I took the children to school... my buckled front wheel still went round, but with a weird noise, so I carried on with what I had arranged to do, which was to continue down to Fulford and meet up with Scott the Scout leader, who was working with a team of volunteers at the Fulford Scout Hall, behind Fulford Social Hall, to 'do' the garden, and had requested my pro-composting, anti driving-stuff-around knowledge, so that was good to be able to help them to decide to have a wild area/composting area.
Then went to Cycle Heaven to get them to sort out my wheel... which they'll rebuild. Then came back home on one of their lovely 'sit up and beg' bikes, and got ready to go to the nearby Catholic School who have booked me to do two one-hour shows. A 'fun' based one for their Reception group and for the older ones, aged 5-7, a circus show/workshop with a smattering of science and maths. I would have cycled had I got my own bike, and would have walked had it not been raining... but rang a taxi because I didn't want everything to get wet and wanted to get there in good time...
The shows went like a dream! The audiences were fantastic and we all had a brilliant time...
I walked back as it wasn't raining too hard, and got back shortly before Gill and the boys.
I had an early tea, went down to Cycle Heaven to pick up my bike... which had got a new wheel and repaired brakes, quite an expensive fall, will have to be more careful when collecting aluminium cans! So came back via a deli on Bishopthorpe Road for goats cheese for Gill, and Country Fresh for potatoes and compostables, and got home soon after 6.
Then went to the Greenspeak meeting which was about carbon footprinting. Ellie Dawkins from the Stockholm Environment Institute at the University of York did the presentation, talking through what it is and the different definitions, how it's measured and what the results are, for countries, individuals, regions, socio-ecomonic groups, etc. She showed us some distorted maps from a website called Worldmapper, which were very revealing.. specifically toy exports and toy imports, as examples of the inequalities. Carbon calculators were discussed, and policy connected with cutting carbon footprints, and economic issues including something called price elasticity, which is how much increasing prices of different goods affect behaviour... ie some things are very sensitive to price increases, but others are relatively unaffected. It was noted that recently, car use had dropped noticeably due to the increasing cost of fuel.
Showing posts with label Greenspeak. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Greenspeak. Show all posts
Leisurely morning, several phone calls including a Fiddlesticks booking, and some time playing Scrabulous on Facebook!
Gill went to Art and came back for lunch, and we had a reasonably relaxing afternoon, although didn't get a lot done apart from washing up.
I went to pick up the boys at 3 and we were ok until one of them rode through some discarded yoghurt that had been left on the field. It flicked up onto his bike which made him very angry, and he had a huge paddy and ran off into the church grounds for about 10 minutes, after which I called to him to come home. He grudgingly came and got on his bike, but as he set off one of his classmates overtook him on her bike, and this set his anger off again, and he shouted at her. I wanted to apologise to the girl and her mum, but my son was now dawdling so I couldn't go on ahead and speak to the aggrieved person.
We did eventually get home, and I had offered to go to the shop after coming back so I cycled off down Heslington Road to Country Fresh, to buy veg, fruit and pick up compostables. When I got back my son immediately came to me and apologised; I told him I loved him regardless. He then went upstairs and Gill took me into the back room and said that she hadn't told me as soon as I'd come in the door that our little boy whom we love so much had just attacked her and thrown my laptop onto the floor in his anger. Gill was very upset and hurt. She told me to see if my computer was working or if the impact had damaged it. When I switched on there was a thick vertical white line or bar on the right of the screen. This persisted through all the windows opening and obscures part of the screen. I am able to use the computer, but I have to move the windows over to the left of the screen to be able to do what I do.
I ate tea quietly, feeling shaken by his behaviour, and the damage to my property, and didn't know whether to say anything to him. After tea I went to the GreenSpeak meeting at Priory St, which was about 'Peak Oil' presented by Andy Chase, who's our candidate in the next General Election. Peak Oil is a very interesting subject, pretty complicated, but I took notes and participated in the discussion afterwards.
