Friday 22nd August 08

A lovely lazy morning, read quite a chunk of NewScientist and did emails, lots of York Green Festival stuff going on, as it's only just over a week away.

Got up at lunchtime and had a small lunch then went out into the garden to clear up the hedge cuttings and some woody bits which have been dumped in the front garden. It's a continuous job to try to keep the front reasonably tidy... like the painting of the Forth Bridge. As soon as there's any space, it gets filled with new material ready for processing.

I had an early tea..... Gill put it together.. cauliflower and nutloaf, and by 5.30 I was getting ready to cycle out along the Wigginton Road to Creepy Crawlies where the 'Snappy Beach Party' was taking place... and I was due to perform at this fundraiser. This was the first time I'd been to Creepy Crawlies, and it's an impressive space with good facilities.

I was shown a good place for my activity, which when I arrived was being used by a singer and pianist. I parked my bike and trailer up and waited for them to finish and move, and my friend Ali arrived with her daughter and carer, all the way from Sheffield. It had been quite an interesting journey for them... the little one's first train journey, and as the wheelchair space in standard class was occupied, they had to go in first class. They'd pre-booked, including seats for the carer and child, but there was a besuited NHS chap with laptop in this pair of seats who refused to move when asked, even though they had seat reservations. A bit later, when the ticket inspector asked where Ali was going, she said where and told him about the SNAPPY charity fundraiser, as the charity had had it's funding pulled by the Council and the NHS. The NHS man visibly bristled! This made Ali feel a little bit better about his refusal to vacate the seat!

At about 6.45 the singer/painist duo moved and I got myself unpacked and ready to go... the space was not ideal, rather cramped but the show went quite well, despite competing demands from other distractions, people walking through the stage area, loud amplified announcements, etc. I suppose you can't have chips with everything! I was glad to get that part of the evening finished and do some balloon modelling, much easier in the circumstances, and this activity raised some money for SNAPPY too.

I was able to spend a bit of time with Ali before she went to get in her awaiting charriot, and at 9pm I cycled home.