A mixed day, woken by yelling so came downstairs to just be around and I didn't have to do anything but be there. Both boys went to school.
Gill went to Physio and I spent some time dealing with emails and then got the chainsaw and chopped up 3 large pallets, and a few branches and logs. I had lunch at the usual time, on the dot of 1pm, and then I got a phone call which changed the mood of the day.
I'm well known for collecting waste wood to replace fossil fuel use, and find untreated timber in skips, and sticks and logs in nearby woodland, and people with gardens sometimes let me have fuel, and tree surgeons sometimes drop stuff off. When I arrived in Hull Road in 2001, I saw that there was a small patch of woodland in the front of the Woodlands MS Respite Care Centre, and I spoke to the grounds managers who said that they put chopped branches and shrubs there, and I could have them if I wanted them. So since then, I've been collecting bits and bobs of sticks and branches from there several times a year. I'd not seen the need to ask every time, taking the gardener's words as good enough. When the Centre was going to fell a tree, I offered to pick up the logs and they were more than happy to save money and let me do the clearing up. This has happened twice.
So, last Thursday, I went into the wood in the afternoon and tidied up some tipped branches, and in the evening, at dusk, went back to pick up a wheelbarrow full of sticks. As I was doing this, one of the volunteer managers, Mel, spotted me in the woodland and asked what I was doing there. I answered truthfully and she went and left me to finish what I was doing.
This afternoon, Rachel, the Volunteering and Fundraising Co-ordinator, phoned me and told me that I hadn't had permission to go in the woodland and that I was trespassing, and what was I doing there in the dark anyway? The upshot of the conversation was that she is no longer wanting me to be a volunteer there, and help the grounds management staff with their clearing up behind the Centre. I feel this is unfair, as I didn't think I was doing anything wrong, and I didn't hear any message from her when we arranged the induction, which was to be on Thursday, about ceasing to use that space... in fact, I didn't mention that arrangement and she claims that she didn't know. So it's a sad situation, as they have lost a potential keen volunteer worker, and I've lost a source of logs which I was looking forward to. All the logs at the back will now be burned on a bonfire, instead of me sorting through them and making a wildlife pile with the smaller bits, and taking bigger bits off site in my own time. Shame, left me feeling sad.
But then Clive my Green Party friend arrived. He'd asked if I wanted help delivering some of the election leaflets, so we walked for nearly 2 hours around the local area and delivered several hundred of them. We got a bit of a chance to chat, and it turns out he worked in the same place as Gill's father, and remembers him. This was nice to come back to Gill with.
I had a quick tea and at 6.15 went to Tang Hall Library for the Hull Road Ward Planning Panel. We had quite a jolly time, and dealt with just 3 applications.
I came home via a skip; I'd spoken to the builders earlier and they were more than happy for me to take some wood out. I got two trailer loads of big roof beams.
Later on, I lit the stove, washed up, chopped apples, watched Ideal and played Scrabble on facebook, which is pretty well back to normal. So, a mixed day.
Showing posts with label wood collecting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wood collecting. Show all posts
Spent the morning reading and writing.... wrote a letter to the Press about a carfree York, in reply to a letter published yesterday.
But in the afternoon I did quite a bit of garden work, including transferring the contents of one dalek into the one next to it for maturation, and harvesting a load of worms to restock a wormery. I shredded the large pile of woody shrubbery which I cut down before my ankle broke to give the redcurrants more light. I despatched another two rodents to rodent heaven (a hot compost pile!)
In the house I did some washing up and hoovering. I had several Fiddlesticks phone calls. Gill has just about finished the accounts and this past year (09/10) is about £2000 down on last year on the gross income. In a recession, people cut out non essentials, and bought-in entertainment is in many cases a non essential. I really do have to find some other way of generating income.
After the children came home I cycled down to Country Fresh and got some veggies plus 4 boxes of 'resources', some of which I was able to load up into a dalek which has space.
After tea I cut some hedge with shears and the sky got dark and thunder rumbled in the distance, then got nearer and there were a few flashes and a bit of rain. I came in and dried off.
I got an email from a neighbour up the road saying there was a branch waiting for me outside their house so I went out again to pick it up in my bike trailer, and found a couple of broken chairs too which had wooden legs and backs which looked suspiciously like kindling to me...