Home before 10, did a little bit of gardening before it got dark. Came in to chat with Gill, and she told me about a couple of phone calls... one from my folks about my sister-in-law's dad who's died, and one from my friend Ali in Sheffield who's fallen out of her wheelchair and been to A+E, and is feeling very bruised. Then watched a bit of telly, and then went on the computer to do my blog and chat with K on Skype.
Gill went to Art and came back for lunch, and we had a reasonably relaxing afternoon, although didn't get a lot done apart from washing up.
I went to pick up the boys at 3 and we were ok until one of them rode through some discarded yoghurt that had been left on the field. It flicked up onto his bike which made him very angry, and he had a huge paddy and ran off into the church grounds for about 10 minutes, after which I called to him to come home. He grudgingly came and got on his bike, but as he set off one of his classmates overtook him on her bike, and this set his anger off again, and he shouted at her. I wanted to apologise to the girl and her mum, but my son was now dawdling so I couldn't go on ahead and speak to the aggrieved person.
We did eventually get home, and I had offered to go to the shop after coming back so I cycled off down Heslington Road to Country Fresh, to buy veg, fruit and pick up compostables. When I got back my son immediately came to me and apologised; I told him I loved him regardless. He then went upstairs and Gill took me into the back room and said that she hadn't told me as soon as I'd come in the door that our little boy whom we love so much had just attacked her and thrown my laptop onto the floor in his anger. Gill was very upset and hurt. She told me to see if my computer was working or if the impact had damaged it. When I switched on there was a thick vertical white line or bar on the right of the screen. This persisted through all the windows opening and obscures part of the screen. I am able to use the computer, but I have to move the windows over to the left of the screen to be able to do what I do.
I ate tea quietly, feeling shaken by his behaviour, and the damage to my property, and didn't know whether to say anything to him. After tea I went to the GreenSpeak meeting at Priory St, which was about 'Peak Oil' presented by Andy Chase, who's our candidate in the next General Election. Peak Oil is a very interesting subject, pretty complicated, but I took notes and participated in the discussion afterwards.
Home before 10, did a little bit of gardening before it got dark. Came in to chat with Gill, and she told me about a couple of phone calls... one from my folks about my sister-in-law's dad who's died, and one from my friend Ali in Sheffield who's fallen out of her wheelchair and been to A+E, and is feeling very bruised. Then watched a bit of telly, and then went on the computer to do my blog and chat with K on Skype.
Gill wasn't feeling brilliant so I took the boys into school, told one of the teaching assistants whom I'm friendly with and trust about last night's incident and she couldn't believe it, with a 'what is the world coming to' and gave me a hug. It was good to offload it, and I immediately felt a whole lot better.
I went to the allotment to plant the remaining potatoes... and defoliated an area of ground by hand, then dug it over, removing buttercup and dandelion roots... but didn't get the potatoes planted and I sensed it was getting towards lunch, so I cycled round to Anna's to pick up another load of her vegetation she's cropped to make space for a trampoline, and took it to the Hazel Court/James St civic amenety site for recycling. On the way in I was shouted at by an operative who told me I wasn't allowed in on my bicycle, so I told her I was ignoring the sign saying no pedestrians/cyclists as I had no option wanting to put my recycling in the skips up at the top. I was told this many weeks ago and wrote to the paper about the nonsense of 'no pedestrians' as when the car drivers go to the skips, they get out of their cars and become.... pedestrians..... walking around from one recepticle to another... and I don't have a car to bring my drinks cartons to the site for collection, but use my bike and trailer for this. And as I pay my Council Tax and wish to recycle my wastes, I will continue doing this. But being shouted at doesn't make me feel good, so I am going to write to Yorwaste and the Council and complain. The sign should read 'Cyclists and pedestrians enter at your own risk, please be aware of vehicle movements' or somesuch. The civic amenety site is less dangerous than many of the roads I cycle on, so it makes no sense to ban cyclists on safety grounds.
I came home via St Nicks and arrived home just before 1pm. After lunch did some computery stuff and at 3, went to pick up the boys. Gave in a couple of 'Big Recycle Day' posters to display at school. When we got home I went to the lottie and put in the potatoes.... finished, hooray!
