Human Lifestyle

Woke slowly at 10 and had breakfast whilst watching things about Permaculture on YouTube.

It was a lovely sunny day so got out before lunch and started taking the large pots from the conservatory down to one of the raised 'radiator' beds down the garden, ready to put the old growing media through the riddle into this bed, alternated with other assorted compost and soil, to raise the level right up so I can grow stuff in it this season.

Came in for a late lunch at about 2pm, and Gill was wanting to do something with the large numbers of oranges which are all over the place. So I washed a load and we both peeled them and removed the seeds and put the bits of segment into the juicer bit of our blender, which we haven't used much. This has a central section in the goblet, above the blades, and perforated walls which allow the juice to flow out into the outer bit of the goblet, but keeps the solids in the centre. It's a good gadget, and we made over two litres of the most delicious orange juice.

At about 4 I went back into the garden and riddled the old growing media into the raised bed. I found quite a few yam tubercles just beginning to grow, from where they had fallen into the tomato pots from the yam vine above. I replanted these in individual little pots. The tomato roots and other bits which didn't go through the riddle went on the compost heap as a layer of mainly woody bits.

I also managed to do a bit of compost heap loading and finished digging out the metal-sided bin.

I came in at 7pm and Gill had made a potato and broccoli quiche which was really nice, had this with baked beans, followed by the last of the apple crumble and some chocolate ice cream.

Today my card came which confirms that I'm a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Manufacturers and Commerce. I am John Cossham FRSA. Amazing!

This is the sponge sitting on a potato sack, the top side.

This is the underside... note a partially rotted tomato skin and grape twigs.

This is the same organism in my hand, to show scale.

So, what is it? Well I believe this is a 'slime mold' which is fairly closely related to fungi, but it's different. It has a really interesting life cycle. It starts as a spore, which germinates and becomes a single celled organism, maybe similar to a bacterium or amoeba. It is motile, ie it can move around. Then, due to some environmental cue, these single celled organisms club together in groups, and start to behave like a multicellular organism, somewhat like a slug. Some cells become the foot, some the front end, etc. They don't develop a mouth or gut though. What happens next is that it settles and starts to grow into what looks more like a fungus, with surfaces or specific parts where sexual reproduction takes place, releasing spores like a fungus. These disperse and become the next generation. So, unless I'm told something different, this is what I think this thing is. Apologies for the poor quality of the photos, Gill's camera isn't designed for close-ups.

I had a quiet evening, watched some TV with the children and prepared a load of bananas and melon for drying. Enjoyed the 3D films on Channel 4.

and York's First Car-Free Day!!!

Our plans swung into action. I got up at 6.30am (not my favourite time of day!) and got together Lynn's parasol and filled the base with water, my smallest 'dalek' compost bin (actually the one which belongs to the school and was delivered to me by accident), and a planter with a courgette plant and a broccoli plant just about ready to harvest. In my panniers I took bread, hommous, apples, Danish pastries and similar, a knife and a toy car which belonged to Gill's Uncle Tom, for sticking the ticket on for the parking space.

I got there just after Candy, who had bought a 3 hour ticket at 7am. We chose a space as close to the junction of Lawrence St and Foss Islands Road, between a pub and two fast-food places. Very soon Rich arrived on the St Nicks load-carrying trike with the plastic sheets to put the turf on, and the 12 rolls of turf. Bryony came with her palm tree. The turf was rolled out and garden stuff placed carefully, and a couple or road cones with bamboo canes in to support the banner which read 'PEOPLE PARK NOT CAR PARK' and I think another line underneath about York in Transition and/or Car Free Day. The picnic table and deck chairs went up, and the table was soon covered in breakfast-type food. We also had leaflets about Car Free Day and York in Transition, and as we were right next to the traffic lights, several of us were able to speak to drivers and give them leaflets.

Three City Councillors turned up, Christian Vassie (LD), Dave Merrett (Lab) and Andy D'Agorne (Green), and I was disappointed that my friend John Galvin, our current Lord Mayor (and a Conservative) didn't appear. That would have been a real coup to have all four parties supporting us.

We suffered a bit with the gusty wind, and it was an unpleasant place to be as the area is totally dominated by roads and cars... but that was the point, to have a little chunk of parkland in an urban jungle. The media turned up, BBC Radio York interviewed Candy (sorry, Dr Candida Spillard!) who was very eloquent, and the York Press guy hung around waiting for the right light... he couldn't do anything whilst the early morning sun was so bright, but when it clouded over he got his photo... I think he might use the 'Uncle Tom's Toy Car in the foreground' shot... I hope so!

At about 10 am we had a little conference and as we had just about run out of leaflets and the weather was looking ominous, we decided to strike camp. I took the compost bin and parasol home in the trailer and came back to help transport the turf round to Anna's. She bought the turf off me, so there was no net outlay for the turf. We got a few donations, which paid for the Danish pastries and parking ticket.

