Wednesday 18th May 11

Despite going to bed at 3am last night, I got up before 8 and cycled our little-un into school, and I took a pair of secateurs and a builders bag, as I had said that I'd do some gardening to Dave Fryer, and he'd suggested pruning out some low-growing roses and other shrubs... prickly ones low down needed removing to reduce the possibility of a child getting scratched and prickled.

I found some sycamore saplings which I removed, and a whole bunch of nettles, and quite a bit of other stuff... including rose suckers.  I chopped it all up and took it through the school in the builders bag and investigated the compost heap I created before Easter.  Over the holiday someone had put a whole load of quite thick ivy and other climbers on it, whole, and then covered this with a thick layer of grass clippings.  Composting fail.

I had to redo the heap, pulling the ivy etc up, breaking up the thick layer of grass clippings and cutting the ivy into shorter lengths.  I hope that whomsoever did this bit of 'lazy gardening' won't do the same again.  Maybe I'll offer a composting workshop and share the knowledge that stuff needs to be cut up and mixed in order to rot down well.

I spent a couple of hours doing the gardening stuff (and also helping move stage block boards from downstairs up to the Eurythmy room) and then got fed up... and tired, so I came home, but via Alligator and picked up a trailer-load of biodegradables.

I did some sedentary stuff at home, before and after lunch, but before collecting our son again, I went to the building society and paid in two cheques.  I collected some fruit and veg scraps from Country Fresh and took them to the Steiner school to add to their rather dry compost heap, to act as an activator.  Next time I go in I'll take a garden fork and give the pile a good stir.  There's a mature pile too, which needs riddling.  I'm wondering which riddle to take in to deal with this.  I'd quite like to take the motorised one, which would do it quickly and painlessly, but not sure how it would transport.

We got home easily and I then got on with a bit of outside stuff, another load into the Compostumbler and I watered the beans and tomatoes in the conservatory.

Gill made a pile of rice and veg for tea which was simple and filling.  I set off soon after for the Green Party meeting in the Guildhall, the 'post election' meeting, with analysis of how we did.  Although we didn't increase the numbers of Councillors, we came second in Micklegate, Guildhall and Clifton, and did well in other places too.  It was a good meeting, but I was pleased to get away at 9.30.  I did pick up a pallet on the way home though....

Saturday 9th April 11

A really good day, seemed to get a lot done...

First of all I got a letter from Chloe who chairs Edible York, with a cheque for the 45 sacks of compost I supplied to the Peaseholm Green raised bed and the top-up for the Barbican bed.  This was a great start to the day!

Then at 10, well, just before 10, I bombed down to the Discus Bungalows area to meet with my York Green Party buddies for the Press launch of our election campaign, a photo opportunity and interview with Len Tingle from the BBC.  He interviewed Liz Barclay, who's not a candidate... almost all the people there were, and due to the forthcoming election and media rules, none of us could be interviewed. Anyway, we squinted into the bright sunshine, and the results will be on the York Green Party website soon, I think.

I then cycled on to Country Fresh for fruit and veg, up to Sainsburys to get the mayonnaise I like, and a kilo box of branflakes, and home.

Then I cycled up to B+Q to take advantage of their 20% off deal today... I was going to buy a chainsaw this weekend, but then saw the advert for 20% off if you spent £100... so yes, I went for it. I got a Workx electric chainsaw and a litre of lube oil.  This came to just under £108, so I paid £87, which I think was a good deal.  Then I came home, and chatted to a nice builder chap called Kev, from Malton, who was filling his little lorry with logs.  He had taken down a large tree in the back garden of a house which is to be renovated, and he gave me a few logs and offered me as much shredded tree as I could take away.  When I got home, I got on with filling the 9 sacks of compost I still have to take to St Clements. 

Later, I took another 4 sacks of best riddled down there, so just one more load to take. 

Wednesday 15th December 10

I had intended to go to St Nicks today and help with some coppicing, but Gill wasn't feeling too brilliant so I decided to stay closer to home and do some work in the garden, chainsawing and compost bin filling, harvesting artichokes, tidying.

