A good day as the boys were lovely and we all got on really well. I started the day by typing in my paid blog post which I'd written several days ago but not been able to type in... it is on my experiences in London last Wednesday. Then Gill and I spent some time preparing for the new door being put in tomorrow... Gill moved stuff from inside and I removed the logpile from outside... and then I cycled down to the Credit Union to get a cheque out to pay the door installers tomorrow.
After that I popped in to see Pauline who had requested several paper potato sacks for use transporting wood offcuts from a nearby renovation job where they have said that she can have any offcuts for her stove. And the very good news is that her new neighbour, Alan ( a friend I know through the Green Party) has offered to saw her wood as a sort og 'useful workout' instead of going to the Gym... nice one Alan! More good news is that a relative of Pauline's has recently become quite a lot more empathic and warm towards her, after Pauline helped out with a family event... over and above what she had to do. This has made Pauline very happy. She also showed me an article in a glossy magazine about a chap who's decorated and fitted out his basement flat using mainly found and reused materials. I speed-read the article and said 'it's a perfect example of Permaculture' and Pauline agreed and said she was pleased that nowhere in the article did it say 'eco'... even though it was more 'eco' than many of the so-called green makeovers with loads of gadgets and expensive power generation stuff.
Came back via Martin's country Fresh to buy potatoes and cauliflower, and collect 3 sacks of compostables which I despatched into a tumbler with some shredded twigs as soon as I got home.
During the evening I did a huge pile of washing up and had a game of Scrabble with Gill who beat me... just! I also made time to squeeze 7 lemons (no idea what was wrong with them!) and then soaked some dried pear slices in the lemon juice, and also squeezed 15 limes and soaked the other half of the jar of pear slices in that juice. I particularly like citrus pears... the sweetness of the pear goes so well with the tangy flavour of the lemon or lime. I'll redry them tomorrow after an overnight soak.
Showing posts with label Martin's Country Fresh on Heslington Road. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Martin's Country Fresh on Heslington Road. Show all posts
A good day, on the whole. I took the boys into school with minimum resistance, although the youngest refused to cycle so I gave him a lift on my pannier rack.
Did a bunch of paperwork in the morning, for the Student Loan Company, asking them to again defer the repayments I incurred in 1992, 3 and 4 as I do not earn enough to fall into their 'repay now' category. However they need lots of proof that I'm on a low income, which is a bind. But better than having to pay it back.... and anyway, I believe that education should be free and I don't agree with loans.... and my Environmental Health degree has not got me anywhere or earned me any money!
And so to some housework and other stuff, sorting out various bits and bobs.
I got the children and then went to Martins Country Fresh for a few vegetables and the customary sack of compostables. Also did some chainsawing to make the front more tidy as my neighbour has complained that the logs look untidy. I made no comment about his car looking ugly to me, for what it represents and what it is capable of doing. I just listened and promised to try to tidy up a bit...
At 7.30 I attended a meeting at the Deramore Arms in Heslington with a fairly large group of the Green Thumbs gang.... to discuss the structure of the project, who does what and when things happen.... a good meeting.
Back at 10pm and tried on various outfits Gill had got together in order that I look smart for going to London and meeting the MPs. Watched some TV with her and then had a go on the computer but Gill felt rather alone so I came off untill she wanted to go to bed and I came to finish off the Green Thumbs emailing and complete this blog....
Did a bunch of paperwork in the morning, for the Student Loan Company, asking them to again defer the repayments I incurred in 1992, 3 and 4 as I do not earn enough to fall into their 'repay now' category. However they need lots of proof that I'm on a low income, which is a bind. But better than having to pay it back.... and anyway, I believe that education should be free and I don't agree with loans.... and my Environmental Health degree has not got me anywhere or earned me any money!
And so to some housework and other stuff, sorting out various bits and bobs.
I got the children and then went to Martins Country Fresh for a few vegetables and the customary sack of compostables. Also did some chainsawing to make the front more tidy as my neighbour has complained that the logs look untidy. I made no comment about his car looking ugly to me, for what it represents and what it is capable of doing. I just listened and promised to try to tidy up a bit...
At 7.30 I attended a meeting at the Deramore Arms in Heslington with a fairly large group of the Green Thumbs gang.... to discuss the structure of the project, who does what and when things happen.... a good meeting.
Back at 10pm and tried on various outfits Gill had got together in order that I look smart for going to London and meeting the MPs. Watched some TV with her and then had a go on the computer but Gill felt rather alone so I came off untill she wanted to go to bed and I came to finish off the Green Thumbs emailing and complete this blog....
A very good start to the day as the children played on the computer with a free copy of Monopoly from a newspaper yesterday. Gill and I had some lovely time together and this was very healing.
I stayed in for most of the day, it was windy outside so not much inclined to go out, and I watched Countryfile whilst washing up and preparing fruit, had lunch and then we had to decide what our eldest was going to do. I had wanted them all to come to a LETS Social with Ben and Gill, just round the corner, as I thought that there would probably be some interesting things to do, and I wanted Ben and Gill to meet the boys and see what children were like. He got a phone call from a friend inviting him to go and play, and he decided to do that.
At 2, Gill and I and our youngest went to the LETS social, which was really good. Ben did have some fun stuff for playing with, and Gill the hostess had made cake and biscuits, and after we'd been there for a while, David turned up, and we had some good chats. However, after an hour and a half, I went as the veg shop would be closing soon and I wanted to pick up their compostables, four sacks today, perhaps 60 kg.
Our eldest came back at 6ish but wasn't in the mood to do his homework, which he'd refused to do on Saturday morning, when we'd asked him to do it. This caused a bit of a row and he did eventually do it after 8pm, after his bedtime, not a good thing really..
I had a busy evening researching e-democracy and online participation, plus green webhosts for my paid blog, and because of interuptions, got that written in by midnight.
I stayed in for most of the day, it was windy outside so not much inclined to go out, and I watched Countryfile whilst washing up and preparing fruit, had lunch and then we had to decide what our eldest was going to do. I had wanted them all to come to a LETS Social with Ben and Gill, just round the corner, as I thought that there would probably be some interesting things to do, and I wanted Ben and Gill to meet the boys and see what children were like. He got a phone call from a friend inviting him to go and play, and he decided to do that.
At 2, Gill and I and our youngest went to the LETS social, which was really good. Ben did have some fun stuff for playing with, and Gill the hostess had made cake and biscuits, and after we'd been there for a while, David turned up, and we had some good chats. However, after an hour and a half, I went as the veg shop would be closing soon and I wanted to pick up their compostables, four sacks today, perhaps 60 kg.
Our eldest came back at 6ish but wasn't in the mood to do his homework, which he'd refused to do on Saturday morning, when we'd asked him to do it. This caused a bit of a row and he did eventually do it after 8pm, after his bedtime, not a good thing really..
I had a busy evening researching e-democracy and online participation, plus green webhosts for my paid blog, and because of interuptions, got that written in by midnight.
Quite a relaxed morning, but before breakfast I unicycled along to the Co-op to buy a copy of The Observer, which has an article about CRAGs and part of the article is an interview with me. I then spent some time thinking about the Gardening Club at school and formulating a list of questions and things to think about for our first meeting, then emailed that off to the chairperson who has let me know we're meeting up on Wednesday.
