A pretty quiet day in many ways. I did a lot of housework and some work on the computer, sliced up two pineapples and 8 kiwi fruit for drying, and did some compost heap management, a bit of chainsawing, some riddling, and bagging up of the clay soil from the wall excavations. Oh, and I installed this year's bean poles, some rescued long branches which I decided not to chop for firewood, as I thought ahead to their possible use.
I went to the Co-op in the afternoon, as Gill asked me to, and popped into a friend who is preparing to conquer her alcoholism, she hopes! I'm going to give her some support next week when she starts going through her detox. She will need a lot of strength and good luck. I went to the Co-op shop and then decided to go and visit Freshways... I didn't go yesterday which is when they do a big stock rotation and throw out an average of 40kg of fruit and veg. So I went there and picked it up (they'd put it round the back) and met a friendly student called Geeta, whom I know from the People and Planet Allotment. She'd gone to Freshways to buy candles... so I said, "I can give you some if you want.... as I've got bags of them in the loft, left over from assorted skip-diving."
So she came back and I found about 10 different candles for her and then took her on a tour down the garden to see the trees (all in bloom and at their prettiest) the Shiitake mushrooms, and the composting and recycling, etc. I think she enjoyed the visit. I enjoyed her visit, it feels good to give stuff unexpectedly!
An equally quiet evening. Tea was foraged sweet chestnuts (dried one Autumn, and then soaked and boiled), home grown Shiitake, rescued onion, and a bought tomato all cooked up together, with a toastie with blue cheese and black olive paste in it. Tasty stuff! Also had a nice Googletalk conversation with my Canadian friend/colleague Rory and made plans for a visit next month to Manchester, for the Spencer Tunick exhibition and the World Naked Bike Ride.
Showing posts with label Googletalk. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Googletalk. Show all posts
A good day, got a lot done. I had a slow start, with emails and stuff, but at 11 went to buy bread from Thomas' 'Yesterbake' (actually Saturday's bake) and got (fresh) veggie pasties too, to make tea easier.
I did quite a bit of work in the garden... pruned back all the fruited loganberries and chopped them down to thin bits for composting and the thicker straight lengths all went into a wooden fruit-box to dry off and become kindling for the stove next winter.
Then I tied-in the loganberry shoots which grew last year and will fruit this year. It looks really tidy now, a good job done.
The large sack of smaller twiggy bits made a good thick layer on the new compost heap which I started yesterday. I added another huge load of greengrocer stuff on top of it, surrounded by flattened cardboard boxes to keep the material from falling out of the pallet-sided cube.
At about half five Gill came down and reminded me that I had taken her bike to Cycle Heaven yesterday to have the back wheel repaired. I'd said to them that if the wheel was not repairable, they could replace it, so we rang to find out what they had done and the cost. They had replaced the wheel and the tyre and done some other work... costing £56... sharp intake of breath!
We hadn't actually got that amount of cash between us, so one of our sons offered to go and look in his piggy bank equivalent, and found £40 to lend us, mainly in coins. I took this and hopped on my bike and scooted off down to Bishopthorpe Road. Very soon I was cycling back towards town with Gill's bike wheeling along next to me, and I decided to pick up a film ticket for the weekend, and then onto Millers Yard to pick up orange halves. Dylan gave me two nice pine chairs which he said were surplus to requirement, so I loaded these onto the trailer too. If we don't need them, I'll put them on Freecycle.
Home with the two bikes, two chairs and about 60kg of compostable oranges. Slowly.
Gill was glad to see me, and her bike, and I came in to help.
She had made some leek and potato and cheese sauce thing to go with the pasties, which was good. I had to head off to the other side of the Racecourse then for a York in Transition Directors meeting. Four of us attended, and we have just about finished the structure we need before we can ask for a volunteer Treasurer. We need quite a few policies in place, but when these are sorted, we'll be in a much better place to get funding for projects. It was a good meeting, and our host had worked really hard getting the different policies written. Some changes were suggested, these will be incorporated and then the documents sent round for comments and then adopting.
When I got in, Gill was once again very glad to see me. I assisted in getting the children off to bed.
Later, had my first googletalk conversation with my Canadian colleague about the website we are doing. And after that, whilst on facebook, Gill's nephew Jonny who is in Australia was on the chat function, and Gill had a nice conversation with him. I wonder if Gill will consider joining facebook?
I did quite a bit of work in the garden... pruned back all the fruited loganberries and chopped them down to thin bits for composting and the thicker straight lengths all went into a wooden fruit-box to dry off and become kindling for the stove next winter.
Then I tied-in the loganberry shoots which grew last year and will fruit this year. It looks really tidy now, a good job done.
The large sack of smaller twiggy bits made a good thick layer on the new compost heap which I started yesterday. I added another huge load of greengrocer stuff on top of it, surrounded by flattened cardboard boxes to keep the material from falling out of the pallet-sided cube.
At about half five Gill came down and reminded me that I had taken her bike to Cycle Heaven yesterday to have the back wheel repaired. I'd said to them that if the wheel was not repairable, they could replace it, so we rang to find out what they had done and the cost. They had replaced the wheel and the tyre and done some other work... costing £56... sharp intake of breath!
We hadn't actually got that amount of cash between us, so one of our sons offered to go and look in his piggy bank equivalent, and found £40 to lend us, mainly in coins. I took this and hopped on my bike and scooted off down to Bishopthorpe Road. Very soon I was cycling back towards town with Gill's bike wheeling along next to me, and I decided to pick up a film ticket for the weekend, and then onto Millers Yard to pick up orange halves. Dylan gave me two nice pine chairs which he said were surplus to requirement, so I loaded these onto the trailer too. If we don't need them, I'll put them on Freecycle.
Home with the two bikes, two chairs and about 60kg of compostable oranges. Slowly.
Gill was glad to see me, and her bike, and I came in to help.
She had made some leek and potato and cheese sauce thing to go with the pasties, which was good. I had to head off to the other side of the Racecourse then for a York in Transition Directors meeting. Four of us attended, and we have just about finished the structure we need before we can ask for a volunteer Treasurer. We need quite a few policies in place, but when these are sorted, we'll be in a much better place to get funding for projects. It was a good meeting, and our host had worked really hard getting the different policies written. Some changes were suggested, these will be incorporated and then the documents sent round for comments and then adopting.
When I got in, Gill was once again very glad to see me. I assisted in getting the children off to bed.
Later, had my first googletalk conversation with my Canadian colleague about the website we are doing. And after that, whilst on facebook, Gill's nephew Jonny who is in Australia was on the chat function, and Gill had a nice conversation with him. I wonder if Gill will consider joining facebook?
Gill took the boys to school and then went on a school visit to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park with our eldest.
I had a quiet day inside, although the weather was lovely out, I had to get my paid blog done (didn't do it at the weekend) and had a chat with Ali and Lorna and then just before I came off the computer at lunchtime, with K... so a busy and communicative morning. Also had several Fiddlesticks enquiries After lunch I did housework, washing up, made tomato soup, and finally getting out to the front garden to build a logpile just as the troops came home. I took just one boy (not my own!) to Martial Arts and went to collect stuff from Country Fresh, taking it to the lottie.
Home to have soup and pasta at 6, spent most of the evening dealing with a vast number of apples which were too good to compost and are perfect for drying. Loaded 4 racks with dozens and dozens of slices, plus one with melon slices. A warm evening with the stove, watching Ideal on BBC3 and Newsnight. Gill was exhausted from all the walking, plus the warmth of the stove made her sleep all evening.
