Human Lifestyle

I got up early as I wanted to attend the York in Transition Christmas Presents Swap at St Nicks, which started at 10am.  On the way I found a bunch of bright yellow 'Winter Mushroom' or Enokitake, Flammulina velupites.  I picked about a dozen, all quite small.

I was pleased to go as I met some good people and did two 'mini-tours' for people new to St Nicks, and I explained about the old landfill site, the beginnings of the nature reserve, the John Lally Wood, passive solar design, the two types of solar panel, green roof, rainwater harvesting, compost toilets and more.  I really love showing people round! 

I took a bottle of red wine with mulling spices, a Christmas present which we won't use as we don't drink red wine, and my usual bag of dried pea beans which I'm always happy to give out.  I met my friend Linda, who really likes red wine, and gave her the bottle.  She didn't want mulling spices, so those went on the swap table and were snapped up!  I came away with a jigsaw, a wok stand for the stove and a pair of gloves.  I gave two people some pea beans.

I came home at 12.30, Gill had gone to Scarborough on the train with our eldest and a friend, leaving the youngest at home in York.  I had lunch and spent a bit of time on the computer but then suggested to our lad that he come off his Roblox thingy and do something active.  Amazingly, he agreed and came outside and helped me move a lot of recently split logs from the front to a safe store at the rear of the house.  He kept going whilst I did some chainsawing and splitting.

Later, he asked if he could have the stove lit in the front room... and I talked him through how to do it, provided the raw materials and he did an excellent job, got it laid and lit really well.

I cooked tea... a 100% freegan tea, apart from a tablespoon full of EV olive oil.  I fried 2 onions (ones which had manky outside bits but the majority of the bulb was firm and lovely) and chopped up a small butternut squash which had a bit of damage at the stalk end, easy to chop out, a courgette which had one end going soft, a red pepper and most of 5 tomatoes.  All this got fried up on the front room stove.  I marinaded some out of date tofu (but hermetically sealed and absolutely fine) with garlic, balsamic vinegar and soy sauce, and then slow fried them in some free pumpkin oil which dates back to Out Of This World years ago, I think!  I put the mushrooms in with the tofu right at the end, and they just about disappeared.  Enokitake is a very small mushroom!  Then Gill came in and there was a request for pasta, so I boiled that on the stove.  Actually, this pasta was bought too, so not a 100% freegan meal... shame!   But a nice tea, much enjoyed.

I also really enjoyed... to the point of tears, the lovely BBC2 tribute to my favourite and now deceased actor, Pete Postlethwaite. Click here to see this on iPlayer, for the next few days only!

More fruit wrangling this evening, putting pineapple and apple into jars. And washing up, as per bally usual!

Another good day, despite being woken by sounds of distress.  So, assorted housework in the morning and not getting time to sort out the leafmould which I was really hoping to do before the 2pm rendezvous at St Nicks with the University of York Green Party.  I'd arranged this a couple of weeks ago, to show a group of students around the Environment Centre and Nature Reserve, and to open it up to others, I'd made a facebook 'event' for the tour. 

I got there at 1.55 and there was also a group of University of the Third Age visitors who were wanting a look round, so I ended up taking them round too.  We started with the 'passive solar design' of the building and the two types of solar panels, rainwater recycling and Sedum roof.  I showed them a sample compost bin and wormery, and inside, the cut-out wheelie bin and the energy balance monitor, displaying the energy generated and used by the building.

Outside, we saw the recycling compound, and went up on the bund to see the James Street office and light industrial buildings which could have covered the St Nicks area too, had the local people not made a fuss.  We saw the John Lally Wood and the older trees which were growing on the surface of the landfill when it was capped with clay.  We went via the stone circle back to the centre, where Jonathan the Volunteer Manager gave a 5 minute presentation about the various volunteering opportunities available.

