Monday 4th August 08

Nice slow wake up, actually read for half an hour before getting up... trying to catch up on NewScientist which I'm 4 weeks behind on...

But up at 9 and breakfasted with the boys, and at 9.30 looked at the computer to see if the events at St Nicks were suitable for them. I rang up and found there was space available, but when I told them to get dressed I was met by a wall of resistance, neither wanting to do anything 'so early'. I tried to persuade them but it is impossible to make children do what they have decided they are not doing.

So I went into town to pay in a cheque, get a cheque out, buy coffee and some other bits, and to St Nicks to swap the Comp 250 compost bin given up by Kate for a normal dalek bin, which she and I much prefer. So came home with shopping and a compost bin, for about midday, and the kids had been playing nicely in the garden, were about to have lunch, and then have 50 mins each on the computer.

A good afternoon, including a gardener in a flat-bed truck with a small load of Sycamore logs which he was only too happy to get rid of... Gill went into town despite being in pain (it is gradually getting better) to see if she could get some children's clothes, as our boys keep growing!

When she got back I went to visit Anna B, a friend from York in Transition who wanted confirmation that her compost heaps were ok... which they were! She swapped the advice and mixing for a few alpine strawberry plants. I cycled back via some logs, and came back to find Gill had made tea for the boys.

I cooked tea for Gill and myself, and then went out to the LETS meeting. Only 3 of us turned up. But it was a good meeting and we got quite a lot done, despite the lack of core group members filling available posts. However, YorkLETS will fold if we don't have some more volunteers to share the jobs that need doing if the system is to continue.

Home at about 10pm, with a couple of discarded conifer trees and a broken half-barrel from the pub... I offered to recycle them and they were happy that they weren't going to have to go to the skip-site!