I had a quiet day inside, although the weather was lovely out, I had to get my paid blog done (didn't do it at the weekend) and had a chat with Ali and Lorna and then just before I came off the computer at lunchtime, with K... so a busy and communicative morning. Also had several Fiddlesticks enquiries After lunch I did housework, washing up, made tomato soup, and finally getting out to the front garden to build a logpile just as the troops came home. I took just one boy (not my own!) to Martial Arts and went to collect stuff from Country Fresh, taking it to the lottie.
Home to have soup and pasta at 6, spent most of the evening dealing with a vast number of apples which were too good to compost and are perfect for drying. Loaded 4 racks with dozens and dozens of slices, plus one with melon slices. A warm evening with the stove, watching Ideal on BBC3 and Newsnight. Gill was exhausted from all the walking, plus the warmth of the stove made her sleep all evening.
A lovely start to the day. When I did eventually get up I lit the stove to get bathwater and did some important emails which I should have done yesterday, re York Green Festival planning...
Lovely bath and hairwash, had lunch and got my bags together for my trip to London where I have a gig tomorrow with CRAGger Anna from Peckham's daughter... so going down tonight to meet CRAGger Zaria and possibly see the allotment with a £18000 compost toilet!!!
Got the 2pm train down to King's Cross and did emails and deleted stuff, also chatted with K. on Googletalk which was a bonus!
Brilliant evening meeting Zaria.
Lovely bath and hairwash, had lunch and got my bags together for my trip to London where I have a gig tomorrow with CRAGger Anna from Peckham's daughter... so going down tonight to meet CRAGger Zaria and possibly see the allotment with a £18000 compost toilet!!!
Got the 2pm train down to King's Cross and did emails and deleted stuff, also chatted with K. on Googletalk which was a bonus!
Brilliant evening meeting Zaria.
Got up at the normal time but went back to bed for a half hour whilst the children were playing in the garden. At 10ish I went outside and did some more work with the motorised riddle, attracting lots of attention from several robins. Came in at 1pm for lunch but had to break off to tell both boys off for over-reacting and being provocative, and not doing what their parents tell them.
However after a strained lunch, I offered to take the boys out to the park, where they could play with a helicopter toy and not lose it over a hedge and wave sticks around (both of them are very attached to a staff/gunstick/pointystick/weapon thing) and have a bit of a game of frisbee with me. I knew they'd get bored with the 'organised' activities fairly soon so I took my bowsaw to help demolish a fallen tree which has been left for folks to take.
We had a bit of fun with the frisbee and helicopter toy and then they went to explore so I did a bit of woodchopping, alongside a chap with a petrol chainsaw who was friendly but got exasperated with it being blunt, and seeing that my bowsaw was quicker!
Gill popped into the park to check we were allright and we came back with her. I did some more riddling and came in at 6. Tea was a reheat stew thing on top of some pasta.
A quiet evening, did some Facebook stuff, chatted on Googletalk, went on the CRAG website, visited a good blog and did some surfing. Bed rather late, after 2am.
However after a strained lunch, I offered to take the boys out to the park, where they could play with a helicopter toy and not lose it over a hedge and wave sticks around (both of them are very attached to a staff/gunstick/pointystick/weapon thing) and have a bit of a game of frisbee with me. I knew they'd get bored with the 'organised' activities fairly soon so I took my bowsaw to help demolish a fallen tree which has been left for folks to take.
We had a bit of fun with the frisbee and helicopter toy and then they went to explore so I did a bit of woodchopping, alongside a chap with a petrol chainsaw who was friendly but got exasperated with it being blunt, and seeing that my bowsaw was quicker!
Gill popped into the park to check we were allright and we came back with her. I did some more riddling and came in at 6. Tea was a reheat stew thing on top of some pasta.
A quiet evening, did some Facebook stuff, chatted on Googletalk, went on the CRAG website, visited a good blog and did some surfing. Bed rather late, after 2am.
I woke earlier than usual and flopped downstairs, and Gill asked me to take the boys to school as she'd been up since 6am and made them pancakes and done some sewing and made their lunch..... so how could I refuse?
Gill went to the 'Strenghtening Families, Strengthening Communities' parenting course whilst I went to the dentist for a check up. My new 'between the teeth' brush is doing a good job and I had less gunge than usual needing to be ultrasounded away. However my lovely dentist discovered something called 'a pocket' which is apparently a bit of bone loss caused by my less than strong gums and the less than efficient brushing they've recieved. However, I've still got no fillings from caries, just two from a congenital abnormality called 'dens indente' which means I was born with two hollow teeth.... So I've got to go for an X-ray to check how much bone has gone. Oh dear.
I cycled over to the family centre to do the 12-2 bit of the parenting course, which was quite good today.
Went to visit Richard after, at Martin's Veg Emporium, and the wholesaler had left me a huge pile to pick up and recycle... only just managed to get it home. Then, as soon as had unloaded, went down to school to pick up my boys, raced back and very soon took them up to Archbishop Holgate's school for a 45 min session of Martial Arts/Self Defence which one of their friends had invited them to. They both loved it! There were only 6 kids there, but it looked fun and they want to go back next week.
I had an unusual tea... an out of date 'instant meal in a pot' left over from Out Of This World, a potato-based thing called 'tru-free', which was dried powder which needed a cupful of added boiling water to make it rehydrate. The rest of the family thought it looked horrible, but it was actually delicious! I wouldn't go out and buy it, but it was worth eating to stop it being composted or landfilled!
I did a bit of emailing, including one to an Observer reporter who'd made enquiries about CRAGs and wanted some info about how they worked etc... did this just before going out to the Black Swan to a CRAG meeting. James was there first and me second, and two others came soon and a new member after that... then halfway through the meeting, another two members arrived. We had a very full meeting, with discussions about the next public meeting, where, when, what format..., and publicity, and future meetings, and subjects we could cover such as biofuels, food, waste and recycling... We discussed some other groups who have similar aims like Greenspeak, York Green Festival 08, and the No Miles High Club. Very much enjoyed our conversations and conflicting views and takes on things, we have a very busy meeting with a lot going on. We do not all agree, there is rarely harmony, but we all are passionate about cutting carbon and leading green(er) lives. I left at 11pm and came home via St Nicks and found two lonely logs which will look happy on my stove next winter...!
Good chats on Googletalk with K whilst finishing blog....
Gill went to the 'Strenghtening Families, Strengthening Communities' parenting course whilst I went to the dentist for a check up. My new 'between the teeth' brush is doing a good job and I had less gunge than usual needing to be ultrasounded away. However my lovely dentist discovered something called 'a pocket' which is apparently a bit of bone loss caused by my less than strong gums and the less than efficient brushing they've recieved. However, I've still got no fillings from caries, just two from a congenital abnormality called 'dens indente' which means I was born with two hollow teeth.... So I've got to go for an X-ray to check how much bone has gone. Oh dear.
I cycled over to the family centre to do the 12-2 bit of the parenting course, which was quite good today.
Went to visit Richard after, at Martin's Veg Emporium, and the wholesaler had left me a huge pile to pick up and recycle... only just managed to get it home. Then, as soon as had unloaded, went down to school to pick up my boys, raced back and very soon took them up to Archbishop Holgate's school for a 45 min session of Martial Arts/Self Defence which one of their friends had invited them to. They both loved it! There were only 6 kids there, but it looked fun and they want to go back next week.
I had an unusual tea... an out of date 'instant meal in a pot' left over from Out Of This World, a potato-based thing called 'tru-free', which was dried powder which needed a cupful of added boiling water to make it rehydrate. The rest of the family thought it looked horrible, but it was actually delicious! I wouldn't go out and buy it, but it was worth eating to stop it being composted or landfilled!