I rang up my parents to tell them about the Observer article and had a brief chat with my Dad who did his best to upset me by comparing some of my views to those of Scientologists!!! I felt really insulted to be compared to these crackpots! I feel like I can't ring them up because of his behaviour towards me, which does upset me and I tend to 'retaliate' and this doesn't go down at all well! I'll have to do my best to not turn into him, and keep my mind open to other peoples' views... to at least give them the respect of listening to them and not instantly slagging them off and belittling them. It doesn't make you any friends!
Lunch was late but delicious, then did some washing up and listened to Gardener's Question Time on Radio 4.
During the afternoon I went down to the veg shop and then on to the lottie where I composted my valuable collected resources and then went on to my friend in Heslington to wish her a happy 40th birthday. Nice coffee and chat with her and her hubby, then back home.
A relaxed evening, researched my paid blog on Richard Branson's biofuel experiment, the first aeroplane journey using biofuel. Also had a successful skype call with my friend over the pond, which was wonderful.
Typed in my blog but it wouldn't save, so I lost it all after several hours work. Annoying.
I rang up my parents to tell them about the Observer article and had a brief chat with my Dad who did his best to upset me by comparing some of my views to those of Scientologists!!! I felt really insulted to be compared to these crackpots! I feel like I can't ring them up because of his behaviour towards me, which does upset me and I tend to 'retaliate' and this doesn't go down at all well! I'll have to do my best to not turn into him, and keep my mind open to other peoples' views... to at least give them the respect of listening to them and not instantly slagging them off and belittling them. It doesn't make you any friends!
Lunch was late but delicious, then did some washing up and listened to Gardener's Question Time on Radio 4.
During the afternoon I went down to the veg shop and then on to the lottie where I composted my valuable collected resources and then went on to my friend in Heslington to wish her a happy 40th birthday. Nice coffee and chat with her and her hubby, then back home.
A relaxed evening, researched my paid blog on Richard Branson's biofuel experiment, the first aeroplane journey using biofuel. Also had a successful skype call with my friend over the pond, which was wonderful.
Typed in my blog but it wouldn't save, so I lost it all after several hours work. Annoying.
Yes, one year on and I've a reasonably detailed record of my daily activities.... just emitting approximately 0.46 tonnes of 'fossil' carbon in the process, according to 'ActOnCO2' the Government's carbon calculator, and the other three I've plugged my info into also suggest a household footprint of between 1.2 tonnes and 1.8 tonnes, of which I have a share... possibly a quarter share or, if we ignore the kids and pretend their emissions are due to us adults, a half of this. I think, though, because I travel more due to my work and interests, that I should claim more than half as 'my' footprint, so mine is a tonne and Gill's just half a tonne. This figure is for heating, power and travel only. It does not take into consideration the footprint of the food we eat or other things we buy or consume (for instance, my new bike took quite a bit of energy and resources to construct and weld and transport to York), nor does it consider the 'negative footprint' of the work that I do to keep stuff out of landfill directly or by educating others..... but all that's much more complicated and would take more recording, measuring and estimating/guestimating.
So today started much like many others, got up soon after 8, saw the kids off to school, got a phone call from Beth my gardening friend saying it was too cold and frosty to do the gardening she wants to do, and as I was going to meet her to give some composting advice, she rang to say, don't come. So I put the laptop on to check messages and wish myself a happy anniversary!
Went to the parenting course and it was a good session today, as we had a talk from and with Tim Waudby who I worked with on York Green Festy last year, although in the end he didn't partcipate for various reasons. However, he did help with publicity. So he told us about various children's activities, then after lunch we made a collage of our 'Utopian vision' of our ideal society. Gill and I created 'Ecotopia' and put on lots of images of health, low consumption patterns, helping each other, charitable causes, wildlife and other lovely things!
I went to Richard's fruit emporium as usual and bought local carrots, broccoli and non-local satsumas, plus two sacks of waste veg/fruit/cardboard for composting.
I got the children plus a friend from school, and we all came home quickly as they were all keen on going up to Archbishop Holgate School for their self defence class. I left them there as Maria was bringing them back. I brought back some sticks to decorate the front garden(!) and did a bit of logpile building, as with this intense cold we're going through the logs quickly.
At 5pm, we had a visit from a joiner who we want to give us a quote for making some cupboard doors for under the stairs, as the current system there is difficult to use, they are supposed to clip off and on, but they don't do this easily.
A nap after tea for an hour then came down and watched some TV and did some computery stuff. Created a Facebook page for Professor Fiddlesticks and eventually worked out how to upload photos.
So today started much like many others, got up soon after 8, saw the kids off to school, got a phone call from Beth my gardening friend saying it was too cold and frosty to do the gardening she wants to do, and as I was going to meet her to give some composting advice, she rang to say, don't come. So I put the laptop on to check messages and wish myself a happy anniversary!
Went to the parenting course and it was a good session today, as we had a talk from and with Tim Waudby who I worked with on York Green Festy last year, although in the end he didn't partcipate for various reasons. However, he did help with publicity. So he told us about various children's activities, then after lunch we made a collage of our 'Utopian vision' of our ideal society. Gill and I created 'Ecotopia' and put on lots of images of health, low consumption patterns, helping each other, charitable causes, wildlife and other lovely things!
I went to Richard's fruit emporium as usual and bought local carrots, broccoli and non-local satsumas, plus two sacks of waste veg/fruit/cardboard for composting.
I got the children plus a friend from school, and we all came home quickly as they were all keen on going up to Archbishop Holgate School for their self defence class. I left them there as Maria was bringing them back. I brought back some sticks to decorate the front garden(!) and did a bit of logpile building, as with this intense cold we're going through the logs quickly.
At 5pm, we had a visit from a joiner who we want to give us a quote for making some cupboard doors for under the stairs, as the current system there is difficult to use, they are supposed to clip off and on, but they don't do this easily.
A nap after tea for an hour then came down and watched some TV and did some computery stuff. Created a Facebook page for Professor Fiddlesticks and eventually worked out how to upload photos.
First thing I did after an early breakfast was to move some chopped and split wood to the logstore around the back, as we are expecting a parental visit on Saturday, and they like to park their car in our front garden... which is currently full of logs, something they once complained about! So on Saturday, I'd like them to be able to park there.... and get no complaints!!! However I have a substantial amount of work to do before they are able to do that!
Gill and the boys got ready for a day out, and I cycled off to town to get a cheque out to pay the deposit for the front door, which I got from our savings in York Credit Union. Also visited Barnitts to get a file for sharpening my chainsaw, and popped into Cycle Heaven to get my bike stand tightened up, as it had become very loose and was interfearing with the wheel. Then picked up some stuff at Martins and then on the way home met Ben who asked me if I could load my traile up with some stuff he wanted taking to the University, so we cycled down there together, my trailer with a large parcel and luggage rack with two more. Home at midday.
Gill had taken the boys to Knaresborough on the train, so I had a peaceful hour or so with the stove and the computer...
Then had lunch and did some work outside before coming in and making tea for them, a stew with some good spices in, which when they came in after 4pm, I added some pasta to, which made it child-friendly.
