Human Lifestyle

Not too bad a day on the whole.  I spent most of the morning sorting my messy piles of paperwork, basically trying to find a booking letter which has mysteriously disappeared.  However, I did sort out loads of envelopes, tearing out the plastic windows and putting the rest for composting or lighting the stove.  I got a big pile of recyclable paper which went in the recycle bin and sorted out various documents to store for my business records.  The missing letter did not materialise.

After lunch I popped round to see the local vicar, Tim Jones, who had asked me to go and see his compost bin and give him advice.  I said I'd go and see it and tell him what needed doing, with the possibility of going again to sort it out.  I get on with him, I like his sense of humour, and I expect to go and work in his garden next week and do some pruning, shredding and compost heap deconstruction and reconstruction...

Then I cycled into town to put in a cheque, pay a bill and get some cash out.  We'd got a post card form the Post Office saying there was a letter for Gill with a £1.38 bill to pay on it, so I went to pick that up.  On the way back I popped into the alterations shop on Walmgate as my bum-bag had a broken zip, and I wanted to know how much it would cost to replace it.  The guy in there took one look at it, and said he'd mend it.  10 seconds later, don't know how he did it, but it was a fully functioning zip again!  Wow.  I gave him a pound coin.

Came back via Freshways who had two huge bags of gunk for me.  One sack had split so I asked for a new bin bag and I made the two sacks into three to enable me to get them home.  However, there were a lot of slightly over-ripe tomatoes so when I got in, I set to and created a big pan of soup on the woodstove.  Four onions, thrown away as they had manky outer skins, about 20 large tomatoes and a small potato.  I brought it to the boil, simmered it and will whizz it tomorrow, and add bouillon and herbs.  Yum!

A relaxing evening with Gill, enjoyed some good telly and companionship.

Well, a reasonable morning to start with but things deteriorated and after lunch, Gill took both boys to town to buy some Lego, which is one thing which absorbs them completely.

I then had a quiet lunch and did loads of washing up and then got trapped with the Winter Olympics and facebook, and then at 2pm, Gardener's Question Time on Radio 4. Always enjoyable!

As soon as the family came home I went out to start sorting out the conservatory, which has a lot of stuff built up in it. There were lots of potato sacks. There were lots of elastic bands. Lots of drinks cartons (mainly soya milk) which I flattened and put in a potato sack for cycling down to the civic amenity site sometime soon. I took wooden veg trays to the front for recycling into kindling, lots of stuff to the dustbin which is full for the first time I can ever remember, and lots down the garden for composting.

I was really busy for about 3 hours... but the conservatory still looks extremely untidy. Perhaps will do some more tomorrow.

I came in when it was too dark to do any more. Gill had made a rice-based dish which was filling and tasty.

Quite a peaceful evening, watched the exciting Winter Olympics and then Derren Brown who is another great performer.

A quiet day in the house, I was feeling subdued and I think the rest of the family were too. But we were expecting a visit from Gill's sister Jane, and husband Mike, at 2pm, so we were reasonably busy tidying and making our front room presentable. I also worked out train times and booked taxis for tomorrow, as I'm going to Northallerton and then on to Masham for the Black Sheep Brewery's usual Christmas 'do' where I'm a regular entertainer.

It was good to see Jane and Mike and chat, see some recent photos of new family members, and I showed them their son's facebook page with a funny photo of him messing around at work, which amused them. At about the same time that they went, I cycled down to Country Fresh as I won't be able to do so tomorrow as I'm working all day.

During the early evening I put together Ben and Jill's Christmas request; that I should find 5 big jars and 7 small ones and fill each one with a mixture of dried fruit... and they will then give them as Christmas presents to assorted family members. I walked them round, and Jill was really pleased. I'll be paid Yorkys later.

Enjoyed a lengthy session of Scrabble on facebook, whilst listening to Jango which gives me assorted music, most of which I like, and that which I don't, I can instruct it not to play me again.

Quite a late start and when I bumbled down stairs, Gill was talking to one of our neighbours on the sofa. This neighbour has a house near Robin Hood's Bay... and we are wanting to visit for a few days (to get our 'fix' of the place!) so we might be hiring their place.

I got dressed and did some tidying in the conservatory... there's still Cinnamon vine (Dioscorea batata or Chinese Yam) to be removed, and the hundreds of little aerial tubers needed collecting up so I can either replant, distribute or eat!

Up quite early to get ready to have the solar panels in tomorrow, and go to the BBC studios this afternoon to appear on Look North after the little film comparing my low carbon footprint with Adam's higher one.

