the rock ruins of an old stagecoach stop, which was active from 1872 to 1876. I would like to see where this stagecoach went, because it seems very strange to have a stop down at the bottom of Vogel Canyon.
At last we found the real trail.
The trail guide we received from the Forest Service shows the Mesa and Prairie Trails splitting off from each other just beyond the stagecoach ruins. The drawing was not the best, however, and it looked as if the Mesa Trail split right at the ruins while the Prairie split a little farther. This led us to head up the cliff face, a short 100 ft scramble, right behind the ruins. This was not correct. The two trails do not split until they are up on the mesa itself. Cairns near the ruins show the way. We ended up bushwhacking across the prairie a bit before we intersected with the Mesa trail.
The Mesa Trail traverses a broad plateau of short grass prairie. There are occasional juniper trees and lots of big big sky. A hundred yards away from the edge of the canyon, and you would not be able to tell it was even there. At one point on this trail, there is a metal stairway built over the barbed wire fence. The view from the top of this lofty perch was actually quite pleasing…prairie as far as the eye could see.
View of the short grass prairie from the stairs that go over the fence
The Mesa Trail dead-ends into the Overlook Trail. To the left are the picnic grounds. To the right, the trail travels to the edge of the cliff face for a bird’s eye view into the canyon. Since it was getting late, we opted to head back to the car. The Overlook trail is wide and sandy. It is meant to be handicapped accessible.
Overlook Trail
Vogel Canyon is not the most impressive of the southeastern canyons but in the spring when the prairie is awash with wildflowers, it would be very pleasant indeed. It is such a shame that its unique petroglyphs have been so damaged and are so hard to see. People are pigs. Still, if you are near La Junta with nothing better to do, a stroll through Vogel Canyon may just brighten your day.
Elevation: 4,400 to 4,300 ft
Elevation Gain: 100 ft
A few of the more visible petroglyphs from Vogel CanyonI have lived in Colorado for ten years now and had no idea that the southeastern Plains are dotted with canyons. These are not Black Canyon of the Gunnison kind of canyons, but they are interesting nonetheless. The advantages of this area is that the canyons are filled with archeological points of interest as well as geologic wonders like dinosaur tracks.
The beginning of the hike starts out on a rock plateau. Cairns lead the way.Vogel canyon is located 13 miles south of La Junta, which is the best place to stay if you plan to visit. A loop around the canyon is a short hike, suitable for an afternoon excursion. We hiked it after driving 3 hours from Denver. There are picnic tables and bathrooms there, but the nearest store is La Junta so plan accordingly.
The initial side canyon is filled with sandstone rock formations. Staghorn Cholla (Cylindropuntia veriscolor), which are first visible. 
Staghorn Cholla bugs. These will fall off and grow roots.The scenic attractions in Vogel Canyon are Indian petroglyphs, settler ruins, several fresh water springs, Staghorn Cholla cactus, unique rock formations, and lots of birds.
The canyon contains 4 separate trails. Our route traversed all of these in a loop that covered both the canyon floor and the plains above.
Approaching the petroglyph cliffs
This wall is actually filled with petroglyphs, but you have to look closely to see them.
Is this a real petroglyph or a vandal's damage? With so much destruction, it is hard to tell.Our hike started out in the picnic area and the Canyon Trail. This trail starts out on a broad rock shelf. Cairns guide the hiker into a small unnamed side canyon. The ruins of the Westbrook homestead quickly come into view on the right, and within a half of a mile, a large rock face is clearly visible on the left. It is here that the petroglyphs can be found.
The first spring near the petroglyphsSeveral side trails and sign posts guide the hiker to the glyphs, which have been badly vandalized. At one point some irreverent school kids spray painted them under the noses of their chaperon teachers. There are no words to describe what I would have liked to have done to those children. One thing is for sure; none of them would be reproducing.
The second spring off the main trailThere are reportedly many more glyphs in this area, but the Forest Service is justifiably hesitant to point them out to people. We undoubtedly missed some of the best ones in our quick run through the area. The glyphs are also very hard to see with the naked eye and even digitally enhancing the photos has not brought them out much. Compared to the petroglyphs at the V-bar-V ranch in Arizona, these glyphs seem hardly worth the effort. A little more patience might have revealed some better specimens.
Turning right and heading up into wider Vogel Canyon.Near the petroglyphs are one of two springs in the area. A natural spring is certainly a draw for both humans and wildlife. These are nestled next to large rock walls. Trees grow abundantly nearby. Note that there is a trail leading down from the first spring to the second, but this second spring is not on the main trail. In fact, it is in a side canyon near private property. It is worth walking down to it, but you will have to back track. The main trail actually heads off at right angle from the first spring.
Vogel Canyon becomes very marshy.
Stagecoach ruinsAt this point, the trail heads up into Vogel Canyon proper. Vogel Canyon is wider than the unnamed canyon the route first traverses. It quickly becomes a marsh, and only the remains of fallen down Cairns indicate that one is on the correct route. The trail was also quite muddy here.
This is the trail we bushwhacked to. It eventually connected with the Mesa Trail. This trail originated down in the marsh just before the stagecoach ruins. It is not on the map. Note Staghorn Cholla.Near the end of the canyon are the rock ruins of an old stagecoach stop, which was active from 1872 to 1876. I would like to see where this stagecoach went, because it seems very strange to have a stop down at the bottom of Vogel Canyon.
At last we found the real trail. The trail guide we received from the Forest Service shows the Mesa and Prairie Trails splitting off from each other just beyond the stagecoach ruins. The drawing was not the best, however, and it looked as if the Mesa Trail split right at the ruins while the Prairie split a little farther. This led us to head up the cliff face, a short 100 ft scramble, right behind the ruins. This was not correct. The two trails do not split until they are up on the mesa itself. Cairns near the ruins show the way. We ended up bushwhacking across the prairie a bit before we intersected with the Mesa trail.
The Mesa Trail traverses a broad plateau of short grass prairie. There are occasional juniper trees and lots of big big sky. A hundred yards away from the edge of the canyon, and you would not be able to tell it was even there. At one point on this trail, there is a metal stairway built over the barbed wire fence. The view from the top of this lofty perch was actually quite pleasing…prairie as far as the eye could see.
View of the short grass prairie from the stairs that go over the fenceThe Mesa Trail dead-ends into the Overlook Trail. To the left are the picnic grounds. To the right, the trail travels to the edge of the cliff face for a bird’s eye view into the canyon. Since it was getting late, we opted to head back to the car. The Overlook trail is wide and sandy. It is meant to be handicapped accessible.
Overlook TrailVogel Canyon is not the most impressive of the southeastern canyons but in the spring when the prairie is awash with wildflowers, it would be very pleasant indeed. It is such a shame that its unique petroglyphs have been so damaged and are so hard to see. People are pigs. Still, if you are near La Junta with nothing better to do, a stroll through Vogel Canyon may just brighten your day.
Ahhh, a lie-in! how nice! I got up at 10 and Gill was already at Art, so I finished off my column on cosmetics and sent it in. This took til lunchtime, mainly because I got distracted by Scrabble on Facebook and chat, and interesting links... but by late lunch, was finished.
Gill came in and got a picnic together and went on the bus down to town to meet her 'Ladies who Lunch' friends, Melody and Alison, and had a picnic with them in Museum Gardens.
I just mooched around, dealt with a couple of phone calls, did some housework and planted some broccoli, calabrese and curly kale seeds.
My friend Robin had made contact with someone who lives near him who has just taken down a holly tree and passed my her details to me, so I rang her and she said it would be OK to go within the next hour. So I refilled my chainsaw with lube oil and got the loppers, and cycled over to near the Hospital along the Route 66 cycle track.
She'd taken down one holly, and I cut up the two trunks which she'd denuded of side branches. But a sizable one metre stump remained and I eventually removed that, leaving a 30cm stump. There was one other job she wanted doing, removing an overhanging branch of a sycamore. This was more difficult as my chainsaw, or perhaps the electric supply to it was malfunctioning. But I did manage to get some of it down.. but after an hour and a half working there, I'd had enough so I loaded up my trailer with some of the holy logs and went. I'll go back in the next week or so and finish the job.