I did a bit of emailing, including one to an Observer reporter who'd made enquiries about CRAGs and wanted some info about how they worked etc... did this just before going out to the Black Swan to a CRAG meeting. James was there first and me second, and two others came soon and a new member after that... then halfway through the meeting, another two members arrived. We had a very full meeting, with discussions about the next public meeting, where, when, what format..., and publicity, and future meetings, and subjects we could cover such as biofuels, food, waste and recycling... We discussed some other groups who have similar aims like Greenspeak, York Green Festival 08, and the No Miles High Club. Very much enjoyed our conversations and conflicting views and takes on things, we have a very busy meeting with a lot going on. We do not all agree, there is rarely harmony, but we all are passionate about cutting carbon and leading green(er) lives. I left at 11pm and came home via St Nicks and found two lonely logs which will look happy on my stove next winter...!
Good chats on Googletalk with K whilst finishing blog....
A good day, got a lot done... started with a lie-in with Gilly which was as usual lovely and then got up, leaving her for a sleep and I got on with some housework including processing a load of oranges into juice. I then went into town and got a repeat prescription for my asthma preventer, and paid the electricity bill for the year ahead... it cost £227 as last year we used 1213 units (about 3 per day) and Good Energy says that the normal usage is between 12 and 26 units a day. That annual cost includes a fixed charge of 15.63pence/day too.
I visited my friend Debbie who has recently started a manageress job in a charity shop, after several years out of work. It was brilliant seeing her 'in her element', and dealing with the public so well. I was her referee for the job, although I'd never seen her at work, unless delivering leaflets counts as work! I also met a volunteer called Rosalind, a fairly glamorous 60 year old who flirted with me which was nice.
Met Jim in Coney Street and had a good chat, and then in Cycle Heaven met Rosie, who was initially Gill's friend (I think they met through Accessible Arts) and is now friends with both of us.
Got back just in time for picking up the kiddies and got back to some dry weather (been raining all day) so I went down the garden to try to get more hedge sorted out.
Gill made a super Spaghetti Bolognaise using soya mince... very tasty.
During the evening I watched a very interesting programme with Michael Portillo, and had a good chat with K on the computer (googletalk), then Gill and I did our 'parenting' homework which we've been putting off all week.
I visited my friend Debbie who has recently started a manageress job in a charity shop, after several years out of work. It was brilliant seeing her 'in her element', and dealing with the public so well. I was her referee for the job, although I'd never seen her at work, unless delivering leaflets counts as work! I also met a volunteer called Rosalind, a fairly glamorous 60 year old who flirted with me which was nice.
Met Jim in Coney Street and had a good chat, and then in Cycle Heaven met Rosie, who was initially Gill's friend (I think they met through Accessible Arts) and is now friends with both of us.
Got back just in time for picking up the kiddies and got back to some dry weather (been raining all day) so I went down the garden to try to get more hedge sorted out.
Gill made a super Spaghetti Bolognaise using soya mince... very tasty.
During the evening I watched a very interesting programme with Michael Portillo, and had a good chat with K on the computer (googletalk), then Gill and I did our 'parenting' homework which we've been putting off all week.
A bit of a lie-in as went to bed very late last night after avidly enjoying a fab film about big wave surfing, really exciting... another exciting and dangerous activity Id love to have tried but probably never will now I'm 'middle aged'! Did very little in the morning... did mean to go to the lottie but didn't get around to it, so did some stuff in the garden, cutting back last year's growth, mainly blackberries, but did some weeding too.
After lunch did more garden work... reconfigured a compost heap by digging it out and taking up the pallets, tidying up around them and redoing them with wire to hold them together. Started filling the new container with chopped brambles.
My neighbour asked me if I'd like to remove a couple of lengths of hedge which he'll replace with fence, to give more space and light and better soil conditions near the edge of the garden. The hedge is about 3 feet thick and 6 feet high... the deal is that if I remove and 'dispose' of the hedge, he'll pay for and put up the new fence. Sounds fair. There's a lot of work removing the hedge, but it will give me loads of materials for composting and for the stove.
Tea was last night's nutloaf with a cheese sauce on top.
Then got myself ready to do a gig at the MS Respite Care Centre over the road, for the guests who all have Multiple Sclerosis and are staying there as their carers are having some time off. I've entertained there on several previous occasions... the first was really difficult as I couldn't work out how to translate my interactive kids show to one for adult wheelchair users, but managed by going through the show in the form of an advert or run-through of what I do, and they seemed to enjoy it, and I've been invited back so something is working well. This time there were about 15 guests, several of whom were quite vocal and one was well enough to balance a feather and have a go at juggling, which was fun for the others too! I did the circus and the balloons, and took nearly two hours including chat.
Got back here at 9.30 and enjoyed a bottle of perry and some silly telly and chat on Googletalk.
After lunch did more garden work... reconfigured a compost heap by digging it out and taking up the pallets, tidying up around them and redoing them with wire to hold them together. Started filling the new container with chopped brambles.
My neighbour asked me if I'd like to remove a couple of lengths of hedge which he'll replace with fence, to give more space and light and better soil conditions near the edge of the garden. The hedge is about 3 feet thick and 6 feet high... the deal is that if I remove and 'dispose' of the hedge, he'll pay for and put up the new fence. Sounds fair. There's a lot of work removing the hedge, but it will give me loads of materials for composting and for the stove.
Tea was last night's nutloaf with a cheese sauce on top.
Then got myself ready to do a gig at the MS Respite Care Centre over the road, for the guests who all have Multiple Sclerosis and are staying there as their carers are having some time off. I've entertained there on several previous occasions... the first was really difficult as I couldn't work out how to translate my interactive kids show to one for adult wheelchair users, but managed by going through the show in the form of an advert or run-through of what I do, and they seemed to enjoy it, and I've been invited back so something is working well. This time there were about 15 guests, several of whom were quite vocal and one was well enough to balance a feather and have a go at juggling, which was fun for the others too! I did the circus and the balloons, and took nearly two hours including chat.
Got back here at 9.30 and enjoyed a bottle of perry and some silly telly and chat on Googletalk.
I took the boys into school as Gill is collecting them this afternoon, as I plan to be at the allotment then. Gill went into town once I'd got back, and I got out my logsplitter and split some of the huge rounds which came from the Woodlands treefelling. These slices of tree trunk, up to 60cm diameter, were extremely tough, this wood does not want to split lengthways as easily as some. A couple of the rounds just wouldn't split, even with the hydraulic machine. I tried to do one and it eventually split on the last attempt, and the huge circle of wood, perhaps 30+kg, toppled off the splitter and fell on my hip, which hurt a lot just for a few minutes. However managed to split quite a lot up.
At 11ish I came in for a rest and a cuppa, and downloaded emails. Whenever I put the computer on, I get a pop-up message from Googlemail inviting me to download the new version of Googletalk. I have done this on several occasions, and the message still keeps on popping up. I emailed Google about this and got a reply today, telling me what to do. So I spent some time playing with the computer, trying to sort stuff out, and ended up doing a complete scan which revealed some website tracking programs, which I deleted. I hope the jiggering around with assorted buttons might have sorted the problem. Time will tell.
I had lunch whilst the computer was doing it's thing, and Gill came back from her trip into town, and then the SUMA lorry came with our order... and the stuff for the three other people on our Food Co-op. I unloaded and Gill did the paperwork. Jolly banter with the lorry driver.
Then I went to the lottie... I've had a letter from the allotment management saying mine is untidy and needs to be tidied up or it will be taken away from me.... so I spent several hours cutting back brambles into tiny chunks 1cm to 10 cm long, for composting. Got three dustbins full of these small lengths of blackberry plant, and half a dustbin of dug-up dandylions or other rosetted long-rooted weed. A more putrescible layer between the woody layers of bramble stalk. Continued here til dark, then came back home where the boys were in a good mood and wanted to have a rough and tumble. Good fun, no tears.
Tea was delicious... carrot soup and Gill's fantastic quiche. Played with the boys, we did a 'picture consequences' and then a 'story consequences' which was excellent.