So Gill and I got busy in the loft.. I emptied the filing cabinet and moved other paperwork, Gill started dismantling a large metal framed shelving unit.

But then we got a phone call from the builders/installers. The stuff will be delivered tomorrow (or Friday?) and the builders will install it on Monday.

And then I did my emails and got an email from Anna Crossley who was the person in charge of filming me and interviewing me about the carbon footprint thing... I'm not needed in the studio this evening, as the presenters Harry and Krista are doing the carbon calculator instead.

This is a mixture of a disappointment and a relief. We continued sorting out rubbish. I made some tomato soup. I cycled down to Country Fresh to get a bit of veg and brought back that plus some rejects.... which included yet more tomatoes. I'll make a bigger soup... I might have surprise guests, who knows?

Gill did a stir fry with spring rolls... really good!

At 6.30 I watched Look North on Yorkshire and was pleased to see the little film about my cycle-based transport and Adam's car habit. Good stuff, it was well edited together and I'm happy with how I was portrayed.

A mellow evening, helped by a small glass of home made wine which didn't quite get into a bottle.

A very busy day in the loft. Moved all my bottles. Decanted another 3 demijohns into bottles, including an amazing blackberry and elderberry 1994 (!), a grape and apple 1999 and an unknown red from an unknown date which also tasted great. So who's inviting me to a Christmas party this year?

I sorted out a big pile of paperwork into keep, recyclable, compostable and 'used on one side only so reusable'...

I collected a cheque owed to me from St Nicks for Apple Day and saw Helen, and agreed to meet with her at 6pm and have a bit of a social. She came back here and had my home-made soup and a roll which was made by our son at school. Good chats.

In the evening I worked out my ActOnCO2 carbon footprint, updated to give our exact electricity usage (1674kwh/year, renewable tariff) and gas use (132 cubic metres/year) which gave a household footprint of 1.04 tonnes/year, or an individual footprint of 0.27 tonnes/year. Obviously this isn't the total as it doesn't take into account my public transport use, food and goods purchases, and the things that national and local Government does on my behalf.

I also took advantage of a fallen and logged tree to stock up on my woodpile...

Not too bad a start to the day, came down to ensure things didn't go too pear-shaped and therefore it was a smooth start, fortunately.

I made a start on the many demijohns in the loft which have sat there since we moved in 2001 and I've done nothing with the contents. This house doesn't lend itself to winemaking, somehow, and also I was aware of my drinking having a negative effect on my health, so I didn't resume my hobby. So, there were 30 or more demijohns of assorted wine, cider and unknown brews to basically get rid of. They are in the way of the work which will take place the day after tomorrow.

I took the bung out of each gallon jar and tasted it with a straw. Many were vinegary or bitter or yuk... but one, an elderberry and apple 1998 was wonderful, so I bottled it. Another, an experiment done by an old, now sadly deceased, friend called Lin, was orange tango and tea... I bottled this as it was interesting and drinkable... not excellent, but drinkable. There was also an interesting Metheglin... honey and herbs.

I bottled 3 gallons and poured 8 away. Only another 20 or so to go!

The day went far too quickly. Gill went to town to do the charity shops, and bought a dress from Age Concern for £3 and something else for £2... and was given a card as a thank you. When she came home, she discovered that it had a £10 Littlewoods.com voucher in it, as a thank you. Littlewoods will donate £2 of it to Age Concern. How good is that?

I got a call from Lynn asking if I would be willing to help out at a LETS members' parents house later today, moving some heavy furniture and pulling up some carpets. So of course, I said yes, and at a few minutes to 6, I zoomed over to Huntington Road to help, spent 45 minutes there and sped back, in time to eat a fantastic tea Gill had made... a stew made on the woodstove then topped with cheese scone mix and popped in the oven. This 'cobbler' thing is really delicious and very easy to make.

A quiet evening, washing up, stoking both stoves as it is cold tonight, and playing Scrabble on facebook. Oh, and promoting the good news that Age of Stupid will be shown on BBC4 on Monday 14th December at 10pm. Great!

A really good day, despite the very wet weather.

Gill and I did a bit of tidying in the loft prior to the solar panels going in but it needs SO much more!!!

I didn't do very much outside apart from picking the last of the runner beans out of the apple tree and also cropping some late nasturtium seeds (and flower buds) which would have turned to mush in the forthcoming predicted frosts. I'll wash these, put them in a jar with salt, wait until they are completely dehydrated, wash off the salt and fill the jar with vinegar. Or I might do some pickled pumpkin and used the dehydrated and washed seeds in with that.