Home before 6pm, last of the soup for tea and then went down to the Priory St Centre for a Greenspeak meeting, on congestion charging. This was very interesting, might make a good paid blog topic. Caroline was there and she gave me some broccoli seedlings, a pepper plant in a bucket and a stunted tomato.... I'll give her some compost next week, in part-exchange. I'm very pleased with the broccoli.
Home via Country Fresh... two sacks and a box.
Had a bath to remove allotment from my legs.
Up late, watched an entertaining but daft TV prog called Kyle XY... Gill enjoyed it too.
I went to the allotment to plant the remaining potatoes... and defoliated an area of ground by hand, then dug it over, removing buttercup and dandelion roots... but didn't get the potatoes planted and I sensed it was getting towards lunch, so I cycled round to Anna's to pick up another load of her vegetation she's cropped to make space for a trampoline, and took it to the Hazel Court/James St civic amenety site for recycling. On the way in I was shouted at by an operative who told me I wasn't allowed in on my bicycle, so I told her I was ignoring the sign saying no pedestrians/cyclists as I had no option wanting to put my recycling in the skips up at the top. I was told this many weeks ago and wrote to the paper about the nonsense of 'no pedestrians' as when the car drivers go to the skips, they get out of their cars and become.... pedestrians..... walking around from one recepticle to another... and I don't have a car to bring my drinks cartons to the site for collection, but use my bike and trailer for this. And as I pay my Council Tax and wish to recycle my wastes, I will continue doing this. But being shouted at doesn't make me feel good, so I am going to write to Yorwaste and the Council and complain. The sign should read 'Cyclists and pedestrians enter at your own risk, please be aware of vehicle movements' or somesuch. The civic amenety site is less dangerous than many of the roads I cycle on, so it makes no sense to ban cyclists on safety grounds.
I came home via St Nicks and arrived home just before 1pm. After lunch did some computery stuff and at 3, went to pick up the boys. Gave in a couple of 'Big Recycle Day' posters to display at school. When we got home I went to the lottie and put in the potatoes.... finished, hooray!
Home before 6pm, last of the soup for tea and then went down to the Priory St Centre for a Greenspeak meeting, on congestion charging. This was very interesting, might make a good paid blog topic. Caroline was there and she gave me some broccoli seedlings, a pepper plant in a bucket and a stunted tomato.... I'll give her some compost next week, in part-exchange. I'm very pleased with the broccoli.
Home via Country Fresh... two sacks and a box.
Had a bath to remove allotment from my legs.
Up late, watched an entertaining but daft TV prog called Kyle XY... Gill enjoyed it too.
Up quite early and spent some time with my eldest son, watching a programme I recorded called 'Atom' which is about the discovery of atomic and subatomic physics, with Boltzman, Einstein, etc... I learned more and our 10 year old was gripped, as he's convinced he's going to be a top physicist.
After 11 I cycled to the lottie as there might have been some help needed weighing out seed potatoes or onions, but there was no-one there so I got on with digging, weeding and removing brambles. I also dug up some artechokes which we'll eat sometime soon. As I was leaving, I got chatting to an old fellow, Dave, who was admiring my trailer but he pointed out that it was broken... one of the main struts has gone through, so it'll need welding. My Bishopthorpe Welder no longer works as a welder so I'll have to try to find another. Perhaps a car garage?
I washed the artechokes when I got home and put them on to boil on the stove and went outside to split more logs.... some of the last from Woodlands, and eventually Gill and the boys came in from the 'Residents First' weekend where people in York, who have a 'York Card' can get into various attractions for free. However the places all needed tickets which were given out first thing this morning. Eventually they found the Minster was open and didn't need a ticket. So they went and did some type of quiz or something.
So for tea I had a home-grown onion, fried to caramel stage and then artechokes, previously boiled and the skins peeled off popped in with them. Gill had made a mushroom and white sauce thing, and the pepper and lentil pate patties... a very interesting meal!
Then at 7.30, cycled down to town, minus trailer (boo hoo) to Millers Yard to the 'Greenspeak' meeting which was on the United States global domination, missile defence systems and the network of 'listening stations' like Menwith Hill in Yorkshire. A very interesting talk, lots of visuals, mainly taken from US publications, many of them looking quite 'Science Fiction', except much of it is sadly science fact.