I went to post the cheque to the door people and buy some bits and bobs in the Co-op, then to Summerfield to get my youngest son some goats' milk which he has instead of cow as it results in less allergies for him. On the way there I met a friend who was very interested to hear that we were going to replace our front door... and she was interested in having it if we had no use for it, as hers has no glazing and she wants to have more light in her hallway. It would be good to get it reused!
In the evening I got a phone call from Phil who is off to France in a couple of days, so he came round and had a glass of ginger wine and a chat, and looked at my soil sifter.
Had an attempt at Skype with webcams but it wasn't working well and kept freezing and not working that well. Hopefully we'll be able to get it sorted.
Gill and the boys got ready for a day out, and I cycled off to town to get a cheque out to pay the deposit for the front door, which I got from our savings in York Credit Union. Also visited Barnitts to get a file for sharpening my chainsaw, and popped into Cycle Heaven to get my bike stand tightened up, as it had become very loose and was interfearing with the wheel. Then picked up some stuff at Martins and then on the way home met Ben who asked me if I could load my traile up with some stuff he wanted taking to the University, so we cycled down there together, my trailer with a large parcel and luggage rack with two more. Home at midday.
Gill had taken the boys to Knaresborough on the train, so I had a peaceful hour or so with the stove and the computer...
Then had lunch and did some work outside before coming in and making tea for them, a stew with some good spices in, which when they came in after 4pm, I added some pasta to, which made it child-friendly.
I went to post the cheque to the door people and buy some bits and bobs in the Co-op, then to Summerfield to get my youngest son some goats' milk which he has instead of cow as it results in less allergies for him. On the way there I met a friend who was very interested to hear that we were going to replace our front door... and she was interested in having it if we had no use for it, as hers has no glazing and she wants to have more light in her hallway. It would be good to get it reused!
In the evening I got a phone call from Phil who is off to France in a couple of days, so he came round and had a glass of ginger wine and a chat, and looked at my soil sifter.
Had an attempt at Skype with webcams but it wasn't working well and kept freezing and not working that well. Hopefully we'll be able to get it sorted.
Awoke and could feel the thing in my eye... not painful or intrusive, but a feeling of something there when I screwed my face up, or closed my eyes tight shut. I took the boys to school, three of them including a boy who often cycles to school with his Dad, on the pavement. I told him that cycling on the pavement was illegal and that with me, all three of them would be on the road, with me cycling behind them and slightly further out into the road, to sort of protect them. They all did brilliantly, including turning right off Hull Road into Windmill Lane, and I congratulated them all when we got to school.
On the way back I went via the turf skip and took another load home, and then went back to get a further load. When I got back to my nice neat stack at home, it had collapsed, but it was still a pretty good pile and will rot down to make a good loam in a year or two...
Then I told Gill about my eye and last night's glass incident. She told me to go to casualty. I said that I didn't think it was that serious, so she told me to ring NHS Direct.... and they told me to go to casualty. So I cycled over to the hospital for a second time in two days, and didn't have to wait long to be seen. The friendly male nurse had a good look, used yellow dye, looked with a blue light, turned my eyelid inside out, but couldn't see anything, not even a scratch. He gave me some antibiotic cream as a precaution and said if it was still feeling odd in 4 or 5 days, to get in touch again and I'd be given an appointment with a specialist.
I then cycled back to the parenting course, I'd only missed 45 minutes of it, and was in time for lunch! Quite a good session today.
Afterwards went to Martin's veg and bought Heslington Potatoes, local carrots and Yorkshire broccoli, as well as being given two sachs of compostables.
Gill went to pick up the boys and to take them to self-defence/martial arts class. I did emails, blog and headed to the garden, as it was a lovely day.
On the way back I went via the turf skip and took another load home, and then went back to get a further load. When I got back to my nice neat stack at home, it had collapsed, but it was still a pretty good pile and will rot down to make a good loam in a year or two...
Then I told Gill about my eye and last night's glass incident. She told me to go to casualty. I said that I didn't think it was that serious, so she told me to ring NHS Direct.... and they told me to go to casualty. So I cycled over to the hospital for a second time in two days, and didn't have to wait long to be seen. The friendly male nurse had a good look, used yellow dye, looked with a blue light, turned my eyelid inside out, but couldn't see anything, not even a scratch. He gave me some antibiotic cream as a precaution and said if it was still feeling odd in 4 or 5 days, to get in touch again and I'd be given an appointment with a specialist.
I then cycled back to the parenting course, I'd only missed 45 minutes of it, and was in time for lunch! Quite a good session today.
Afterwards went to Martin's veg and bought Heslington Potatoes, local carrots and Yorkshire broccoli, as well as being given two sachs of compostables.
Gill went to pick up the boys and to take them to self-defence/martial arts class. I did emails, blog and headed to the garden, as it was a lovely day.
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....
Woken by shouting downstairs... the testosterone levels in our two boys are obviously getting higher. I went downstairs in my dressing gown and sat silently and groggily inbetween them, and my presence seemed to reduce (not stop) the aggression.
Gill took them to school and as she left, my delivery happened... a Scheppach Rotary Soil Sifter, for speedily riddling compost, which is the most labour-intensive part of the composting process which is easily mechanised. It hasn't got a big motor, it's electric but our supply comes from renewables, so on balance, I'm happy to have got this machine. I signed for it and took it to the garage to put it together... which took a couple of hours, the instructions were less than comprehensive. However, by midday I had done it and checked that it worked, although everything's far too wet at the moment to do anything with it now... perhaps in a week or two.
I did my emails at lunchtime and got a nice thank-you from the Castle Howard person for my info on compost interpretive boards. I'll have to visit the site where she got the original info ( a WRAP website apparently) and if they go on about earwigs in compost heaps, I'll have to put them right, as I've never found them in an ordinary compost bin... perhaps in a pile of dryish cardboard and sticks, but not a working compost pile!
Gill got in from Art having done a re-creation of Michaelangelo's David, minus willy... not sure why she didn't put this in! I don't think it was significant.... well the real David didn't have a significant one, so it's not missing much! I actually just found out that the exercise was to learn to draw a figure with accurate proportions, and Gill didn't get time to finish him off!
(hahahahaha!!!)
I got the boys back from school, they're exhausted at the end of the week and it was a slow cycle home for the younger one.
Just before shop-closing time I cycled down to Martin's and picked up a sack from them... and also the wholesaler had savad a pile of stuff... infact no ordinary pile of just a few sacks and boxes, but about 4 boxes and several sacks, including over 60 golden delicious apples, 20 pineapples, 5 butternut squashes, celery, leeks and lots more, none of which would be acceptable to his customers but more than acceptable to me. Got the feeling that I used to have whilst working at the Council Skip Site (then on Foss Islands Road in 1999) that I was so lucky to be able to get all this free stuff, but what a freaking wasteful world we live in, and I'm doing my best to reduce it, but it's just a drop in the ocean, as how many wholesalers are throwing away tonnes and tonnes of this kind of stuff? A kind of duality of feeling lucky and virtuous and sad and angry at the same time.
The evening was good food-wise, Gill made a salad platter with about 10 different items on it, including some home-made pickled onions I made about 3 years ago and have just surfaced after a cupboard tidy out.