At 11ish I came in for a rest and a cuppa, and downloaded emails. Whenever I put the computer on, I get a pop-up message from Googlemail inviting me to download the new version of Googletalk. I have done this on several occasions, and the message still keeps on popping up. I emailed Google about this and got a reply today, telling me what to do. So I spent some time playing with the computer, trying to sort stuff out, and ended up doing a complete scan which revealed some website tracking programs, which I deleted. I hope the jiggering around with assorted buttons might have sorted the problem. Time will tell.
I had lunch whilst the computer was doing it's thing, and Gill came back from her trip into town, and then the SUMA lorry came with our order... and the stuff for the three other people on our Food Co-op. I unloaded and Gill did the paperwork. Jolly banter with the lorry driver.
Then I went to the lottie... I've had a letter from the allotment management saying mine is untidy and needs to be tidied up or it will be taken away from me.... so I spent several hours cutting back brambles into tiny chunks 1cm to 10 cm long, for composting. Got three dustbins full of these small lengths of blackberry plant, and half a dustbin of dug-up dandylions or other rosetted long-rooted weed. A more putrescible layer between the woody layers of bramble stalk. Continued here til dark, then came back home where the boys were in a good mood and wanted to have a rough and tumble. Good fun, no tears.
Tea was delicious... carrot soup and Gill's fantastic quiche. Played with the boys, we did a 'picture consequences' and then a 'story consequences' which was excellent.
Woke feeling not too groggy although Gill told me I looked awful, so it may catch up with me sometime later today. Felt buoyed up by news from Bali that the World's leaders have managed to agree to set binding targets to reduce carbon emissions, and although the wonderful United States delegation was reluctant, the rest of the world kind of put them into an uncomfortable corner and eventually they agreed. This is good news.... the next round they'll have to ty to agree how much to reduce emissions and how these reductions are carved up. Bring on Contraction and Convergence, I say!
Celebrated (?) by spending most of the morning chopping back old brambles and stacking split logs. Enjoyed watching a heron perched in a nearby fir tree, it sat there for several hours, just looking one way and then another. Lovely!
Had a simple tea of potatoes and pastie and carrots, then for 8pm went to the Black Swan for a CRAG social. Ivana turned up and then Alex and Camilla, and then Robin, James, and finally Dave and Tracy, a good social. However it seemed to change into an AGM type meeting, and we made a decision that the R in our CRAG was to stand for REDUCTION not RATIONING. We made this decision because the concept of reduction is easy to understand, whereas the idea of rationing is a bit more convoluted and complicated. Also, once this was decided, the 'reins' as it were, were handed over from Alex and Camilla, who started the group, to James, who is happy to take control of the email list and website management. Ivana and I are to organise a meeting on Carbon Offsetting, the pros and cons, in Feb 08.
The meeting went on til nearly half eleven so I cycled home as fast as I could so I could go on Googletalk and chat with K who has just had her birthday...
Celebrated (?) by spending most of the morning chopping back old brambles and stacking split logs. Enjoyed watching a heron perched in a nearby fir tree, it sat there for several hours, just looking one way and then another. Lovely!
Had a simple tea of potatoes and pastie and carrots, then for 8pm went to the Black Swan for a CRAG social. Ivana turned up and then Alex and Camilla, and then Robin, James, and finally Dave and Tracy, a good social. However it seemed to change into an AGM type meeting, and we made a decision that the R in our CRAG was to stand for REDUCTION not RATIONING. We made this decision because the concept of reduction is easy to understand, whereas the idea of rationing is a bit more convoluted and complicated. Also, once this was decided, the 'reins' as it were, were handed over from Alex and Camilla, who started the group, to James, who is happy to take control of the email list and website management. Ivana and I are to organise a meeting on Carbon Offsetting, the pros and cons, in Feb 08.
The meeting went on til nearly half eleven so I cycled home as fast as I could so I could go on Googletalk and chat with K who has just had her birthday...
Quite a good day, a slow start as had a late night and then a disturbed night with our youngest, who woke me up in the night with 'hot eyeballs' and a fever. He didn't go to school today because of this.
Gill took in a letter to his class teacher who's asked me to bring my circus skills into his class and do a little demo plus a juggling lesson. When I picked up our older one at 3.15, I found out that this will be next week.
I heard chainsaws and a chipping machine nearby... so went to investigate. It was a team of treesurgeons at Woodlands MS Respite Care Home, which is just 2 mins walk from here, and I have a good relationship with them. I have done several Professor Fiddlesticks gigs there for the guests for a very low fee, it's not the easiest gig for a childrens' entertainer, but I didn't want to say 'no' the first time they asked me, so I rose to the challenge. In return, I have first option on the assorted trees which are regularly pruned or removed. They had an extension last year and they took out at least 3 cherries, which I brought back on the bike trailer and have just finished chopping and splitting.
The guys with the chainsaws had been told to cut the tree into rounds, and I checked with Bob from Woodlands if they were for me... and yes, lucky me, another tonne of logs! In return, I will take my little fee and then give it back to them with the tax back thing which gives them a bit extra. A good deal I'd say. I'm doing my gig for them on Boxing Day.
I picked up our eldest and his friend and cycled back home and went to pick up more of the Woodlands logs, there's perhaps 20 0r 30 trips worth.
Enjoyed the BBC programme on Planet Earth about ice.
Had a really good googletalk chat with K, we seemed to get a lot of stuff sorted and understood.
Gill took in a letter to his class teacher who's asked me to bring my circus skills into his class and do a little demo plus a juggling lesson. When I picked up our older one at 3.15, I found out that this will be next week.
I heard chainsaws and a chipping machine nearby... so went to investigate. It was a team of treesurgeons at Woodlands MS Respite Care Home, which is just 2 mins walk from here, and I have a good relationship with them. I have done several Professor Fiddlesticks gigs there for the guests for a very low fee, it's not the easiest gig for a childrens' entertainer, but I didn't want to say 'no' the first time they asked me, so I rose to the challenge. In return, I have first option on the assorted trees which are regularly pruned or removed. They had an extension last year and they took out at least 3 cherries, which I brought back on the bike trailer and have just finished chopping and splitting.
The guys with the chainsaws had been told to cut the tree into rounds, and I checked with Bob from Woodlands if they were for me... and yes, lucky me, another tonne of logs! In return, I will take my little fee and then give it back to them with the tax back thing which gives them a bit extra. A good deal I'd say. I'm doing my gig for them on Boxing Day.
I picked up our eldest and his friend and cycled back home and went to pick up more of the Woodlands logs, there's perhaps 20 0r 30 trips worth.
Enjoyed the BBC programme on Planet Earth about ice.
Had a really good googletalk chat with K, we seemed to get a lot of stuff sorted and understood.
A busy day... our 8th Wedding anniversary and 14th since our first kiss. Gill took the boys to school, our youngest walking as his bike has developed a puncture.
We managed to spend a bit of time together but both had quite a lot to do, so we both got on with jobs around the house.... just the usual housework including washing up, sorting beans which I've harvested, and I had some time in the garden preparing a space for the new composter to sit in. Also rang the Maudsley Hospital in London to check if I really needed to take 'informants' down with me at the end of the month for my diagnosis, and then had a conversation with my Dad, and later, my Mum. Also today got a call from Catherine from York Rotters asking if I could bring a person along who had recieved advice from a trained Rotter and was still composting. I called on Debbie over the road, checked her composter and invited her to come to the Open University research day on Friday. She was delighted to be asked.
Soon after 2pm I cycled down to school to pick up our year 6 child, who has to decide which secondary school to go to next September. So he came out of school early and cycled down to Fulford School, as he missed the main open evening a couple of weeks age due to illness, and we had a guided tour of the buildings. Didn't see in many classrooms as they were still being used, but did get a feel of the school, and it will be the second choice after Archbishop Holgate... Fulford's a lot further away and it's a much bigger school.
