Monday 21st April 08

Up early, not sure why, but got down before the children and I took them to school and when I got back felt like going back to bed but didn't, went outside to tidy up where a logpile was until yesterday, swept up assorted leaves and litter and bits of pecked-out insulation from next-doors roof (I told my next door neighbour when I saw the sparrows doing that and he fixed some chicken wire up to prevent them nesting there...) and I put this material in the dustbin, which is the first time for years that I have places biodegradable stuff in the landfill bin. But I couldn't be bothered to spend an hour taking out tiny bits of white plastic...

I started to rebuild the logpile and Gill went out to the Doctor and I had a visitor. An 'alternative' looking chap drew up in his car and came to chat to me, quite apologetic but he'd seen my logpiles several times and as I was outside he thought he'd stop and ask me about woodworking.... if I knew anything about it. His name was Jae and we got on well.... I invited him in for a cuppa and we chatted for half an hour and I hope we meet again. I wasn't able to help him much re the woodworking, but told him that there might be a searchable group such as the Ryedale Green Woodworkers (my friend Angela who made me a pole-lathed devilstick is in this group) and after he went I googled and found her phone number, so I phoned him and told him.

I made some soup out of some rejected oyster mushrooms and a butternut squash and cooked that up on the stove, making the room very warm, and when Gill came in at lunchtime she had to strip off it was unbearably hot for her. After lunch I went on the computer and then at 3 to school to pick up our boyos. The eldest was invited round to one of his friends' house and so I went to the allotment and planted 3 types of onion sets, as well as digging up yet more dandelions and other highly successful weeds and piling them high on the latest compost heap. Just before I left, a lottie nearby had some people come onto it and it was Gill's friend Carol from many years ago at the York Arts Centre, who has taken on the task of having an allotment, helped (?) by her 11 year-old son.

I collected my son and we came home and Gill had made a lentil and veg pie with a scone topping, with baked onions and butternut squash. Delicious!