I took out little un to school and came back to try to tackle the pile of paperwork which has built up. Found our house insurance had lapsed, so renewed that with the Co-op (more dividend!) and sent off various cheques and letters etc. Got a nice email from my Mother who's holidaying in New Zealand, and replied to that, and arranged to stay with an old friend in London when I go down next week.
Spent most of the day inside, computer, paperwork, stoking the stove, washing up, slicing fruit to balance precariously on top of the stove on cake racks... a reasonably productive day.
I collected our youngest and in the playground, one of my friends, a Dad collecting his child, had an episode of his Epilepsy, which he has often told me about. I think it is a form of 'Petit Mal'... the first time I've witnessed this. Two of us led him to somewhere where he could sit down, and I stayed with him as the other person went to get someone from inside to see if he could be taken home in a car. I was glad he had forewarned me and that his other friend knew what to do.
Cycled home and soon our eldest arrived back from 3 days of outdoor activities at Bewerley Park. He had suffered from motion sickness in the coach on the way home and was in a bit of a state, feeling sick and refusing to come inside. I stayed with him outside and chatted to him about what they'd been getting up to, and the sickness wore off and he came in and 'normality' returned to our house!
Nice tea, but both boys exhausted and in bed by 8.15, amazing!
Gill and I had a peaceful evening, I chatted to Ali on typeSkype and then had to reply to a parental email accusing me of naming my children on this blog and being too open and honest.
Well the children are not named on any of this blog because I don't give personal details of any 'minor' (despite loads of other blogs naming and having photos etc of children!) But the accusation of being too open is closer to being justified, although I choose not to put lots of details and although it may look like a very frank and open autobiography, there's lots not shared with all and sundry. I am aware that some people have a voyeuristic side, and that this blog might feed that. I am aware that some small-minded people take the piddle and criticise me about my lifestyle... but I have chosen to ignore these, and do not publish rude or stupid comments. When I was young I got bullied... and today people still get bullied. It could be about accent or voice, hair colour, choice of clothes or musical preferences, parent's job or lack of a parent... bullying and teasing happens and whether or not my offsprings' behaviour is mentioned in this blog, they will get teased about something. I choose to write this because for over 20 years I've written every day, and now (some) people are interested in green issues, they might be interested in the mundane day to day life of a low-carbon approach to living a modern life. And as I'm a parent and still trying to be a good one, I sometimes include my failures and successes in this blog too.
If anyone thinks I am doing anybody a huge dis-service, then please tell me. And if you think it's OK to have this kinda stuff out there in the blogosphere, again, let me (us!) know, because I just don't know if the majority of readers think it's acceptable or if it's wrong. The comments box is there for your opinions. I will publish all polite and relevant comments even if they are critical of what I do in writing this blog, referring to the possible effects and repercussions on other people.
Showing posts with label Bewerley Park. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bewerley Park. Show all posts
Friday, 21 November 2008
Wednesday, 19 November 2008
Wednesday 19th November 08
Slept right through til nearly 8 and got up to get ready for work, essentially a replay of yesterday's gig at Leeds Metropolitan University. Felt quite a bit better than the previous few days. This morning our eldest is off to Bewerley Park on a school fieldtrip, just two nights this time, back on Friday night.
So, well loaded up, he got away at the usual 8.30 and Gill cycled down to the primary school with his little brother. I got ready for a second day in Leeds... the only difference being that I didn't need to get my ticket as I'd got today's yesterday morning.
So the gig was much the same... apart from the judges this time included a senior executive from Thomas Cook (see what they say about responsible tourism here) and several other industry insiders, fresh from (probably) this event in London. Over lunch I was able to ask the gents assembled how they thought that the tourism industry was reacting to estimates that to achieve a sustainable situation, we would have to reduce fossil fuel use and consumption of other non-renewables by 80%? I asked them if they believed in growth of the market, too. The answer about growth was that they weren't aiming to sell more holidays, but 'better quality holidays'. (not sure what this means, actually) and that the main growth area at the moment, even during the Credit Crunch, was short breaks, weekend breaks and business trips. We could have talked for much longer, but we only had about 20 mins max for lunch, so (most unfortunately!) we couldn't talk more about this. Perhaps a bit of a missed opportunity, although I was able to speak to the 11 year-olds about the same subject for a short while, using language like 'huge challenge' and 'opportunity' rather than a more emotional approach which I felt might not go down too well. I also got quite a bit of one-to-one chat with the children, when judging the posters, so I think some will be wanting to explore carbon calculators..... and Eurostar!
