Wednesday 4th March 09

I woke at 8am and took our youngest to school and came back via the trashed woodland to collect more bits of demolished tree.

Gill had already gone to art, walking up to Osbaldwick to do some 'pointillism'.

I wrote my blog for yesterday, and sent a copy of the letter to the Vicar of Heslington with whom I'm friendly. She asked me to copy her in to anything I was sending to the school when I chatted to her a while back expressing my unhappiness with the School's environmental performance... she is also a Governor or Board member.

Then, a phone call from Councillor Waller, trained Rotter and leader of City of York Council. He said he's received my email and was surprised to hear about this as a school near his house is successfully composting. Later, he sent me an email saying he was taking action! I felt quite elated! I am glad someone is doing something.

I spent a little bit of time in the garden, starting to load up the Compostumbler again. But came in for lunch and then spent some nice times with Gill who was busy in the kitchen and then ironed my work clothes. I loaded up my trailer with all the Fiddlesticks stuff and at 3 set off for Riccall, going exactly the same way as on the 28th January, via Heslington, Fulford, Naburn, and then the cycle track all the way down to Riccall. I arrived at the cycle track at 3.30 and Riccall by 4, and my gig started at 4.30. I had a quick chat with my handler... she confessed that the youngsters had not made juggling balls (as I'd suggested) and they'd not done any circussy practice at all. So I said that I'd just repeat the show, with plenty of participation, and that children were usually completely happy with repeats. There were a few new audience members too, which was good. So, 25 Rainbows and about 10 grown-ups and 3 or 4 pre-Rainbows and younger siblings. The show went well. I finished on time. I got paid for both days work.

And I was on the road again by 5.45 and was soon off the road and onto the Riccall to Naburn cycle track. I stopped several times to pick up litter... mainly aluminium cans, but got home on the dot of 7pm. Gill had made a simple but filling Bulgar wheat meal and I had this whilst watching Inside Out... which had the John Foster living on a pound-a-day piece, and me giving him tips. This is now on iPlayer, I'm on at about 9 mins 28 seconds... just at the beginning of his piece. See:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00j20br/Inside_Out_North_East_and_Cumbria_04_03_2009/

A quiet evening mainly.

Monday 16th February 09

A swift start to the day, as had to take my bike into Cycle Heaven for an overhaul and then get to the station for soon after 10.

My bike needed coaxing down to town... no acceleration at all... a real problem! But I did slowly get to the shop and showed them the problem. The front cog teeth were worn down into spikes, meaning a new cog and chain were necessary. I had noticed a loose spoke.. on closer inspection, it was obvious that it had pulled free of the wheel hub, which had broken... How DO I do it? However, the hub is under warranty and they'll send it back to the manufacturers who will (probably and hopefully) decide to replace it. So I left it there in good hands and walked up to the station.

I got the 10.26 to Middlesbrough, and at 11.30, met Andy from the BBC, who is doing the Inside Out segment on an experiment to see if someone could live on £1 a day for a week. The subject of the experiment is John Foster who is a radio presenter on BBC Tees, and I met him next, the meeting being filmed by the same cameraman who did the Yorkshire Inside Out piece in 2007. We then headed to a Thomas the Baker shop which does the reduced price bread, known as Yesterbake, where we did some filming, and then onto a veg shop where John was unable to get any cheap veg, so no filming there. Onto a park where I was lucky enough to find some edible mushrooms and John and I did an interview about the connections between his experiment and low carbon living.

Then John went home (on his bike... actually a borrowed bike as he hasn't got one!) and I went with the two Inside Out chaps to a noodle bar for a late lunch.

I got the 3.50 train back to York... I slept on the train, headache throbbing, very tired.

Collected my bike from Cycle Heaven and cycled home... lovely to have such a responsive bike again!

I went straight to bed as I felt very tired and unwell. Slept til after 8 and came down to spend some time with the family but I don't think I was much company. Headache all evening. Didn't eat as felt sick. Dosed up on painkillers, which didn't work.

Good to see Justin Rowlatt back doing Ethical Man on Newsnight... he's off to the US to 'save the world' apparently! Good luck to him!

Wednesday 15th August 07

Quite a relaxed day, infact slept til 9am, a lie-in!

Spent some of the morning with the children, got them dressed and took them to the shops to get groceries. Now the Co-ops have merged, I thought my Co-operative membership card would allow me to register my purchases, but it wasn't able to be scanned. I hope the new Co-operative group sends out new cards soon.

Gill went to town to get some stuff for our eldest's birthday in a couple of weeks time, and some other bits and bobs. When she came back at 2.30, I zoomed in on the bike and went to Out Of This World for a recycling collection, the Credit Union to pay in my July composting money, the building society to pay in Fiddlesticks cheques and my Community Care column cheque then to the Monk Bar Model Shop to get more rail connectors which are the solution to the poor electrical connectivity we experienced. Then to Sainsbury's for marge, sugar and vinegar, and then Martin's Country Fresh to pick up a couple of boxes of compostables plus 4 dozen slightly out of date eggs, which when I get these, I hard-boil and put in pickling vinegar, for pickled eggs yummy! Good in sandwiches, and although I'm not extremely fond of eggs, I'd rather use them than see them thrown away or composted. So the pickled eggs I eat over the next months will replace stuff I would have had to purchase, like cheese, peanut butter, hommous etc so its a good thing, keeps my cost of living down and reduces waste. However I'm the only person in the house who eats pickled eggs, so they're all mine... unless I have a visitor who comes for lunch and fancies a sliced pickled egg sandwich...