It was a really nice walk round; I always enjoy showing people round St Nicks.  It is a very special place for me.  One of the people on the tour was Emma, who's a mature undergraduate from Harrogate, who had asked if she could interview me for her Dissertation on Transition Towns.  So she walked back with me and once ensconced on the sofa with a chamomile tea, she asked me a list of questions with a tape recorder going.  This was good too.

But it left no time for doing my leafmould cage.  It was getting dark by the time she left, so I didn't do any more outside, just bits and bobs in the kitchen, and after the children had gone to bed, another load of late-night fruit peeling, slicing and balancing on the drying racks.

Quite a tough day; woke late after the late night last night, and certain household members suffering from 'Cabin Fever'.  But I kept busy... sorted out the last of the pumpkin seeds from their pulp, now all are on about 10 sheets of newspaper drying.

I went to the bread shop at lunchtime and later, took the St Nicks bucket back to them, plus two Apple Day posters which had been left on a lamp-post, and I'd taken back home for safekeeping and re-use.  I went on to see Rich at Country Fresh... and he was creating more pumpkin Halloween Lanterns, so he gave me yet more pumpkin seeds.  I really do need a little gadget or machine which de-hulls them.  I wish someone would engineer something which did this.  As it is, I either have to eat them with the tough outer coat on, which I don't like, OR have to peel them one by one, by hand, which isn't difficult but is time consuming. 

I did a bit of compost heap management but not all that I have to put on a heap actually went on, so I'll have to do some more tomorrow.

Gill got our eldest to make tea... he made a batch of savoury biscuits, something he invented and is good at making, and to go with this he made a pumpkin, veg and Bulgar wheat pate which went well with the biscuits.  He also sorted out some cucumber and celery sticks for dipping into hommous, coleslaw and mayo.  It was a good meal.

And then, I was delighted that both my sons and one of their friends accepted my invitation to take them to see Illuminating York.  There was a bit of discussion about how to travel, since the boys don't use their bikes now, as school is so close, so they aren't in a usable condition. There was talk of getting the bus, or walking down and getting the bus back... but I walked down with them, all the way to the Minster, leaving just before 8pm.  There was a big crowd at Minster Gates, the junction of Petergate and Stonegate, but we got through to Deangate which was more open and had plenty of space.  The installation 'Rose' by Ross Ashton and his wife Karen Monid was really good... at one stage it looked like the Minster was beginning to float up into the air! 

After we watched this for maybe 15 minutes, we walked round to the other side of the Minster, to see the various installations in Dean's Park.  I liked the 4 metre high sphere called 'Lightweight' best, but my friend Vanessa's community stained glass piece 'Unifying Light' was good too.

Then we walked home... Monkgate, Heworth Green, The Gasworks alleyway, James St, St. Nicks and home.  I was impressed that all 3 boys managed this quite long walk, with minimal fuss (only one was making a fuss, the others just kept walking) and we got in at 9.45pm.

So a good finish to a not so good day. I spent quite a bit of time refilling the drying racks with pears and apples til late...

Well, not too bad a day, as I had a relatively late start and got busy with assorted household things, and also some stacking, splitting and chainsawing.  I got a fantastic booking for next April, a big event where I'll be performing to over 100 people - and a good fee promised, too.

During the afternoon I made a pumpkin loaf for the York Rotters Pumpkin Evening.  I used a wholemeal loaf which I made into breadcrumbs in the blender, and also a big spoonful of very dry Meridian peanut butter from the base of the pot, which all blended in very nicely.  I then added a whole onion, chopped, and a red pepper, chopped, and about a third of a pumpkin, grated, and a handful of chopped mixed nuts.  For flavouring I used some red wine, Balsamic vinegar, bouillon and mixed herbs... and a dash of cumin.  Then to bind it, an egg.  I mixed it really really well, and turned it into a greased dish which I'd lined with mixed seeds.  I microwaved it for 10 minutes, and then turned it out onto a baking tray and bunged it in the oven on Mark 6 for 20 minutes... and left it in the oven with the gas off for 20 minutes before taking it to St Nicks in a cake tin.

