Another good day, very busy though, despite getting up at 10am!
After my usual bowl of cereal and soya milk, I got going with stacking about 5 wheelbarrows worth of split 'green' logs, taking then down into the back garden and onto pallets where they will spend a year or more drying, ready for the stoves. Whilst I was down the garden, someone rang up wanting to talk about green funerals; she'd seen the Novaterium.com advert in The Book of Green.
But she didn't leave her number and when Gill did a 1471 call, it was withheld. She said she'd ring back in half an hour. So I worked out at the front, chopping sticks up with loppers and putting them into wooden fruit boxes for stacking and drying for kindling. Then it was lunchtime so I came in and had my usual pile of sandwiches. At 1.45 the phone rang and it was the Novaterium enquirer, Lynne from Morecambe, who was wanting to know more about green funerals but doesn't have internet access. She wanted to know if I could provide the information on paper. I spent 40 minutes talking her through the various options, explaining what the problems are with 'traditional' disposal and the new developments which should be available soon. She was enquiring as someone she knows has a terminal illness and she was hoping to help organise a greener funeral. She might send me an SAE and I'll send her some information which will help her sort something out.
Then it was 2.30, when I'd got an appointment with the volunteer co-ordinator for Woodlands MS Respite Care Centre, where I'm hoping to volunteer in the grounds, as they have lots of logs and branches which need clearing; the groundsman usually just has a bonfire, but I'd like to use some of them, by cutting the branches off the logs and taking the useful stuff away, replacing fossil fuel use with renewable waste wood. So I want to help, but with a good dose of self interest and environmental issues there too. I took my documents... birth certificate, wedding certificate, bank stuff, tax stuff and a couple of others, so I could get CRB checked. Although I'm not going to have any close contact with the guests, all volunteers need CRB checks.
On the way back from Woodlands, I popped in on Debbie, to tell her that I had a sack of dry wood for her, for Debbie Fricker's memorial, and would she like to come and choose a branch for the memory tree thing she wants to do? I had several Lilac branches which might be good for this, so she came over and chose one, and I took the sack of sticks and logs back over to her. She was very pleased.
Then I loaded my trailer up with 2 sacks of soya milk cartons and others, and Gill gave me a sack of clothing and material only suitable for shoddy, and I cycled them down to Hazel Court, where the notice forbidding cycles up on the top level has now definitely gone. I reckon the 'civil disobedience' and letters to the paper must have worked. I'm very pleased with this.
I went on to a pet shop to get fish food, then off to my building society to get out a cheque for British Telecommunications plc for advertising, and to pay a water bill at the bank. Then I popped in to see Dylan as I knew he'd have some oranges for me, and David, Debbie's brother was there so I chatted with him as Dylan was busy. I took 4 sacks of orange skins and coffee grounds, 2 boxes of mostly mouldy oranges and two sacks of plastic bottles. Then I came home, calling in on Freshways where they had a sack for me, which I had to put on the handlebars and tri-bar to get home.
Then I did some composting, fully loading up the Compostumbler and adding to the SunMar Compostflow.
I had carrot soup for tea, then set out to go to Edward's house for a York in Transition Directors Meeting. This was mainly taken up with Anna's funding stuff again, which is causing us significant problems, as she has not consulted the Directors and we hadn't got any documentation. Edward is going to have to go and chat to the Council people, and I have to write a letter to the Neighbourhood Unit about another issue connected with a different set of Anna's Ward funding approaches. However, we may be able to work with the YiT funding applications she's put in, but we'd have to see if we can find volunteers in all 18 wards she's applied to, or find a volunteer or paid co-ordinator to run the scheme citywide.
We worked on these from 7.30 til well after 9.30pm. I visited two skips on the way home for some scrap wood. Later, at midnight, I mashed all the stewed cherry plums to remove the stones, which I took out one by one with a fork. Gill made a cake for our youngest son's birthday tomorrow. Finished this at about 2am.
Showing posts with label Miller's Yard. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Miller's Yard. Show all posts
A good day, got a lot done. I had a slow start, with emails and stuff, but at 11 went to buy bread from Thomas' 'Yesterbake' (actually Saturday's bake) and got (fresh) veggie pasties too, to make tea easier.
I did quite a bit of work in the garden... pruned back all the fruited loganberries and chopped them down to thin bits for composting and the thicker straight lengths all went into a wooden fruit-box to dry off and become kindling for the stove next winter.
Then I tied-in the loganberry shoots which grew last year and will fruit this year. It looks really tidy now, a good job done.
The large sack of smaller twiggy bits made a good thick layer on the new compost heap which I started yesterday. I added another huge load of greengrocer stuff on top of it, surrounded by flattened cardboard boxes to keep the material from falling out of the pallet-sided cube.
At about half five Gill came down and reminded me that I had taken her bike to Cycle Heaven yesterday to have the back wheel repaired. I'd said to them that if the wheel was not repairable, they could replace it, so we rang to find out what they had done and the cost. They had replaced the wheel and the tyre and done some other work... costing £56... sharp intake of breath!
We hadn't actually got that amount of cash between us, so one of our sons offered to go and look in his piggy bank equivalent, and found £40 to lend us, mainly in coins. I took this and hopped on my bike and scooted off down to Bishopthorpe Road. Very soon I was cycling back towards town with Gill's bike wheeling along next to me, and I decided to pick up a film ticket for the weekend, and then onto Millers Yard to pick up orange halves. Dylan gave me two nice pine chairs which he said were surplus to requirement, so I loaded these onto the trailer too. If we don't need them, I'll put them on Freecycle.
Home with the two bikes, two chairs and about 60kg of compostable oranges. Slowly.
Gill was glad to see me, and her bike, and I came in to help.
She had made some leek and potato and cheese sauce thing to go with the pasties, which was good. I had to head off to the other side of the Racecourse then for a York in Transition Directors meeting. Four of us attended, and we have just about finished the structure we need before we can ask for a volunteer Treasurer. We need quite a few policies in place, but when these are sorted, we'll be in a much better place to get funding for projects. It was a good meeting, and our host had worked really hard getting the different policies written. Some changes were suggested, these will be incorporated and then the documents sent round for comments and then adopting.
When I got in, Gill was once again very glad to see me. I assisted in getting the children off to bed.
Later, had my first googletalk conversation with my Canadian colleague about the website we are doing. And after that, whilst on facebook, Gill's nephew Jonny who is in Australia was on the chat function, and Gill had a nice conversation with him. I wonder if Gill will consider joining facebook?
I did quite a bit of work in the garden... pruned back all the fruited loganberries and chopped them down to thin bits for composting and the thicker straight lengths all went into a wooden fruit-box to dry off and become kindling for the stove next winter.
Then I tied-in the loganberry shoots which grew last year and will fruit this year. It looks really tidy now, a good job done.
The large sack of smaller twiggy bits made a good thick layer on the new compost heap which I started yesterday. I added another huge load of greengrocer stuff on top of it, surrounded by flattened cardboard boxes to keep the material from falling out of the pallet-sided cube.
At about half five Gill came down and reminded me that I had taken her bike to Cycle Heaven yesterday to have the back wheel repaired. I'd said to them that if the wheel was not repairable, they could replace it, so we rang to find out what they had done and the cost. They had replaced the wheel and the tyre and done some other work... costing £56... sharp intake of breath!