The evening was good too, family-wise, as we asked the children to watch a lovely telly programme with us, about Satish Kumar's experiences of Dartmoor. Getting the kids to watch this was part of our 'Strengthening Families, Strengthening Communities' homework, which asked us to explore something 'Spiritual'. I dislike the word spiritual as I have no adequate definition and cannot easily get my rather literal head around the concept. However, the commentary by Satish was as close to spiritual as I can imagine, and the kids managed to watch all of it, although the youngest was also looking at his 'Beano' comic! We had a very good conversation afterwards about the 'homework', it was very moving and lovely.
Gill took them to school and as she left, my delivery happened... a Scheppach Rotary Soil Sifter, for speedily riddling compost, which is the most labour-intensive part of the composting process which is easily mechanised. It hasn't got a big motor, it's electric but our supply comes from renewables, so on balance, I'm happy to have got this machine. I signed for it and took it to the garage to put it together... which took a couple of hours, the instructions were less than comprehensive. However, by midday I had done it and checked that it worked, although everything's far too wet at the moment to do anything with it now... perhaps in a week or two.
I did my emails at lunchtime and got a nice thank-you from the Castle Howard person for my info on compost interpretive boards. I'll have to visit the site where she got the original info ( a WRAP website apparently) and if they go on about earwigs in compost heaps, I'll have to put them right, as I've never found them in an ordinary compost bin... perhaps in a pile of dryish cardboard and sticks, but not a working compost pile!
Gill got in from Art having done a re-creation of Michaelangelo's David, minus willy... not sure why she didn't put this in! I don't think it was significant.... well the real David didn't have a significant one, so it's not missing much! I actually just found out that the exercise was to learn to draw a figure with accurate proportions, and Gill didn't get time to finish him off!
(hahahahaha!!!)
I got the boys back from school, they're exhausted at the end of the week and it was a slow cycle home for the younger one.
Just before shop-closing time I cycled down to Martin's and picked up a sack from them... and also the wholesaler had savad a pile of stuff... infact no ordinary pile of just a few sacks and boxes, but about 4 boxes and several sacks, including over 60 golden delicious apples, 20 pineapples, 5 butternut squashes, celery, leeks and lots more, none of which would be acceptable to his customers but more than acceptable to me. Got the feeling that I used to have whilst working at the Council Skip Site (then on Foss Islands Road in 1999) that I was so lucky to be able to get all this free stuff, but what a freaking wasteful world we live in, and I'm doing my best to reduce it, but it's just a drop in the ocean, as how many wholesalers are throwing away tonnes and tonnes of this kind of stuff? A kind of duality of feeling lucky and virtuous and sad and angry at the same time.
The evening was good food-wise, Gill made a salad platter with about 10 different items on it, including some home-made pickled onions I made about 3 years ago and have just surfaced after a cupboard tidy out.
The evening was good too, family-wise, as we asked the children to watch a lovely telly programme with us, about Satish Kumar's experiences of Dartmoor. Getting the kids to watch this was part of our 'Strengthening Families, Strengthening Communities' homework, which asked us to explore something 'Spiritual'. I dislike the word spiritual as I have no adequate definition and cannot easily get my rather literal head around the concept. However, the commentary by Satish was as close to spiritual as I can imagine, and the kids managed to watch all of it, although the youngest was also looking at his 'Beano' comic! We had a very good conversation afterwards about the 'homework', it was very moving and lovely.
Woke up late feeling groggy... Gill had taken the kiddies to school with only some hassle, and had woken me up to do our 'homework' for the parenting course, 'Strengthening Families, Strengthening Communities'. So spent the middle of the day at that, it was quite useful and the course looks like being reasonably good. On the way home popped into Martin's to buy some local leeks and bring home a box of compostables.
I went to school to pick up our youngest, his brother was going home with a friend so I brought his bike back on my trailer. Had some quality time with the youngest one when I got back, and then did just 45 minutes or so of chopping sticks into wooden fruit boxes to dry off.
Tea was some stuff from yesterday plus leeks in white sauce over mashed swede, the swedes had been thrown out by someone who has a veg box delivery and doesn't like swedes to eat... but we as a family love 'em! Always glad to use stuff which would have gone to landfill and polluted.... what a wonderful life!
Our eldest came in after 7pm having had a good time, and they were in bed at a reasonable time. I did a bit of housework and we watched some forgetable telly, but then watched a gripping film together, Cast Away with Tom Hanks... a very watchable film, possibly a tad too American for my liking, and quite tear-jerking at the end, for Gill... but we both enjoyed it loads.
Had a very lovely memory jog from Facebook when I did my pre-bedtime emailing... a friend from years ago called Chevvy, looking for contact details of my ex with whom she went to college with. I was able to put Chevvy in touch with someone who should know her details, which felt good. I look forward to catching up with Chevvy's news soon. I am a big fan of Facebook.
I went to school to pick up our youngest, his brother was going home with a friend so I brought his bike back on my trailer. Had some quality time with the youngest one when I got back, and then did just 45 minutes or so of chopping sticks into wooden fruit boxes to dry off.
Tea was some stuff from yesterday plus leeks in white sauce over mashed swede, the swedes had been thrown out by someone who has a veg box delivery and doesn't like swedes to eat... but we as a family love 'em! Always glad to use stuff which would have gone to landfill and polluted.... what a wonderful life!
Our eldest came in after 7pm having had a good time, and they were in bed at a reasonable time. I did a bit of housework and we watched some forgetable telly, but then watched a gripping film together, Cast Away with Tom Hanks... a very watchable film, possibly a tad too American for my liking, and quite tear-jerking at the end, for Gill... but we both enjoyed it loads.
Had a very lovely memory jog from Facebook when I did my pre-bedtime emailing... a friend from years ago called Chevvy, looking for contact details of my ex with whom she went to college with. I was able to put Chevvy in touch with someone who should know her details, which felt good. I look forward to catching up with Chevvy's news soon. I am a big fan of Facebook.
Up early... 8ish, and watched skiing on C4 whilst having breakfast and cuddling Gilly.
At 9 got a phone call from Caroline, who wants to deepen her raised beds with some of my compost, so I went to a finished 'sit and wait' heap and dug it out and bagged up 4 sacks worth plus 8 carrier bags worth... she'll collect this later today and I hope it's all right for her, and enough.
Came in for 11 to watch Countryfile and do emails, blog etc.
Had an early lunch and at 12.30 shot off down to town to pick up squished halved oranges and coffee grounds from Millers Yard and meet Lorna who came to York for a dance, and is taking the opportunity to have a hot chocolate with me. We met in the National Railway Museum car park and took a brief wander into town, then went for a short drive(!) to find a quiet place to sit and chat... which we did and it was lovely. She dropped me back at the NRM and I cycled home via Martin's veg emporium to collect a box of biodegradable goodies to compost. Got in just before 3 and prepared small potatoes for tea, boiled them on the stove, then did bathwater for the kids too. I put the oranges on two sit n wait heaps... and found a load of OK oranges which I'll be able to squeeze for juice. I have no idea why Dylan has thrown them away, they seem fine!
A tense evening as we all watched Time Team on C4, which was good, but the children's behaviour was disruptive but we tried hard to keep them with us and all calm and happy. Bathtime diffused all behavioural issues.