I also took one of my boys and a friend who lives up the road, both of whom enjoy carving pumpkins and had a good evening.  I took my biggest pumpkin for the competition... mine weighed no more than 2kg, the winning one was over 40kg.   I spent most of the evening peeling dried pumpkin seeds, and then sorting out fresh ones from the pulp.  Two people requested my nutloaf recipe, so I'll send them this link.

The three of us got home at about 8pm and our visitor stayed for another 45 minutes or so.  I had a fairly relaxing evening... washing up, sorting out pumpkin seeds (I have a bucketful to deal with!) and keeping the stove going.

A good day for me...  up early and then at 10.30 I headed off to St Nicks to meet Peter, whom I met yesterday.  He was very interested in our local eco centre, as he believes that to spread the message of how to keep our Planet habitable, we need a network of similar places for people to be educated and be inspired, find information and hold meetings.

So I showed him the various 'bits' of the Environment Centre, the passive solar design, Sedum roof, rainwater harvesting, compost toilets/waterless urinal/strawbale urinal, photovoltaic and hot water solar panels, the energy balance display, woodstove and the York Rotters stuff.

Then we went out onto the nature reserve and looked at the John Lally Wood, the original mature trees in their dips, where the clay cap on the landfill wasn't put.  And to the stone circle, the kids playground where a very friendly little boy was playing on a swing with two women with him, and then back to the Environment Centre.  Here I had a brief chat with Catherine and left Peter chatting with Ivana.

I came home via Freshways and picked up a sack of wilting greenery and sad foreign vegetables.  I had the usual sandwiches for lunch.  Whilst eating lunch Gill and I spotted the very persistent squirrel leaping over to the walnut tree and leaving with another nut.  It (or they?) has had about half of the crop so far, and I'm getting increasingly annoyed as I really want a crop of walnuts.  The live trap is being ignored... fresh walnuts are obviously too much of a pull.  A few days ago, last week, I rang the RSPCA about their advice about squirrels and how to deal with them.  Drowning them is illegal, as is releasing them elsewhere, as they are officially vermin.  We're talking about the American Grey here, introduced as a novelty by the Victorians, and they've pushed our native Red Squirrel to the brink of extinction due to competition for habitat and because of the Squirrel Pox virus that they carry, which kills the Reds. The RSPCA told me that I ought to get a pest control person out to kill the squirrel in the trap.  They'd either do this with a gun, or release it into a hessian sack and hit it on the head when it was in the corner of the sack.  So it's a bit of a problem, as I don't fancy the clobbering method and I understand why drowning them is inhumane, and I haven't got a gun.  Still trying to work out solutions, and a second phone call to the nearest vet didn't get any results either.

But I'd heard that squirrels don't like chilli so Gill mixed up some curry powder with Vaseline, and we spent half an hour wiping as many nuts as we could with this, just a thin smear, to get the taste onto the nut.  I have no idea if this will prevent them getting taken.

At about 2pm, a Freecycler called Chris called, and delivered a stainless steel sink which he's taken out of a kitchen he's doing up.  Our white enamel sink is horrible and stained and Gill's been asking for a while about replacing it.  This one seems to be the right size, although it needs the tap moving so the drainer is on the right. 

I did some chainsawing, to keep on top of the bits and bobs I regularly bring home.  I also did a bit of compost management, and some weeding, and picked the three remaining Winter Squash.

For tea I had a stir-fry of courgette, home grown sweetcorn and green beans, the pakora from the Sheffield Freegle Ceilidh and a couple of felafel, which Gill bought.  Gill had made a delicious chocolate and banana cake so I had a small square of that... yummy!

In the evening I made up my muesli, made some carrot and tromboncino squash soup, and did another large batch of fruit for drying...