We came back via the Co-op which is quite near that, and I found what I think is a beefsteak fungus on an oak tree on the way home.
I popped down to Out Of This World for my 'beginning of the week' pick up, and back via Martin's, where I got 7 pineapples as well as a tray of more readily compostable materials. The only thing wrong with the pineapples is that their leaf rosettes are a bit manky... the fruit is fine, and I spent an hour preparing 3 of them for drying on the stove.
Gill went out to a theatre thing with our friend who is the crossing lady at Lord Deramores. Iput the kids to bed... as a pre bedtime treat we had a game of 'consequences' where each player starts a story and writes a few lines, leaving a half line for the next player to continue, and folding back the finished lines so the next player cannot see what the story is about. The sheets get passed around and when the sheets are full, they are read out, usually with much hilarity.
The boys went to bed with good behaviour and got some reading time as a reward.
I had a short Googlechat with K over in the US of A and finished the 3rd pineapple, peeled and sliced some windfall pears, and whilst watching Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall on Freeview, shelled a load of pumpkin seeds, which is easy and not too tedious.
We managed to spend a bit of time together but both had quite a lot to do, so we both got on with jobs around the house.... just the usual housework including washing up, sorting beans which I've harvested, and I had some time in the garden preparing a space for the new composter to sit in. Also rang the Maudsley Hospital in London to check if I really needed to take 'informants' down with me at the end of the month for my diagnosis, and then had a conversation with my Dad, and later, my Mum. Also today got a call from Catherine from York Rotters asking if I could bring a person along who had recieved advice from a trained Rotter and was still composting. I called on Debbie over the road, checked her composter and invited her to come to the Open University research day on Friday. She was delighted to be asked.
Soon after 2pm I cycled down to school to pick up our year 6 child, who has to decide which secondary school to go to next September. So he came out of school early and cycled down to Fulford School, as he missed the main open evening a couple of weeks age due to illness, and we had a guided tour of the buildings. Didn't see in many classrooms as they were still being used, but did get a feel of the school, and it will be the second choice after Archbishop Holgate... Fulford's a lot further away and it's a much bigger school.
We came back via the Co-op which is quite near that, and I found what I think is a beefsteak fungus on an oak tree on the way home.
I popped down to Out Of This World for my 'beginning of the week' pick up, and back via Martin's, where I got 7 pineapples as well as a tray of more readily compostable materials. The only thing wrong with the pineapples is that their leaf rosettes are a bit manky... the fruit is fine, and I spent an hour preparing 3 of them for drying on the stove.
Gill went out to a theatre thing with our friend who is the crossing lady at Lord Deramores. Iput the kids to bed... as a pre bedtime treat we had a game of 'consequences' where each player starts a story and writes a few lines, leaving a half line for the next player to continue, and folding back the finished lines so the next player cannot see what the story is about. The sheets get passed around and when the sheets are full, they are read out, usually with much hilarity.
The boys went to bed with good behaviour and got some reading time as a reward.
I had a short Googlechat with K over in the US of A and finished the 3rd pineapple, peeled and sliced some windfall pears, and whilst watching Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall on Freeview, shelled a load of pumpkin seeds, which is easy and not too tedious.
A good day, as I spent a lot of it with the boys... and did quite a lot of housework in the morning, made some mushroom soup for the evening meal.
I had a visitor fairly early on, Sarah the Critical Masser came with some biodegradables which she didn't want to throw away, wanted to recycle and compost, so I invited her to use my heap.
After this I cycled round to the bread shop and the library with both boys, they had ordered some books so we went to get these. On the way back went to the Co-op, then came home for lunch.
After lunch I went to town to the Big Green Market, as I wanted to go on the York Rotters stall again, as I'd enjoyed it so much yesterday.
Spent a couple of hours there, working alongside Jo and Candy, chatting to many enquirers, including Bob Breen, who runs ADDept, a York-based ADD/ADHD support group, and is a friend of mine.
Came home via Martins, who had a massive pile of veg offcuts for me. Home for tea, mushroom soup and a slice of a quiche Gill had created. As usual this home cooking was lovely.
My eldest son was keen on seeing the last night of the wonderfu interactive light show at the Minster (Evoke by Usman Haque) so we cycled down to the centre of York and joined the crowds at the Minster. The light show was good, and was then improved by a percussion duo called Bangon (http://www.bangon.net/) who did a superb performance. Following that there was a fire performance by 'FireSwingers' from Sheffield (http://thefireswingers.com/) They were very good, and used some fire props I hadn't seen before, including fire whip and fire skipping rope. My son loved it, and when we got home, he thanked me for taking him down. Good to be thanked without hinting!
During the evening watched Four Weddings and a Funeral on Channel 4, Gill's favourite film.
Also did some emailing and Googlechatting, but the latter didn't go well as my friend whom I chat with didn't appreciate that Gill asked what we were talking about and I gave her some brief details, then told my dear friend that I'd done this... oh dear, my open-ness and honesty has again got me into deep water. People just don't understand how I am, that I don't understand what is appropriate.
I wish I was a quicker learner!
I had a visitor fairly early on, Sarah the Critical Masser came with some biodegradables which she didn't want to throw away, wanted to recycle and compost, so I invited her to use my heap.
After this I cycled round to the bread shop and the library with both boys, they had ordered some books so we went to get these. On the way back went to the Co-op, then came home for lunch.
After lunch I went to town to the Big Green Market, as I wanted to go on the York Rotters stall again, as I'd enjoyed it so much yesterday.
Spent a couple of hours there, working alongside Jo and Candy, chatting to many enquirers, including Bob Breen, who runs ADDept, a York-based ADD/ADHD support group, and is a friend of mine.
Came home via Martins, who had a massive pile of veg offcuts for me. Home for tea, mushroom soup and a slice of a quiche Gill had created. As usual this home cooking was lovely.
My eldest son was keen on seeing the last night of the wonderfu interactive light show at the Minster (Evoke by Usman Haque) so we cycled down to the centre of York and joined the crowds at the Minster. The light show was good, and was then improved by a percussion duo called Bangon (http://www.bangon.net/) who did a superb performance. Following that there was a fire performance by 'FireSwingers' from Sheffield (http://thefireswingers.com/) They were very good, and used some fire props I hadn't seen before, including fire whip and fire skipping rope. My son loved it, and when we got home, he thanked me for taking him down. Good to be thanked without hinting!
During the evening watched Four Weddings and a Funeral on Channel 4, Gill's favourite film.
Also did some emailing and Googlechatting, but the latter didn't go well as my friend whom I chat with didn't appreciate that Gill asked what we were talking about and I gave her some brief details, then told my dear friend that I'd done this... oh dear, my open-ness and honesty has again got me into deep water. People just don't understand how I am, that I don't understand what is appropriate.
I wish I was a quicker learner!
A slow start to the day, but got up and doing stuff by 10.30. I did some paperwork, sending off a postal order and doing some sorting. I found a letter from the City of York Council telling me about a payment for work I did with the Gifted and Talented Summer School, but no evidence of a cheque, which I'd asked for on the invoice.
So I rang the Financial Services department, and they told me it had been paid by BACS. I was annoyed, as several times before I've had problems with BACS and never want to use it again. I feel comfortable with cash or a cheque, and I always request one of these methods in my confirmation letters and invoices. But the Council still had my account details, and tried to pay me via BACS, so I rang my Building Society, and had to wait for two runs through an automated menu before someone answered my call, and they said they had no record of a payment. They said that it might have 'bounced' in which case they would have no record of it. So I rang the Finance Office again, and they had no record of it being bounced. I rang the Building Society again, and got put in a queue as my account was a type which couldn't be dealt with by the first person I spoke to this time (it was ok before!) and after 15 mins in a queue, I spoke to a person in Sheffield who needed 3 tries to get my account number correct, she then said she couldn't deal with it as my account was deemed to be a business account, and put me through to someone I knew in the York Office, after another 10 mins wait. What a bind!
