Quite a frustrating day in some ways. I had a medium start, ie not a long lie-in, and was able to say bye to our guest from Leamington Spa who was meeting a friend at the station at 10.20 and then getting a train back down south at 10.40. Gill and our eldest (our guests's old classmate) went to the station on the bus and got back two hours later.
I spent the morning trying to sort out the Green Festival insurance stuff and other paperwork. Had a quiet lunch and during the afternoon the insurance got sorted... I paid for it using my debit card. This is a huge relief.
I did some good exercise too... splitting the logs I cut yesterday, and fortunately I'd cut them small enough to split reasonably easily. I popped down to Country Fresh to pick up a few bits of veg and also the weekend's compostables, about four bags or boxes, but I didn't have time to put them on the heap so they are all in the wheelbarrow waiting for tomorrow morning.
Gill made a macaroni cheese with cauliflower for the kids... I had reheated stuff from yesterday with a bit of today's nosh. Then straight out to the LETS meeting, just four of us and although I went down there feeling less than joyous, I left feeling quite a bit more buoyed up, as the company was good.
I just remembered the 'highlight' of the day was when Gill was refilling a 25 litre tub of ecover washing liquid with a 15 litre refill. She was struggling with the opening of the refill box, on the table in the living room, and suddenly it opened and it started flowing but not all of it arrived in the waiting big tub. Plenty of it went onto the short-pile carpet we have. Gill shrieked and I rescued her by holding the tub up whilst she aimed the flow into the opening... Our youngest came running to see if he could help, and found the dustpan and brush, which is what Gill initially used to scrape up the perhaps half-litre of slimy washing liquid which had spilt.
Gill then spent about an hour putting water on the carpet and taking it up again with some of the washing liquid, and again and again... what a huge palaver! I asked Gill to please ask me to help when she was attempting this kind of procedure... sometimes having two people co-operating is better than tying to do a task on your own.
Showing posts with label insurance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label insurance. Show all posts
Woke wondering about why I hadn't been contacted by the insurers re the York Green Festival. So after breakfast I rang... and found that the email I sent on the 21st hadn't been received. So I resent it and then had a chat to the recipient, who wanted several other bits of info plus a signature, electronic or otherwise. I knew nothing about electronic signatures, and I didn't have the other info either, so I sent out a 'help me' email to the other YGF-ites, and got a reply from Tom who offered to help me do an electronic signature.
Gill went down to the station to collect our eldest and his buddy, they'd travelled up on the train together from Leamington Spa, and immediately they came in the noise levels in the house rose about 100-fold. I soon went out to go to see Tom, who scanned my signature and put it into various formats so I have a chance to add it to documents, like the insurance document I need to send to the insurers. I'll have to have a play around later.
After seeing Tom I called in on Anita who told me that next month she is emigrating to Spain for a couple of years, to live in the house she's refurbished. I will miss her as although I don't see her very often, I am fond of her. She says she'll be back in a couple of years.
I came home via Sainsburys as Gill wanted flour, ice cream and a baguette to make garlic bread with.
I popped in to Freshways on the way back and picked up 3 small sacks of compostables, and then spent an hour or so down the garden sorting them out.
Pasta and home grown veg for tea, and garlic bread, and I then shot out to St Nicks for the AGM and a talk on the National Bee Unit which was really interesting.
Ben Jones is a researcher there and he talked us through the work of the Unit which is based at Sand Hutton. Their role is to ensure the health of the honeybee in England and Wales... there are probably no 'wild' or feral honeybees left, all are managed or farmed, either by commercial beekeepers or by hobbyists. Most people think of bees as responsible for honey, but this is just worth between £10million and £30million a year, but their value as pollinators is somewhere between £120million and £200million.
He told us about the assorted diseases, legislation, how the inspectors identify the problems, the different sorts of beekeepers, and lots more. There were lots of questions asked too, so many that we over-ran and therefore missed the little film that was planned about the tree planting on St Nicks, but there will be another chance to see that.
The AGM was very straightforward. I collected some logs on the way back from a chap round the corner who had invited me to pick them up whenever I wanted, and I got in just before 10pm.
Gill went down to the station to collect our eldest and his buddy, they'd travelled up on the train together from Leamington Spa, and immediately they came in the noise levels in the house rose about 100-fold. I soon went out to go to see Tom, who scanned my signature and put it into various formats so I have a chance to add it to documents, like the insurance document I need to send to the insurers. I'll have to have a play around later.
After seeing Tom I called in on Anita who told me that next month she is emigrating to Spain for a couple of years, to live in the house she's refurbished. I will miss her as although I don't see her very often, I am fond of her. She says she'll be back in a couple of years.
I came home via Sainsburys as Gill wanted flour, ice cream and a baguette to make garlic bread with.
I popped in to Freshways on the way back and picked up 3 small sacks of compostables, and then spent an hour or so down the garden sorting them out.
Pasta and home grown veg for tea, and garlic bread, and I then shot out to St Nicks for the AGM and a talk on the National Bee Unit which was really interesting.