We hadn't actually got that amount of cash between us, so one of our sons offered to go and look in his piggy bank equivalent, and found £40 to lend us, mainly in coins. I took this and hopped on my bike and scooted off down to Bishopthorpe Road. Very soon I was cycling back towards town with Gill's bike wheeling along next to me, and I decided to pick up a film ticket for the weekend, and then onto Millers Yard to pick up orange halves. Dylan gave me two nice pine chairs which he said were surplus to requirement, so I loaded these onto the trailer too. If we don't need them, I'll put them on Freecycle.
Home with the two bikes, two chairs and about 60kg of compostable oranges. Slowly.
Gill was glad to see me, and her bike, and I came in to help.
She had made some leek and potato and cheese sauce thing to go with the pasties, which was good. I had to head off to the other side of the Racecourse then for a York in Transition Directors meeting. Four of us attended, and we have just about finished the structure we need before we can ask for a volunteer Treasurer. We need quite a few policies in place, but when these are sorted, we'll be in a much better place to get funding for projects. It was a good meeting, and our host had worked really hard getting the different policies written. Some changes were suggested, these will be incorporated and then the documents sent round for comments and then adopting.
When I got in, Gill was once again very glad to see me. I assisted in getting the children off to bed.
Later, had my first googletalk conversation with my Canadian colleague about the website we are doing. And after that, whilst on facebook, Gill's nephew Jonny who is in Australia was on the chat function, and Gill had a nice conversation with him. I wonder if Gill will consider joining facebook?
Both boys off to school, late, but they went.
Gill went into town to pay in a cheque to the Credit Union. I did some stuff inside and then moved logs from the huge stack of beech at the back round to the front, to build up the pile on the right of the door.
Gill came back from town and had forgotten to get various things... including a book our eldest wants, and is waiting for us in Waterstones. So at about 2.30 I cycled in and visited Alligator for peanut butter and marmalade, Waterstones, my building society and then Sainsburys.
Gill did a spaghetti-based meal... I stir-fried some sliced sprouts to go with it, and soon after 7pm set out on my bike again to go to Millers Yard to have the 'York Festivals' meeting with Dylan. Baz turned up, and Sarah from Kyi-Po. Later, Helgi arrived to give me his Duke of Edinburgh Silver booklet to fill in.
Dylan and I had already had a conversation about York Green Festival and York Peace Festival this year. York Peace Festival goes back over 20 years to when York had a Peace Centre, and it was connected to that. I loved the Peace Festival, and when it stopped happening about 5 years ago (not sure when the last one was actually) I missed it and then in 2006/7 I decided to 'do' a Festival, which became York Green Festival in 2007. We had our third last year. But this year, several of the organisers are involved in organising the World Carfree Cities International Conference in York this summer, so we're taking a break and York Peace Festival can take place. This is provisionally booked for 5th September. Dylan also has plans for some events and activities in the week leading up to this, but this is for Dylan to announce when it is more concrete, and the other partners are agreed.
So we all discussed about these events and some other York Festivals, such as the Carnival, which is on June 5th, and a York in Transition (dance?) event on 17th April which I'm partly responsible for. The meeting wasn't very long... and I got away so I could go to St Nicks where my York in Transition friends were having a meeting. I found some logs on the way there, but the weight in the trailer made cycling in the snow much more difficult so I had to push my bike some of the way along the cycle track. I got to St Nicks just as they were on AOB, so I was able to fill in some of the stuff I'd just learned.
So, got home just before 10pm, banked up the stoves, kissed both my boys goodnight, and settled down to a quiet evening.
Gill went into town to pay in a cheque to the Credit Union. I did some stuff inside and then moved logs from the huge stack of beech at the back round to the front, to build up the pile on the right of the door.
Gill came back from town and had forgotten to get various things... including a book our eldest wants, and is waiting for us in Waterstones. So at about 2.30 I cycled in and visited Alligator for peanut butter and marmalade, Waterstones, my building society and then Sainsburys.
Gill did a spaghetti-based meal... I stir-fried some sliced sprouts to go with it, and soon after 7pm set out on my bike again to go to Millers Yard to have the 'York Festivals' meeting with Dylan. Baz turned up, and Sarah from Kyi-Po. Later, Helgi arrived to give me his Duke of Edinburgh Silver booklet to fill in.
Dylan and I had already had a conversation about York Green Festival and York Peace Festival this year. York Peace Festival goes back over 20 years to when York had a Peace Centre, and it was connected to that. I loved the Peace Festival, and when it stopped happening about 5 years ago (not sure when the last one was actually) I missed it and then in 2006/7 I decided to 'do' a Festival, which became York Green Festival in 2007. We had our third last year. But this year, several of the organisers are involved in organising the World Carfree Cities International Conference in York this summer, so we're taking a break and York Peace Festival can take place. This is provisionally booked for 5th September. Dylan also has plans for some events and activities in the week leading up to this, but this is for Dylan to announce when it is more concrete, and the other partners are agreed.
So we all discussed about these events and some other York Festivals, such as the Carnival, which is on June 5th, and a York in Transition (dance?) event on 17th April which I'm partly responsible for. The meeting wasn't very long... and I got away so I could go to St Nicks where my York in Transition friends were having a meeting. I found some logs on the way there, but the weight in the trailer made cycling in the snow much more difficult so I had to push my bike some of the way along the cycle track. I got to St Nicks just as they were on AOB, so I was able to fill in some of the stuff I'd just learned.
So, got home just before 10pm, banked up the stoves, kissed both my boys goodnight, and settled down to a quiet evening.
A good day.... I got up in time to make my muesli and have breakfast and take my damaged trailer to Cycle Heaven (I managed to break a couple of spokes with a badly aimed attempt at a narrow bridge... the wheel slipped off and I kept going, buckling the wheel). I delivered that and then went to see Pauline, to give her a few more logs and to get my regular bottle of Port, my annual present from her. Mind you, I haven't actually finished last year's bottle yet! That's how little I drink...
But lovely to see Pauline. She had some very good news for me, potentially very good news but I promised to keep it completely confidential, so oh, blog readers, you will just have to wait. But I am very happy.
I then went to the bank, was surprised how little money we have, went to the building society and took a wad of notes round to pump up our account. Then back to the bike shop... and the chap assigned to my wheel was still wrestling with it, so I said I'd collect by the end of the day.
Cycled home and sorted out a large pile of envelopes for composting and put some cheques in the post, assorted memberships (Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, Equity, Garden Organic).
I finished making the tomato soup in the afternoon, and washed up and did bits and bobs of housework, plus computery stuff.
Then at 4pm, back into town to pick up my trailer and popped into see Dylan at Millers Yard to pick up his unwanted orange halves and chat about York Green Festival. We had a lovely chat and I got a second piece of very good news... but again, this is embargoed until it is ready to be made public. I cycled away happy but with a very heavy load of compostables.