I popped round to the bread shop, and after lunch went into town to put in a cheque and find a 'seasonal gift' for the family.

I came back via Richard at Country Fresh, and made a really good nutloaf, with equal amounts of breadcrumbs and grated parsnip.  I also put all the dried red and yellow pepper in the liquidiser goblet and reduced it all to dust, sieved it so that I had a bowl full of sweet pepper paprika.  Melody came to pick up her Suma order, so I gave her a jar of the paprika as a seasonal present.  She gave us a bag of foraged nuts, some jam and chocolates.

The nutloaf was delicious.  I zoomed into town after tea as I wanted to attend the York Green Party AGM at the Guildhall.  I enjoyed this.  Then I visited Anna as she hires out TENS machines and I borrowed one for Gill.  However, I'd asked on Freecycle about one and I had an offer there too.

I enjoyed a science programme quite late into the night, and a nice facebook chat with my friend Lisa.  She is fun.

Wednesday 15th September 10

Up far too early and could have done with a lie-in.  But with kids to deal with, no chance of that today.

I spent some of the day attempting to write something for the election leaflet but got some sort of block.  At 10.30 I set off to see my friend Kate, who'd requested my expertise in a couple of areas of my degree training, Environmental Health.  We had a nice 90 minutes together, talking about vermin, and how to remove and prevent, about heat loss from homes, chimneys and door frames, architectural salvage and woodstoves.  I was happy to consume a scone with jam and a coffee... and as always, enjoyed her company.  On the way home I stopped off at a chemist for Gill and then Cycle Heaven for a couple of replacement bits, and then called in on Alligator for some recyclable resources.

Home for a late lunch, after which I did some pruning of shrubs in the front.  Once the children were home, I had 2 hours nap, which was nice but I got up just before 7 so I could go to the Green Party meeting at 7.30 in town.  I didn't have time to eat.

The meeting was good, met an energy expert who is keen to stand in the 2011 elections, and we discussed some sections of the manifesto, a lively debate.  I signed a document to allow the use of the Green Party logo against my name in the forthcoming local By-Election.

I made a meal when I got home.  I had a Freecycled sachet of ready-cooked rice, home grown courgette, tomato and hazelnut, all done in a stir fry on the woodstove.  Lovely.  My sister invited me to help her run a Ceilidh in Sheffield on Sunday night, so I spent some time trying to work out the logistics of that, as I'm working til 4pm that day in York, so it's do-able!  Still didn't manage to write the election leaflet...

Friday 23rd April 10 'Crude' film review

I enjoyed the morning and delivered a trailer load of compost in four sacks to Jenny in Clifton, and came back via Sainsbury's, Country Fresh and Freshways.

When I got back, I had a letter from the Royal Society of Arts, Manufacturers and Commerce welcoming me to the Fellowship. I am officially 'John Cossham FRSA' now. Wow!

After lunch I went and picked up three pallets from around the corner and then mended the hammer so I could break them up before sawing them up.

As I was doing this, James (Jo's son) and his friend Mary came round to return the rotaseives which I lent to him and his Scouts for their compost riddling. We had a wander down the garden and they were interested in what I'm doing, but then we chatted about Professor Fiddlesticks and Circus Skills Badges, and I think he'll get back to me with a couple of dates for me to go and do my show and workshop.

At about half past 4 I cycled down to Country Fresh again as Rich had something special for me... a huge job lot of oranges and satsumas. They are pre-packed and each pack has a couple of mouldy ones, the others are fine, but it is too much hassle for them to go through the packs and separate the good from the bad, so they are giving me the lot (ahem, selling for a penny!) and I'll compost the yukky ones and hopefully find a use for the good ones!

I had a Sainsbury's pastie and some Country Fresh broccoli for tea, and then I cycled off down to Priory St for York Green Party's showing of Crude, which I've helped Owen organise.