I popped into see my friend who is fighting alcoholism, and they had news of their friend who has had a liver transplant, needed because of the same illness. Later on I chatted with two friends both of whom are fighting difficult internal mental battles.
Later, my laptop developed a problem with the power supply and kept on shutting down. I wonder if the battery needs replacing, and why was the mains power not keeping the machine going? I wonder if the mains power thing has gone wrong. I feel a visit to Ben might be in order!
But, I was able to use Gill's laptop to type this up, but it's not the same as my machine which has all my bits and bobs on it... like a button which sends me straight to a dictionary website.... and a 'favourites' list, etc etc.
But in the afternoon I did quite a bit of garden work, including transferring the contents of one dalek into the one next to it for maturation, and harvesting a load of worms to restock a wormery. I shredded the large pile of woody shrubbery which I cut down before my ankle broke to give the redcurrants more light. I despatched another two rodents to rodent heaven (a hot compost pile!)
In the house I did some washing up and hoovering. I had several Fiddlesticks phone calls. Gill has just about finished the accounts and this past year (09/10) is about £2000 down on last year on the gross income. In a recession, people cut out non essentials, and bought-in entertainment is in many cases a non essential. I really do have to find some other way of generating income.
After the children came home I cycled down to Country Fresh and got some veggies plus 4 boxes of 'resources', some of which I was able to load up into a dalek which has space.
After tea I cut some hedge with shears and the sky got dark and thunder rumbled in the distance, then got nearer and there were a few flashes and a bit of rain. I came in and dried off.
I got an email from a neighbour up the road saying there was a branch waiting for me outside their house so I went out again to pick it up in my bike trailer, and found a couple of broken chairs too which had wooden legs and backs which looked suspiciously like kindling to me...
I popped into see my friend who is fighting alcoholism, and they had news of their friend who has had a liver transplant, needed because of the same illness. Later on I chatted with two friends both of whom are fighting difficult internal mental battles.
Later, my laptop developed a problem with the power supply and kept on shutting down. I wonder if the battery needs replacing, and why was the mains power not keeping the machine going? I wonder if the mains power thing has gone wrong. I feel a visit to Ben might be in order!
But, I was able to use Gill's laptop to type this up, but it's not the same as my machine which has all my bits and bobs on it... like a button which sends me straight to a dictionary website.... and a 'favourites' list, etc etc.
Another good day. I got up at 8.30 and did assorted things around the house, and Gill went to the GP as she's had a very painful foot for months and months. She has often wondered if she has broken a bone in there.
I washed up. I found a way to get the solar hot water through without the boiler kicking in. Firstly I checked the temperature on the tank in the loft... the incoming temperature from the solar panel was 80 degrees Celsius. So this was hot enough to bypass the boiler and be mixed down with cold water to a reasonable temperature for it to come out of the tap. But we don't think the system is working properly, as when we turn the hot tap on, even with the tank so hot, the boiler goes on. I need to contact the installers to get this checked. So what I did was to turn the hot tap on with a low flow, too low a flow to make the boiler kick in. A few litres later (water for the Papyrus plant!) the water ran warm, enough to do the pots, pans, plates and cutlery. I was very pleased. When Gill came in she said she'd been having showers like that for a while! I checked the temperature afterwards, back up in the loft, and despite the sun still shining fully on the panel, it had gone down to 76, proving that some of the hot water in the tank had been replaced by cold. Result!
I went to the bread shop and got two small loaves and six bags of rolls and some Danish pastries and some flapjack offcuts... all for £4. That's the beauty of Yesterbake!
On the way back I couldn't help seeing several builders vans outside a house, which was having a huge log cabin built in the back garden. There were loads of offcuts already available, actually I think it was packing wood.. as the planks were fixed to steel bands, fortunately easy to pull off the planks, so I asked the builders and they were very happy to see the stuff go. I took one trailer load before lunch and at about 2pm, went to pick up a second load. There were also a vast quantity of thin slivers of wood, again, something to do with the packing, so I brought those home too, and I broke each one of those into about 4 pieces and popped them into a sack... I got 5 potato sacks full of kindling. Excellent. They also said I was welcome to have the pallets.
When our youngest came in from school he had a friend with him and we all chatted together about the things they have done, as he's been on a special day up at Manor School and seen a video about electrocution, and not playing on the railways, and various other things. Apparently it was 'pretty random'.