Afterwards went to the Exhibition for a drink, and ended up having two plus pineapple in vodka (a freebie) and some really enjoyable chats with the two Green Councillors and the well-travelled Sarah. When I came home I had dreadful heartburn and hiccups! However enjoyed watching to a pop programme with Gill.
After 11 I cycled to the lottie as there might have been some help needed weighing out seed potatoes or onions, but there was no-one there so I got on with digging, weeding and removing brambles. I also dug up some artechokes which we'll eat sometime soon. As I was leaving, I got chatting to an old fellow, Dave, who was admiring my trailer but he pointed out that it was broken... one of the main struts has gone through, so it'll need welding. My Bishopthorpe Welder no longer works as a welder so I'll have to try to find another. Perhaps a car garage?
I washed the artechokes when I got home and put them on to boil on the stove and went outside to split more logs.... some of the last from Woodlands, and eventually Gill and the boys came in from the 'Residents First' weekend where people in York, who have a 'York Card' can get into various attractions for free. However the places all needed tickets which were given out first thing this morning. Eventually they found the Minster was open and didn't need a ticket. So they went and did some type of quiz or something.
So for tea I had a home-grown onion, fried to caramel stage and then artechokes, previously boiled and the skins peeled off popped in with them. Gill had made a mushroom and white sauce thing, and the pepper and lentil pate patties... a very interesting meal!
Then at 7.30, cycled down to town, minus trailer (boo hoo) to Millers Yard to the 'Greenspeak' meeting which was on the United States global domination, missile defence systems and the network of 'listening stations' like Menwith Hill in Yorkshire. A very interesting talk, lots of visuals, mainly taken from US publications, many of them looking quite 'Science Fiction', except much of it is sadly science fact.
Afterwards went to the Exhibition for a drink, and ended up having two plus pineapple in vodka (a freebie) and some really enjoyable chats with the two Green Councillors and the well-travelled Sarah. When I came home I had dreadful heartburn and hiccups! However enjoyed watching to a pop programme with Gill.
The day started well with a lie-in, Gill woke me at 9.30 as she was off out to her art class and wondered about leaving me asleep but decided to wake me up so I didn't wonder where she was.
I got going and did my emails but there were lots needing replies and I got a bit waylaid and became annoyed and grumpy. I had lots of housework to do and other stuff but the morning just disappeared and I didn't get stuff done that I wanted to. Never mind.
The afternoon was better, got some stuff done but all too soon the 3pm deadline came and I had to go to school to pick up my two with one more. It took an age for them to all get ready... and then when they were, they all disappeared and I had to yell to get them out of the playground and on the way home.
But we got home after 4 and I then did a little bit of logging and more washing up with the resultant hot water.
I didn't get out in time for the Critical Mass Cycle Ride, which was a disappointment, but did get to Greenspeak at Millers Yard which I was glad of. The speakers were Laura who's very clued up about many aspects of food and sustainability issues, and Margi who's keen on Fairtrade. I learned a lot.
I picked up a sack of oranges and coffee grounds from Dylan and came home via Heslington Road where there are about 10 bags of turf and soil waiting for me to pick up, from a householder who's remodelled her garden and didn't want to bin the spare turf.
Home in time for a bit of BBC News and Jonathan Ross and then good music with Jools Holland.
I got going and did my emails but there were lots needing replies and I got a bit waylaid and became annoyed and grumpy. I had lots of housework to do and other stuff but the morning just disappeared and I didn't get stuff done that I wanted to. Never mind.
The afternoon was better, got some stuff done but all too soon the 3pm deadline came and I had to go to school to pick up my two with one more. It took an age for them to all get ready... and then when they were, they all disappeared and I had to yell to get them out of the playground and on the way home.
But we got home after 4 and I then did a little bit of logging and more washing up with the resultant hot water.
I didn't get out in time for the Critical Mass Cycle Ride, which was a disappointment, but did get to Greenspeak at Millers Yard which I was glad of. The speakers were Laura who's very clued up about many aspects of food and sustainability issues, and Margi who's keen on Fairtrade. I learned a lot.