This film documents the legal case between the Secoya and Cofan people of Ecuador, 30,000 of them, and Texaco/Chevron the oil multinational who extracted oil for 26 years before leaving the country in 1992, handing the oilfields over to PetroEcuador. Texaco stands accused of leaving about 1000 pits of oily waste in the rainforest, which drain into the rivers that the indigenous people drink from and wash in. 15 out of every 20 babies have unpleasant skin conditions and lots of children and teenagers have cancer. Texaco says it cleaned up the pits, but some were just filled in with soil, and cores taken show the oil still under the ground, and some are still open ponds of black sticky sludge.

The cast includes Pablo Fajardo, the lawyer representing the plaintiffs, Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa, Sting (from the band 'The Police') and his wife Trudie Styler, who together founded the Rainforest Foundation. It's a fascinating story, with Texaco not wanting to admit any wrongdoing but being judged by one investigator to owe $27 billion in damages.

The story is not yet finished, and may not be for some time. For news of the various problems in the Amazon region, go to Amazon Watch, and if you want to show the film to a small group, go to Chevron Toxico, who have all the resources for you to put on an event just like the one I went to tonight. I do recommend it, it's a gripping film, I learned a lot, and the money raised (£62 at our event, with room hire paid for by York Green Party, and CVS giving us discount room hire rates) goes to helping the campaign.

I decided not to socialise at the pub, but to get home to Gill and the boys, and came home via a pile of waste pallets, and picked up another two for processing into stove fodder.

Did the washing up when I got home, and settled down with the laptop and Joolz Holland on the TV.

Wednesday 4th February 09

A good day although during the day I didn't get much done apart from housework and such like. I took our youngest into school... he didn't cycle as it was icy, he sat on my luggage rack with his cycle helmet on, hanging onto me. He says it's quite comfortable! Well, more so than sitting side-saddle on the crossbar...

So, before we knew it, it was time to go and get him again... the day went really quickly except from a visit from Simon to collect his SUMA stuff, always nice to see him.

Once our little one was home, I went up to see Wendy and her son, who's friends with our eldest, and quit by chance, they are selling an exercise bike at the same time as our eldest wants one! He no longer cycles to school as it's near enough to walk, and sometimes he has excess energy so he suggested that he get an exercise bike to use to use this. He had walked up to his friends house to see the machine. It seemed to be very posh... with electronic read-out of kilometres cycled, calories burnt, speed, pulse rate (measured by contacts on the handlebars) and even different sorts of rides, with uphill sections or ups and downs! New, I think it cost about £100, and Wendy was happy to see it go... for £5!!! I tried to offer her more but she wouldn't take it!

I left the boys playing and went to the veg shop and then on to Freshways to do my regular pick-ups, and home, and then back to Wendy's to pick up our static cyclist and the machine which fitted conveniently on my trailer. When we got it back, it caused some excitement... especially the burning off calories bit! It gives a readout about your fitness levels as well!

Tea was a carrot soup I'd made, with sandwiches, after which I went to the York Green Party AGM, which was well attended. Our guest speaker was Jacquie Warren the relatively new Sustainability Officer at the City of York Council, and then we agreed a new constitution which acknowledges our local supporters as well as paid-up national members. I managed to not volunteer for anything which was good as I'm involved with too much as it is! A good meeting.

Home before 10pm.

Wednesday 9th July 08

A good day, although Gill asked me to come downstairs to help the boys get ready as she was going to get their bikes out... and they have real attitude problems with putting socks and shoes on... but with regular encouragement, they got to leave the house at 8.35 and to school on time...

Gill and I spent the best part of the day doing paperwork.... accounts, and I was doing York Green Festival insurance documents.

After lunch I cycled down to the Green Party office to give in a cheque for business cards, which the 'York Community Print' is doing for me, on 100% recycled card, printed both sides, two colours....

I picked up the kiddies from school, plus one friend, and came home quickly so they could go to Martial Arts, but Maria came round and told us it was cancelled. She chatted with us for half an hour whilst the 3 boys played in the garden.