I dug out about half of the metal-sided compost bin into the builders sack. I riddled another sack of mature compost dug out of the builders bag yesterday. I had a lot of interest from some robins, and I put a small yellow centipede on the palm of my hand and held it out... and one of the robins came and pecked it off my hand. Hand-feeding robins! Lovely!
I had fried egg sandwiches for tea. We have more eggs than we need, some out of date ones, so I used those.
Later I finished breaking up the kindling and watched the politicians debate on BBC2 after it had gone out on Sky which we don't have. I think they are all grey parties. None of them inspire me. Caroline Lucas inspires me. I will be voting Green.
I washed up. I found a way to get the solar hot water through without the boiler kicking in. Firstly I checked the temperature on the tank in the loft... the incoming temperature from the solar panel was 80 degrees Celsius. So this was hot enough to bypass the boiler and be mixed down with cold water to a reasonable temperature for it to come out of the tap. But we don't think the system is working properly, as when we turn the hot tap on, even with the tank so hot, the boiler goes on. I need to contact the installers to get this checked. So what I did was to turn the hot tap on with a low flow, too low a flow to make the boiler kick in. A few litres later (water for the Papyrus plant!) the water ran warm, enough to do the pots, pans, plates and cutlery. I was very pleased. When Gill came in she said she'd been having showers like that for a while! I checked the temperature afterwards, back up in the loft, and despite the sun still shining fully on the panel, it had gone down to 76, proving that some of the hot water in the tank had been replaced by cold. Result!
I went to the bread shop and got two small loaves and six bags of rolls and some Danish pastries and some flapjack offcuts... all for £4. That's the beauty of Yesterbake!
On the way back I couldn't help seeing several builders vans outside a house, which was having a huge log cabin built in the back garden. There were loads of offcuts already available, actually I think it was packing wood.. as the planks were fixed to steel bands, fortunately easy to pull off the planks, so I asked the builders and they were very happy to see the stuff go. I took one trailer load before lunch and at about 2pm, went to pick up a second load. There were also a vast quantity of thin slivers of wood, again, something to do with the packing, so I brought those home too, and I broke each one of those into about 4 pieces and popped them into a sack... I got 5 potato sacks full of kindling. Excellent. They also said I was welcome to have the pallets.
When our youngest came in from school he had a friend with him and we all chatted together about the things they have done, as he's been on a special day up at Manor School and seen a video about electrocution, and not playing on the railways, and various other things. Apparently it was 'pretty random'.
I dug out about half of the metal-sided compost bin into the builders sack. I riddled another sack of mature compost dug out of the builders bag yesterday. I had a lot of interest from some robins, and I put a small yellow centipede on the palm of my hand and held it out... and one of the robins came and pecked it off my hand. Hand-feeding robins! Lovely!
I had fried egg sandwiches for tea. We have more eggs than we need, some out of date ones, so I used those.
Later I finished breaking up the kindling and watched the politicians debate on BBC2 after it had gone out on Sky which we don't have. I think they are all grey parties. None of them inspire me. Caroline Lucas inspires me. I will be voting Green.
Another late morning which was good... I like these late mornings!
Once again a fairly productive day but relaxed enough. Gill took our youngest to the aquarium shop which is part of Wyvale Garden Centre near Poppleton... Gill and I both call it Challises as we both worked at Challis of York, although at different times. But it changed hands although is still a garden centre. With a fishy-pet shop. They came back with two tiny fish... apparently 'leopard fish' although they look nothing like leopards! Also some pondweed and a wooden aquarium decoration.
I was on Facebook and one of our friends round the corner came on so I messaged her and asked if her son was doing anything, as our eldest was at a loose end... so at 3pm, both Maria and her son came round which was good, as then both boys had their loose ends tied up, and Maria could tell me all the ins and outs of her new job teaching. It sounds tough.
I prepared some more grapes, blanched them and put them to dry. Did some pears and mangoes too. Did some baked potatoes for the boys, and warmed the red soup which is what I had for tea.
I had a meeting at 7.30 with Jess from York in Transition, about accessibility and inclusion. Both of us feel this is absolutely vital to a Transition Initiative. Jess had a couple of her friends there, Tom and Emily, an artist and a writer, both also keen on inclusivity and equal opportunities. We had some interesting if rather rambling discussions, but Jess took notes and I think we will have got something concrete out of the meeting. They all enjoyed the dried fruit I took, and I hope to meet the new couple again... I like creative types.
