Friday 4th November 11

Well I got up at 8am as Gill went out with the boys on the bus, and as we were expecting the washing machine delivery between 8.17 and 9.37 (they offer an accurate 90 minute delivery window!) I was ready to get the delivery at quarter past.  However, they were a bit later than that, sometime before 9.  They took the old one away and also the polystyrene packaging from the new one.

I then got ready to go to Ginnie's to finish off the coal-hole job.  It was raining but still a nice enough day, and I enjoyed the cycle there apart from one idiot outside the Minster who wasn't looking where he was driving and looked shocked when he saw me almost too late.

I didn't have much more scraping and shovelling to do in the coal hole, but I did have a load to take back so I did that.  I got back at midday and after unloading I went straight back and got the final load, which included a wooden ladder which had rungs missing and Ginnie said was only fit for firewood.

I had lunch on the dot of 1pm.  I'm not sure what else I did today, apart from get the washing machine installed, which involved removing some bolts which stop things moving around during transit, and fixing hoses etc.

Tuesday 1st November 11

A hard-working day.  I went to Ginnie's to dig out her coal hole.  I'd spent some time thinking hard about this issue. 

Ginnie moved into the house about 20 years ago and there was a pile of coal in an outhouse... they didn't use solid fuel and it sat there.  She's selling up and wants the place as tidy and clean as possible, so she asked me if I wanted the coal.  Our stoves are 'multifuel', meaning they'll burn wood or coal in a smoke-free way, so that meant I was in a position to say yes.

However, this carbon was fossil carbon, extracted from the air millions of years ago.  And I've made a conscious decision to be as 'low carbon' as possible... that's mainly fossil carbon, but it also pertains to not wasting renewable energy too.  So, a dilemma.  What to do with this coal?  Should I say, no, I don't want it, and let her find someone else to dig it out, bag it up, drive it somewhere and burn it?  Or should I spend time bagging it up, to help Ginnie, and then take it to Hazel court to be landfilled, or find somewhere to bury it?  These last two options would mean the fossil carbon would be locked up underground, the ideal situation. But if I used the coal, it would add a little to my carbon footprint... which is about a twelfth of the UK average... so this 'carbon expenditure' wouldn't make my footprint particularly large, just a bit bigger than it would be if I'd just carried on using wood.  It would add carbon dioxide to the air, probably a similar amount that the logs would, that I would need to burn to get the same amount of heat. There is a theoretical difference between carbon locked away millions of years ago and that sequestered by plants more recently, although the molecules of CO2 are exactly the same.

I decided to help Ginnie, and to bring the coal home, and use it to supplement our log piles. 

So I filled lots of sacks and bags with the whole lot, probably about 250kg, and did several cycle rides back home with them in my trailer.

Later, I asked my facebook friends what they suggested I do with it.  Several said 'make an artwork' out of it (my mind boggled at how I should do this!) and several others said yes, just use it, as my years and years of being low carbon would not be undone by this small high-carbon act.  The burial solution was mentioned too, but by this time I'd spent several hours digging the stuff out, and the idea of chucking it away wasn't that appealing.

I'd love to know blog-readers' opinions.  Am I a hypocrite?  Am I just taking advantage of a freebie?  Does this 250kg coal being burnt 'matter' in the bigger scheme of things?  Should I burn it with a clean conscience?

Monday 22nd August 11

A late start and my first appointment was at 2pm, to go and see Ginny's wormery.  She'd wondered if it was working properly, and had asked me to see if it was OK.

It wasn't OK.  The tap at the bottom was blocked and the contents were saturated and anaerobic and quite unpleasant.  I asked if she had a wheelbarrow and I put all the contents in that, so I could sort out the tap at the bottom.  I dug it out with my hands and there were almost no worms, and yes the tap at the bottom needed blowing through and washing out with clean water.  I put a bit of twiggy matter at the base, on top of the plastic grid, and then gently put handfuls of the partly composted material back in, trying to ensure lots of air spaces to allow adequate drainage.  I added the worms I'd brought with me and found that Ginnie's compost bin was absolutely full of them, so I added some of these too.  Hopefully the bin will now work.


Ginnie had some bits and bobs of wood sitting in an outhouse and she wanted rid of them, so I loaded my trailer up and slowly cycled home.


During the evening I had two meetings to go to.... the Cosy Homes meeting and a planning meeting for the Galtres Festival with Mary Passeri, who's co-ordinating the kids entertainments, it seems.  So I popped in on the Cosy Homes and chatted with Kit, then after 20 minutes, cycled to the Ackhorne where I was pleased to meet Adrian Spendlow and Steve the Drum and later, Catherine the storyteller arrived, plus baby.  The courtyard filled up with a vast number of people who are part of Chilli Bon Bon, a theatrical group composed mainly of people who work at Brunswick Organic Nursery, a supported workplace. 


I filled in my papers that Mary had brought and discussed a few bits and bobs... and then when the Chilli Bon Bon crew threatened to sing, I made a swift exit.  I went back to the Seahorse to see if the Cosy Homes meeting was still happening and it was just finishing.


So a busy day.

Sunday 21st August 11

Well a quiet day at home but did do a compost collection from Country Fresh, and then after that, got my fancy dress costume ready, so I could participate in the York City Cycle Races, in the opening race, on a Brompton (a small folding bike) as one quarter of Team Green.

Andy D'Agorne had organised this, texting me a few days ago and saying we had to decide by the end of the day.  I said yes, without knowing very much about it.  I did check abut the fancy dress, so I put on the most colourful and barmy clothes I've got.

So I cycled in on my usual bike and locked that up and met up with Andy, Jane McWeeny and Ginnie Shaw.  The Brompton race was first, at 5pm, and I took the chance to try the Brompton and check out the route round the city centre before the race, a good idea as I knew which corners were toughest and could judge what speed to take them.

Andy had said he wanted to go first, then me, as I'm about the same height, followed by Jane and Ginny, who had the seat-post lowered.  I was surprised how slow Andy was... he later admitted that he thought the circuit was dangerous and he hadn't pedalled as fast as he could have done.  Maybe he was wise as another team, the General Practitioners team (family doctors) didn't finish as one of their members crashed and was taken to hospital with broken ribs and a damaged liver.  However, I cycled as fast as I could, managed to overtake one other team, and crossed the line feeling I couldn't have done better.

Out of the six teams who entered, we came fourth, not bad considering our combined ages (all in our 40s and 50s!), and our fancy dress caused a fair amount of mirth and merriment.  I believe that some money was raised for charity, too.

We had a few group photos taken but I didn't stay to watch the other races.

I cycled home, via Grape Lane and Swinegate where there were assorted festivities taking place, and felt pleased that I'd taken part in my second ever bike race.