Got a phone call from Lucy at BBC Inside Out, the programme I'm going to be in is to be broadcast on 3rd October.

Did a load of compost heap building. Gill made a nutloaf and I came in with courgettes and climbing beans, which made a good side dish. Lit the stove even though it's not cold, as need boiling water for eggs, bathwater and hot surfaces so I can dry a load of grapes which I've pulled out of the compostables... make good raisins, for my muesli.

So a busy evening in the kitchen.

Wednesday 20th June 07

A second day filming with BBC Inside Out, they came at 10am and met me at the veg shop, to film me picking up compostables... unsold produce, for a penny per sack! We did this to differentiate between 'waste' (which it is from their point of view) and 'resources' which I believe it is. If it is waste, offences are being committed as they have a duty to dispose of it in an official way, and I don't have a waste carrier's licence... so I officially buy the materials!

Richard at Martin's Country Fresh was happy to have his two and a half seconds of fame and pass the two sacks over and accept my two pence! We filmed various bits there, several takes to make it possible to edit together a good bit of film.

The next bit was at home, sorting through the materials, and there were lots of carrots, slightly blemished, but pukka enough for soup. They filmed Gill peeling them and chopping them for the soup, whilst chatting about life with me and what she thought of our green lifestyle. Then we did a bit about my 100% illegal recycling waste deposited in the litter bin outside our house, but they didn't film me doing anything illegal! Phew!

They did a bit of me and Gill in the garden, and then we went to St Nicks to meet up with Louise, a lady who wants to start composting and didn't know how. So I assumed my Rotters persona and talked her through the basics. There was an interview with Gary Haq who works for the Stockholm Environment Institute at the University of York, researching ecofootprints, developing carbon calculators and the like. He had introduced Louise to the film crew and that's why she was included in the film about 'being green'. Finally, came back home to meet the boys, film them on the trampoline and do a quick interview about Daddy's composting.

So a long day, busy and tiring.

Enjoyed the update edition of It's Not Easy Being Green, with the Strawbridges helping various people green up.

Tuesday 19th June 07

A very enjoyable day as the team from BBC Inside Out came and I spent the day in the garden doing what I really enjoy, managing my many compost heaps and telling an interested person about them. They were interested in the composting, building a heap, riddling, the compost loo, the roadkill, food growing ect etc.

The filming took 2 hrs in the morning and longer in the afternoon. They also filmed Gill picking raspberries. They will film in the shop tomorrow morning, and then film the sorting out of the materials, and then my other recycling activities from the litter bin in front of the house, which is actually illegal, according to the Council person I've been corresponding with. Then after lunch we'll go to St Nicks to meet a novice composter, so I can do my York Rotters bit and explain how and why. After this they'll film the kids playing in the garden after school, then we'll be finished. It'll go out in September.

The only other things which happened today were bike related.... Cycle Heaven phoned me first thing and we discussed what happened last night with my wheel coming loose, and the shop sent a mobile mechanic out, who showed me how to sort out my bike... I'm not used to quick release wheels. Then after school, Gill went to visit another mum who has a bike for sale, suitable for our youngest. She bought it for just £10!

Saturday 2nd June 07

Woke at 5.30ish and lay listening to my wife breathing, and then we got up at 7, the boys still asleep so we had breakfast and I lit the stove from the embers from last night, to reheat my bathwater for later. When the boys awoke and were rowdy I went back to bed and slept for an hour, then took the bathwater up and washed my hair so I'm clean for my gig today.

We were expecting the BBC Inside Out team to come at 12ish as they're filming me at St Nicks today, but they rang and said could I meet them at St Nicks and they'd film me arriving at 12.45, as the event starts at 1pm.

So an early lunch and got into costume and was on time at Bull Lane, to meet Lucy the producer and Phil the Film. Phil took a couple of takes from different angles of me cycling towards the Environment Centre, and one of me entering the compound. The event was called The Big Recycle Day, or 'Junk Swap'. The idea is that people bring unwanted goods and items to the tables, and then can take stuff they want back with them... simple and very effective for keeping things out of landfill and getting them reused.

My role was to firstly do some 'junk juggling' to entertain the kids, I challenged them to find objects which I could juggle and they found it hilarious when I dropped them! I was 'miked up' before this, so the BBC could 'catch' what I was saying and use the footage in their film about my 'green' lifestyle. I was lucky to find a youngster who started off as a non-juggler, and learned the pattern of three throws quickly but because of his small hands had problems catching them, but he persevered and was well on the way to being a good juggler when I finished that part of the event. Next was the 'Compost Bin Drumming', samba rhythms bashed out on 'daleks' and caddies, again filmed by the Beeb. Then I did a composting talk for children, and then an hour or so of my full Circus Skills Show, with juggling, devilsticks, balancing, 'Derek the Diabolo' and unicycle, lots of participation and fun. I was glad to finish as it was hot, and I then had a look through the junk tables and found a video of Grace Jones, hope it's OK.

