Friday 9th October 09

Gill got me up quite early as a wasp which had come in with the logs last night had reappeared and she wanted me to 'deal with it'. However, when I got downstairs, bleary eyed after just 5 and a half hours sleep, it had gone to ground again.

This wasp phenomenon is the only disadvantage to bringing logs in from the piles outside the house. At this time of year the queens leave the nest and find somewhere to overwinter before setting up home in the spring. Often they choose my logpiles, and I find them on the underside of logs, torpid and still, and I flick them off into another logpile to sleep the winter away. But if I don't find them, they wake up in the warmth of the living room and fly drunkenly around. They are bigger than normal wasps, perhaps about half as big again, and could be classed as a bit scary!

Anyway, much though I would have liked to go back to bed, I didn't, and after breakfast went to a road near Country Fresh to collect four sacks of windfall apples that someone wanted to dispose of, but didn't want to put in landfill. I'd agreed to collect them, and I took them to St Nicks to sort out into compostable and juice-able. About half of them were OK. When I got back home, I stayed outside to get on with hedge removal. I was expecting a Freecycle visitor at 11 but he arrived at 10.20 and I only had about 10 roots for him, and he'd wanted 20. But he was nice and said that 10 was OK, and maybe once the other enquirers had had some, he could come back for some more.

After lunch I had invited another Freecycler to come and collect a large box of perhaps 30 or 40 roots, she showed up late and this meant my day was somewhat rushed after this. Chad came round to pick up the ratchet pin for the apple press, as tomorrow they are going to get started with the juicing a bit earlier than the 1pm start. Then I had to go and collect stuff from Country Fresh and Freshways, also popped in to the new Co-op which used to be Scummerfield just to check it out, and got fed lots of free cheese and biscuits...

Then I came home and had just half an hour to spare before setting off for the station so I could get the Northallerton train at 5.43. So I had a beard-trim and shower and hair wash. My shaver settings had been mysteriously changed and I've ended up with the shortest beard I've had for years. Gill made me some sandwiches.

I ate these on the train. Sally met me at Northallerton and we walked to the Town Hall. The Northallerton and Villages Community Forum had organised the showing of The Age of Stupid and had invited me to come and say something about low carbon living and Transition. I was pleased to meet Peter Hale of the Climate Speakers Network, and he was pleased to be able to see one of his speakers speak!

I did a very similar talk to the 10:10 Scarborough launch. About 15 minutes. Whilst the film was on, I sat at the back going through my inbox and deleting emails. I got rid of 95. After the film, a break with hot drinks and local tea-loaf, and then a question/answer session and discussion, including an offer from a farmer to do some type of Community Supported Agriculture project.

I got the 22.19 train back to York, cycled fast back home and was in soon after 11pm. A good evening.