The show went well, as did the prize-giving and presentations... and I was released, with my cheque, by just after 2pm. I got the same train home as yesterday and visited several places in town on the way through, including Country Fresh for a couple of sacks of assorted compostables and given-away tiny bananas, just perfect for drying...
A relatively peaceful evening... hooray!!!
So, well loaded up, he got away at the usual 8.30 and Gill cycled down to the primary school with his little brother. I got ready for a second day in Leeds... the only difference being that I didn't need to get my ticket as I'd got today's yesterday morning.
So the gig was much the same... apart from the judges this time included a senior executive from Thomas Cook (see what they say about responsible tourism here) and several other industry insiders, fresh from (probably) this event in London. Over lunch I was able to ask the gents assembled how they thought that the tourism industry was reacting to estimates that to achieve a sustainable situation, we would have to reduce fossil fuel use and consumption of other non-renewables by 80%? I asked them if they believed in growth of the market, too. The answer about growth was that they weren't aiming to sell more holidays, but 'better quality holidays'. (not sure what this means, actually) and that the main growth area at the moment, even during the Credit Crunch, was short breaks, weekend breaks and business trips. We could have talked for much longer, but we only had about 20 mins max for lunch, so (most unfortunately!) we couldn't talk more about this. Perhaps a bit of a missed opportunity, although I was able to speak to the 11 year-olds about the same subject for a short while, using language like 'huge challenge' and 'opportunity' rather than a more emotional approach which I felt might not go down too well. I also got quite a bit of one-to-one chat with the children, when judging the posters, so I think some will be wanting to explore carbon calculators..... and Eurostar!
The show went well, as did the prize-giving and presentations... and I was released, with my cheque, by just after 2pm. I got the same train home as yesterday and visited several places in town on the way through, including Country Fresh for a couple of sacks of assorted compostables and given-away tiny bananas, just perfect for drying...
A relatively peaceful evening... hooray!!!
Wednesday, 19 September 2007
Wednesday 19th September 07
Gill got the boys off to school, and soon after she came back we both went into town, I went to check on the progress of my new bike, collect compostables and put a cheque in, the City of York Council one which didn't manage to get to me via BACS. Got home in time for lunch, and then did a load of emailing.
The afternoon slipped by quickly and 3pm arrived, I cycled to school and picked up 3 boys, including a friend's child who had a ride home on my crossbar as his mum was in a job interview, and was due to collect him at 7pm. At 5pm I bombed down to Martin's veg emporium and collected a couple of sacks and a box of unsold produce, and cycled on to school to attend a meeting about my son's upcoming visit to Bewerley Park. It's his first time away from home without parents or family (he did have a few days with his grandparents a year or more ago) and he's very excited. The meeting lasted over an hour, and we had a presentation from Kate, who works at Bewerley Park, and saw photos of the activities.
Got back to the house for about 7, and put some stuff on the heap, and saw my friends, parents of our young guest this evening. I had tea and spent time on the computer.
The afternoon slipped by quickly and 3pm arrived, I cycled to school and picked up 3 boys, including a friend's child who had a ride home on my crossbar as his mum was in a job interview, and was due to collect him at 7pm. At 5pm I bombed down to Martin's veg emporium and collected a couple of sacks and a box of unsold produce, and cycled on to school to attend a meeting about my son's upcoming visit to Bewerley Park. It's his first time away from home without parents or family (he did have a few days with his grandparents a year or more ago) and he's very excited. The meeting lasted over an hour, and we had a presentation from Kate, who works at Bewerley Park, and saw photos of the activities.
Got back to the house for about 7, and put some stuff on the heap, and saw my friends, parents of our young guest this evening. I had tea and spent time on the computer.
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