I had soup and an avocado sandwich for tea, and then looked at my emails to try to find out where this evening's York in Transition meeting was. No mention of the venue whatsoever! It could be St Nicks or it could be The Stables, or even someone's house... i cannot remember and it isn't in my diary nor is it in any of the email communications... So I stayed at home and watched an excellent programme on BBC1, called The Human Power Station, a Bang Goes The Theory Special. This is available on iPlayer for a week... it's a must watch! The experiment was to install an average family into a house wired up with cameras and all the normal mod cons... and to ask them to live normally for a day. However, they didn't know that the house was switched to being powered by a bank of 80 cyclists, each on a stationary bike with a dynamo, capable of producing 100 watts if going normally, or up to 200w if pedalling really hard. The cyclists could see a dial with how much was being used versus how much was being produced... and it is a very exciting and interesting result. I loved it anyway, and decided to start a facebook 'fan' page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Human-Power-Station-Bang-Goes-The-Theory-Special/216787805126?ref=ts
So, a happy and productive day, despite my foolishness in breaking a wheel and having a reasonable bill to have it repaired.
But lovely to see Pauline. She had some very good news for me, potentially very good news but I promised to keep it completely confidential, so oh, blog readers, you will just have to wait. But I am very happy.
I then went to the bank, was surprised how little money we have, went to the building society and took a wad of notes round to pump up our account. Then back to the bike shop... and the chap assigned to my wheel was still wrestling with it, so I said I'd collect by the end of the day.
Cycled home and sorted out a large pile of envelopes for composting and put some cheques in the post, assorted memberships (Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, Equity, Garden Organic).
I finished making the tomato soup in the afternoon, and washed up and did bits and bobs of housework, plus computery stuff.
Then at 4pm, back into town to pick up my trailer and popped into see Dylan at Millers Yard to pick up his unwanted orange halves and chat about York Green Festival. We had a lovely chat and I got a second piece of very good news... but again, this is embargoed until it is ready to be made public. I cycled away happy but with a very heavy load of compostables.
I had soup and an avocado sandwich for tea, and then looked at my emails to try to find out where this evening's York in Transition meeting was. No mention of the venue whatsoever! It could be St Nicks or it could be The Stables, or even someone's house... i cannot remember and it isn't in my diary nor is it in any of the email communications... So I stayed at home and watched an excellent programme on BBC1, called The Human Power Station, a Bang Goes The Theory Special. This is available on iPlayer for a week... it's a must watch! The experiment was to install an average family into a house wired up with cameras and all the normal mod cons... and to ask them to live normally for a day. However, they didn't know that the house was switched to being powered by a bank of 80 cyclists, each on a stationary bike with a dynamo, capable of producing 100 watts if going normally, or up to 200w if pedalling really hard. The cyclists could see a dial with how much was being used versus how much was being produced... and it is a very exciting and interesting result. I loved it anyway, and decided to start a facebook 'fan' page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Human-Power-Station-Bang-Goes-The-Theory-Special/216787805126?ref=ts
So, a happy and productive day, despite my foolishness in breaking a wheel and having a reasonable bill to have it repaired.
I enjoyed today as I visited my friend Ann for the first time in ages. She had requested some compost as she's just prepared a little patch of land for growing things in.
So I took 5 sacks of well rotted compost in my trailer over to Clememthorpe, and also some freegan Masala tea, freegan Saudi biscuits and a small bag of apple rings. I had a coffee and chat, met her handyman who was replacing a Velux window.
After this I went over to Millers Yard to pick up 5 sacks of orange halves, which I took to St Nicks. I collected my tin bath from here, as I left it there after Apple Day.
Home for lunch.
During the afternoon I finished building the logpile outside the front door.
And during the evening I watched The End Of The Line on More4, as well as playing Scrabble on facebook and doing the washing up.
So I took 5 sacks of well rotted compost in my trailer over to Clememthorpe, and also some freegan Masala tea, freegan Saudi biscuits and a small bag of apple rings. I had a coffee and chat, met her handyman who was replacing a Velux window.
After this I went over to Millers Yard to pick up 5 sacks of orange halves, which I took to St Nicks. I collected my tin bath from here, as I left it there after Apple Day.
Home for lunch.
During the afternoon I finished building the logpile outside the front door.
And during the evening I watched The End Of The Line on More4, as well as playing Scrabble on facebook and doing the washing up.
A work day, but didn't have to leave til midday. This allowed me to indulge in a lie-in which was good... just til 10am though, nothing exorbitant!
Gill ironed my costume as I had breakfast, and at 11.30 I got my stuff together, but then got a phone call from a friend who had hit rock bottom, wanting a few minutes of my time, so I said I would be able to come round at 11.55 just for a few minutes. My friend suffered some horrible abuse many years ago and hasn't had any counselling or help overcoming or dealing with the memories and the emotions they stir up. This friend has a serious (legal) drug problem and the information I learned today makes that much more understandable. I offered to support them if they wanted to access counselling or get help from their GP, but I could only spend 10 minutes with them as I had to be at Millers Yard by 12.25.
I set up my stuff in the studio there, and walked round towards the ceramic-painting shop, where many of the party-goers had spent some of the morning. They were just coming out and heading for Millers Yard, so I turned round and led the crocodile of children to the venue.
The show went like clockwork, a really good show which I thoroughly enjoyed, as did the kids and their parents. I did the circus first, then prepared the balloon show and had my sandwiches, then did the balloon animal workshop. There were two girls celebrating their birthdays, so I think that my fee was probably shared by the two families, but I'm not sure. I got paid at the end, and several parents told me very complementary things before I cycled off with my trailer full of circus stuff and burst balloons for putting on the compost heap.
I got home at 4pm, via Country Fresh which is looking very nice with a new shop-front. All the old rotten wood has been replaced, but the original huge windows kept, which halved the cost of the job.
I had half an hour on the computer but when I'd dealt with the emails I got changed and went into the garden as I've had my eye on a length of hedge which has got a bit bushy, and needed a radical haircut.
I had nearly finished this job when our neighbour started chatting to me about the proposed removal of this length of hedge, and replacement with a fence, or a low wall and fence. We agreed that in a couple of weeks I would start taking out the hedge, and I would take care of that. My neighbour would put in some foundations and use the bricks I salvaged from when I took the coal-house out. The fence would probably be the one which I was given by another neighbour a few months back, a lovely oak fence.
Putting a wall/fence there will allow my neighbours to grow vegetables up it, and will mean that our veg patch doesn't have such dry soil where it is now depleted by the hedge roots. Removing the hedge will also allow me to remove the Ground Elder which is in the hedge and growing into the raised beds.
I came in at about 7pm, pretty tired but having cut the hedge (which will make it easier to take out) and riddled some more compost.
Tea had been made by our youngest... a rice and noodle nut loaf, with sprouts, carrots and roast potatoes. Impressive stuff! Delicious stuff too...
During the evening I enjoyed a programme on Coldplay, featuring my musical hero, Brian Eno, who produced their most recent album. I also jarred-up loads of dried apple rings and pear slices, and prepared loads more for drying.
Also today I received a phone call from my wonderful activist friend in Scarborough, Jane Gresham, who invited me to go and speak at the Scarborough 10:10 launch on Friday. 10:10 is a project launched by the good people behind The Age of Stupid, the aim of which is to encourage individuals to reduce their carbon emissions by 10% in 2010, AND lobby government to do the same. There is a pledge that people can sign... the movement is supported by a large number of organisations. I'm going through to Scarborough on Friday 26th to the Stephen Joseph Theatre to do a short talk before the film The Age of Stupid (which is having it's global premiere this week), and be on the panel for a Q+A afterwards. It's not a paid-for gig, but my train fare will be covered.