Home to a happy house, nice tea and pleasant evening. I was disappointed that Newsnight focussed on the budget and didn't have Ethical Man on.
Gill came in and got a picnic together and went on the bus down to town to meet her 'Ladies who Lunch' friends, Melody and Alison, and had a picnic with them in Museum Gardens.
I just mooched around, dealt with a couple of phone calls, did some housework and planted some broccoli, calabrese and curly kale seeds.
My friend Robin had made contact with someone who lives near him who has just taken down a holly tree and passed my her details to me, so I rang her and she said it would be OK to go within the next hour. So I refilled my chainsaw with lube oil and got the loppers, and cycled over to near the Hospital along the Route 66 cycle track.
She'd taken down one holly, and I cut up the two trunks which she'd denuded of side branches. But a sizable one metre stump remained and I eventually removed that, leaving a 30cm stump. There was one other job she wanted doing, removing an overhanging branch of a sycamore. This was more difficult as my chainsaw, or perhaps the electric supply to it was malfunctioning. But I did manage to get some of it down.. but after an hour and a half working there, I'd had enough so I loaded up my trailer with some of the holy logs and went. I'll go back in the next week or so and finish the job.
Home to a happy house, nice tea and pleasant evening. I was disappointed that Newsnight focussed on the budget and didn't have Ethical Man on.
What a busy day!
Gill got the boys ready for school and whilst she was taking our youngest, I got a phone call from Nick at the Credit Union reminding me that he'd booked me to attend an event at the Racecourse run by Business Link, on the phenomenon of Social Networking and how businesses and other organisations can benefit from it. York Credit Union is due to expand into North Yorkshire, and is intending to use some kind of Social Networking as well. I had discussed Facebook and blogging with YCU staff, so I went along to see what more I could learn, and to see if I could help YCU with that side of things.
So when Gill got home, our possible lazy day was made into a busy one... Gill found me some very smart (for me!) clothes and I gave myself a beard-trim to make me more presentable. At about 10am I set off and was at Priory St before 10.30 and met Nick for the first time. We cycled together along to the Racecourse and immediately found people to talk to. After coffee we were herded upstairs and sat down to listen to Shaa Wasmund give an interesting talk. She is somewhat of an expert when it comes to Social Networking and is a successful entrepreneur.
Many, perhaps most of the business people at this seminar were not familiar with Social Networking, so Shaa's talk started (after her intro biog) with what it is and how it's different to the old memes of advertising and similar 'one way' communication. Examples of social networks are Facebook, Linkedin, Second Life, YouTube, blogs and Twitter. I learned quite a lot, despite my having two blogs and an active Facebook life. I will be having a play around with various things... for instance, I've never looked at Twitter, although have read posts from friends who've 'Tweeted' to Facebook. I enjoyed participating in this event and will of course report on my experiences in due course.
Lunch at 1pm was quite nice and the conversations over lunch were really interesting.
Cycled back home over the lovely Millennium Bridge and Low Moor, in time to say Hi to Gilly before she elected to go down to school. I started to research and write my next column, which is on cosmetics. Fascinating stuff.
At just after 6 I set off for the Hull Road Ward Planning Panel with all the paperwork that I've been sent over the last 3 weeks, only one of which was an actual planning application. Five of us turned up and had a lively discussion, and were finished by 7pm, when I zoomed off down to Fulford for the York in Transition Credit Crunch discussion meeting. I was representing YorkLETS. Other organisations there were the Energy Efficiency Advice Centre, Citizens Advice Bureau, York Credit Union, Freecycle and the Women's Institute. Unfortunately there were more presenters and organisers than members of the public, but it was still an excellent evening, well co-ordinated by Bryony... and I learned a few bits and bobs here too.
I cycled back thought Heslington at 10ish and got home to find Gill asleep on the sofa. I think today must have been one of the most stimulating days I've had for a while. Didn't get to bed til after 2am.
Gill got the boys ready for school and whilst she was taking our youngest, I got a phone call from Nick at the Credit Union reminding me that he'd booked me to attend an event at the Racecourse run by Business Link, on the phenomenon of Social Networking and how businesses and other organisations can benefit from it. York Credit Union is due to expand into North Yorkshire, and is intending to use some kind of Social Networking as well. I had discussed Facebook and blogging with YCU staff, so I went along to see what more I could learn, and to see if I could help YCU with that side of things.
So when Gill got home, our possible lazy day was made into a busy one... Gill found me some very smart (for me!) clothes and I gave myself a beard-trim to make me more presentable. At about 10am I set off and was at Priory St before 10.30 and met Nick for the first time. We cycled together along to the Racecourse and immediately found people to talk to. After coffee we were herded upstairs and sat down to listen to Shaa Wasmund give an interesting talk. She is somewhat of an expert when it comes to Social Networking and is a successful entrepreneur.
Many, perhaps most of the business people at this seminar were not familiar with Social Networking, so Shaa's talk started (after her intro biog) with what it is and how it's different to the old memes of advertising and similar 'one way' communication. Examples of social networks are Facebook, Linkedin, Second Life, YouTube, blogs and Twitter. I learned quite a lot, despite my having two blogs and an active Facebook life. I will be having a play around with various things... for instance, I've never looked at Twitter, although have read posts from friends who've 'Tweeted' to Facebook. I enjoyed participating in this event and will of course report on my experiences in due course.
Lunch at 1pm was quite nice and the conversations over lunch were really interesting.
Cycled back home over the lovely Millennium Bridge and Low Moor, in time to say Hi to Gilly before she elected to go down to school. I started to research and write my next column, which is on cosmetics. Fascinating stuff.
At just after 6 I set off for the Hull Road Ward Planning Panel with all the paperwork that I've been sent over the last 3 weeks, only one of which was an actual planning application. Five of us turned up and had a lively discussion, and were finished by 7pm, when I zoomed off down to Fulford for the York in Transition Credit Crunch discussion meeting. I was representing YorkLETS. Other organisations there were the Energy Efficiency Advice Centre, Citizens Advice Bureau, York Credit Union, Freecycle and the Women's Institute. Unfortunately there were more presenters and organisers than members of the public, but it was still an excellent evening, well co-ordinated by Bryony... and I learned a few bits and bobs here too.
I cycled back thought Heslington at 10ish and got home to find Gill asleep on the sofa. I think today must have been one of the most stimulating days I've had for a while. Didn't get to bed til after 2am.
Wrote my Community Care blog
http://www.communitycare.co.uk/blogs/green-living/2009/04/green-man-switches-off.html
After lunch I put my trailer onto my back rack and carefully cycled it down to Cycle Heaven where I'd checked that they'd be able to fit the new inner tube it needs. I had to be very careful cycling down as part of the trailer was sticking out, but got to the shop without incident. They sorted the problem within 10 or 15 minutes, replacing the shredded inner tube and putting a new tyre on, as the old one had torn. It was good to get back on my bike and have the trailer bouncing along behind again!
I went through town and to my GPs and then to inSainsburys and then via the cycle track where there were still logs and branches to harvest, so came back with a trailer load plus Freshways stuff on top of this too!
I planted some more seeds... courgette and zucchini tromba, a weird-looking curved courgette, I grew one last year so this year am planting quite a few more.
Gill made some cheesy scone pastry and made a pie with it, using yesterdays spaghetti and tomato/bean mixture, with new potatoes and some salad from the garden. Lynn had emailed me inviting me to provide her with some composting worms, so I went to delve in a wormy heap for pets for her new wormery (actually one that Ben had made out of stacking plastic boxes, and sold on the LETS).
I came in for tea and enjoyed the whole plateful, and asked Gill what one of the salad leaves was. She said 'Good King Henry' and I said I hadn't noticed her picking that, as I'd put that right down the bottom of the garden, near where I was harvesting worms. I asked where she'd got it, and she described the place where I thought I'd put some 'black salsify' or Scorzonera, so I looked that up to see if the leaves were edible. I found that Scorzonera leaves were totally different to the leaves Gill had harvested... so what had I eaten? I knew I'd harvested some tasty roots from that plant, so I looked through various books and on the web to see if I could find it. Eventually, with family panicking around me, wondering if I'd been poisoned, I found it was Skirret, Sium sisarum var sisarum. I cannot find anywhere about the leaves being good to eat... just indications that it might be like some other Umbelifers, ie not good to eat...!