I wrote my paid blog this evening, and whilst doing that, got a comment posted from the anonymous 'Dr Evil' from this blog posting. She is obviously unhappy about my social life and seems to think that I shouldn't have friends, especially female ones. I don't think that my friends are her business really. If I am happy with my friends, and Gill is happy with whom I spend time with (and Gill knows exactly what I'm like... when we met in 1993 I was just as busy a person with a very active social life) and my friends are happy being my friends, well what exactly is the problem? I think she may not have many friends and could be jealous that I go visiting people and that we get plenty of visitors, but there might be something else in her psychology that I don't know of or cannot guess. I admit I am intrigued, and do want to know who she is, which would allow me to explain face to face in words of one syllable exactly how I choose to live my life and why it is perfectly OK to be who I am. Once again I will not be publishing derogatory or ignorant comments from anyone. I look forward to something more intelligent from her.
At 9 got a phone call from Caroline, who wants to deepen her raised beds with some of my compost, so I went to a finished 'sit and wait' heap and dug it out and bagged up 4 sacks worth plus 8 carrier bags worth... she'll collect this later today and I hope it's all right for her, and enough.
Came in for 11 to watch Countryfile and do emails, blog etc.
Had an early lunch and at 12.30 shot off down to town to pick up squished halved oranges and coffee grounds from Millers Yard and meet Lorna who came to York for a dance, and is taking the opportunity to have a hot chocolate with me. We met in the National Railway Museum car park and took a brief wander into town, then went for a short drive(!) to find a quiet place to sit and chat... which we did and it was lovely. She dropped me back at the NRM and I cycled home via Martin's veg emporium to collect a box of biodegradable goodies to compost. Got in just before 3 and prepared small potatoes for tea, boiled them on the stove, then did bathwater for the kids too. I put the oranges on two sit n wait heaps... and found a load of OK oranges which I'll be able to squeeze for juice. I have no idea why Dylan has thrown them away, they seem fine!
A tense evening as we all watched Time Team on C4, which was good, but the children's behaviour was disruptive but we tried hard to keep them with us and all calm and happy. Bathtime diffused all behavioural issues.
I wrote my paid blog this evening, and whilst doing that, got a comment posted from the anonymous 'Dr Evil' from this blog posting. She is obviously unhappy about my social life and seems to think that I shouldn't have friends, especially female ones. I don't think that my friends are her business really. If I am happy with my friends, and Gill is happy with whom I spend time with (and Gill knows exactly what I'm like... when we met in 1993 I was just as busy a person with a very active social life) and my friends are happy being my friends, well what exactly is the problem? I think she may not have many friends and could be jealous that I go visiting people and that we get plenty of visitors, but there might be something else in her psychology that I don't know of or cannot guess. I admit I am intrigued, and do want to know who she is, which would allow me to explain face to face in words of one syllable exactly how I choose to live my life and why it is perfectly OK to be who I am. Once again I will not be publishing derogatory or ignorant comments from anyone. I look forward to something more intelligent from her.
I got a lie-in til 9am and then did a little bit of work in the front garden sorting out some of the materials lopped off the top of our pine tree... very similar work to the hedge actually.
Then at 10.30 Gill and I set off for the nearby Family Centre for a workshop called 'Strengthening Families, Strengthening Communities', basically a parenting course to help us be better parents. It wasn't very well attended but it was good, and hopefully some of the things will help us.
Lunch was good too, provided as part of the course, and we were finished by 2.30 and I went swiftly to the veg shop to pick up compostables, then home just in time to go and pick up the kiddies...
Home with them and did yet more hedge down the garden... the pile of sticks ready for chopping up is now higher than me! But I'll process that last, so it will double in size before I do anything with it...
Came in when dark and had the doggy-bag of sandwiches from lunch for tea, very convenient!
Then at 10.30 Gill and I set off for the nearby Family Centre for a workshop called 'Strengthening Families, Strengthening Communities', basically a parenting course to help us be better parents. It wasn't very well attended but it was good, and hopefully some of the things will help us.
Lunch was good too, provided as part of the course, and we were finished by 2.30 and I went swiftly to the veg shop to pick up compostables, then home just in time to go and pick up the kiddies...
Home with them and did yet more hedge down the garden... the pile of sticks ready for chopping up is now higher than me! But I'll process that last, so it will double in size before I do anything with it...
Came in when dark and had the doggy-bag of sandwiches from lunch for tea, very convenient!
Saturday started with a bit of a lie-in, well, I got up, had a bowl of muesli and then went back to bed for an hour. Lovely! The boys were watching a brand new version of 'Swap Shop' with Basil Brush, who is possibly marginally better than Noel Edmonds was when I was a lad, but there again, possibly not as Noel didn't need a hand up his bum to make him do things (I'm assuming here!) Anyway, good to see a bit of practical re-use being promoted on the telly, made into entertainment (and a recycled show too!)
I spent an hour down the garden as the sun tried to poke through the clouds, and did yet more hedge, which is now getting a little bit tedious! There's so much of it, days worth of processing. I can begin to understand the mentality of people who have bonfires... it would only take an hour to reduce the massive pile of hedge into a pile of ash and loads of unwanted CO2 into the air... but what I'm doing will enable me to release some of the CO2 in a careful way, giving me much wanted heat (and replacing fossil fuel use) and some of the material will be incorporated into the soil as humus, trapping the carbon there for an unknown length of time. The twiggy bits which will be composted will also be the perfect composting companion material for the highly putrescible fruit and veg that I bring back in such copius quantities, so it will be worth the work to process the hedge not torch it. But quite a task and a half....
My eldest came down the garden at 11am to say that he was going round to a friend's house to do some homework (dissolving lumps of non-vegetarian jelly in water of different temperatures and timing them) and Gill and our youngest going into town to buy some shoes for his growing feet. I cycled into town to do some paper pushing (paid the phone bill, got a cheque out for a motorised compost riddler that I've had my eye on for a year, and now it's come down in price, I can afford it as a sort of post Xmas present to myself... also a business expense as it will speed up my composting ops, as it can sift 3 cubic metres an hour, apparently!)
Then called in on my friend Robin who I know from CRAG, and he proudly showed me his amazing retrofitted renewable energy systems. He has a brilliant smoke free woodburning stove with a boiler... I didn't know it was possible but it is, I've seen it in action and looked at the website too. It is a Dunsley Yorkshire Boiler Woodstove, built in Holmfirth in Yorkshire, and at up to 17Kw, it powers the central heating and hot water, and Robin runs it entirely on chopped-up pallets which are discarded in large numbers all over the place. It makes the house quite warm, infact too hot sometimes for his wife! For when the stove isn't providing heating, he has installed a 30 tube solar hot water panel on an outhouse in his garden, and some fancy electronics which feed the stove water and/or the solar-heated water to the hot water tank. I was very impressed! I'll be writing about the Dunsley Yorkshire in my paid blog which I resume tomorrow.
