Human Lifestyle

For me, today was a good one. I didn't have a lot to do... just a bit of preparation for the weekend. I enjoyed time with Gill, time on the computer, quite a bit of time in the garden, and at the end of the school day, went to get our youngest.

One success was when the Wii appeared to go wrong, and there were unbelievable ructions about the disc not loading and the machine being a complete waste of money. I calmly asked the child remaining in the room to take the disc out and turn the whole thing off for a moment, and then restart it and put the disc back in. It worked and I thanked the obedient child. I called upstairs and told the upset one that I had got the think 'rebooted' (which I thought was the correct term) and got another huge earful about it not being a reboot as this would have erased all the WiiMe characters and scores and everything. I apologised profusely and bade hm come and see it working again. And so all was peaceful again, save the aggro usually associated with two brothers 'sharing' the Wii. Phew. Parenting!

The most interesting thing which happened today was a phone call from a friend whom I'll call 'B' for this story. He regularly walks past Kyi-Po, a vegan shop on Goodramgate. He is a supporter of ethical living and admires what Sarah and Matt have done. However, he had noticed that they started selling alcohol and tobacco, and was a bit perturbed about these less ethical products, and had discussed it with his girlfriend. A few days ago he noticed a notice advertising the arrival of 'triple strength vodka' and so he, without thinking, walked in and said something to the effect that he'd noticed the new products and wondered why they were selling them?

Sarah obviously felt this was an attack and yelled that what business was it of his to say what they could and could not sell...? B kept calm and said that if she had listened to what he had actually said, which was a question not anything else. Sarah continued her defensiveness and aggression and B left as he could see that he wouldn't get an answer or even a polite discussion.

Today, B was walking past, deep in conversation with his girlfriend... they didn't even look at the shop. Suddenly, Sarah and/or Matt (I am telling this story second hand, I wasn't there, so fine details might not be 100% correct) leapt out and confronted them, yelling about 'do gooders' interfering and poking their noses into other peoples' businesses. Somehow my name got dragged into this, as some weeks ago I asked them if they had a ramp to enable my friend, a wheelchair user, to get into their shop. I had a similar experience of defensiveness and abuse, and have since received unpleasent messages and hostility from both of them, despite my being a supporter of their venture. So there was a confrontation in the street, with Matthew shouting and using foul language towards B and his girlfriend, who had nothing to do with the situation at all. A crowd gathered and even the traffic stopped as it was such a commotion.

B rang me to tell me about this as I was slandered and called all sorts of names (including Matt saying I'd threatened to take him to court, which is complete rubbish!) and B wanted to warn me not to go near the place as he felt these two were capable of much more than verbal abuse. I'm very surprised by their attitude. I'm quite shocked, as surely, a shopkeeper should try to be as polite and nice as possible, as every penny you earn counts. And I was considering going in to get some more lemongrass mayonnaise which I got from them a few months back... but in the light of what has happened today, I think I'd be a fool to go in!

All that the shop-owners should have done was to say 'we've started selling these products as they too are vegan and they sell well' or words to that effect.

I did spend quite a bit of today thinking about B's experience whilst building the latest compost heap and putting some prunings through the shredder. I can only think that the shop owners have some sort of persecution complex. And no-one I know is critical of what they are doing or opposed to them or their shop... until today that is! I am going to find out if what they said about 'not being able to have a wooden ramp available for wheelchair users who want one being against the planning regulations' is true or not. I think it's nonsense.

Anyway, I had a good day and got quite a bit done. Good chats with Rich a the fruit shop, friendliness at Freshways too. Got on well with the kids and Gill. What more could I want from a Friday?

Well, a quiet day, had hoped to make it to the allotment to put in my spuds, which are very well chitted, but lots of things got in the way.

It was a busy family day in the morning, boys playing Wii Music and I don't know what else going on, and then I spent some time repairing the broken tiles around the raised beds.. they are quite brittle and a kick will break them. Several have been kicked and therefore I have had to remove the soil from behind them, excavate a space for the tile to slip into, and replace. Fortunately, when I recovered the roof tiles, I got some spare, so more can be kicked and I'll be able to replace them for some time to come...