I did visit Richard at Country Fresh and brought back 3 sacks of wonderful goodies.

Peter rang during the afternoon and asked if he could come round and see our stoves, as I had offered to show him as he is considering getting one. He came round at 5ish and I gave him a 'guided tour' of both our Clearviews. Later he sent me an link to an excellent website, the 'What Stove Review' site, which I have added to.

So quiet, happy day, not a lot happened, but I enjoyed the day lots.

Up early to finish the large job of tidying the back room to make it acceptable for BBC audiences!

Took all my paperwork off the floor, bits and bobs from around the hearth, tidied jars of dried fruit, and used our new super vacuum cleaner. I even cleaned the glass of the stove!

Anna arrived a bit late as she got lost and needed to be talked here from Bootham. She came alone and had her camera, tripod, sound stuff, batteries and tapes. First we just chatted and had a cuppa, then we got down to business.

She first interviewed me inside, sitting at the table, about my small carbon footprint, how I achieve it and why I live like I do. Then she filmed me taking the readings from my electricity meter and gas meter, and inputting them into the Carbon Account on my laptop.

Then we walked up the road to where yesterday, a nice Polish chap had invited me to pick up 5 pine logs. I'd asked him if I could leave it til today, so I could be filmed doing it. He was happy to let me do this. So I walked up there with my bike and her with her equipment. When we got there she realised that she had forgotten her empty tape. So she walked back and got it whilst I looked after the camera on its tripod. We did loads of 'takes', all at different angles and from different places... they'll be edited together and will make up one half of a film about two people with different carbon footprints, me, a little one, and Adam, a York-based radio presenter, who has a big footprint and feels he HAS to use his car as he lives in Tadcaster and works in York.

Then we came home and she filmed me cycling along the road, turning into the drive, unloading the trailer, and finally, me introducing myself. By 2pm she was finished... but I showed her the garden before she motored off and I had a peaceful lunch.

The footage will be shown on Yorkshire Look North (6.30pm, weekdays) during their 'green week' which is in the first week of December, coinciding with Copenhagen.. The other film she's doing is to look at two families, a 'green' one and a non green one. The green family is, by chance, someone I recently met, John Grant from Sheffield, who is an excellent communicator and I am delighted he's doing it as I know he'll be able to explain things well.

The rest of the day was much less 'full on' and I just did a bit of housework and stuff on the computer.

Quite a lazy first part of the day but a hard-working afternoon. I did quite a bit of removal of accumulated compostable stuff which has built up in the conservatory and is annoying Gill, and the children helped me, just a little bit, with some hedge-stick-chopping. After I got tired of composting I switched to harvesting.

I picked all the rest of the pea beans, and took down all the spent vines. I picked the last winter squash plus a huge number of small 'tromboncino' squash which are very like courgettes. I'll use them in a meal tomorrow. I also picked two cauliflowers and a few stray broccoli spears. I steamed the cauli, broccoli and the youngest of the beans and had them with pizza and potatoes for tea. I'm so glad I've grown cauliflower as this is the first year I've done so and it's not that difficult. And fresh-cut cauli is so much better than even the big ones I buy in Country Fresh. I also picked some apples, they are quite small but will be excellent for drying on the woodstove.

So, spent some of the evening sorting through various vegetables and getting them ready for storage or eating. Also wrote to my MP Hugh Bayley about the meeting he and I attended on Saturday, and played some facebook Scrabble whilst Gill watched Emma on BBC1.

Quite a busy day as we have to get the house tidied and cleaned as we are having visitors this afternoon and overnight.

So, Gill and I did some sorting out and vacuuming... I took down most of the tomato plants and dead yams in the conservatory so I could put the trays of apples and pears there, from where they were in the front room, which is where the futon is. Which is what Jennifer and Mark will be sleeping on.

So, did a variety of jobs to try to make the place a bit more respectable.

They arrived at about 4pm and left their two boys with us as they had come over for a meeting, and came back about an hour later to settle down for a cosy evening.

The children had pasta, veg and tomato/leek sauce, and we had rice and nan bread and felafels, wine and chat, followed by a game of Scrabble which Gill won.

We watched Derren Brown on telly after which they went to bed. I peeled a load of plums for drying. I ate one and now I know why they were thrown away. I hope drying improves them!

Thanks to Dave Hampton 'The Carbon Coach' for this:
What did the Climate Change Activist say about the Frequent Flyer?
'The Swine Flew'.