Gill ironed my costume as I had breakfast, and at 11.30 I got my stuff together, but then got a phone call from a friend who had hit rock bottom, wanting a few minutes of my time, so I said I would be able to come round at 11.55 just for a few minutes. My friend suffered some horrible abuse many years ago and hasn't had any counselling or help overcoming or dealing with the memories and the emotions they stir up. This friend has a serious (legal) drug problem and the information I learned today makes that much more understandable. I offered to support them if they wanted to access counselling or get help from their GP, but I could only spend 10 minutes with them as I had to be at Millers Yard by 12.25.
I set up my stuff in the studio there, and walked round towards the ceramic-painting shop, where many of the party-goers had spent some of the morning. They were just coming out and heading for Millers Yard, so I turned round and led the crocodile of children to the venue.
The show went like clockwork, a really good show which I thoroughly enjoyed, as did the kids and their parents. I did the circus first, then prepared the balloon show and had my sandwiches, then did the balloon animal workshop. There were two girls celebrating their birthdays, so I think that my fee was probably shared by the two families, but I'm not sure. I got paid at the end, and several parents told me very complementary things before I cycled off with my trailer full of circus stuff and burst balloons for putting on the compost heap.
I got home at 4pm, via Country Fresh which is looking very nice with a new shop-front. All the old rotten wood has been replaced, but the original huge windows kept, which halved the cost of the job.
I had half an hour on the computer but when I'd dealt with the emails I got changed and went into the garden as I've had my eye on a length of hedge which has got a bit bushy, and needed a radical haircut.
I had nearly finished this job when our neighbour started chatting to me about the proposed removal of this length of hedge, and replacement with a fence, or a low wall and fence. We agreed that in a couple of weeks I would start taking out the hedge, and I would take care of that. My neighbour would put in some foundations and use the bricks I salvaged from when I took the coal-house out. The fence would probably be the one which I was given by another neighbour a few months back, a lovely oak fence.
Putting a wall/fence there will allow my neighbours to grow vegetables up it, and will mean that our veg patch doesn't have such dry soil where it is now depleted by the hedge roots. Removing the hedge will also allow me to remove the Ground Elder which is in the hedge and growing into the raised beds.
I came in at about 7pm, pretty tired but having cut the hedge (which will make it easier to take out) and riddled some more compost.
Tea had been made by our youngest... a rice and noodle nut loaf, with sprouts, carrots and roast potatoes. Impressive stuff! Delicious stuff too...
During the evening I enjoyed a programme on Coldplay, featuring my musical hero, Brian Eno, who produced their most recent album. I also jarred-up loads of dried apple rings and pear slices, and prepared loads more for drying.
Also today I received a phone call from my wonderful activist friend in Scarborough, Jane Gresham, who invited me to go and speak at the Scarborough 10:10 launch on Friday. 10:10 is a project launched by the good people behind The Age of Stupid, the aim of which is to encourage individuals to reduce their carbon emissions by 10% in 2010, AND lobby government to do the same. There is a pledge that people can sign... the movement is supported by a large number of organisations. I'm going through to Scarborough on Friday 26th to the Stephen Joseph Theatre to do a short talk before the film The Age of Stupid (which is having it's global premiere this week), and be on the panel for a Q+A afterwards. It's not a paid-for gig, but my train fare will be covered.
Quite an early start, and a trip into town with Gill and our eldest. Ended up going to Millers Yard for a mocha and coffee, and Waterstones to get Asterix books, the current favourite with our boys. Enjoyed the walk back home with son beside me.
And a good day followed too, I did quite a bit of work outside, and finished my arty logpile.
I tidied up some more stuff down the garden, shredded the ivy delivered a day or to ago, with help from one of our youngest son's friends, which was nice.
At 7pm, headed off to St John's to a York Green Festival meeting, Rand chaired and I took notes. It was a good meeting, lots of energy and enthusiasm.
Came home via the cycle track and just manhandled a large tree stump onto my trailer, I took the plastic box out and put that on my pannier rack, filled with woodchips from the shredding the tree surgeons did. A good haul!
Emailing as usual until late, interspersed with a bath as working tomorrow, and no-one likes a smelly entertainer!
And a good day followed too, I did quite a bit of work outside, and finished my arty logpile.
I tidied up some more stuff down the garden, shredded the ivy delivered a day or to ago, with help from one of our youngest son's friends, which was nice.
At 7pm, headed off to St John's to a York Green Festival meeting, Rand chaired and I took notes. It was a good meeting, lots of energy and enthusiasm.
Came home via the cycle track and just manhandled a large tree stump onto my trailer, I took the plastic box out and put that on my pannier rack, filled with woodchips from the shredding the tree surgeons did. A good haul!
Emailing as usual until late, interspersed with a bath as working tomorrow, and no-one likes a smelly entertainer!
Another good day, after a late start I did my Community Care Blog and then at midday headed into town to a meeting with my Transition buddies down at City Screen, to discuss the publicity around The Age of Stupid, and the panel members for the discussion afterwards.
I then went to chat to the proprietor of 'One' Ethical Boutique, about a possible publicity stunt for the film, and my building society to pay in a cheque, the council to give in some paperwork, and finally to see Dylan at Millers Yard, and a good chat and collected several sacks of oranges and coffee grounds, which I promptly took to the St Nicks Fields composting area. All that pet shop sawdust needs some nitrogen-rich stuff!
Home for a very late lunch... 3pm and then did a bit in the garden, clearing up some of the riddling before tea and then another meeting, this time a YorkLETS meeting which I chaired and I think was a successful meeting.
Home by 10, and had to do more writing, this time the proposed text for the Age of Stupid flyer/poster.
I then went to chat to the proprietor of 'One' Ethical Boutique, about a possible publicity stunt for the film, and my building society to pay in a cheque, the council to give in some paperwork, and finally to see Dylan at Millers Yard, and a good chat and collected several sacks of oranges and coffee grounds, which I promptly took to the St Nicks Fields composting area. All that pet shop sawdust needs some nitrogen-rich stuff!
Home for a very late lunch... 3pm and then did a bit in the garden, clearing up some of the riddling before tea and then another meeting, this time a YorkLETS meeting which I chaired and I think was a successful meeting.
Home by 10, and had to do more writing, this time the proposed text for the Age of Stupid flyer/poster.
Quite a relaxed day in many ways... although due to a family visit we did have some tidying up to do. I took our youngest into school and came back to help sort stuff out... I found a large sack of bananas which I was able to salvage and lay out on the cake-racks on the stove, and also helped with vacuuming, ready for Gill's sister Jane and hubby Mike to visit, due at 2.30.
About lunchtime I was rung up by the local free magazine 'Local Link' who are going to do a feature on composting, and they wanted a how and why conversation to form an article, so spent an hour chatting through allsorts of stuff, being careful to differentiate between the York Rotters advice and things which I did, which I'm supposed to try to keep separate from Rotters stuff. For instance, with my Rotters hat on, I'm supposed to not go on about composting roadkill... so I am going to be sent the article before publication so I can check I'm not going to get into trouble, and that the facts are correct!