Anyway, I stayed conscious during the meeting at Lynn's house, which was a LETS working group discussion about the constitution and managing the membership, and I was able to contribute quite sensibly. I also remembered to take the worms with me, and enjoyed seeing Lynn's garden.
Got back home after 10 and did a load of washing up as Gill had fallen asleep as soon as the children were in bed. Then onto the computer...
Nice photo of me in the Press:
http://www.thepress.co.uk/search/4304325.Green_issues_on_the_big_screen_in_York/
http://www.communitycare.co.uk/blogs/green-living/2009/04/green-man-switches-off.html
After lunch I put my trailer onto my back rack and carefully cycled it down to Cycle Heaven where I'd checked that they'd be able to fit the new inner tube it needs. I had to be very careful cycling down as part of the trailer was sticking out, but got to the shop without incident. They sorted the problem within 10 or 15 minutes, replacing the shredded inner tube and putting a new tyre on, as the old one had torn. It was good to get back on my bike and have the trailer bouncing along behind again!
I went through town and to my GPs and then to inSainsburys and then via the cycle track where there were still logs and branches to harvest, so came back with a trailer load plus Freshways stuff on top of this too!
I planted some more seeds... courgette and zucchini tromba, a weird-looking curved courgette, I grew one last year so this year am planting quite a few more.
Gill made some cheesy scone pastry and made a pie with it, using yesterdays spaghetti and tomato/bean mixture, with new potatoes and some salad from the garden. Lynn had emailed me inviting me to provide her with some composting worms, so I went to delve in a wormy heap for pets for her new wormery (actually one that Ben had made out of stacking plastic boxes, and sold on the LETS).
I came in for tea and enjoyed the whole plateful, and asked Gill what one of the salad leaves was. She said 'Good King Henry' and I said I hadn't noticed her picking that, as I'd put that right down the bottom of the garden, near where I was harvesting worms. I asked where she'd got it, and she described the place where I thought I'd put some 'black salsify' or Scorzonera, so I looked that up to see if the leaves were edible. I found that Scorzonera leaves were totally different to the leaves Gill had harvested... so what had I eaten? I knew I'd harvested some tasty roots from that plant, so I looked through various books and on the web to see if I could find it. Eventually, with family panicking around me, wondering if I'd been poisoned, I found it was Skirret, Sium sisarum var sisarum. I cannot find anywhere about the leaves being good to eat... just indications that it might be like some other Umbelifers, ie not good to eat...!
Anyway, I stayed conscious during the meeting at Lynn's house, which was a LETS working group discussion about the constitution and managing the membership, and I was able to contribute quite sensibly. I also remembered to take the worms with me, and enjoyed seeing Lynn's garden.
Got back home after 10 and did a load of washing up as Gill had fallen asleep as soon as the children were in bed. Then onto the computer...
Nice photo of me in the Press:
http://www.thepress.co.uk/search/4304325.Green_issues_on_the_big_screen_in_York/
Another busy day, but most of it around and about.
My first job, apart from making a couple of sandwiches to take with me for lunch, was to carefully load my trailer with a sack of drinks cartons... mostly soya milk which we've used, but also some of our fruit juice cartons, and some smaller drinks cartons from the school bins, as they don't bother to recycle. Then various electrical equipment... a video player which got the video stuck in it, and was thrown away by someone near Country Fresh, and the AVP computer tower, monitor and assorted cables, a bag of scrap iron from various places including nails from the stove and Pauline's stove, some batteries and a wok I found in some bushes...
This I cycled to the Council-run recycling 'dump' (Hazel Court) where I now know that 'officially' bikes are not welcome. There are limited recycling facilities for pedestrians and cyclists at the gate, but not for scrap metal, waste electrical equipment or drinks cartons. So I again ignored the rule which I think is stupid and was delighted to be welcomed by two staff members, who joked to each other about whether I'd applied for a permit for my trailer... I shouted back that my application had been refused. I put all my potentially recyclable items in the right place and cycled off, thanking the staff and feeling really good that I'd been treated with respect and like an ordinary punter wishing to use the facilities like anybody else. I decided to not reply to the letter telling me I do not qualify for a trailer permit, and that bikes are not allowed in the compound. I think that my occasional use of this facility, maybe once every month or two, will continue and that I'll just risk the potential of being told I'm not welcome, and in this eventuality, having to decide to ignore the person telling me I'm not allowed in, or to comply and dump the stuff on the ground at the gate, which is what I've been advised to do! What a complete farce!
Next I headed over to Country Fresh where Richard was just opening up the shop, and he had a small box of compostables for me, which I took up to the allotment and made a layer on the latest heap of mainly bramble stems and dandelion plants with parsnip-sized roots. I met one of my new neighbours, Caroline, who works at St Johns and is doing an excellent job on her plot, and at midday we walked down to the Low Moor Allotment Association Annual General Meeting.
There were about 25 people attending and it was a low-key affair really, just reports about the past year with the new shop building, the seed and potato order, the number of plots available and the waiting list, the kids allotment and various other bits and pieces. I gave out some Age of Stupid leaflets. I chatted to an American couple, Californians with unusual names that I cannot remember (!) who wanted to pick my brains about their composting attempts. They've been using bokashi and putting the material in a fabric composter and they'd brought this to the lottie today to start a compost heap on their plot. I helped them get it up to their allotment and they'd made a couple of pallet bins so I enthused and helped empty the compost out.
I spent another hot hour on the lottie weeding and preparing the soil for onion sets and potatoes.
At 2.20, zoomed off to Bryony's house in Fulford, where Barry was waiting too. Bryony wasn't around, so we waited for her and 15 mins later she arrived with her Mother after a trip to a Freecycler which took longer than usual. We had an hour discussing the meeting on Tuesday, the York in Transition Fulford Credit Crunch Discussion meeting at The Bay Horse. I'm presenting info on LETS, and we needed to work out the order to do stuff in, and who did what. Bryony has done an excellent job organising it.
I then cycled to Pauline's to remove a load of ivy she's taken off a shed. She had four sacks full and some 'matted sheets' of ivy stems from the side of the building, which is being taken down. I loaded my trailer and realised I had a flat tyre. I pumped it up but it didn't last long, going flat in less than 5 minutes. But I got most of the way home with just one stop to re-inflate. But at 2 mins from home the whole tyre/inner tube came off and the inner tube shredded when it wrapped itself round the axle. Very annoying, and I'll have to get a new tube tomorrow.
Shredded the ivy in my lovely Mountfield quiet shredder, a task I really enjoy.
Gill made spaghetti and beans for tea, home grown (dried and soaked) beans! Boys watched Robin Hood on their computer before bed time.
My first job, apart from making a couple of sandwiches to take with me for lunch, was to carefully load my trailer with a sack of drinks cartons... mostly soya milk which we've used, but also some of our fruit juice cartons, and some smaller drinks cartons from the school bins, as they don't bother to recycle. Then various electrical equipment... a video player which got the video stuck in it, and was thrown away by someone near Country Fresh, and the AVP computer tower, monitor and assorted cables, a bag of scrap iron from various places including nails from the stove and Pauline's stove, some batteries and a wok I found in some bushes...
This I cycled to the Council-run recycling 'dump' (Hazel Court) where I now know that 'officially' bikes are not welcome. There are limited recycling facilities for pedestrians and cyclists at the gate, but not for scrap metal, waste electrical equipment or drinks cartons. So I again ignored the rule which I think is stupid and was delighted to be welcomed by two staff members, who joked to each other about whether I'd applied for a permit for my trailer... I shouted back that my application had been refused. I put all my potentially recyclable items in the right place and cycled off, thanking the staff and feeling really good that I'd been treated with respect and like an ordinary punter wishing to use the facilities like anybody else. I decided to not reply to the letter telling me I do not qualify for a trailer permit, and that bikes are not allowed in the compound. I think that my occasional use of this facility, maybe once every month or two, will continue and that I'll just risk the potential of being told I'm not welcome, and in this eventuality, having to decide to ignore the person telling me I'm not allowed in, or to comply and dump the stuff on the ground at the gate, which is what I've been advised to do! What a complete farce!
