Not a bad day really, certainly started out right with a lie in with Gill who then slept all morning.
I had heard what I thought was a chainsaw so I hopped on my bike to go and find it, but it turned out to be a petrol hedgetrimmer, so I came back home.
I sorted out some fruit to dry on the woodstove, cooked some slices of homegrown squash and then had lunch. At 1.30 the Yellow Pages/Yell dot Com lady arrived and we had some interesting chats before I signed the paperwork agreeing another year's advertising.
Gill went for our youngest and I spent quite a long time preparing potatoes, some knobbly Pink Fir Apple to add to tonight's tea. I did a bit of work in the garden and came in for tea, which for me was a pastie, four slices of fried squash from earlier and a handful of cold cooked potatoes.
I had a meeting at 7 up at Rand's house so I zoomed up to Acomb to meet with other Green Festival core group people to have the post-festival roundup. This was an interesting meeting as we had to analyse not just how it went, but our own role within that. I chaired AND made notes... and have now got these to type up and send out.. aargh! However, it was a good meeting, and there was wine and assorted food.
Quick cycle back, it's all downhill from Acomb! Then a long phone call with my dear old Auntie after which I tried to catch up with some more e-paperwork.
Showing posts with label potatoes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label potatoes. Show all posts
A lovely late start to the day, and after breakfast, the others went out and I spent some time in the garden, putting a load of stuff in the old Compostumbler (I love having two!) and then I did my emails and Rich told the YGF Crew that the posters and flyers were ready. I rang him and said I could come and collect at 2pm, but I went outside after the call and noticed that somehow there were loads of wasps outside the glass dome. I decided some more compost and water was a good idea to try to stop them, and I also used a long bamboo to prod under the soil into the cave they had excavated, letting it flood with compost and water, which hopefully will make it more difficult for them to keep going.
I got a bit engrossed in this and left the house to go and get the posters at 2.15... but it only takes me 5 minutes to get to the office where the risograph is, and I got a single two-colour A3 poster, a few A4 two-tone posters and a pile of two-tone flyers. The big poster went up in Country Fresh where I left some flyers (and picked up three sacks of compostables!)... and back home via Freshways who had one bag of resources for me.
I then got secateurs and fork and cycled off to the allotment... the first time in yonks I've been there. I knew the potatoes would be done and ready to dig... so I did a bit of bramble pruning, weeding and dug up three rows of spuds. There weren't many but I dug them all up... the best crop was the Pink Fir Apple.
I got back at about 7pm and Gill had made a kind of Shepherd's Pie with the tomato base I made a day or two ago, some green beans I picked today, and mashed potato (using the potatoes I swapped for apple logs) which was nice and filling.
I lit the stove as I'm working tomorrow and need to wash my hair and trim my beard... and of course, the washing up is a constant chore, one I prefer to do with water heated on the woodstove not gas.
I got a bit engrossed in this and left the house to go and get the posters at 2.15... but it only takes me 5 minutes to get to the office where the risograph is, and I got a single two-colour A3 poster, a few A4 two-tone posters and a pile of two-tone flyers. The big poster went up in Country Fresh where I left some flyers (and picked up three sacks of compostables!)... and back home via Freshways who had one bag of resources for me.
I then got secateurs and fork and cycled off to the allotment... the first time in yonks I've been there. I knew the potatoes would be done and ready to dig... so I did a bit of bramble pruning, weeding and dug up three rows of spuds. There weren't many but I dug them all up... the best crop was the Pink Fir Apple.
I got back at about 7pm and Gill had made a kind of Shepherd's Pie with the tomato base I made a day or two ago, some green beans I picked today, and mashed potato (using the potatoes I swapped for apple logs) which was nice and filling.
I lit the stove as I'm working tomorrow and need to wash my hair and trim my beard... and of course, the washing up is a constant chore, one I prefer to do with water heated on the woodstove not gas.