He also showed me his home made compost tumbler, constructed from a wheelie bin, used in conjunction with two small 'daleks'. He shared his future plans to install a downstairs toilet which uses either rainwater or greywater to flush, anothe excellent way of reducing one's eco-footprint. I went away inspired and very happy that I have met the second greenest man in York, probably! We'll have to have a competition to see who has the smallest Carbon footprint... he has a motor vehicle (although is a keen cyclist too) and I think enjoys meat, but we didn't discuss this.. I also enjoyed meeting his wife and kids, and hope we can get together when the weather is a bit better to let them have a go on the trampoline and show his wife the garden.
I came back for a late lunch via Martin's compostables emporium. Then I spent more time down the garden and finally took out the last bit of hedge, hoorah! However there is now an even bigger mountain of hedging to cut up, bag up, shred etc, which will take me weeks, I'm sure. Gill came down and spent a while cutting up sticks into kindling size.
I came in as it got dark and after de-grubbying my hands, threw together a nutloaf using yesterdays bulgar wheat and a reject pepper. It was lovely, and we had the two-day-old tomato soup on top of it as a sauce and reject parsnips cooked on the stove and reject sprouts ditto. a good nosh.
My son came back from his friend's after 8pm, and had had a really good time, homework done and lots of 10 year old play/interaction.
I watched Big Brother on E4 before doing my emails and blog. A good day.
I spent an hour down the garden as the sun tried to poke through the clouds, and did yet more hedge, which is now getting a little bit tedious! There's so much of it, days worth of processing. I can begin to understand the mentality of people who have bonfires... it would only take an hour to reduce the massive pile of hedge into a pile of ash and loads of unwanted CO2 into the air... but what I'm doing will enable me to release some of the CO2 in a careful way, giving me much wanted heat (and replacing fossil fuel use) and some of the material will be incorporated into the soil as humus, trapping the carbon there for an unknown length of time. The twiggy bits which will be composted will also be the perfect composting companion material for the highly putrescible fruit and veg that I bring back in such copius quantities, so it will be worth the work to process the hedge not torch it. But quite a task and a half....
My eldest came down the garden at 11am to say that he was going round to a friend's house to do some homework (dissolving lumps of non-vegetarian jelly in water of different temperatures and timing them) and Gill and our youngest going into town to buy some shoes for his growing feet. I cycled into town to do some paper pushing (paid the phone bill, got a cheque out for a motorised compost riddler that I've had my eye on for a year, and now it's come down in price, I can afford it as a sort of post Xmas present to myself... also a business expense as it will speed up my composting ops, as it can sift 3 cubic metres an hour, apparently!)
Then called in on my friend Robin who I know from CRAG, and he proudly showed me his amazing retrofitted renewable energy systems. He has a brilliant smoke free woodburning stove with a boiler... I didn't know it was possible but it is, I've seen it in action and looked at the website too. It is a Dunsley Yorkshire Boiler Woodstove, built in Holmfirth in Yorkshire, and at up to 17Kw, it powers the central heating and hot water, and Robin runs it entirely on chopped-up pallets which are discarded in large numbers all over the place. It makes the house quite warm, infact too hot sometimes for his wife! For when the stove isn't providing heating, he has installed a 30 tube solar hot water panel on an outhouse in his garden, and some fancy electronics which feed the stove water and/or the solar-heated water to the hot water tank. I was very impressed! I'll be writing about the Dunsley Yorkshire in my paid blog which I resume tomorrow.
He also showed me his home made compost tumbler, constructed from a wheelie bin, used in conjunction with two small 'daleks'. He shared his future plans to install a downstairs toilet which uses either rainwater or greywater to flush, anothe excellent way of reducing one's eco-footprint. I went away inspired and very happy that I have met the second greenest man in York, probably! We'll have to have a competition to see who has the smallest Carbon footprint... he has a motor vehicle (although is a keen cyclist too) and I think enjoys meat, but we didn't discuss this.. I also enjoyed meeting his wife and kids, and hope we can get together when the weather is a bit better to let them have a go on the trampoline and show his wife the garden.
I came back for a late lunch via Martin's compostables emporium. Then I spent more time down the garden and finally took out the last bit of hedge, hoorah! However there is now an even bigger mountain of hedging to cut up, bag up, shred etc, which will take me weeks, I'm sure. Gill came down and spent a while cutting up sticks into kindling size.
I came in as it got dark and after de-grubbying my hands, threw together a nutloaf using yesterdays bulgar wheat and a reject pepper. It was lovely, and we had the two-day-old tomato soup on top of it as a sauce and reject parsnips cooked on the stove and reject sprouts ditto. a good nosh.
My son came back from his friend's after 8pm, and had had a really good time, homework done and lots of 10 year old play/interaction.
I watched Big Brother on E4 before doing my emails and blog. A good day.
Nice peaceful day as had a cycle into town in the morning to go to put cheques in and pay a bill, for an advert in Primary Times which is with an article by me about green/ethical parties. I went into Barnitts to get a new garden fork, as I have broken the handle of the one I got when we moved here in 2001... my fault as I've often left it outside and the wooden handle has been 'got at'. The new one also has a wooden handle, FSC timber apparently, and I hope it will last longer than the previous one (which I may be able to repair anyway). Then visited Anita who is still in a lot of pain from her car accident; she enjoyed a back massage, but the relief would have been only temporary, but we had a good chat too.
Back via Morrissons to see if they had Guinness Marmite, which is available in a branch in West Yorkshire but not here, apparently. Then home via Martins Country Fresh for a sack of compostables and Rashda's for a couple of sacks of twiggy bits which I have decided to put on one of my lottie heaps, without being shredded.
Home to an empty house as Gill had taken the boys into town on the bus to spend their book vouchers in WHSmith, so I had a quick lunch and got going in the garden... more hedge removal with my wrecking bar. The hedge comes out quite easily and is going to result in a vast amount of material for composting and the stove.
The rest of the family came back and I went to the allotment to do some more rescue work... and found a row of potatoes which I had forgotten about, and brought these home as a suprise for Gill.
Tea was new potatoes (not home grown this time) and quiche with rice salad. Lovely!
Back via Morrissons to see if they had Guinness Marmite, which is available in a branch in West Yorkshire but not here, apparently. Then home via Martins Country Fresh for a sack of compostables and Rashda's for a couple of sacks of twiggy bits which I have decided to put on one of my lottie heaps, without being shredded.
Home to an empty house as Gill had taken the boys into town on the bus to spend their book vouchers in WHSmith, so I had a quick lunch and got going in the garden... more hedge removal with my wrecking bar. The hedge comes out quite easily and is going to result in a vast amount of material for composting and the stove.
The rest of the family came back and I went to the allotment to do some more rescue work... and found a row of potatoes which I had forgotten about, and brought these home as a suprise for Gill.
Tea was new potatoes (not home grown this time) and quiche with rice salad. Lovely!
I got up quite early as I had agreed with Rashda that I would go and process her pile of trimmings... not the Christmas lunch type but the pile in her front garden!
So I took my 'quiet shredder' down in the trailer and by 9am was feeding sticks and pruned-off vegetation into the machine. I did about 2 hour's worth, and produced 5 sacks of shreddings, although didn't actually finish the job. I did all the bigger bits which are easy to poke into the shredder, but there was a lot of smaller bits which firstly dont go into the slot easily and secondly don't need shredding as much as the larger pieces. They will get bagged up and I'll put them onto one of the allotment compost heaps. The sacks of shredded stuff will help the fruit and veg I bring back rot down better, as they will help keep the wads of moist putrescibles apart...