Jane and Mike had come to visit several folks in York, drop off presents and pick up presents for their family gathering, as they have offspring and grandchildren visiting them over the holidays. They arrived slightly early and we had a good chat before our eldest came home and then I cycled down to school to pick up our youngest. They stayed a bit later than planned, to see the children who were on best behaviour, fortunately!
I left for town as soon as they went, to deliver paperwork for the council, the Planning Panel stuff, and to post parcels to Taunton and Shrewsbury and a small pile of letters/cards to lots of other places. I also picked up two sacks of orange halves and coffee grounds from Millers Yard, and a sack and a box from Country Fresh. Home by 5pm.
I had the leftover macaroni cheese and cauliflower from yesterday plus dolmades (stuffed vine leaves) which are one of my favourite things, quite a treat as they aren't cheap, even buying in bulk from Suma. A good evening with the children, we watched a bit of telly and I got a cuddle... not something I often get from my eldest!
A warm and cosy evening turning logs rapidly back into the carbon dioxide the trees sucked up not so long ago, releasing their stored sunshine into our living room and into the water to enable us to wash our pans and plates, and driving moisture off waste bananas to preserve them for future muesli... I love our Clearview Stoves!!!
About lunchtime I was rung up by the local free magazine 'Local Link' who are going to do a feature on composting, and they wanted a how and why conversation to form an article, so spent an hour chatting through allsorts of stuff, being careful to differentiate between the York Rotters advice and things which I did, which I'm supposed to try to keep separate from Rotters stuff. For instance, with my Rotters hat on, I'm supposed to not go on about composting roadkill... so I am going to be sent the article before publication so I can check I'm not going to get into trouble, and that the facts are correct!
Jane and Mike had come to visit several folks in York, drop off presents and pick up presents for their family gathering, as they have offspring and grandchildren visiting them over the holidays. They arrived slightly early and we had a good chat before our eldest came home and then I cycled down to school to pick up our youngest. They stayed a bit later than planned, to see the children who were on best behaviour, fortunately!
I left for town as soon as they went, to deliver paperwork for the council, the Planning Panel stuff, and to post parcels to Taunton and Shrewsbury and a small pile of letters/cards to lots of other places. I also picked up two sacks of orange halves and coffee grounds from Millers Yard, and a sack and a box from Country Fresh. Home by 5pm.
I had the leftover macaroni cheese and cauliflower from yesterday plus dolmades (stuffed vine leaves) which are one of my favourite things, quite a treat as they aren't cheap, even buying in bulk from Suma. A good evening with the children, we watched a bit of telly and I got a cuddle... not something I often get from my eldest!
A warm and cosy evening turning logs rapidly back into the carbon dioxide the trees sucked up not so long ago, releasing their stored sunshine into our living room and into the water to enable us to wash our pans and plates, and driving moisture off waste bananas to preserve them for future muesli... I love our Clearview Stoves!!!
Woke with not much time to spare, as due at CVS Priory St Centre at 9.30.... to attend a conference, the first meeting of the Local Infrastructure Organisations Facilities and Buildings Managers Network, all of whom are involved in looking after CVS-type buildings or similar. My talk was directly after lunch and I had been invited to talk about the new Energy Performance Certificates which will have to be displayed on all public access buildings over a certain size (1000m2) from this October. This will mean that there is an 'efficiency rating' for visitors/staff to see on a wall visible to all, such as in an entrance lobby. I had found out about accredited assessors who will work out the efficiency, and then talked a bit about the best ways to make a building more energy efficient, and potential funding for this. I was pleased that many of the people had not heard of EPCs and were interested in how to make their buildings perform better.
I left at about 3pm, didn't attend the last talk, and came home via Millers Yard, picked up 2 sacks of compostables and took them to the lottie.
Gill told me that one of our children had experienced some bullying type behaviour today, we don't know exactly what went on but it is a bit worrying. And difficult to know how to deal with it. The joys of parenting, hey!
After tea, shot down to the LETS meeting at the Seahorse Hotel and enjoyed that, much prepararion for next month's AGM which I'm chairing.
I left at about 3pm, didn't attend the last talk, and came home via Millers Yard, picked up 2 sacks of compostables and took them to the lottie.
Gill told me that one of our children had experienced some bullying type behaviour today, we don't know exactly what went on but it is a bit worrying. And difficult to know how to deal with it. The joys of parenting, hey!
After tea, shot down to the LETS meeting at the Seahorse Hotel and enjoyed that, much prepararion for next month's AGM which I'm chairing.
A good day... Gill was having problems motivating the children to go to school, so she got me up and asked me to take them in. So we got to school on time and I got a hug from them both. Lovely.
I cycled on to the 'public logpile' which is nearby and loaded up and struggled home with a heavy load.
Gill was getting ready to go to parenting class but I had an appointment with my dentist so I got ready for that. We listened to Radio 4 Woman's Hour and it was about cults, following the horrible goings on in Texas where there's been an abusive situation within a sect or cult. My Dad grew up in the Exclusive Plymouth Bretheren and he's very interested in the subject, as he was kicked out when a teenager and has been damaged by the experience. He is always interested to hear of others' experiences and he and Mummy may be able to do a 'listen again' type of thing on the 'net.
I then cycled down to town and saw my dentist and she told me that I have improved my cleaning routine in the area which she was concerned about last time... but I am missing the good cleaning in another area so I promised to try to do better. I want to make her a happy woman!
I then got a couple of cheques out, one for the stove work last week and one to pay half the annual council tax. Then popped into Millers Yard to pick up a bag of lovely orange halves and coffee grounds, then on to see Anita for a coffee and a good chat.
Eventually got home towards 2pm and had lunch... then at 3 I went back to school to bring the boys back, and then Gill took them to Martial Arts up at Archbishop Holgates school, and I got the motorised riddle out to prepare a load more compost toilet cover material... basically partly composted sawdust which needs to be de-lumped and made into a a friable homogenous material.
For tea I had reheat pasta and sauce.
I cycled on to the 'public logpile' which is nearby and loaded up and struggled home with a heavy load.
Gill was getting ready to go to parenting class but I had an appointment with my dentist so I got ready for that. We listened to Radio 4 Woman's Hour and it was about cults, following the horrible goings on in Texas where there's been an abusive situation within a sect or cult. My Dad grew up in the Exclusive Plymouth Bretheren and he's very interested in the subject, as he was kicked out when a teenager and has been damaged by the experience. He is always interested to hear of others' experiences and he and Mummy may be able to do a 'listen again' type of thing on the 'net.
I then cycled down to town and saw my dentist and she told me that I have improved my cleaning routine in the area which she was concerned about last time... but I am missing the good cleaning in another area so I promised to try to do better. I want to make her a happy woman!
I then got a couple of cheques out, one for the stove work last week and one to pay half the annual council tax. Then popped into Millers Yard to pick up a bag of lovely orange halves and coffee grounds, then on to see Anita for a coffee and a good chat.