I woke at about 9.50 and realised I was supposed to be at St Nicks at 10.  Whoops!  So I quickly got washed and dressed, shovelled down a pile of bran flakes and muesli, and got to St Nicks at about 10.25.

Fortunately, people were still gathering and Edwards York in Transition workshop about Eco Renovation hadn't started. So I chatted with Peter and JayZee, and within a few minutes there were 10 people sitting down to listen to Edward's presentation.  He explained how he came to write his book, and then briefly went through each section, covering a few areas in more detail.  There were some good discussions.

Afterwards I chatted with someone I knew from years ago, Anne Leggett, who's getting involved in a project to make the local pond more 'community friendly'.  We had quite a long conversation.

I came home via a log pile and Freshways, the chemist to get a tidy-looking covering for my forehead and the Co-op for cereals.  After a late lunch I had a busy afternoon in the garden, and just before 5pm cycled down to Country Fresh where Rich had several boxes for me, just before he closed.

I came back and had a bath, Gill carefully washed my hair as it had iodine in it, from the operation.  I'd been told not to get the wound wet.  Then at 6.30 I zoomed off to Clements Hall where Isobel had organised a surprise 60th birthday party for Hugh Bernays, her husband.  I've known Hugh and Isobel for 20 years or so, and I'm very fond of them both.  Their children knew me as Professor Fiddlesticks from when they were very young... but Emily, the eldest, is now a beautiful young woman and working as a hotel receptionist.

I took Hugh a jar of my best dried apple rings and one of Gill's home-made cards.  As the time came for Hugh to arrive I got a bottle of bubbly (all with Isobel's blessing, of course) and a couple of minutes after the shout of 'SURPRISE' and the singing of Happy Birthday, I poured him and Isobel a glass.  Then I headed for the food!  Yummy party food!  I chatted with loads of people I knew, and met a few people I didn't.  I was very pleased to see Andy Chase, Simon Brerton and Pauline, all of whom have been involved with the Clements Hall project.  I met the architect.  Andy gave me a short tour.  I got on well with Hugh's brother Peter, and he's coming to visit on Monday afternoon.  I specially enjoyed listening to David Ward Maclean singing.  Then Don Walls with some poetry.  When the birthday cake came in, instead of a speech, Hugh played a tune on his Jews Harps, and David joined in with singing, and Milladio with the tomtoms.  It was lovely!

But I left at about 9.40 and got home, had washing up to do and fruit to dry. And work tomorrow.

However, last thing I made a big pan of carrot soup with waste carrots, and left it on the woodstove overnight.

I didn't need to get up that early but was up and about before 10am... but as soon as I got downstairs there was a phone call. It was a young chap called Anthony who had found Novaterium and had then found me on facebook. He has an estate on the South Downs and is planting woodland and creating a new area of parkland, and he's interested in a green burial site in the woodland.

So he rang me for a general chat about how to go about the initial process of starting a natural burial site, and we spent well over half an hour chatting through lots of issues. He later messaged me and said it had been a very helpful talk, which was nice of him. He had a link for our website too, a friend of his who has a video streaming service which means the funeral can be 'attended' by people who don't need to travel to it. Very green... it'll be put on Novaterium.com soon!

After lunchtime I popped over to Woodlands to find out about the timetable for me starting the volunteering, now that the CRB stuff is through. Both my referees have sent back a reference which is good, and so 'induction' is next week sometime. I then went to find the groundsman, Richard, but instead found his colleague Gareth, whom i chatted with for a while... he was interested in info about photovoltaic panels so I said I'd send him some links to forthcoming Transition events which will give him all the information he needs.

Then I did some work in the garden, a bit of stacking and some weeding and composting; but Gill called me back up as a Freecycler called Mark had unexpectedly turned up asking about a CD of popular Christmas music that I'd apparently said he could have. So I came up the garden and we looked through a big pile of ex-skip CDs and he took a handful.

