Monday 4th January 10

Another low-key day with not a whole lot happening. I got up before 10 in order to ring one of my Fiddlesticks clients from last year and there's an outstanding payment, and a few other things to discuss. I had a bit of other paperwork to do too.

Last night I remembered that I had forgotten to give Gill a present I'd bought her in early December... I'd found a shop, on Bishopthorpe Road, which sold second hand things and antiques, and I spotted some flat irons... the type which sits on a hot surface and is used in the same way as an electric iron is these days. Earlier last year, Gill took the bus all the way to Easingwold to pick up some flat irons advertised in the back of the Press but they were in poor condition and rusty, and the sandpaper and glasspaper and 'wet and dry' I got to smooth down the base hasn't been used. So the ones I got in the Bishy Road shop were great... nice flat bottoms and in good condition. The gentleman did say that they would have been blacked up and would need a good clean before use.

Anyway, I'd left them in the garage and forgotten them. So this morning I got them down from their hidey hole and gave them to her. She was SO pleased! Gill does do quite a bit of ironing, and if she could do it using less or no electricity, that would be good. We have our woodstoves going for quite a few months of the year, it makes sense to use that heat for as much as possible.

So that was a good thing. Gill went into town with both boys to go and use some vouchers or tokens or something. That was a good thing too as when they came back they had pooled their money and vouchers and got a large lego car... remote control I think. They were both happy with this. But not happy that today is the last day of the holidays.

I went to a LETS meeting in the evening; just 3 of us but it was a good meeting and I had a good chat to Lynn about all sorts of things afterwards, especially what her vicar Father Tim Jones has been getting up to recently. The Press has reported it reasonably well, and to their credit, have reproduced the whole sermon, but of course there has been a lot of misunderstanding amongst some of the other media. I'm glad what he has said has got the whole issue of UK poverty back onto the agenda, and how society treats its poorest.

I came home and peeled and prepared 51 bananas for drying! I've still got perhaps 100 left... will they last until I can dry them all? I wonder!