Eventually got home towards 2pm and had lunch... then at 3 I went back to school to bring the boys back, and then Gill took them to Martial Arts up at Archbishop Holgates school, and I got the motorised riddle out to prepare a load more compost toilet cover material... basically partly composted sawdust which needs to be de-lumped and made into a a friable homogenous material.
For tea I had reheat pasta and sauce.
Gill took the kiddies into school and I got ready to go into Radio York to talk about being a part-Freegan, someone who gets some free stuff, sometimes out of bins and skips. I got there for 10am and was soon ushered into the studio.
First there was a recorded interview with a woman who goes skip-raiding at supermarkets, and she described some of the things she had found and eaten from the bins, and why she did this. Then the interviewer, Adam, chatted to me about the arangement I have with the greengrocer and my habit of collecting drinks cans from the sides of roads and then selling them when I've got several sackfulls... it was a good interview, went really quickly.
Then went to Millers Yard for a coffee and was pleased to meet Ros, who's chair of the York Community Furniture Store. She's someone I've heard of on many occasions but never met. She's a composting enthusiast too. We had a good chat and I then picked up Dylan's compostable orange skins and cycled off to see my friend Jo for lunch.
Jo has now got an allotment so we discussed how to deal with lots and lots of nettle roots, how to compost them successfully. She'd made some bread so it was a good sandwich, after which I bombed back home as we were expecting a visit from a surveyor to discuss external insulating render.
This was finished by 3pm when I went to school to pick up the boys, who came home quickly as we were expecting to have a visit from a neighbour who keeps lizards. However he didn't turn up.
I went to a meeting in town at 6 to go to the first Hull Road Ward Planning Panel, being held at the Guildhall. There were 6 of the new panel there, plus Roger Pierce, one of the Councillors and Jennifer the Neighbourhood Management Officer, and we had a training session and got organised... I said I was not willing to be the Clerk but would chair the group if they were happy with this. However no-one else wished to be Clerk so I was appointed Clerk-until-someone-else-comes-forward too. Then we discussed our first planning application, a temporary building at Woodlands MS Respite Care Centre used to store clothes etc donated for the shops, which has been there for a couple of years and they have applied to have it there for another two. We had advice from Roger who has much experience of planning matters, and our decision was to say that we had no strong opposition to it but wanted to say that we didn't want to see it become a regularly renewed consent, that the building should be temporary not permanent.
Got home at 7.20 and had a mellow evening, until....
Much later, I was in the middle of a skype conversation and the house shook quite violently... an EARTHQUAKE!!! It was the most frightening and weird thing ever..
I was very shaken up, if that's not a silly thing to say, and had adrenalin going through me for an hour afterwards.....
First there was a recorded interview with a woman who goes skip-raiding at supermarkets, and she described some of the things she had found and eaten from the bins, and why she did this. Then the interviewer, Adam, chatted to me about the arangement I have with the greengrocer and my habit of collecting drinks cans from the sides of roads and then selling them when I've got several sackfulls... it was a good interview, went really quickly.
Then went to Millers Yard for a coffee and was pleased to meet Ros, who's chair of the York Community Furniture Store. She's someone I've heard of on many occasions but never met. She's a composting enthusiast too. We had a good chat and I then picked up Dylan's compostable orange skins and cycled off to see my friend Jo for lunch.
Jo has now got an allotment so we discussed how to deal with lots and lots of nettle roots, how to compost them successfully. She'd made some bread so it was a good sandwich, after which I bombed back home as we were expecting a visit from a surveyor to discuss external insulating render.
This was finished by 3pm when I went to school to pick up the boys, who came home quickly as we were expecting to have a visit from a neighbour who keeps lizards. However he didn't turn up.
I went to a meeting in town at 6 to go to the first Hull Road Ward Planning Panel, being held at the Guildhall. There were 6 of the new panel there, plus Roger Pierce, one of the Councillors and Jennifer the Neighbourhood Management Officer, and we had a training session and got organised... I said I was not willing to be the Clerk but would chair the group if they were happy with this. However no-one else wished to be Clerk so I was appointed Clerk-until-someone-else-comes-forward too. Then we discussed our first planning application, a temporary building at Woodlands MS Respite Care Centre used to store clothes etc donated for the shops, which has been there for a couple of years and they have applied to have it there for another two. We had advice from Roger who has much experience of planning matters, and our decision was to say that we had no strong opposition to it but wanted to say that we didn't want to see it become a regularly renewed consent, that the building should be temporary not permanent.
Got home at 7.20 and had a mellow evening, until....
Much later, I was in the middle of a skype conversation and the house shook quite violently... an EARTHQUAKE!!! It was the most frightening and weird thing ever..
I was very shaken up, if that's not a silly thing to say, and had adrenalin going through me for an hour afterwards.....
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.
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.
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.
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.
Wow what a busy and upbeat day.
I took the kids to school as Gill wasn't feeling up to it, and I collected more leaves.
I took them down the garden and did a bit more compost management before getting ready to go to the Big Green Market which has a York Rotters stall alongside a St Nicks and a City Council Recycling stall. I went via Out Of This World and did a little pick up, then on to Millers Yard where Dylan had four sacks of oranges from his orange juice maker for me.
I parked my bike and trailer near the Big Green Market and spent 2 and a half hours advising members of the public about home composting, lots of enquiries, perhaps 50 or so. Very satisfying, how many people want to know how to compost... there was a queue much of the time!
At 2.30 I left as I had told Gill that I'd pick up the kids at 3. I just had time to unload my heavy trailer full and get down to school, but when I got there I discovered my back wheel was loose, so loose that when I lifted up the frame it came out of it's moorings. However, the design of the frame means that it can be ridden even with a totally loose wheel, so I was able to tentatively cycle back home with the kids. I rang Cycle Heaven when I got in, and they were happy to see me at 5.30 to repair the fault.
So had a brief sandwich tea and at 5 went down to town and Ash at Cycle Heaven did something magical and revamped the back wheel. I bought another bell, I now have 3 on my bike! I then made my way to the Minster for the gathering of the Critical Mass people, and we watched the beginning of the light sculpture on the Minster before we left.
There wer 13 bikes on the Critical Mass Cycle Ride, including two recumbents and one with a trike-trailer with two children pedalling away. A very enjoyable ride, almost no aggro.
Ended up back at the Minster at 7, and a few of us went for a drink at the Gillygate on Gillygate. A very enjoyable drink it was too. At 8.30 we all left, I came home via Martins where there was an immense pile of stuff for me to transport home, I'd estimate 100 kg in one trip. Even put a 20 kg sack on my handlebars!
Had a game of Scrabble as soon as I got in, and was winning handsomely until Gill dropped her tiles as she fell asleep and we called it a day, so I watched Joolz Holland whilst writing blog and Googlechatting with K over in America.
I took the kids to school as Gill wasn't feeling up to it, and I collected more leaves.
I took them down the garden and did a bit more compost management before getting ready to go to the Big Green Market which has a York Rotters stall alongside a St Nicks and a City Council Recycling stall. I went via Out Of This World and did a little pick up, then on to Millers Yard where Dylan had four sacks of oranges from his orange juice maker for me.
I parked my bike and trailer near the Big Green Market and spent 2 and a half hours advising members of the public about home composting, lots of enquiries, perhaps 50 or so. Very satisfying, how many people want to know how to compost... there was a queue much of the time!