Towards 7pm I got washed and changed as the York Rotters 6th Birthday Party was happening, and I got to St Nicks soon after 7. Relatively few people turned up, but it was good to see Chris, Pat and Jean, Ivana of course, and Catherine our Project Officer. There was also Penny, who's the daughter of Gill's Mum's old friend Kate, and Vicky whom I first met at the Transition Ceilidh and she upset me, but now we're friends. I chatted with Julia from Parashoots, who may be making a video of York Rotters. We ended up talking about the RSPCA and all sorts of things! There were a few others there but I didn't get to know them. I enjoyed the buffet and stayed til after 10 so Catherine who was locking up wasn't there on her own.

I had a chat with my friend Laura when I got back, as she was worrying about the health of one of her friends and she wanted to talk. Then i lit the stove to continue drying the Mirabelle plums. A very late evening...

A good day... spent from about 9am til lunchtime finalising some paperwork with Gill, and then I phoned in the information to the relevant authorities. This was a big relief.

During the afternoon I sorted out the front garden, tidying, chainsawing up some logs, splitting them. Tara popped in briefly to pick up some muesli base; we got 20kg from Suma last time and usually I only get 10, so I've spare, and when she asked last week about the next Suma order, I said we'd just had one, but her request of a bit of muesli base could be granted.

Once she had been and gone, I went down the garden to continue with the pond area, which I'm really enjoying doing. I put a load of ground elder roots in the centre of the newly vacated 'New Zealand bin' made of pallets raised up off the ground, with a load of vegetation and twigs under them (and some fruit and veg 'resources') and will put a load more on top... the roots will cook!

I came in at 6ish to have tea, a pile of pasta with the rems of tomato soup on, with home grown courgette and our first tomatoes too! Then it was off out to go to the St Nicks AGM.

This slowly got started, after a glass of elderflower wine and some cakes, with a presentation from Lizzie Freeman about Edible York. Lizzie explained how this group had formed following the York in Transition 'Food Open Space' meeting and a visit to the Incredible Edible Todmorden conference. She told us that this local group was part of a much wider move to grow food locally, including Grow Sheffield, Edible Middlesborough and Shoreditch Vacant Lots. We were told about the two current EY projects, Abundance and GardenAble.

For me, Edible York is a very exciting project... and I'm delighted to have donated 30 sacks of compost to the Paragon St raised beds. There are quite a few future sites, including perhaps a big area in the Museum Gardens and, if lucky, a raised bed near the Theatre Royal.

After a break, the AGM proper started. Gail chaired and after her intro, introduced Catherine from York Rotters, Jonathan the new Volunteer Co-ordinator, Rachel the Schools Education Co-ordinator, Tom who's in charge of the recycling collections, and finally Ivana the Centre Manager. There were presentations from all of these people. Ivana told us about the most recent award, given yesterday, the 'Green Pennant', which St Nicks has earned for it's high quality green space.

Then there were the simple elections of the Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary and Treasurer (Tina Funnell is the new Chair, the Treasurer post is now vacant.... anybody want to volunteer? If so, contact St Nicks!) and the Management Group were all voted in too. Several people were leaving their voluntary positions and got thanked.

I didn't hang around to chat once it had finished; I put a small donation in the perspex-fronted compost bin and cycled off towards the University, where a tree has been taken down and the logs left for people to pick them up. Goody!

Home after 10.30pm, and later, I lit the stove to get rid of some of the assorted paper and card etc, and to get some hot water for a late night wash up.

A bit of a rude awakening as I'd promised a Freecycler to have a skip-salvaged CD ready for her when she called at 8.15 this morning.... but I hadn't got it ready.... so when she arrived, Gill woke me up and asked me where it was. I knew exactly where it was, and came down and retrieved it.

I had breakfast and did a bit on the computer, but at 10ish I gathered some bags of riddled compost together as Caroline had asked me to supply 8 carrier bags full, and I'd agreed to deliver as I was heading for the station this morning. So that was my first stop, and she was generous with £20 for 8 bags.