Came home via a logpile and brought a massive tree stump home... it only just fitted on my trailer; I had to take the box out of the frame and just put the log in/on the frame and the plastic box on my rack. A good haul although I reckon it'll be a sod to cut up!
A late late evening, Gill and I had a real game of Scrabble and Gill won. I was very pleased for her... and of course, with real games on a board, we have no 'stats' recorded, so losing a game doesn't ruin my stats. On Facebook though, things are different... I really like to keep my stats looking good. (So far I've won 82% of 73 games) But it still doesn't matter too much if I lose a game sometimes. A few days ago, one of my Scrabble partners and I reached a stalemate but she had one more point than me so I conceded the game. Never had to do that before!
A good evening, watched a film with Gill.
Once again a fairly productive day but relaxed enough. Gill took our youngest to the aquarium shop which is part of Wyvale Garden Centre near Poppleton... Gill and I both call it Challises as we both worked at Challis of York, although at different times. But it changed hands although is still a garden centre. With a fishy-pet shop. They came back with two tiny fish... apparently 'leopard fish' although they look nothing like leopards! Also some pondweed and a wooden aquarium decoration.
I was on Facebook and one of our friends round the corner came on so I messaged her and asked if her son was doing anything, as our eldest was at a loose end... so at 3pm, both Maria and her son came round which was good, as then both boys had their loose ends tied up, and Maria could tell me all the ins and outs of her new job teaching. It sounds tough.
I prepared some more grapes, blanched them and put them to dry. Did some pears and mangoes too. Did some baked potatoes for the boys, and warmed the red soup which is what I had for tea.
I had a meeting at 7.30 with Jess from York in Transition, about accessibility and inclusion. Both of us feel this is absolutely vital to a Transition Initiative. Jess had a couple of her friends there, Tom and Emily, an artist and a writer, both also keen on inclusivity and equal opportunities. We had some interesting if rather rambling discussions, but Jess took notes and I think we will have got something concrete out of the meeting. They all enjoyed the dried fruit I took, and I hope to meet the new couple again... I like creative types.
Came home via a logpile and brought a massive tree stump home... it only just fitted on my trailer; I had to take the box out of the frame and just put the log in/on the frame and the plastic box on my rack. A good haul although I reckon it'll be a sod to cut up!
A late late evening, Gill and I had a real game of Scrabble and Gill won. I was very pleased for her... and of course, with real games on a board, we have no 'stats' recorded, so losing a game doesn't ruin my stats. On Facebook though, things are different... I really like to keep my stats looking good. (So far I've won 82% of 73 games) But it still doesn't matter too much if I lose a game sometimes. A few days ago, one of my Scrabble partners and I reached a stalemate but she had one more point than me so I conceded the game. Never had to do that before!
A good evening, watched a film with Gill.
Both boys OK to go to school which was good... I took our youngest but also my 'compost mate' tool as I knew that the school compost bin would be full and in need of management.
So once the children had gone in, I turned the third bin, taking out sticks and putting them aside. Then I took the material out of the second bin with the compost mate and put it into the third, again removing uncomposted stuff like some paper and card, plus sticks, and the inevitable few plastic bags, twist ties and chocolate wrappers. Then transferred most of the material from bin one to bin two, adding layers of sticks and paper removed from the older compost. This took about an hour but left the first compost bin empty for the next batch of fruit skins and partly eaten apples.... the whole object of the exercise...
Home and straight out again at Gill's request to get bread, and picked up a huge bag of sad bananas from Freshways.
Lunch was civilised and enjoyable and all too soon it was 3pm and time for me to go and pick up the little one.
When I got back, Gill had received a phone call from Catherine at York Rotters asking if I'd visit a lady just a little further up Hull Road who has a compost bin which was allegedly too full for anything else to put in. I rang the lady, Betty, and she was happy for me to visit immediately. So I got back on the bike and took the Compost Mate and visited her... and her 220 litre 'dalek' bin. This was not completely full, but her son in Law had put a load of soil into it, which I took out so she could use it to put on her raised beds. I turned the rest very thoroughly with the Compost Mate and there was then enough space for her to put her specially saved-up bags of peelings into it... a result! She was a very grateful 83 year old... invited me for a cup of tea but I said I'd better get back, but gave her my number so she could call me sometime in January when I said I'd check her compost again, possibly do some more sorting, AND have a cuppa...
