A bit of an unusual day as our youngest is heading off to Todmorden to have three days of fieldtrip. So Gill and our little one headed off at 7.50am, on foot, to get to school by 8.15. I spent time with our eldest, and chatted carefully about things which I hoped wouldn't piss him off, and he got out of the house at the normal time.
So at 8.45 I was out in the garden finishing off the shredding of the twiggy bits of hedge... and completed this job! Hooray!
I also unloaded a couple of sacks of compostables from either Country Fresh or Freshways and found a large stash of tomatoes, of which about 25% were compostable and the rest washable and I therefore brought them in and washed them, fried an onion on the stove (in a pan, lol) and added about 40 small to medium tomatoes and a stick of celery, and cooked that up on the stove top to make a delicious soup.
Then I made sandwiches and had them before cycling off to the station to get on the 13.11 to Harrogate for my last acupuncture session with Karen. I fell asleep on the train and again on the acupuncture table. I asked her quite a few questions today, about what she was doing. Few of her answers made any sense to me, but I do come from 'Western medicine' background. I decided not to take her up on a further two sessions as although I've enjoyed this experiment, I haven't really got anything positive out of it. I agreed to fill in her questionnaire at the end of this week.
I cycled quickly back to Harrogate station and got the train to Knaresborough, and then mooched around the tile and stove shop whilst waiting for the York train. I had a fiddle with a Dovre stove and chatted to the shop assistant about flat irons and stoves. Then the York train came and took me and my bike home.
Gill had taken a phone call from a Dave on Windmill Lane, who's taken down a cherry tree and has offered me the branches. He wanted me to go round after 6pm, so I did and picked up a trailer and panniers full of freshly chopped cherry logs. He hadn't managed to take down the trunk and asked me if I had a chainsaw and could do it? So I'll go round in the next few days to help him out. Then I popped down to see Raj as he had asked me to help him with something, and after I'd spent half an hour with him, he gave me two veggie samosas.
Then I came home for tea, at about 7pm. Once again, a good tea... tomato soup followed by cauliflower, macaroni, potatoes, quiche, salad, olives... yummy!
Enjoyed some telly and tried to catch up with emails which are again building up...
Showing posts with label free logs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label free logs. Show all posts
Quite a late start, but got up quickly as the boys were bubbling over with energy and needed to do something, so I took them (my eldest and two of his friends) to the nearest park with a frisbee, a football and some fruit juice, and left them to it.
I popped in to Freshways to see Raj and he gave me loads of compostables, and then went to collect some logs from the house on Millfield Lane which has had it's garden cleared, and in a skip found an unopened packet of underlay sheets, so I took them to put on Freecycle. A neighbour round the corner asked me if I wanted a large dining table, so after seeing it and measuring it, I put this on Freecycle too. Good to keep stuff out of landfill and get it reused. A very enjoyable hobby.
So, a happy day dealing with my logpiles, visiting skips, chatting to neighbours, replying to Freecycle messages wanting the underlay, preparing more nectarines for another fruity-tea-pudding.
Gill took four boys to the newly refurbished cinema 'Reel' to see 'G Force' and I got the chainsaw out and did a substantial amount of cutting up the chunky logs from Woodlands. I'm cutting them quite short as the type of wood is really difficult to split, so short logs will be easier to split. I'd love to know what sort of trees they were, but they died standing up so the timber is dry. Different timber has different properties... so beech splits well when green but when dry is really difficult to split. But this tree isn't a beech, it has rough bark (which is falling off) and a very dense grain.
Watched 'Man on Wire' on telly with both my boys and our visitor, we all enjoyed this, although Gill gets vertigo and couldn't watch some bits!
I popped in to Freshways to see Raj and he gave me loads of compostables, and then went to collect some logs from the house on Millfield Lane which has had it's garden cleared, and in a skip found an unopened packet of underlay sheets, so I took them to put on Freecycle. A neighbour round the corner asked me if I wanted a large dining table, so after seeing it and measuring it, I put this on Freecycle too. Good to keep stuff out of landfill and get it reused. A very enjoyable hobby.
So, a happy day dealing with my logpiles, visiting skips, chatting to neighbours, replying to Freecycle messages wanting the underlay, preparing more nectarines for another fruity-tea-pudding.
Gill took four boys to the newly refurbished cinema 'Reel' to see 'G Force' and I got the chainsaw out and did a substantial amount of cutting up the chunky logs from Woodlands. I'm cutting them quite short as the type of wood is really difficult to split, so short logs will be easier to split. I'd love to know what sort of trees they were, but they died standing up so the timber is dry. Different timber has different properties... so beech splits well when green but when dry is really difficult to split. But this tree isn't a beech, it has rough bark (which is falling off) and a very dense grain.
Watched 'Man on Wire' on telly with both my boys and our visitor, we all enjoyed this, although Gill gets vertigo and couldn't watch some bits!
A productive day, although lots of it was paperwork and sorting things out. Got the train times worked out, more or less, and sent 70 euros over to the Netherlands to pay for my questionnaire to be hosted for this year... and various other bits and bobs. I visited Freshways and stopped to chat to some guys who were chopping down a load of trees on Lilac Avenue, and shredding the branches and putting the shreddings in a skip. They were happy enough for me to go and get some sacks (10) and fill them with shreddings. I also picked up some branches of the beech tree they'd taken out, and they seemed to be having some problems with their hired chainsaw, I told them that I too had a difficulty with mine. They needed a bit of oil to lubricate the chain, so I said they could have some of mine. One of the chaps offered to bring round some more sticks and collect the small volume of oil they needed. So we both benefited.
I really enjoyed my avocado sandwich for lunch.