At 2.30 I left as I had told Gill that I'd pick up the kids at 3. I just had time to unload my heavy trailer full and get down to school, but when I got there I discovered my back wheel was loose, so loose that when I lifted up the frame it came out of it's moorings. However, the design of the frame means that it can be ridden even with a totally loose wheel, so I was able to tentatively cycle back home with the kids. I rang Cycle Heaven when I got in, and they were happy to see me at 5.30 to repair the fault.
So had a brief sandwich tea and at 5 went down to town and Ash at Cycle Heaven did something magical and revamped the back wheel. I bought another bell, I now have 3 on my bike! I then made my way to the Minster for the gathering of the Critical Mass people, and we watched the beginning of the light sculpture on the Minster before we left.
There wer 13 bikes on the Critical Mass Cycle Ride, including two recumbents and one with a trike-trailer with two children pedalling away. A very enjoyable ride, almost no aggro.
Ended up back at the Minster at 7, and a few of us went for a drink at the Gillygate on Gillygate. A very enjoyable drink it was too. At 8.30 we all left, I came home via Martins where there was an immense pile of stuff for me to transport home, I'd estimate 100 kg in one trip. Even put a 20 kg sack on my handlebars!
Had a game of Scrabble as soon as I got in, and was winning handsomely until Gill dropped her tiles as she fell asleep and we called it a day, so I watched Joolz Holland whilst writing blog and Googlechatting with K over in America.
Joy of joys, a lie-in, what a treat! And a very lazy morning followed, watched some Freeview 'Scrapheap Challenge' as eating breakfast... a weird time to put this programme on, but as I watched it, I expect others did too! Towards lunchtime the boys got up, and I had lunch and then went into the garden to do some compost heap management, which rendered me very pongy, so I came in and had a shower, as I was due to be at a party at 3pm.
I got ready, loaded my bike up and got changed into my entertainment gear as the party is quite local, at the Healthy Living Centre, Millers Yard, Gillygate. I popped in to Martins Country Fresh on the way down to town, to ask that any compostables are left outside tonight next to the bins, where I'll pick them up later. Arrived at Millers Yard at 2.55, and was immediately surrounded by hoards of little very enthusiastic children, all keen on seeing 'The Funny Man'.
I said 'Hello' to the Dad who'd booked me and was ushered into the room where the party performance was to take place. The party was not really to celebrate a birthday, but to forge friendships between the newly arrived family, fresh from Australia, and the local children. So the youngster's birthday had been several months previously, but he was having a party today to help make friends here.
As they were very young, I had agreed to do a short performance of circus skills, which went well, they laughed a lot, as I obviously am a funny man, as I was wearing a silly hat, have daft shoes and do weird things with juggling balls and sticks. So had a 15 minute mini-show and then moved on to modelling balloons, blowing a load up as various little ones came out to try to blow up a balloon, which is more or less impossible for most people, including the Dad, and this gave me time to inflate 20 or so, with my lungs, as I am able to do it...now!
So then made a small number of demonstration models, a dog, rabbit, bird, a 'watchdog' with one of the grownup's watches inside the dog, and finally, an elephant, to remind the audience the basics of balloon modelling. Then I invited youngsters to work together with a grownup to do a balloon animal, or if they preferred, sit in an area where I then made them an animal of their choice. I was delighted to see several good models being made by child/adult combos, and the children enjoyed the different models I made. Finally I organised the competitions for the models I made to be given to the youngsters, as I don't want to take them back home. I finished at exactly 4pm, as requested.
Zoomed home and arrived as our guests arrived in their hire car. Wendy and Brian are from New Zealand, and Wendy is the mother of my second cousins, Amanda and Chris. Wendy's first husband, Tony, my Dad's cousin, died as he was a heavy drinker, and Wendy has remarried a lovely gentle man, and they seem like a really good couple. They are writing a blog about their travels through, which is W and B in UK (http://wandbinuk.blogspot.com/) So they were treated to a brief Fiddlesticks demo before I got changed and put my stuff away, and they gave us some gifts from Kiwiland... the boys were given a New Zealand hat each, and a tiki, I think, and Gill received a kiwi tea-towel and a pau-shell necklace. I was happy with a New Zealand woolly hat.
I took them on a tour of the garden... they visited about 5 years ago, and it has grown since then, as have the boys, who were about 2 and 4 then. They stayed the night that time, but today, just for a meal. Gill had made a quiche with home-grown broccoli and onion, home-grown potato and green beans and baby tomatoes. They brought a bottle of New Zealand wine, delicious! When in the garden, Brian picked a plant from the edge of the lawn and asked me what it was, so I brought it inside and looked it up, as it is a weed in New Zealand and takes over the lawn. It turned out to be 'Self Heal' and has a pretty purple flower.
I got ready, loaded my bike up and got changed into my entertainment gear as the party is quite local, at the Healthy Living Centre, Millers Yard, Gillygate. I popped in to Martins Country Fresh on the way down to town, to ask that any compostables are left outside tonight next to the bins, where I'll pick them up later. Arrived at Millers Yard at 2.55, and was immediately surrounded by hoards of little very enthusiastic children, all keen on seeing 'The Funny Man'.
I said 'Hello' to the Dad who'd booked me and was ushered into the room where the party performance was to take place. The party was not really to celebrate a birthday, but to forge friendships between the newly arrived family, fresh from Australia, and the local children. So the youngster's birthday had been several months previously, but he was having a party today to help make friends here.
As they were very young, I had agreed to do a short performance of circus skills, which went well, they laughed a lot, as I obviously am a funny man, as I was wearing a silly hat, have daft shoes and do weird things with juggling balls and sticks. So had a 15 minute mini-show and then moved on to modelling balloons, blowing a load up as various little ones came out to try to blow up a balloon, which is more or less impossible for most people, including the Dad, and this gave me time to inflate 20 or so, with my lungs, as I am able to do it...now!
So then made a small number of demonstration models, a dog, rabbit, bird, a 'watchdog' with one of the grownup's watches inside the dog, and finally, an elephant, to remind the audience the basics of balloon modelling. Then I invited youngsters to work together with a grownup to do a balloon animal, or if they preferred, sit in an area where I then made them an animal of their choice. I was delighted to see several good models being made by child/adult combos, and the children enjoyed the different models I made. Finally I organised the competitions for the models I made to be given to the youngsters, as I don't want to take them back home. I finished at exactly 4pm, as requested.
Zoomed home and arrived as our guests arrived in their hire car. Wendy and Brian are from New Zealand, and Wendy is the mother of my second cousins, Amanda and Chris. Wendy's first husband, Tony, my Dad's cousin, died as he was a heavy drinker, and Wendy has remarried a lovely gentle man, and they seem like a really good couple. They are writing a blog about their travels through, which is W and B in UK (http://wandbinuk.blogspot.com/) So they were treated to a brief Fiddlesticks demo before I got changed and put my stuff away, and they gave us some gifts from Kiwiland... the boys were given a New Zealand hat each, and a tiki, I think, and Gill received a kiwi tea-towel and a pau-shell necklace. I was happy with a New Zealand woolly hat.