Ben Jones is a researcher there and he talked us through the work of the Unit which is based at Sand Hutton. Their role is to ensure the health of the honeybee in England and Wales... there are probably no 'wild' or feral honeybees left, all are managed or farmed, either by commercial beekeepers or by hobbyists. Most people think of bees as responsible for honey, but this is just worth between £10million and £30million a year, but their value as pollinators is somewhere between £120million and £200million.
He told us about the assorted diseases, legislation, how the inspectors identify the problems, the different sorts of beekeepers, and lots more. There were lots of questions asked too, so many that we over-ran and therefore missed the little film that was planned about the tree planting on St Nicks, but there will be another chance to see that.
The AGM was very straightforward. I collected some logs on the way back from a chap round the corner who had invited me to pick them up whenever I wanted, and I got in just before 10pm.
A lie-in... lovely. Got up at 10.30 and didn't do much til about midday.
Then I persuaded the boys to come and help me put the tent up, which was quite easy as it is very similar to the previous design I had... except this seems better designed actually. We had a bit of time trying to suss out where to hang some daft pocket things and our nearly 12 year old worked it out.
After lunch Gill and the boys went to the dentist and I completed the York Green Festival insurance documents and sent them to two of my colleagues to check. I really hate Microsoft Office 07, which I have on a trial. It's too complicated, I couldn't work out how to 'save as' and had to just save, then go into my documents folder and alter the name from there. What a faff.
Anyway, they will be on their way tonight or tomorrow.
I made a nutloaf with some old bread, yesterday's rice and a couple of leeks minus their tough flower stalk, grated carrot, a couple of tomatoes, plus some 'bush basil' which is doing really well in the conservatory. This is what I'll grow in the future, it tastes lovely and is easier to grow than the big leafed varieties. This is the first year I've grown it. Oh, I lined the baking dish with slices of a courgette, perhaps our third or fourth this year.
After tea I took the tent down 'all in one' so that when we put it up again we don't have to bother putting the internal compartment in again. Also popped down to Freshways and picked up 2 sacks of assorted unwanted material... including a load of coconuts which don't compost well, but do burn well! There were also a large number of fresh red dates, some with damage and dark-coloured bad bits, but the majority seemed quite acceptable. I wondered how to use these? Fresh they are a bit astringent, but if I blanch them and dry them, they might be useful in something. I might ask Raj how he uses fresh dates.
A busy evening dealing with the York Green Festival insurance documentation, and then trying to sort out how to deal with the compostables which will be generated at the Big Green Gathering... the farmer/festival has been granted 'an exemption' and is allowed to compost on site, but he wants to use the composted material. When I last composted on site, in 2006, there were too many sticks in the pile (which I'd built with several aeration layers using sticks, branches, twigs, cardboard and straw) for him to use it. This year we are going to use Bokashi EM which will mean we don't need to initially aerate it as much... just have it drained. There is another keen composter going to the Gathering, called Chris, and he'll be there from the Thursday before, so he'll be involved in the pre-build.
Last thing at night, I blanched the dates and this got rid of the astringent properties and they tasted sweet, and will be lovely dried.
Then I persuaded the boys to come and help me put the tent up, which was quite easy as it is very similar to the previous design I had... except this seems better designed actually. We had a bit of time trying to suss out where to hang some daft pocket things and our nearly 12 year old worked it out.
After lunch Gill and the boys went to the dentist and I completed the York Green Festival insurance documents and sent them to two of my colleagues to check. I really hate Microsoft Office 07, which I have on a trial. It's too complicated, I couldn't work out how to 'save as' and had to just save, then go into my documents folder and alter the name from there. What a faff.
Anyway, they will be on their way tonight or tomorrow.
I made a nutloaf with some old bread, yesterday's rice and a couple of leeks minus their tough flower stalk, grated carrot, a couple of tomatoes, plus some 'bush basil' which is doing really well in the conservatory. This is what I'll grow in the future, it tastes lovely and is easier to grow than the big leafed varieties. This is the first year I've grown it. Oh, I lined the baking dish with slices of a courgette, perhaps our third or fourth this year.
After tea I took the tent down 'all in one' so that when we put it up again we don't have to bother putting the internal compartment in again. Also popped down to Freshways and picked up 2 sacks of assorted unwanted material... including a load of coconuts which don't compost well, but do burn well! There were also a large number of fresh red dates, some with damage and dark-coloured bad bits, but the majority seemed quite acceptable. I wondered how to use these? Fresh they are a bit astringent, but if I blanch them and dry them, they might be useful in something. I might ask Raj how he uses fresh dates.
A busy evening dealing with the York Green Festival insurance documentation, and then trying to sort out how to deal with the compostables which will be generated at the Big Green Gathering... the farmer/festival has been granted 'an exemption' and is allowed to compost on site, but he wants to use the composted material. When I last composted on site, in 2006, there were too many sticks in the pile (which I'd built with several aeration layers using sticks, branches, twigs, cardboard and straw) for him to use it. This year we are going to use Bokashi EM which will mean we don't need to initially aerate it as much... just have it drained. There is another keen composter going to the Gathering, called Chris, and he'll be there from the Thursday before, so he'll be involved in the pre-build.
Last thing at night, I blanched the dates and this got rid of the astringent properties and they tasted sweet, and will be lovely dried.
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.