A quite relaxing day, in many ways. Gill went to Art and I eventually went to the allotment with some chitted potatoes and got two rows in! Hurrah! I also pulled out more nettles, by hand (there really isn't any point wearing gloves as part of the love of gardening is being in contact with the soil and plants) and deconstructed a compost heap which fertilised the potato rows.
Home for lunch and then spent the afternoon with Gill, before she went out to have a stitch removed, left from her gall-bladder removal, this one got left behind! I went to school to get our youngest, and took a large plastic sack to collect a dose of school fruit waste. Came back with over 30Kg... would have been thrown away if I didn't rescue it. I wonder when they are going to address the composting situation? I've heard nothing since a 'Health and Safety' **** said 'composting isn't allowed in schools' and my working compost bin was removed.
Gill came home, minus a 1cm long piece of thread in a jar. Greatly relieved! She skimmed the small ads in the Press and saw someone was selling a unicycle for £15, so I rang up and it sounded fine... except it was up in Wigginton, about 5 miles North of here. I decided to go and get it, so cycled up through Haxby, popped into the Cemetery to see a tree I planted in memory of a friend Lin. The tree and plaque I bought were not there. I was a bit upset, but wrote down the details of the people to contact, and will write to them both, just to see if it has been moved...
I then cycled on to where the young man was selling the unicycle. He'd bought a bigger one, with handles on the saddle, to catch when falling or jumping off. I chatted with the whole family, and demonstrated unicycling backwards, paid the asking price (a bargain!) and cycled away with it in my trailer, down the Wigginton Road this time. Near Clifton Moor I found a pallet in the hedge (a rather larger piece of litter than most I pick up!) so brought that back too, coming along the cycle track from near the Hospital all the way to Hull Road, where I picked up a sack of biodegradables from Freshways, and as usual, some friendly banter with the gentlemen who work there.
Home for some squash soup, which was delicious! Had a couple of bread rolls with it... and that was a perfect tea. A relaxing evening, but starting to get ready for going away tomorrow.
Nice bath with woodstove water.... ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!
Home for lunch and then spent the afternoon with Gill, before she went out to have a stitch removed, left from her gall-bladder removal, this one got left behind! I went to school to get our youngest, and took a large plastic sack to collect a dose of school fruit waste. Came back with over 30Kg... would have been thrown away if I didn't rescue it. I wonder when they are going to address the composting situation? I've heard nothing since a 'Health and Safety' **** said 'composting isn't allowed in schools' and my working compost bin was removed.
Gill came home, minus a 1cm long piece of thread in a jar. Greatly relieved! She skimmed the small ads in the Press and saw someone was selling a unicycle for £15, so I rang up and it sounded fine... except it was up in Wigginton, about 5 miles North of here. I decided to go and get it, so cycled up through Haxby, popped into the Cemetery to see a tree I planted in memory of a friend Lin. The tree and plaque I bought were not there. I was a bit upset, but wrote down the details of the people to contact, and will write to them both, just to see if it has been moved...
I then cycled on to where the young man was selling the unicycle. He'd bought a bigger one, with handles on the saddle, to catch when falling or jumping off. I chatted with the whole family, and demonstrated unicycling backwards, paid the asking price (a bargain!) and cycled away with it in my trailer, down the Wigginton Road this time. Near Clifton Moor I found a pallet in the hedge (a rather larger piece of litter than most I pick up!) so brought that back too, coming along the cycle track from near the Hospital all the way to Hull Road, where I picked up a sack of biodegradables from Freshways, and as usual, some friendly banter with the gentlemen who work there.
Home for some squash soup, which was delicious! Had a couple of bread rolls with it... and that was a perfect tea. A relaxing evening, but starting to get ready for going away tomorrow.
Nice bath with woodstove water.... ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!
Woken by shouting but things seemed to calm down, thankfully. Our eldest got ready to go to Games Workshop with a friend. This is a shop space in town where people can buy different models, mostly plastic, and there's a central table where the different games can be played. He took sandwiches for lunch and ate those outside the shop.