Next I headed over to Country Fresh where Richard was just opening up the shop, and he had a small box of compostables for me, which I took up to the allotment and made a layer on the latest heap of mainly bramble stems and dandelion plants with parsnip-sized roots. I met one of my new neighbours, Caroline, who works at St Johns and is doing an excellent job on her plot, and at midday we walked down to the Low Moor Allotment Association Annual General Meeting.
There were about 25 people attending and it was a low-key affair really, just reports about the past year with the new shop building, the seed and potato order, the number of plots available and the waiting list, the kids allotment and various other bits and pieces. I gave out some Age of Stupid leaflets. I chatted to an American couple, Californians with unusual names that I cannot remember (!) who wanted to pick my brains about their composting attempts. They've been using bokashi and putting the material in a fabric composter and they'd brought this to the lottie today to start a compost heap on their plot. I helped them get it up to their allotment and they'd made a couple of pallet bins so I enthused and helped empty the compost out.
I spent another hot hour on the lottie weeding and preparing the soil for onion sets and potatoes.
At 2.20, zoomed off to Bryony's house in Fulford, where Barry was waiting too. Bryony wasn't around, so we waited for her and 15 mins later she arrived with her Mother after a trip to a Freecycler which took longer than usual. We had an hour discussing the meeting on Tuesday, the York in Transition Fulford Credit Crunch Discussion meeting at The Bay Horse. I'm presenting info on LETS, and we needed to work out the order to do stuff in, and who did what. Bryony has done an excellent job organising it.
I then cycled to Pauline's to remove a load of ivy she's taken off a shed. She had four sacks full and some 'matted sheets' of ivy stems from the side of the building, which is being taken down. I loaded my trailer and realised I had a flat tyre. I pumped it up but it didn't last long, going flat in less than 5 minutes. But I got most of the way home with just one stop to re-inflate. But at 2 mins from home the whole tyre/inner tube came off and the inner tube shredded when it wrapped itself round the axle. Very annoying, and I'll have to get a new tube tomorrow.
Shredded the ivy in my lovely Mountfield quiet shredder, a task I really enjoy.
Gill made spaghetti and beans for tea, home grown (dried and soaked) beans! Boys watched Robin Hood on their computer before bed time.
Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes) crossing a road. Note the identifying black tips on the ears and the black legs.Sly as a Fox, it is mythology or biology? My morning spent Googling the Internet seems to indicate that it is both. Foxes have an uncanny ability to anticipate the future. When hunted, Foxes have been known to double back on their trail, cut across streams at an oblique angle, run around in circles, and generally out whit their pursuers. This canid is smarter than your average bear and certainly smarter than my dog who will star gap-jawed at a pile of skree because some Pika is tormenting it from the safety of little nook.
Take this fox's facial expression and put it on a human. How would you read it?Since the Red Fox is one of the most wildly spread species in the world, spanning Alaska to Japan, its behavior has been well observed by indigenous peoples, so it is no wonder that the fox has served as a mythological model of cunning behavior. In Hopi mythology, the fox has been granted healing powers. According to Apache legend, it was the bringer of fire. The fox was also believed by many North American tribes to be a shape shifter. Those who wish to make themselves invisible are told to make the fox their totem.
Looking down a grassy slopeThe pictures in this post are of the Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes). It is the most common as well as the largest species of fox and is usually a rusty red with black ear tips and legs. There are actually four species of fox in Colorado, however. Gray Foxes have reddish ears and feet and prefer the Mountains. The Swift and Kit Fox are much smaller and have a coloring similar to the Coyote. They are rare and live out on the eastern Plains.
I have been observing the specimen in these pictures in the early morning in the grassy fields near where I work. It must have a den with kits near by because I have seen it carry “take-out” rodent across the road. Foxes are the most active at dawn and dusk.
Scent markingThe Red Fox is a carnivore but has been known in other parts of the world to prefer invertebrates like crawfish. In Colorado, rodents, which are as varied here as a Chinese menu, are its primary fare. Given the fox’s reputation, however it is no wonder that they are also known to raid trashcans, pet bowls as well as discreetly dine on carrion.
Red Foxes are primarily monogamous, although the wide-ranging male is known to occasionally wander into other female’s territory “in search of food”. You have to wonder how many men have watched that behavior, scratched their chins, narrowed the eyes, and smirked gleefully, I have to say it again… like a fox. Hmmm, perhaps watching football isn’t so bad after all.
Disappearing into the shrubberyRegardless of your belief in spiritual totems, the Red Fox is always entertaining. It is a good parent, is not terribly frightened by humans, and its hunting behavior is amusing to watch. I always feel a little blessed when I get to see a Red Fox, they are just plain cute.
A very busy day.
Got up quite early and both felt like doing some spring cleaning and sorting out. Gill made a start on the conservatory, which has become somewhat cluttered, and I did some washing up including a load of storage jars which have been building up.
Gill also rang a chap who'd advertised two flat irons in the back of the Press. She's been wanting to have a couple of these to heat up on the stove so she doesn't have to use electricity (despite it being from renewables, and us not using very much, it still costs, so using less would be good!). Gill isn't into ironing everything, but the school uniforms and my work clothes need to look good, and the electric iron is quite heavy on the juice. So a pair of flat irons will be a good addition to our low carbon lifestyle. The old fella wanted a fiver each, as they were antiques, but was happy to hear they'd be used. He lives in Easingwold so Gill might take the bus out there next week to get them, or he might deliver if he's coming down the Hull Road.
Soon after this telephone conversation, we discovered our phone handset wasn't working... it was completely dead. Gill tried to 'ring home' with her mobile but only the base rang, not the handset. So, with the phone being important for my work, it was essential that we get it sorted. So, within the hour I cycled down to town to take it to where we bought it to see if they knew what was wrong with it, or maybe buy another handset. I felt a bit daft when the chap in the shop told me t was just the batteries which had expired. I thought they were rechargeable, but apparently they don't keep recharging for ever. I bought new batteries... and a second pair for when this happens again!
I also visited the Friends Meeting house where the old AVP computer has been waiting for me to pick it up and bring it home to erase the hard disc data, before taking the whole lot to the recycling depot at James Street. The monitor is huge! It only just went in my trailer but with bungees, it came home safe and sound. I set it all up and tried to run the DBAN 'boot and nuke' floppy disc that Ben had supplied, but I didn't quite understand the commands so I phoned Ben and asked him if he could pop round and press buttons in the right order.
Gill was doing wonderful things with the conservatory and I helped too, being ruthless about throwing stuff away, for once! Ros came round with her son, and she stayed and had a coffee and chatted about some of the stories from when she was a customs officer. Our boys played happily all together.
Ben came round and found that the software would work if the computer was tweaked slightly first, and so he reset a password by doing something to the innards and then set the disc to AUTONUKE and completely wipe the hard disc. He also showed me how to take out the disc afterwards and extract two very strong rare-earth magnets, which make excellent fridge magnets. After 40 minutes nuking, the monitor declared it was now 'done', so I switched the whole thing off and extracted the hard disc (actually 3 of them in a stack) and the two magnets. The rest of the hardware will be going to Hazel Court tomorrow for recycling.
I then found time to sort through seeds and plant some courgettes, squash, pumpkin and basil. This felt extremely satisfying. All three boys ate together and then played til 9pm when I took our visitor back up the road to Ros. I spent some of the evening peeling some giant pumpkin seeds I found from last year, and sorting out old seed packets from newer ones which I will hopefully plant up soon.
A very productive day. And destructive too, with the mangling of the old computer and throwing away of loads of unrecyclable and unusable stuff. Satisfying!
Got up quite early and both felt like doing some spring cleaning and sorting out. Gill made a start on the conservatory, which has become somewhat cluttered, and I did some washing up including a load of storage jars which have been building up.
Gill also rang a chap who'd advertised two flat irons in the back of the Press. She's been wanting to have a couple of these to heat up on the stove so she doesn't have to use electricity (despite it being from renewables, and us not using very much, it still costs, so using less would be good!). Gill isn't into ironing everything, but the school uniforms and my work clothes need to look good, and the electric iron is quite heavy on the juice. So a pair of flat irons will be a good addition to our low carbon lifestyle. The old fella wanted a fiver each, as they were antiques, but was happy to hear they'd be used. He lives in Easingwold so Gill might take the bus out there next week to get them, or he might deliver if he's coming down the Hull Road.