My next appointment was with the 11.35 from Manchester; Janie was visiting, and I suggested she bring her bike so we could explore more easily. We cycled through the city and ended up at St Nicks which I think was a bit of a revelation for her, and it was good to see Jean at work on her 'square foot garden' and to show Janie the different foodplants growing there. Then home and Janie met Gill and the boys, and then helped me down the garden, mainly doing some riddling of several sacks of compost. But although I could have spent all day down the garden, I thought that Janie might get bored, and anyway, I wanted to show her Country Fresh and Alligator before they closed. So after a coffee we set off to visit these two shops, and I had a laugh with Shirley at the first place and then Cherry at Alligator. Cherry recounted an old tale of her as a child tormenting me at the Buddhist Centre, nicking my circus equipment and winding me up. Funny, I don't remember, I find that the majority of children are perfectly OK, and I think I deal with them without getting too worked up!

Anyway, we wheeled down to the Millennium Bridge and stopped a while there in the rain, but then headed for the Cafe in Rowntree Park and sheltered there for a bit, chatting.

Then it was time to go to the station and send her back to Manchester..... what a nice friendly day, good to spend this time with her.

I came home and cooked a home-grown courgette and a thrown away pepper to have with a pastie Gill had bought for my tea.

Quite a busy day, starting with getting to St Nicks for 10am to welcome Pete Redwood, who had come all the way from Hunmanby near Scarborough to present an introduction to EcoCell.

The Christian Ecology Link originally started out as a group within the Ecology Party, (which became the Green Party) but it soon became independent of any political party and is also non-denominational, not aligned to any particular church. EcoCell has been developed as a CD, a series of files which cover the basics of greening one's life (energy, resources, waste, water, etc) and has a section for a facilitator and a section for the 'congregation member', as it is aimed at churches. There is a section in the CD which has a religious element, but this can be skipped if not wanted, and I found the sample workshop very accessible.

The event had about 10 people there, some Quakers, a gentleman new to York whom i liked very much, several people I knew already, and a woman from Hong Kong who arrived late. The intro lasted about an hour, after which John Brierley took most of the visitors out onto the reserve for a tour.

At about 1pm, I was able to get off, and I paid a quick visit to the St Nicks compost heap with a donation, and home for a very quick lunch, as at 2pm there was a rally in Kings Square about voting reform... Take Back Parliament. This was organised by the student group 'People and Planet' so there were loads of students there, but some of us oldies too!

Hugh Bayley spoke, as did Christian Vassie, Green Councillor Dave Taylor, a politics lecturer and the chap from People and Planet.

Then we marched through the streets, arriving back at Kings Square within the hour.

I came home and got busy in the garden... more of the usual but also preparing for putting in some raised beds next to the relatively new fence in the orchard.

In the evening I made a facebook page for my friend Dawn's fundraising run in aid of the Dr Hadwen Trust on 22nd May.

Gill woke me at 10 and reminded me that I was due to go to St Nicks today. I quickly got ready in my smart clothes as I had two things to do today, one of which at least meant that I should be reasonably tidy.

Gill loaded up all the buns she made last night into three containers, and the big cake onto a foil-covered tray, in a fruit box, covered with a bag, and I loaded all this into my trailer.

I cycled very slowly to St Nicks to ensure that the trailer didn't jump around and mess up the icing... Gill had made a pond with vegetation and a frog on the top of the cake, and every bun had '10' on the top.

The centre was already busy, lots of stuff being got ready, and I was immediately press-ganged into helping carry a large picnic table out to the play area, where all the stalls were getting prepared... the National Trust, York LETS, Edible York, Brunswick Organic Nursery, OPAL and several others.

I chatted to various people, was especially glad to see Keely, the first York Rotters project officer, who has been out of circulation for a while. But there were lots of other of my friends and contacts there, too many to list here, even if I could remember all of them!

