Up very early for me, at 7.30, as had to make up my sweetie-jar of muesli and then have breakfast and then get the bikes ready and then cycle with our youngest down to the Steiner School.
We arrived very early; Gill had said that he'd need to get off and remove gloves, get off and remove coat, walk at the Barracks because of oncoming traffic, and various other nonsense, none of which he did... he was a brilliant cyclist and we took about 15 minutes to get there. Gill had predicted 35! Of course, he might behave completely differently with Gill....
I showed him how to lock his bike up and he looked after the key, gloves and reflective jacket.
I then cycled to Cycle Heaven, where Ash said he'd be able to mend the mudguard, rather than replace it (green win, repairing things!) and fix the front light and back brake. He said it would be an hour, so I took the shop bike and got money out, picked up my prescription, went to Sainsburys, went to the chemist to get my asthma drugs and was back at Cycle Heaven 45minutes later. Ash was just putting rivets in the mudguard.
Home, via Country Fresh which had 2 pallets for me. I spoke to a builder who was working on Mick and Judy's old house, converting a garage into a student bedroom, and he was happy to give me some bits of wood and invited me to go back and pick up more. So I did. He had a pallet and about 5 small sacks of ready-cut wood plus a trailer-load of other chunks... a really good haul, which would have gone to landfill, I think. I had a good chat with the builder, who has a home-schooled child, so we had something in common. A nice guy.
Gill was getting fed up with one of our doors, made of thin panels which don't grip screws at all well. The hinges do not hold the door firmly, so I suggested getting some fixings which have wings on the back... they slip into the hole and open up and allow things to be tightened up. I visited the fix-it shop round the corner, and described the problem and my imagined solution. However, the device I described is suitable for holding things onto plasterboard, not hinges onto doors. The fix-it person said that there were some plastic plugs which when pushed into the hole would open up and grip when the screw was tightened up. So I bought them and Gill and our eldest worked together to mend the door, which now seems to be fairly secure on it's hinges.
On the way round to the shop, I saw a chap digging out the base of a large conifer he'd massacred. It was about 3 metres tall. I asked whether it was wanted or whether I could remove it for him. He seemed very happy to let me have it. So I went back and removed soil from roots and just managed to get it onto my trailer.
Quite soon after this I cycled back down to Fulford Road to pick up our youngest, and we cycled back happily, chatting, not hurrying.
I did some chainsawing and stacking, and Gill made a pasta, cauliflower and broad-bean concoction which was very nice. I had a quiet evening, writing, playing Scrabble, watching The Human Planet and a good programme about how two spices are produced and sold, peppercorns and cinnamon. Interesting stuff!
We arrived very early; Gill had said that he'd need to get off and remove gloves, get off and remove coat, walk at the Barracks because of oncoming traffic, and various other nonsense, none of which he did... he was a brilliant cyclist and we took about 15 minutes to get there. Gill had predicted 35! Of course, he might behave completely differently with Gill....
I showed him how to lock his bike up and he looked after the key, gloves and reflective jacket.
I then cycled to Cycle Heaven, where Ash said he'd be able to mend the mudguard, rather than replace it (green win, repairing things!) and fix the front light and back brake. He said it would be an hour, so I took the shop bike and got money out, picked up my prescription, went to Sainsburys, went to the chemist to get my asthma drugs and was back at Cycle Heaven 45minutes later. Ash was just putting rivets in the mudguard.
Home, via Country Fresh which had 2 pallets for me. I spoke to a builder who was working on Mick and Judy's old house, converting a garage into a student bedroom, and he was happy to give me some bits of wood and invited me to go back and pick up more. So I did. He had a pallet and about 5 small sacks of ready-cut wood plus a trailer-load of other chunks... a really good haul, which would have gone to landfill, I think. I had a good chat with the builder, who has a home-schooled child, so we had something in common. A nice guy.
Gill was getting fed up with one of our doors, made of thin panels which don't grip screws at all well. The hinges do not hold the door firmly, so I suggested getting some fixings which have wings on the back... they slip into the hole and open up and allow things to be tightened up. I visited the fix-it shop round the corner, and described the problem and my imagined solution. However, the device I described is suitable for holding things onto plasterboard, not hinges onto doors. The fix-it person said that there were some plastic plugs which when pushed into the hole would open up and grip when the screw was tightened up. So I bought them and Gill and our eldest worked together to mend the door, which now seems to be fairly secure on it's hinges.
On the way round to the shop, I saw a chap digging out the base of a large conifer he'd massacred. It was about 3 metres tall. I asked whether it was wanted or whether I could remove it for him. He seemed very happy to let me have it. So I went back and removed soil from roots and just managed to get it onto my trailer.
Quite soon after this I cycled back down to Fulford Road to pick up our youngest, and we cycled back happily, chatting, not hurrying.
I did some chainsawing and stacking, and Gill made a pasta, cauliflower and broad-bean concoction which was very nice. I had a quiet evening, writing, playing Scrabble, watching The Human Planet and a good programme about how two spices are produced and sold, peppercorns and cinnamon. Interesting stuff!
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