Soon after this telephone conversation, we discovered our phone handset wasn't working... it was completely dead. Gill tried to 'ring home' with her mobile but only the base rang, not the handset. So, with the phone being important for my work, it was essential that we get it sorted. So, within the hour I cycled down to town to take it to where we bought it to see if they knew what was wrong with it, or maybe buy another handset. I felt a bit daft when the chap in the shop told me t was just the batteries which had expired. I thought they were rechargeable, but apparently they don't keep recharging for ever. I bought new batteries... and a second pair for when this happens again!
I also visited the Friends Meeting house where the old AVP computer has been waiting for me to pick it up and bring it home to erase the hard disc data, before taking the whole lot to the recycling depot at James Street. The monitor is huge! It only just went in my trailer but with bungees, it came home safe and sound. I set it all up and tried to run the DBAN 'boot and nuke' floppy disc that Ben had supplied, but I didn't quite understand the commands so I phoned Ben and asked him if he could pop round and press buttons in the right order.
Gill was doing wonderful things with the conservatory and I helped too, being ruthless about throwing stuff away, for once! Ros came round with her son, and she stayed and had a coffee and chatted about some of the stories from when she was a customs officer. Our boys played happily all together.
Ben came round and found that the software would work if the computer was tweaked slightly first, and so he reset a password by doing something to the innards and then set the disc to AUTONUKE and completely wipe the hard disc. He also showed me how to take out the disc afterwards and extract two very strong rare-earth magnets, which make excellent fridge magnets. After 40 minutes nuking, the monitor declared it was now 'done', so I switched the whole thing off and extracted the hard disc (actually 3 of them in a stack) and the two magnets. The rest of the hardware will be going to Hazel Court tomorrow for recycling.
I then found time to sort through seeds and plant some courgettes, squash, pumpkin and basil. This felt extremely satisfying. All three boys ate together and then played til 9pm when I took our visitor back up the road to Ros. I spent some of the evening peeling some giant pumpkin seeds I found from last year, and sorting out old seed packets from newer ones which I will hopefully plant up soon.
A very productive day. And destructive too, with the mangling of the old computer and throwing away of loads of unrecyclable and unusable stuff. Satisfying!
A slow start to the day and spent some of the morning on the computer dealing with an email issue... at lunchtime Gill and the boys went into town on the bus to go to City Screen and see Monsters vs Aliens. I had lunch, lit the stove, washed up and tried to find enthusiasm for planting seeds.
I didn't plant seeds... I made tea so when Gill got in she didn't need to do too much. I did a nutloaf with a layer of spinach in the middle, from the garden. Gill put some potatoes in the microwave when she got in, and I popped down to Country Fresh where I was delighted to find they had some tomato plants in... a 'Shirley', 'Moneymaker' and 'Super Sweet' which were 89p each, or £1.50 for two... Richard gave me a bit of a better deal than that. I'll have to riddle some more finished compost for him to sell... it's that time of year! So I came back with these three little plants and two sacks of compostables.
I popped into Scummerfield to get some stuff Gill wanted and came back to take stuff down the garden. Gill called me in an hour later saying that if I was any later, the nutloaf would be dried up! So came in for that and it was delicious. The children both said it was lovely! Hooray, a hit.
Watched Mastermind and Gardeners World. GW is turning into Blue Peter. It's got a cute squeaky kid and a 'make' ('here's one I made earlier') and a thing on Gnomes. HELP!
Later, on Jools Holland (hahahaha) I really loved seeing Grndmaster Flash... took me back over 20 years back to my days of body-popping... excellent!
I didn't plant seeds... I made tea so when Gill got in she didn't need to do too much. I did a nutloaf with a layer of spinach in the middle, from the garden. Gill put some potatoes in the microwave when she got in, and I popped down to Country Fresh where I was delighted to find they had some tomato plants in... a 'Shirley', 'Moneymaker' and 'Super Sweet' which were 89p each, or £1.50 for two... Richard gave me a bit of a better deal than that. I'll have to riddle some more finished compost for him to sell... it's that time of year! So I came back with these three little plants and two sacks of compostables.
I popped into Scummerfield to get some stuff Gill wanted and came back to take stuff down the garden. Gill called me in an hour later saying that if I was any later, the nutloaf would be dried up! So came in for that and it was delicious. The children both said it was lovely! Hooray, a hit.
Watched Mastermind and Gardeners World. GW is turning into Blue Peter. It's got a cute squeaky kid and a 'make' ('here's one I made earlier') and a thing on Gnomes. HELP!
Later, on Jools Holland (hahahaha) I really loved seeing Grndmaster Flash... took me back over 20 years back to my days of body-popping... excellent!
Distance: 2 miles round trip
Elevation: 4,000 ft
Elevation Gain: None
Folks love to lounge on the large red rock platforms near the western end of the park
You would think that our staying within steps of Crescent Moon Park would have tempted us before our last day, but since we had phenomenal views of Cathedral Rock right from our front porch the thought of walking along the creek was not as enticing and you might think.
Still, the park is home to one of the most photographed places in all of Sedona so I knew we would have to make the trek.
Crescent Moon is a picnic area with lovely trees and a creek side walk. The first half of this is paved but the other half is rocky, filled with tree roots, and a few rough areas. I say this from the perspective of my Mother who is not as nimble as she used to be. Anyone under 60 will find the trail quite easy.
Hoodoos at the far eastern end of the trail. Here one is practically on top of the vortex, which is technically on the other side of the creek. These hoodoos were EVERYWHERE.
I found out late in our trip that Cathedral Rock is home of one of Sedona's several vortexes (note, I am not misspelling the word, that is how the locals refer to them). These vortexes are supposed to be centers of concentrated earth energy. Lounging or meditating near a vortex is presumably uplifting. It is certainly a more novel tourist attraction than a curio store and it does have the added benefit of getting people outdoors. A little exercise in the sunshine is always uplifting to me.
One document I found online indicated that the vortex near Cathedral Rock was filled with feminine energy. It is supposed to increase one's compassion and empathy. No wonder I had avoided it all week. My father made a snide remark that I would have to hang out at the vortex for a VERY LONG TIME to see any increase in my feminine side.
Buddha Beach at the end of the trail. Just out of frame to the right was a nice long log for sitting. The hoodoos are also off to the right.
In contrast, I found out there is a masculine vortex up near the airport. No wonder I loved the Ridge Trail so much. The masculine vortex is supposed to increase one's self confidence and ambition. I feel some chest beating is in order!! No wonder I wandered off the trail and climbed down a gully, I was filled with masculine, "it can't happen to me" energy. Hmm, maybe there is something to this vortex thing after all!
Rock rock crossing. I had to stand in the mud with 20 other folks to get this shot.
Crescent Moon park is also a mecca for photographers as I have already mentioned. On this last day, I kept wandering over hoping to catch the sunset on the rocks where they are reflected in the water. By the time things were just getting ripe, a swarm of photographers with their tripods staked out plots of gooey mud along the creek bed each hoping I am sure for that quintessential shot. After a entire week of looking up at this admittedly scenic view, I was less enthused about elbowing in. My best shot of the rock was probably taken from our side yard, which incidentally was home to a meditating local for several days while we were there.
I don't know what she was smoking, but she jousted with invisible demons using a tree branch, swayed to and fro on rather unsteady feet, and finally left her shoes behind when she thankfully departed. One can take the whole vortex thing too far.
Cathedral Rock from our vacation rental.
So this is my final post about my trip to Sedona. I hope you have enjoyed sharing my vacation with me as much as I enjoyed living it. Sedona is a beautiful oasis and I would love to return and hike some of its more challenging trails. Renting a home was a convenient way to share space with several people and it enabled us to cook for ourselves. Some say Sedona is a life-list destination. With so much to do and so much to see, I couldn't agree more.