I had a coffee and a chat with Rashda and then loaded up the trailer with as much as I could and came home. The boys were very excited... cannot think why.... and I think Gill was happy to get out and go to town and do some last-minute purchases. Actually she's taking something back which she decided wasn't right... a watch for our eldest, which looks a bit too military.
I did some housework and then went outside to build another logpile... the recent cold weather has meant we've been through a lot and so I built a large stack on the left of the front door (when looking out) whilst the kids helped (yes they actually helped me bring dry logs for me to stavk!!!) and cycled up and down the drive, they also used the 'flying turtle' thing we have.
Gill came back at 4ish and I zoomed off to see Richard at Martin's Country Fresh to collect the last of the compostables before they close for Xmas. I got several sacks worth plus a load of seconds bananas and slightly sprouting potatoes, not green but just starting to sprout, so still edible!
During the evening I had an hour's bed rest which felt like a luxury, then later made a large nutloaf using local chestnuts (Poppleton Road 2006), local carrots, a home-grown onion, cheap bread from Thomas's 'Yesterbake', 2 free range eggs, home-made sweet paprika and home-produced pumpkin seeds. Should be good!
So I took my 'quiet shredder' down in the trailer and by 9am was feeding sticks and pruned-off vegetation into the machine. I did about 2 hour's worth, and produced 5 sacks of shreddings, although didn't actually finish the job. I did all the bigger bits which are easy to poke into the shredder, but there was a lot of smaller bits which firstly dont go into the slot easily and secondly don't need shredding as much as the larger pieces. They will get bagged up and I'll put them onto one of the allotment compost heaps. The sacks of shredded stuff will help the fruit and veg I bring back rot down better, as they will help keep the wads of moist putrescibles apart...
I had a coffee and a chat with Rashda and then loaded up the trailer with as much as I could and came home. The boys were very excited... cannot think why.... and I think Gill was happy to get out and go to town and do some last-minute purchases. Actually she's taking something back which she decided wasn't right... a watch for our eldest, which looks a bit too military.
I did some housework and then went outside to build another logpile... the recent cold weather has meant we've been through a lot and so I built a large stack on the left of the front door (when looking out) whilst the kids helped (yes they actually helped me bring dry logs for me to stavk!!!) and cycled up and down the drive, they also used the 'flying turtle' thing we have.
Gill came back at 4ish and I zoomed off to see Richard at Martin's Country Fresh to collect the last of the compostables before they close for Xmas. I got several sacks worth plus a load of seconds bananas and slightly sprouting potatoes, not green but just starting to sprout, so still edible!
During the evening I had an hour's bed rest which felt like a luxury, then later made a large nutloaf using local chestnuts (Poppleton Road 2006), local carrots, a home-grown onion, cheap bread from Thomas's 'Yesterbake', 2 free range eggs, home-made sweet paprika and home-produced pumpkin seeds. Should be good!
Another gig today, in Leeds, so got down to the station by 11ish and got the 11.28, was met in Leeds by one of the dads and driven to the party venue in Lower Wortley. The two birthday girls, both just turned 6, arrived just after I got changed, and I had some fun and silliness with them about them 'being 12' and suchlike. The party went really well, about 35 children and 25 adults, it went perfectly, a real gem of a gig. Nice to have an easy one after the difficult one earlier in the week.
I got taken back to the station and was soon back in York, well it was after 4 so I zoomed back home via Martin's Country Fresh where they had just one sack of compostables for me, but also a whole tray of grapes which are not retail-worthy because some of them have developed white mould, but I'll happily sort through them and make raisins with them.
Home to a happy family who'd been to Pocklington on the bus for a trawl round the many charity shops and locally owned businesses there to find Christmas stuff. We all had tea together, mashed potato and broccoli/cauliflower/sprout cheese.
I went for a lie down after this and fell asleep til 10pm when Gill woke me up and asked if I wanted to come down to spend a bit of evening with her, so watched the last episode of 'Parkinson' with her, cuddling on the couch.
A good day, and last paid work til Xmas day itself.
I got taken back to the station and was soon back in York, well it was after 4 so I zoomed back home via Martin's Country Fresh where they had just one sack of compostables for me, but also a whole tray of grapes which are not retail-worthy because some of them have developed white mould, but I'll happily sort through them and make raisins with them.
Home to a happy family who'd been to Pocklington on the bus for a trawl round the many charity shops and locally owned businesses there to find Christmas stuff. We all had tea together, mashed potato and broccoli/cauliflower/sprout cheese.
I went for a lie down after this and fell asleep til 10pm when Gill woke me up and asked if I wanted to come down to spend a bit of evening with her, so watched the last episode of 'Parkinson' with her, cuddling on the couch.
A good day, and last paid work til Xmas day itself.
Today was Gill's Uncle Tom's Funeral in Scalby, Scarborough.
We all went, I cycled down to the station as I knew I was doing a pick-up after... the others went by bus. I arrived much earlier than them, and had trouble with my D lock, the key got jammed and I couldn't pull it out, so walked the bike to the entrance and waited for the family... but kept fiddling with the lock and suddenly it came free, so I went to lock the bike up. But in doing this I got oil on one of my hands from the bike next to mine, so I had to go to the loo to wash it off with soap and tissue. What a palaver!
Got to the entrance again and eventually the others arrived. Gill got the tickets with the family railcard and we were still a few minutes early. When we got on the train, we were expecting to meet Z who is the daughter of a pair of foreign students that Tom and Beryl looked after, as this was what they did as they didn't have their own children. So Z's parents are living in Kuwait and she's at a British University and grew up calling Tom 'Grandad', so she attended the funeral on behalf of her family. So she came down the train and it was lovely to see the reunion between Gill and her as Gill hadn't seen her for perhaps 15 years!
So we had a really interesting conversation, she's an expert debater and holds some interesting views, some of which are very different to mine... so some interesting chats! The journey went quickly because of this, and we got a taxi from Scar Station to St Lawrences in Scalby all together.
We had a short wait in a cafe and then went to the church and the service was soon underway... Gill did the first reading from the Bible and her sister Jane then did an appraisal of Tom's life, which was very moving. There were a smattering of prayers and hymns and then we went in a convoy to the Crematorium and we all went in and saw the coffin go behind the curtains.
We will all miss him such a lot, but we're glad he had a long and fulfilled life.
Then onto a hotel where we all had a sherry and a chat, met up with people we didn't know (well me anyway) and had some lunch which was delicious. Gill had prepared a montage of photos of Tom which was put on display, along with his Scouting book and some wartime stuff.
Took the train back at around 4pm with Z and another relative, S. The boys were extremely well behaved all day, we were so pleased with them. It was their first funeral.
I cycled home via Millers Yard and Martin's Country Fresh.
I made my own tea of rice and onions, basically!
Later in the evening I collected 3 lots of logs from Woodlands.
We all went, I cycled down to the station as I knew I was doing a pick-up after... the others went by bus. I arrived much earlier than them, and had trouble with my D lock, the key got jammed and I couldn't pull it out, so walked the bike to the entrance and waited for the family... but kept fiddling with the lock and suddenly it came free, so I went to lock the bike up. But in doing this I got oil on one of my hands from the bike next to mine, so I had to go to the loo to wash it off with soap and tissue. What a palaver!