Back home via a newly found logpile (it's that time of year again... tree-pruning time!) and back into our cosy but untidy house. Ate tea alone though as I wanted to watch the news but the rest of the family didn't... and at 7.30 set out for the York Green Festival 08 Review and 09 Planning Meeting at Pivo Bar, which I chaired in a fairly disorganised way (ie no formal agenda, Bob started chairing at one stage, etc!)
This was an excellent meeting, and we came to the decision that we'd have a greener York Green Festival next year, with less noise pollution! And we'd stay with Rowntree Park.
Had a really good chat with Bob afterwards, which was most welcome as I don't have that many male friends and I think Bob could be quite a good buddy... we have quite a lot in common.
So once the children had gone in, I turned the third bin, taking out sticks and putting them aside. Then I took the material out of the second bin with the compost mate and put it into the third, again removing uncomposted stuff like some paper and card, plus sticks, and the inevitable few plastic bags, twist ties and chocolate wrappers. Then transferred most of the material from bin one to bin two, adding layers of sticks and paper removed from the older compost. This took about an hour but left the first compost bin empty for the next batch of fruit skins and partly eaten apples.... the whole object of the exercise...
Home and straight out again at Gill's request to get bread, and picked up a huge bag of sad bananas from Freshways.
Lunch was civilised and enjoyable and all too soon it was 3pm and time for me to go and pick up the little one.
When I got back, Gill had received a phone call from Catherine at York Rotters asking if I'd visit a lady just a little further up Hull Road who has a compost bin which was allegedly too full for anything else to put in. I rang the lady, Betty, and she was happy for me to visit immediately. So I got back on the bike and took the Compost Mate and visited her... and her 220 litre 'dalek' bin. This was not completely full, but her son in Law had put a load of soil into it, which I took out so she could use it to put on her raised beds. I turned the rest very thoroughly with the Compost Mate and there was then enough space for her to put her specially saved-up bags of peelings into it... a result! She was a very grateful 83 year old... invited me for a cup of tea but I said I'd better get back, but gave her my number so she could call me sometime in January when I said I'd check her compost again, possibly do some more sorting, AND have a cuppa...
Back home via a newly found logpile (it's that time of year again... tree-pruning time!) and back into our cosy but untidy house. Ate tea alone though as I wanted to watch the news but the rest of the family didn't... and at 7.30 set out for the York Green Festival 08 Review and 09 Planning Meeting at Pivo Bar, which I chaired in a fairly disorganised way (ie no formal agenda, Bob started chairing at one stage, etc!)
This was an excellent meeting, and we came to the decision that we'd have a greener York Green Festival next year, with less noise pollution! And we'd stay with Rowntree Park.
Had a really good chat with Bob afterwards, which was most welcome as I don't have that many male friends and I think Bob could be quite a good buddy... we have quite a lot in common.
A hectic day which ended very late as I had a deadline for my column in Community Care.
However, during the day I responded to a call from a chap in Heworth area who called me and said he'd taken down a couple of trees in his garden and did I want the wood? Well of course I did! Has the World not had too much fossil carbon emitted? Is the Mona Lisa not the most famous smiling person ever? Is the Pope unconcerned about overpopulation? (am I veering off-topic here?)
So I cycled round to his place and there was a large pile of relatively thin 'logs', branches and twigs... but I am happy to have them as they've been carefully cut and stored, some even chopped to length and bagged (albeit in plastic sacks which have started to oxo/photo-degrade revealing rather damp/mouldy sticks!) so I collected two loads. There's at least another 5 loads to go! On the first trip I had a lengthy chat with him and his visitor Jo who'd interviewed me yonks ago on Hospital Radio about York Credit Union, and then a lengthy chat with his plumber Glenn who employed me once for a gig at the Hopgrove Playing Fields... but the second journey I spoke to no-one and did the return trip in 35 minutes...
In the evening I went to St Nicks to be 'an audience' to four novice presenters who have undergone training to get them ready to talk about Transition. I enjoyed pretending to be an OAP chap with a firm belief that there is an Ice Age on the way... after all, this was a popular idea in pre-global warming times not so long ago, and sometimes oldies still refer to it...
So several good presentations, gave feedback.
Back to the house at about 10pm where I put together my column, on water...