Elevation: 4,000 ft
Elevation Gain: None
Folks love to lounge on the large red rock platforms near the western end of the parkYou would think that our staying within steps of Crescent Moon Park would have tempted us before our last day, but since we had phenomenal views of Cathedral Rock right from our front porch the thought of walking along the creek was not as enticing and you might think.
Still, the park is home to one of the most photographed places in all of Sedona so I knew we would have to make the trek.
Crescent Moon is a picnic area with lovely trees and a creek side walk. The first half of this is paved but the other half is rocky, filled with tree roots, and a few rough areas. I say this from the perspective of my Mother who is not as nimble as she used to be. Anyone under 60 will find the trail quite easy.
Hoodoos at the far eastern end of the trail. Here one is practically on top of the vortex, which is technically on the other side of the creek. These hoodoos were EVERYWHERE.I found out late in our trip that Cathedral Rock is home of one of Sedona's several vortexes (note, I am not misspelling the word, that is how the locals refer to them). These vortexes are supposed to be centers of concentrated earth energy. Lounging or meditating near a vortex is presumably uplifting. It is certainly a more novel tourist attraction than a curio store and it does have the added benefit of getting people outdoors. A little exercise in the sunshine is always uplifting to me.
One document I found online indicated that the vortex near Cathedral Rock was filled with feminine energy. It is supposed to increase one's compassion and empathy. No wonder I had avoided it all week. My father made a snide remark that I would have to hang out at the vortex for a VERY LONG TIME to see any increase in my feminine side.
Buddha Beach at the end of the trail. Just out of frame to the right was a nice long log for sitting. The hoodoos are also off to the right.
Rock rock crossing. I had to stand in the mud with 20 other folks to get this shot.Crescent Moon park is also a mecca for photographers as I have already mentioned. On this last day, I kept wandering over hoping to catch the sunset on the rocks where they are reflected in the water. By the time things were just getting ripe, a swarm of photographers with their tripods staked out plots of gooey mud along the creek bed each hoping I am sure for that quintessential shot. After a entire week of looking up at this admittedly scenic view, I was less enthused about elbowing in. My best shot of the rock was probably taken from our side yard, which incidentally was home to a meditating local for several days while we were there.
I don't know what she was smoking, but she jousted with invisible demons using a tree branch, swayed to and fro on rather unsteady feet, and finally left her shoes behind when she thankfully departed. One can take the whole vortex thing too far.
Cathedral Rock from our vacation rental. So this is my final post about my trip to Sedona. I hope you have enjoyed sharing my vacation with me as much as I enjoyed living it. Sedona is a beautiful oasis and I would love to return and hike some of its more challenging trails. Renting a home was a convenient way to share space with several people and it enabled us to cook for ourselves. Some say Sedona is a life-list destination. With so much to do and so much to see, I couldn't agree more.
Woke late and wasn't feeling too brilliant, drippy nose, headache and blocked sinuses. However, this was the first free day to sit and write, so wrote my Easter blog!
http://www.communitycare.co.uk/blogs/green-living/2009/04/green-man-on-dirty-coal.html
Melody came round whilst I was doing this and her son played with ours. So writing was a slow affair as there was chatting and coffee drinking... but by 1pm I was finished. I got dressed and had a late lunch. Lit the stove and did a big wash up and at about 5pm went to the allotment and dug out lots of dandelions and cut back brambles, ready for spuds going in. Rebuilt a pallet compost bin and pulled out loads of sticks from the stuff which came out of it, putting these back into the new pile.
Came back at nearly 9 and reheated the food which Gill had left for me... potatoes, peas, squash and a slice of quiche followed by lemon cake. Yummy.
A very quiet evening.
http://www.communitycare.co.uk/blogs/green-living/2009/04/green-man-on-dirty-coal.html
Melody came round whilst I was doing this and her son played with ours. So writing was a slow affair as there was chatting and coffee drinking... but by 1pm I was finished. I got dressed and had a late lunch. Lit the stove and did a big wash up and at about 5pm went to the allotment and dug out lots of dandelions and cut back brambles, ready for spuds going in. Rebuilt a pallet compost bin and pulled out loads of sticks from the stuff which came out of it, putting these back into the new pile.
Came back at nearly 9 and reheated the food which Gill had left for me... potatoes, peas, squash and a slice of quiche followed by lemon cake. Yummy.
A very quiet evening.
Excellent day... went first to Bishopthorpe to visit Loretta who had asked me to go with log splitting equipment to split a load of holly logs she had got. I split all these, plus some other logs (elder, pine) and had a look at her compost bin, at her request, and round the garden looking to identify some plants Loretta could not...
Then on to Brunswick Organic Nursery to get some vegetable seedlings. But they are not quite ready for sale yet, except the Calabrese. I bought some lunch and ate it there, and had a brief chat with Adam the chief honcho which was nice.
Then on to see Pauline... but I stopped on Bishopthorpe Road where a vehicle had come off the road a while ago, uprooting a stretch of hedge, which I trimmed with my bowsaw and took the biggest chunks in my trailer. Then cycled to Pauline's to chop a few of her logs, with my big bowsaw, which has a log blade on it, whereas hers has a blade which is better suited to dried wood. Had a coffee and chopped her logs, chatted to her grand-daughter who was helping her with some painting.
Then towards 3pm, to 'York Beach' which is under Ouse Bridge, on the Queens Staith side of the river. Members of York in Transition had arranged to meet a Press photographer here to publicise the Age of Stupid showing at City Screen on 26th April. He arrived and had quite a few suggestions about what and what wouldn't work, so Edward, Candy and I did a variety of poses for the camera! We then all went to City Screen to get another few.
We had just finished when I met my friends Trish, Dexter and Miladdio, which was nice.
Then onto Country Fresh with an AoS poster, and St Nicks with my second AoS poster and flyers.
Then home! The family had gone into town to go to the Warhammer shop, as both boys are getting into these little models, and they came back and started painting them up and gluing them together. I spent some time with them and had a word game with my eldest.
Minimal tea, enjoyed Newsnight as it was Ethical Man's second USA outing.
Then on to Brunswick Organic Nursery to get some vegetable seedlings. But they are not quite ready for sale yet, except the Calabrese. I bought some lunch and ate it there, and had a brief chat with Adam the chief honcho which was nice.
Then on to see Pauline... but I stopped on Bishopthorpe Road where a vehicle had come off the road a while ago, uprooting a stretch of hedge, which I trimmed with my bowsaw and took the biggest chunks in my trailer. Then cycled to Pauline's to chop a few of her logs, with my big bowsaw, which has a log blade on it, whereas hers has a blade which is better suited to dried wood. Had a coffee and chopped her logs, chatted to her grand-daughter who was helping her with some painting.
Then towards 3pm, to 'York Beach' which is under Ouse Bridge, on the Queens Staith side of the river. Members of York in Transition had arranged to meet a Press photographer here to publicise the Age of Stupid showing at City Screen on 26th April. He arrived and had quite a few suggestions about what and what wouldn't work, so Edward, Candy and I did a variety of poses for the camera! We then all went to City Screen to get another few.
We had just finished when I met my friends Trish, Dexter and Miladdio, which was nice.
Then onto Country Fresh with an AoS poster, and St Nicks with my second AoS poster and flyers.
Then home! The family had gone into town to go to the Warhammer shop, as both boys are getting into these little models, and they came back and started painting them up and gluing them together. I spent some time with them and had a word game with my eldest.
Minimal tea, enjoyed Newsnight as it was Ethical Man's second USA outing.
Another good night's sleep and up relatively early to get packing. Gill was somewhat better and soon after 10 Dankie drove us down to Norwich station so we could get the train to Peterborough. Nice chat with a youth worker called Alex who was heading back to Birmingham. When we got to Peterborough, a train to York pulled in which was about 10 minutes late, so we had no wait at all and although the train was full, we got seats in the same area of the carriage and we got to York about 15 minutes sooner than expected. A bus drew in just as we got to the front of the station, and we were home soon after 3pm.
Good to be home! Opened letters, read the Press, made some phone calls, lit the stove, did washing up. Just usual stuff, back to normal.
I went to Country Fresh to collect what they had got put aside for me, and Somerfield to get a job-lot of pasta. They have a good 'two for the price of one' deal; I spent £11 on about 12 bags of pasta, lots of different sorts. Had pasta and home-grown purple sprouting broccoli for tea.
