A lovely day... not only the turning of the year but really sunny and I enjoyed myself. Got up just in time to wish the boys a happy solstice before they rushed off to school.
I had a morning doing a report for the York World Naked bike Ride, as we had issues with the police on the ride, who said they were only there to observe, but they prevented some of our marshalls from keeping the ride safe by 'corking' a junction where it would have been dangerous for a motor vehicle to split the group... but later they did some traffic management themselves. Ideally we need a situation like in Manchester where we had police outriders keeping the riders safe.
Gill and I spent some time together over lunch and after lunch I hopped on my bike and cycled over to Kutters/Shannons to get my new chainsaw chain, which cost me £21, but rejuvenates my chainsaw.
On the way back I went to Nationwide, which is the Building Society where I have two accounts, my Fiddlesticks/Composter account, and my savings. Last week I saw a poster which said that my savings account, a 'cashbuilder' was changing, and that any cheque I had made out to a third party would cost me an extra £10, which is ridiculous. So today I asked what the options were to make this situation better, and I had a meeting with a nice guy called Ross who worked out that the account I needed was a Bonus 30. This allows me to make one withdrawal per month, and if I don't make any withdrawals for a year I get some kind of bonus payment... but as I'm not that bothered about a bonus, this doesn't really matter. I might use this purely for savings and see if the Credit Union has a better deal for the occasional withdrawals I make to get magazine subscriptions and the various other things I use this account for.
Anyway, Ross was nice and we got the paperwork sorted, and I came home. I wanted to see if my chainsaw was any good so I got the electrics sorted out and chopped up quite a lot of logs, and split some, and stacked too. A good session... very hot and sweaty but good honest hard work. The chainsaw is working well.
Gill made a quiche for tea. She is the best quiche maker in the World.
Later I sorted out some compostables and found that for some reason one of the shops had thrown out more or less a whole sack of new potatoes, possibly because some fruit or veg had leaked onto them and some of them were damp. So we'll be eating new potatoes for quite a while!
Showing posts with label Kutters. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kutters. Show all posts
Up at a reasonably early time... early enough to see the children anyway, and then spent the morning doing a York in Transition facebook page update, and then a message about all the forthcoming events. I had a few Scrabble moves, a couple of phone calls about Fiddlesticks bookings and WNBR stuff. General 'paperworky' stuff!
During the afternoon I did a bit of chainsawing but I'm finding my chain is not really able to cut properly, despite my sharpening the teeth on it with a special little file. So I phoned Shannons/Kutters, the bike and lawnmower shop, and they found my chainsaw model and said they would order a new chain, for £18 plus VAT. I said go ahead. I could buy this part over the internet, but I like the fact that this local shop will repair things, and I've had my shredder and chainsaw repaired here, so I'll continue using it.
I cooked tea... the Chicken of the Woods, cubed, with an onion and flour to make a white sauce, and a few flavourings, and this made a 'Chicken of the Woods Fricassee' which could be reheated later.
Then I did quite a bit of work in the back garden, moving the compost heap from where the bee hives are going to go. I also wanted to move the Sun Mar 400 'CompostFlow' and I pulled it... and the cylinder came out of it's supporting cradle, trapping my finger and damaging some skin. However, I extracted it and then emptied the cylinder by hand, putting the contents into a builders bag. I'll find another position for this tumbler, where it will remain horizontal.
Then I did a lot of weeding/plant removal from where the pond will be... one day. I pulled out brambles and ground elder. I also planted a few more yams and beans in the radiator beds.
The compost removal had made me really dirty, so I came in at 8pm and had a shower. Gill and the boys had eaten... the boys didn't like the mushroom dish so Gill made them an omlette, but Gill had eaten some of the thing I'd made, with potatoes, carrots and peas. She wasn't feeling that brilliant. I microwaved a plateful and had some potatoes too, but within an hour I was feeling sick. Gill was sick, and felt much better.
I looked on the internet for bad reactions to Chicken of the Woods... and yes, apparently the older specimens, and ones growing on certain types of tree, can occasionally cause a mild stomach upset and headaches, dizziness, etc. Although I've had Chicken of the Woods many times before, this was the first time I'd had a bad reaction... indeed it's the first time ever that I've had a bad reaction from any mushroom. Once I'd vomited, I felt a lot better.
So, an unusual end to a good day.
During the afternoon I did a bit of chainsawing but I'm finding my chain is not really able to cut properly, despite my sharpening the teeth on it with a special little file. So I phoned Shannons/Kutters, the bike and lawnmower shop, and they found my chainsaw model and said they would order a new chain, for £18 plus VAT. I said go ahead. I could buy this part over the internet, but I like the fact that this local shop will repair things, and I've had my shredder and chainsaw repaired here, so I'll continue using it.
I cooked tea... the Chicken of the Woods, cubed, with an onion and flour to make a white sauce, and a few flavourings, and this made a 'Chicken of the Woods Fricassee' which could be reheated later.
Then I did quite a bit of work in the back garden, moving the compost heap from where the bee hives are going to go. I also wanted to move the Sun Mar 400 'CompostFlow' and I pulled it... and the cylinder came out of it's supporting cradle, trapping my finger and damaging some skin. However, I extracted it and then emptied the cylinder by hand, putting the contents into a builders bag. I'll find another position for this tumbler, where it will remain horizontal.
Then I did a lot of weeding/plant removal from where the pond will be... one day. I pulled out brambles and ground elder. I also planted a few more yams and beans in the radiator beds.
The compost removal had made me really dirty, so I came in at 8pm and had a shower. Gill and the boys had eaten... the boys didn't like the mushroom dish so Gill made them an omlette, but Gill had eaten some of the thing I'd made, with potatoes, carrots and peas. She wasn't feeling that brilliant. I microwaved a plateful and had some potatoes too, but within an hour I was feeling sick. Gill was sick, and felt much better.
I looked on the internet for bad reactions to Chicken of the Woods... and yes, apparently the older specimens, and ones growing on certain types of tree, can occasionally cause a mild stomach upset and headaches, dizziness, etc. Although I've had Chicken of the Woods many times before, this was the first time I'd had a bad reaction... indeed it's the first time ever that I've had a bad reaction from any mushroom. Once I'd vomited, I felt a lot better.
So, an unusual end to a good day.