It turns out that the BACS thing was made payable to a slightly different version of my name, and it should bounce back to the Council, and they should make out a cheque and put it in the post! What a palaver. I asked the Council to remove my account details so they cannot try the BACS trick again!
This took til lunchtime. After lunch I did more 'paperwork', on the computer, actually, paperless work, happily! Wrote a piece for the LETS newsletter about the Freecycle/LETS social in June, and had a good chat with my friend over the pond on Googletalk.
So I rang the Financial Services department, and they told me it had been paid by BACS. I was annoyed, as several times before I've had problems with BACS and never want to use it again. I feel comfortable with cash or a cheque, and I always request one of these methods in my confirmation letters and invoices. But the Council still had my account details, and tried to pay me via BACS, so I rang my Building Society, and had to wait for two runs through an automated menu before someone answered my call, and they said they had no record of a payment. They said that it might have 'bounced' in which case they would have no record of it. So I rang the Finance Office again, and they had no record of it being bounced. I rang the Building Society again, and got put in a queue as my account was a type which couldn't be dealt with by the first person I spoke to this time (it was ok before!) and after 15 mins in a queue, I spoke to a person in Sheffield who needed 3 tries to get my account number correct, she then said she couldn't deal with it as my account was deemed to be a business account, and put me through to someone I knew in the York Office, after another 10 mins wait. What a bind!
It turns out that the BACS thing was made payable to a slightly different version of my name, and it should bounce back to the Council, and they should make out a cheque and put it in the post! What a palaver. I asked the Council to remove my account details so they cannot try the BACS trick again!
This took til lunchtime. After lunch I did more 'paperwork', on the computer, actually, paperless work, happily! Wrote a piece for the LETS newsletter about the Freecycle/LETS social in June, and had a good chat with my friend over the pond on Googletalk.
An interesting and busy day, got up fairly early and decided to do an email reply to my parents over the 'car parking where the logpile lives' incident, following the concilliatory message I got from my mum. I think this followed a phone call with my brother, who told them to stop being silly and park on the verge, and couldn't they see I could be a far worse person than an environmentalist?
So I did a long reply to both emails, including apologies for upsetting Daddy with my attitude, and explaining that I hadn't meant to upset him, just be honest with him. I refuted that the house looks like a slum and that I was trying to 'make a point' by having logpiles in the front garden. But I didn't put anything which was potentially inflamitory, and ended with sending my love to them both.
I also did some letter writing, replies to Fiddlesticks bookings. Whilst this was happening, Gill was playing a game of Scrabble with the boys, and I occasionally came in to help our eldest one who is intensely competitive and moody... the youngest just stated he'd be happy to put down any word he spotted, and wasn't trying to get the highest score, whereas the older boyo was counting up points and taking ages trying to get the best word, and getting angry when the letters he picked weren't very good.. this is when I popped in to assist. He's very hard work at the moment, a high input child.
After this game finished, I took the needy boy on a cycle ride... against his will, predictably, although once on way, he was fine! Went to the bread shop, then on to St Nicks to deliver something, and back for lunch.
After lunch, Gill went to town to get some bits for our eldest's birthday later this week, and I did a lot of sorting out of our non-slummy but untidy and unusual front garden. Seived/riddled a load of sawdust, the sawdust destined for the compost toilet, bark for shredding and composting to balance the large volumes of fruit and veg, woody chunks for the drying pile. Then did some chainsawing, created more sawdust, bark and logs for splitting and stacking. So my parents still have a hold on me!
Whilst doing the logs, noticed that the traffic on Hull Rd was not moving, and vehicles were turning round, so looked down the road to see a van upside-down in the middle of the road. I called the boys and we went to look at the accident. It was two vehicles, one upside-down but not otherwise badly damaged, the other was hit in the side and had it's rear wheel pushed back at a rakish angle, probably a write-off. Apparently, the van driver had sneezed unexpectedly, lost control, hit the other car and turned his over, he wasn't badly hurt, but it was spectacular! I immediately thought of my comment to my parents about roads being dangerous, more dangerous than parking on the verge between the road and the pavement!
I cooked tea for the boys, as Gill was stuck in town with no buses getting through, and as it was put on the table she arrived, so she had hers immediately. I cooked for myself an hour later, then did a little bit more chainsawing and tidying up.
A good evening emailing and chatting on Googletalk with my friend in America, we're looking forward to seeing each other in a few weeks.
So I did a long reply to both emails, including apologies for upsetting Daddy with my attitude, and explaining that I hadn't meant to upset him, just be honest with him. I refuted that the house looks like a slum and that I was trying to 'make a point' by having logpiles in the front garden. But I didn't put anything which was potentially inflamitory, and ended with sending my love to them both.
I also did some letter writing, replies to Fiddlesticks bookings. Whilst this was happening, Gill was playing a game of Scrabble with the boys, and I occasionally came in to help our eldest one who is intensely competitive and moody... the youngest just stated he'd be happy to put down any word he spotted, and wasn't trying to get the highest score, whereas the older boyo was counting up points and taking ages trying to get the best word, and getting angry when the letters he picked weren't very good.. this is when I popped in to assist. He's very hard work at the moment, a high input child.
After this game finished, I took the needy boy on a cycle ride... against his will, predictably, although once on way, he was fine! Went to the bread shop, then on to St Nicks to deliver something, and back for lunch.
After lunch, Gill went to town to get some bits for our eldest's birthday later this week, and I did a lot of sorting out of our non-slummy but untidy and unusual front garden. Seived/riddled a load of sawdust, the sawdust destined for the compost toilet, bark for shredding and composting to balance the large volumes of fruit and veg, woody chunks for the drying pile. Then did some chainsawing, created more sawdust, bark and logs for splitting and stacking. So my parents still have a hold on me!
Whilst doing the logs, noticed that the traffic on Hull Rd was not moving, and vehicles were turning round, so looked down the road to see a van upside-down in the middle of the road. I called the boys and we went to look at the accident. It was two vehicles, one upside-down but not otherwise badly damaged, the other was hit in the side and had it's rear wheel pushed back at a rakish angle, probably a write-off. Apparently, the van driver had sneezed unexpectedly, lost control, hit the other car and turned his over, he wasn't badly hurt, but it was spectacular! I immediately thought of my comment to my parents about roads being dangerous, more dangerous than parking on the verge between the road and the pavement!
I cooked tea for the boys, as Gill was stuck in town with no buses getting through, and as it was put on the table she arrived, so she had hers immediately. I cooked for myself an hour later, then did a little bit more chainsawing and tidying up.
A good evening emailing and chatting on Googletalk with my friend in America, we're looking forward to seeing each other in a few weeks.
My little boy's birthday, I got a lie-in and woke when he came in to open his presents which he was very happy with. I had to go to town before lunch as my chain broke on the way back from the model shop yesterday ( I accelerated too hard and a link streched and nearly broke, then the chain kept jumping, so I knew I'd done something silly). So off to Cycle Heaven, then a pick-up of compostables and visit to the building society.
Played with the kids during the afternoon, and planned the weekend. Decided the train times weren't conducive to go to the Northern Green Gathering, sad but there you go. But we are going to go to 'Buzzing' tomorrow at St Nicks, a poetry and pictures performance about insects, by my friend Anneliese Emmans Dean, see http://www.thebigbuzz.biz/
Put up the tent in the garden as the boys wanted to have a mini festival here. Also set up a 'single log bonfire' which is a very dry log split lengthways and set upright in a hole in the lawn. The splits are filled with resinous wood and twigs, paper, candle-ends, and lit. It needs some management but burns well, and if the top is level, can even be used as a place to cook with a pan set on top. Gill made pizza dough and a birthday cake whilst I was doing this, and we all ate together at 6pm, with fresh blackberries with the cake.