I added some home-made compost to the soil as I'd taken out loads of roots and it did seem quite impoverished. It won't be long before we can replant that bit of bed. Tomorrow maybe?
Also made some more growing medium, compost, leafmould and loam.

I popped down to Country Fresh to get assorted veggies, some for Tony's quiches for his birthday party tomorrow. Also brought back plenty of compostables... and a huge pawpaw (papaya) which made a good fruit salad base and lots of strips for drying.

In the evening I helped our eldest with some homework (amazing!) and then did two lots of washing up. Gill made quiche bases (pastry) and a chocolate cake in the shape of a narrow boat, as Tony is more than keen on canals, and is one of the lock keepers at the Foss Barrier.

A smooth morning... apparently the child who had to finish his homework got up at 5am to do it and was ready to go to school early! I left soon after with the other, and got to school on time as usual. On the way home I found some clumps of Flammulina, winter mushroom or velvet shank, so brought those back to add to the evening meal.

Gill and I had a tidying morning and sorted out the SUMA order. I quickly cycled down to the bank to pay in a cheque from one of the SUMA food co-op members and transfer some money into our SUMA account so we can pay for the order when it's delivered. After lunch I went to see David the photographer to look at the pics he's sorted out from the gig a few weeks ago. Some lovely shots of the audience enjoying themselves, but not that many good ones of me, mainly because of a non-uniform background confusing the images.

I picked up some stuff from Country Fresh and brought it home, going straight off to school to do the composting there and pick up our little one. He'd had a good day and was whistling loudly on the way home.

We got home at almost the same time as our eldest, who came back with a new friend who's not been here before. So a pretty happy bunch of children, very nice! Whilst the older two were on the computer, I played on the Wii at my son's request... he's much better than me so I let the team down somewhat and he then asked me to get off the team as he'd do better by himself!

But, it was a very nice Friday evening... we all ate together although the boys had baked potatoes and omelette and Gill and I had stir-fried veg (including the enokitake mushrooms I picked earlier and some reject sprouts which I had to peel/prepare quite carefully to get to the edible bits) with noodles... and I had some of the pickled walnuts from last summer. Very vinegary.

In the evening, checked out the trailers for a forthcoming film The Age Of Stupid, which looks really interesting. It's based on a surviving human (Pete Postlethwaite) in 2055 looking back and wondering why we didn't DO SOMETHING about the impending climate crisis which was obvious to anyone who understood basic science and could foresee the consequences of continued consumption of carbon fuel. The film comes out in March and promises to have more of an impact than An Inconvenient Truth. I look forward to it.

I also did a load more fruit drying, washing up and general household stuff whilst Gill snoozed... she's a 'lark' and I'm an 'owl' but we still find time to be awake together and enjoy each other's company...

An excellent day! It was a relaxed morning with no shouting or aggro, and then Gill went into town on the bus to try and find trousers for our eldest and so he could get a birthday present for his friend who's party he's going to tomorrow.

I took this opportunity to play with our youngest, he wanted to play on 'Mario Karts' on the Wii... and oh God it was difficult! I was rubbish... came last several times, but hey I'm a beginner and I'm old so both count against me. Half an hour left me exhausted! So much concentration... and then the phone rang and it was Rose up the road asking if our eldest was needing a lift to the party tomorrow... and I asked if her son was in and wanted a playmate? He was and did, so we walked up there and I came back to do a composting job which has been needing doing for a while: the bin made of Anderson Shelter corrugated iron was very well rotted down... I dug it all out and put the stuff in a builders bag, from where I'll bag it up or riddle it and bag it...

Then Gill came back, our eldest with no trousers but a nice appropriate prezzie for his friend.

I then bombed into town on the bike to pay our annual electricity bill to Good Energy through the bank (electronic transfer) and put in a cheque for £30 for 6 sacks of compost Alison had off me yonks ago, the stuff Barry Potter took up on his return journey from delivering the cider press back to me...

Back in time to put some rather overdue compostables which have been hanging about into the newly vacated container, and collect a pile of electrical flex I rescued a while ago which I've been putting off sorting. However, once I'd sat down and got going with the craft knife (pulling the flex into the blade, the blade held still next to my trousered leg), my eldest started to help by pulling apart the grey outer insulation and removing the inner thinner wires, and then when I'd shaved off a long sliver of plastic from the copper wire, he extracted the wire from the throw-away plastic sheath.