A good lie-in today til 10ish and at about that time Simon came to pick up our eldest to go on a picnic down at the Outgang with Simon's son. Our youngest played on the computer for a bit, and I lit the stove and did a large amount of washing up, but soon the lovely weather drew us all outside.

Gill got the electrical cable out so I could mow the lawns... I did this and also cut a hedge, riddled some compost, emptied a dalek compost bin ready for riddling and refilled it from the one next to it, did some weeding, tidying piles of now-dry hedge sticks which have been sitting in piles for a year or so.. they need to be broken up and chopped up and bagged ready for next winter's stove needs, and also cut back lots of brambles and shredded them. A really hard-working day, got lots done and Gill was very pleased with the change she saw when she came down the garden. I was kept company all afternoon by robins... they have no fear of people and came very close whilst I was moving stuff around and managing the compost heaps. Their favourite food is centipedes, as far as I can tell from watching today. They are also adept at catching several wiggly beasties despite having one or more already in their beak. I love these robins. I love the assorted songbirds too... I've had a very pleasant afternoon.

I had tea at about 7pm and then did another hour until it was too dark to do anymore. Exhausted! Played Scrabble on Facebook, washed up, watched telly.

A very busy day.

Got up quite early and both felt like doing some spring cleaning and sorting out. Gill made a start on the conservatory, which has become somewhat cluttered, and I did some washing up including a load of storage jars which have been building up.

Gill also rang a chap who'd advertised two flat irons in the back of the Press. She's been wanting to have a couple of these to heat up on the stove so she doesn't have to use electricity (despite it being from renewables, and us not using very much, it still costs, so using less would be good!). Gill isn't into ironing everything, but the school uniforms and my work clothes need to look good, and the electric iron is quite heavy on the juice. So a pair of flat irons will be a good addition to our low carbon lifestyle. The old fella wanted a fiver each, as they were antiques, but was happy to hear they'd be used. He lives in Easingwold so Gill might take the bus out there next week to get them, or he might deliver if he's coming down the Hull Road.

Soon after this telephone conversation, we discovered our phone handset wasn't working... it was completely dead. Gill tried to 'ring home' with her mobile but only the base rang, not the handset. So, with the phone being important for my work, it was essential that we get it sorted. So, within the hour I cycled down to town to take it to where we bought it to see if they knew what was wrong with it, or maybe buy another handset. I felt a bit daft when the chap in the shop told me t was just the batteries which had expired. I thought they were rechargeable, but apparently they don't keep recharging for ever. I bought new batteries... and a second pair for when this happens again!

I also visited the Friends Meeting house where the old AVP computer has been waiting for me to pick it up and bring it home to erase the hard disc data, before taking the whole lot to the recycling depot at James Street. The monitor is huge! It only just went in my trailer but with bungees, it came home safe and sound. I set it all up and tried to run the DBAN 'boot and nuke' floppy disc that Ben had supplied, but I didn't quite understand the commands so I phoned Ben and asked him if he could pop round and press buttons in the right order.

Gill was doing wonderful things with the conservatory and I helped too, being ruthless about throwing stuff away, for once! Ros came round with her son, and she stayed and had a coffee and chatted about some of the stories from when she was a customs officer. Our boys played happily all together.

Ben came round and found that the software would work if the computer was tweaked slightly first, and so he reset a password by doing something to the innards and then set the disc to AUTONUKE and completely wipe the hard disc. He also showed me how to take out the disc afterwards and extract two very strong rare-earth magnets, which make excellent fridge magnets. After 40 minutes nuking, the monitor declared it was now 'done', so I switched the whole thing off and extracted the hard disc (actually 3 of them in a stack) and the two magnets. The rest of the hardware will be going to Hazel Court tomorrow for recycling.

I then found time to sort through seeds and plant some courgettes, squash, pumpkin and basil. This felt extremely satisfying. All three boys ate together and then played til 9pm when I took our visitor back up the road to Ros. I spent some of the evening peeling some giant pumpkin seeds I found from last year, and sorting out old seed packets from newer ones which I will hopefully plant up soon.

A very productive day. And destructive too, with the mangling of the old computer and throwing away of loads of unrecyclable and unusable stuff. Satisfying!

Quite a good day, very productive in the garden, as Gill helped me tidy up a bit... well, a lot! I am very untidy, probably too many things going on at once, and the garden has lots of plastic sacks with compost, and 'contraries' which I've taken out of the compostables I've retrieved (aka rubbish and 'dry recyclables' such as aluminium cans and plastic bottles) and today we removed about 6 sacks of genuine waste from the garden.