At teatime, my little 'birthday boy' spoke to my parents on the phone, but his small voice was difficult for my Dad to hear or understand and the old man couldn't tell who it was until I took the phone off the little one and spoke to my dad and explained who it was. After they'd chatted successfully, I had a chat and my Dad told me that he was exploring getting an electric car called a G Whizz, he's already got a Toyota Prius, a hybrid petrol/electric. Then he asked me if I could clear my front garden of logs so when they next visit, they could park their car there. All other visitors put their car on the verge between the road and the pavement, or on the shared driveway, or round the corner on Lilac Avenue. So I said no, I couldn't remove my logs, which is how this house is heated and how we cook and get bathwater, as I wouldn't know where to put them and it would take ages. He put the phone down on me! A few minutes later, my ma phoned and told me that I'd been very rude to Daddy, 'after all they'd done for me' and that I'd be the loser. Then she slammed the phone down on me. This was so upsetting, as I've been getting on a lot better with them recently, and I didn't consider my response rude, just honest. I wonder if they'd want to park their car on the front garden if it were a veg patch? Why do they not respect my logging area? And why all this shit over a bloody car? Parking on the verge isn't such a problem is it? Never mind, our relationship has never been that good, and I don't care if they don't want to see me again. What I do care about is the Grandparent / Grandchild relationship, I hope that isn't damaged by our problems.
Gill and the boys slept in the tent, leaving me a long time to write and chat to my lovely friend in the US of A, who's planning to visit me in October, it's very exciting as we haven't spent much time together since I was a teenager... we have had an 18 year gap in our relationship, but she's been in my thoughts nearly every day all that time. Gill understands that K is very special to me, and doesn't mind my chatting so much, as she can see that it makes me happy... unless we have a misunderstanding, which is unfortunately easy on Googletalk, as there's only words no facial expressions or voice. Should get Skype really, but would need to upgrade to broadband for that, probably.
Bath late, first one since BGG!
Played with the kids during the afternoon, and planned the weekend. Decided the train times weren't conducive to go to the Northern Green Gathering, sad but there you go. But we are going to go to 'Buzzing' tomorrow at St Nicks, a poetry and pictures performance about insects, by my friend Anneliese Emmans Dean, see http://www.thebigbuzz.biz/
Put up the tent in the garden as the boys wanted to have a mini festival here. Also set up a 'single log bonfire' which is a very dry log split lengthways and set upright in a hole in the lawn. The splits are filled with resinous wood and twigs, paper, candle-ends, and lit. It needs some management but burns well, and if the top is level, can even be used as a place to cook with a pan set on top. Gill made pizza dough and a birthday cake whilst I was doing this, and we all ate together at 6pm, with fresh blackberries with the cake.
At teatime, my little 'birthday boy' spoke to my parents on the phone, but his small voice was difficult for my Dad to hear or understand and the old man couldn't tell who it was until I took the phone off the little one and spoke to my dad and explained who it was. After they'd chatted successfully, I had a chat and my Dad told me that he was exploring getting an electric car called a G Whizz, he's already got a Toyota Prius, a hybrid petrol/electric. Then he asked me if I could clear my front garden of logs so when they next visit, they could park their car there. All other visitors put their car on the verge between the road and the pavement, or on the shared driveway, or round the corner on Lilac Avenue. So I said no, I couldn't remove my logs, which is how this house is heated and how we cook and get bathwater, as I wouldn't know where to put them and it would take ages. He put the phone down on me! A few minutes later, my ma phoned and told me that I'd been very rude to Daddy, 'after all they'd done for me' and that I'd be the loser. Then she slammed the phone down on me. This was so upsetting, as I've been getting on a lot better with them recently, and I didn't consider my response rude, just honest. I wonder if they'd want to park their car on the front garden if it were a veg patch? Why do they not respect my logging area? And why all this shit over a bloody car? Parking on the verge isn't such a problem is it? Never mind, our relationship has never been that good, and I don't care if they don't want to see me again. What I do care about is the Grandparent / Grandchild relationship, I hope that isn't damaged by our problems.
Gill and the boys slept in the tent, leaving me a long time to write and chat to my lovely friend in the US of A, who's planning to visit me in October, it's very exciting as we haven't spent much time together since I was a teenager... we have had an 18 year gap in our relationship, but she's been in my thoughts nearly every day all that time. Gill understands that K is very special to me, and doesn't mind my chatting so much, as she can see that it makes me happy... unless we have a misunderstanding, which is unfortunately easy on Googletalk, as there's only words no facial expressions or voice. Should get Skype really, but would need to upgrade to broadband for that, probably.
Bath late, first one since BGG!
A relaxed day, apart from having to go to the podiatrists for 9.45 to get replacement insoles as one of my arches needs more support than the other.
Spent quite a lot of time with the boys, cooked a nutloaf, made spaghetti squash soup, went to the allotment to harvest potatoes and onions.
Had a distressed Googletalk message from my friend in USA who wants complete honesty from me, and I didn't tell her I was travelling to the Gathering with Lorna, which upset her. Had a good phone call with her though, and hopefully we understand each other a bit better. It is difficult to manage all my friends who all have different needs and expectations from me.
More email sorting and blogging.
Spent quite a lot of time with the boys, cooked a nutloaf, made spaghetti squash soup, went to the allotment to harvest potatoes and onions.
Had a distressed Googletalk message from my friend in USA who wants complete honesty from me, and I didn't tell her I was travelling to the Gathering with Lorna, which upset her. Had a good phone call with her though, and hopefully we understand each other a bit better. It is difficult to manage all my friends who all have different needs and expectations from me.
More email sorting and blogging.
No lie-in as the boys were up early, but lovely to see them and had some cuddles. They were tired after their exciting trip away and so was I so we didn't do that much. However I had some cheques to put in from previous Fiddlesticks gigs, and I did a pick-up at Out Of This World and the Heslington Rd Greengrocers. Did some tomato plant management and lots of emails and blogging.
In the evening had a good chat with my friend in USA, but didn't tell her much about the Green Gathering, as she had lots to tell me about what she was doing and the rather stressful time she's been having. I knew she'd be able to read my blog anyway which would tell her more details.
Late to bed.
In the evening had a good chat with my friend in USA, but didn't tell her much about the Green Gathering, as she had lots to tell me about what she was doing and the rather stressful time she's been having. I knew she'd be able to read my blog anyway which would tell her more details.
Late to bed.
Another busy day, but woke when our 9 yr old knocked on the door to tell us it was 7.30 and he'd like breakfast. Yesterday he slid in quietly and we again asked him again to knock if he wanted to come in, in case we were doing anything which might embarrass him.... he had a huge paddy about this as he thought he'd been told off. This morning he told us he hadn't wanted to wake us up, just to see if we were awake... he can of course get his own breakfast these days, but the whole thing is a minefield.
I was able to do a bit in the garden first thing, before getting ready for work, at Manor School again, this time for a summer school Gifted, Able and Talented primary kids going up to secondary (I think). Gill went to pick up her new glasses and Maria came to babysit as I was leaving at 11.45 to start at 12.30.
The gig went really well, they were talented, several of them were already jugglers and diabolo players, and were good listeners and learners, it was a really good hour. We had 10 mins of instruction and information, then 45 mins of play, experimentation, trying stuff out, and 5 mins of showing what they'd learned at the end.