Sometime after 11am, the welcoming and presentations started and I listened to these... until about 11.55 when I had to get going to Clifton to the Bootham Junior School, for the Quaker Meeting in memoriam of Dinah Peryer, with whom I worked on the Alternatives to Violence Project maybe 10 years ago. My old friend Maggie phoned me last week and told me about Dinah's memorial, and invited me to go with her. So we'd agreed to meet at the traffic lights on Rawcliffe Lane at 12.15, prior to the memorial service starting at 12.30.

We met up and walked up to the school, where Dinah was a Governor. It was a typical Quaker meeting, with the chairs arranged around the perimeter f the room and when we were all seated, some quiet music (probably something that Dinah liked) and then the 'hostess' (I don't know the correct term) said a few words and then there was more silence, until someone else stood up and shared a memory, or an anecdote about Dinah. I wanted to pass on the message from one of the mainstays of the AVP group, that Dinah's contribution was valued. I was the third person to stand up and speak, explaining that the current AVPers were meeting today and several people who might have wished to be at the memorial were unable to, due to the meeting timetabled-in many months ago.

I really like this form of memorial. I would like something like this myself, when the time comes, despite not being a Quaker. I learned about little bits of Dinah's life, and was moved by some of the stories. The quiet times between the speakers give time to think about the person in question, and dwell on memories, and I remembered about the work I did in Dinah and David's garden, and the laying of the floor in their kitchen.

There were sandwiches and scones to follow, and coffee, but I wanted to get back to St Nicks so I didn't hang around. Maggie wanted to come to the St Nicks do as well... so I suggested she had a lift on my bike crossbar. She looked incredulous but is pretty game for anything, and after a few questions, agreed. Half way there she swapped to sitting on the pannier rack, and getting to the Environment Centre was quick and easy... I chose the cycle track as the safest route.

We'd missed the compost bin drumming but there were lots of other things going on... and I managed to get the last slice of Gill's cake... delicious. I bought some squash plants from the Brunswick stall, and chatted to several other stall holders. I wrote a Haiku. I introduced my friend Debbie to John to talk about planting a tree in memory of the other Debbie. I had a go on a static bike to heat a kettle. As the event drew to a close, Maggie and I chatted and she accepted my offer of a hot drink at home... she really wanted to see Gill again, so I took her on my bike back home. An hour later she went to the No. 6 bus stop to get back to her side of town. I visited the Co-op to get cereals and various other bits.

Between about 6.30 and 8pm I listened to my Green/broadcaster friend Tracey Smith on Apple Radio, on the web, and didn't 'do' Dr. Who, but did have a good few goes on Scrabble on facebook and chatted to a number of friends.

Later, Gill and I had a 'real' game of Scrabble, which I just won.

Gill woke me at 9 asking if I was supposed to be doing anything this morning... my only diary date was that between 11 and 12, Stewart from Freecycle was cycling down from Huntington to pick up 5kg of brown chapatti flour... donated by Freshways, not sure why, as the best before date is 10th May 2010, so it's in date. But we'll never get through 25kg, so I advertised it on Freecycle and got four requests, which is 5kg each, as we'll hang on to some. I've never made chapattis but am going to have a go. Stewart told me how easy it was.

I did some housework and spent time with Gill, had lunch and then at 1.45 met my neighbour outside the front because my Freecycle request for wall capping materials had been answered by the daughter of a woman in Holgate, Julie, who was happy for us to take away some capping tiles. So, we drove in his huge car over to St Paul's Square and found the guest-house car park.

The capping 'blocks' were huge! They might look OK on the wall, but if not, they could also be really useful as planters (in a group of four) or as a retaining wall for a raised bed. The car, despite being a monster, would only take 10 or 12 of them, so the first lot went and I stayed and moved others, cleaned them up and sorted them into good ones for wall capping, ie without damage. There were more than three loads worth, but we took just three, leaving quite a lot for Julie to use for holding back a terrace or for planters.