However, during the day I responded to a call from a chap in Heworth area who called me and said he'd taken down a couple of trees in his garden and did I want the wood? Well of course I did! Has the World not had too much fossil carbon emitted? Is the Mona Lisa not the most famous smiling person ever? Is the Pope unconcerned about overpopulation? (am I veering off-topic here?)
So I cycled round to his place and there was a large pile of relatively thin 'logs', branches and twigs... but I am happy to have them as they've been carefully cut and stored, some even chopped to length and bagged (albeit in plastic sacks which have started to oxo/photo-degrade revealing rather damp/mouldy sticks!) so I collected two loads. There's at least another 5 loads to go! On the first trip I had a lengthy chat with him and his visitor Jo who'd interviewed me yonks ago on Hospital Radio about York Credit Union, and then a lengthy chat with his plumber Glenn who employed me once for a gig at the Hopgrove Playing Fields... but the second journey I spoke to no-one and did the return trip in 35 minutes...
In the evening I went to St Nicks to be 'an audience' to four novice presenters who have undergone training to get them ready to talk about Transition. I enjoyed pretending to be an OAP chap with a firm belief that there is an Ice Age on the way... after all, this was a popular idea in pre-global warming times not so long ago, and sometimes oldies still refer to it...
So several good presentations, gave feedback.
Back to the house at about 10pm where I put together my column, on water...
A relaxing day... Gill did the morning shift and then came back to bed, we have both got blocked sinuses and are feeling grotty, so soon we were both asleep and slept til after midday!
Between us we finished putting together the SUMA order, the food co-op we run. This time there are just three other parties ordering stuff, but it's good to help these families get access to organic, fair trade and yummy wholefoods and other products at wholesale prices. It's also very convenient getting, for example, a 10kg sack of muesli base delivered rather than having to go and get a kilo at a time.
So Gill phoned that in and I popped into town to put money into our Co-op Bank account we have for the SUMA transactions, and got back just in time to cycle down to the school and get the kiddies.
On the way into town, I had noticed that the stumps left from the treefelling at Woodlands had been ground out, and there was a large pile of woodchips, so after school I went over to shovel a load into sacks as it's perfect compost heap material to balance all the fruit and veg that goes on.
Had a small tea as going out to several parties tonight and there'll probably be nosh at some of them.
The first party was the YorkLETS Christmas Social at Belinda's house in Fulford. I got there at 7.15 and was one of the first there but it soon filled up, and I was happy to meet up with about 20 people I knew and just a few I didn't. At about 8pm I did a little balloon modelling show and workshop for the 8 or 10 kids there, which was appreciated by some of them but a few declined to participate, which was a surprise. I was particularly pleased to meet Maureen who has just got funding to do a project connected with advocacy for people with learning difficulties and other 'Neuro Diverse' ways of being. I'm looking forward to learning more in the new year, and possibly helping her. Also very good to see Rowena, Will, Ann, David, Liz and others.
Soon after 9pm, I cycled off to St Nicks for their party at the Environment Centre... and this was in full swing and I met up with some more of my more eco-conscious friends. I had my second bottle of perry here, and a small slice of Christmas cake, and good chats to Carol, Pat, Catherine , Chris and other Rotters and volunteers at the centre.
Left soon after 10 and cycled back to Fulford through the University to arrive at the Green Party party at Candy and Eugene's, and was pleased to meet Charles, Andy D our Councillor and Denise his wife, Tracy, Will, Andy C and several others... there was some food left which I had a plateful of, leaving after midnight.
Came back through the Uni again, and loaded up with a trailer full of logs and got home safely just before 1am. Watched snowboarding and skiing with Gill to wind down, whilst catching up with blog.
Between us we finished putting together the SUMA order, the food co-op we run. This time there are just three other parties ordering stuff, but it's good to help these families get access to organic, fair trade and yummy wholefoods and other products at wholesale prices. It's also very convenient getting, for example, a 10kg sack of muesli base delivered rather than having to go and get a kilo at a time.
So Gill phoned that in and I popped into town to put money into our Co-op Bank account we have for the SUMA transactions, and got back just in time to cycle down to the school and get the kiddies.
On the way into town, I had noticed that the stumps left from the treefelling at Woodlands had been ground out, and there was a large pile of woodchips, so after school I went over to shovel a load into sacks as it's perfect compost heap material to balance all the fruit and veg that goes on.