I did quite a bit of paperwork, Gill got some documents photocopied at the Co-op and I sent those off.
So Gill and our youngest had quite a bit of time in the garden. I filled three containers with a mixture of old used compost and fresh rich compost, and planted three varieties of potato. I also planted two types of sweetcorn seed (Indian Rainbow and Blue Jade) in modules (little pots) and several sorts of beans, including unidentified runner beans, Cherokee Trail Of Tears and my favourite, Jack Edwards Climbing Pea Bean. Some of these bean seedlings I hope to sell at Country Fresh, but most will go in the garden and at the allotment. I sorted out a lot of detritus from the conservatory and planted yet more tiny yam balls, some of which were beginning to sprout on the floor of the conservatory.
Gill and our youngest went to visit Ashley and family up the road, leaving me to wait for our eldest to get back.
Charles rang up... he's a Green Party friend but he's going away for a Scottish Mountain-Climbing holiday over the Euro-Election season, and won't be able to cast his vote, either in person or by post. So he's asked me to be his proxy, and a postal vote will be sent to me to fill in and send off. We had a good chat and a wander down the garden, and the family returned from their various travels.
A good tea; spinach, chard, broccoli with pasta and chunks of yesterday's nutloaf, with garlic bread and cheese.
Bathed the kids (hey, they do it themselves these days, but I carry the water upstairs!) and watched telly and played Scrabble.
Wondered whether to do my Community Care Blog on the new North Yorkshire Credit Union which has opened this weekend. This means that the services of a Credit Union are now available to anyone living or working in North Yorkshire, as well as the City of York. I am feeling very pleased, and indeed a bit proud, since I started the ball rolling with York Credit Union, and am member number 0001. I've had nothing to do with the development of North Yorkshire Credit Union, but am still really happy that the Credit Union advantage is now available for so many more people, in Selby, Scarborough, and all over the County.
Watched my counter approach 10,000 page views since September last year...
I did eventually write my Community Care blog! It took over two hours.
I did quite a bit of paperwork, Gill got some documents photocopied at the Co-op and I sent those off.
So Gill and our youngest had quite a bit of time in the garden. I filled three containers with a mixture of old used compost and fresh rich compost, and planted three varieties of potato. I also planted two types of sweetcorn seed (Indian Rainbow and Blue Jade) in modules (little pots) and several sorts of beans, including unidentified runner beans, Cherokee Trail Of Tears and my favourite, Jack Edwards Climbing Pea Bean. Some of these bean seedlings I hope to sell at Country Fresh, but most will go in the garden and at the allotment. I sorted out a lot of detritus from the conservatory and planted yet more tiny yam balls, some of which were beginning to sprout on the floor of the conservatory.
Gill and our youngest went to visit Ashley and family up the road, leaving me to wait for our eldest to get back.
Charles rang up... he's a Green Party friend but he's going away for a Scottish Mountain-Climbing holiday over the Euro-Election season, and won't be able to cast his vote, either in person or by post. So he's asked me to be his proxy, and a postal vote will be sent to me to fill in and send off. We had a good chat and a wander down the garden, and the family returned from their various travels.
A good tea; spinach, chard, broccoli with pasta and chunks of yesterday's nutloaf, with garlic bread and cheese.
Bathed the kids (hey, they do it themselves these days, but I carry the water upstairs!) and watched telly and played Scrabble.
Wondered whether to do my Community Care Blog on the new North Yorkshire Credit Union which has opened this weekend. This means that the services of a Credit Union are now available to anyone living or working in North Yorkshire, as well as the City of York. I am feeling very pleased, and indeed a bit proud, since I started the ball rolling with York Credit Union, and am member number 0001. I've had nothing to do with the development of North Yorkshire Credit Union, but am still really happy that the Credit Union advantage is now available for so many more people, in Selby, Scarborough, and all over the County.
Watched my counter approach 10,000 page views since September last year...
I did eventually write my Community Care blog! It took over two hours.