I made a load of seed compost (growing medium), out of ordinary 'garden' compost, sand which was thrown away by the school, and I bagged up and brought home yonks ago, leafmould and some loam salvaged from turves from a skip. I put this lot through a big riddle, and it arrived on the sheet below in layers, so when I'd put the right amounts through (ie, not much rich compost, more sand and leafmould), I shovelled it into my rotasieve to mix it well, and then slid batches of this into, you've guessed it, plastic sacks!

I also did some more log stacking, outside the front door, of dry logs that are ready to go on the stove. However, my usual ability to make a stable pile was somewhat lacking today and the pile collapsed, and took 30 minutes to rebuild. The trick is to not make it in three separate vertical walls which I had been doing, but to do it in horizontal layers with lots of interlocking pieces which hold the thing together. Difficult to put into words, maybe pictures would be better.

Gill made a rice-based dish for tea, I added some salvaged butternut squash which I'd cooked on the stove earlier in the day. Lovely.

Woken up at 7 by screaming kids... came down thinking it was 8... but Gill told me to go back to bed, and I came back down nearer 8 when things were quieter. Gill walked into school with our youngest and I got ready to meet a 'Masters' student, Triona, who is doing some research about Freeganism, why people are attracted to those choices, and the public's response to it. I went with her to Country Fresh to see the arrangement I have there, and then on to St Nicks to see the 'free energy' being harvested there, and the other activities and educational material.

Then back home to see the fruit-drying operation, stoves, compost toilet, other composting and food-plant cultivation. I had found a bike in a skip a few days ago, and the person who put it in there said I could recycle it... I had intended to take it to Bike Rescue (also this article) but hadn't had time yesterday when it was open.. and just as well, as Triona hadn't got a bike and liked the look of this one... small wheels, folding, basket, so I gave it to her. She said she'd get a bike lock first, and have it serviced, which it needs. I am thrilled! How cool is it that a student comes trying to find out about Freegan living and leaves with a bike which was found in a skip! (She didn't actually leave with it, but will come and collect it, or I'll deliver it to the shop she chooses to get it sorted out at...)

Anyway, lunch, and then both Gill and I did some work in the garden. Gill continued sorting out the raised beds which I had started clearing a day or two back, and found quite a good lot of potatoes which she planted last year, and didn't harvest properly! And, amazingly, most of them were still in good nick... one or two had green ends, a couple were slug-damaged, but over a dozen were perfect. I cleaned them up and boiled them on the woodstove... what a treat! Home grown spuds in February!

I finished doing the huge pile of sawdust... I now have six sacks of riddled fine sawdust which can be used as compost toilet cover or in other composting operations. I also have two sacks of larger material... bits of bark, twig, wood chip type material, which again will help with the composting, and 3 paper potato-sacks of big chunks of stove-bound material, once it has dried out. Satisfying.

I then took the riddle to the bottom of the garden to start a large amount of compost riddling. Richard at Country Fresh has had several enquiries from customers asking for my carrier bags of mature riddled compost (which they give a voluntary donation for) so I need to get some of that ready... hopeful I'll take some down tomorrow morning before I go to the St Nicks 5 year anniversary of being a nature reserve at midday.

Gill went down to school to pick up our youngest, and I washed up and did some food preparation.

Tea was potatoes, quiche, peas and some of the stew left over from yesterday. It happened too late for me to go to the York University Green Week Question Time, which I would have liked to attend... but had a nice evening in with the family instead.

Quite a relaxed day in many ways... although due to a family visit we did have some tidying up to do. I took our youngest into school and came back to help sort stuff out... I found a large sack of bananas which I was able to salvage and lay out on the cake-racks on the stove, and also helped with vacuuming, ready for Gill's sister Jane and hubby Mike to visit, due at 2.30.

About lunchtime I was rung up by the local free magazine 'Local Link' who are going to do a feature on composting, and they wanted a how and why conversation to form an article, so spent an hour chatting through allsorts of stuff, being careful to differentiate between the York Rotters advice and things which I did, which I'm supposed to try to keep separate from Rotters stuff. For instance, with my Rotters hat on, I'm supposed to not go on about composting roadkill... so I am going to be sent the article before publication so I can check I'm not going to get into trouble, and that the facts are correct!