We did about two hours worth... a most excellent Father/Son activity, and we did about a quarter of what I've collected recently. Enjoyed the Royal Institution Lecture again, and took wood-heated bathwater up for the older boyo to have a bath before his party tomorrow.

A most enjoyable day. I want, no, NEED more days like this, where I feel like a good parent doing the right things re my offspring. All too often these days I feel like I'm just not coping, but today was a blinder! Mainly due to excellent behaviour from both boys.

A good day today... boys happy on Wii, me busy in the kitchen as well as Gill making a trifle for this afternoon's visit. I went for some bread... as no 'Yesterbake' got the full-price stuff for the first time in ages. Also found a new line in the Co-op, a nice apple juice drink in a glass bottle (easy recycling!) made with English apples, so got some of that, again for Alison's party.

I washed and blanched a job-lot of grapes and put them to dry before cycling off to Chapelfields, the other side of York, for Alison's party. Gill and the boys went on two buses... I'd been there half an hour when Gill rang (she has got a mobile phone, 21st Century Girl!) and said she had got off where Alison said, so I went to collect them, just 5 minutes walk from Alison's.

The gathering was really good. Alison's sister Cheryl from Sheffield, and Cheryl's daughter Grace, who was really good with the boys. Our friends Melody and Simon with their two offspring, one of who is great friends with our two, and Simon's Mum MaryLou from London. And really good to meet up with my Green Festival buddy Randall and his wife Annie. Rand is a garden designer and has done a lovely job on Alison's garden, making a little patio and some raised beds.

Alison had requested that people didn't bring anything which none of us had heard, understood or obeyed, so there were some excellent foody bits and lots of dwinkabuls and we all had a jolly time. Including garden tours and memories of what it used to look like with a photo collection. The boys played boisterously and had a good time too. We left soon after 6, and as Gill got a taxi home she got in first. I picked up a sack of compostables from Country Fresh and a large pile of unsold mistletoe... with loads of berries which I'll try to plant into my Bramley Apples... might work!

So, a happy evening followed with not very much washing up to do, hooray!

A nice start to the day, with a phone call from Lorna who's up in Yorkshire visiting her sister and asked if she could visit us all this evening. I came down and lit the stove as it's cold, and breakfasted.

Gill went out with our eldest to go and look for a Nintendo Wii, as he's been saving up for one for ages, after enjoying using one at a friend's house earlier this year.

I went on my computer and our youngest played on Spore on the other computer.

The others came back, they'd walked into town, got a good deal on a Wii and walked back. They'd got a basic Wii Sport with added games, steering wheel, extra user remote and probably other stuff... for an all inclusive price which was quite a bit cheaper than all the bits if bought separately. So what's going to happen is that he'll have the basic stuff he's saved up for, and keep earning and saving so he can buy the extra stuff off Gill.

We had a late lunch of the last of the leek and potato soup, and I did a small amount of work outside, pruning out this year's brambles, some chainsawing (just 10 minutes) and splitting.

Lorna dropped in after tea (which was tomato soup, home-made of course!) and watched the boys and Gill setting up the Wii whilst I filled up the aquarium that our youngest got for his main present. Lorna had never seen a Wii before so was just as amused as we were to watch our eldest having a virtual boxing match, very entertaining and fun.

Lorna left at about 9 and I set to and made another batch of tomato soup on the woodstove. This is what you do with a glut of tomatoes: chop two onions and a stick of celery, and fry in the biggest heaviest pan you have. Add a job lot of chopped tomatoes, followed by a couple of chopped beetroot and two red peppers. Stew for a couple of hours with the lid on and then let it go cold overnight without taking the lid off. Tomorrow morning I'll add some herbs and bouillon, balsamic vinegar and soy sauce. Then whizz with the hand-held blender and bring it up to heat again... it will be delicious!

Whilst this was bubbling, I watched Nine Months, a rather rubbish American film, and played Scrabble with my various Facebook friends.