Then down to York again to visit Cycle Heaven to get my damaged wheel replaced, it didn't take long and cost just £20, and I was able to reload my kit onto the trailer and go to Rowntree Park to meet up with the Environmental Health people who were concerned about noise pollution. They were very supportive, unlike their colleague the Festivals Officer, and came up with common-sense solutions, and appeared to want the event to go ahead.
Then bombed home and Maria was still there, Gill doing accounts and Maria reading a book, they'd had lunch together and were just settled happily and the boys were playing without any grown-up input.
I did some housework and then had to go back into town to meet the Council Officer who's in charge of licencing the Rowntree Park, and discussed all sorts of issues with him and he too was very supportive and helpful.. quite a revelation after the feeling of a lack of help/support from the person who's supposed to assist festival organisers. I left feeling good, and picked up a huge load of compostables from Martin's Country Fresh, two sacks and 3 boxes, including a sack of bananas which hadn't sold even at knock down prices, perhaps 50 or 100 of them, I haven't yet got to the bottom of the sack! I've got loads drying on the stove though.
Tea was some out of date tofu with onions and yesterday's soup on top, with walnut bread from Masham. Delicious!
An evening of emailing and blogging and googletalk with K in US, we're enjoying our chats a lot at the moment. Also had to do some YGF stuff...
I was able to do a bit in the garden first thing, before getting ready for work, at Manor School again, this time for a summer school Gifted, Able and Talented primary kids going up to secondary (I think). Gill went to pick up her new glasses and Maria came to babysit as I was leaving at 11.45 to start at 12.30.
The gig went really well, they were talented, several of them were already jugglers and diabolo players, and were good listeners and learners, it was a really good hour. We had 10 mins of instruction and information, then 45 mins of play, experimentation, trying stuff out, and 5 mins of showing what they'd learned at the end.
Then down to York again to visit Cycle Heaven to get my damaged wheel replaced, it didn't take long and cost just £20, and I was able to reload my kit onto the trailer and go to Rowntree Park to meet up with the Environmental Health people who were concerned about noise pollution. They were very supportive, unlike their colleague the Festivals Officer, and came up with common-sense solutions, and appeared to want the event to go ahead.
Then bombed home and Maria was still there, Gill doing accounts and Maria reading a book, they'd had lunch together and were just settled happily and the boys were playing without any grown-up input.
I did some housework and then had to go back into town to meet the Council Officer who's in charge of licencing the Rowntree Park, and discussed all sorts of issues with him and he too was very supportive and helpful.. quite a revelation after the feeling of a lack of help/support from the person who's supposed to assist festival organisers. I left feeling good, and picked up a huge load of compostables from Martin's Country Fresh, two sacks and 3 boxes, including a sack of bananas which hadn't sold even at knock down prices, perhaps 50 or 100 of them, I haven't yet got to the bottom of the sack! I've got loads drying on the stove though.
Tea was some out of date tofu with onions and yesterday's soup on top, with walnut bread from Masham. Delicious!
An evening of emailing and blogging and googletalk with K in US, we're enjoying our chats a lot at the moment. Also had to do some YGF stuff...
Took the boys to school, it's sports day today, and as the field is so wet, it's all happening inside.
When I got home I started to work on my column for Community Care, my fifth, this one on Ethical Holidaying. Then Giles from the Co-op rang and invited himself round to deliver the Co-op banners and some fair-trade chocolate, recycled tyres pencilcases and Co-op labelled water bottles.
He arrived within the hour, we chatted about the York Green Festival and I gave him the tour of the garden, he couldn't stay long.
Got back to doing my column, needed to do some research on carbon offsetting and various other things, like 'The Man In Seat 61' (http://www.seat61.com/) who can get you info about train travel through Europe and beyond. A short break for lunch and carried on, then went to get the kids, but our youngest went to play with a friend, so came back with just our 9 year old.
However before that, did my composting of fruit and bits from the playground bins, and visited the big bins area, which had over 20 bin bags of paper just put into the ordinary bins. I went to the office to complain, and noticed that the new Japanese Garden, being installed by a chap I know is a bit of a cowboy, whom I refer to as 'IRA Bob', as he is open about supporting the IRA, had got a pile of old tarry sleepers there, ready to go in as a border. Tar-dipped sleepers are not now reccommended for use in gardens or schools, as the tar finds it's way onto clothes and skin, and it is known to be (or contain) carcinogenic components, and they smell horrible. So I told the office about them too. I hope they aren't put in, I hope if sleepers are needed, that untreated ones are used.
So as soon as I got home I bombed into town, to get a repeat prescription and marmite, and go to Out Of This World for my compostables pickup.
Home with veggie sausages and burgers, cooked them on the woodstove whilst I cycled back to Heslington to pick up our 7 year old, who'd had a good time playing.
Tea was vegan throwouts, tomato stuff I cooked yesterday and some very old/tired maize, not sweetcorn as wasn't sweet, was starchy but filling, and ok with the tom stuff on top of it. Gill put hers in the compost it was so disgusting. Best to grow own, or buy fresh, not reclain from compost collections!
After tea I spent a while loading up a 'sit and wait' compost heap, and doing some shredding of hedge clippings. Then came in and did a word count on the Community Care article, and it was 39 over. So did some good precis work and editing, got it to 344, six under my limit. Sent it in, a day early! Then did emails, watched telly and chatted on Googletalk with K over in America. Bathwater will wait til tomorrow morning. I have a gig tomorrow, have to be shaved and non-smelly. Bed after 1am, as usual.
When I got home I started to work on my column for Community Care, my fifth, this one on Ethical Holidaying. Then Giles from the Co-op rang and invited himself round to deliver the Co-op banners and some fair-trade chocolate, recycled tyres pencilcases and Co-op labelled water bottles.
He arrived within the hour, we chatted about the York Green Festival and I gave him the tour of the garden, he couldn't stay long.
Got back to doing my column, needed to do some research on carbon offsetting and various other things, like 'The Man In Seat 61' (http://www.seat61.com/) who can get you info about train travel through Europe and beyond. A short break for lunch and carried on, then went to get the kids, but our youngest went to play with a friend, so came back with just our 9 year old.
However before that, did my composting of fruit and bits from the playground bins, and visited the big bins area, which had over 20 bin bags of paper just put into the ordinary bins. I went to the office to complain, and noticed that the new Japanese Garden, being installed by a chap I know is a bit of a cowboy, whom I refer to as 'IRA Bob', as he is open about supporting the IRA, had got a pile of old tarry sleepers there, ready to go in as a border. Tar-dipped sleepers are not now reccommended for use in gardens or schools, as the tar finds it's way onto clothes and skin, and it is known to be (or contain) carcinogenic components, and they smell horrible. So I told the office about them too. I hope they aren't put in, I hope if sleepers are needed, that untreated ones are used.
So as soon as I got home I bombed into town, to get a repeat prescription and marmite, and go to Out Of This World for my compostables pickup.
Home with veggie sausages and burgers, cooked them on the woodstove whilst I cycled back to Heslington to pick up our 7 year old, who'd had a good time playing.
Tea was vegan throwouts, tomato stuff I cooked yesterday and some very old/tired maize, not sweetcorn as wasn't sweet, was starchy but filling, and ok with the tom stuff on top of it. Gill put hers in the compost it was so disgusting. Best to grow own, or buy fresh, not reclain from compost collections!
After tea I spent a while loading up a 'sit and wait' compost heap, and doing some shredding of hedge clippings. Then came in and did a word count on the Community Care article, and it was 39 over. So did some good precis work and editing, got it to 344, six under my limit. Sent it in, a day early! Then did emails, watched telly and chatted on Googletalk with K over in America. Bathwater will wait til tomorrow morning. I have a gig tomorrow, have to be shaved and non-smelly. Bed after 1am, as usual.