A peaceful evening.
Good to be home! Opened letters, read the Press, made some phone calls, lit the stove, did washing up. Just usual stuff, back to normal.
I went to Country Fresh to collect what they had got put aside for me, and Somerfield to get a job-lot of pasta. They have a good 'two for the price of one' deal; I spent £11 on about 12 bags of pasta, lots of different sorts. Had pasta and home-grown purple sprouting broccoli for tea.
A peaceful evening.
A much better night's sleep and another relatively peaceful morning. Sophie and Dankie and Linda took all the children to the Norwich Castle Museum and I stayed in to look after Gill who was not well at all.
I cut Linda's front hedge and spent some time on the computer, and read, between seeing that Gill was OK and making sure that Linda's dog was too, as she'd left him with us.
Linda came back with the children at about 4 and they'd had a brilliant day with storytelling, Egyptian mummies, lots of activities and fun and education. I helped Linda make a simple meal, which we all had together, Sophie and Dankie coming back just as it was served.
Gill got a bit better during the evening and came down to watch Secret Millionaire which was very good, as usual.
I cut Linda's front hedge and spent some time on the computer, and read, between seeing that Gill was OK and making sure that Linda's dog was too, as she'd left him with us.
Linda came back with the children at about 4 and they'd had a brilliant day with storytelling, Egyptian mummies, lots of activities and fun and education. I helped Linda make a simple meal, which we all had together, Sophie and Dankie coming back just as it was served.
Gill got a bit better during the evening and came down to watch Secret Millionaire which was very good, as usual.
Distance: 2.6 miles roundtrip
Elevation: 4,550 to 4,600 ft
Rock spires on the eastern end of Thunder Mountain
On our last day in Sedona, I did not get up and hike early in the morning. I lucked out later in the day, however, because once the thermometer reached a warm 75 degrees, my mother, whom we call Judy of the Tundra, complained of the heat. My father and I dropped her off at our vacation rental, gleefully put on shorts, and headed out to hike.
Andante trail head
I had looked in the book for a short, easy trail that wouldn't over tax him. While the Andante Trail was listed as easy, I would call it moderate simply because it drifted up and down through small gullies that were very rocky.
Dad after an hour in the wilds of Sedona
Andante and Thunder Mountain form a loop if taken together. They exist on the northern side of Sedona, just outside a housing track. The views of the red rocks dominate the scenery but many of the plants and birds also got our attention. There were quite a few Quail, and even a very vocal specimen high up in a shrub, his "head ornament" flapping as his head bobbed up and down. Scrub Jays were also plentiful.
You don't escape from urban life on the Thunder Mountain Trail, but with views like this, do you care?
There are a lot of social trails in the area that gave us pause once in a while, but with the view of Sedona's houses within sight, we didn't have to worry about getting lost in the wilderness.
The trail gets up close and personal to Thunder Mountain itself.
Elevation: 4,550 to 4,600 ft
Rock spires on the eastern end of Thunder MountainOn our last day in Sedona, I did not get up and hike early in the morning. I lucked out later in the day, however, because once the thermometer reached a warm 75 degrees, my mother, whom we call Judy of the Tundra, complained of the heat. My father and I dropped her off at our vacation rental, gleefully put on shorts, and headed out to hike.
Andante trail headI had looked in the book for a short, easy trail that wouldn't over tax him. While the Andante Trail was listed as easy, I would call it moderate simply because it drifted up and down through small gullies that were very rocky.
Dad after an hour in the wilds of SedonaAndante and Thunder Mountain form a loop if taken together. They exist on the northern side of Sedona, just outside a housing track. The views of the red rocks dominate the scenery but many of the plants and birds also got our attention. There were quite a few Quail, and even a very vocal specimen high up in a shrub, his "head ornament" flapping as his head bobbed up and down. Scrub Jays were also plentiful.
You don't escape from urban life on the Thunder Mountain Trail, but with views like this, do you care?There are a lot of social trails in the area that gave us pause once in a while, but with the view of Sedona's houses within sight, we didn't have to worry about getting lost in the wilderness.
The trail gets up close and personal to Thunder Mountain itself.
Wupatki RuinsWaupatki is WAY OUT from Flagstaff, a good 30 miles northeast and we almost did not drive there but I am so glad we did. It became my Mother’s personal favorite of all the ruins we visited. The drive itself, while long, is very scenic and is a loop so you don’t have to backtrack that much.
The route goes right by Sunset Crater National Monument, a volcanic cinder cone. My Father really wanted to see this site, but it was so chilly and windy that we only took a short 1/3-mile trail. I have been there before and the 1-mile trail through the lava beds in very interesting.Sunset crater last erupted between 1040 and 1100, a final hiccup in a long 6-million year history of volcanic activity in the Flagstaff area. The ash and tremors drove the local 400-year old Sinaguan population from the area. They did not return for a 100 years.
Wupatki National Monument contains at least 5 sets of ruins. Finally reaching our limit on ruins, hard to believe I know, we only stopped at the main one. This pueblo sits out on a plain several thousand feet below the plateau that Sunset Crater sits on. In the distance you can see Arizona’s painted desert.
There are two circular structures, which farther north I would call a Kiva, that served as community centers. The pueblo itself is multi-story, which is always fascinating to me. How these peoples, who did not have the wheel, were able to build apartment complexes is quite amazing if you spend more than two seconds thinking about it.
Community RoomThe red rocks, blue skies, endless vistas that surround this sight make it a worthy spot if you are in the Flagstaff area.
Looking east out into the Painted Desert
A very lazy morning reading NewScientist and a good book Ali lent me, keeping out of the way of all the children who were running around like maniacs... nothing to do with chocolate overdosing of course?
Helped Linda in the garden, digging up a dying Rosemary bush and replacing it with a lovely-looking small tree or shrub which I could not identify. The children were persuaded to go on a slug and snail hunt. These were put in a bucket with something to hide under, ready for relocation.
Gill was having a migraine, poor thing, so stayed in bed all day, and Linda looked after her when the rest of us went out for a walk with Sophie, Dankie and all the children. We drove, in two cars, to Mousehold Heath, an area of woodland and heathland which has seen lots of gravel extraction, and therefore has lots of hillocks and dips, great to run around, and we found a rope swing and had fun on that. Other members of the group started making a den with sticks and branches, and after energetic rope-swing activity, everybody joined in with this. We climbed trees and threw sticks, I pushed over a large rotten silver birch tree. The snails were released, and we heard woodpeckers drumming. I collected litter in the snails' bucket and some polybags I found. (33 pieces of recyclable can/bottle type litter, plus lots of throw-away stuff) After all this activity we had an ice cream and borrowed some young adults' football and had a kick around. Most of the children had a fabulous time and we all enjoyed this place. What a pity Gill couldn't see it and join in.
After tea, I did a balloon show and workshop for the children which they mostly enjoyed and I was delighted to see how good some of them were at making a bird model! We got the sleeping arrangements organised sensibly and I had a much better night's sleep.
Helped Linda in the garden, digging up a dying Rosemary bush and replacing it with a lovely-looking small tree or shrub which I could not identify. The children were persuaded to go on a slug and snail hunt. These were put in a bucket with something to hide under, ready for relocation.
Gill was having a migraine, poor thing, so stayed in bed all day, and Linda looked after her when the rest of us went out for a walk with Sophie, Dankie and all the children. We drove, in two cars, to Mousehold Heath, an area of woodland and heathland which has seen lots of gravel extraction, and therefore has lots of hillocks and dips, great to run around, and we found a rope swing and had fun on that. Other members of the group started making a den with sticks and branches, and after energetic rope-swing activity, everybody joined in with this. We climbed trees and threw sticks, I pushed over a large rotten silver birch tree. The snails were released, and we heard woodpeckers drumming. I collected litter in the snails' bucket and some polybags I found. (33 pieces of recyclable can/bottle type litter, plus lots of throw-away stuff) After all this activity we had an ice cream and borrowed some young adults' football and had a kick around. Most of the children had a fabulous time and we all enjoyed this place. What a pity Gill couldn't see it and join in.