Had a small tea as going out to several parties tonight and there'll probably be nosh at some of them.
The first party was the YorkLETS Christmas Social at Belinda's house in Fulford. I got there at 7.15 and was one of the first there but it soon filled up, and I was happy to meet up with about 20 people I knew and just a few I didn't. At about 8pm I did a little balloon modelling show and workshop for the 8 or 10 kids there, which was appreciated by some of them but a few declined to participate, which was a surprise. I was particularly pleased to meet Maureen who has just got funding to do a project connected with advocacy for people with learning difficulties and other 'Neuro Diverse' ways of being. I'm looking forward to learning more in the new year, and possibly helping her. Also very good to see Rowena, Will, Ann, David, Liz and others.
Soon after 9pm, I cycled off to St Nicks for their party at the Environment Centre... and this was in full swing and I met up with some more of my more eco-conscious friends. I had my second bottle of perry here, and a small slice of Christmas cake, and good chats to Carol, Pat, Catherine , Chris and other Rotters and volunteers at the centre.
Left soon after 10 and cycled back to Fulford through the University to arrive at the Green Party party at Candy and Eugene's, and was pleased to meet Charles, Andy D our Councillor and Denise his wife, Tracy, Will, Andy C and several others... there was some food left which I had a plateful of, leaving after midnight.
Came back through the Uni again, and loaded up with a trailer full of logs and got home safely just before 1am. Watched snowboarding and skiing with Gill to wind down, whilst catching up with blog.
Quite a good day, a slow start as had a late night and then a disturbed night with our youngest, who woke me up in the night with 'hot eyeballs' and a fever. He didn't go to school today because of this.
Gill took in a letter to his class teacher who's asked me to bring my circus skills into his class and do a little demo plus a juggling lesson. When I picked up our older one at 3.15, I found out that this will be next week.
I heard chainsaws and a chipping machine nearby... so went to investigate. It was a team of treesurgeons at Woodlands MS Respite Care Home, which is just 2 mins walk from here, and I have a good relationship with them. I have done several Professor Fiddlesticks gigs there for the guests for a very low fee, it's not the easiest gig for a childrens' entertainer, but I didn't want to say 'no' the first time they asked me, so I rose to the challenge. In return, I have first option on the assorted trees which are regularly pruned or removed. They had an extension last year and they took out at least 3 cherries, which I brought back on the bike trailer and have just finished chopping and splitting.
The guys with the chainsaws had been told to cut the tree into rounds, and I checked with Bob from Woodlands if they were for me... and yes, lucky me, another tonne of logs! In return, I will take my little fee and then give it back to them with the tax back thing which gives them a bit extra. A good deal I'd say. I'm doing my gig for them on Boxing Day.
I picked up our eldest and his friend and cycled back home and went to pick up more of the Woodlands logs, there's perhaps 20 0r 30 trips worth.
Enjoyed the BBC programme on Planet Earth about ice.
Had a really good googletalk chat with K, we seemed to get a lot of stuff sorted and understood.
Gill took in a letter to his class teacher who's asked me to bring my circus skills into his class and do a little demo plus a juggling lesson. When I picked up our older one at 3.15, I found out that this will be next week.
I heard chainsaws and a chipping machine nearby... so went to investigate. It was a team of treesurgeons at Woodlands MS Respite Care Home, which is just 2 mins walk from here, and I have a good relationship with them. I have done several Professor Fiddlesticks gigs there for the guests for a very low fee, it's not the easiest gig for a childrens' entertainer, but I didn't want to say 'no' the first time they asked me, so I rose to the challenge. In return, I have first option on the assorted trees which are regularly pruned or removed. They had an extension last year and they took out at least 3 cherries, which I brought back on the bike trailer and have just finished chopping and splitting.
The guys with the chainsaws had been told to cut the tree into rounds, and I checked with Bob from Woodlands if they were for me... and yes, lucky me, another tonne of logs! In return, I will take my little fee and then give it back to them with the tax back thing which gives them a bit extra. A good deal I'd say. I'm doing my gig for them on Boxing Day.
I picked up our eldest and his friend and cycled back home and went to pick up more of the Woodlands logs, there's perhaps 20 0r 30 trips worth.
Enjoyed the BBC programme on Planet Earth about ice.
Had a really good googletalk chat with K, we seemed to get a lot of stuff sorted and understood.
