Friday 6th August 10

Woke at 9.30 and got up feeling refreshed and happy.

However in the back of my mind was the fact that today was the deadline for getting the Hull Road Ward Funding bids in... and I didn't want to miss it, nor face Anna's despair for not doing it, so I rang the Council and someone from the Neighbourhood Unit said yes, the forms would be in reception waiting for me.

So I got there just before midday and filled in all three forms. The first was easy... a suggestion that the Ward needs a public notice board. The second was an 'under £500' suggestion, and I put that York in Transition would like fruit and nut trees planted in the ward... the places decided by local people, and the number of trees dependent on the cost of digging the holes and installing tree guards and stakes, etc. I did suggest that the holes could be dug by volunteers but I somehow doubt that will be realistic. We'll see! The final application, to the 'over £500' pot, was something I made up on the spot... I hadn't thought about it in advance. I suggested a one-day home energy event, in the ward, with stalls from renewable energy providers, insulation companies, the Energy Efficiency Advice Centre, groups promoting public transport, cycling and walking, and community groups offering related things... I estimated the cost of the venue to be £300, publicity £300 and refreshments £50... and I asked for £590 grant, the rest to be found from stall holders fees and donations for refreshments. Again, this would be a Transition event.

All this took an hour and a half. The applications will be considered and then the best ones which fit certain criteria will go forward to the Ward Committee and local people will allocate the budget to the schemes they like... and not to the ones they don't!!! So I won't know the outcome of this process until February 2011. The money won't be available until April and will need to be spent between April 2011 and March 2012. This is the first time I've put in suggestions.

I came away from the Council reception quite frazzled but glad I'd done it. I put a cheque into my Fiddlesticks account and came home via Country Fresh and picked up a box, a bag, another box, and then from Freshways, another bag. Lots of lovely composting to do!

When I got back, at 3pm, I had lunch, and then later, went into the garden to deal with the medium-sized Compostumbler... I emptied it into a dalek and immediately refilled it with shredded hedge, lilac and holly plus a large load of chopped veg and fruit, mouldy sliced bread and cardboard takeaway food cartons with biodegradable plastic windows...

I came in to help Gill do tea, peeling some thrown away but perfectly usable sweet potatoes, and a large handful of freshly picked pea beans. So we had pasta salad, rice salad, sweet potato chips... but the pea beans got left in their pan of cold water, uncooked, so they'll be for tomorrow's tea.

Later I helped Gill with some washing (I went to get it off the washing line and helped hang it up next to the stove) and did some washing up. I really enjoyed a programme on BBC4 on Blondie, which was one of my favourite bands as I was growing up. I was one of millions of teenage boys with a Debbie Harry poster on my bedroom wall..... I still think she's hot!