Got to the entrance again and eventually the others arrived. Gill got the tickets with the family railcard and we were still a few minutes early. When we got on the train, we were expecting to meet Z who is the daughter of a pair of foreign students that Tom and Beryl looked after, as this was what they did as they didn't have their own children. So Z's parents are living in Kuwait and she's at a British University and grew up calling Tom 'Grandad', so she attended the funeral on behalf of her family. So she came down the train and it was lovely to see the reunion between Gill and her as Gill hadn't seen her for perhaps 15 years!
So we had a really interesting conversation, she's an expert debater and holds some interesting views, some of which are very different to mine... so some interesting chats! The journey went quickly because of this, and we got a taxi from Scar Station to St Lawrences in Scalby all together.
We had a short wait in a cafe and then went to the church and the service was soon underway... Gill did the first reading from the Bible and her sister Jane then did an appraisal of Tom's life, which was very moving. There were a smattering of prayers and hymns and then we went in a convoy to the Crematorium and we all went in and saw the coffin go behind the curtains.
We will all miss him such a lot, but we're glad he had a long and fulfilled life.
Then onto a hotel where we all had a sherry and a chat, met up with people we didn't know (well me anyway) and had some lunch which was delicious. Gill had prepared a montage of photos of Tom which was put on display, along with his Scouting book and some wartime stuff.
Took the train back at around 4pm with Z and another relative, S. The boys were extremely well behaved all day, we were so pleased with them. It was their first funeral.
I cycled home via Millers Yard and Martin's Country Fresh.
I made my own tea of rice and onions, basically!
Later in the evening I collected 3 lots of logs from Woodlands.
Today I went to Leeds to take part in the first 'World Responsible Tourism Day', which was happening in Leeds Metropolitan University, School of Tourism, Hospitality and Events. I had been invited by them as I had previously presented talks on the downside of tourism with first-year tourism students visiting York on a day's fieldtrip. Students often hear the good things about tourism, so I was invited to talk about pollution from planes, the transmission of disease organisms, the overuse of finite resources in developing countries by rich tourists, and other issues.
I cycled to the station and got a train soon after 10am, and then got a taxi from Leeds station to the Civic Quarter Campus. After getting changed into Professor Fiddlesticks costume, my first job was to look at the posters that had been made by some primary school children about responsible tourism. I chatted to the children about the posters and some of the issues they raised. I decided which were my favourite, as I was one of the judging panel of 3. They were one about Bridlington, which mentioned that it was easy o get to by bus and train and didn't need a plane to get there, one about tourism in Britain, and one on wildlife! Then we went for lunch, and soon after that the other two judges came with me to view the posters and decide which were the three winners. We all had different ones, so I suggested we had one which promoted local tourism, one which was a really good poster and one which said something about an issue. The winners were The Yorkshire Dales, a beautifully designed poster of Jamaica, and one about recycling litter, which I really liked too.
I then did my show, a shortened version condensed into 30 minutes, not easy but got most of the skills in. Then was the prize giving ceremony. The children had made mortar-board hats and underwent a sort of 'graduation', followed by the 3 winners. Ronnie the Rhino came, the mascot of the Leeds Rhinos Rugby team, and there were lots of photos taken.
I got changed again and walked down to the station, getting back to York at 3pm. Cycled home via Martin's Country Fresh and got in before the children and Gill got back from school.
A fairly quiet evening, tried to ignore the loud behaviour from the boys and not get involved.
Researched responsible tourism on the web, found an interesting 'irresponsible tourism' site, and will write a paid blog over the weekend about this subject.
I cycled to the station and got a train soon after 10am, and then got a taxi from Leeds station to the Civic Quarter Campus. After getting changed into Professor Fiddlesticks costume, my first job was to look at the posters that had been made by some primary school children about responsible tourism. I chatted to the children about the posters and some of the issues they raised. I decided which were my favourite, as I was one of the judging panel of 3. They were one about Bridlington, which mentioned that it was easy o get to by bus and train and didn't need a plane to get there, one about tourism in Britain, and one on wildlife! Then we went for lunch, and soon after that the other two judges came with me to view the posters and decide which were the three winners. We all had different ones, so I suggested we had one which promoted local tourism, one which was a really good poster and one which said something about an issue. The winners were The Yorkshire Dales, a beautifully designed poster of Jamaica, and one about recycling litter, which I really liked too.
I then did my show, a shortened version condensed into 30 minutes, not easy but got most of the skills in. Then was the prize giving ceremony. The children had made mortar-board hats and underwent a sort of 'graduation', followed by the 3 winners. Ronnie the Rhino came, the mascot of the Leeds Rhinos Rugby team, and there were lots of photos taken.
I got changed again and walked down to the station, getting back to York at 3pm. Cycled home via Martin's Country Fresh and got in before the children and Gill got back from school.
A fairly quiet evening, tried to ignore the loud behaviour from the boys and not get involved.
Researched responsible tourism on the web, found an interesting 'irresponsible tourism' site, and will write a paid blog over the weekend about this subject.
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.
Lovely day! Had a slow start and then did things around the house, Gill took the kids out, to the shops, to feed the ducks, to play in Hull Road Park.
I had lunch and when they got back Pauling rang and asked if I was coming round, as I'd said that I'd come and do a bit of woodchopping for her, so at about 1.45 I cycled round, with bowsaw and chainsaw, collecting a large log from Baille Hill for her, and did half an hour for her, as she's also got a smokefree woodstove, but finds chopping wood a bit difficult, so I go and do it now and again for her.
She rewards me with coffee and chat, often giving me good advice as she is very sensible and pretty wise. I always enjoy being with her.
I came home via Martin's and picked up 3 sacks of compostables; there's another few to pick up later. I arrived home and took my eldest son off to The Outgang, Heslington Park, where we played with the frisbee, had a kick around with a football left there, and played on the various equipment. We had a good time, and then came back via the Science Park.
Gill was creating tea, a veg stew with a suet crust top, using the out-of-date lower-fat vegetable suet from Out Of This World. This with new potatoes from the garden and peas from frozen, not home-grown. I did half an hour loading the compost heap.
I had lunch and when they got back Pauling rang and asked if I was coming round, as I'd said that I'd come and do a bit of woodchopping for her, so at about 1.45 I cycled round, with bowsaw and chainsaw, collecting a large log from Baille Hill for her, and did half an hour for her, as she's also got a smokefree woodstove, but finds chopping wood a bit difficult, so I go and do it now and again for her.
She rewards me with coffee and chat, often giving me good advice as she is very sensible and pretty wise. I always enjoy being with her.
I came home via Martin's and picked up 3 sacks of compostables; there's another few to pick up later. I arrived home and took my eldest son off to The Outgang, Heslington Park, where we played with the frisbee, had a kick around with a football left there, and played on the various equipment. We had a good time, and then came back via the Science Park.
Gill was creating tea, a veg stew with a suet crust top, using the out-of-date lower-fat vegetable suet from Out Of This World. This with new potatoes from the garden and peas from frozen, not home-grown. I did half an hour loading the compost heap.