I picked up a sack of oranges and coffee grounds from Dylan and came home via Heslington Road where there are about 10 bags of turf and soil waiting for me to pick up, from a householder who's remodelled her garden and didn't want to bin the spare turf.
Home in time for a bit of BBC News and Jonathan Ross and then good music with Jools Holland.
I took the kiddies to school and then cycled on to Cycle Heaven as my new bike has a bit of a problem with the front light getting knocked when the front wheel turns right round and contacts the frame, which happens when the bike falls over. The light has got knocked several times and last night, it happened again and the fitting got broken.
Anyway, the mega chilled and multi talented Ashley fixed it by putting the light onto a lower bracket, which means when the wheel turns right back, the light misses contacting the frame.
Came back via Martin's and collected a couple of sacks of biodegradables, and came home for 10am, Gill just leaving for her art class. I kept my sacks on the trailer and cycled to St Nicks for the York Rotters research session with the Open University and the New Economics Foundation, a project funded by DEFRA.
This meeting was very interesting, as the aim was to find out about the benefits of community composting groups, the environmental, social, health and other benefits, and how to measure these. At the meeting there were several volunteers, several 'managers' and one recipient of composting advice, my friend Debbie whom I got a compost bin and she's still using it.
The session lasted til nearly 3pm, used loads of post-it notes and was good for us Rotters as a planning session too, as it helped us look at what we were doing and see where we need to go now.
Home to an empty house, Gill had gone to pick up the boys, so I spent some time putting together the new compost bin from CompostFlow... this was not particularly easy, but I did it eventually.
Had the broccoli soup I made yesterday for tea... lovely. Then went out to the GreenSpeak meeting at Miller's Yard, which was on The Future of York, and was interesting and quite complex.
Got a phone call from Out Of This World, a phone call I had not been looking forward to, that they will be closing tomorrow. I was told last week by the staff that the whols company, the Creative Consumer Co-op, was in financial difficulty, and now all the stores are closing. Such a pity. Sadness.
Came home via a skip with wood offcuts in it which I had asked about earlier, filled the trailer and brought them home.
Anyway, the mega chilled and multi talented Ashley fixed it by putting the light onto a lower bracket, which means when the wheel turns right back, the light misses contacting the frame.
Came back via Martin's and collected a couple of sacks of biodegradables, and came home for 10am, Gill just leaving for her art class. I kept my sacks on the trailer and cycled to St Nicks for the York Rotters research session with the Open University and the New Economics Foundation, a project funded by DEFRA.
This meeting was very interesting, as the aim was to find out about the benefits of community composting groups, the environmental, social, health and other benefits, and how to measure these. At the meeting there were several volunteers, several 'managers' and one recipient of composting advice, my friend Debbie whom I got a compost bin and she's still using it.
The session lasted til nearly 3pm, used loads of post-it notes and was good for us Rotters as a planning session too, as it helped us look at what we were doing and see where we need to go now.
Home to an empty house, Gill had gone to pick up the boys, so I spent some time putting together the new compost bin from CompostFlow... this was not particularly easy, but I did it eventually.
Had the broccoli soup I made yesterday for tea... lovely. Then went out to the GreenSpeak meeting at Miller's Yard, which was on The Future of York, and was interesting and quite complex.
Got a phone call from Out Of This World, a phone call I had not been looking forward to, that they will be closing tomorrow. I was told last week by the staff that the whols company, the Creative Consumer Co-op, was in financial difficulty, and now all the stores are closing. Such a pity. Sadness.
Came home via a skip with wood offcuts in it which I had asked about earlier, filled the trailer and brought them home.
A good day
During the evening went to 'Greenspeak' at Millers Yard Healthy Living Centre on Gillygate, which was on energy, specifically electricity, wind power and nuclear. Very educational and stimulating!
During the evening went to 'Greenspeak' at Millers Yard Healthy Living Centre on Gillygate, which was on energy, specifically electricity, wind power and nuclear. Very educational and stimulating!