On the way back from Anna's I stopped off at Country Fresh and picked up yet more compostables. I got in at midday. Gill was about to head off into town, so I had a quiet afternoon and at 3 cycled down to school to collect our youngest, and had a nice chat to Mrs Lee, one of my favourite teachers, about the school now not composting AND having lost bits of two compost bins I had lent them and they'd removed. She said that she'll say something quietly to people... I kind of want to write the school a letter but I don't think I should.

Later in the evening I returned Lynn's parasol.

Rich made this video of the day, nb the traffic noise!

When I did the Saturday show at Hebden Bridge Fringe, on 11 July 2009, Doug Lyon filmed me and interviewed me and this is the result, posted to YouTube yesterday. I am extremely happy with the result. Thank you Doug, and Jan Taylor the organiser.

So, I found this during the computer session I had just after lunch. I had two meetings in town in the morning, then a visit to Sainsbury's and Barnitts AND the Anti Gravity shop. On the way back home I popped in to Freshways to pick up compostables. Later in the afternoon I visited Country Fresh.

Gill spent quite a lot of the day cooking a large cake for the fifth birthday party tomorrow of York Rotters. She has been asked to do it in a compost heap shape, similar to one she did before.

This generated quite a bit of washing up and work in the kitchen... and we had a very domestic day. I made a nutloaf for tea which got compliments from the whole family, which was nice. I'm glad my children like my cooking and that they are not too fussy.

The other good thing today is that the wasp nest activity has declined drastically... I think I have won! I'll give it another few days of no activity before I remove the glass dome off the original nest entrance. I think the copious watering with a squirt of biodegradable detergent in the watering can and in the sloppy compost I dropped onto any hole-digging activity must have worked. Oh, and the poking down into the cavity with a bamboo and filling the hole with the water/compost/washing up liquid mix...

Not a good night as feeling ill... headache and elevated temperature... obviously I was wondering if I have got H1N1 flu. I slept in til about 10, not good deep sleep and the paracetamol I had at 7am didn't touch the headache.

However, my usual routine of having breakfast wasn't dented, and I chatted with Gill who was sorting out the accounts... and finding several things which I haven't been paid for. One requires me to write an invoice... how tedious! I already wrote a reply letter to them; this is often enough.
Got an email from Peter at York in Transition with a link to a video about the first 'Carbon Neutral Village', Ashton Hayes in Cheshire, and if you've 17 minutes to spare, it is worth watching:


At about 11am the council lorry arrived with my 3 compost bins PLUS the little bin which the school had in the men's toilet for a year. Oh dear... do I take that back? Dilemma.

When I investigated the compost bins in the front garden, two had been delivered without their basal doors and one without the lid. What a nuisance... nothing is ever simple!

After lunch I felt well enough to go and cut a hedge but this just about wiped me out.

A very quiet afternoon and evening, didn't feel that hungry but ate salads and two dolmades anyway, kind of to be sociable. Going to get to bed early.

I cannot remember what I did this morning... it wasn't a particularly interesting morning anyway. I did assorted computery stuff... oh yes, sorted out two Freecycle gives, a demijohn to someone wanting to construct a watering system for seedlings, and paper sacks for someone wanting to use them for potato sacks... I watched videos of police brutality etc and found a brilliant vid of the most amazing cyclist, check this out!



I just love what this guy, Danny MacAskill, is able to do... I think this is Parcour on two wheels!

After lunch I cycled (in a normal, non-parcour way) down to town to visit several financial institutions.. my building society to get some money out to pay Diana for her Calendars of Climate Change and my annual National Insurance bill, and then to the Co-op Bank to pay the water bill (£50 a quarter for 20 cubic metres of water supplied and sewerage services), and then to the Post Office to pay a £1.17 fee to get an envelope with some leaflets in it... grrr to the organisation which didn't get the envelope weighed before sending it... Finally to my GPs to get a prescription, and home via the cycle track to pick up sticks...

I went round to a neighbour to pick up some softwood logs he's saved for me... he chopped down an enormous fir tree so I got 4 wheelbarrow's worth of big discs up to 60cm across. Then down to Country Fresh where Richard was in a good mood and I took a box of compostables and bought a bag of veggies, and got flour and caster sugar in the Spar next door, as Gill wants to make a cake.

Melody popped in with her son who loves trying to split logs with my maul (splitting axe) which is really too heavy for him... but he had a go with the fresh pine... not easy to split!

As I'd had quite a busy afternoon, I decided not to attend the party I'd been invited to.. I felt an evening in with Gardeners World would be more relaxing... and I've a busy day tomorrow with the Kirkbymoorside Transition Town Springboarding Day. I'm catching a train with Bryony and cycling from Malton. And back afterwards.