I got back after 4pm and helped unload. A good haul, let's hope they get used for something worthwhile!

I had tea... the last of yesterday's nutloaf, and a hard-boiled egg sandwich, using an out of date egg which I reclaimed form somewhere, and two boiled carrots.

After tea I popped over the road to a friend who's a drinker, who has collected a load of aluminium cider cans for me... I squashed them all and put them in a bin liner, ready to be taken to the metal merchant and sold.

Then towards 7pm I set off down to St Nicks where Sandra Geere was doing a talk on gardening in small spaces. I was pleased to meet my friends Nick, Tracy and Anneliese as well as the expected St Nicks regulars Ivana, Jean and Catherine, plus Catherine's mum Susan, and a new person Melanie. A reasonable turnout. I enjoyed the talk, and contributed to it a bit but tried to keep my gob shut as much as I could. I was inspired to do more growing. I am more of a composter than a grower, but I should try harder to have more food plants.

I got back at about 9.30 and all was peaceful at home. Gill had met up with another Freecycler called Jo, who was delighted with her 5kg of chapatti flour.

Washing up, 10pm news on TV, Newsnight, computer, stove. A pretty normal evening.

Bit of a lie-in til after 9, but then got busy with various outdoors activities... more gardening.

This time I attacked a hedge, a section of hedge that I'm not very fond of, it's hawthorn and incredibly prickly, huge long thorns which make it really difficult to manage. But I eventually fed all the cut bits through the shredder which means it will compost down really well, and hopefully the thorns won't be around when I come to riddle the finished compost!

Sometime in the afternoon I cycled down to see Anna Semlyen who has picked up the key for CVS, but cannot get to the venue until 6.30, so I offered to get there for 6pm to allow the band to set up and do a sound check. I also picked up the posters for the Ecocell talk which I've helped organise (and my eldest son did the poster for, added to by Anna) and the latest York in Transition Newsletter.

I visited Alligator to pick up their compostables, then Country Fresh where I got embroiled in a conversation with Florencia and a Chinese University lecturer, which was very jolly.

Then onto St Nicks to dispose of one of the sacks of resources from Country Fresh into the display composter, and to give Ecocell posters to John and Transition newsletters to Ivana... and then on to Freshways where I picked up another two sacks.

A bit later, I cycled round to Lynn's to deliver some seed compost.

So a busy day, nice and social, quite a bit of cycling and recycling... my favourite kind of day.

A meeting in town this morning and then put a cheque in, and then at 11ish over to Kate Lock's house with the apple tree I took out a couple of days ago. I was really glad that Kate wanted it, and it seems that Kate is really glad to have it.

I had a coffee and chat, then dug a hole for the tree, planted it, helped Kate riddle a load of compost in the Rotasieve I lent her yonks ago, had another coffee, and cycled back with the Rotaseive, via Country Fresh and then St Nicks, where I found out that I would be welcome to sort out their display compost bin a bit later in the day.

So, cycled home, lunched and at about 3pm, cycled back to St Nicks with the Country Fresh stuff and a sack of sawdust. I dug out the Komp compost bin out and cleaned the perspex panel, and refilled the bin with new material.... layers of fruit/veg and sawdust. I also 'seeded' the stuff with a few worms....

But, best of all, I took some photos with Gill's camera, see below!

This is the Komp as it looks in anybody's garden, apart from perhaps the brick base, but that's a rat-deterrent.

This is the way these bins are secured shut, with a plastic rod keeping the interlocking panels together.

The door open, revealing the perspex sheet and the internal 'workings' of a compost bin, with finished material at the base and fresher stuff on the top.

Here's the back panel removed and I'm digging out the contents.

The bin, emptied and washed down.

The bin being refilled with shop 'resources'.

Close-up of the layers of material newly put in.