After tea, I did a balloon show and workshop for the children which they mostly enjoyed and I was delighted to see how good some of them were at making a bird model! We got the sleeping arrangements organised sensibly and I had a much better night's sleep.
Woke feeling achy. The bed we slept on wasn't the same as ours, and I was reminded of our previous bed, which led to me having backache lots. But it soon wore off.
A slow start to the day, but then walked into town to go to a museum or two. We first went to one with lots of animal skeletons, but it was closed. However, there was a huge whale skeleton displayed outside, and this was fascinating. We would have loved to go round this museum as it looked brilliant... through the windows! There was even a narwhal skeleton with two tusks... they usually only have one!
So we moved on to the Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences which was stuffed with fossils and rocks, I could have spent much more time there but some of the group needed to move on. So, in the same building was the University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology which was excellent. Again, I could have spent quite a bit more time here but my concentration span is considerably longer than the children's. I do really recommend visiting these museums.
We walked back to Elissa and George's house, and then George drove us to the station where we got the train to Norwich, where Gill's sister (and George's mum) Linda lives. We are all very fond of Linda as she is very like Gill, and it was lovely to see her. She collected us in her tiny car... quite a squeeze. One of Linda's other offspring, Sophie, and her husband Dankie, and their three children were already there, so it was quite a houseful. Fortunately, there are a selection of futons and extra beds, and a converted loft-space. But this didn't mean a settled night for me as the excitement with all the children charging round meant that their bedtime was late... too late, and this meant a case of 'musical beds'/bed hopping to try to get people settled and I therefore I slept on the sofa downstairs. I had a quite uncomfortable night.
A slow start to the day, but then walked into town to go to a museum or two. We first went to one with lots of animal skeletons, but it was closed. However, there was a huge whale skeleton displayed outside, and this was fascinating. We would have loved to go round this museum as it looked brilliant... through the windows! There was even a narwhal skeleton with two tusks... they usually only have one!
So we moved on to the Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences which was stuffed with fossils and rocks, I could have spent much more time there but some of the group needed to move on. So, in the same building was the University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology which was excellent. Again, I could have spent quite a bit more time here but my concentration span is considerably longer than the children's. I do really recommend visiting these museums.
We walked back to Elissa and George's house, and then George drove us to the station where we got the train to Norwich, where Gill's sister (and George's mum) Linda lives. We are all very fond of Linda as she is very like Gill, and it was lovely to see her. She collected us in her tiny car... quite a squeeze. One of Linda's other offspring, Sophie, and her husband Dankie, and their three children were already there, so it was quite a houseful. Fortunately, there are a selection of futons and extra beds, and a converted loft-space. But this didn't mean a settled night for me as the excitement with all the children charging round meant that their bedtime was late... too late, and this meant a case of 'musical beds'/bed hopping to try to get people settled and I therefore I slept on the sofa downstairs. I had a quite uncomfortable night.
Up early as we've a busy day today. We set off for the station in a taxi to get the 09.35 down to Peterborough and then got the next train to Cambridge, where George (Gill's nephew) and his partner Elissa live. George met us and drove us to their house.
We had a nice time with them and then in the early evening, walked into the City and went out for a meal at the Rainbow Vegetarian Cafe, where Elissa is a regular, as she used to live opposite, in a room in the gatehouse of the University. There was one table big enough for our group... but we had to wait for half an hour for it... but it was worth it. When the food actually arrived (another half hour, we were ready for it!) It was delicious and wholesome, and not cheap, but hey, it was a special occasion as we hardly ever get to see these relatives. George is especially good with the children, and I really like Elissa's directness and frank opinions. She doesn't mince her words yet she is careful how she phrases things. We discussed journalism as she, like me, works as a writer, and, like me, is untrained, having landed in the role almost by accident. She writes for The Africa Report, and was at the G20 talks interviewing a top African economist. I read one of her articles and it was very good. I hope she continues with this career.
We enjoyed the walk home... Cambridge is a beautiful place, and walking leisurely and chatting
made a good end to a really lovely day.
We had a nice time with them and then in the early evening, walked into the City and went out for a meal at the Rainbow Vegetarian Cafe, where Elissa is a regular, as she used to live opposite, in a room in the gatehouse of the University. There was one table big enough for our group... but we had to wait for half an hour for it... but it was worth it. When the food actually arrived (another half hour, we were ready for it!) It was delicious and wholesome, and not cheap, but hey, it was a special occasion as we hardly ever get to see these relatives. George is especially good with the children, and I really like Elissa's directness and frank opinions. She doesn't mince her words yet she is careful how she phrases things. We discussed journalism as she, like me, works as a writer, and, like me, is untrained, having landed in the role almost by accident. She writes for The Africa Report, and was at the G20 talks interviewing a top African economist. I read one of her articles and it was very good. I hope she continues with this career.
We enjoyed the walk home... Cambridge is a beautiful place, and walking leisurely and chatting
made a good end to a really lovely day.
Distance: 1 miles round trip
Elevation: 7,000 ft
Elevation Gain: None
Ruins in an alcove at Walnut Canyon. You can see this set from the Visitor's Center.
Having exhausted all the ruins near Sedona, the family unit decided to head north towards Flagstaff, which is 3,000 feet higher, and quite cooler than its trendier cousin to the south. I have always like the Flagstaff area because of its Ponderosa pines, which smell like my happy childhood summers camping around the west.
We hit two National Monuments near Flagstaff, the first one being Walnut Canyon. I am loath to pass up a tourist attraction, particularly if a new refrigerator magnet can be earned. I hate to say it, but the magnet was the best part of the outing.
The dwelling trail viewed from the Visitor's Center.
Walnut Canyon National Monument contains a series of cliff dwellings that are simplistically constructed into the canyon walls. There are over 300 steps down into the canyon to view the more impressive ones. There was no way my Mother, who had gamely managed to get around thus far, was going to handle that. Instead, we took her out onto the nice viewing platform that angles downward 30 feet or so below the Visitor’s Center. You can see some dwellings from there as well as the canyon floor.
A typical portion of the Rim Trail. You can see a few of the dead trees in the distance. On part of the trail they were everywhere.
We did walk the Rim Trail, which also has nice views of the canyon. There were a lot of dead trees in this area that turned out to be caused by Pine Beetle kill. We saw the tracks and scat of Mule Deer and one Juniper Titmouse that I managed to get a very blurry picture of. There are ruins of a pit house on the Rim Trail that is mildly interesting.
Looking down to the canyon floor. Most of the trees had yet to leaf out.
I don’t think I would drive 300 miles to see Walnut Canyon, but if you are in the area it would make a pleasant excursion. In milder weather, we were quite nipped after Sedona, a leisurely picnic on site would also be pleasant.
Elevation: 7,000 ft
Elevation Gain: None
Ruins in an alcove at Walnut Canyon. You can see this set from the Visitor's Center.Having exhausted all the ruins near Sedona, the family unit decided to head north towards Flagstaff, which is 3,000 feet higher, and quite cooler than its trendier cousin to the south. I have always like the Flagstaff area because of its Ponderosa pines, which smell like my happy childhood summers camping around the west.
We hit two National Monuments near Flagstaff, the first one being Walnut Canyon. I am loath to pass up a tourist attraction, particularly if a new refrigerator magnet can be earned. I hate to say it, but the magnet was the best part of the outing.
The dwelling trail viewed from the Visitor's Center.Walnut Canyon National Monument contains a series of cliff dwellings that are simplistically constructed into the canyon walls. There are over 300 steps down into the canyon to view the more impressive ones. There was no way my Mother, who had gamely managed to get around thus far, was going to handle that. Instead, we took her out onto the nice viewing platform that angles downward 30 feet or so below the Visitor’s Center. You can see some dwellings from there as well as the canyon floor.
A typical portion of the Rim Trail. You can see a few of the dead trees in the distance. On part of the trail they were everywhere.
Looking down to the canyon floor. Most of the trees had yet to leaf out.I don’t think I would drive 300 miles to see Walnut Canyon, but if you are in the area it would make a pleasant excursion. In milder weather, we were quite nipped after Sedona, a leisurely picnic on site would also be pleasant.