Jane and Mike had come to visit several folks in York, drop off presents and pick up presents for their family gathering, as they have offspring and grandchildren visiting them over the holidays. They arrived slightly early and we had a good chat before our eldest came home and then I cycled down to school to pick up our youngest. They stayed a bit later than planned, to see the children who were on best behaviour, fortunately!

I left for town as soon as they went, to deliver paperwork for the council, the Planning Panel stuff, and to post parcels to Taunton and Shrewsbury and a small pile of letters/cards to lots of other places. I also picked up two sacks of orange halves and coffee grounds from Millers Yard, and a sack and a box from Country Fresh. Home by 5pm.

I had the leftover macaroni cheese and cauliflower from yesterday plus dolmades (stuffed vine leaves) which are one of my favourite things, quite a treat as they aren't cheap, even buying in bulk from Suma. A good evening with the children, we watched a bit of telly and I got a cuddle... not something I often get from my eldest!

A warm and cosy evening turning logs rapidly back into the carbon dioxide the trees sucked up not so long ago, releasing their stored sunshine into our living room and into the water to enable us to wash our pans and plates, and driving moisture off waste bananas to preserve them for future muesli... I love our Clearview Stoves!!!

I had a bit of a rude awakening as Gill was intending to take the kids to school but suddenly the realisation that there was some independent learning project work still not done meant that one of our boys had got back into bed and was refusing to go to school. So I got up and reasoned with him, cajoled him, explained about the law, etc etc, and even used the term offered to me by a commentator to this blog, that it was 'non negotiable'! I pulled him out of his room by his wrists and ushered him downstairs, onto the chair where his breakfast was waiting... which he started to eat and slowly then calmed down and seemed to forget his bad mood. By 8.30 it was clear that Gill would be able to take them to school, and I went back to bed and slept til 11.

During the day, helped tidy the front room trying to get ready for Linda coming to visit over the weekend. It's a big job as it has become the dumping ground for all my paperwork and circus stuff...

I picked up the boys from school and gave my apologies to the committee meeting of Green Thumbs, which I couldn't attend as I was bringing the boys home.

After doing emails I cycled down to town to get a couple of cheques out and put a trailer's worth of drinks cartons into the carton recycling skip at Hazel Court, James St. No-one tried to stop me this time, and I again ignored the advice/ruling of 'no pedestrians or cycles' in the top part of the compound. I watched a car-driver get out of his vehicle and wander between several skips... in a very 'pedestrian' manner! It's a nonsensical rule!

Home for tea, and at 7.15, whilst getting ready to go to the LETS AGM, got a Fiddlesticks phone booking to go to an Autistic Society playscheme, which I know I'll enjoy.

I thought I'd be late to the meeting but I wasn't, and several people arrived after me. I chaired the meeting, it went well and we made some importaant decisions including asking members to consider having newsletters and directories electronically. We had a nice buffet, sandwiches, pizza, quiche, etc. Good social too, and trading. Back home at 11pm.

A good morning, the boys were well behaved and I took them to school. I spent a few minutes collecting soil from molehills to add to the compost to help fill the remaining containers.

Home to help Gill with a big clearup, as Gill's sister is coming to stay next week. She said 'dont do any tidying up' but if we didn't, she'd have nowhere to sleep, as the front room is totally full of clutter and my mess, piles of paper etc, so we HAVE to do some clearing up!

I did an hour in the garden too, before lunch.

A pleasant afternoon, but at 3 we both went to school so that we could have a chat with a class teacher and the head... whilst both our boys played outside.

I did lots of tidying outside after this, chainsawing logs, stacking, and had a chilled evening.

A productive morning, sorting out the conservatory which has produced its last tomato for the year, and the assorted containers the toms were growing in need tipping out onto some raised beds in the garden, the old plant stems composted, and the wholre place swept.

Got stuck at one compost heap though, needed to take the last lot of finished stuff out to make room for the new...

Enjoyed lunch, had some more of Gill's loaf... and continued doing the conservatory and some jobs in the garden, including logsplitting and bramble removal.

I didn't get the boys, as one was walking home with a friend, so Gill went down on her bike and walked back with them.

Went to visit Debbie at 6 as she's got a job interview tomorrow and wanted me to go over and give her some confidence. She also wanted me to explain why I burn wood... and I found out she didn't really understand about the greenhouse effect, or CO2, fossil fuels vs renewables etc etc, so had to explain. She seemed grateful that I had!

At 7 Gill was picked up to go and paint scenery for the theatre group she's helping, and i spent some time on the computer after putting the kids to bed.