In the afternoon I had a meeting in town and then cycled up to Cutters/Shannons with my electric chainsaw which has a loose connection, and hopefully they'll be able to repair it. From there I went to find Randy's house, as he wanted help filling in the York Green Festival paperwork. I was impressed with his solar panel set-up, designed to recharge his laptop, phone, radio and LED light they use for bathtimes and breastfeeding. Excellent... a bit complicated, but really interesting.
We spent two hours doing the forms, many of which are exactly the same as last year's, but little details have to be altered.
I got back at 8 and had a big bowl of borscht followed by Gill's aubergine and cauliflower bake which was delicious. Then I popped out to collect the 10 sacks of shreddings and more logs. I met a neighbour (Brian) who overlooked where these trees used to be, and helped him load his wheelbarrow with a huge log, and he helped me with a big one onto my trailer. There are still several enormous logs there. In by 10.15 pretty exhausted.
I really enjoyed my avocado sandwich for lunch.
In the afternoon I had a meeting in town and then cycled up to Cutters/Shannons with my electric chainsaw which has a loose connection, and hopefully they'll be able to repair it. From there I went to find Randy's house, as he wanted help filling in the York Green Festival paperwork. I was impressed with his solar panel set-up, designed to recharge his laptop, phone, radio and LED light they use for bathtimes and breastfeeding. Excellent... a bit complicated, but really interesting.
We spent two hours doing the forms, many of which are exactly the same as last year's, but little details have to be altered.
I got back at 8 and had a big bowl of borscht followed by Gill's aubergine and cauliflower bake which was delicious. Then I popped out to collect the 10 sacks of shreddings and more logs. I met a neighbour (Brian) who overlooked where these trees used to be, and helped him load his wheelbarrow with a huge log, and he helped me with a big one onto my trailer. There are still several enormous logs there. In by 10.15 pretty exhausted.
Gill was feeling tired this morning so I took our youngest into school... the ice has more or less gone so he cycled with me rather than taking a lift.
Soon after I came back I zoomed into town to meet Chris from the Jorvik Viking Centre to try on a costume for the Viking Festival launch. The festival looks really good (download this pdf for the festival programme) and I feel much more confident about my role in the launch event on the evening of 17th Feb. I went to the Building Society to get a cheque out to pay for the extra insurance for the fire show.
I decided to take a slight detour and head for the cycle track and was pleased to see yet more logs being harvested from 'weed trees' growing out of the top of the cutting wall (it's an old railway line, with brick-lined cuttings). If these trees were allowed to keep growing, they would slowly destroy the masonry, so although it looks a bit bare without them, it is best that they are removed. The chaps were happy for me to take another load. I saw that one of them was loading up a trailer and I asked him if he would like to deliver some to me, and gave him my business card. I said that I would pay him for a delivery. He said that he was taking some to his mother near Selby and would see if he could fit me in.
So, spent most of the afternoon working on the risk assessment requested by the insurers. I've done loads of risk assessments before but they are still quite tedious, and this one took nearly 2 hours to put together. I just hope the insurers will accept it!
Then went to school and brought our little one home. I then went back to the cycle track... and most of the tree trunks were gone. But some were still available so I took another load... I've had four loads now and that's added considerably to my store for next year's carbon-neutral fuel.
Went to post the paperwork off plus a Wedding Card that Gill's made for her nephew who's getting married over in Australia... she spent the afternoon writing a poem for them and making the card. It is lovely and very humorous.
I made my own tea... a roux-based sauce made with soya milk and some of the everlasting carrot soup, and stove-fried onions and pasta tubes. Filling and wholesome. I love onion... it's my favourite vegetable at the moment, especially as the current lot were free... the benefits of being a composter. I followed this by a pint of perry... not quite as wholesome but nice none the less...
A relaxed evening followed, the children were well behaved and happy and we all enjoyed our Friday night.
Soon after I came back I zoomed into town to meet Chris from the Jorvik Viking Centre to try on a costume for the Viking Festival launch. The festival looks really good (download this pdf for the festival programme) and I feel much more confident about my role in the launch event on the evening of 17th Feb. I went to the Building Society to get a cheque out to pay for the extra insurance for the fire show.
I decided to take a slight detour and head for the cycle track and was pleased to see yet more logs being harvested from 'weed trees' growing out of the top of the cutting wall (it's an old railway line, with brick-lined cuttings). If these trees were allowed to keep growing, they would slowly destroy the masonry, so although it looks a bit bare without them, it is best that they are removed. The chaps were happy for me to take another load. I saw that one of them was loading up a trailer and I asked him if he would like to deliver some to me, and gave him my business card. I said that I would pay him for a delivery. He said that he was taking some to his mother near Selby and would see if he could fit me in.
So, spent most of the afternoon working on the risk assessment requested by the insurers. I've done loads of risk assessments before but they are still quite tedious, and this one took nearly 2 hours to put together. I just hope the insurers will accept it!
Then went to school and brought our little one home. I then went back to the cycle track... and most of the tree trunks were gone. But some were still available so I took another load... I've had four loads now and that's added considerably to my store for next year's carbon-neutral fuel.
Went to post the paperwork off plus a Wedding Card that Gill's made for her nephew who's getting married over in Australia... she spent the afternoon writing a poem for them and making the card. It is lovely and very humorous.
I made my own tea... a roux-based sauce made with soya milk and some of the everlasting carrot soup, and stove-fried onions and pasta tubes. Filling and wholesome. I love onion... it's my favourite vegetable at the moment, especially as the current lot were free... the benefits of being a composter. I followed this by a pint of perry... not quite as wholesome but nice none the less...
A relaxed evening followed, the children were well behaved and happy and we all enjoyed our Friday night.