The junk swap finished at 4, and then Kate the Columnist held her food tasting which will provide some information for her book on Green Living. She had purchased a range of food, both organic and the same type of food in non-organic. She had labelled these A and B, and made forms for the tasters to make comments about which they preferred. We weren't trying to work out which was organic or not, just our preferences and why. I tried and compared carrot and red pepper, bread and hommous, crisp-breads, cheese, crisps and shortbread, plus some wine and orange juice. An interesting exercise. During this, I was delighted to overhear Kate talking to some of her neighbours whom she'd invited, telling them that they could bring their kitchen scraps round to put in her compost bin. I told her that I was very proud of her, as she's gone from being a non-composter, through the York Rotters training, to being a compost guru herself, just fantastic! I'll write to the Press about that!

Came home and Gill had made tea... more food! So I had a small baked potato and salad, then put together a birthday present for my friend Ste, who is having a 40th birthday party tonight in Barley Hall. I'd asked his wife Helen if some home-made dried fruit would be an acceptable present, so I did a jar of interesting mixed dried fruit.

At 7 I set off for Ste's party with just my balloon modelling stuff and a change of clothes so when I'd done my balloons I could get changed. Ste was around when I arrived and in a medieval costume, and was delighted with the dried fruit. I locked the bike and set up inside Barley Hall where there were already some children with their families, and started doing a selection of balloons and giving people a go doing their own. I suppose this bit lasted an hour, then Ste made a speech thanking people for coming and telling us a bit about Barley Hall and that the food was waiting upstairs. We sang 'Happy Birthday' and went to find the food. As most people were dressed up, I didn't feel the need to change out of my glad rags and stayed colourful and silly all evening. Enjoyed meeting my old friend Deborah, who about 15 years ago made it clear to me that my skills as an entertainer could make me some money. Also Thea and John, and a nice chap Dave who lives just round the corner from us, who is going to install a 'ground source heat pump' in his house and garden to replace his 1960's central heating. I learned from him a little bit more how these work, and I look forward to perhaps seeing this being installed and working. Also Rachel, whom I chatted to and she wants to come and see the composting in the garden.

A lovely social time. At 11, when it was due to close, I gathered together most of the empty bottles and cans and filled my cycle trailer to get them recycled. Helen and Ste were so pleased with my help during the evening they gave me a bottle of Mead that somone had brought along... one of my favourite drinks!

Got back and enjoyed watching a bit of 'Sgt. Pepper revisited' on TV with Gill. Didn't do my blog as too tired and tipsy.

Tuesday 1st May 07

Up at a sensible time, early enough to say bye to the boys, and felt energetic so got out the electric chainsaw and did 20 mins of logging, creating 'rounds' or slices which are the right size to split for stacking. Now the front looks a bit tidier.

Soon after 10, my visitor arrived, Lucy from BBC Inside Out, who wants to do an 8 minute article on my green lifestyle after seeing me on Newsnight. We chatted inside for a while, looking at the stoves and dried fruit, and discussing why I choose to live this way and what caused me to 'turn green'. Then we took a walk down the garden to see the mushrooms in logs, veg patch, fruit trees and compost systems. Then a coffee and more discussion about how the filming would go, and what I would like to be filmed doing. I suggested that as the council has recently threatened me with prosecution for recycling waste placed for collection, that I would really like to be provocative and be filmed taking cans and bottles out of the council litter bin which is outside our house, and putting them in my kerbside recycling box. This is something I do most days, as ordinary people, non recyclers, put allsorts of things in it, as it's on a main road and I delve in there and take out recyclables. This is probably illegal but I am very happy to break this particular law as it is morally the right thing to do. Landfill is wrong, recycling is right, simple, from my perspective!

Lucy asked if they could film my Professor Fiddlesticks activities at a public event, and I told her about a future performance planned at St Nicks. So we went off in her car to visit St Nicks to see if they would be happy to have them filming. St Nicks was very busy with their recycling activities, various people with learning difficulties, people on community service, employees and volunteers, it was very busy. Keely our Rotters manager was there, and Kate the columnist, and I introduced Lucy to lots of people.

After this she dropped me back at home and she shot off to Halifax to see another potential media victim, sorry, star, and I wolfed lunch and cycled straight back to St Nicks as I was wanted to work with the Crossroads people, splitting logs, which they seem to enjoy as it makes them look manly and is quite aggressive yet productive!

Spent an hour and a half at St Nicks and bombed back just in time to go and get the kids. When I got home with them I needed some time alone so I spent some time managing the various composting ops... turning, riddling, building up current ones with stuff in sacks waiting to go on, and feeling at one with my fairly obsessive hobby, and at one with the world as I know and love it.

In for a late tea, which I made myself once I had lit the woodstove, and helped Gill get the kids into bed. Then the usual mix of tv, computer stuff and a bowl of cereal with home-made muesli before bed.