I took them on a tour of the garden... they visited about 5 years ago, and it has grown since then, as have the boys, who were about 2 and 4 then. They stayed the night that time, but today, just for a meal. Gill had made a quiche with home-grown broccoli and onion, home-grown potato and green beans and baby tomatoes. They brought a bottle of New Zealand wine, delicious! When in the garden, Brian picked a plant from the edge of the lawn and asked me what it was, so I brought it inside and looked it up, as it is a weed in New Zealand and takes over the lawn. It turned out to be 'Self Heal' and has a pretty purple flower.
A late start, which was good, following last night when I got to bed at 2am...
Went to town to pick up my 'Monday' pick up from Out Of This World, as didn't go yesterday. Went via Miller's Yard Healthy Living Centre, to collect two sacks of coffee grounds and halved juiced oranges, and picked up another two at OOTW. Went through Parliament St to go to the Nationwide to reactivate my passbook, but there was a queue and the door was stuck shut, with a notice saying sorry, it's broken and the engineer has been called. I didn't wait!
Home via Martin's, but they'd binned their compostables, so nothing there.
Lunch, and during the afternoon, Gill retired to bed as she was feeling poorly, with a headache and tiredness. I did more outside work, composting and sieving sawdust. Kept on checking the boys, they were happily playing inside. However during the afternoon, took them for a walk to the Co-op to get a Radio Times and a can of baked beans, as that is what they wanted with their home-grown potatoes, which I baked quickly in the micro. Gill got up and she had the rest of the potatoes and beans. I went down the garden and emptied the big 'compostumbler', putting the material in a 'dalek' to mature. Came in and made my tea, home-grown green beans, lightly fried onions... home grown, of course, a reject yellow pepper, all done on the woodstove, some potatoes from yesterday, and yesterday's reheated cheese sauce. A bit of a mish mash, but filling and tasty.
Watched ITV's 'Undercover Mum' with my eldest son, after we all watched Adam Hart Davis explaining cosmology, which was good.
Then a long session dealing with emails and some good chats with K in America, planning our time together.
Went to town to pick up my 'Monday' pick up from Out Of This World, as didn't go yesterday. Went via Miller's Yard Healthy Living Centre, to collect two sacks of coffee grounds and halved juiced oranges, and picked up another two at OOTW. Went through Parliament St to go to the Nationwide to reactivate my passbook, but there was a queue and the door was stuck shut, with a notice saying sorry, it's broken and the engineer has been called. I didn't wait!
Home via Martin's, but they'd binned their compostables, so nothing there.
Lunch, and during the afternoon, Gill retired to bed as she was feeling poorly, with a headache and tiredness. I did more outside work, composting and sieving sawdust. Kept on checking the boys, they were happily playing inside. However during the afternoon, took them for a walk to the Co-op to get a Radio Times and a can of baked beans, as that is what they wanted with their home-grown potatoes, which I baked quickly in the micro. Gill got up and she had the rest of the potatoes and beans. I went down the garden and emptied the big 'compostumbler', putting the material in a 'dalek' to mature. Came in and made my tea, home-grown green beans, lightly fried onions... home grown, of course, a reject yellow pepper, all done on the woodstove, some potatoes from yesterday, and yesterday's reheated cheese sauce. A bit of a mish mash, but filling and tasty.
Watched ITV's 'Undercover Mum' with my eldest son, after we all watched Adam Hart Davis explaining cosmology, which was good.
Then a long session dealing with emails and some good chats with K in America, planning our time together.
Today is my last chance to modify the documentation for York Green Festival to allow it to go ahead. However in the morning I had a phone chat with Green Party Councillor Andy D'Agorne, who has offered his support for the event and has offered to email the Council official who is being less than helpful, and then a Freecycling couple came to pick up some potato sacks to store their spuds in. Good to get 20 of these re-used!
Then a friend Robin whom I met through CRAG rand and offered me a load of old floorboards for the stove.... so I helped him unload his trailer and showed him around the garden, THEN got on with my work.
After lunch went to town to attend the open day at Millers Yard Healthy Living Centre off Gillygate, as Dylan had asked me to go down for 3pm to do a talk on home composting, as I compost his orange halves and coffee grounds, voluntarily. However the wet weather had reduced the numbers of people present and no-one wanted to have a home composting talk. However as I was standing around with a coffee waiting to see if there were any latecomers to the talk, my ex partner of 10 years turned up, as she is moving back to York and for a while we have both known that we needed to have a chat to put our split behind us, so I could apologise for behaviour I now know was unacceptable, and give her the chance to tell me how she felt about it, all these years later. I hadn't expected to see her here, but we had the neccessary conversation, and she was very mature about it and not bitter, which moved me to tears. I explained as much as I could about my situation/condition and how I saw things now, and was able to make my sorrow and regret known. Felt like quite a relief, a weight off my mind.
After 4pm went to Fishergate to pick up some Freecycled audio-cassette tapes dumped unused in a skip by students, and rescued by a Freecycler.
Then to Heslington to pick up my eldest son who's been to Rowntree Park with a friend and needed bringing home for tea. We all had tea together, it is supposed to be good for families to do this but I find it stressful as my boys are difficult to be with, kicking me under the table, being messy and getting upset when I ask them to eat with their face over the plate to stop stuff falling on the floor, etc. I much prefer them to eat first and then we eat later, in peace.
Spent lots of time on the computer, on dialup, trying to deal with various projects including YGF.
Frustrating that when sending large files, the dialup has short timeouts which mean the process starts all over again, so frustrating.
Then a friend Robin whom I met through CRAG rand and offered me a load of old floorboards for the stove.... so I helped him unload his trailer and showed him around the garden, THEN got on with my work.
After lunch went to town to attend the open day at Millers Yard Healthy Living Centre off Gillygate, as Dylan had asked me to go down for 3pm to do a talk on home composting, as I compost his orange halves and coffee grounds, voluntarily. However the wet weather had reduced the numbers of people present and no-one wanted to have a home composting talk. However as I was standing around with a coffee waiting to see if there were any latecomers to the talk, my ex partner of 10 years turned up, as she is moving back to York and for a while we have both known that we needed to have a chat to put our split behind us, so I could apologise for behaviour I now know was unacceptable, and give her the chance to tell me how she felt about it, all these years later. I hadn't expected to see her here, but we had the neccessary conversation, and she was very mature about it and not bitter, which moved me to tears. I explained as much as I could about my situation/condition and how I saw things now, and was able to make my sorrow and regret known. Felt like quite a relief, a weight off my mind.
After 4pm went to Fishergate to pick up some Freecycled audio-cassette tapes dumped unused in a skip by students, and rescued by a Freecycler.
Then to Heslington to pick up my eldest son who's been to Rowntree Park with a friend and needed bringing home for tea. We all had tea together, it is supposed to be good for families to do this but I find it stressful as my boys are difficult to be with, kicking me under the table, being messy and getting upset when I ask them to eat with their face over the plate to stop stuff falling on the floor, etc. I much prefer them to eat first and then we eat later, in peace.
Spent lots of time on the computer, on dialup, trying to deal with various projects including YGF.
Frustrating that when sending large files, the dialup has short timeouts which mean the process starts all over again, so frustrating.
